All 755 live-action episodes ranked

[BoTWoT]

Spirit Folk rates a spot in the 600's just for the scene where Maggie turns into a cow.

The upper 600's, to be sure.

That's generous! We'll see it before the bottom 100 is out, but I don't think people remember how much bad Trek there is in 755 episodes, that when watched back to back with other bad Trek doesn't seem as bad as maybe they remember, and regardless, everyone's viewing is subjective, so if I don't put someone's personal least favorite episode in the first block, it's because objectively, I just don't believe it's so. There's a lot of absurdity on the bottom, and it's episode built purely around absurdity with no other plot holding it up. There's also absurdity built around some fragments of plot and some amount of character development. Doesn't make it good Trek, but objectively, things like Spirit Folk beat out the absurdity for sake of absurdity alone, in my mind anyway. Overall, you wonderful folks here at TrekBBS seem to pick apart about 1 episode of Trek from each episode of BotWot produced. If I factor in that I "forgot" someones least favorite equally as often, that means I'm still getting this approximately 70% "right", by general fan consensus. In the business of reviews, I'd say that's pretty good, but I welcome dissenting opnions and feedback. Some stuff is definitely going to get moved around, based mostly on the feedback from this thread, after the first rerank and retrospect episode.

 

[Lord Garth]

Someone bumped a thread where I rated all the Star Trek episodes. Might as well look at all the ones I gave below a 5 out of 10. TNG and ENT are up-to-date (as of 2019 and 2020 respectively). TOS, DS9, and VOY are based on my memory from years or decades ago.

TOS
And the Children Shall Lead – 3
Plato’s Stepchildren – 4

TNG
Code of Honor – 3
Justice – 2
Hide and Q – 4
Too Short a Season – 3
Home Soil – 4
Shades of Grey – 4
Tin Man – 4
The Most Toys – 4
Sub Rosa – 3

DS9
Let He Who Is Without Sin – 1
The Emperor’s New Cloak – 4

VOY
Threshold – 1
Thirty Days – 4
Latent Image – 4
The Disease – 2

ENT
A Night in Sickbay - 3
Precious Cargo - 4

"What about XYZ episode?!" I probably gave it a 5, so it might've juuuuusssstttt missed being "below a 5". I could do a whole other list of episodes that I thought were just "ehhh... ", but I'll hold off on those. For now, this is just what I consider "The Bottom of the Trek Barrel".

 

[BoTWoT]

Someone bumped a thread where I rated all the Star Trek episodes. Might as well look at all the ones I gave below a 5 out of 10. TNG and ENT are up-to-date (as of 2019 and 2020 respectively). TOS, DS9, and VOY are based on my memory from years or decades ago.

TOS
And the Children Shall Lead – 3
Plato’s Stepchildren – 4

TNG
Code of Honor – 3
Justice – 2
Hide and Q – 4
Too Short a Season – 3
Home Soil – 4
Shades of Grey – 4
Tin Man – 4
The Most Toys – 4
Sub Rosa – 3

DS9
Let He Who Is Without Sin – 1
The Emperor’s New Cloak – 4

VOY
Threshold – 1
Thirty Days – 4
Latent Image – 4
The Disease – 2

ENT
A Night in Sickbay - 3
Precious Cargo - 4

"What about XYZ episode?!" I probably gave it a 5, so it might've juuuuusssstttt missed being "below a 5". I could do a whole other list of episodes that I thought were just "ehhh... ", but I'll hold off on those. For now, this is just what I consider "The Bottom of the Trek Barrel".

I'd buy a lot of those! Most are either released or in the next 4 episodes that are already produced and awaiting Monday distributions. Remember that we're still on basically 1's and 2's in Trek. Let He Who Is Without Sin is another one of those episodes I would love for everyone to talk about, because I've seen it on a lot of bottom lists. Maybe it's because it's more relevant here in the US now after 4 years of a Trump presidency... It's certainly not great Trek, and is somewhere in the bottom 200, but everything the group of far right agitators say is truth that no one wants to hear. They go about their goals all wrong, but there's a heck of a message!

 

[Oddish]

VOY
Threshold – 1
Thirty Days – 4
Latent Image – 4
The Disease – 2

Ah, a fellow "Latent Image" non-fan... glad I'm not the only person who dislikes that one.

 

[Lord Garth]

Let He Who Is Without Sin is another one of those episodes I would love for everyone to talk about, because I've seen it on a lot of bottom lists. Maybe it's because it's more relevant here in the US now after 4 years of a Trump presidency... It's certainly not great Trek, and is somewhere in the bottom 200, but everything the group of far right agitators say is truth that no one wants to hear. They go about their goals all wrong, but there's a heck of a message!

