First, some background on why I'm asking...

I'm trying to introduce Trek to a female friend. She's not into sci-fi that much, but she did say that she's into good stories and she's interested in race relations and such. I'm a sci-fi fan but I can't say that I've watched every episode of every Trek series. I don't usually keep track of titles and seasons as well.

So here's what I'm hoping the collective knowledge of DVDTalk TV posters can help with. I'm looking for any Trek Series title, episode title and brief synopsis of any episode that deals with race relations and has stood the test of criticism to be a "good story". I know that's somewhat subjective, but I'm hoping to get a good list so I can make some choices on which shows to present to her.

I realize that most DS9 episodes probably deal with race/slavery due to the nature of the setting so let's try to narrow it down to shows who's main theme is race relations.

thanks all!

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (TOS) is the most obvious example.

Bigotry plays a major role in Balance of Terror (TOS).

"Let that be Your Last Battlefield" from TOS was certainly one of the earliest examples. How "good" is it is a matter of opinion.

You don't need much more than a picture to remind you of this one:



I think the list of race relations in Trek is long, depending on how broad of an interpretation you take.

Crap, Red Dog beat me with the quick answer.

Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Darmok"

Lots of great stuff on DS9, especially among Cardassians & Bajorans. How about "Duet"? There is some Nazi/Jewish analogies there.

Also DS9 dealt specifically with human race relations in the amazing episode "Far Beyond the Stars", with Sisko as a black sci-fi writer in the 1950's. An absolutely amazing hour of television.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I think out of all the ones mentioned so far, I've only actually seen "Darmok" and "Far Beyond the Stars". (which is what prompted me to ask for additional episodes in teh first place.

Are there any others suggestions?