TOS' worst episode.
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Although we're only up to Wink Of An Eye in production order, here are the bottom ten as voted by the forum collectively in our Episode of the Week discussions over the last few years :
"Miri" 5.59
"The Omega Glory" 5.56
"Catspaw" 5.48
"Mudd's Women" 5.30
"I, Mudd" 5.27
"The Apple" 5.10
"Spock's Brain" 4.48
"Plato's Stepchildren" 4.29
"The Alternative Factor" 3.12
"And the Children Shall Lead" 2.04
"Miri" 5.59
"The Omega Glory" 5.56
"Catspaw" 5.48
"Mudd's Women" 5.30
"I, Mudd" 5.27
"The Apple" 5.10
"Spock's Brain" 4.48
"Plato's Stepchildren" 4.29
"The Alternative Factor" 3.12
"And the Children Shall Lead" 2.04
And the Children Shall Lead, though it starts out interestingly, with some adult dialogue about what could be going on with the children's attitudes.
The Cloud Minders. this time around, struck me strangely. Shatner seems halfway out the door, as if he's already moved on from ST in his head. Spock with voiceover of his thoughts about falling in love? Chatting openly about pon farr? An in sanely inequitable Federation planet?
The Cloud Minders. this time around, struck me strangely. Shatner seems halfway out the door, as if he's already moved on from ST in his head. Spock with voiceover of his thoughts about falling in love? Chatting openly about pon farr? An in sanely inequitable Federation planet?
When I was younger there was no such thing as a "bad" Star Trek episode. Some were better than others, but it was Star Trek and it was cool.
The passage of years and experience allowed me to see things differently and then I became more aware of "good" and "bad" Trek. I also found that some stories I wasn't crazy about when younger I grew to appreciate more while some I had quite liked no longer engaged me as they once did.
And while I can list episodes that I can find disappointing and rate them as fair, poor or even bad I can usually still find something redeeming in them.
And maybe thats how I should have started this thread: what redeemable things can you find in episodes you might otherwise find disappointing?
In the least I think it can be said that at the core of even the most disappointing episodes there is a worthwhile story to be told.
The passage of years and experience allowed me to see things differently and then I became more aware of "good" and "bad" Trek. I also found that some stories I wasn't crazy about when younger I grew to appreciate more while some I had quite liked no longer engaged me as they once did.
And while I can list episodes that I can find disappointing and rate them as fair, poor or even bad I can usually still find something redeeming in them.
And maybe thats how I should have started this thread: what redeemable things can you find in episodes you might otherwise find disappointing?
In the least I think it can be said that at the core of even the most disappointing episodes there is a worthwhile story to be told.
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There are four episodes I would rate as a 0 out of 10....
Fourth Worst: "And the Children Shall Lead" - nothing redeeming about it, woefully bad performances (especially from the guest stars) and just a bore to watch.
Third Worst: "The Alternative Factor" - a nonsensical plot and borderline painful on the eyes during the strobe lighting effects.
Second Worst: "Mudd's Women" - an episode that manages to be sexist against both women and men (a rare feat).
Worst: "The Mark of Gideon" - planetary over-population means implementing a eugenics style program of killing off large segments of the public and it's somehow considered humanitarian.
And Kirk goes along with it by deliberately infecting the people with an alien virus, thereby condemning them to a slow, painful death. When your supposed "humanitarian" effort ends up being less humane then blowing someone's brains out, you've got problems!
Fourth Worst: "And the Children Shall Lead" - nothing redeeming about it, woefully bad performances (especially from the guest stars) and just a bore to watch.
Third Worst: "The Alternative Factor" - a nonsensical plot and borderline painful on the eyes during the strobe lighting effects.
Second Worst: "Mudd's Women" - an episode that manages to be sexist against both women and men (a rare feat).
Worst: "The Mark of Gideon" - planetary over-population means implementing a eugenics style program of killing off large segments of the public and it's somehow considered humanitarian.
And Kirk goes along with it by deliberately infecting the people with an alien virus, thereby condemning them to a slow, painful death. When your supposed "humanitarian" effort ends up being less humane then blowing someone's brains out, you've got problems!
The Man Trap is terrible in parts , The Enterprise just seems to come along and get some Redshirts and a scientist killed , and make a species extinct when Sodium Chloride is hardly a difficult chemical for the crew to find and give to the Salt monster . William Shatner thought it was one of the worst episodes to have started with I believe.
It's lucky,by being the First episode shown it could have knocked out TOS from the start, though Man Trap does have some redeeming features like Sulu's bigger role and seeing the effects of a phase on stun.
