Favourite Episodes from Non-Favourite Shows (and Vice Versa)?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by BigJake, Oct 11, 2013.

  1. BigJake

    BigJake Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Was put in mind of this by a line-by-line thread on the Voyager forum that reminded me, no matter how much I disliked the show overall, it still had moments when it soared. This made me curious: what are people's favourite episodes from Trek shows that otherwise aren't your favourites?

    For me -- in order of least-favouriteness -- it is:


    ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly" (two-parter)
    I know it's kind of a backhanded compliment to pick the episode that isn't even set in the series' actual universe, and one that relies on a lot of in-joke Trekkie lore and humour to boot... but it's genuinely the fun that I had watching Enterprise. In fact, it's the only revisiting of the Mirror Universe -- strictly-speaking a one-shot Upsidedownland concept that should for the most part have been left alone thereafter -- that I find really enjoyable. Give me Evil Hoshi Sato over Nice Hoshi Sato any day of the week.

    VOY: "Year of Hell" two-parter
    One of Voyager's best moments, perhaps for me because it focussed on the action and gave the villains a healthy slice of screen-time and development: Annorax is of himself one of the maddest, saddest, most chilling figures any Trek show ever produced.

    DS9: "Duet"
    The Dominion War arc worked better for others than it did for me; what I enjoyed about DS9 in its early days, hit-and-miss though it was, is that it was genuinely willing to try to foray outside space opera adventure territory and try some drama on for size. Nowhere more powerfully than in "Duet," which features for my money the most emotionally wrenching scene in any Trek show.

    Past DS9 we're really talking about my most-favourite shows, so it seems only fair to do my least-favourite episodes of those:

    TNG: "Angel One"
    There are actually lots and lots of awful TNG episodes to choose from -- anything that was primarily about them fighting their own entertainment software, a large amount of the Klingon Klaptrap involving Worf, the appalling "Up the Long Ladder" and really most of the first two seasons -- but it was "Angel One" and its (unintentionally) hilariously retrograde and sexist storyline that made it most horribly clear how much the early series was recycling material from less-enlightened eras while affecting a more-enlightened posture.

    TOS: "The Alternative Factor"
    Lots of choices here too, really, despite its being my favourite show and setting. "Spock's Brain" isn't my first -- silly as it is, silliness is really its worst crime. The raw chauvinism of "Turnabout Intruder" comes close to winning, eking out the ugly anti-Asiatic animus of "The Omega Glory" by a narrow margin (the latter of which at least had some good action and a decent villain to help redeem it). But "the Alternative Factor" had a degree of poor execution and lack of fun that no other TOS episode competes with.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2013
  2. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I like all the series but am a bit meh about TNG. I do recognise however that it has some great and classic episodes (like BoBW, which is a given). My personal favourites though are:

    Cause & Effect - the loopy causality thing is a lot of fun, and I chuckle every time the D gets blown up. Plus it has one the greatest Trek guest star cameos ever.

    The one with Lal; just cause it's sad and very moving.

    The one with Leah Brahms; kind of creepy, but the actors make it work.

    The frozen-in-time crew one; again, like Cause & Effect, just kind of cool, and I love the bit where (Picard?) draws the smiley face in smoke :)

    And The Royale is weird but quirkily interesting.

    Non-favourites from favourite shows? Too many to
    mention :lol: