The least disliked episode 2021 - TNG Season Four

[Swedish Borg]

"The Drumhead" because given how fast the admiral goes from zealous investigator to raving lunatic, she should have been spotted as someone f*ed up in the head a long time before!!!

What's left:
The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Remember Me
Reunion
Future Imperfect
Data's Day
Devil's Due
First Contact

Half a Life
Redemption I

 

[Swedish Borg]

I can't decide whether they should score them with "Magic Carpet Ride" or something like "Sirtis in the Sky with Diamonds(in her hairband)"

Well, MCR is Cochrane's favorite...

 

[Qonundrum]

"The Drumhead" because given how fast the admiral goes from zealous investigator to raving lunatic, she should have been spotted as someone f*ed up in the head a long time before!!!

Not disagreed, but not impossible either.

 

[Qonundrum]

The devil made me due it. I love the story but it's definitely a weird throwback to TOS*, not just because it was a Phase II script hastily rewritten and younger sexier people are generally more picky as to who they want to shag carpet with, so why wasn't Riker (TNG's Kirk archetype) the target of Ardra? That said, "Devil's Due" still made me chuckle on numerous occasions, and Stewart and DuBois manage to rise above the obvious plot nitpickery to render the proceedings rather enjoyable. It's a great episode for the double-act of Geordi and Data too. Like moths to a flame-broiled hamburger, I gravitate to those stories where they are at the fore or at least have a decent part in the proceedings. YMMV.

All that said, it's amazing how perfectly Troi can't figure her out (yet can sense biological emotions from a walking pile of microchips and light emitting diodes depending on the episode...) On the other hand, she's always saying the baddie of the week is hiding something... I miss the days when she could suss out emotional states and conditions nobody else could because they were so alien to begin with.

* better than "Legacy" in terms of homage to TOS, though the former did have more of a TOS-like actiony feel that couldn't be used here.

What's left:
The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Remember Me
Reunion
Future Imperfect
Data's Day
First Contact
Half a Life
Redemption I

 

[Farscape One]

"Future Imperfect" goes. While I love the episode and the ending, I feel it's the weakest of what's left.


The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Remember Me
Reunion
Data's Day
First Contact
Half a Life
Redemption I

 

[Brennyren]

"Reunion" doesn't feel so good, mainly because it offs the wonderful K'Ehleyr out of hand (and offscreen!) as motivation for Worf. But also because Worf ends the episode by unceremoniously dumping his and K'Ehleyr's grieving son on his parents rather than assuming custody immediately, though he lives on a ship specifically designed to let officers live with their families. Real father-of-the-year move there, Worf.

The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Remember Me
Data's Day
First Contact
Half a Life
Redemption I

 

[BK613]

Remember Me marked the return of the space-is-thought mumbo-jumbo from the first season. Something I wish they had forgotten.

The Best of Both Worlds II
Family

Data's Day
First Contact
Half a Life
Redemption I

 

[Albertese]

"Half a Life" is an interesting story, but it's the one i like least on this short list.

The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Data's Day
First Contact

Redemption I

 

[Orphalesion]

Yes, it has a certain amount of campy charm, but I honestly think First Contact is not that good of an episode, and I'm surprised it stayed that long. Yeah the concept is intriguing and there's some fun like that alien-crazy nurse(?) Will has to get around to escape, but overall I think the whole situation with the aliens ended up quite cliche, and I think allowing the scientist to join the galactic community, when her world refused, seems a bit shady tbh.

What's Left:
The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Data's Day
Redemption I

 

[Farscape One]

VERY syrong remainders.

I cannot off a Data episode, because he simply means too much to me. He was also instrumental in the season premiere. And despite him not being in it, "Family" is too excellent to be taken out.

So despite how much I loved the arc for Worf in the series, and how so much happened, plus it marking 100 episodes, I must eliminate "Redemption".


The Best of Both Worlds II
Family
Data's Day

 

[BK613]

The second part of the two-parter isn't as strong as the opener; feels very anti-climatic. So TBOBW II is put to sleep.
----

Family
Data's Day

 

[Takeru]

Family is done, it's okay but I honestly never cared that much about it, it's kind of boring.

Data's Day wins.

 

[Orphalesion]

I mean it's hard to argue with that result. Data's Day is an excellent episode.

 

[Farscape One]

YES! YES! "Data's Day" for the win of season 4!

Today is a good day to...!

Attend O'Brien's wedding.

 

[Swedish Borg]

Data's Day is not bad, it's one of the three I would have chosen as the winner.

However "pursuing an untamed ornithoid without cause!!"

Seriously?? That's pie fight subtle!!!

Someone should remove the thesaurus function from the writer's word processor!!!

 

[Qonundrum]

"Data's Day" is great. A proper Data story as observer, the subplot with the Romulan spy was another highlight. Never cared for marriages, but if the O'Briens were already considered for DS9 then having the marriage as a springboard is a great way to set them up as.

 

[Qonundrum]

"Reunion" doesn't feel so good, mainly because it offs the wonderful K'Ehleyr out of hand (and offscreen!) as motivation for Worf. But also because Worf ends the episode by unceremoniously dumping his and K'Ehleyr's grieving son on his parents rather than assuming custody immediately, though he lives on a ship specifically designed to let officers live with their families. Real father-of-the-year move there, Worf.

^^this, big-time.

It's also an example of "Next time, on Staaaaaaaar Trek the Next Generation, the Cousin Oliver trope invades the Enterprise and Worf is none too pleased and heads to the local library to prove Q's point about the book buffet!" Grr. Well, technically that's in season 5 but "Reunion" sets the stage for "New Ground"'s eventual development... whether or not it was intentional...

 

[Albertese]

.... the Cousin Oliver trope ....

What is the "cousin Oliver trope?" I feel like I've seen this a couple times on this thread and I don't get the reference.

--Alex

 

[BK613]

What is the "cousin Oliver trope?" I feel like I've seen this a couple times on this thread and I don't get the reference.

--Alex

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CousinOliver
I guess in this case it is means adding Alexander to replace an aging-out Wesley.

 

[Orphalesion]

I realized something about Data's Day. Quite a few times on here people have told me they like the holo deck episodes because they show the characters "at play"/off-duty. I obviously disagree with the merit of seeing characters LARPing, because to me it's just a genre-shift away from the scifi I want and into western/noir/another genre I'm not interested in or could get better elsewhere.

But Data's Day is the type of causal/off-duty/play situation I LIKE to see the characters in. It never shifts from their life on a space ship, they aren't recast as people in a Western Town, instead we see how everyday/off-duty life is on the Enterprise, with Beverly Dancing and Troi having tea and Worf picking out wedding presents at the replicator mall. That's the sort of off-duty stuff I like to see the characters in, and why I like that episode so much.