The Better Episode #5

[RobertScorpio]

Battle #4 was real close. But it looks like BALANCE OF TERROR is going to inch out a win against THE DEFECTOR. But, wow, two very good episodes…what a battle it was…great TV!!!


Now its time for Battle #5…Voyager and TNG go head to head….

Message In A Bottle (voyager) vs Ship in a Bottle (TNG)

All right..great battle here..and each is holo-character centric!!!

Message n a Bottle "A Hirogen relay station allows Voyager to send the Doctor to the Alpha Quadrant, where he finds himself on an experimental ship that has been overtaken by Romulans. Working with that ship's EMH, he tries to defeat the enemy and get a message to Starfleet." I can’t stand Andy Dick, but I liked him here. And DOC was just great as well. Some good humor, and great FX, and you get one fun episode!!!

Ship in a Bottle "When Data reopens the Sherlock Holmes holodeck file, he discovers that the archvillain Moriarty, who became self-aware when the program was first played, can exit the holodeck and hold the ship hostage until his lover can also be freed from holo-existence." And what a great ending, even had me fooled!!!!

Both these episodes turned out very well. I watched them back-to-back two weekends ago and was totally into them both. Had been sometime since I had last seen them…my wife and kids, who never had seen them, loved them too..

So…Friends…who wins…MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE or SHIP IN A BOTTLE?

Rob

 

[startrekwatcher]

Ship in a Bottle gets my vote. It is a 3.5 star episode while Message in a Bottle is three stars. I loved Moriarty, the Countess, Barclay's interaction, the twist that they were on the holodeck the whole time and it was an interesting reflection on reality.

I also thought the final scene where Barclay wonders if he is inside a holoprogram was perfect.

Message in a Bottle went over-the-top somewhat with the humor but I liked that the writers finally made a big leap by having them successfully make contact with Starfleet. I liked the way it was the beginning of the Hirogen arc, the Prometheus was a neat starship design, nice name drop with the Dominion, some of the EMHs interaction was amusing and the ending was touching.

 

[LeadHead]

Easy, Message in a Bottle takes it.
One of my favorite Voyager episodes. The Doctor does some of his best scenes of the series. Good drama, good humor, good action sequences.

Features perhaps the best moment of the season:
"ROMULANS!"

 

[chancellorjake]

Ship in a Bottle was one of the best episodes of TNG. I really loved the outstanding performances from Daniel Davis and Stephanie Beacham.

 

[HoundDog]

Both were outstanding episodes. Still, I think I'm going with TNGs "Ship in a Bottle" this time. What bugs me about "Message" is Andy Dick - I don't think he's funny, he's just annoying.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

SHIP IN A BOTTLE

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

The Atlantis episode SHEP IN A BOTTLE beats them both.

Okay...SHIP IN A BOTTLE. It has Beacham....mmmm....Beach ham, and it's Dickless.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I'll go with TNG's Ship In A Bottle...though Message was really good too..

Rob

 

[ZERO_of_ZERO]

Ship in a Bottle (TNG) for me

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Message in a Bottle for me. It had more far-reaching repercussions, IMO.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Message In A Bottle

 

[blakbyrd]

Ship in a Bottle (TNG) for me

Ditto.

 

[greenmystik]

I have to go with Ship in a Bottle on this one.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

A difficult one this time. Message was an important turning point for the Voyager series as a whole, with a great turn from the Doctor and of course a rare Romulan sighting. Ship was a fun "bottle episode" combining both Moriarty and Barclay to create a neat, "self-contained" mystery.

In the end, only one episode had Stephanie Beacham, and that's good enough for me. It's the Ship.

 

[StolenThunder]

Message in a Bottle has an oddly childish streak to it. I've never liked it all that much.

 

[ialfan]

Message in a Bottle by far