Thanksgiving 2023 is extra significant for Star Trek fans, who have a lot to be thankful for. 2023 saw Paramount+ stream three Star Trek series: Star Trek: Picard season 3, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, and Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4. All three shows pushed the boundaries of Star Trek, and all were met with acclaim from fans. Picard and Strange New Worlds episodes also charted in the Nielsen streaming top 10 multiple times, the only Paramount+ series to achieve this besides the shows from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone franchise.

Star Trek delivered 30 new episodes in 2023, and it’s arguable that the franchise has never successively featured that many episodes of such high quality before, not even in Star Trek’s Rick Berman-led 1990s heyday. Picard season 3 was hailed as the best Star Trek in years for reuniting the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in one more emotionally satisfying mission to save the galaxy. Strange New Worlds took bold chances the franchise never tried before that paid off magnificently. And Star Trek: Lower Decks also had perhaps its best season, moving the stories of the Lower Deckers of the USS Cerritos forward while connecting to TNG in fascinating ways. Here are 15 things Star Trek fans are thankful for in 2023.

15 Twin Twains

The best way to solve crewmember conflicts.

No one had ‘Lieutenants Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) cosplaying as Mark Twain’ on their Star Trek 2023 bingo card, but Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 delivered a most bizarrely hilarious homage to frequent Star Trek guest star Mark Twain. Boimler and Rutherford arguing “in Twain” with mock Southern drawls was gut-bustlingly funny, as was Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Wells) trying her hand at “Twaining.” Twin Twains got a reprise in Lower Decks season 4’s finale, and I daresay this gag may stick around in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5.

14 Captain Seven of Nine

The newest Captain of the Enterprise takes the center seat.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 completed Seven of Nine’s (Jeri Ryan) remarkable journey from ex-Borg outcast to Captain of the Enterprise. Seven finally joined Starfleet in Picard season 3, but questioned her abilities as a Commander and conflicted with her Captain, Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), over her very identity. But at the end of Picard season 3, Seven proved her heroic mettle, and she was rewarded with a promotion and command of the new USS Enterprise-G. Seven officially adds her name to the Starship Enterprise’s Captain’s legacy along side Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), James T. Kirk (Willam Shatner), and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).

13 Moopsy

Lower Decks’ cutest and deadliest new fan-favorite.

Moopsy became an unexpected sensation after debuting in a menagerie in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 2, “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee.” Outwardly adorable, Moopsy is, unexpectedly, a stone-cold killer who eats other beings’ bones indiscriminately. Yet Star Trek fans, as well as actors like Tawny Newsome, fell in love with Moopsy. Fans not only turned Moopsy into a meme, but they are also demanding plushies of the white, furry cannibal to call their own.

12 Spock & Nurse Chapel

They were the hottest couple on the Enterprise… for a while.

Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) explored a romantic relationship in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. Although they didn’t last as a couple, the results were electric. Chapel confessed her love for Spock as she tried to restore him to a Vulcan after he was turned into a human, and Spock jilted his fiancée, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), to be with Christine. Peck and Bush’s on-screen chemistry is palpable, and whether they are arguing, infatuated, or rescuing each other in space, Spock and Chapel are simply compelling together.

11 Lieutenant T’Lyn

Fans’ love for T’Lyn is out of control.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 added a fifth lead character and defied the odds with Lieutenant T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) seamlessly fitting into the USS Cerritos. Who knew a stoic Vulcan straight man was just what the Lower Deckers needed to balance out their fast-talking chaos? T’Lyn’s incisive barbs, which are really just her plainly speaking the obvious and the logical, delivered big-time laughs, but her forging genuine friendships with Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Lt. D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) was unexpectedly touching.

The episode and the phrase.

“Ad Astra Per Aspera” was the finest courtroom drama Star Trek has delivered since the 1990s. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2 saw Number One (Rebecca Romijn) vindicated in her Starfleet court-marital, and she returned to the Starship Enterprise as an out and proud genetically engineered Illyrian. Commander Una Chin-Riley’s personal motto, “Ad Astra Per Aspera” translates to “To the stars through hardship,” and Number One was later uplifted to learn Starfleet uses her words as a recruiting tool in the 24th century.

9 Star Trek: Picard’s Families

The Picard-Crushers, the La Forges, and the Troi-Rikers shined.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 touchingly explored how the crew of the USS Enterprise-D are a family while most of them also have their own families. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard’s relationship with his newfound son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and with Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), were front and center in Picard season 3. But the saga also explored the marriage of Captain Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) while introducing Commodore Geordi La Forge’s (LeVar Burton) daughters, Sidney (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) and Alandra (Mica Burton). Truly, family was at the heart of Star Trek: Picard season 3.

