The least disliked episode of DS9 - Season Five

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that we play every few years or so, and it's generally a lot of fun, providing a chance to mentally revisit those episodes you may not have thought about in a while. With that in mind, why not play again?

So, here's the game. The basic idea is your standard elimination game. I'll provide a list of the episodes for each season and you need to eliminate your least favorite or the one you deem the 'worst.' Please provide an EXPLANATION for why you are eliminating your choice and be sure to copy and paste the list with your choice removed. Finally, leave at least 2 eliminations by other posters, and wait at least 6 hours after your last vote, before voting again.

No tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions
2011 - In the Pale Moonlight
2013 - In the Pale Moonlight
2017 -

Season Five

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Let He Who is Without Sin...
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[BigDaveX]

I'm probably going to court some controversy here, and extinguish The Darkness and the Light. As much as I generally enjoy and am willing to defend the darker aspects of Star Trek, having Kira sneer at a man who was scarred and traumatised by her own actions (even if he was a murderer himself) and tell him that he and everyone like him deserved it just for being someplace he didn't belong is pushing it a little too far even for my tastes. What's more, it feels like it completely ignores all of the character development she got on the show, most notably in "Duet."

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Let He Who is Without Sin...
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I'm going to court no controversy by eliminating the most obviously bad episode: Let He is Without Sin.I'm sorry that Ira Steven Behr was made to write Captain's Holiday, but Risa need not have been revisited.Despite a little comedy, the crew's behavior on Risa was bizarre, and it is not clear whatsoever why Worf would go to such lengths to prove a point.


Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

I'm surprised that Ferengi Love Songs made it this far. One of the silliest Ferengi episodes ever, and not in the good way.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Farscape One]

I am not "LOOKING FOR PAR'MACH IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES". I simply didn't buy the possible romance of Kira and O'Brien. That subplot really dampened an otherwise enjoyable and fun episode.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Garth Rockett]

I'm dropping "The Assignment." They ended up getting some decent stuff out of the Pagh-wraiths in season seven when they wove it in to Dukat's storyline, but this episode didn't do much for me. I'm not a big fan of possession episodes in general.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[DonIago]

"A Simple Investigation" is a little too simple for my comfort levels. It's vaguely nice seeing Odo fall for someone, but it sort of disregards his feelings for Kira, and I feel DS9 should be doing better than ROTW episodes, especially this far into the show's run.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Sakonna]

I don't know if I'm out of step with fan opinion on this one or not, but "Apocalypse Rising" is a real failure for me, I would watch every other ep here before watching this one. It has a few nice touches... the involvement of Dukat and his Klingon ship, Sisko's delightful embracing of his Klingon cover persona. But otherwise...

The switch of the Changeling infiltrator from Gowron to Martok is clumsily handled, and doesn't track well with "Broken Link." Colm Meaney cannot act through the prosthetics and is awkward throughout. The actions of the Changeling are unforgivably stupid -- why would he reveal himself in the climax, thus getting immediately killed? I understand the behind-the-scenes reasons Dax could not go on the mission, but it's a significant plot hole given that she knew more about the Klingon's than Worf did. And the staging of that big Secretly Planting The Emitters scene is sooooooo badly directed, in a way that destroys any tension and makes our characters seem like complete idiots for not pulling it off.

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[kkt]

"Children of Time" is out. A reset button episode, the descendents didnt' really do much except say hello, unlikely that the conspiracy to trap the ship would have gotten as far as it did.

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I don't know if I'm out of step with fan opinion on this one or not, but "Apocalypse Rising" is a real failure for me, I would watch every other ep here before watching this one. It has a few nice touches... the involvement of Dukat and his Klingon ship, Sisko's delightful embracing of his Klingon cover persona. But otherwise...

I think it suffers from upcoming-blockbuster-episode syndrome, which generally saps time and money.

 

[Farscape One]

That episode was expensive due to all the extras in Klingon makeup. Plus, the very next episode was the 100th, so money would be spent there.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

That episode was expensive due to all the extras in Klingon makeup. Plus, the very next episode was the 100th, so money would be spent there.

Look a few more episodes down the line.

 

[Sakonna]

"A Simple Investigation" is a little too simple for my comfort levels. It's vaguely nice seeing Odo fall for someone, but it sort of disregards his feelings for Kira, and I feel DS9 should be doing better than ROTW episodes, especially this far into the show's run.

Plus, HOW did they miss doing this a few episodes earlier, when Odo was still human? It's a totally different story then! That would have both motivated the ROTW, and given it much more emotional weight!

 

[Farscape One]

Look a few more episodes down the line.

What do you mean? "THE SHIP" is the 100th episode, and was promoted as such. I remember the commercial, too, when it first aired.

 

[BigDaveX]

I've gotten rid of The Begotten. The main storyline is actually pretty solid, but it's badly let down by the subplot, which feels like something you'd expect to see in a low-rent sitcom.

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

What do you mean? "THE SHIP" is the 100th episode, and was promoted as such. I remember the commercial, too, when it first aired.

Trials and Tribble-ations was famously expensive, eating up much of the FX budget of the first half of the season.

 

[Seven of Five]

Empok Nor is probably the weakest left. It plays like a bad horror film, and Garak is annoying when he becomes affected.

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Qonundrum]

My pick: Trials and Tribble-ations

While it is a fantastic homage to TOS, with great visual f/x and largely a great story in its own right, there are two big problems (and two teensy ones):

1. Dax throwing the tribble out of the compartment's hatch, the one that hits Kirk in the head, creates quite the unwanted paradox
2. The magical Orb of Time also moves the Defiant quite a ways in space, oddly...
3. The X-files naming convetion in-joke doesn't quite work, though had both of them been the same gender it might have worked better or worse.
4. Fantastic f/x aside, it still looks like everyone is checking out Sisko's pecs and/or crotch in that temporal violation scene because Barbara Luna, the person Sisko's visage is replacing, was quite demure and petite. She was about 5'1" and he's like 6'40" or whatever so the distance span would be incidental enough to cause the issue by accident, but obviously it's still fun to chuckle over in a goodhearted way. And like coffee I can't live without the occasional tautology. Well, I can't blame them for looking, *snicker*, but still...

What's left:

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Uh, ok.

Time should have run out long ago for Ties of Blood and Water. This revisits an episode that revisited the same ground as Duet. I'm not sure that I wanted to see Gemor again. There are some cute Weyoun moments, and I think that the stuff with Kira's father provided some motivation for the character. It's good, but in the fifth season, good sucks!

The Ship
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Farscape One]

Trials and Tribble-ations was famously expensive, eating up much of the FX budget of the first half of the season.

Oh, you were talking about that. I thought you were disputing "THE SHIP" being the 100th episode.

Yes, several early episodes of season 5 were expensive. "TRIALS AND TRIBBLE-ATIONS" was the most, but given it was the 30th Anniversary episode, I think they were able to pull a few more purse strings.