Say something POSITIVE about your least favorite Trek show / season / episode / character …

[Michael]

… and something NEGATIVE about your favorite show, season, episode or character.

We had something like this years ago and I remember it resulting in some interesting reactions and discussions. The point is to find something positive in the thing you dislike and be realistic and critical of a thing you love.

————

I’ll begin and say that even though season two of Picard was probably the least enjoyable season of Trek to me in quite a while, I really liked Rios’ storyline and that he ultimately decided to stay in the past for love. Also, the way they tried to weave in stuff from “Assignment: Earth” and the travellers was a cool concept (at least on paper, because the execution leaves a lot to be desired) and I really liked Laris as a character.

And then: One of my all-time favorite characters is Kira Nerys. Obviously there’s a lot to be critical about a character that used to be a terrorist, but that’s mostly what the character makes interesting as well. What I wish they would have done with her is have her question her faith a little more. I get it, in their universe the gods they are worshipping are actual real aliens. But it doesn‘t follow that the whole religion they built around that holds true or makes sense. And I would have liked if they had explored that with Kira at some point.

 

[BillJ]

TOS is a trainwreck full of misogyny. Yet, is the best, most imaginative the franchise has ever been.

 

[Farscape One]

I have done a LOT of defending of certain episodes that most don't like over the years. ("Masks", "MOVE ALONG HOME", "THRESHOLD", etc.) Harder to do with ones I truly dislike, but it has been known to happen. I'll play along.


"Sub Rosa" - this rightfully is near bottom of the TNG list. It was terrible and really made Beverly look bad and odd. But McFadden really put her all into this one, and Frakes did a great job directing. The first part of the episode is very creepy and rather haunting, particularly the scenes in the cabin.

"THESE ARE THE VOYAGES..." - if you know my posting history, you'll know how I despise this episode. A series finale that isn't even really about the characters of the show it is ending, but centered on one from a show that ended 11 years earlier? It does nothing but leave a bad taste in my mouth. BUT... the final minute of Kirk, Picard, and Archer doing the voiceover with their respective ships was really good.

PICARD season 2 - this was just a trainwreck of a season. Definitely the worst of the franchise. My list of what doesn't work is just too long to post. But it did have an excellent season premiere, and the scenes with Picard and Q in the finale were spectacular.



DEEP SPACE 9 - my favorite series. I absolutely LOVE DS9! But if I were to point out one negative... we really didn't explore the Gamma Quadrant that much. What we did get was a very interesting look at some of their societies... very, VERY technologically driven and advanced. (Realistic mind prisons, literally being inside a board game, forcing two groups of people to live forever using nanotechnology as a punishment for battling each other endlessly, creating an entire holographic village in the countryside, advanced genetic engineering and cloning, etc.) It would have been nice to see what else they had.

 

[BillJ]

"Sub Rosa" - this rightfully is near bottom of the TNG list. It was terrible and really made Beverly look bad and odd. But McFadden really put her all into this one, and Frakes did a great job directing. The first part of the episode is very creepy and rather haunting, particularly the scenes in the cabin.

It is funny, I think this particular episode has aged better than a lot of TNG. Definitely more entertaining.

 

[Farscape One]

It is funny, I think this particular episode has aged better than a lot of TNG. Definitely more entertaining.

Then I'll go one step further... "Code of Honor".

Yes, the casting choices for the Ligonians was really bad, BUT... Jessie Lawrence Ferguson was really great in it. Commanding and devious presence. He elevated every scene he was in. And we have the Geordi shaving scene. You see why him and Data are best friends with scenes like this. I can never speak ill of scenes like that because they are not only great friendship moments but are important for Data as a character.

 

[BillJ]

Then I'll go one step further... "Code of Honor".

Yes, the casting choices for the Ligonians was really bad, BUT... Jessie Lawrence Ferguson was really great in it. Commanding and devious presence. He elevated every scene he was in. And we have the Geordi shaving scene. You see why him and Data are best friends with scenes like this. I can never speak ill of scenes like that because they are not only great friendship moments but are important for Data as a character.

"Code of Honor" was a major misstep in the franchise. There are good elements, like anything, just the overall package was rough.

