The least disliked episode 2023 - TOS Season 1

[BlueStuff]

Our addictive biyearly game of rapid elimination returns - now with more shows than ever. 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 before you eliminate another episode.

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

Star Trek: The Original Series
Hall of Champions
2011 - Mirror, Mirror
2013 - Balance of Terror
2015 - Mirror, Mirror
2017 - Journey to Babel
2019 - The Doomsday Machine
2021 - The Doomsday Machine
2023 -

Season 1

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The Alternative Factor
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Brennyren]

I found the action in "The Alternative Factor" utterly confusing. I knew I was supposed to cheer for "good" Lazarus (who never did get much characterization, just being a bland "science hero"), but frequently I couldn't tell which one he was by watching. The transitions were chaotic and unclear, making viewing frustrating.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Sakonna]

Mostly episodes I have some degree of positive feeling for.

But I have never been able to get into "The Squire Of Gothos." Trelane just grates for me as a character, very shrill and off-putting. The audio is very nails-on-a-chalkboard -- it's hard to get past an episode that is simply unpleasant to listen to.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Seven of Five]

As much as I like the character Mudd, Mudd's Women is a definite poor quality to it with the Hookers in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! vibe. It hasn't aged well.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[BlueStuff]

Miri was a very silly episode. Those kids were irritating to varying levels and Kirk pleading "no blah blah blah!" foreshadowed the embarrassment we'll later feel in "Spock's Brain" as he babbled endlessly about, well, Spock's brain.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Seven of Five]

I always found The Return of the Archons a bit daft on rewatches so that's saved.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Wheren No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Court Martial
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Sakonna]

"Court Martial" One of the great weaknesses of TOS is it's affinity for boring trials.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Wheren No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Vger23]

OK this is going to be REALLY challenging, as TOS S1 is probably one of the best seasons of Star Trek ever.

First out, I'm going to kill "This Side of Paradise." I know a lot of people consider this one a classic in some ways, but I never liked Spock being out of character as a kid, I hated the love story (and Jill Ireland just doesn't "hit" a compelling performance to be honest), and I still find it pretty weak when I re-watch as an adult. I love the location shooting, and I love the conflict at the end of the episode...but otherwise it's not one of my favorites.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Wheren No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Seven of Five]

Oh I know, S1 has so many great episodes in it I'm going to feel like a bastard at some point.

Shore Leave is a funny episode, but it's a little too lightweight to be considered a classic.

EDIT Forgot the list:

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Wheren No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Farscape One]

TOS season 1 was the best first season in the franchise. Chock full of classics. It's so hard to narrow. (Though one of my absolute favorite episodes of TOS is here.)

I will start by taking out "THE CONSCIENCE OF THE KING".

While a great episode, it was extremely Shakespearian. (Obviously.) It's not a bad thing, and I love Shakespeare, but going to the point of being even more theatrical than Shakespeare slightly brings it down from the rest on the list.



The Man Trap
Charlie X
Wheren No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Farscape One]

By the way...

I want to thank BlueStuff for creating these games. They have always been such great fun, and an inspiration. I find them even more challenging than the Most Disliked counterparts because it's so hard to give up favorites. I feel like I have to think harder on why I am voting an episode off with these, and making my brain think harder is a good thing.

(Well, usually. Sometimes my brain can break, and you can't imagine how much tape and glue I've used to piece it back together over the years.)

 

[Phaser Two]

Where No Man Has Gone Before goes to the heap.

I just never found it as compelling as some and can't get past the nonsensical uniforms and other designs that they thankfully updated. Also, as aired it is a bit redundant because the previous episode also deals with a psionic person behaving badly.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Seven of Five]

What Are Little Girls Made Of? is an interesting enough premise, I just feel that it was a bit wasted on the limited Chapel.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "THE MENAGERIE PART I".

While very good, it's not as good as the second part.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Noname Given]

Taking out The Man Trap

For me, this was one of the worst episodes of TOS (even looking at some from S3). It's a tropeish 'monster' episode where the monster is dumb for the sake of the plot. It knows it can egt the salt it needs peacefully, but it kills because that's what's needed for the episode to have something going on It's an intelligent being and more than just a animal because as it's masqurading as McCoy, it asks Kirk point blank if he'd consider letting it live as it's the last of it's kind and might be intelligent, and Kirk says no because it's killed 4 men.

And don't get me started with Spock (in a frenzy of emotion too) going up and fully striking the creature as it appears to be Nancy to McCoy; or Spock screaming: "...It's KILLING the Captain!"

Ugh! Begone!

Charlie X
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Brennyren]

"The Enemy Within" is pretty good, but Spock (Spock, ffs!) smirking that "the imposter had some extremely interesting qualities" to the woman said "imposter" tried to rape is awful.

Charlie X
The Naked Time
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[fireproof78]

The Galileo Seven. It has some interesting ideas in that episode, but Spock's struggles and McCoy's lectures on leadership really are among my least favorite exchanges between the two characters. That and the creatures rocking the shuttle at the end makes me laugh and not in a good way.

Charlie X
The Naked Time
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Poltargyst]

Well, Menagerie Part 1 was kicked out, so it's easy to kick out Part 2. Really, the Cage is just okay for me, and this is just rehashing the Cage.

Charlie X
The Naked Time
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
Balance of Terror
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Poltargyst]

Where No Man Has Gone Before goes to the heap.

I just never found it as compelling as some and can't get past the nonsensical uniforms and other designs that they thankfully updated. Also, as aired it is a bit redundant because the previous episode also deals with a psionic person behaving badly.

Not if you watch in Production Order.

Really, WNMHGB is one of my favorites.

 

[Brennyren]

This is me throwing a big rock at the guy in the tacky-looking lizard suit. Or in other words, farewell "Arena."

Charlie X
The Naked Time
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
Balance of Terror
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!