The least disliked episode of DS9 - season five

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that we play every two years, and 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 favorite 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 because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Winners
The Original Series - Mirror, Mirror
The Next Generation - All Good Things...
Deep Space Nine -

Season One - Duet
Season Two - Necessary Evil
Season Three - The Die is Cast
Season Four - The Visitor
Season Five -

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Let He Who is Without Sin...
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Tosk]

I cast the first stone. As with many of DS9's worst eps, Let He Who Is Without Sin isn't 100% awful, but it's not far off. The lone scene I actually like is the retroactive explanation for why Worf is such a grumpy bastard. Anyway, it's gone.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
...Nor the Battle to the Strong
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Terok Nor]

Nor The Battle To The Strong. I don't think Jake Sisko ever really recovered from this episode. It showed him in a particularly bad light and from here on in he irritated me most of the time with his journalism attempts. I know this episode was to show Jake is not a Starfleet officer and is just a regular guy but I couldn't help but think of him as a coward. You don't need to be a Starfleet officer to show bravery. Poor Julian.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Ferengi Love Songs
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

I love Nor the Battle. Oh well!

I'll remove Ferengi Love Songs, I think the last other truly awful episode left.

Apocalypse Rising
The Ship
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Tosk]

I love Nor the Battle. Oh well!

So do I, but it was never going to be long 'til a good ep fell in this season.

 

[Terok Nor]

I didn't see Ferengi Love Songs when I looked at the list. I would have removed that before Nor The Battle if my eyesight was better! There aren't really all that many bad episodes in this season. I don't even think Nor The Battle is bad. It's just not my favourite.

 

[Seven of Five]

Oh it's not like I'm taking great offence or anything it's only a game.

It's my favourite DS9 season - I would say there are only 4 or 5 more average episodes left on this list, then it's all good to excellent.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

The Ship. It's a flaccid attempt to get Starship Down right, but it ultimately felt like a detached stage play. I'm not convinced that Dax, O'Brien and Worf would have taken that opportunity to debate what to do with the downed crewman (Mendez?).

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
The Assignment
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

I will also voice my disappointment at NTBtTS early exit. It would not likely win the season, but it sets up great episodes like Rocks and Shoals and Siege of AR-558.

 

[DonIago]

I'll consign "The Assignment" to oblivion. It's a fun episode, and I kinda like Evil!Keiko, and it does some good things for Rom, but I can't imagine it winning the season, and the way O'Brien handles things doesn't entirely sit well with me.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Empok Nor
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

Empok Nor for me now. I like the dialogue with O'Brien and Garak early on, and there are good bits throughout, but it's really not a favourite.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
A Simple Investigation
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[Bad Thoughts]

A Simple Investigation. The reserved Picard gave his heart to the perfect woman, only to find that she was not only unobtainable, she was on a mission! Except, of course, this was an Odo episode and a tired story by this point.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
In the Cards
Call to Arms

 

[boldygoing]

The next to go is In the Cards, this episode just had a weird tone during the build up to a great arc. Just clunky and out of place.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Darkness and the Light
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Eliminating The Darkness And The Light. I hate the contrived horror film-like way they dispatched Kira's old friends and every time I see that final speech I can't believe Nana Visitor can keep a straight face through it.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
Rapture
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[Terok Nor]

Rapture. This episode is really boring. I spent most of it wondering what the hell was going on with Sisko's uniform.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Doctor Bashir, I Presume?
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

Doctor Bashir, I Presume is a clunky comedy, which awkwardly inserts new origins into Bashir's backstory that otherwise had no buildup to outside this episode.

Apocalypse Rising
Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
The Begotten
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[boldygoing]

I'll take a D'k tahg to Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places. This was a nice follow up to House of Quark and finally cemented the Jadiza/Worf relationship. That being said, we are getting down to better episodes so goodbye.

*I agree with you Terok about Sisko's combadge, WTF?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

The Begotten. Odo reacting to a blob of goo was awesome and emotional--Rene Auberjonois was a great actor. The b-story? Shakar and O'Brien fighting over Kira's womb? Ugh.

Apocalypse Rising
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Soldiers of the Empire
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[Seven of Five]

I find Soldiers of the Empire a bit dull in places, so that's next.

Apocalypse Rising
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Children of Time
Blaze of Glory
Call to Arms

 

[boldygoing]

I'll take out Blaze of Glory. This was just anticlimactic after For the Uniform. Just bitter Sisko and preachy Eddington.

Apocalypse Rising
Trials and Tribble-ations
Things Past
The Ascent
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Children of Time
Call to Arms

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I will remove Things Past. Not a bad episode and some good development for Odo but felt the shared hallucination where dying kills you in real life thing was a bit of a crutch.

Apocalypse Rising
Trials and Tribble-ations
The Ascent
For the Uniform
In Purgatory's Shadow
By Inferno's Light
Business as Usual
Ties of Blood and Water
Children of Time
Call to Arms