The Most Disliked Episode of TNG, 2023 Edition - Season 3...

[Qonundrum]

"Booby Trap" is my next favorite, though one other is solid as well.

The mystery ship and booby trap are well-executed. If not corny in that the alien captain is just like Picard, but it's refreshing that this captain isn't eeeeeeeeeevil either. Probably. Unlke Iconia, let the aliens and their ship be baddies in some prequel episode, why not?

Geordi's date, seen in a later story as if she never rejected him before, is best reserved as a clunker episode...

Once Geordi asks Computer to recreate her personality and it says there's a 9.37% margin of error and Computer is limited to available data that isn't classified, and her marital status either was or Computer didn't recognize anything and didn't respond heuristically. Whee. Even Geordi admits the backrub he didn't ask for was wrong.

What's left:
"Evolution"
"The Bonding"
"The Price"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Sakonna]

Season 3 has always been pretty meh for me. But I do like a possession story, and I'm also a fan of the aliens in this one. "Allegiance"

"Evolution"
"The Bonding"
"The Price"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah, we are agreed on Booby Trap, @Qonundrum. I love the score the episode has too.

Something else season three has going for it is the music was still excellent.

The High Ground is next for me, as it has some very difficult questions.

"Evolution"
"The Bonding"
"The Price"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Qonundrum]

"The Most Toys" is too good by far to let be the worst.

Even Data gets to do "that unspoken Riker maneuver" on the baddie at the end of this one and, oddly, nobody threatens his disassembly over his obvious lie - unlike ever other time he withholds information or lies or so on. Also, Saul Rubinek came in under unfortunate circumstances, but he simply nails it as Fajo and rendering an already great story even greater.

What's left:
"Evolution"
"The Bonding"
"The Price"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Qonundrum]

Yeah, we are agreed on Booby Trap, @Qonundrum. I love the score the episode has too.

Something else season three has going for it is the music was still excellent.

The High Ground is next for me, as it has some very difficult questions.

Season 3's music is the most pinnacle and iconic. But I have to agree, "Booby Trap" did result in one scene being so far over the top that the reuse of suspense music from "Where Silence Has Lease" felt more fitting for the climatic escape scene. The original cue is on the Ron Jones CD set and, yup, Rick Berman was right in thinking it was too much. It went from being cinematic in quality to a large loud blop, which reminds me to never eat wheat again or else my tummy doesn't like it, but I digress. The show would often go too far in the opposite direction in season 5 onward, proving that too flat a music style does not help a produced script any more than too bombastic does (or eating too much wheat for that matter, in an ironic twist). Especially when plenty of music in this episode hit the mark just right. Ron Jones did like being experimental, and this episode's score definitely fits and mostly for good reasons, but Rick was right to veto that cue.

High Ground was excellent for the time, though it was banned from airing in some areas due to the subject matter. Has it aged well since? I dunno, but it was solid at the time.

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Now THAT has some cinematic quality music that fits the scene beautifully. TNG should never have been lower than this standard set. Interestingly, it reminds me loosely of the score for TBOBW at times, but not as continually brazenly as "The Way of the Warrior" copped the music from GEN... But imagine of season 5's "Power Play" had this type of score instead of "farting frogs on valium AND a cup of coffee". The scene I've always wanted to put up has never been found, but for an action scene in a corridor, I just can't helped but to laugh because the music is so mismatched, out of place, and manages to take one out of the suspense of the moment because those frogs on a log in a bog trying to do a fan production of the beans scene from "Blazing Saddles" also doubled as the musical score. Every time I remember that, I then go to rewatch "The Next Phase" as the music in that is so sublime, perfectly done, and a great example and reminder that the latter half of TNG had some suitably fitting and great scores as well.

 

[CitadelZombies]

I'll save "Evolution" if just for the fact it has my favourite shot of the Enterprise-D next to the red giant.

"The Bonding"
"The Price"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Farscape One]

I'll save "The Bonding" next.

It was a good use of having families on board the ship. Plus, it was Ronald D. Moore's first script for TNG. Bringing him aboard was a landmark for the franchise because he wrote so many damned good episodes.


"The Price"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Qonundrum]

Ugh. It's slight-gack vs more-gack vs economy-size-gack.

"A Matter of Perspective" is the least gacktacular of the lot.

The one issue it doesn't address is rather grim and seems to be confirmed by all arguments, surprisingly. How did the script not notice?

That, and the holodeck replicating actual matter and the attempted physics of surrounding elements and so on - as long as it knows the atomic composition of everything involved to simulate, of course. Krieger Waves are clearly known to it, but the story says they're new and experimental? (They downloaded the schematics of the machine, which picks up on the waves, of course.)

In the end, it's not the best story, but only slightly gacky. It's higher on my list o' faves, but not by a significant margin.

So what's left - one involves tight pants and the other involves the lack of them. How fun!!


What's left:
"The Price"
"Transfigurations"

 

[Vger23]

“Transfigurations” is boring, but everything about “The Price” is truly dreadful, so I’ll save “Transfigurations”.

It may be dull, but it has a nice science fiction story in the best traditions of Star Trek, and a really beautiful ending.

 

[Vger23]

Ugh. It's slight-gack vs more-gack vs economy-size-gack.

"A Matter of Perspective" is the least gacktacular of the lot.

The one issue it doesn't address is rather grim and seems to be confirmed by all arguments, surprisingly. How did the script not notice?

That, and the holodeck replicating actual matter and the attempted physics of surrounding elements and so on - as long as it knows the atomic composition of everything involved to simulate, of course. Krieger Waves are clearly known to it, but the story says they're new and experimental? (They downloaded the schematics of the machine, which picks up on the waves, of course.)

In the end, it's not the best story, but only slightly gacky. It's higher on my list o' faves, but not by a significant margin.

So what's left - one involves tight pants and the other involves the lack of them. How fun!!


What's left:
"The Price"
"Transfigurations"

A Matter of Perspective is awesome because it has that one holodeck iteration where Apgar beats the crap out if Riker, which is absolutely hilarious.

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[Oddish]

A Matter of Perspective is awesome because it has that one holodeck iteration where Apgar beats the crap out if Riker, which is absolutely

Totally agreed. It's good to know that machismo remains a thing in the 24th century.

 

[Qonundrum]

“Transfigurations” is boring, but everything about “The Price” is truly dreadful, so I’ll save “Transfigurations”.

It may be dull, but it has a nice science fiction story in the best traditions of Star Trek, and a really beautiful ending.

But... but passion fires up the Enterprise,

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on Staaaar Drek, The Next Generation!

 

[Farscape One]

So "The Price" is the winner of season 3. Fun fact: "Transfigurations" has been the winner for every season 3 contest until now. In fact, "The Price" was the runner up for the last two times. These are clearly most disliked.

I will start season 4 later today. Hope to see everyone there.

Thank you all for playing.

 

[Oddish]

Well, pretty clear what the worst is... though I did appreciate Picard's memorable line at the end of "Transfigurations":

"It is our mission to seek out life in all forms. We are privileged to have been present at the emergence of a new species."

 

[Mudd]

And, of course, what propels Gomtuu at light speed or faster?

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