In the UK the BBC first showed the Second pilot WNMHGB which was a much better starting episode IMHO.
It's lucky,by being the First episode shown it could have knocked out TOS from the start, though Man Trap does have some redeeming features like Sulu's bigger role and seeing the effects of a phase on stun.
In the UK the BBC first showed the Second pilot WNMHGB which was a much better starting episode IMHO.
Shran -- Well, I don't think they mean for us to approve of what the Gideon people (or leaders that is) did. After all , Kirk seemed to consider it a very screwed up idea. We get to make up our own minds about it. There was no opportunity on Gideon for Kirk to take charge and reshape their civilization in whatever way he saw fit, which seems to be Kirk's hobby... he had no bright ideas either. They just had to let Gideon decide for itself. We are meant to see that once having gotten to this stage, there were no good ways out of it-- so the message is, don't let it go so far. Don't be absolutist about the value of life, to the point where you even shudder at the mere thought of contraception. This was NOT supposed to be a happy ending , and we were NOT expected to agree with what they did in the end.
What really gets me in "And The Children Shall Lead" is the overreaction (overacting) of the characters (except Spock) when taken over by the empowered kids. Kirk's "freak out" is the icing on the cake but Scotty, Sulu, Chekov and even Uhura also come off dopey. At this point the crew have dealt with enough instances of illusion that that kind of reaction wasn't believable, at least to me. It's like the director basically came in a let the cast do whatever the hell they wanted, which probably isn't far from the truth.
Fred Freiberger has taken a lot of crap for Season 3, but he simply didn't have the creative help that was there in the first two seasons. Roddenberry was absent, Coon was gone, Fontana was gone, Justman left, the budget was screwed and Paramount couldn't give a shit. There were a lot of impediments arrayed against TOS in the third season it's a wonder they still managed some worthy episodes.
Fred Freiberger has taken a lot of crap for Season 3, but he simply didn't have the creative help that was there in the first two seasons. Roddenberry was absent, Coon was gone, Fontana was gone, Justman left, the budget was screwed and Paramount couldn't give a shit. There were a lot of impediments arrayed against TOS in the third season it's a wonder they still managed some worthy episodes.
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Frankly, I don't get a lot of the hate for "Mudd's Women." The "wiving settlers" or "mail-order brides" thing is a classic story concept. As for the supposed sexism, the male miners come off a lot worse than the women. All they want in a wife is superficial beauty and sex appeal -- and they get called out on that attitude. Besides, I like that old rascal Harry Mudd.
Maybe it's a generational thing.
Maybe it's a generational thing.
No, "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was bad. It didn't have a weak story; it had no story. And the "message" was about as subtle as a charging bull elephant.
There's really only five out of seventy-nine that I skip on viewing runs :
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
"I, Mudd"
"And the Children Shall Lead"
"Plato's Stepchildren"
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
"Turnabout Intruder" couldn't have taken TOS out on a lower note, and to be honest I pretend it doesn't exist in the canon, however, Shatner's outrageously campy Lester-as-Kirk is just hilarious to watch.
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
"I, Mudd"
"And the Children Shall Lead"
"Plato's Stepchildren"
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
"Turnabout Intruder" couldn't have taken TOS out on a lower note, and to be honest I pretend it doesn't exist in the canon, however, Shatner's outrageously campy Lester-as-Kirk is just hilarious to watch.
I forgot about Turnabout Intruder. That's actually my least favorite episode. The others I listed all have some redeeming quality. That one really doesn't.
I really like some of the episodes that are getting bad reviews around here:
Mudd's Women (for the characters)
Miri (for the characters)
The Lights of Zetar (for Jan Shutan & superb re-use of WNM music)
Spock's Brain (for fun situations and great original music)
The Paradise Syndrome (for Sabrina Scharf and the music)
Elaan of Troyius (for France Nuyen and the music)
Every episode I seriously dislike has also come in for its share of negative comment.
Mudd's Women (for the characters)
Miri (for the characters)
The Lights of Zetar (for Jan Shutan & superb re-use of WNM music)
Spock's Brain (for fun situations and great original music)
The Paradise Syndrome (for Sabrina Scharf and the music)
Elaan of Troyius (for France Nuyen and the music)
Every episode I seriously dislike has also come in for its share of negative comment.
I had posted earlier but think it is interesting and great, as well, how different a lot of people feel about episodes. It just goes to show that appreciation is in the mind of the viewer. And I will echo the OP's mention that every episode has redeemable qualities, even though there are some I personally don't repeatedly rewatch. For me, any episode of TOS is better than any ST that has aired since.
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