Poll of the Week: If You Have Tears, Prepare to Shed Them Now

[Genkos Adea]

Now Star Trek has a history of tugging at our heartstrings, from the “his was the most… human” speech at the end of Wrath of Khan, to the death of Data at the end of Nemesis (okay, the rest of the film is kinda trash, but still his sacrifice is pretty emotive). But both of those examples come from the films, which are given two, two and a half hours to make us cry, as well as the weight of seasons go past. However, even in the forty five minutes of a regular episode, there are still some incredibly powerful moments in the Star Trek ouvre. This might be more telling of what makes me cry than is possibly comfortable, but hey here we go!

Naturally the first is Inner Light which often tops lists of the best ever episodes of the Star Trek canon. Picard with the flute at the end is guaranteed to break even the stoniest visage into at least the one tear, right? Next one is a bit more of a wild card, but I rewatched it recently and the end is simply heartwrenching. Innocence, a season two episode of Voyager, is the one where Tuvok has to look after the children on that asteroid, and they’re disappearing one by one. Turns out in the end that (questionable biology aside) that the kids are actually the aged members of this society and they are going off to die. Tuvok’s final speech at the end of the episode, reassuring the little girl that death is a natural end, is gorgeous.

Another strong contender is of course Deep Space Nine’s The Visitor - who can forget Jake Sisko’s final sacrifice to save his father and undo that timeline? Continuing our DS9 sob-fest, why not Hard Time? That’s the one where most important Starfleet officer of all time, Chief O’Brien, lives in prison for 20 years, and is driven to murder and almost to suicide… Powerful stuff.
Finally, we have the absolute classic TOS episode, City On The Edge Of Forever, in which Kirk has to stop McCoy from saving the woman Jim loves in order to save the timeline. Beautiful in its simplicity, this episode will always have a place in my heart. 

Have another suggestion? Let us know in the comments!
 

[Samira Neathler]

Shedding tears? Uhm nope.

But Inner Light left an impression with me for whatever reason.

[LCDR Aine O. Sherlock]

I got a few.

Jean Luc breaking down after fighting his brother. His fears all spilling out.

Lwaxana being faced with mortality when she learns the man she fancies is going home to die at age 60.

Sarek's true feelings towards his wife and son coming out of Picard. This one gets me right in the feels.

[Alieth]

i've had a hard time between Inner Light and the Visitor. But...

 

 

 

[LCDR Aine O. Sherlock]

Oh, I thought of another one! Opening scene to all of the Picard series. Specifically when Picard say, "I don't want the game to end."

[Grace Wanjbli]

Some other possibilities:

 

The "death" of Tuvix from the Voyager episode of the same name

"I want to stay...stay...stay...stay..." Charlie's last words before the Thasians take him away, in the TOS episode "Charlie X"

The death of Lal in the TNG episode "Offspring"

Tucker's death in the ENT episode "These are the Voyages..."

 

 

 

 

[+ Yalu]

DS9 had some real tear-jerkers.  In addition to the ones already named, I thought The Sound of Her Voice, The Siege of AR-558, and It's Only a Paper Moon really packed a punch in the emotion department.

I also cried watching Sub Rosa.  Tears of pure, unadulterated joy.

[Jo Marshall]

1 hour ago, Yalu said:

I also cried watching Sub Rosa.  Tears of pure, unadulterated joy.

[Alora DeVeau]

The one that made me cry was "The Offspring".  As a mother of four children, that episode in particular hit home.