joeman published a most peculiar ranking here, just a few samples: 'what you leave behind' earned his full admiration, while 'death wish' seems to be something not worth bothering with. now what has this extremely smart and funny voyager episode done to earn this sort of contempt? what on the other hand makes 'what you leave behind' one of the best? it feels like the failed attempt to tell a whole season in the space of a double episode, everything is rushed, incomplete, full with continuity errors, and the 'burn the book of evil to conquer evil' subplot probably penned by the brothers grimm. it's not even a contender for 'endgame', which had a couple of issues as well, but was at least a credible finale.
Perhaps my
Death Wish rating seems a little low, and I can understand that. I think the thing I could not get past was how no one bothered to ask Q or Q2 if they would please send them back home. Especially Q2. After all Janeway did for him, it seems it wouldn't have hurt to ask. Of course, I wouldn't want it to happen at that point, as the series would be over, but it would seem natural to at least ask! That just bugged me to the point of disliking the episode, as silly as that may seem.
As far as the DS9 finale, not only did I think it was a great ending, I thought it was one of the best endings ever on a TV show. It tied up so many loose ends that there were at least a dozen points in the episode that I thought could have been a legitimate ending. I just found it completely satisfying. As I've said before, and it could be a major fault of mine, but I really don't pay much attention to "continuity.
I can't really rank Trek by seasons, because if I happen to be in a Trek mood (when I have the time to watch episodes) I would watch whatever episode (or episodes) I'm in the mood for.
Mood is definitely a factor. I did try and watch most episodes twice, and average the two scores (and most often, they were indeed different scores).
I find I really can't pick and choose episodes to watch. I start from the beginning and watch the entire series. I guess it's a bit obsessive compulsive.
Over the years, before I found this board, I Googled various people's Trek lists, this one being my favorite:
http://www.trekmania.net/conference/episodes/episodes50-48.htm
What I wouldn't give to be able to put together something that cool. Great episode commentary with screenshots, quotes, audio clips, and other episode info. My hat is off to whoever put that together!
Thanks again for all the feedback and comments (negative or positive). I really do enjoy reading others comments and ratings more than I do posting my own.
