The Least Disliked Episode 2023: DS9 Season 6

[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: Deep Space Nine
Hall of Champions
2011 - In the Pale Moonlight
2013 - In the Pale Moonlight
2017 - Improbable Cause
2019 - Tacking Into the Wind
2021 - Duet
2023 -

Season 6

A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Resurrection
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Reckoning
Valiant
Profit and Lace
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Farscape One]

I'll get the ball rolling and take out an obvious choice for me... "THE RECKONING".

Now, I feel "PROFIT AND LACE" is a worse episode, but "THE RECKONING" actively damages a character and one of THE cornerstones of DS9... Sisko as a good father. For me, that's even more criminal than what "PROFIT AND LACE" was doing.

Sisko just lets Jake be possessed, despite having the weapon on hand that will safely get it out of him? All for the Prophets?

This goes against everything we have observed about the man as a father for 6 years. And I truly think Jake shouldn't have let him off the hook so easily at the end... at least have a rift between them for a couple episodes.


A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Sons and Daughters
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Resurrection
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Profit and Lace
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

"Sons And Daughters" is awful. Both stories are messes with no emotional plausibility. A black mark on what is otherwise DS9's best run of episodes.

A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Resurrection
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Profit and Lace
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll make the easy choice and remove the giant stinking turd of an episode that is Profit and Lace. Oh dear.

Were the writers high during its production?

A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Resurrection
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Farscape One]

"RESURRECTION" dies.

It's biggest problem is that it was boring. But to be fair, almost anything directly after the Occupation arc and the wedding was going to be mediocre by comparison.


A Time to Stand
Rocks and Shoals
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Oddish]

Rocks and Shoals faces a firing squad for its grim and depressing ending.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
You Are Cordially Invited...
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

Worf really did dine'n'ditch Troi, didn't he?

You Are Cordially Invited...​

I'm sure Troi didn't sense what was coming, either...

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Remember kids, TV Tropes and Jump The Shark both tell us how "weddings are the sign of a show in decline".

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Okay, that scene starts out good enough so back to nitpicking:

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Sheesh, Martok proves how easy their alliance with the Federation wasn't. At least this isn't an episode of "Dynasty"!

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(Would Edith Keeler be so proud? But like the tagline reads, it's Number 1! Also, skip to 2:11 if you want to bypass the boring soap opera to get to the good stuff, complete with sound effects of clothes being ripped, stunt doubles that can be seen from several yards away, sound effects of crashing vases, barely touching a pillow and the whole thing goes POOF with feathers flying across the screen, sound effects of the same loud slap being overused (move over, Wilhelm scream!)... amazed how few times the B-word is mentioned in this clip, but those are a dime per dozen in other clips for this series and they're all online, mostly because of how much more swearing other channels put out regularly... )


Bonus: Marina talks Worf/Troi (Wroi? Trorf?) Like or dislike her bluntness, the candor is appreciated. (And she's not wrong, especially with Dorf/Wax.)


What's left:
A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
Time's Orphan
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

Loathe "Time's Orphan." I was a big fan of Keiko and that relationship, so it pisses me off that this is the first time we see her since "The Begotten" in season 5 (in which she was also used terribly), and the last time she gets anything of substance to do on the series (only one appearance after this, her cameo in the series finale) -- and the story is completely idiotic and terrible!

I really hate how they just dropped the ball with the O'Brien's after "The Assignment."

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Waltz
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

I love Waltz, as it's a great character study for Dukat. However, I hate the direction he went in as a result of this.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
Inquisition
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Oddish]

The O'Briens are usually good parents, but when they drop the ball, they do it in a big way.

Inquisition is boiled in oil for its BAD placement. ONE EPISODE after we find out Starfleet has a "dirty work" organization, Sisko ignores that and does it himself. If they had flip flopped these two, and just had Sloan mention that after what Sisko did, it was decided that S31 needed a permanent presence on the station... much more sense.

What a waste of the actor who managed to STEAL SCENES from two acting powerhouses (Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins) in "The Shawshank Redemption"!

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
The Magnificent Ferengi
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

"The Magnificent Ferengi" has always left me cold. I find it quite dreary and joyless. I don't have a good time watching it. My taste with Ferengi episodes is definitely off the consensus. I don't like this or "Little Green Men", but I am totally into "Family Business" and "Ferengi Love Songs."

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
Who Mourns for Morn?
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

He's not my adonais:

Who Mourns for Morn?​

Or who Nourms for Norm (e.g. the dude from Cheers and not Norm MacDonald...) The show has done better comic relief episodes... especially when the attempt to show the standby cliche trope of "apparently ugly dude with apparently hawt chick" also isn't used well either.


What's left:
A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
Valiant
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "VALIANT".

(Oh, wait... the Jem'Hadar already did that.)

Red Squad, and Watters in particular, were annoying.


A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

"Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night" has Trek's stupidest use of time travel - which is actually the best thing about it! I love the wackiness of Kira pitching time travel just to snoop in her dead mother's personal life. Unfortunately, this episode is all downhill from there... a dreary slog that doesn't offer much dramatic impact to reward enduring it's miserableness.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Statistical Probabilities
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

I'm already struggling to choose. While the season isn't as consistent as either 4 or 5, there are still great episodes left to choose from.

Statistical Probabilities can be next, as much as I liked the Jack Pack and the exploration of Bashir's genetic enhancements, it doesn't grab me like the remaining episodes.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Sound of Her Voice
Tears of the Prophets

 

[Oddish]

"Tears of the Prophets" cries fall silent, for the unnecessary and undeserved elimination of a beloved character, setting up her unceremonious replacement.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way
The Sound of Her Voice

 

[Summer Solstice]

"The Sound of Her Voice" - it's a nice episode, but that's all it is, others on this list are better and more memorable.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
One Little Ship
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way

 

[Qonundrum]

Even the Treknoabble isn't small in this one:

One Little Ship​

So about Ecretion "Accretion" disc...

Accretion Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
^^nah. That's booooooooooooring, so let's try this video instead:

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(...not paying attention to that Partridge Family-inspired thumbnail image...)

Dang, what is Kira really thinking about when it comes to "shrinking"?

And I thought the franchise fully ditched the excitement-culling muzak after TNG was done (or maybe not...)


What's left:
A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight
His Way

 

[Sakonna]

It has a few bits that work, but "His Way" is mostly an Ugh from me. The writing of Kira in this is terrible.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
Honor Among Thieves
Change of Heart
In the Pale Moonlight

 

[Seven of Five]

Change of Heart should have been Jadzia's death episode if she needed to be killed off at all. That said, these kinds of episodes in Star Trek feel like a copout because no one from the main cast ever dies.

A Time to Stand
Behind the Lines
Favor the Bold
Sacrifice of Angels
Far Beyond the Stars
Honor Among Thieves
In the Pale Moonlight