STAR TREK - The Absolute Best and Worst

[Ovation]

Best—Where No Man Has Gone Before

Worst—The Lights of Zetar

The first provides every essential element of what makes Trek appealing to me. The latter bores me to tears (worst sin any entertainment can make).

While I’ve seen 99.44% of all official Trek (excluding all but first two episodes of Prodigy), I’ll allow that I haven’t had equal exposure to all of them, so it’s possible I could find something else for worst. Nothing has yet displaced my best, though if anything does, it’ll be something from SNW, I’d wager.

 

[Unnamed Caitian]

900 it too big a number

Even if I would pick the 10% best and 10% worst 90+90=180 it is still a big number

LOL JK the best is A Taste of Armageddon and the worst is a tie between the musical and that short with Spock and Number One singing Major General in a turbolift

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

#1 Far Beyond the Stars
It's the backdoor pilot that should have been. It accomplishes so much beyond simply being a representation of oppression and prejudice in the past: the nature of popular culture, urban life, the power of imagining a better life.

#1 Far Beyond the Stars. A triumph of showing what science fiction is for, imagining a better world in order to help bring it about. (The valentines to the Golden Age of Science Fiction are a bonus.)

Amen to both. I often doze off when Heroes and Icons runs TNG, but I woke up the other night to enjoy most of Avery Brooks' spectacular episode. As I've never bought DS9 yet, I've only seen this episode three times, yet it still blows me away. Brooks was so moving he inspired me to write an unpublished non-TREK story with him directly in mind. It was a wonderful obsession for me as I filled virtually two weeks of non-stop writing until it was finished. I was that engaged in the characters, and his was the second most crucial, with the key to the resolution. It can't just be me and Benny, of course. We can have such attachment to our characters they are real to us as we write them.....or better yet, real to readers we don't even know. I was told by a military vet he dreamed about my central character, which made my day. (Not Brooks...but he damn well gave me the inspiration.) Before I wrote the tale, I thought Brooks's last character-words would be ''Go home, Dragon.'' And they were. I worked my plot backwards from there. It was a joy.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

the worst is a tie between the musical and that short with Spock and Number One singing Major General in a turbolift

His Way and Badda Bing Badda Bang are saved!

 

[Farscape One]

It's a tough question... there are several that I'd put at #1, just as there are multiple episodes I'd put as the very worst.

If I were to really be forced to call a #1... it's a tie between two episodes, both DS9: "THE VISITOR" and "IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT". Both transcend not just the franchise, but science fiction and tv as a whole.

With "THE VISITOR", everyone can relate or will relate at some point because everybody will lose someone they love at some point in their lives. And so many of us would very likely do exactly what Jake did to bring his father back. (Damn it, I'm already shedding a single man tear as I'm typing this.) The emotions here reach us on such a basic, universal level that it's impossible to not include this in a short list of the best of ST.

With "IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT", this was so brilliantly written, acted, and directed... it's quite literally FLAWLESS. Every scene is littered with nuance and directness. Every bit of dialogue was spotless. This episode should be taught and broken down at film schools because everything about this episode is just perfect.


I'll have to think about worst, because while my first instinct is something from either DISCO or PICARD, I want to really think it over because I don't know if it's fair to damn an episode for being an integral part of a season arc (whether the arc itself is bad or that piece of the arc is what contributes to it being bad) vs. a standalone episode.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Best—Where No Man Has Gone Before

Worst—The Lights of Zetar

The first provides every essential element of what makes Trek appealing to me. The latter bores me to tears (worst sin any entertainment can make).

I often feel the same way about Act Four of THE EMPATH. The message of willing sacrifice is noble, but Kirk and Spock are caught behind that furshlugginer pink force-field for an eternity.

ZETAR's another guilty pleasure, although Scotty is wussy beyond belief.

 

[kkt]

His Way and Badda Bing Badda Bang are saved!

I liked both of those. Maybe not in my list of candidates for Best, but good episodes that I look forward to seeing.

 

[Oddish]

900 it too big a number

But one is not. I created this topic not just so you could say which episode (or two, ties happen) you loved or which you hated, but so you could say why.

Why is the episode you put at #1 so special? Does it move you profoundly? Make you think? Make you laugh? Warm your heart? Break it? This is your place to gush!

And, it's also the perfect place to VENT! What about the bottom one? Is it stupid? An insult to a character you love? Does it make you feel disgust, or outrage, or disappointment? Charge phasers, load photons, and give that waste of celluloid the pasting it deserves!

 

[Farscape One]

I've given some further thought about worst episode, and I had to create a different reasoning scheme on how I can rate an episode the worst in all of the franchise.

Can I defend the episode?

