Episodes that are generally considered "bad" that you actually like

[Fred1701]

Sure. "The Alternative Factor," "Turnabout Intruder," "Way to Eden," "Mudd's Women," "Friday's Child," "Miri," etc.

And I'll concede that "And The Children Shall Lead" has not aged very well, mostly because the chanting kids get annoying, but I'll testify that the ep creeped me out as a kid, and I think the dead parent stuff is probably the best and most powerful part of the episode.

(I'll also cop to having brought Gorgan the Friendly Angel back in one of my TREK novels.)

Ah, so you have a personal bias!!
The Alternative Factor and Way to Eden
I love the Alternative Factor for several reasons. For starters it's Season one, there are multiple scenes of the Reck room with the "Future" games and props.
Then I spend the entire Episode trying to figure out which Lazarus we're watching!!
Ever since I was a kid though, I questioned Kirk's assessment of the situation at the end, "Imagine, having a mad man at your throat through Eternity?" Through Eternity?!! In about 10 minutes they're both going to be exhausted from choking each other. Then, shortly thereafter they'd die from thirst and hunger!!
But most episodes have plot holes.

Now, 'Way to Eden' I HATED THAT ONE FOR YEARS!!!
Now, I embrace it and just enjoy the story and the Songs!!

I'M TALKING 'BOUT YOU.
I'M TALKING ME!
LET'S GET TOGETHER AND HAVE SOME FUN. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO IT BUT ITS GOT TO GET DONE!

 

[Greg Cox]

Ah, so you have a personal bias!!

Nah, you've got it backwards. I brought Gorgan back in the 1990s because the episode made an impression on me back in the 60s. I didn't retroactively embrace the ep because I eventually found a use for the character decades later.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I brought Gorgan back in the 1990s

Shower curtain and all?

 

[Greg Cox]

Shower curtain and all?

That was many years and books ago, but I suspect I avoided any comparisons to shower curtains.

 

[UnknownSample]

Reading page 1 here, I noticed Dagger of the Mind as a guilty pleasure, when I've never heard one word said against it. It's always been one of the greats, to me.

Alternative Factor's awkward bits shouldn't ruin an otherwise compelling, epic story. It shouldn't be blamed for exaggerating the destructive force of anti matter either... Trek has created countless adults who grew up curious about such things, who made themselves knowledgeable. In 1967 though, it was amazing just that they centered a story on anti matter. It wasn't a trope. And the story premise is jaw dropping for someone who, like me at age 8, was interested but didn't know much science or astronomy yet.

It's like Space 1999. You shoot yourself in the foot if you let the idea of the Moon travelling at warp put you off, because season 1 is great science fiction.

Many TOS season 3 stories... The Empath, the Michael Dunn one, more... at times I cringe at s3, at other times I'm amazed that the quality is still so high despite Freiberger, who has no soul... season 3 has plenty of soul and heart, more than other seasons possibly.

Season 2 of Next Gen is my favorite. It's more vital, fresher, edgier. There are bad episodes, but all seasons have those.

 

[DonIago]

Yeah, I've never heard "Dagger of the Mind" called a bad episode, though the frequent Helen Noel references have gotten...taxing. Some posters have given the impression that they only appreciate the episode because there's a woman they find sexy in it, which for me sort of demeans both the episode and the posters.

I don't recall finding AF particularly epic or compelling though, sorry.

 

[Armus]

Requiem For Methuselah, usually not regarded as a classic, is a TOS episode
I've come to appreciate for its somber, romantic quality. It was very touching, at the end of the episode, when Spock used a mind meld to help Kirk forget Rayna.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net...dth-down/340?cb=20180117185400&path-prefix=en

 

[DonIago]

I dunno, it honestly bothers me a little bit that Spock would do that sort of thing to...anyone, really. It just seems vaguely frivolous. "Have a memory you don't like? I can help you forget it!" Besides, having negative memories is as essential to a person's growth as having positive ones.

Besides, that Rayna's death would be so devastating to Kirk, to me, makes me wonder where Edith Keeler actually ranked for him, and I don't like to go down that road.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Besides, having negative memories is as essential to a person's growth as having positive ones.

"I NEED MY PAIN!!!"

 

[Rahul]

"Spock's Brain" (TOS), "Threshold" (VOY) and "A night in Sickbay" (ENT).

YES, I'M TAKING THE FULL COMBO!!!

In all honesty though: Are those episodes "good"? No. Not by any means. But each of those is totally bonkers. Not just memorable, but fun as hell.

McCoy using a remote control to walk Spock? Janeway and Tom having lizard babies? Archer in his underwear chasing bats? That shit is great! I don't want to miss those moments no matter what! They'e as much a part of Star Trek as Kirk rippping off his shirt and arguing computers to their death. Trek has always been sometimes more on the campy side. Again: This isn't "good" in any measure of quality. This is just that ridiculousness to the extreme.

And I love it.
So, so, so much more than the standardized super bland episodes like ENTs "Precious cargo" or VOYs "Ex Post Facto", which are just so forgettable no one could even retell what actually happened in them.

 

[Terok Nor]

The Man Trap
The Naked Now
Code of Honor
Skin Of Evil
The Royale
Devil's Due
Rascals
Genesis
Meridian (only for the Quark bits)
Let He Who Is Without Sin
Ferengi Love Songs
The Reckoning
Profit And Lace
Time's Orphan
11:59
Fury

 

[Terok Nor]

Within the last couples of years I watched the entire Voyager series and the only episode that I bailed on was The Fight. I got about 15 minutes in and said, okay that's enough and moved on to the next one.

I think that's not only the worst episode of Voyager but possibly the most boring episode in the entire franchise.

 

[DonIago]

You would think an episode called "The Fight" would be more exciting.

 

[johnnybear]

I've never understood the hatred for The Alternative Factor! Even if we're not sure which Lazarus we're watching at any given time! The BBC made a right pig's ear of this episode with their cuts back in 1981! I dare anyone to follow that version and still make sense of it by the time of the ending!
JB

 

[Armus]

I got more pleasure watching "Man of the People" than I did rewatching "Relics" and "Tapestry" when I watched my TNG season 6 blurays!

 

[Tuskin38]

Voyager 'Blink of the Eye'.

I accidentally posted this in the wrong thread before lmao

 

[DonIago]

Who considers "Blink of the Eye" to be a bad episode???

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

You would think an episode called "The Fight" would be more exciting.

I have absolutely no memory of that episode.

Speaking of fights, wasn't there some VOY episode that was created specifically to tie in to some kind of professional wrestling that UPN had just recently picked up at the time? I vaguely recall something about a prison space station.

 

[DonIago]

"Tsunkatse", I believe it was called...FEATURING THE ROCK!!!

I remember watching "The Fight", but aside from wondering what Ray Walston had done wrong to end up in such a dreary episode (IIRC), I remember little else.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Tsunkatse would definitely not fall into the category of this thread. At least for me. As with "The Man Trap," I'm surprised it has any apologists at all.