Entertainment
The Forgotten Star Trek Episode That Created Two Spinoff Series
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
What do you think the most important episode of Star Trek is? Some fans might say “The Man Trap” because it was the first episode ever aired, creating TV’s longest-lasting sci-fi franchise. Others might be tempted to name episodes like “The Inner Light” and “The Visitor” because they confront us with our own morality. Still other fans might name episodes like “Far Beyond the Stars” for using sci-fi as a vehicle to explore the more problematic aspects and social injustices of American history.
Arguably, though, the most important adventure in the franchise is the largely forgotten Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Price.” Now, if you do remember this episode, you probably remember it for that thirst trap scene where Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi are exercising in their space spandex. While that scene had the fandom giving new meaning to the term “space seed,” It’s not what’s most important about “The Price.” You see, this episode singlehandedly sets up the premises for both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager!
Paying “The Price”
What’s “The Price” about? In this episode, the Enterprise crew must negotiate with some exotic aliens for the rights to use a newly-discovered stable wormhole. Ships can fly through the wormhole in the Alpha Quadrant and, conveniently enough, end up in the far-flung Gamma Quadrant. The crew checks the wormhole and discovers that while the entrance is stable, the exit isn’t; it periodically moves, having gone from the Gamma Quadrant to the Delta Quadrant. Unfortunately, two Ferengi who went through the wormhole ignore the Enterprise crew’s warning about the unstable exit and get trapped in the Delta Quadrant once the wormhole moves yet again.
What makes “The Price” so special to Star Trek history? For one thing, this is the first episode to break the galaxy into four quadrants: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Before that, it was hard to understand the geography of this franchise’s sprawling cosmos. This made it difficult to know where, say, the center of the galaxy is supposed to be located. That might not sound like much of an issue, but you might be surprised at the sheer number of times various shows and movies make reference to that mysterious area of space.
Wormhole Shenanigans Are In Full Swing
More importantly, “The Price” laid the groundwork for the next two major Star Trek spinoffs after The Next Generation. Before the Enterprise crew realizes it’s a dud, the main selling point of the wormhole in this episode is that it provides a stable passage from the Alpha Quadrant to the Gamma Quadrant. Later, the discovery of an actual stable wormhole from Bajor to the Gamma Quadrant becomes the inciting incident for Deep Space Nine. Once everyone finds out about the wormhole, this broken-down space station suddenly becomes one of the most important places in the entire galaxy.
Weirdly enough, a minor plot in “The Price” also sets up the premise for Star Trek: Voyager. When those two scheming Ferengi ignore the warnings from the Enterprise crew, they end up stuck in the Delta Quadrant, with no easy way home. In Voyager, this is exactly what happens to Captain Janeway and the Maquis she is chasing. They are sent to the Delta Quadrant and must make their way home without the support of Starfleet. Eventually, Voyager did an homage to “The Price” with “False Profits,” which had the crew run into the same two bumbling Ferengi who got stuck on the other side of the galaxy after the wormhole moved.
“The Price” is a very solid episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation for many reasons, including the fact that it gives Marina Sirtis plenty to do while she looks drop-dead gorgeous. But for fans of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, this is possibly the most important episode in the entire franchise. Without it, those fan-favorite spinoffs might have never been made. Because of this, you might say that the entire Golden Age of Star Trek owes itself to this humble TNG episode!