Hey thanks for the well thought out and detailed reply.

As much as I don’t want to just say “well I guess we like different things” and just leave it at that, I think it does come down to how one defines episodic and rewatchable.

I think your hotel room example is a perfect example of this. I’d be very happy to put on a random episode of Strange New Worlds or Lower Decks in the same way I would with TOS, TNG, or VOY. The other shows (like Prodigy, Discovery, or Picard) I would want to rewatch the whole season to get the satisfying story (like DS9 or ENT).

I also think that you’re correct that character development in TOS was more about learning who the character was, rather than watching them grow. I feel TNG had character growth episode-to-episode but, like you said, I can see how it’s much more prevalent and important to the episodes in SNW.

Like I said, I hate saying this, but I think it just comes down to preference. I think I could watch a random episode of SNW and enjoy it the same way I would TNG or VOY. Maybe because I’ve already seen the episodes so I’m enjoying the alien of the week knowing that I don’t need to see the resolution of the season long arcs. For the same reasons, though, if I recommend TNG to a friend, I always recommend watching it in order, even from the really bad first couple seasons.