Star Trek Viewing Guide

1Chapter 1 of 14

The Road to the Federation

2063–2161 · 93 stops

Enterprise

This site is NOT a chronology - it is a viewing guide that will assist you through watching the entire franchise in in-universe story order, all the way from the 21st to the 43rd centuries, while making adjustments as needed to ensure an enjoyable viewing experience.  It is not rigid - some episodes are shifted in the order to keep things as clear and fun as possible. The guide is updated regularly to stay current with new episodes.

April 5th, 2063

Why is this here?

Star Trek: First Contact starts in 2373, but largely takes place in 2063. You really can’t watch it first though, as so much of it will make no sense, so I DO NOT recommend watching it here. Even so, though the purpose of this list is to be a watching order and not a chronology, I mention the basic events of Cochrane’s warp drive test and the meeting of the Vulcans as it is good background for….

Star Trek essentially begins on this date, when Zefram Cochrane creates faster-than-light travel (“warp drive”) allowing humans to meet extraterrestrial life, the Vulcans, for the first time. This is depicted in the time-travel film Star Trek: First Contact, but we will not be watching that until much later in the timeline, as it would otherwise make an astonishingly small amount of sense. For now, just consider it the backstory that sets everything in the Star Trek universe in motion.

2151

We start with Star Trek: Enterprise (technically just titled Enterprise until season three). While the first in the timeline, this show was actually the sixth Star Trek series made, and therefore includes many intentional foreshadowings of future events.

Nearly everything here involves things we will see expanded on in the future, be it technologies we will later see in more refined form, first appearances of races and planets that will eventually be explored in much more detail in later series, and tensions with and between other cultures that will one day become friends and allies. We’ll point out some of these as we get to the later shows.

We mostly follow the release order, but will flip episodes 11 and 12 from this season, as well as skip some episodes in Seasons two and four until later in the viewing order.

Joining the guide

First aired September 26, 2001

Enterprise S1 · E1–2

Broken Bow

The Enterprise crew sets on a maiden voyage with a mission to return a wounded Klingon to his people.

First aired September 26, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E4

Strange New World

Crew members go on a survey mission to a seemingly uninhabited Earth-like planet where a mysterious alien presence sends them into a state of paranoid overdrive.

First aired October 10, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E5

Unexpected

After discovering the presence of a damaged alien vessel, Archer dispatches Tucker to its aid, but the engineer's encounter with a Xyrillian female has an unexpected side effect.

First aired October 17, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E6

Terra Nova

Archer and the Enterprise crew set out to learn what happened to the lost human colony of Terra Nova, and discover a tribe of human-hating cave dwellers.

First aired October 24, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E7

The Andorian Incident

When Archer and his crew pay a friendly visit to an ancient Vulcan monastery, they stumble into an interstellar conflict between the Vulcans and their militaristic rivals, the Andorians.

First aired October 31, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E8

Breaking the Ice

While the Enterprise crew researches a newly discovered comet, Archer tries to deal diplomatically with a Vulcan ship that is suspiciously watching them.

First aired November 7, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E9

Civilization

The Enterprise crew encounters a pre-industrial society that is afflicted with a plague caused by exploitative secret visitors.

First aired November 14, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E10

Fortunate Son

Enterprise must intervene when the leader of a human freighter crew sets out for revenge against alien pirates.

First aired November 21, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E12

Silent Enemy

An ill-prepared Enterprise is under attack by mysterious aliens with unknown motivations.

First aired January 16, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E11

Cold Front

While Enterprise joins an alien pilgrimage to witness a religious stellar occurrence, Archer finds himself again faced against the Suliban warrior Silik.

First aired November 28, 2001

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E13

Dear Doctor

Dr. Phlox faces a serious dilemma as a dying race begs for help from Enterprise.

First aired January 23, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E14

Sleeping Dogs

T'Pol, Reed and Hoshi get stranded on a Klingon "shipwreck" sinking inside a gas giant. Archer tries to convince a captured Klingon to help before his crewmates get crushed in the intense pressure of the planet's atmosphere.

