Most Forgettable Episode

[Mojochi]

Indeed. Data's Day and In Theory are great examples of how to do a different kind of Data story and give Spiner an effective showcase.

I think they got it into their head that Spiner was some kind of brilliant actor. He's wonderful as Data because it forces him to focus and prevents him from going big with his comic acting. He can be very good, but his natural inclinations are always towards the big and the melodramatic.

As Lore he becomes a scenery-chewing, moustache-twirling villain, when the part probably called for a more subtle, sinister portrayal. But I suppose it sort of plays into the character, because Lore always turns out to be totally inept with stupid plans which make no sense. No wonder Soong took him apart.

See, I actually think Spiner is ok as Lore, because Lore is an over the top kind of character. The idea was that Lore is the opposite of Data. Soong was making an android that had better than human characteristics, better strength/durability, better brain capacity, better eyesight/hearing etc... He ended up making Lore's emotions more potent than a human's as well, and as a result, made emotions that presented as a complete psychopath. He's written to be unstably overplayed, as evidenced in his drastic mood changes in Brothers

It may be the only time Spiner's rather hammy customary acting style actually works. Any time else that they let him loose, Fistful of Data's, Masks, etc... he's painfully lame. He's even a bit too hammy in Power Play, Whereas Meaney & Sirtis nail that episode

 

[DonIago]

Even though it gets a lot of negativity, I think Shades of Grey qualifies as "forgettable" for its sheer blandness and the fact that nothing important actually happens.

Kor

I dunno, I think "Shades of Gray" is kind of infamous for being 'the clip show' which makes it, in a sense, very easy to remember.

In a way, I feel that any episode that can be quickly summed up and immediately recognizable as "The one where..." may or may not be a bad episode, but at least isn't forgettable.

"The one where Picard becomes a Borg."
"The one where a ghost makes Crusher orgasm."
"The one with Yar's sister."

 

[Random_Spock]

That one weird one with Troi or Crusher in it that seemed like a cheap porno. (forgot the name of it, it was so bad... )

Almost every single episode about Captain Picard's alter ego, Dixon Hill. Seriously. Hated them and hated the character.

 

[Mojochi]

I dunno, I think "Shades of Gray" is kind of infamous for being 'the clip show' which makes it, in a sense, very easy to remember.

In a way, I feel that any episode that can be quickly summed up and immediately recognizable as "The one where..." may or may not be a bad episode, but at least isn't forgettable.

"The one where Picard becomes a Borg."
"The one where a ghost makes Crusher orgasm."
"The one with Yar's sister."

Exactly. That's why my choice was Vengeance Factor. I've watched every episode of that show as nauseum, but even I can barely remember anything of consequence about that episode. Others I've seen mentioned here that I'd agree with are

New Ground (Alexander yada yada something)
Masterpiece Society (Perfect people, & Troi flirting or whatever)
A Matter of Perspective (Whose title is so bland, I have to remind myself it isn't the Klingon or Max Headroom time travel one, but instead Riker defending his penis or something)
And Liasons (Wrinkle headed aliens being boring, & Picard stuck in a cargo container with a nutty lady)

All barely memorable

 

[Prax]

The one with the aliens where one of them tries to make worf mad. I can't find the title.

I've seen it at least 3 times, and I had déjà vu each time, with the strong sensation that I had seen it before, but it still felt like I was watching a brand new TNG episode.

 

[unimatrix7]

The Bonding

How dare you, sir.

I know I'm in the minority, but I adore that episode

 

[Mojochi]

The one with the aliens where one of them tries to make worf mad. I can't find the title.

I've seen it at least 3 times, and I had déjà vu each time, with the strong sensation that I had seen it before, but it still felt like I was watching a brand new TNG episode.

That's Liasons

 

[Xhiandra]

New Ground. A whole lot of nothing, there.

 

[Armus]

The one with Geordi's mom. It is so forgettable that I don't even have to watch the whole episode all the way through to tell you how forgettable it is.

 

[suarezguy]

Probably "We'll Always Have Paris" or yeah "The Vengeance Factor", very unambitious and pretty uninvolving and yet far from bad.

 

[Mojochi]

The one with Geordi's mom. It is so forgettable that I don't even have to watch the whole episode all the way through to tell you how forgettable it is.

Interface... Yeah. If it weren't for his little drone controlling suit, there'd be nothing of that one to leave a mark at all

Probably "We'll Always Have Paris" or yeah "The Vengeance Factor", very unambitious and pretty uninvolving and yet far from bad.

