The least disliked episode 2021 - TNG Final Rounds

[BlueStuff]

Here we have the winners and runners up of each season:

Season One: The Arsenal of Freedom
Wild Card: Conspiracy
Season Two: A Matter of Honor
Wild Card: Q Who?
Season Three: Yesterday's Enterprise
Wild Card: The Best of Both Worlds I
Season Four: Data's Day
Wild Card: Family
Season Five: Cause and Effect
Wild Card: The First Duty
Season Six: Realm of Fear
Wild Card: Starship Mine
Season Seven: Lower Decks
Wild Card: Dark Page

So now it is time for the final part.

*RULES*

Give what you consider to be the worst/your least favourite episode ONE point, and briefly explain WHY. Be sure to copy and paste the list with your point added. When an episode reaches 4 points, it is eliminated. Then a NEW round begins (in this thread) with the numbers restored to 0. Vote ONCE per round. If 48 hours without a vote passes, the episode currently leading in points will be eliminated, and a new round will begin. And enjoy!

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[BlueStuff]

Allow me to start things off by voting Realm of Fear off the island. For me it's simply an average episode, and the weakest here.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 1
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[BK613]

I will vote for Dark Page, a mediocre repressed memory episode that should have never made it out of the seventh season. And, oh joy, another sibling that no one knew about.

he Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 1
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[Takeru]

I vote for Family, I never cared for that episode, of the ones on this list this is the easiest skip for me. Some people praise it for dealing with the effects BOTW had on Picard but the show just delays the "back to normal" reset by one episode and doesn't truly deal with anything, so I don't see the point. Picard basically overcomes his PTSD by fighting with his brother and having a good cry, that's not how it works.


he Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 1
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[Farscape One]

A very strong endgame list. Hard to pick.

I'll vote for "Starship Mine" simply because it's the weakest of this list.


The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 1
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[Orphalesion]

I'll vote for Cause and Effect, because, even if it was an uncommon storyline when it was released, today time loop stories are so common that it seems pretty unspectacular.


The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 1
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 1
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[Takeru]

It would be kinda funny if we ended up with a 14 way tie.

 

[Brennyren]

`Breaking the tie...to me, "Realm of Fear" is the least memorable of those here.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 1
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 2
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[Seven of Five]

I agree. Realm of Fear has some nice moments with Barclay, but it's not a great episode.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 1
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 3
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 1

 

[antinoos]

Dark Page is the least interesting on the list. I don't have much patience for family dramas.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 1
The First Duty - 0
Realm of Fear - 3
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 2

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Eliminating Realm of Fear. It and Dark Page are the only ones not in the top half of TNG episodes. Realm of Fear just has too many reaches and pop psychology.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[BlueStuff]

I'm not ready to go after Dark Page just yet; either of the season one episodes will do. Let's say Conspiracy this time. We never hear from the aliens again - as a result, it ends on a weird note looking back.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 1
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Qonundrum]

Add one point for least favorite? The closest TNG got to everyday non-sci soap opera, seeing Picard break down for an hour in front of antagonistic relatives - what is it with the 24th century and people from goofy broken backgrounds, apart from how they made their own family in a way - which is a bit too fairy tale as they all lived happily ever after, apart from the occasional invasion by unstoppable cyborgs, numerous counts of mindrape, Data telling everyone he's an android, and so on... now that's a digression, but it just goes to show the power of perception. Now add in some pills'n'powder to alter that with, and... or maybe not...

What's left:
The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 1
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 1
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Orphalesion]

Yeah I agree, Family has some good elements, but in the end the episode leaves me with a bit of "so what?"

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 1
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 2
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Seven of Five]

Starship Mine has a fun premise and a great guest star, but it's not the best episode here for me. It's not even in my Top 10 of S6.

It just loses me in the middle somewhere.

The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 1
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 2
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Swedish Borg]

Conspiracy is the weakest presented here. Plus I hate the claymation part and the meat sack explosion was just stupid. I could have done without them.

Plus elevating the level of adrenaline will NOT turn an old man into superman!!! It will likely kill him.


The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 2
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 2
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Takeru]

Family, same reasons as before.


The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 2
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Family - 3
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 1
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[antinoos]

Did I say that I don't have much patience for family dramas when I voted against Dark Page? Well, take that Family! You're out for the same reason.



The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 0
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Takeru]

I'll vote A Matter of Honor for this round, too much stupid klingon stuff.


The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 1
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 0
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0

 

[Qonundrum]

AMoH was kinda cool, though Klingons did get worn out (in due part to TNG's saccharine style, DS9 did them better, but even there they had duff moments too... but that's another story.)



Of the list, "Starship Mine" is paint by numbers "John McClane... in Space", complete with ill-fitting bland muzak that renders more scenes unintentionally laughable. Should have been Riker being this cunning, though chances are he'd hit half the terrorists then hit on the other half. If he has space cooties and transmits it to them, they'd be itching or puking or can't whiz or any of the other known symptoms and that would buy him time, as well as compete against Superman as to who's faster than a speeding bullet, but that's another story. There seemed a lost opportunity in having Ron Jones re-score some latter-half TNG, of which "Starship Mine" is a prime example. Imagine Starship Mine, Power Play, and others given something that properly complements the story... amazingly "The Next Phase" got it nicely (McCarthy given more free rein and free reign than usual for the era as all the composers prior to season 5 had more energetic and scene-enhancing scores), but that's another story in another story; tangent upon tangent, especially as one in a while the marmite muzak suited scenes sufficiently too (by the seashore)... "Starship Mine" is a kludge of incompatible ideas and execution...

Excerpts for this very story, the lack of "muzak of t'farting frogs" at the start of the scene helps, though Data really needs to inform people before applying that system update and rebooting since he's no different than when you get a that Windows OS update, the PC reboots, and *doink* all the desktop icons are now in different positions and it drives you absolutely spare, doesn't it?

Excepts from the parallel dimension version of this story:

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The tally so far:
The Arsenal of Freedom - 0
Conspiracy - 0
A Matter of Honor - 1
Q Who? - 0
Yesterday's Enterprise - 0
The Best of Both Worlds I - 0
Data's Day - 0
Cause and Effect - 0
The First Duty - 0
Starship Mine - 2
Lower Decks - 0
Dark Page - 0


I forgot to add my tally - sry