First aired January 30, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E15

Shadows of P’Jem

When T'Pol is ordered by her superiors to leave Enterprise, she goes on one last away mission with Archer to planet Coridan, where they are taken captive by a militant faction and once again encounter the volatile Andorians.

First aired February 6, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E16

Shuttlepod One

During a shuttlepod mission, Tucker and Reed are cut off from Enterprise and become convinced the starship has been destroyed and that their days are numbered.

First aired February 13, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E17

Fusion

A group of atypical Vulcans visiting Enterprise subject T'Pol to uncomfortable new ideas.

First aired February 27, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E18

Rogue Planet

While exploring an uncharted planet, Enterprise crew members encounter a group of aliens who are hunting down indigenous creatures for recreation.

First aired March 20, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E19

Acquisition

When the Ferengi, a group of intergalactic thieves, stun the Enterprise crew and try to rob the ship, it's up to Trip to work covertly to stop them.

First aired March 27, 2002

Episode page

2152

Enterprise S1 · E20

Oasis

The crew is directed to a barren planet, where a derelict ship may be salvageable for supplies. But the crew quickly learns that rumors about the shipwreck being haunted may be true.

First aired April 3, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E21

Detained

Archer and Mayweather are detained by the Tandarans in a Suliban internment camp. Learning of the Suliban's persecution by the Tandarans, Archer enlists the aid of Enterprise and his crew.

First aired April 24, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E22

Vox Sola

When a strange, symbiotic alien creature boards Enterprise and captures several crew members, it's up to Hoshi to decipher the creature's complex language.

First aired May 1, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E23

Fallen Hero

Archer is ordered to transport Vulcan Ambassador V'Lar, an early role model of T'Pol's, from a planet where her integrity has been called into question.

First aired May 8, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E24

Desert Crossing

When Archer and Trip are invited to a desert-like planet by an alien leader, they discover he is a terrorist who has lured them there under false pretenses.

First aired May 8, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E25

Two Days and Two Nights

Shore leave takes some interesting twists when the Enterprise crew finally arrives at Risa, the famous pleasure planet.

First aired May 15, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S1 · E26

Shockwave, Part I

After apparently causing the obliteration of an alien colony, Enterprise is ordered to return to Earth, until a surprise visitor offers Archer startling evidence about what really happened...

First aired May 22, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E1

Shockwave, Part II

Daniels and Archer must find a way back to the 22nd Century in order to make sure history plays out as it should. Meanwhile, on board Enterprise, the Suliban have taken over the ship, but Reed, Trip, and T'Pol formulate a plan to eject the aliens.

First aired September 18, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E2

Carbon Creek

After Archer and Trip become curious about a visit T'Pol made to a Pennsylvanian mining town called Carbon Creek, she tells the two a tale about a Vulcan ship that crash-landed in 1957.

First aired September 25, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E3

Minefield

S2 E3: Whilst attempting to explore a new planet, Enterprise triggers a cloaked mine. While the crew deal with the resulting damage, it's discovered that another mine is stuck to the hull.

First aired October 2, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E4

Dead Stop

Suffering from damage inflicted in the Romulan minefield and unable to complete repairs on their own, Archer orders a distress call to be put out.

First aired October 9, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E5

A Night in Sickbay

Archer spends a night in sickbay after Porthos falls ill with a deadly virus following a visit to an alien planet.

First aired October 16, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E6

Marauders

In need of fuel, Enterprise visits a mining colony for deuterium supplies. The crew discovers that the colony is being controlled by Klingon marauders who are regularly pillaging the mined deuterium.

First aired October 30, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E7

The Seventh

After T'Pol is contacted by the Vulcan High Command, Archer, Mayweather and T'Pol travel to an arctic world to apprehend a fugitive.

First aired November 6, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E8

The Communicator

Archer and Reed return to a pre-warp society that is on the verge of war to recover a lost communicator.

First aired November 13, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E9

Singularity

While Enterprise is surveying a black hole in a trinary star system, the stellar phenomenon causes strange effects on the crew.

First aired November 20, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E10

Vanishing Point

Hoshi experiences her first transporter experience and strange after-effects lead her to believe she wasn't reassembled correctly.