If I can find one or two things to defend (though if a piece of dialogue explains issues from other episodes, like Wildman's long pregnancy, I'm not counting it), it may be a terrible episode, but I can't call it the worst. I am also not going to use a 'what if' to justify a bad script, casting choice, or production placement, like the ENT finale.

I've decided against listing any DISCO or PICARD episodes, despite how much I loathe the entire season 1 and 2 of the former and the second of the latter. It's just too difficult to separate individual episodes from the season arcs... they're too interlinked.

So I am again forced to pick between two episodes... VGR's "FURY" and ENT's "THESE ARE THE VOYAGES...".


With "FURY", not only did the episode's plot make almost no sense, but it actively damaged a former lead's character... badly. Damaging an established character to this level really is unforgiveable. (I was tempted to put DS9's "THE RECKONING" here for this exact reason, but at least that story made sense and it did do the impossible... make me cheer Winn on her action.)

With "THESE ARE THE VOYAGES...", what else can I say that hasn't been said already? I'm pretty sure my hatred of this episode is well known by this point, but it basically comes down to this... the final episode of ENT wasn't even about any of the crew of the show it's finishing off! It was about Will Riker! Tying it to an excellent season 7 TNG episode that didn't even need tying to. It almost downgrades "The Pegasus" just because of its existence. I mean, if an episode can not only sidestep an entire series but also damage an excellent episode from another series... that's a special level of bad.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Very hard to choose such a pick but I will do just that, but... I have to be honest what I choose to today will not be what I'll choose when this topic spring back up again. There's too many episodes I have a personal connection to and love them the same. It's like asking a parent, "Who's your favorite child?" Any choice I make, TOS will be on that list especially in the 1st season.

#1 The Conscience of the King. How fascinating for a series to be so bold to bring Shakespeare in the fold and unravel a story which embodies his work. I think it's brilliant and I truly love the suspense and character obstacles Kirk had to go through. Its a must watch and I highly recommend this episode.

As for the worst??? Wow. I would love to mentioned the many episodes of Voyager I endured with the survival of my teeth because I grinded them watching the Greatest Captain in Star Trek history, GOAT Kathryn Janeway, some how made deals with the Borg, but gosh those CBS ALL ACCESS streaming Treks were as bad and never felt like Star Trek to me. So watching what I'd seen in these new treks the bar IMO is so low when it comes to storytelling, its the first series of television where 1 bad episode can top the other from the next that followed every week.

Picard season 3 was an anomaly, but its only slightly better than what Viacom streaming has produced. I haven't seen all of those Trek series, I honestly can't stomach them, but gosh there will be more of them. If I had to choose it would be STRANGE's season 2 finale where its established CBSAA Pike knows his fate but when near the cliffhanger he had a look of fear of what to do in that moment against the Xenomorph Gorn dilemma. If a man is aware of his fate, he shouldn't have nothing to fear because he knows this will not spell doom for him in "Hegemony."

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I've decided against listing any DISCO or PICARD episodes, despite how much I loathe the entire season 1 and 2 of the former and the second of the latter. It's just too difficult to separate individual episodes from the season arcs... they're too interlinked.

I was tempted to list one of the last two episodes of Picard Season 2. Not only did the stories focus on issues that I thought were irrelevant, they failed to resolve plot points established early in the season. Much of the cast was also dismissed in a rather casual manner.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

If a man is aware of his fate, he shouldn't have nothing to fear because he knows this will not spell doom for him in "Hegemony."

If he were only interested in his own survival, sure, Pike should not have cared. On the other hand, the captain of a vessel should care about the fate of those s/he leads, no? Could he not fear that he would lose people under his charge?

 

[Oddish]

With "THESE ARE THE VOYAGES...", what else can I say that hasn't been said already? I'm pretty sure my hatred of this episode is well known by this point, but it basically comes down to this... the final episode of ENT wasn't even about any of the crew of the show it's finishing off!

If we're going by episode quality, I think that "These Are the Voyages" is basically a middling piece of fanservice that's hated because it was turned into a series finale.

My feelings for "Half a Life" are deep and virulent, but they are personal. If I had to rate more dispassionately (and what's the fun in that?), I would choose "Profit and Lace" as the nadir, because it was bad in so many ways, and there was pretty much nothing to redeem it. It wasn't funny, it insulted women (and it was supposed to be about empowering them), it had some icky scenes, it made no logical sense, and it was part of an arc that basically destroyed the Ferengi as a unique culture.

 

[STEPhon IT]

If he were only interested in his own survival, sure, Pike should not have cared. On the other hand, the captain of a vessel should care about the fate of those s/he leads, no? Could he not fear that he would lose people under his charge?

I'm sure a character like that mindset would be for every mission any of his crew faced could die under his command, but hasn't expressed that kind of emotion besides that dumb episode. It seemed out of character from my point of view, but no worries I'm confident Mount's Pike will get out of the fart moment from that cliffhanger. I'm not changing my choice of absolute worst episode.