8 Mariner’s TNG Backstory

We got to see Ensign Sito Jaxa again!

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 delivered more insight into Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) than ever before. Mariner’s jaw-dropping confession that she knew Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) from Star Trek: The Next Generation reframes Beckett’s feelings about Starfleet, and it spurred her on to heroically save the galaxy from Nova Squadron’s ex-leader, Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill). By the end of Lower Decks season 4, Mariner emerged as more heroic than ever, true Starfleet royalty at its finest.

7 Captain Worf

Star Trek: Picard season 3’s Klingon scene-stealer.

Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) was a revelation in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Older, cooler, and funnier than ever, Worf balanced his penchant for Klingon brutality with a Zen-like calm and a preference for pacifism that was thoroughly entertaining. Whether teamed up with Commander Raffi Musiker, exasperating Captain Will Riker, or taking a well-deserved nap after defeating the Borg once and for all, Worf reaffirmed his unquestionable status as Star Trek‘s greatest Klingon character. There is no doubt Star Trek is instantly better with the addition of Worf.

6 Star Trek: Prodigy Saved By Netflix

Prodigy fans can thank themselves.

Star Trek: Prodigy fans were outraged when Paramount+ suddenly canceled the series and purged all of the episodes from its service in June. A remarkable four-month campaign to #SaveStarTrekProdigy resulted in Netflix acquiring the beloved animated series. Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 premieres on Netflix on December 25th, exposing the show to a huge global audience, and priming them for all-new episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 in 2024, proving the power of Star Trek’s fandom as a positive force.

5 Kirk Meets Spock… And Uhura… And La’an

Lt. James T. Kirk made all kinds of history.

Paul Wesley infused Lieutenant James T. Kirk with boyish charm, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 made all kinds of history with Kirk. Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6, “Lost in Translation” featured the remarkably low-key canon event of Kirk meeting Lt. Spock and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), as well as James formally meeting his predecessors, Captain Pike and Number One. Meanwhile, Kirk has a potential love interest in Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) while setting up the possible canonical debut of Carol Marcus in Strange New Worlds season 3. For someone not yet a part of the Starship Enterprise’s crew, Kirk’s fingers are in multiple pots.

4 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Crossover With Star Trek: Lower Decks

“Those Old Scientists” is a Star Trek classic.

Directed by Jonathan Frakes, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks is an all-time classic episode, and one of the funniest Star Trek outings ever. “Those Old Scientists” is a love letter to Star Trek and its fans, with time-tossed Ensigns Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner as the ultimate fans meeting their heroes aboard the Starship Enterprise. Melding live-action and animation, the Strange New Worlds crossover is also heartfelt, and insightful, and celebrates the characters and the pure essence of Star Trek.

3 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ First-Ever Musical

“Subspace Rhapsody” kept us connected.

It probably never should have worked, but Star Trek‘s first-ever musical episode was a smashing success. Strange New Worlds‘ musical, “Subspace Rhapsody,” was no mere gimmick or excuse to have Captain Pike’s Starship Enterprise crew sing and dance. Instead, Strange New Worlds‘ musical delved into the inner lives of the characters and addressed their most heartfelt issues to move them forward. Meanwhile, Strange New Worlds‘ songs are addictive, and the musical may be the defining example of how successfully Star Trek can push the boundaries of the franchise.

2 The Return Of The USS Enterprise-D

The “fat one” saved the galaxy one more time.

A literal sight for sore eyes, the return of the mighty Galaxy Class USS Enterprise-D was perhaps the best surprise of Star Trek: Picard season 3. The Enterprise-D, which is as much of a beloved character as the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, completed Picard season 3’s TNG reunion. There was no more fitting way for Admiral Picard and his crew to ride into action to save the galaxy from the Borg one last time than aboard the D, which took on a Borg Cube and performed a heart-stopping rescue more thrillingly than ever before.

1 Picard’s Poker Ending

The stars have always been in Picard’s favor.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 had to stick the landing. After all, it had to live up to the ending of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was one of the greatest series finales ever. Laudably, Picard season 3 delivered. Capping off the TNG cast’s final adventure together, showrunner and director Terry Matalas chose to film Picard and his crew ad-libbing playing while playing poker, showing the fans the genuine real-life camaraderie between the actors and blending their true personalities with their iconic characters. And when it came to matching the final line of “All Good Things…”, Star Trek: Picard season 3 had an answer for that as well, with Jean-Luc’s “I’ve come to believe the stars have always been in my favor.” This also applies to Star Trek overall and all of the things to be thankful for in 2023.