The least disliked episode of TNG - Season Three

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that was played here a couple of years ago, and it proved to be a lot of fun, spanning across each Trek series, as well as a great way 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. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Winners
Season One - Heart of Glory
Season Two - Q Who?
Season Three -

Evolution
The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Who Watchers the Watchers?
The Bonding
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Allegiance
Captain's Holiday
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[MacLeod]

Much, much harder than S1-2. But I'll eliminate "Allegiance" it isn't a bad episode but it's one of the weaker episodes of a strong season.

Evolution
The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Who Watchers the Watchers?
The Bonding
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Captain's Holiday
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[jimbotron]

I went over this list a couple times and found it REALLY hard to find the worst one. This will be a tough season.

I'm going with Who Watches the Watchers? It's boring and its message has already been done in TNG and Trek as a whole. Another Prime Directive morality tale, whoop dee doo. It also slams religion as a whole which is strange. It seemed like most of the episode was people standing around waiting and frowning. To this former kid growing up, this episode was a gigantic snoozefest.

The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
The Bonding
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Captain's Holiday
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[SpHeRe31459]

I'll nominate "The Bonding" as next to go. The kid actor is terrible, the plot is poor (an 8-year old kid should not be left alone when his last remaining parent has been killed), and there's that weird stuff going on with Worf's quarters where it looks like they threw up a bluescreen drop cloth but then never composited anything in behind him. Not to mention, Worf's character development will be given much better service later this season by "Sins of the Father."

The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Captain's Holiday
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[Dale Sams]

I'll mark off "Captain's Holiday"

Vash+ Picard in civvies+ Ferengi = blech.

The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I

 

[CmndrSela318]

I nominate The Survivors. That episode gives me nightmares about getting a song stuck in my head.

The Ensigns of Command
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[jimbotron]

I choose The High Ground. First for being a watered-down concept to the point where it doesn't really have much to say. Second, this would have been much cooler if it had actually been a take on the American Revolution. If aliens came to Earth in 1776 to help, would they support the Crown?

The Ensigns of Command
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Menage a Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[Tosk]

I'm surprised at some of the ones already eliminated. I'm gonna knock off Menage à Troi right now. There are a few amusements here and there, but most of it is just horrible. The plot is a big fat nothing, tailored only to deliver the "comedy" of the situation...so when the comedy falls flat, there's nothing left. Or if TL;DR, my three word review is "Too much Lwaxana."

The Ensigns of Command
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[R. Star]

Booby Trap... I just can't take this episode seriously... and still can't figure out if the title is about the 1000 year old trap or Geordi's holographic antics with the boobies.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

The Most Toys. This episode just didn't feel like it came together. Some of it felt like a pieced together script from Buck Rogers or something. Even without knowing the backstory behind it, it felt like a letdown in a stretch (back half of Season 3) when TNG was firing on all cylinders.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[jimbotron]

Transfigurations. Ever since I was a kid, this one has always been "that boring one before Best of Both Worlds." The actor playing John Doe felt kinda flat. Compared to a guest star like Dwight Schultz, actors like him and the guy who played Jameson. Nice that the show had some continuity with Booby Trap (Geordi can finally interact with women).

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I remove The Price.

Not the worst episode in season 3, but all the bad ones have been taken out. The whole thing reeks of liberal stereotypes about commerce, it has TNG style cartoon Ferengi and the ending making it not really a good commerce opportunity was a copout. Then the whole 'Talented people should be ashamed' thing rubs me the wrong way. If being empathic is cheating at negotiation then being tall is cheating at basketball.

It was a toss up between this and Tin Man, and this loses the tiebreaker out of contact suck from False Profits.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

@Jimbotron

The High Ground was a thinly veiled metaphor for Ireland which the Irish considered offensive and the American rebels didn't blow up school busses.

 

[jimbotron]

@Jimbotron

The High Ground was a thinly veiled metaphor for Ireland which the Irish considered offensive and the American rebels didn't blow up school busses.

I know. Snodgrass's original intent was for it to be a metaphor for the American Revolution, but it was changed after she submitted it, I guess to be more topical? Even as an IRA metaphor, it didn't really have much to say other than "terrorism = bad."

 

[CmndrSela318]

Now I shall remove my least favorite episode of season 3.
I hereby remove "Yesterday's Enterprise".

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[Third Nacelle]

I'll eliminate The Hunted. One of many "genetic manipulation is bad, mmmkay" episodes of Star Trek.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek
The Best of Both Worlds (I)

 

[tomalak301]

Well, I'm going to do it:

Best of Both Worlds

There are 2 reasons why I'm doing this. 1) I want to see what episode would win out with this episode out of the picture. 2) There are episodes in season 3 that have much more rewatchability than BOBW, even though it is one of the best cliffhangers ever.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek

 

[jimbotron]

Well, that takes care of that.

A strong remainder of episodes here, but I think the weakest is The Vengeance Factor. Finally an episode with some strong guest actors. But the plot isn't very interesting. Perhaps if Yuta being the killer was left secret until the end, that might have made it better. It feels disjointed with her being meek, then a killer, then back to meek, then a killer. All the dramatic weight is Riker being sad for having to shoot her? Eh.


The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Defector
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek

 

[Maurice]

I'm gonna snuff "A Matter of Perspective" for being a lame play on Rashomon.

 

[Third Nacelle]

I like all the episodes remaining, but I think Tin Man isn't quite up to the same level as the rest.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Defector
Deja Q
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits
Sarek

 

[CmndrSela318]

I removed The Survivors cause it's my 2nd least favorite and like I said when I removed it "That episode gives me nightmares about getting a song stuck in my head."
I removed Yesterday's Enterprise for the reason I gave "my least favorite episode of season 3." Plus I felt like Yesterday's Enterprise might be one of the final 3 standing if I didn't remove it.
tomalak301 removed the second one I thought might make it to the final 3--Best Of Both Worlds.
Now I'm gonna remove the last one I think might make it to the final 3.
I hereby remove...wait for it...SAREK.
Now let's see who the final 3 end up being.

The Ensigns of Command
The Enemy
The Defector
Deja Q
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Hollow Pursuits