First aired November 27, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E11

Precious Cargo

Trip boards an alien cargo vessel to help repair a stasis pod, which holds a beautiful woman in suspended animation. When the woman accidentally wakes up, she reveals she's not a passenger, but a prisoner.

First aired December 11, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E12

The Catwalk

When a lethal neutronic storm approaches faster than Enterprise can escape, the crew take shelter in the maintenance shafts inside the warp nacelles. They also provide refuge to a group of aliens, who aren't exactly honest about themselves.

First aired December 18, 2002

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E13

Dawn

During a solo test mission on Shuttlepod 1, Trip is attacked by a territorial alien and forced to land on the night side of a moon.

First aired January 8, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E14

Stigma

Enterprise visits a planet where an Interspecies Medical Exchange conference is being held. Dr. Phlox tries to obtain research on a terminal disease from the Vulcan contingency, without revealing T'Pol has been infected by it.

First aired February 5, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E15

Cease Fire

Both the Vulcans and the Andorians make a claim to a small planet and military conflict soon erupts. As the fighting goes on, the Vulcans announce they are willing to discuss cease fire terms.

First aired February 12, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E16

Future Tense

The Enterprise crew find a small craft drifting in space and are surprised to find it contains a human corpse. More questions arise when both the Suliban and Tholians make claims to the craft.

First aired February 19, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E17

Canamar

Archer and Tucker are wrongly arrested and placed on a prisoner transport heading for a penal colony named Canamar. Things go from bad to worse when one of other prisoners plots a takeover of the ship.

First aired February 26, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E18

The Crossing

Non-corporeal aliens possess the bodies of the Enterprise crew.

First aired April 2, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E19

Judgment

Archer is put on trial for crimes against the Klingon Empire.

First aired April 9, 2003

Episode page

2153

Enterprise S2 · E20

Horizon

Travis's visit home to the ECS Horizon becomes rather turbulent, as he clashes with his brother, the ship's new captain, and as the ship is attacked by pirates.

First aired April 16, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E21

The Breach

When militants take over a world, the Enterprise crew move to evacuate Denobulan geologists that are deep underground. Meanwhile, Phlox has to save a dying Antaran that refuses treatment due to the history of their races.

First aired April 23, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E22

Cogenitor

The Enterprise crew makes first contact with the Vissians, a species with three genders. When Trip meets one of the species' third gender, known as Cogenitor, he is disturbed to learn that all cogenitors are treated extremely poorly.

First aired April 30, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E24

First Flight

Archer tells T'Pol the story of when he and a rival named A.G. Robinson were in competition for breaking the warp 2 barrier.

First aired May 14, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E25

Bounty

Archer learns the Klingons have put a price on his head when he is captured by a Tellarite bounty hunter. As Enterprise pursues, a virus causes T'Pol to go into premature Pon Farr.

First aired May 15, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S2 · E26

The Expanse

An alien race known as the Xindi launch an attack on Earth, causing great casualties and massive damage. As Enterprise heads back home, an unlikely source informs Archer about the Xindi and that their next attack will destroy Earth.

First aired May 21, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E1

The Xindi

It has been six weeks since Enterprise's new mission began and the crew have made virtually no progress. Now finally, they may have a lead as Enterprise is en route to a mining colony that is supposed to have a Xindi worker.

First aired September 10, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E2

Anomaly

Strange things are occurring on Enterprise, leading most of the ship's systems to become disabled. Before the crew can make repairs, a group of Osaarians board and loot the ship.

First aired September 17, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E3

Extinction

Enterprise journeys to a planet a Xindi ship visited. Once on the planet, though, Archer, Reed and Hoshi become infected with a strange mutating virus.

First aired September 24, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E4

Rajiin

Archer rescues a mysterious slave girl from an alien market. However, she soon begins using her strange powers to collect information about humans for her Xindi overlords.

First aired October 1, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E5

Impulse

An automated distress call from a Vulcan starship is detected. Archer, T'Pol, Reed and Hawkins attempt a rescue mission, but they become trapped on board the vessel and have to fend off the Vulcan crew, who have turned violent.

