The Least Disliked Episode 2023: VOY 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: Voyager
Hall of Champions
2011 - Meld
2013 - Living Witness
2017 - Blink of an Eye
2019 - Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
2021 - Scorpion (I)
2023 -

Season 6

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Alice
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Memorial
Tsunkatse
Collective
Spirit Folk
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
Fury
Life Line
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Oddish]

Yay! I get first pick!

"Spirit Folk" gets erased first, because Janeway was completely irresponsible in risking several crew member's lives to protect a holo-simulation.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Alice
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Memorial
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
Fury
Life Line
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Farscape One]

This was the most schizophrenic season of the franchise in terms of quality episodes. You'll get a couple goid, then terrible, a grwat one, a couple horribles, a goid one, a bad one, a decent one, an excellent one, then a terrible one. It was all over the place.

Taking out "FURY". This was a terrible episode that actively destroyed a lead character. (Well, former lead... her last exit was a better sendoff.)

The only two things I liked was we got to see the Vidiians one last time (the best race the series created) and it explained why it took Wildman almost a year and half to give birth to Naomi.



Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Alice
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Memorial
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
Life Line
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Warp 10 (Pepperoni)]

I actually love this season, even the duds, but the one I'd probably put on last would be Memorial. I just found it very repetitive.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Alice
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
Life Line
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Sumire]

I’m going to remove Alice. I’m just not sure what the aim of it was. Is it a metaphor for addiction? Is it a metaphor for infidelity? Did they feel like they hadn’t done a “Tom is a loose cannon” episode in a while and they just couldn’t let that part of their palette of character beats go without one last hurrah? This is one (admittedly of many) of those episodes where I think, this person would need so much therapy to come back from what amounts to pretty severe brainwashing and we will not get anything at all.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
Life Line
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Summer Solstice]

"Life Line" - I think this was a missed opportunity. Janeway and Chakotay have a conversation about the Maquis as Starfleet ask about them - I would like to have seen a whole episode about this.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve
Unimatrix Zero (I)

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "UNIMATRIX ZERO".

This dumpster fire of an episode was the final nail on the coffin on the Borg being a credible threat.

Voyager taking on a TACTICAL CUBE? Janeway's plan was to get assimilated ON PURPOSE?! That undid all the trauma and horror of assimilation that Picard and Seven and the countless billions of people that the Borg assimilated. Right along with "FURY", easily the worst of the season.


Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Fair Haven
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Seven of Five]

I really hate the Fair Haven simulation, so the episode where it was introduced is an easy ejection. It's all very stereotypical and lazy writing.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Virtuoso
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Qonundrum]

It's been a while, but the music-unaware society would be awed if all he did was belch like a toad with the backing beat of a malfunctioning toilet for an hour:

Virtuoso​

A good signer, yes - Robert Picardo legitimately and truly impresses in his craft and that's not the issue. But stretching this story as the plot only works as well as there being both a plot, plus the musical genre being exploited to remain consistently compelling throughout. Even then, overuse of the same genre - or use of another to prop up a story as.... meh. This could be an hour-long homage to Beastie Boys, KISS, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, "Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, anything using autotune since 1998, and/or any other band you may never have heard of and/or liked, and it wouldn't be any better. One's favorite songs are available on record, audio cassette, 8-Track, CD, digital download, streaming, those neurons in your brain that still remember the tune, and so on.

Plot by numbers where, instead of another society having lots of amazing things but never fathomed "the wheel(tm)", but this time it's another society that never fathomed what music is*...

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* which may be for the best; most of it's just muzak, anyway​

Indulgence, thy name is "Voyager (and a good part of) Season 6". Now where's Fair Folk and Sprit Haven? Or is that Folk Haven and Fair Spirit? But anyway...

Also,

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(now there's a classic right there. Just strip the rest of the story and repeat this bit for another 48 minutes and voila... or maybe not. It also amused me that I was typing this, heard a glitch, and - zoiks - the content creator was already a step ahead - but kept the agony down to 3 minutes 49 seconds... )

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(Okay, this one's surprisingly fun, but - man - that super UHD8000000000K video system that the villain's got is too much! )


What's left:
Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Seven of Five]

Virtuoso is truly terrible! It was going to be my next vote if it had somehow survived.

