DS9 made that a plot point late in the series.
My least favorite episodes are those random ones that seem to just be filler in between bigger stories/arcs, like that TNG episode with the 200K Enterprises.
Least favorite type of episode
- Thread starter gakelly
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DS9 made that a plot point late in the series.
My least favorite episodes are those random ones that seem to just be filler in between bigger stories/arcs, like that TNG episode with the 200K Enterprises.
When those work (Past Prologue [?]) they really work, and when they don't ("Let that Be Your Last Battlefield") they stink to high heaven.
I think John Colicos brought something unique and interesting in the episodes he was in, those are practically the only Klingon ones that I like to rewatch from time to time, with a particular fondness for "Once More Unto The Breach", his swan song.
1920s gangster episodes
Nazi episodes
Native American episodes
Klingon episodes
Crusher episodes
Nazi episodes
Native American episodes
Klingon episodes
Crusher episodes
Romance of the week episodes.
Interesting... I tend to dislike "deaging" stories or stories centered around kids (who aren't the main characters) in TV and that is also true of Trek.
"Disaster" I seem to remember actually liking the kids in that, probably because they were there to force some character growth in Picard, though admittedly I haven't watched that episode in eons. I quite like "Miri" as well.
"Disaster" I seem to remember actually liking the kids in that, probably because they were there to force some character growth in Picard, though admittedly I haven't watched that episode in eons. I quite like "Miri" as well.
I like that Star Trek does social commentary, I think that's what really makes it good science fiction. That said, anytime you take a stand on something, there's always the risk of it not being very good. Also, I think some of those things age poorly, since what's a topical insight now is a well duh, of course later on. That's good, your message resonated with the viewers and helped society grow, but it kinda ruins the rewatch potential.
It's also very easy to bite off more than the show can chew, and try and tackle very complex issues in an over simplified way. You can only say so much in a single episode.
I don't particularly care for the episodes that seem to be meant to teach us a moral or send a message. St has a tendency to be really bad at handling these.
The problem with Trek doing social commentary isn’t that they do it so much as they often force it in a really reductive way.
When they do social commentary that just evolves naturally from a character driven story they sometimes do a good job. When they shine a spotlight on it and say “LOOK EVERYONE WE’RE DOING SOCIAL COMMENTARY” it’s usually awful.
Kids stories aren’t inherently bad but the way TNG and Voyager often did them was usually bad. Because when they do, it usually meant having the entire B plot revolve around the child’s hurt feelings then contriving some threat to the ship on top of it. Children’s hurt feelings are just not interesting television and even less interesting when it‘s sanitized PG rated ‘Fixable in a week’ hurt feelings.
When the child fits more naturally into the story like in Disaster or Bliss it’s fine.
When they do social commentary that just evolves naturally from a character driven story they sometimes do a good job. When they shine a spotlight on it and say “LOOK EVERYONE WE’RE DOING SOCIAL COMMENTARY” it’s usually awful.
Kids stories aren’t inherently bad but the way TNG and Voyager often did them was usually bad. Because when they do, it usually meant having the entire B plot revolve around the child’s hurt feelings then contriving some threat to the ship on top of it. Children’s hurt feelings are just not interesting television and even less interesting when it‘s sanitized PG rated ‘Fixable in a week’ hurt feelings.
When the child fits more naturally into the story like in Disaster or Bliss it’s fine.
There are some good holodeck episodes - but, far too often, such episodes seem to be little more than an excuse for dressing up in different togs. Almost as though they were “time off” from science fiction.
And the preachy self-righteousnessness of parts of TNG in particular can be rather tedious.
And the preachy self-righteousnessness of parts of TNG in particular can be rather tedious.
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Evil twin/possessed character/doppleganger episodes. I despise them.
Reminds me of that old comic where Data stands looking surprised at Lore, who is doing his evil MWUHAHAH cackle, and Picard wondering in the background how the hell they are supposed to tell these two apart.
Episodes where the Prime Directive policy is 'sit back and watch people die and feel righteous afterwards'
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Yeah, to me they're just super lazy episodes, plus I have this thing about imposter syndrome, so watching episodes where someone desperately tries to prove they're really themselves just rubs me the wrong way.
There was like a grand total of three episodes where he said things other than "aye sir"
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There was definitely not enough Mayweather in my rewatch. What little I saw of him I liked, and it was a shame that he, Hoshi, and Malcolm were just underused, especially him and Malcolm.
Any "space anomaly of the week" type stuff. They could half way get away with it on TNG because the chemistry of the cast still made it watchable and Spiner and Burton were so good at selling the technobabble (which those episodes obviously had a lot of). Although they were still some of the worst TNG episodes. But when Voyager or ENT tried them (which they did often) it was cure for insomnia tier bad.
The holodeck safety protocol period stuff also got old but the first couple TNG ones (Big Goodbye and the first Moriarty episode) are classics and Our Man Bashir is very entertaining even if it was the millionth time they'd done that kind of story. So I wouldn't call it the worst.
"OMG, no romance" is the most cliched nerd gripe of all time but there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it and some "one off guest star love interest" episodes have been great (City on the Edge of Forever?).
LOL, yup
The holodeck safety protocol period stuff also got old but the first couple TNG ones (Big Goodbye and the first Moriarty episode) are classics and Our Man Bashir is very entertaining even if it was the millionth time they'd done that kind of story. So I wouldn't call it the worst.
"OMG, no romance" is the most cliched nerd gripe of all time but there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it and some "one off guest star love interest" episodes have been great (City on the Edge of Forever?).
LOL, yup
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CotEoF is still, hands down, one of the best Star Trek episodes ever written.
I mean, IMO, but seriously, any time it's on TV, I stop and watch it.
There's the episode where he goes back to see his family and the Terra Prime two parter. Those are the only episodes I can recall where he had anything to do. I guess he was in the pilot a little bit.
Malcolm was pretty solidly established as the 4th most prominent character, a bit like Scotty on TOS being the next one up after the big 3. I do wish they'd used Hoshi more, though, Park appeared to be a pretty good actress and there was a lot of potential with the general character idea there.
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What I liked about Hoshi so much is that she was obviously brilliant, but suffered from imposter syndrome, so she never believed she was as good as she was. While I'm not *nearly* as brilliant, I identify with that so much. It was nice to feel represented in that aspect. Plus, she made friends with Phlox (also known as my favorite character) before anyone else, so she clearly has a good heart.
Anyway, Malcolm was always fun, especially when teamed up with Trip, it's just, and this probably sounds mean, I forgot he existed the moment he was off screen. Travis' backstory made him interesting, too, I would have loved to know more about the early cargo runners of the era.
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