The least disliked episode of TOS - Final Round

[Sakonna]

And now every time these games come up, the "shouldn't this game actually be called..." posts have practically become a cherished tradition.

I can't believe Web is still on this list. Spock and McCoy truly hate each other, and show it to the crew. Uhura is assumed crazy when she sees Kirk, but when Scotty sees Kirk everyone jumps to recover him. Bad space indeed.

I just can't resist an episode that goes light on Kirk for once. And I retain my childhood fascination with the Tholian's.

 

[Poltargyst]

The City on the Edge of Forever - 2
Mirror, Mirror - 1
The Doomsday Machine - 0
The Tholian Web - 3

City...

 

[Phaser Two]

These are all four really great episodes but City is inferior to the other three in my mind (the other three are all in my personal Top 10 while City is not). City is wonderfully evocative and is like a wonderful piece of music in that it transports you to another time and place, brings out emotion and mood, and seems far longer than it actually is, but you can tell it was written or heavily revised by a committee. At times, the dialogue is a bit stilted (particularly aboard the ship at the outset). McCoy's escape from the ship shows Kirk and the crew to be just comically inept.

The City on the Edge of Forever - 3
Mirror, Mirror - 1
The Doomsday Machine - 0
The Tholian Web - 3

 

[BK613]

Okay so I'll vote TTW into the netherspace. Scotty's believed but Uhura is not?

The City on the Edge of Forever - 0
Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 0

 

[BlueStuff]

The City on the Edge of Forever - 1
Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 0

Three terrific episodes, but I'll vote to oust City, just because the other two better capture what I generally want from Trek.

 

[Sakonna]

I'll vote for City again. I do love it, but the truth is -- I really want to spend the whole episode on the Guardian's planet.

The City on the Edge of Forever - 2
Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 0

 

[Phaser Two]

Okay so I'll vote TTW into the netherspace. Scotty's believed but Uhura is not?

I've never really understood this complaint. It's clear from the moment that Scotty reports seeing Kirk that McCoy and even Spock think that he is being affected; there's even specific dialogue expressly about just that. Spock orders Scotty to the bridge, probably so he can personally evaluate the engineer without leaving the bridge, and once Scotty shows up, everyone on the bridge sees Kirk.

Moreover, Uhura grows so agitated about seeing Kirk (and she has a spasm of what looks like severe pain just before she sees him) that she faints in McCoy's arms. And once the Scotty episode occurs, McCoy releases Uhura immediately.

 

[Phaser Two]

The City on the Edge of Forever - 3
Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 0

Oh, yes, and . . . there is no comparison whatsoever between City and either DM or MM.

 

[Henoch]

I'll make it fast. City is out. Time travel to the past with no Enterprise: meh. The other two involve excellent Sci-Fi drama on a spaceship.

The City on the Edge of Forever - 4
Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 0

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I'll go with "Tholian" again, for the same reasons I stated in the last round. I mean, C'mon! We HAVE to throw the third season episode out first! The weird purple transporter room is enough to discount it!

Being bad because it's in season 3 is an illogical assumption.

That's not what I said. What I wrote was:

Tholian Web. The lost Defiant, Kirk being presumed dead, the Tholians... It just tries to do too much.

...And I didn't want to retype the same thing over again a day later. You'd think that me putting in a winky would identify an obvious joke and writing "for the same reasons I stated before" would be enough to make it clear why I was voting against TTW, but I guess not.

Mirror Mirror gets another whack from me because it's not in the same league, let alone universe as the others.

Another hour in the booth for you.

I'll start the new round by voting for "Doomsday." I love the episode, but William Windom's grimacing at the end gets pretty goofy.

Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 1

 

[Sakonna]

I'll also do Doomsday Machine.

"Mirror, Mirror" is just so much fun, it is probably the first ep I dial up when I just want a random satisfying TOS hour. And it's weirdly influential in society at large... everyone's vaguely aware of that goatee-evil-alternate-universe trope. Also, it has great Uhura material.

Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 2

 

[Seven of Five]

Mirror, Mirror - 0
The Doomsday Machine - 3

Mirror, MIrror is more fun than The Doomsday Machine overall, so much more it lead to later Trek series revisiting the place.

 

[Maurice]

^^^than, not then

Mirror Mirror gets another whack.

Mirror, Mirror - 1
The Doomsday Machine - 3

 

[Takeru]

I vote for Mirror, Mirror. It's a lot of fun but a bit too cartoonishly evil.

Mirror, Mirror - 2
The Doomsday Machine - 3

 

[Seven of Five]

^^^than, not then.

Auto-correct is pure evil. Much like the Mirror Universe.

 

[BK613]

Mirror, Mirror - 3
The Doomsday Machine - 3

Mirror, Mirror for the plot save of Sulu

 

[Sakonna]

Oh, suspense!

 

[Henoch]

I can't handle the responsibility.

 

[Phaser Two]

I vote for Mirror, Mirror. It's fantastic beyond words, but The Doomsday Machine is near perfection.

 

[Sakonna]

Well, I was rooting for "Mirror, Mirror", but I also like when something that's never won before is the champion, and "Doomsday Machine" is great!

And it's probably been 15 years since I last saw it. I've never seen the HD on that one, I just realized, and WOW to the screencap on the Memory Alpha page. I need to put "Doomsday Machine" on my watchlist, clearly...