I do wonder if the constant scrambling for scripts Star Trek was famous for had this one in production before it should have been?

 

[Michael]

"Sub Rosa" - this rightfully is near bottom of the TNG list. It was terrible and really made Beverly look bad and odd. But McFadden really put her all into this one, and Frakes did a great job directing. The first part of the episode is very creepy and rather haunting, particularly the scenes in the cabin.

“Sub Rosa” is one of my guilty pleasure, haha. It’s probably objectively bad, but I like it for some of the very reasons you cite here. The episode is just full of atmosphere and looks gorgeous.

“Code of Honor” sucks ass, though. Although you are right, Jessie Lawrence Ferguson is kind of memorable. Plus, the episode’s score from TOS alumnus Fred Steiner is pretty good.

 

[1001001]

Picard is my least favorite series, but Raffi and Seven were good.

 

[Cyfa]

The most positive thing I can think of about Picard is that it introduced the Romulan game of pixmit/pikhmit to the Star Trek Universe - it's beautiful, intriguing, and inspired me to make some of my own cards.

And the negative: Lower Decks doesn't have enough episodes, Kimolu & Matt don't have bigger roles, and the wait for new seasons is interminably looooonnnnnnnng!

Really though, the only thing I'm not overly thrilled about in LDS is Dr. Migleemo. I don't really see the point of his character other than as some dubious comic relief (although he was funny when he did this:

).

 

[Michael]

The most positive thing I can think of about Picard is that it introduced the Romulan game of pixmit/pikhmit to the Star Trek Universe - it's beautiful, intriguing, and inspired me to make some of my own cards.

Agreed! Just in general I think the art department has been doing a great job on Picard since day one. Not a fan of the Titan-A and some of the starfleet uniforms they made for the show, but other than that there’s some beautiful sets, props and makeup designs all throughout the show. The Romulan tarot is a great example of that. Will definitely try and get my hands on the artbook that’s just come out.

And the negative: Lower Decks doesn't have enough episodes, Kimolu & Matt don't have bigger roles, and the wait for new seasons is interminably looooonnnnnnnng!

Really though, the only thing I'm not overly thrilled about in LDS is Dr. Migleemo. I don't really see the point of his character other than as some dubious comic relief (although he was funny when he did this:

).

I adore Lower Decks! But asked to say something critical about it I would say they could dial back some of the humor relying on making obscure Trek references. I feel like they’ve actually been doing that already, and I think the show is great, funny and surprisingly deep if they just do their own thing. Not every character needs to remember some outlandish thing from a decades old episode.

 

[Starscape]

I had to go back to the very first episodes of Picard to find something positive: I thought the Jean Luc - Laris - Zhaban dynamic was great. I read an interview with Chabon where he said his first instinct for the show was to base it around Jean Luc just futzing about the vineyard. I'd have loved that, I imagine it as Star Trek meets Last of the Summer Wine - Jean Luc recapturing his youth with Laris as the voice of authority/responsibility and Zhaban running interference for JL.

A negative about Deep Space Nine - it's disappointing that the final two seasons (the war seasons) weren't more serialized. I know it wasn't the Star Trek way back then and we're lucky for the multi-parters we did get but, comparing it to Babylon 5 at the time, it felt like DS9 was wasting an opportunity to dig deeper into the struggle. Wasn't there an initial plan for the S6 opening six-parter to span the entire season? That would've been fantastic.

 

[Forbin]

Let's see...
And the Children Shall Lead gave some young actors work.
The Alternative Factor had that cool little flying saucer ship, and gave a lovely and talented black actress a major role in a position of responsibility.
Spock's Brain begat a wonderful parody scene on The Wonder Years.

 

[Oddish]

Favorite series: TNG was great... but it had trouble finding episodes that worked for some of the characters.

Least favorite series: DIS wasn't my Trek of choice... but it wasn't afraid to try new things, or to reinvent itself.

Characters: This may surprise some of you, but I don't really have a favorite character... I might have a tendency to advocate for certain individuals who I think got shafted, but that's more out of my Odo-level sense of justice than anything else.

A couple who I'm meh about, though...

