The least disliked episode 2021 - DS9 Season Five

[BlueStuff]

Our addictive biyearly game of rapid elimination returns - now able to include Disco's third season as well as the debut years of Picard and Lower Decks. It's generally a lot of fun, providing a chance to mentally revisit those episodes you may not have thought about in a while. With that in mind, why not play again?

So, here's the game. The basic idea is your standard elimination game. I'll provide a list of the episodes for each season and you need to eliminate your least favorite or the one you deem the 'worst.' Please provide an EXPLANATION for why you are eliminating your choice and be sure to copy and paste the list with your choice removed. Finally, leave at least 2 eliminations by other posters before you eliminate another episode.

No tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode just because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions
2011 - In the Pale Moonlight
2013 - In the Pale Moonlight
2017 - Improbable Cause
2019 - Tacking into the Wind
2021 -

Season Five

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Let He Who is Without Sin...
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Oddish]

Children of Time gets the first axe. After recording this one, I replaced it with 45 minutes of nothing just so it would be gone.

 

[Farscape One]

It should be no surprise that "LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN..." is gone. Except for the Worf scene explaining his character with his childhood story, the episode is horrible.


Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[BigDaveX]

The Darkness and the Light. A decent murder mystery episode, ruined by an absolutely wretched ending that completely throws Kira's character development out of the window.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Orphalesion]

For the Uniform, because even as somebody who is/would be alright with Starfleet being the military/navy I find Sisko's "you betrayed your unifromz!!!1!1!ONE" absolute cringe. It's a piece of cloth, you cannot "betray" a piece of cloth. That is the one line in DS9 that I think clashes with the 90s Trek philosophy.
Plus Eddington's babbling about Les Miserables is not clever and just makes him come off as a obsessed LesMis fan.
"I'm totally like Jean Valjean! Don't you think so Sisko? Please tell me I'm like Jean Valjean!"

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Swedish Borg]

"..Nor the Battle to the Strong" goes. The triage center is pretty much by the numbers, All in all, it's a forgettable episode. Like Jake said, "Who's gonna remember?".. Well, not me.


Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Qonundrum]

Disclaimer: There's barely a dud in this season. Even the duddest episode is still a highly watchable event exploring some big ideas. I love the Eddington arc, because you'd never see this on Picard's ship (he'd whine about the first duty) and it's something Kirk's era might have done if 60s broadcast standards would have allowed it, since they had evil captains and other fringe nutters as well. But I'm a weirdo, since that includes appreciating a certain episode involving Risa - one that is not the best but I'll always step up to bat for. But since that one's already and understandably been voted off the island where #6 and Gilligan live...

The one I'm voting out seems a little too cozy an ending, despite both some neat plot twists combined with some convenient and under-developed issues that end up feeling grating. Just like how "Let He Who is Without Sin" had. It too played with big ideas, but ends on a way that would make Carol and Mike Brady feel awe and envy.

In this episode's case, the Maquis - a very small counterculture hippie trope - are all wiped out by the Dominion as if they're an immediate, pressing, or arguably any actual threat. But what's far more ridiculous is that stupid speech about teh fresh veggies, which is stale enough but the adjectives are even more force-fed. The Eddington arc had a lot of interesting ideas, but there was some OTT cringe and that cringe is even more contrived than a certain episode involving Risa (which had its own cringe but in other areas.)

So this episode goes out in not a Blaze of Glory either.



What's left:

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Qonundrum]

For the Uniform, because even as somebody who is/would be alright with Starfleet being the military/navy I find Sisko's "you betrayed your unifromz!!!1!1!ONE" absolute cringe. It's a piece of cloth, you cannot "betray" a piece of cloth. That is the one line in DS9 that I think clashes with the 90s Trek philosophy.

I interpreted the uniform/cloth as metaphor for the ideals they were fighting for. Akin to a flag. Applying a tangible as analogue.

Plus Eddington's babbling about Les Miserables is not clever and just makes him come off as a obsessed LesMis fan.
"I'm totally like Jean Valjean! Don't you think so Sisko? Please tell me I'm like Jean Valjean!"

^^this

I at first liked how the scenes played out, but it's still cosplay on crack. Remind me to stay away from sci-fi conventions for a while because any time someone yells they're like Luke Skywalker or Doctor Who, I'm going to burst out laughing.

 

[Seven of Five]

Ferengi Love Songs is one of the worst Ferengi episodes in DS9, and that's saying something. It's abject stupidity. What makes it stand out more is its placement in relation to Business as Usual, which I love.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[BigDaveX]

Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places. Much as I enjoyed The House of Quark, it wasn't exactly something that was demanding a sequel, and for something that would go on to become one of the most prominent couplings in the franchise's history, the start of the Jadzia/Worf relationship feels kind of like an afterthought.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Orphalesion]

Death to the Soldiers of the Empire. Yes...I really want an episode starring Jadzia and Worf going on some dimly-lit Klingon adventure. Totally.
Plus I really don't like Worf/Jadzia, it just has her be witchy but with a b, and him morose and miserable. "fun"

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Orphalesion]

I interpreted the uniform/cloth as metaphor for the ideals they were fighting for. Akin to a flag. Applying a tangible as analogue.

Yeah I understand that, but as someone who's very anti-military and anti-nationalism in real life i just cringe every time someone talks of uniforms and/or flags as if they were holy relics or some such.
I would have preferred it if Sikso had said that Eddington betrayed "Starfleet" or "The Federation" or some such.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Removing Empok Nor. The most blatant example of redshirting in DS9, and a case where people behave so much without survival instinct it’s unwatchable.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

It's a pretty strong list that's left now, except for The Assignment, which I'm removing now. It's a decent enough Torture O'Brien episode, but there are far better ones over the show's run.

YMMV on the introduction of the Pah-Wraiths here as well. This was probably their peak considering what happened with Dukat later on.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[BlueStuff]

I'm removing Call to Arms - what a stupid pile of rubbish, totally boring and -

Just kidding. A Simple Investigation goes; it's just filler next to most of these others.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Farscape One]

Strong remainders.

"THINGS PAST" goes because the way Odo acts gives away too much of the plot. It makes the mystery less... mysterious.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Removing Doctor Bashir, I Presume.

Bar none the worst character decision in the history of Trek. It made no sense with his existing development and made him just another magical genius.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

Apocalypse Rising was a slightly disappointing follow-up to Broken Link. I think the writers had plans to go and kill the Changling Gowron, but then instead decided to make it Martok, who we barely knew at that point. it didn't quite feel as big as it could have been.

Luckily for everyone, when the real Martok was discovered on internment camp, they really did a great job with him.

The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Swedish Borg]

"Rapture" because it's prophet claptrap all over again. Plus Sisko playing fortune teller is just ridiculous: "Marry that girl!" "You'll get a raise" "go home"...

The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Ascent
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[BlueStuff]

The Ascent is out. Not the most imaginative of set-ups. "Hey, you know these two characters who frequently clash? Well, what if they were stranded somewhere and had to cooperate?" Yeah, great! Except we'd seen that exact template dozens of times before in Trek.

The Ship
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Begotten
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
In the Cards
Call to Arms