The least disliked episode 2021 - TOS Season One

[Brennyren]

Eliminating "Space Seed," largely because of McGiver and her disturbing relationship with Khan. She comes across as the cliché woman who secretly longs to be dominated by a strong man, and for a historian her general attraction to conquerors and warlords is worrisome. Kirk, Scott, and McCoy professing (admittedly qualified) admiration for Khan is also off-putting.

That said, my man McCoy gets one of his best moments in this episode. When Khan threatens him with a knife for information, McCoy tells him coldly, "It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery just under the left ear."

The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Squire of Gothos
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever

 

[Jadeb]

Space Seed out ... yowch. We’re into some great material.

I’ll evict Conscience of the King because the central conceit, about the inability to ascertain identity, has become increasingly hard to buy in the decades since original broadcast.

The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Squire of Gothos
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever

 

[BK613]

Eliminating Shore Leave because they didn't use the elephant.

The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror

The Squire of Gothos
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever

 

[Noname Given]

Eliminating:

"The City on the Edge of Forever"

And yes I know many are probably going:

"How could anyone not like this episode??!!'

But I honestly have never liked it from day one. Why? I find the whole Edith Keeler sub plot of her being such a competent pacifist that she changes the world. And the idea of her somehow having such a pacifist movement that after Pearl Harbor; the U.S. still wouldn't immediately join the Allies in World War II; and further that somehow the delayed entry allowed Germany to develop the atom bomb first ludacris. If that's the scenario Harlan Ellison came up with, he really should read more about World War II in general. Even by the mid-60s it was known that the Germans were nowhere near a working atomic bomb device at any point during World War II. Hell it's even more ludicrous that Harlan Ellison is claiming the Germans were able to develop the V2 rocket to the point it could have the range to hit the U S. when launched from Germany.

I also don't buy the character of Kirk falling head over heels for Edith Keeler. Kirk was never a pie in the sky idealist even in the first season.

The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror

The Squire of Gothos
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[Indysolo]

Eliminating The Corbomite Maneuver because a lot of it is just sitting around on the bridge while being towed.

The Naked Time
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Squire of Gothos
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[Swedish Borg]

Removing "A Taste of Armageddon" because it's Kirk blatantly violating the prime directive which he later will make a big deal of. I mean saving himself and his crew from extermination was Ok, radically changing a society and betting that they would choose not to start a war is quite another.


The Naked Time
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Squire of Gothos
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[Spock's Barber]

The Naked Time
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror

This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

Adios, Squire. Wimpy aliens just bug me to no end.

 

[Methuselah Flint]

Eliminating The Menagerie Part 1, because all the time I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the flashback to start!

The Naked Time
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[BK613]

Bye, Bye happiness, I mean what did those plants do before humans came along?

The Naked Time
The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror

The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[Swedish Borg]

Adios "The Naked Time", because shirtless Sulu running around waving that sword does nothing to me.


The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy

 

[Jadeb]

Goodbye, Errand of Mercy, because you have no business winning this competition, as great as Colicos is.

The Menagerie (II)
Balance of Terror
The Devil in the Dark

 

[Indysolo]

The Menagerie (II) has got to go since it's meaningless without Part I.

Balance of Terror
The Devil in the Dark

 

[Phaser Two]

Well, although it's in my top 15 because of the mood, the concept, Shatner and Nimoy's acting (particularly in one of the saddest scenes in Star Trek), as well as the fact that they convincingly fit weeks of NYC material into about 20-25 minutes, I'm glad City will not win. How McCoy gets off the ship - which could have been accomplished well with any number of easy solutions - is one of the biggest plot contrivances in the entire series.

Given the choice between two superlative episodes, each better than City, I will remove Balance of Terror for the confusing nature of the Romulans' power plant. Not much of a criticism but hey. I know how you feel, Schmitter, but we've got to have a winner!

The Devil in the Dark

 

[Jadeb]

Well, although it's in my top 15 because of the mood, the concept, Shatner and Nimoy's acting (particularly in one of the saddest scenes in Star Trek), as well as the fact that they convincingly fit weeks of NYC material into about 20-25 minutes, I'm glad City will not win. How McCoy gets off the ship - which could have been accomplished well with any number of easy solutions - is one of the biggest plot contrivances in the entire series.

Given the choice between two superlative episodes, each better than City, I will remove Balance of Terror for the confusing nature of the Romulans' power plant. Not much of a criticism but hey. I know how you feel, Schmitter, but we've got to have a winner!

The Devil in the Dark

Balance won previously, so I’m happy to see Devil take it. Both very worthy episodes, and Devil’s message remains as relevant as it was 50+ years ago.

 

[Farscape One]

Both episodes are among my favorites of TOS. Very worthy winners.

 

[Swedish Borg]

Well, it could have been worse.

 

[Qonundrum]

Saying toodles to "Taste", which is really an underrated and excellently done story considering its puny 50 minutes of screen time when there's only just enough material for 500 -- but is also worthy of exploring the other side and why Ventikar is now stewing in paranoia. Especially after Kirk blew up the computer systems, a blatant violation of the prime directive but he was put into the sort of no-clear-cut-or-easy-peasy, dire situation that wouldn't be seen in the franchise until Sisko's era. The episode feels like a template for something genuinely larger worthy of fuller exploration. Especially with the thought put into Anan7's character and acting thereof.

So, "A Taste of Armageddon" has been armageddonized.


What's left:




Oopsiediddles, I clicked on the wrong page. Oh well. I'll find reasons to rag on the others later.