 

[Unnamed Caitian]

Why is the episode you put at #1 so special? Does it move you profoundly? Make you think? Make you laugh? Warm your heart? Break it? This is your place to gush!

It's A Taste of Armageddon. I can't even think where to begin praise. It has everything:

The villains are not 2D cartoon villains, they aren't eve villains: Anan 7 and Robert Fox want to do good, they just don't know how to see outside their envelopes.

Even the unseen Vendikans aren't bad. They must be terrified too.

Anan most of them all is caught in a deep insoluble moral dilemma. I'm sorry for him.

Only Kirk sees the solution to everyone's problems. He cannot stomach all that computer war crap from the beginning. He gets absolutely pissed and Terminators his way to the Council Chamber.

Scott is great. The screens stay up.

Spock is great. Calmly enters into a room full of enemies, says something about a multi-legged creature. FSNP, takes his gun, calmly walk out.

There's a clip here:

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(same clip: Bonus Kirk annoyed: the second time he tells the girl "No you are not". From there she is speaking to no one. Kirk is great. Shatner is great. Kirk is in command of all the sh*t all the time, it just takes people some time to realize.)

Spock again: learns Fox was captured, boom rescues him in 5 minutes.

Anan to Kirk: "I had no idea you were so formidable"
Kirk to Anan "You seem to think I'm joking"

Then he solves everyone's problem at once and warps away with a joke.

Compare TNG episode when the naked aliens wanted to kill Wesley: Picard spent the entire episode scratching his bald head, then gave up and called the Enterprise (that was in no danger whatsoever) to beam him up.

I could go on. I'll stop now

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Best - The City on the Edge of Forever

I think in terms of production values (relative to the time and constraints it was made under) that Star Trek has never been better. As far as guest stars go, it has a legit silver-screen legend in the form of Joan Collins. Beautifully shot. Lovely fish out of water stuff for Spock. A true romance for Kirk and ultimately a very pyrrhic victory.

It's the moment when Star Trek spread its wings and branched out a bit for the first time. Often imitated. Never bettered.

Worst -

Code of Honour

For obvious fucking reasons.

 

[Lord Garth]

These were the FIRST two things that came to my mind:

Best: "The City on the Edge of Forever"
Worst: "Threshold"

I would've listed Very Short Treks for worst, but that technically wouldn't be fair since I haven't seen most of them and don't plan to.

 

[Lord Garth]

It's A Taste of Armageddon. I can't even think where to begin praise. It has everything:

The villains are not 2D cartoon villains, they aren't eve villains: Anan 7 and Robert Fox want to do good, they just don't know how to see outside their envelopes.

Even the unseen Vendikans aren't bad. They must be terrified too.

Anan most of them all is caught in a deep insoluble moral dilemma. I'm sorry for him.

Only Kirk sees the solution to everyone's problems. He cannot stomach all that computer war crap from the beginning. He gets absolutely pissed and Terminators his way to the Council Chamber.

Scott is great. The screens stay up.

Spock is great. Calmly enters into a room full of enemies, says something about a multi-legged creature. FSNP, takes his gun, calmly walk out.

There's a clip here:

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Accept third party cookies

(same clip: Bonus Kirk annoyed: the second time he tells the girl "No you are not". From there she is speaking to no one. Kirk is great. Shatner is great. Kirk is in command of all the sh*t all the time, it just takes people some time to realize.)

Spock again: learns Fox was captured, boom rescues him in 5 minutes.

Anan to Kirk: "I had no idea you were so formidable"
Kirk to Anan "You seem to think I'm joking"

Then he solves everyone's problem at once and warps away with a joke.

Compare TNG episode when the naked aliens wanted to kill Wesley: Picard spent the entire episode scratching his bald head, then gave up and called the Enterprise (that was in no danger whatsoever) to beam him up.

I could go on. I'll stop now

Holy shit! I went with the normal go-to for my choice, as cliché as it sounds, but for a split-second I also thought about "A Taste of Armageddon"!

 

[Vger23]

Best- The Doomsday Machine
Worst- Peanut Hamper

 

[at Quark's]

Best: In the pale moonlight. For all the usual reasons given.
Worst: There are some really atrocious episodes around, but all in all I still think Fury. I know of no other episodes that actively seem to set out to demean a former main cast member. Not to mention the story is fairly weak as well.

Disclaimer: Haven't seen most of the newer series, so cannot include them.

If we're going by episode quality, I think that "These Are the Voyages" is basically a middling piece of fanservice that's hated because it was turned into a series finale.

Agreed. I think it wouldn't nearly have received the amount of hate it did had it just been a random episode somewhere in the middle of the series instead of the series finale, though I supposed that even then the main criticism would have been that the focus was on a character of an entirely different series.