The last time I saw the episode was back in 1996, when I was 17 and it first aired! It left that bad of an impression on me.

 

[Oddish]

I never figured out what Fullerton wanted the people of the Federation to do. All he mentioned was hard work, but what do non-Starfleet people need to do, anyway?

If you're going to create a bunch of "religious" fundamentalists in a secular society, they at least need a coherent message.

 

[fireproof78]

I never figured out what Fullerton wanted the people of the Federation to do. All he mentioned was hard work, but what do non-Starfleet people need to do, anyway?

If you're going to create a bunch of "religious" fundamentalists in a secular society, they at least need a coherent message.

It was a dumb episode that wanted to say something without actually knowing what to say. The New Fundamentalists are a lampooning of a strawman, as they don't even have a specific outcome they wanted. They broke in to Walt Disnelyand and were surprised no one was packing guns?

 

[Greg Cox]

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.

"Conscience of the King" is one of my favorite TOS eps as well: lots of guilt and drama and melodrama. Plus, I just love the idea of a traveling acting troupe bouncing from planet to planet, bringing Shakespeare to far-flung colonies out on the final frontier. And I'm old enough to remember when the analogy to Nazi war criminals hiding out in Argentina was still all-too-topical. (And, yeah, even as a kid, back in the sixties, I realized what the ep was REALLY about.)

I actually like this one enough that I wrote a sequel, FOUL DEEDS WILL RISE, about the return of Lenore Karidian. Came out just a few years ago.

 

[fireproof78]

I actually like this one enough that I actually wrote a sequel, FOUL DEEDS WILL RISE, about the return of Lenore Karidian. Came out just a few years ago.

Stop adding to my reading list! It's too high!

 

[Oddish]

They broke in to Walt Disnelyand and were surprised no one was packing guns?

Strangely apt. If I was expecting an invasion by genetically bred killer soldiers, I wouldn't bother with trying to lift weights or learn kung fu.

 

[BoTWoT]

It was a dumb episode that wanted to say something without actually knowing what to say. The New Fundamentalists are a lampooning of a strawman, as they don't even have a specific outcome they wanted. They broke in to Walt Disnelyand and were surprised no one was packing guns?

There seems to be 2 BIG takeaways. One is just in universe. The Federation and it's Galaxy Class cruise liners are ill-equipped to save a Federation population that has no idea what it's in for after approximately 75 years without an all out conflict. Which turns out to be true, as we see over the next several seasons. The other big take away:It's easy to get caught up in cultish nonsense. And something about an analogy to the Jan 6th storming of the US capitol...Again, not one I believe is great or anything, but there's some big takeaways.

 

[fireproof78]

There seems to be 2 BIG takeaways. One is just in universe. The Federation and it's Galaxy Class cruise liners are ill-equipped to save a Federation population that has no idea what it's in for after approximately 75 years without an all out conflict. Which turns out to be true, as we see over the next several seasons. The other big take away:It's easy to get caught up in cultish nonsense. And something about an analogy to the Jan 6th storming of the US capitol...Again, not one I believe is great or anything, but there's some big takeaways.

Yeah, I don't take either of those away. If they cannot be clear in their message then it is difficult for me to find value in the messaging when all they do is say "The Federation is unprepared." Well, going to Risa is not the way to demonstrate battle readiness. "Peak Performance" demonstrates that Starfleet has tacticians, the Defiant demonstrates they have engineers to create warships, etc. And 75 years without a conflict? Um, not exactly. There was the Cardassian War and the Tzenkethi (sp?) war that were recent enough that O'Brien had served.

I agree it is easy to get caught up in cultish nonsense. But, I've known that since I was 15. This episode didn't teach me that. Any real world analogues are surface level at best.

 

[BoTWoT]

Yeah, I don't take either of those away. If they cannot be clear in their message then it is difficult for me to find value in the messaging when all they do is say "The Federation is unprepared." Well, going to Risa is not the way to demonstrate battle readiness. "Peak Performance" demonstrates that Starfleet has tacticians, the Defiant demonstrates they have engineers to create warships, etc. And 75 years without a conflict? Um, not exactly. There was the Cardassian War and the Tzenkethi (sp?) war that were recent enough that O'Brien had served.

I agree it is easy to get caught up in cultish nonsense. But, I've known that since I was 15. This episode didn't teach me that. Any real world analogues are surface level at best.