First aired October 8, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E6

Exile

Hoshi is contacted by Tarquin, an alien with telepathic powers who gives an interesting proposition: he will use his powers to obtain information about the Xindi and their weapon for the crew.

First aired October 15, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E7

The Shipment

After Enterprise arrives at a Xindi colony, Archer, Reed and Major Hayes infiltrate a facility that is producing a substance crucial to the Xindi weapon.

First aired October 29, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E8

Twilight

Twelve years into the future, T'Pol reveals that she and Archer are living in a colony of the last surviving humans.

First aired November 5, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E9

North Star

Enterprise discovers a planet in the Expanse whose society is identical to the "wild west", and is surprisingly inhabited by humans, who are oppressing another species.

First aired November 12, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E10

Similitude

Trip is injured during an attempt to improve the warp engines. Archer allows Phlox to create a symbiote of Trip, which will only live for fifteen days and provide neural tissue needed for a vital transplant.

First aired November 19, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E11

Carpenter Street

Daniels sends Archer and T'Pol to 2004 Detroit to follow three Xindi-Reptilians who are creating a biological weapon.

First aired November 26, 2003

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E12

Chosen Realm

Enterprise comes to the aid of the Triannon, a species that worships the Spheres and their Builders. Once aboard Enterprise, their leader D'Jamat commandeers the ship in order to fight a holy war, and wipe out the heretics on his homeworld.

First aired January 14, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E13

Proving Ground

Enterprise detects a signal leading to a testing ground for the Xindi weapon prototype, but they have to move through a field of anomalies in order to get there faster.

First aired January 21, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E14

Stratagem

After capturing Degra, the creator of the Xindi weapon, Archer and the Enterprise crew conduct a carefully orchestrated deception in order to convince him to reveal the location of the weapon.

First aired February 4, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E15

Harbinger

Enterprise crew discover a mysterious alien adrift in a small pod within a field of anomalies. Meanwhile, emotions run high as Reed feels threatened by Major Hayes, and T'Pol learns that Trip has been giving neuro-pressure to a female MACO.

First aired February 11, 2004

Episode page

2154

Enterprise S3 · E16

Doctor’s Orders

When a transdimensional disturbance is altering the space between Enterprise and Azati Prime, Phlox must put the entire crew into a comatose state, and run the ship alone, in order to cross the region safely.

First aired February 18, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E17

Hatchery

Archer becomes obsessed with saving a Xindi-Insectoid hatchery discovered aboard a crashed ship. When his actions seem to put Enterprise at risk, the crew consider taking drastic action.

First aired February 25, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E18

Azati Prime

After getting to Azati Prime, the crew discover the almost complete Xindi weapon is on an ocean planet.

First aired March 3, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E19

Damage

A badly damaged Enterprise responds to a distress call from an Illyrian ship that's been damaged by anomalies.

First aired April 21, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E20

The Forgotten

Enterprise, still trying to recover from the damage from the attack by the Reptilians, docks with Degra's ship. Archer tries to convince Degra that the Xindi's real enemy is the Sphere Builders, and not humanity.

First aired April 28, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E21

E²

As Enterprise prepares to enter the subspace corridor that will get them to their rendezvous with Degra, they encounter a duplicate Enterprise manned by the original crew's descendants.

First aired May 5, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E22

The Council

While T'Pol leads a mission to retrieve the memory core from a Sphere, Archer appears before the Xindi Council to attempt to convince them that humanity is not their enemy.

First aired May 12, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E23

Countdown

With time running out and the Reptilians about to arm the weapon, Archer has to convince the Aquatics to help the Humanoids, Arboreals and Enterprise intercept it.

First aired May 19, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S3 · E24

Zero Hour

Archer leads a team to stop the Xindi weapon before it reaches Earth. Meanwhile, Enterprise attempts to destroy a key Sphere, despite deadly interference from the Sphere Builders.

First aired May 26, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E1

Storm Front, Part 1

Archer and the crew of Enterprise find themselves in 1944 and discover the outcome of World War II was altered by the Temporal Cold War.

First aired October 8, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E2

Storm Front, Part 2

With Silik's help, Archer searches for the temporal operative who altered Earth's past and threatens to destroy all of time.

