The least disliked episode of DS9 - Season One

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that we play every few 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, please 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 they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions
2011 - In the Pale Moonlight
2013 - In the Pale Moonlight
2017 - Improbable Cause
2019 -

Season One

Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[NovaStar]

Goodbye Move Along Home. I don't want to hear Allamariane one more time.

Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Passenger
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Farscape One]

Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

Now we are on my favorite STAR TREK series! And currently, my wife is watching for the first time with me, so a lot of these episodes are even fresher in my mind.

I will start season 1 by taking out "THE PASSENGER". A rather reused idea, but it fell rather flat, and Siddig was a little too over the top as Vantika. Because it was early DS9, I am forgiving with such things, but I have to eliminate something.

 

[Farscape One]

Goodbye Move Along Home. I don't want to hear Allamariane one more time.

I'm starting to feel like I'm the only defender of that episode.

 

[NovaStar]

I'm starting to feel like I'm the only defender of that episode.

Don't get me wrong it has it's moments but If I had to pick the worst episode of Season 1 in DS9 I would pick that one. The concept is cool but the execution for me did not deliver if that make sense.

 

[Armus]

Duet can go.

Just kidding. Thats one of the most memorable Kira episodes. Past Prologue on the hand, is one of the least memorable Kira episodes. It can "move along home."

The Emissary
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[BlueStuff]

If Wishes Were Horses is gone. If you watch this silly episode followed by a Dominion War instalment, it’s hard to believe it’s the same show.

Emissary
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Armus]

If Wishes Were Horses is gone. If you watch this silly episode followed by a Dominion War instalment, it’s hard to believe it’s the same show.

I could say the same thing about Profit and Lace or Ferengi Love Songs!

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll take out Q-Less. It's a very dull, very contrived Q appearance that was never needed. Vash should have popped up on TNG and given Picard closure.

Emissary
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Removing The Storyteller. Aside from the comedy value of "Once upon a time, there was a dalroc!" the episode is mostly unwatchable. One of the episode that majorly suffers from "Alien simpleton syndrome", where the denizens of a planet are shown as so ridiculously stupid, childlike and helpless they can't even make basic good judgments. This planet is so stupid, their stupidity physically manifests and attacks them and they need to be told just how super strong and resolved they are to fight it back.

Emissary
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Takeru]

There are a few stinkers left but I'll remove "Dax" from the list, it's a bad courtroom drama and Terry Farell's performance isn't that great. It does ask an interesting question if Jadzia can be blamed or punished for crimes a previous host and/or the symbiont committed in the past but then the episode doesn't bother to give an answer because SURPRISE Curzon was innocent the entire time.


Emissary
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

Did I ever love it as a kid, but I have really turned on "Babel." There's really no part of it that fits the DS9 narrative. It just doesn't feel like the station community that we come to know. The Bajoran resistance tactics feel weird, at no other time does it seem like complicated genetic engineering is where they were fighting that battle.

Also, @BlueStuff was kind enough to let me borrow this game format for my own twist on it in the General Trek Discussion thread -- I wanted to try using themed collections of episodes from across the franchise as the lists, and see how those eliminations would square off. Just posted the first one, if anyone is interested in checking it out:
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-least-disliked-2-part-2-hour-star-trek-episode.299358/

Emissary
A Man Alone
Captive Pursuit
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

Dramatis Personae has some nice moments, otherwise it's a bit of a convoluted mess.

Emissary
A Man Alone
Captive Pursuit
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Armus]

A Man Alone is pretty weak. Like TNG DS9 took several episodes after the pilot to accelerate.

 

[tafkats]

This is getting harder... but, OK, "The Nagus."

Leaving us with:

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[tomswift2002]

“Duet” falls flat.

Leaving us with:

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
Vortex
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
In the Hands of the Prophets[/QUOTE]

 

[Seven of Five]

Not Duet! Gasp!



It's getting harder now. I think Vortex can go now. It's a nice enough Odo episode, there are stronger episodes here though.

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
Battle Lines
Progress
The Forsaken
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

I am still pissed at how "Battle Lines" jettisons Opaka. If she is to disposed with so unceremoniously, at least let it have something to do with the Bajor story!

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
Progress
The Forsaken
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Farscape One]

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
The Forsaken
In the Hands of the Prophets

This a hard list to remove episodes now, but I will go with "PROGRESS". At this point, the only reason is because I like the others slightly more. Can't really say anything negative about this episode.

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll take off The Forsaken. It's probably my favourite use of Lwaxana Troi in both series. The others a tad stronger though.

Emissary
Captive Pursuit
In the Hands of the Prophets