Star Trek’s 12 most Q episodes, ranked by chaotic energy
Decades before the letter “Q” gained a sinister political connotation (and during a rare fallow period for the James Bond film franchise), the alphabet’s most quizzical consonant became synonymous with Star Trek. Portrayed by actor John de Lancie, the omnipotent trickster god Q debuted in the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 and developed into the show’s signature antagonist, the perfect foil for disciplined, steadfastly moral Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Q has remained one of the most popular guest characters in the Star Trek franchise, appearing across five series including the new season of Star Trek: Picard.
Q owes his longevity as a character to de Lancie’s magnetic performance and to the multiple ways he can be employed in a Star Trek story. Q is an all-powerful authority, casting judgment over humanity and enforcing the cosmic status quo of the Q Continuum, but he’s also a cartoonish agent of chaos who takes delight in befuddling straight-laced Starfleet Captains. Most of the best Q episodes find a balance between Q’s two extremes, depicting him as part bully, part teacher, and part comic relief.
In recognition of the delicate chemistry that goes into creating a good Q episode, Polygon’s scientists have developed the Q Scale, a method of measuring the ratio of Authoritative Q to Chaotic Q in a given story. Like the pH Scale, the Q Scale starts at 0 (Fully Authoritarian) and ends at 14 (Fully Chaotic), with the median 7 representing a healthy neutral between the two extremes.
Excluding his cameo in the Lower Decks episode “Veritas” (which is too slight to include here) and his recurring role in Picard’s second season (which shouldn’t be judged until it’s completed), we’ve ranked every
Read more on polygon.com