First aired October 15, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E3

Home

Enterprise returns to Earth to a hero's welcome, Archer is haunted by his experiences and actions in the Expanse.

First aired October 22, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E4

Borderland

Criminal Arik Soong is brought aboard Enterprise to assist in finding some genetically enhanced humans he created after stealing altered DNA left over from the Eugenics Wars.

First aired October 29, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E5

Cold Station 12

Soong returns to Cold Station 12 with the Augments, a medical facility where he once worked, where there are hundreds of genetically engineered human embryos stored.

First aired November 5, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E6

The Augments

After turning on their creator, the Augments attempt to start a war between Humans and Klingons.

First aired November 12, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E7

The Forge

Earth's embassy on Vulcan is bombed and the evidence points to a religious faction known as "Syrrannites", a group following a revolutionary interpretation of the teachings of Surak, the father of Vulcan logic.

First aired November 19, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E8

Awakening

Archer and T'Pol locate the Syrrannites. However, unbeknownst to Archer and T'Pol, more is going on than just a simple act of terrorism.

First aired November 26, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E9

Kir’Shara

Archer, T'Pol and T'Pau attempt to take a sacred, but controversial artefact back to the Vulcan High Council, in hopes of settling an internal struggle going on among the Vulcan people.

First aired December 3, 2004

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E10

Daedalus

The inventor of the transporter, Emory Erickson, comes aboard Enterprise for a risky experiment.

First aired January 14, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E11

Observer Effect

Non-corporeal aliens study the Enterprise crew as they respond to a fatal viral infection brought on board from an away mission.

First aired January 21, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E12

Babel One

Enterprise journeys to Babel with a Tellarite ambassador on board for peace talks with the Andorians, when a distress call from Shran is received.

First aired January 28, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E13

United

Archer tries to unify the Andorians, Tellarites and Vulcans in a plan to capture a marauder ship threatening to destabilize the region.

First aired February 4, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E14

The Aenar

Archer visits Shran's icy homeworld to find an Andorian subspecies called the Aenar, to determine their connection to the marauder destroying ships in the region.

First aired February 11, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E15

Affliction

While Enterprise visits Earth for the launch of Columbia, Phlox is kidnapped and forced to help the Klingons deal with a grave threat to their species.

First aired February 18, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E16

Divergence

With Columbia's help, Enterprise's crew grapples with sabotage to their ship as they pursue the truth behind the kidnapping of Phlox.

First aired February 25, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E17

Bound

As a gift for negotiating with the Orion Syndicate, Captain Archer receives three Orion Slave Girls. Soon, their seductive powers begin to affect everyone on board except for Trip and T'Pol.

First aired April 15, 2005

Episode page

2155

Although we’re moving on from Enterprise after this year, we will return to watch the skipped episodes 18 and 19 and the series finale episode 22 later. Instead we are going out on a two-parter that is near universally considered a better end-point for this part of the story.

Enterprise S4 · E20

Demons

A xenophobic faction of humanity threatens to undermine talks to form a new coalition of planets.

First aired May 6, 2005

Episode page

Enterprise S4 · E21

Terra Prime

A human isolationist leader threatens to destroy Starfleet Command unless all aliens leave Earth immediately.

First aired May 13, 2005

Episode page

2156-2160

Why is this here?

I break my not-a-chronology rule again here to mention the events of the Romulan War and the founding of the Federation, as Enterprise was clearly building to those events and it is a notable “gap” in on-screen history.

The Earth-Romulan War, which was first mentioned in the original 1960s series, occurs here. Enterprise intended to cover this starting in the fifth season, but was unfortunately cancelled after Season Four. While we don't get to see the conflict on screen, its impact is felt throughout Enterprise and beyond. During the war, Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites form a loosely structured Coalition of Planets which manages to push back the Romulans. Once the war is ended, this Coalition leads directly to…

2161

…the formation of the United Federation of Planets, the primary political setting of the Star Trek franchise.

From this point on, Star Trek focuses on the Federation, depicting its periods of peace, war, expansion, and decline, which will set the agenda for much of the franchise.