Despite Gene Roddenberry’s utopian vision for a peace-loving future society, various Star Trek crews have investigated a surprising number of murder mysteries. The future of law enforcement has been a recurring trope in science fiction for decades, from Philip K Dick’s neo-noir novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? to Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi satire Robocop. Similar themes have been explored in Star Trek TV shows from the very beginning, creating some of the most compelling and dramatic episodes. Star Trek‘s best murder mystery episodes allow the writers to explore the darker side of some beloved characters.
Most notably, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) had a dark past that included terrorist atrocities and at least one murder. Although far less morally complex than DS9, Star Trek: Voyager featured a Betazoid serial killer, who was one of the show’s best recurring characters. The punishment for murder varies across the Star Trek timeline, depending on the laws of the planet where the crime was committed, which usually creates some thorny problems for any Starfleet officer that becomes tied to an alien murder investigation.
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10 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 7, Episode 18, “Eye of the Beholder”
Story by Brannon Braga, Teleplay by René Echevarria
A tragic suicide becomes a murder investigation for Counselor Deanna Troi in “Eye of the Beholder”. The suicide is linked to a tragic love triangle that ended in murder, which Troi believes took place during the construction of the starship Enterprise. Troi’s investigation of this murder leads her to suspect Lt. Walter Pierce (Mark Rolston) but things take a strange turn when Troi’s own life begins to mirror the events leading up to the tragedy. It’s later revealed that, because Pierce was half-Betazoid, he left behind a psychic imprint of his crime, which was amplified by the plasma stream that vaporized him and his victims.
9 Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 2, Episode 7, “Wolf in the Fold”
Written by Robert Bloch
The Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Wolf in the Fold” pitted Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the starship Enterprise against Jack the Ripper. To be more precise, this foggy, atmospherically gothic TOS murder mystery introduces Redjac, a non-humanoid entity that feasts on the pain and misery of serial murders. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) finds himself accused of Redjac’s latest killing spree on the planet Argelius III. However, Kirk and the crew’s investigations later exonerate Scott and reveal the true killer, a possessed Mr Hengist (John Fiedler).
8 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 7, Episode 13, “Field of Fire”
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer) tapped into the symbiont’s darker side to solve a murder in “Field of Fire”. The relationship between Ezri and Joran Dax (Leigh J. McCloskey) is similar to that of Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in Silence of the Lambs. Joran pushing Ezri to embrace her darker side and punish the perpetrator is one of the episode’s most compelling elements. It was a crucial episode in developing Ezri’s character, and the moment at the end where she refuses to kill the Vulcan serial killer, Lieutenant Chu’lak (Marty Rackham) shows her strength of character.
7 Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3, Episode 14, “A Matter of Perspective”
Written by Ed Zuckerman
After Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) narrowly escapes an exploding science station with his life, he’s put on trial for the murder of Dr. Nel Apgar (Mark Margolis). “A Matter of Perspective” is an intriguing Star Trek version of Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, that uses the Enterprise’s holodeck to re-enact the events leading up to Apgar’s death. Over the course of the investigation led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) it is revealed that Apgar had attempted to kill Riker with a Krieger wave, which backfired, killing him and destroying the station.
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6 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 5, Episode 11, “The Darkness and the Light”
Story by Bryan Fuller, Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Appropriately, given its title, “The Darkness and the Light” is one of Star Trek‘s darkest murder mysteries. It focuses on the backstory of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), when a serial killer is seeking to avenge crimes she committed during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. Killing off members of Kira’s resistance cell in increasingly gruesome ways is the vengeful Cardassian, Silaran Prin (Randy Oglesby), whose life was ruined by a Bajoran bombing attack. Prin was a servant who had no role in the occupation, which creates a fascinating discussion about the concept of collateral damage.
5 Star Trek: Voyager, Season 1, Episode 8, “Ex Post Facto”
Written by Evan Carlos Somers and Michael Piller
“Ex Post Facto” builds on the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “A Matter of Perspective”, by placing Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) in the role of Will Riker. Paris is accused of murder on a planet where memories are extracted from the victims of homicide. Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) maintains Paris’ innocence, and eventually unearths the truth – that the victim had false memories of the murder implanted in their brain after death. The high-concept sci-fi idea owes a debt to Philip K Dick’s Minority Report, making it one of the standout episodes from Star Trek: Voyager‘s first season.
4 Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 14, “Court Martial”
Written by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos
In Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 14, Captain Kirk stands accused of criminal negligence that led to the death of Lt. Benjamin Finney (Richard Webb). Over the course of Captain Kirk’s court martial, it becomes clear to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) that somebody had altered the computer’s records to frame Kirk for the crime. The culprit is revealed to be Finney himself, whose jealousy and resentment for Kirk had eventually consumed him to the point of faking his death and framing the Enterprise captain for the crime. When that fails, Finney decides to destroy the starship Enterprise to wound Kirk, but he is swiftly defeated.
3 Star Trek: Voyager, Season 2, Episode 16, “Meld”
Story by Michael Sussman, Teleplay by Michael Piller
Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) solves the murder relatively quickly, but the true mystery in Star Trek: Voyager‘s “Meld” is why Ensign Lon Suder (Brad Douriff) commits his crimes. To solve that mystery, Tuvok initiates a mind meld with Suder that has an unsettling effect on the Vulcan. In one shocking scene, Tuvok strangles Neelix (Ethan Phillips) to death in a holodeck program designed for him to expunge Suder’s murderous urges. It’s one of Voyager‘s most interesting episodes, as it raises the question of how Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew would deal with a criminal while stranded 75 years away from the nearest Federation Starbase.
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2 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 2, Episode 8, “Necessary Evil”
Written by Peter Allen Fields
The attempted murder of Quark (Armin Shimerman) opens up an old murder case for Constable Odo (René Auberjonois) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “Necessary Evil”. The episode is unique in that it is narrated by Odo, in the style of a 1940s film noir. The story of the murder of Vaatrik the chemist, and Odo’s investigation of it is an incredibly dark story about Bajoran collaborators and personal betrayal. The ending of “Necessary Evil”, in which it’s revealed that Kira was the murderer and that Odo let her off, is unlike anything seen before in Star Trek, solidifying it as one of DS9‘s finest hours.
1 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Written by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flin from a story by Leonard Nimoy and Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal
Star Trek‘s greatest whodunnit is Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in which Captain Kirk and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are accused of the political assassination of Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner). The investigation by Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the crew of the starship Enterprise is of vital importance not just to the freedom of Kirk and McCoy, but to the future of the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Star Trek VI is a knotty political conspiracy thriller that remains gripping on repeat viewings, making it the best of Star Trek‘s murder mystery stories.
