The least disliked episode of TOS - Season One

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that we play every couple of 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 just because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions
2011 - Mirror, Mirror
2013 - Balance of Terror
2015 - Mirror, Mirror
2017 - Journey to Babel
2019 -

Season One

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The Alternative Factor
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[BlueStuff]

I'll boot The Alternative Factor for the psychedelic wrestling and some of the most incoherent technobabble ever.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
Mudd's Women
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Vger23]

Mudd's Women is one of the only TOS episodes that has virtually no redeeming quality for me. Absolute drudgery with out-of-whack characterizations, sexism, and stupid incoherent messaging throughout.



The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Court Martial
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Spock's Barber]

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Miri
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

I find the defendant, Court Martial, to be Guilty As Charged for violating Starfleet Regulation 112-5, Section 3B “Don’t bore Starfleet personnel.” This Courtroom drama even put Perry Mason, Matlock and Judge Judy to sleep. Bailiff! Next case, please!

 

[BlueStuff]

Miri, aka And The Children Shall Lead: The Beginning is no more; the acting is painful to witness.

The Man Trap
Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Henoch]

I can't believe The Man Trap made it this far. Just give the vampire some damn salt in the beginning and no problems. But no, let's starve the beast, force it to kill for food and hunt it.

Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
The Return of the Archons
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Marsden]

I disagree with your assesment of Man Trap, Henoch, but that's for another place.

I pick The Return of the Archons It's not bad but it's my least favorite remaining, it's hard to pick after those first few, there were a few gaps I'd have liked to have seen filled in, the "red hour" especially.

Season one has a peculiar dearth of bad episodes.

Charlie X
Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday

Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[NovaStar]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Enemy Within
What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

I'll take out Charlie X. It felt like a pointless episode by the time it was over and I found Robert Walker Jr.'s performance as Charlie to be far too dramatic for my tastes. I guess the only things that I remember from it are all "unnatural" things Charlie did to members of the crew.

 

[GNDN18]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time

What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

The Enemy Within is really hard to fathom now. Despite strong performances from Shatner and Nimoy, the assault on Rand and everyone’s reaction to it (the victim herself saying she wouldn’t have mentioned it but for the act being witnessed being the most chilling example), makes this episode unwatchable for me.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time

What Are Little Girl's Made Of?
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven

Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

The Squire of Gothos has to go sit in the corner because Trelane was a very, very bad boy. C’mon, Kirk. You should have whooped his ass during that fight.

 

[UnknownSample]

I like all of it. Best season of TV I know of.

 

[BlueStuff]

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is one of those episodes with a good concept but doesn't quite come together in execution. Nothing really makes sense throughout.

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
Dagger of the Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie (I)
The Menagerie (II)
The Conscience of the King
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in the Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City on the Edge of Forever
Operation: Annihilate!

 

[Henoch]

Nothing really makes sense throughout.

Except for Sherry Jackson (in a Bill Theiss costume ) and the great Ted Cassidy as Ruk; "You rang?"

 

[johnnybear]

The Conscience of The King for me! It's okay but not one of Trek's best remembered season one episodes!

Where No Man Has Gone Before
Charlie X
The Naked Time
Dagger of The Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie
Balance of Terror
Shore Leave
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever
Operation:Annihilate
JB

 

[Seven of Five]

I've cancelled Shore Leave. It's a fun enough episode but it's in a very strong season of TOS.

Where No Man Has Gone Before
Charlie X
The Naked time
Dagger of The mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever
Operation:Annihilate

 

[Farscape One]

I fixed the list to reflect what has been eliminated and what was forgotten to be added in.


Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
Dagger of The Mind
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie Part I
The Menagerie Part II
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever
Operation -- Annihilate

I will take out "TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY". While it is a fun time travel adventure, it doesn't grab me like the other episodes left on this list. For me, it is the weakest of the currently listed episodes.

 

[Maurice]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie Part I
The Menagerie Part II
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever
Operation -- Annihilate

Sticking it to "Dagger of the Mind" just because I'm tired of guys drooling over you-know-who.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie Part I
The Menagerie Part II
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena

A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever
Operation -- Annihilate

Space Seed gets planted in the Starfleet mulch pile. Those ‘supermen’ just didn’t show much muscle.

 

[gottacook]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie Part I
The Menagerie Part II
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
Space Seed
A Taste of Armageddon
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever

I eliminate "Operation -- Annihilate" because it can be construed as a ripoff of Heinlein's 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. (Which, if you haven't read it, is definitely better in its pre-1990 version than in the "restored" longer version that superseded it.)

 

[Sareesataka]

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie Part I
The Menagerie Part II
Balance of Terror
The Galileo Seven
Arena
This Side of Paradise
The Devil in The Dark
Errand of Mercy
The City On The Edge of Forever

A Taste of Armageddon - Another interfering arrogant diplomat on the bridge of the Enterprise who doesn't seem to know how to be diplomatic, ironically enough. While the concept of waging a computerized war is intriguing enough, it's really a stretch for me to accept that people would willingly submit to termination in a mathematical attack.