Yeah, forgettable doesn't mean bad or good really, both of which tend to be remembered with great distinction, for good or ill. These are the ones that just came & went, without much fanfare one way or the other

My new one is Eye of The Beholder. Not necessarily terrible on a rewatch, but boy is it ever worth forgetting

 

[Herbert]

Even though it gets a lot of negativity, I think Shades of Grey qualifies as "forgettable" for its sheer blandness and the fact that nothing important actually happens.

Kor

That's the one I would pick. Death to all clip shows! (well, except for the Seinfeld one. That's at least funny)

 

[Herbert]

Probably "We'll Always Have Paris" or yeah "The Vengeance Factor", very unambitious and pretty uninvolving and yet far from bad.

I like We'll Always Have Paris because of the menacing time distortion thing going on. Although, to this day I'm still confused as to how middle Data knows that he is the correct one to seal the rift

 

[TheCrankyCardassian]

My vote goes to any episode featuring the relationship between Worf and Alexander. My memory can't even distinguish between them most of the time.

 

[DonIago]

My new one is Eye of The Beholder. Not necessarily terrible on a rewatch, but boy is it ever worth forgetting

Aw, I liked seeing the inside of a warp nacelle.

 

[johnjm22]

I had to look up the episode list to find the episodes I'd forgotten about because, like everyone else, I'd forgotten.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation_episodes

Lonely Among Us
The Big Goodbye
We'll Always Have Paris
The Royale (I did see it a couple months ago, but it's still not terribly memorable despite being (slightly) above average for season 2)
The Emissary
The Bonding
The Price (though how an episode can be so forgettable despite being so bad...)
A Matter of Perspective
Allegiance
Suddenly Human
Reunion
Final Mission
The Loss
The Wounded
Clues
Half a Life
The Host
Cost of Living
The Perfect Mate
Time's Arrow (though in its defense the setup and cliffhanger were rather original)
Realm of Fear
Man of the People
Schisms
A Fistful of Datas (partly because it's so bad!)
The Quality of Life (ditto, just thinking the name "Exocomp" compels me to chant "never happened, never happened, never happened"!)
Aquiel
Birthright part one
Suspicions
Rightful Heir
Second Chances
Liaisons
Gambit
Dark Page
Attached
Homeward
Sub Rosa (everyone remembers the "sweeps week moment" but absolutely nothing else or what gets her there, pun not intended... so I'm including it anyway. )
Lower Decks
Eye of the Beholder
Genesis (how could I forget that one, hence this edit)
Journey's End
Firstborn
Bloodlines
Emergence
Preemptive Strike

There's a lot of good episodes on this list. I like The Emissary, Reunion, The Wounded, Clues, Realm of Fear, Schisms, A Fistful of Datas, Suspicions, Rightful Heir, Lower Decks & Emergence.

Sub Rosa is indeed terrible, but I wouldn't call it forgettable.

 

[Mojochi]

Aw, I liked seeing the inside of a warp nacelle.

Surely, the highlight of that episode lol

 

[JesterFace]

The thing with Masks is that Spiner is absolutely dreadful in the episode.

I guess tastes vary, I thought Spiner's characters in 'Masks' were kinda good.

 

[suarezguy]

The one somewhat-memorable thing about "The Vengeance Factor" is, especially rare for season 3 and onward, there was an attempt to make Riker very Kirk-like or more Kirk than Kirk, thankfully that was a rare exception.

My new one is Eye of The Beholder. Not necessarily terrible on a rewatch, but boy is it ever worth forgetting

The quality was very average but I thought it was memorable to get Troi and Worf together, then have her kill him and then cop-out-reverse both the latter (of course) and also the former. But since most of it isn't real it certainly feels like a waste of time (but somehow, the actors all doing OK, not too annoying).

 

[oberth]

Episodes so unremarkable as to not ever show up on "best of" or "worst of" lists, never get debated over anything controversial, & don't add anything significant to the series at all.

My vote goes to The Vengeance Factor. I've seen it numerous times. Despite that fact, I can't even remember half of their names & I'm watching it right now. It's some kind of clan war that bothers Picard or something, & Riker getting lead around by his libido. There's many forgettable episodes, but none which I so find completely underwhelming

as i hate it, it just doesn't qualify all 'romantic riker' episodes are just loathable