 

[Oddish]

I really hate the Fair Haven simulation, so the episode where it was introduced is an easy ejection. It's all very stereotypical

But... Janeway deletes the wife!

I'm cutting "Collective" from the continuum for not spending ten seconds explaining what they did with the Borg baby.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Seven of Five]

It become a part of the unseen shuttle building department, along with Samantha Wildman, and Joe Carey.

Outside of the fun visual gags, and the hilarity of the conman playing Tuvok really losing himself in the role, Live Fast and Prosper is a bit of a slog to get through.

EDIT: Also removed Collective from the list as Oddish voted for it above me.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Tsunkatse
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Qonundrum]

Taking out "UNIMATRIX ZERO".

This dumpster fire of an episode was the final nail on the coffin on the Borg being a credible threat.

Voyager taking on a TACTICAL CUBE? Janeway's plan was to get assimilated ON PURPOSE?! That undid all the trauma and horror of assimilation that Picard and Seven and the countless billions of people that the Borg assimilated. Right along with "FURY", easily the worst of the season.

VOY an the amazing job of reinstating them as a threat - but there's no way that the same level of excitement and "oompf" would hold up. Their demystification and retconning became too much. "Uni/0" is the culmination of that.

As far as metaphor goes, the inversion of a mob mentality - as demonstrated by each drone's subconsciousness - is an interesting idea, but was it a good enough one to flesh out? Never mind as a two-parter.

How the magical virus can understand both biology and technology -- there's nothing there that compels suspension of disbelief.

As is the name "Solar Plexus", oops - "Central Plexus", a concept that is so opposite and antithetical to the Borg, or we can handwave it via saying an altered timeline had this development take place. There hasn't been enough exposure with the Federation to so quickly set up such a concept anyway - unless they were really really fast. Naah. This is apocryphal to their very inception from "Q Who", which is also the creation of an easy-peasy plot resolver - like the vent in the death star where some kid got off on shootin' wamprats managed to do while imagining schizotypal aspects of some guy saying "it's derh force" rather than "it's just an extension and extrapolation of his ability to shoot wamprats with a gun, so cut it out with the magical thinking before you're misdiagnosed and given Seroquel and end up 50 pounds overweight in as many days." Oh well, at least Luke was bored and whiny and not a school bully.

And, yes, depending on individual biology, as not all people have the same side-effects, it can indeed cause massive and rapid weight gain. A former acquaintance of mine very quickly gained weight when put on the stuff. YMMV, but people who say "they just shove in too much food" ne--

So anyway, why would Janeway refuse to work with the Borg when she had before? ("Scorpion" should cement the idea that it wouldn't work out. That's true. How much in exposition to the audience is needed is another question. Especially in a show that isn't serialized like how DS9 was.)

And, of course, everyone getting assimilated right on cue wasn't the best of ideas.

The acting in the episode is great, especially by Suzanna Thompson...

but all that's just about part one.

 

[Oddish]

Voyager taking on a TACTICAL CUBE? Janeway's plan was to get assimilated ON PURPOSE?! That undid all the trauma and horror of assimilation that Picard and Seven and the countless billions of people that the Borg assimilated. Right along with "FURY", easily the worst of the season.

And in addition to all that, Harry never gets the little box on his chair.

 

[Farscape One]

Taking out "THE VOYAGER CONSPIRACY".

It was beyond belief that Janeway and Chakotay would lose their trust in each other by this point of the show. Had this episode airedin season 1 or 2, maaaaaaybe even 3, this episode might have worked. (Obviously, someone other than Seven would have to be the one to gather all that data.) This is one of those cases where the placement of the story within the series is key to whether it is believable or not.


Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Tsunkatse
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Farscape One]

It's been a while, but the music-unaware society would be awed if all he did was belch like a toad with the backing beat of a malfunctioning toilet for an hour:

Virtuoso​

A good signer, yes - Robert Picardo legitimately and truly impresses in his craft and that's not the issue. But stretching this story as the plot only works as well as there being both a plot, plus the musical genre being exploited to remain consistently compelling throughout. Even then, overuse of the same genre - or use of another to prop up a story as.... meh. This could be an hour-long homage to Beastie Boys, KISS, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, "Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, anything using autotune since 1998, and/or any other band you may never have heard of and/or liked, and it wouldn't be any better. One's favorite songs are available on record, audio cassette, 8-Track, CD, digital download, streaming, those neurons in your brain that still remember the tune, and so on.