Deanna Troi is completely decadent about desserts in general and chocolate in particular... I'm totally down with that.

And B'Elanna Torres is a character who isn't afraid to think (and sometimes color) outside of the lines.

Favorite episode: "The Visitor" could be interpreted as encouraging suicide.

Another favorite episode: In "Subspace Rhapsody", the serious and music-free scene between Kirk and La'an felt a little out of place.

My former favorite episode (and I do still like it): The Best of Both Worlds had an incredibly well executed arc where Will Riker emerged from Picard's shadow as a worthy captain in his own right... and then did nothing with it.

Least favorite episode: Lwaxana was a surprisingly sympathetic character in "Half a Life". I probably wouldn't have hated this one so much if she hadn't been.

And a few other "worst" efforts...

"Threshold" had an amusingly awkward final scene with Paris and Janeway.

"A Night in Sickbay" actually had some pretty funny moments.

"Code of Honor" had a laser cage spiked ball catfight!

And "Profit and Lace"... uh... well, it had... uh... um... er... Ok, I give up.

 

[Farscape One]

"AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD" - I think this is the worst episode of TOS. (And based on the 'Most Disliked TOS Episode' results, with it winning 4 out of the 5 times it has been played, I'm not alone in that assertion.) But we did get a very rare (possibly only) scene of Chapel being rather motherly with the kids. It's a nice little character beat for her.

"THE RECKONING" - this is one of those very rare episodes in the franchise that actually gets worse with every rewatch. It used to be the 5th worst of DS9 for me. It has now become THE worst episode of DS9. (Yes, even worse than "PROFIT AND LACE".) The only positive here is this one actually had me rooting for and supporting what Kai Winn did. But I think this positive actually supports the overall negativity about the episode even further... if you write an episode where your audience is cheering on Kai Winn over Sisko, then you seriously, SERIOUSLY screwed up.

"FURY" - the second worst episode of VOY for me. But it did have two positives. One, we got to see the Vidiians one last time. (I think they are the best villains the series made, and arguably a contender for best in the franchise. Just their very existence is a moral dilemma, and their look was fantastic.) And two, we got an explanation for why Samantha Wildman, a human, was pregnant for almost a year and a half.

 

[HIjol]

Taking this part of the Thread Title more generally literally;

“Say something POSITIVE about your least favorite show”

One of my least favorite shows, “The Kardashians” is a homophone for one of my favorite Star Trek antagonists!!!

 

[Michael]

"AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD" - I think this is the worst episode of TOS. (And based on the 'Most Disliked TOS Episode' results, with it winning 4 out of the 5 times it has been played, I'm not alone in that assertion.) But we did get a very rare (possibly only) scene of Chapel being rather motherly with the kids. It's a nice little character beat for her.

Yeah, whatever they had in mind for that one … I doesn’t really work. I guess the one thing I like about the episode, and it’s a tiny thing, is that they first show a United Federation of Planets flag.

"FURY" - the second worst episode of VOY for me. But it did have two positives. One, we got to see the Vidiians one last time. (I think they are the best villains the series made, and arguably a contender for best in the franchise. Just their very existence is a moral dilemma, and their look was fantastic.) And two, we got an explanation for why Samantha Wildman, a human, was pregnant for almost a year and a half.

What a clusterfuck of an episode, true. If anything, the mere concepts of having Kes return and making her time travel to a point in time early in the show were pretty cool. Having her turn evil is what ruins the episode beyond saving, because it doesn’t work at all.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Big Brother (in all iterations): It’s at least slightly compelling, sometimes, when viewed as a social experiment.

Spring: I get dreadful hayfever, but the flowers are beautiful.

My own midlife crisis: About 7 years back. Financially crippling, but I had a great wardrobe.

Hamlet: Overrated in the Shakespeare canon, but I quite liked David Tennant’s take.

 

[Michael]

^

Boom, edited the thread title.

 

[Oddish]

Hamlet: Overrated in the Shakespeare canon, but I quite liked David Tennant’s take.

THIS was the best take on Hamlet ever.

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[HIjol]

THIS was the best take on Hamlet ever.

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Hell
Yes