But neither of those conflicts were "felt" by the whole Federation, like the Dominion war, where nowhere was safe. How many cults actually do have clear messaging, instead just follow ends justifying means, as we see in the episode. It is absurd, but when has ANY trip to Risa in Trek been the sexy pleasurescape that it's famed for? It's not even the worst of the Risa episodes...I'll let you guess which one I have in mind for that. Lastly, just because you know a thing before you watch it in an episode of television, is not a reason to discount it in my playbook. Thanks, as always for the opinions. Keep em comin!

 

[fireproof78]

But neither of those conflicts were "felt" by the whole Federation, like the Dominion war, where nowhere was safe. How many cults actually do have clear messaging, instead just follow ends justifying means, as we see in the episode. It is absurd, but when has ANY trip to Risa in Trek been the sexy pleasurescape that it's famed for? It's not even the worst of the Risa episodes...I'll let you guess which one I have in mind for that. Lastly, just because you know a thing before you watch it in an episode of television, is not a reason to discount it in my playbook. Thanks, as always for the opinions. Keep em comin!

A message being effective helps elevate it. A message mired in its own meanderings takes away from it. I discount an episode when it can't present itself clearly. Now, I appreciate it and the use of it to manage contemporary issues. But, honestly, it takes more time to explain the episode than just understand the issues currently facing our world.

Risa itself is terrible and I would rank this as among the worst of that batch.

 

[BoTWoT]

A message being effective helps elevate it. A message mired in its own meanderings takes away from it.

Considering there's 755 episodes, and there are layers of bad, the fact that it has not one but two messages, at all, even if done poorly, beats the bottom 100, which as a whole don't have a message at all! I have to wonder how many of you folks are like Lord Garth above, saying he hasn't watched the episode(or others we've been talking about here) since its first run? If I based this list on the episodes I liked and disliked as a kid after first watch, the bottom would look like this:EVERYTHING TOS, Shades of Grey, Code of Honor, Samaritan Snare, Darmok, EVERYTHING Season 1 TNG.... Even episodes I've seen recently, in an intense playthrough where I'm looking at episodes to find new truths and low points has changed my perception of many episodes. I mean, what Trek fan actively watches the 'bad' episodes at all, let alone watch them with nothing but other 'bad' episodes around it? I know I used to skip half the run of every show in most playthroughs, so I get it. But if we just skip stuff we didn't like once, and then listen to the group think of,"Threshold is worst episode, Turnabout Intruder is worst episode, etc, etc.." then we don't learn or see that there's usually some amount of truth in the bad episodes, and some amount of stupid in the great episodes.

 

[Lord Garth]

"Let He Who Is Without Sin" is the only episode I haven't watched since first run. Obviously I wasn't born yet when "And the Children Shall Lead" came out, but that's the only other episode I haven't seen as an adult.

I went through all of DS9 and VOY again (the last two seasons of VOY for the first time) in 2008. I haven't really seen them since, except for Seven-centric episodes (and every episode of TNG) in the lead-up to Picard. There's not too much difference between my late-20s and early-40s, but just enough so that I thought it might be fair to note it.

With every other episode of TOS, I never sat down and watched all of them in a row (as an adult) but, over the last two decades, I've managed to re-watch all of them -- except for "And the Children Shall Lead" -- at least once, at one point or another.

 

[fireproof78]

I have to wonder how many of you folks are like Lord Garth above, saying he hasn't watched the episode(or others we've been talking about here) since its first run

Um, no. I wasn't all that interested in DS9 first run but watched it with friends. Then with Netflix when my wife got in to Trek after watching ST 2009 movie.

 

[1001001]

I’ve only seen Picard, Lower Decks, and Season 3 of Discovery once.

The rest of the franchise I’ve seen everything at least twice. VOY and TNG much more often than that.

 

[BoTWoT]

With every other episode of TOS, I never sat down and watched all of them in a row (as an adult) but, over the last two decades, I've managed to re-watch all of them -- except for "And the Children Shall Lead" -- at least once, at one point or another.

NOT one I found any new truths in...The only good part, for me, is about a whole minute of Nurse Chapel. Thanks Majel!

 

[Oddish]

I never watched TOS much... my "Trek sweet spot" runs from the TOS movies of the 80's to ENT.

Maybe once I can find a way to stream it on something bigger than a phone (is it REALLY that hard for Paramount to build a PS5 streaming app?) I will try and give Discovery another look.