How are there no VOY or ENT episodes yet?
When the list is all laid out I intend to use the data to do a series of "Best of X". Like, which series is "best" as an average of all episodes. Voyager has quite a stretch all the way through the list, though smack in the middle there is a block of about 10 episodes that's nothing but Voyager. Enterprise is very polarizing, I think without all the data. A lot of bottom of the list stuff, and a fair amount near the top. TNG is probably the most spread out. Some of the worst, some of the best, and some of the most mediocre in between. Picard and Disco really aren't best of worst of Trek, they just kind of "are" at this point, but if I based DS9 on only 3 seasons back in the day(which I stopped watching after season 2), I'd be disappointed to! Only time will tell there. And then there's TOS, that as a blanket, I've never liked, but in this intense watchthrough I found more that I liked about it than ever before!
Same here. This episode is one that informs Kirk as a character in ways that few other episodes do. The solution to the problem is not so simple as it seems and the use of Shakespeare as a back drop against the tragic nature of the story is very well done. I also am a total drama geek but I think that has less to do with my opinion.
I think this episode is underrated. It's an interesting premise that struggles in the execution. Guilty pleasure of mine, far so than Spock's Brain or Miri or the Naked Now.
Conscience had 1 act that worked, and 3 that didn't. Kirk searching for the truth and putting the pieces together are the only part of the episode that's any good. The plot about a former genocidal governor is a great premise. My only problem with the play at the beginning is that you can't tell the difference between normal 60's Star Trek sets and play props. The ending though, that ending well and truly earns it a spot at the bottom. This one was on many people's "worst of Trek" lists, and with good reason. For a show that brought so many races together that weren't typically seen on television in the 60's they sure love taking shots at women! In particular the "hysterical" crazy woman archetype that gets reused throughout the series. As for Alternative Factor. Even if you put aside the worst VFX in ALL of Star Trek history, the plot(if you can call it that) is a disjointed mess! Again, let's even put aside that they pulled the actor onto the set with no prep time, and the plot still doesn't make any sense! But hey, everyone enjoys different Trek. I would love to hear from you folks that keep saying these are good episodes, what's worse than them? Even if you consider that ALL Trek is good Trek, there's still 1 that's 754 better than another!
Spock's Brain is worse. Miri is worse. Broken Bow is completely uninteresting in comparison. And I put very little stock in VFX in terms of my analysis.
As I whole I agree about the VFX, but ENT loses some points for bad VFX also, so it's not just a,"60's VFX sucked" kinda thing. Especially though with Alternative Factor they tried to build the episode around those visual effects, and they were...BAD...even for the 60's.
Again VFX doesn't factor for me. I don't care how bad they are, 60s or what not. That isn't the point of the story, at least for me. But, I am far more forgiving of visuals than many. VFX is not really going to move an episode from one to the other on the list unless it is the only factor. But, it usually isn't. Characters, their motivation and the story will do more in that. Thus Conscience of the King ranks higher because Kirk as a character is far more interesting than in Spock's Brain.
What I'm telling you is the story and characters in Alternative Factor are garbage, and the VFX are just one more reason to not want to watch it. For a sci-fi show, until the recent adaptations, VFX have been an extremely small part of all them. In a review of all episodes though, it would be remiss of me to not mention just how bad and unwatchable these particular effects are though.
Fair enough. I don't think Alternative Factor is the best ever, but it ranks higher for me because it introduces fun concepts and story ideas in Star Trek, even if the characters are thin. If I were to review these episodes the VFX just wouldn't warrant commentary from me. I lack the background to really comment beyond, "Looks neat."
So above when you stated which episodes you think were worse. Are you saying overall these episodes are close in where they should be towards the bottom, and you're only advocating for subtle reranks? If so, then I've done my job. Since everyone's tv watching is subjective, if I get these episode within 20 of where the majority of other people think they should be, then I've done my job. If I have misread this, please let me know.
I mean, I'm the weird person who doesn't find rankings particularly necessary. I don't stack TNG vs. TOS or DS9 vs. VOY. So, your approach is completely foreign to me. I mean, if I wanted to I could list out multiple episodes that I think could be worst but I haven't revisited them as recently.
It's just a fun thought experiment and niche that I noticed had never been filled. There are plenty of lists ranking individual series, but I couldn't find that anyone had done a deep dive to try and put the entire franchise together. I've wanted to do a Star Trek Youtube channel for years, and during Covid Quarantine I found this niche that hasn't been filled. Same thing with upcoming ideas. I'm trying to talk about the topics that others haven't hit on before. Like best fashions in Trek. Not uniforms, but civilian fashions. Pretty much any niche that hasn't been talked to death in Trek, I'm going to try and tackle. This is just the biggest and first thing.
It's definitely a big experiment. Excelsior indeed.
Dear doctor isn't that bad compared to where we are, but you only need to get to episode 4 for the other.
