The least disliked episode 2021 - DS9 Season Two

[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 Two

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Melora
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Second Sight
Sanctuary
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Paradise
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Takeru]

Goodbye Paradise. I hate, hate, hate that at the end they just leave the hostages on the planet, they all should have been removed to receive treatment and to investigate which ones of them were complicit in the torture and possible murder that was going on.


The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Melora
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Second Sight
Sanctuary
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Orphalesion]

Let's remove Second Sight. Typcial "dream woman" cliche, the boring, egomaniac terraforming guy and I found Avery Brooks acting in this episode a bit cringey (usually he's excellent)

Gotta say, DS9 is more difficult than TNG, maybe it's because TNG was overall a more "uneven" show (a larger number of episodes that were either very good or very bad) or maybe it's because of the various myth arcs I remember the individual episodes less clearly.

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Melora
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Sanctuary
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Qonundrum]

The story means well, but "Melora" doesn't sell the message(s) as strongly as it could. Bashir using his job like a personal dating service is mildly disturbing, unless the patient makes the first move - and even then, it's probably best not to look for lovin' (or at least a good disease) while on duty. That said, there is screen chemistry and occasionally good dialogue between the two, and it's nice to see gravity issues in Star Trek on occasion, and - yes- some doctors may not have enough experience and still know that things can float with gravity plating disabled and still be in genuine surprise and awe, especially if they never saw it firsthand before - but the episode is more a disappointment than anything stellar.

What's left:

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Sanctuary
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Takeru]

Sanctuary is out because the Skreeans are annoying, the federation is like "Here, have a nice fertile planet!" but the Skreeans want to immigrate to Bajor ... the problem is that the bajorans denying their request creates no real problem, it doesn't leave the refugees stranded with no other option, another objectively better option has already been presented to them and the audience so it's really hard to feel bad for the skreeans.

Then when they leave for their new home the skreean woman is sad that the bajorans fear others moving to bajor after the occupation and I wanted to tell her "Lady, your people acted uncomfortable around men for reasons so maybe don't judge the bajorans for not loving the idea of millions of aliens moving in when the last time they welcomed aliens with open arms they were enslaved, displaced and murdered for decades and their planet stripped of all valuable ressources", then she declares "Bajor is not Kentanna" ... well, then you don't have to make a big stink about not being able to move there.


The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
Blood Oath
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Orphalesion]

As long as I live I will never swear a stupid Blood Oath. There are just things in DS9 I don't care for; Klingon Crap, what ever Cruzon Dax did, said or thought (because it's likely to be stupid at best, repulsive at worst), Jadzia doing something stupid yet again because her belly slug tells her to (really Ezri was a lot better about this, then again, Ezri had her own personality), yet another non-Klingon fan-girling over Klingon Culture....

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Playing God
Profit and Loss
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Takeru]

Jadzia doing something stupid yet again because her belly slug tells her to (really Ezri was a lot better about this, then again, Ezri had her own personality), ...

Yeah, I think the problem with Jadzia was that they established right from the start that Ben and Curzon were friends and had him call her "old man" so they always seemed to write for Dax first and Jadzia second. We never even learned Jadzia's last name before being joined with Dax or met a single family member.

 

[JesterFace]

We never even learned Jadzia's last name before being joined with Dax or met a single family member.

I don't remember if there were any of Jadzia's family on the series but there was time for that, 6 seasons. Then Ezri came along for 1 season and in a middle of a war she had an introduction episode with her family. That felt totally unnecessary.

 

[Orphalesion]

Yeah, I think the problem with Jadzia was that they established right from the start that Ben and Curzon were friends and had him call her "old man" so they always seemed to write for Dax first and Jadzia second. We never even learned Jadzia's last name before being joined with Dax or met a single family member.

Well, I don't want to be cynical, but considering the trouble Star Trek often had with writing for its female characters, I can very much see them jumping at the chance to ignore Jadzia and to write for Dax/Curzon instead. I mean in Dax (the episode) it was also Curzon's crap that made her act the way she did, and even her relationship with Worf found its very beginning from Curzon's love for Klingon culture.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It's a little different between Jadzia and Ezri because Jadzia trained for years to be a host.

Removing Playing God. Even for Star Trek, the premise of the proto-universe was a pretty big stretch. And character development wise it didn't accomplish much. So much of the time when they do a Dax development episode it revolves around mutual intolerance between Dax's insistent hedonism and somebody else judging it.

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Rivals
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
Profit and Loss
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Oddish]

Kicking Profit and Loss out for its annoying use of the Reset Button, and for having Quark's Cardassian girlfriend appear out of nowhere and vanish into oblivion.

 

[Farscape One]

"RIVALS" loses its luck and is gone.

They had Chris Sarandon, but he just didn't fit right there. The idea was fun, but overall, the episode totally missed the mark.


The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
Shadowplay
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Takeru]

Shadowplay because it didn't make a lot of sense. The old man was traumatized and decided to live as a hermit in an open air holodeck and should have been encouraged to leave and interact with the real world again. It's kind of fucked up that Dax and Odo basically shove him back into his fantasy and insist the holograms are real when he accepts that they aren't and is willing to move on.


The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
The Alternate
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Seven of Five]

I like Mora Pol in The Alternate, but the episode itself is a poor vehicle for seeing him for the first time. Odo being the monster they were looking for was just daft.

The Homecoming
The Circle
The Siege
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Farscape One]

"THE SIEGE" comes under fire for being not as strong as the first two parts.


The Homecoming
The Circle
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Takeru]

The Homecoming is out because this three parter introduces characters and organizations (Li Nalas, The Circle) that we never heard of before and never will hear from again, it feels weirdly out of place in a series that introduces so many recurring characters and elements. If it was a random episode so where in the series I probably wouldn't notice but a three parter to start a season should not do that.


The Circle
Invasive Procedures
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[BigDaveX]

Invasive Procedures. It's really hard to comprehend how Quark could do what he does in this episode, then the next week everyone's back to treating him like nothing had ever happened. Aside from that, just not a terribly interesting episode.

The Circle
Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
Crossover
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

Crossover is an episode I always skip on DS9 rewatches, in addition to all the other MU episodes. I'm just not a fan of the campiness and the everyone is evil and possibly gay trope. I think if i had been one and done I wouldn't be so harsh, but the Mirror universe revisits each season are the only aspect DS9 I actively hate.

 

[Takeru]

The previous post accidentally removed The Circle, I'm removing it officially for the same reason that I used for The Homecoming, I don't enjoy this three parter.


Cardassians
Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[Swedish Borg]

I am removing "Cardassians" because being told constantly that your ancestors suck is no way to raise a kid. These "Bajoran parents" should never have been in charge of this child. I don't care if his own father seems like a jerk at least he won't teach him how to hate his own kind!!!


Rules of Acquisition
Necessary Evil
Armageddon Game
Whispers
The Maquis (I)
The Maquis (II)
The Wire
The Collaborator
Tribunal
The Jem'Hadar

 

[BlueStuff]

Sitting out this season as it's been a while since I've seen it. However, from what I can recall, all of the remaining episodes were good.

That's an issue with this game for DS9; at a certain point, it's just about deciding which remaining episode is the least great. The game is much easier for the other shows.