The least disliked episode of DS9 - season seven

[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 - Call to Arms
Season Six - In the Pale Moonlight
Season Seven -

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Take Me Out to the Holosuite
Chrysalis
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
Covenant
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
The Emperor's New Cloak
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Seven of Five]

Morning!

I'll take out The Emperor's New Cloak firstly, as it's a pretty dire final visit to the Mirror Universe.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Take Me Out to the Holosuite
Chrysalis
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
Covenant
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Terok Nor]

Covenant. I hated crazy Dukat.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Take Me Out to the Holosuite
Chrysalis
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Isolinear]

Take Me Out to the Holosuite. Baseball? In Star Trek? No thanks! And Sisko is an asshole in this episode.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Chrysalis
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Chrysalis. Bashir confuses love and med'cine ... again. I wonder how his character would have dealt with Janet Tyler of Twilight Zone's Eye of the Beholder.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Prodigal Daughter
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Paul Weaver]

Prodigal Daughter
Season 7 had far too much Ezri, but this was the worst. Even being the season's "O'Brien Must Suffer" episode couldn't help save it.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Extreme Measures
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Seven of Five]

Extreme Measures is the most disappointing episode of the Final Chapter arc. Such a missed opportunity to send of Section 31 with some gravitas.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Field of Fire
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Eliminating Field of Fire. It's somewhere in the 'Worst episode ever' shortlist. The way it's staged like a bad crime drama, the ridiculousness of the entire premise and the revelation of the killer. The point where Joran figures out the killer is a Vulcan because there are smiling pictures in the quarters might be the face-palmiest moment in Trek history.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
Once More Unto the Breach
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Terok Nor]

Once More Unto The Breach. A poor send off for the original Klingon. I can't say I was too fond of the way DS9 turned such a glorious villain into a drunk hasbeen but I enjoyed Blood Oath and The Sword Of Kahless for the most part.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Afterimage
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Afterimage. Garak's "claustrophobia" is revived to give Ezri something to do. This episode really shows how the writers leaned too heavily on Andrew Robinson to carry forward stories. Nicole de Boers was suitable in her first character feature, but there really wasn't much for her to do other than be quirky (at which she succeeded).

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Chimera
Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Sakonna]

Badda-Bing Badda-Bang. It's passable, there's some fun aspects to it, but I reeeaaaallllyyyyy hate Vic, he drags down every episode he appears in.

Image in the Sand
Shadows and Symbols
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Chimera
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Seven of Five]

Image in the Sand next. A bit of a quiet, reflective opener, but the ball doesn't start rolling until the conclusion.

Shadows and Symbols
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Chimera
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[dahj]

Away with Chimera.
A somewhat unnecessary "Odo deals with a changeling" episodes before the end of season kicks off.

Shadows and Symbols
Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Shadows and Symbols. The return of Benny Russell is fun, but it is unusually plot driven. I'm still not sure of the point of Worf's quest, but sometimes ISB could use too many off-the-shelf ideas about religion. I might have liked it better if Kira had yelled, "There's your wormhole!"

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Penumbra
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'll eliminate Penumbra. Out of all the fantastic final ten episodes, I feel it hit awkward notes with the Worf/Ezri stuff.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
Dogs of War
What You Leave Behind

 

[Sakonna]

Dogs Of War. The Cardassia plot is great, but the Ferengi material is completely shoddy and absurd. And there is something frustratingly juvenile about the writing of the Bashir/Ezri subplot. It's always bummed me out that the second-to-last episode of the series is marred by such weak storylines.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

inter Arma Enim Silent Leges. Section 31 was such a late addition to DS9 that it always seemed to me that they were trying to do too much. This episode is built around too much manipulation and reverse psychology. I do like that it makes use of Bashir's late series cynicism.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Til Death Do Us Part
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
What You Leave Behind

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll take out 'Til Death Do us Part. A strong episode, but there are better left.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
It's Only a Paper Moon
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
What You Leave Behind

 

[Sakonna]

Taking out It's Only A Paper Moon. It's the only Vic-heavy episode I'd consider actually, properly good, it's just at the point where everything else here is even better.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
Strange Bedfellows
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
What You Leave Behind

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Strange Bedfellow. It's hard to distinguish episodes within the Final Chapters arc. This one is showing what will make the arc interesting, but it also is weakened by slow development. The Ezri-Worf drama was interesting, revisiting the Dax-Worf story one last time, but stringing it out over three episodes was too much. Damar's sadism was amusing. Not enough was done with the home front.

Treachery, Faith, and the Great River
The Siege of AR-558
The Changing Face of Evil
When It Rains...
Tacking Into the Wind
What You Leave Behind