The Least Disliked Episode 2023: DISCO Season 1

[BlueStuff]

Our addictive biyearly game of rapid elimination returns - now with more shows than ever. 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 favourite 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 it would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Star Trek: Discovery
Hall of Champions
2019 - Project Daedalus
2021 - If Memory Serves
2023 -

Season 1

The Vulcan Hello
Battle at the Binary Stars
Context Is for Kings
The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue
The War Without, the War Within
Will You Take My Hand?

 

[Poldon]

Eliminating "The Vulcan Hello" for giving us the version of Phillipa Georgiou that isn't a genocidal maniac.

Battle at the Binary Stars
Context Is for Kings
The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue
The War Without, the War Within
Will You Take My Hand?

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "Battle at the Binary Stars".

By far, the worst series premiere of the franchise. Very few of the lead characters are here, and you don't even have the ship the show is named after here yet!

My first pick of the premiere was ninja'ed, so I went with the next episode... for basically the same reasons.


Context Is for Kings
The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue
The War Without, the War Within
Will You Take My Hand?

 

[Poldon]

I guess Farscape One and I disagree . And I guess I can't read directions. I actually like "The Vulcan Hello". It's a different take on a Trek pilot, and I enjoyed the novelty of it.

 

[herofhyrule]

Removing "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry".
I don't really remember this one. Clearly it was too forgettable to leave a lasting impact on my memory.
Context Is for Kings
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue
The War Without, the War Within
Will You Take My Hand?

 

[Seven of Five]

Will You Take My Hand? is a pretty so-so-season finale for DIS. Emporer Georgiou is an obvious highlight, but the conclusion of the Kliong War, arc is average at best.. I was also never a huge fan of the arc they had in S1.

Context Is for Kings
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue
The War Without, the War Within

 

[Farscape One]

It's hard to pick episodes... so many just blur together due to the serialized nature of the episodes. There's really only 2 episodes I can differentiate from the rest. (And are good ones.)

My next elimination is "The War Without, the War Within". It was at the tail end of the season... and I don't really remember much else.


Context Is for Kings
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
Despite Yourself
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue

 

[Sakonna]

God, this season. Every episode is a mixed bag - lots of high points, but there’s not one episode that doesn’t have something completely intolerable in it.

i’ll start with “Despite Yourself”, which has some of my favorite Disco moments ever (the whole sequence surrounding “Killy’s” debut) but also features the death of Culber, perhaps the most incompetent & ill-advised creative decision in streaming Trek to date.

Context Is for Kings
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue

 

[Takeru]

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum. Such a boring episode, I didn't like Saru turning against the others and it felt completely unnecessary, it's just an overly long explanation why Discovery doesn't escape the Klingons in the next episode.


Context Is for Kings
Choose Your Pain
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue

 

[Poldon]

I'm going to get the rules right this time!

I'm removing "Choose Your Pain". I really can't stand torture scenes. This episode made me stop watching Discovery, and it took a year before I tried again.

Context Is for Kings
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition
What's Past is Prologue

 

[Seven of Five]

What's Past is Prologue is the very average conclusion to the MU arc. It's just not the best exit for the awesome Lorca.

Context Is for Kings
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside
Vaulting Ambition

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "Vaulting Ambition" because I don't even remember what it's about, which in itself is sad to say about an episode of this franchise.


Context Is for Kings
Lethe
Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside

 

[Vger23]

It’s really tough now.
I’ll axe “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.” It’s interesting, but the time loop thing has been done before and much better on Star Trek…and I can’t stand Mudd.

Context Is for Kings
Lethe
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside

 

[Takeru]

Lethe, I mostly like it but I can't get over the telepathic connection Burnham and Sarek have over such a big distance.


Context Is for Kings
Into the Forest I Go
The Wolf Inside

 

[Farscape One]

The only 2 episodes I liked are already gone, so I'll have to vote for "The Wolf Inside".

I really don't remember this one, either, so there's my reason.


Context Is for Kings
Into the Forest I Go

 

[BlueStuff]

Into the Forest I Go wins - for me, it’s clearly the best episode of the first season.

 

[Takeru]

Into the Forest I Go wins - for me, it’s clearly the best episode of the first season.

Yes, this is my favorite episode of the season, I loved the scenes with Ash and Cornwell, having a male character be vulnerable and traumatized and is not something a lot of shows do (it's just too bad they did the Voq thing, I would have preferred if Ash had just been human), the mission to destroy the klingon ship and doing all the micro jumps was exciting too and of course it ends on a pretty good cliffhanger.

 

[Vger23]

“Into the Forest I Go” is definitely one of the high points of the series in my mind.

 

[Seven of Five]

I agree, a good winner.

 

[Sakonna]

Ha! I can't believe "Into The Forest I Go" was the winner. When I made my one elimination in this game on Saturday, I came back a few hours later expressly to eliminate "Into The Forest I Go", but there was only one elimination after mine, so I couldn't go again (and looking at the time codes, I see I was probably only checking a few minutes before the next elimination was then posted, so I juuuuust missed putting a bullet in that one). And then I got busy with the weekend and haven't been back to this thread since.

But oh my god, "Into The Forest I Go", I fucking hate it! For me that script is tortured to the point of incoherence, especially the goings-on on the Klingon ship.

My high point of the season is probably "Lethe." Not to damn with faint praise, but it's an episode free of major failures in the basic storytelling, which makes it unique in Disco season 1.

I also am partial to the first three eps, "The Wolf Inside", and "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad" if you turn it off 20-ish minutes from the end.