Plot by numbers where, instead of another society having lots of amazing things but never fathomed "the wheel(tm)", but this time it's another society that never fathomed what music is*...

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

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* which may be for the best; most of it's just muzak, anyway​

Indulgence, thy name is "Voyager (and a good part of) Season 6". Now where's Fair Folk and Sprit Haven? Or is that Folk Haven and Fair Spirit? But anyway...

Also,

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(now there's a classic right there. Just strip the rest of the story and repeat this bit for another 48 minutes and voila... or maybe not. It also amused me that I was typing this, heard a glitch, and - zoiks - the content creator was already a step ahead - but kept the agony down to 3 minutes 49 seconds... )

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

(Okay, this one's surprisingly fun, but - man - that super UHD8000000000K video system that the villain's got is too much! )


What's left:
Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
The Voyager Conspiracy
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Tsunkatse
Collective
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Live Fast and Prosper
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

Virtuoso is truly terrible! It was going to be my next vote if it had somehow survived.

"VIRTUOSO" was going to be my next vote, too. It really made the Doctor look like a douche... leaving his friends (and basically, his family) for fandom on an alien world. Totally damaged his character.

 

[Warp 10 (Pepperoni)]

Tsunkatse can go next, which I personally find to be weaker than many that have already been eliminated (but then I love Virtuoso so maybe I'm in the wrong here haha)

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Qonundrum]

This was the most schizophrenic season of the franchise in terms of quality episodes. You'll get a couple goid, then terrible, a grwat one, a couple horribles, a goid one, a bad one, a decent one, an excellent one, then a terrible one. It was all over the place.

Taking out "FURY". This was a terrible episode that actively destroyed a lead character. (Well, former lead... her last exit was a better sendoff.)

The only two things I liked was we got to see the Vidiians one last time (the best race the series created) and it explained why it took Wildman almost a year and half to give birth to Naomi.

That's the one where an aged Kes begs to come on board, but then immediate opts to ram the ship then beam aboard and promptly destroys entire corridors by merely walking while high and farting? Something about time travel and Kes blaming Janeway (why not), but it wasn't as much about Kes the character as it should have been... good makeup, though.

I’m going to remove Alice. I’m just not sure what the aim of it was. Is it a metaphor for addiction? Is it a metaphor for infidelity? Did they feel like they hadn’t done a “Tom is a loose cannon” episode in a while and they just couldn’t let that part of their palette of character beats go without one last hurrah? This is one (admittedly of many) of those episodes where I think, this person would need so much therapy to come back from what amounts to pretty severe brainwashing and we will not get anything at all.

^^this
It's IMHO a fun episode, but they'd done the energy-fritter trope plenty of times as well as the "Tom is a loose cannon" shtick too. It could have been better; Brannon Braga has a knack of doing some neat high concept stories and making them feel authentic and interesting. "Alice" is passable, but lacks Braga's spark...

 

[Qonundrum]

They did the self-reprogramming and daydream believer stuff with Data already. When a show regurgitates but can't eke out anything so novel that it makes the otherwise worn-out trope feel new again...

Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy​

Allegedly, this story was to revolve around Neelix. Neelix needed a good story to compensate for all the times he's "too chirpy" for some.

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Dang, even Tuvok should yelp in pain...

As with a number of clips, there's a neat way to make a fanfic video discussing an alternate ending to VOY. After all, in that one episode, they deliberately wanted to become drones, so why not... (it's high time the Borg became a threat again, anyway... VOY was onto something, but didn't go there - the reset button trope was worn out, anyway and surely there may be other means to defeat such a malady. Naah, it's just the EMH dreaming again. What a sicko. )

Also,

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What's left:
Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Riddles
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve

 

[Sakonna]

I will ax “Riddles”, for again needing to put Tuvok in an altered state to have an episode about him.

Equinox (II)
Survival Instinct
Barge of the Dead
Dragon's Teeth
One Small Step
Pathfinder
Blink of an Eye
Ashes to Ashes
Child's Play
Good Shepherd
Muse
The Haunting of Deck Twelve