The least disliked episode of TOS - season three

[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 -

Season One - Devil in the Dark
Season Two - Journey to Babel
Season Three -

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
And the Children Shall Lead
Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Plato's Stepchildren
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
The Lights of Zetar
Requiem for Methuselah
The Way to Eden
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[BlueStuff]

I'll remove And the Children Shall Lead by way of fist pump. "Far away, for to see, friendly angel..." go to hell!

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Plato's Stepchildren
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
The Lights of Zetar
Requiem for Methuselah
The Way to Eden
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[Indysolo]

I've deleted "Is There In Truth No Beauty?". This episode always annoys me, no matter how many times I try to watch it. Our characters all fawn over Dr. Jones and can't understand why she wants to be with something "ugly". That's a far cry from the enlightened attitudes displayed elsewhere in this series. The annoying fish eye lens and other oddities (her blindness reveal coming out of left field) make it easy for me to jettison this one.

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Plato's Stepchildren
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
The Lights of Zetar
Requiem for Methuselah
The Way to Eden
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[Harvey]

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Plato's Stepchildren
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
The Lights of Zetar
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

There's no room for space hippies on this list. "The Way To Eden" is a problematic episode on many levels, despite the potential in the original concept by D.C. Fontana.

 

[DonIago]

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Plato's Stepchildren
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

I've turned off "The Lights of Zetar". Zzzzz is right.

 

[Green Shirt]

Plato's Stepchildren has to go. Shatner as a horse is plenty enough reason.

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
The Paradise Syndrome
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[Merry Stripmas]

Next to go will be the tear-jerker "The Paradise Syndrome".

Spock's Brain
The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
The Empath
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[CrazyMatt]

Spock's Brain should have gone first! How did it last this long???

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark of Gideon
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[DonIago]

It's crowded enough here without "The Mark of Gideon", an episode with some pretty serious logical flaws.

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

 

[Norsehound]

Good grief people, you turned off some passable episodes and let Let That Be Your Last Battlefield get further than being the first pick? If I ever needed a poster child of heavy-handed messages of tollerance being a turn-off in Star Trek, this is it. "Devil in the Dark" teaches us not to make hasty judgements in a monster story and "The Enemy Within" tells us we need the bad with the good while Kirk's inner struggle of command is turned outward, but this one on no uncertain terms spells racism in the halls as if Frank Gorshin was still the Riddler and decided to leave clues for Batman. The red-alert panning is enough to kill this one off.



The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

FWIW I always thought "And the Children Shall Lead" is the creepiest episode in TOS. People knock Belli's performance as the Gorgon, but I think the matter-of-factly delivery combined with zero empathy from the kids over their parents death, along with the utter powerlessness of the crew, makes this one something to watch right after "Catspaw" on Halloween. It's the same creepy space child story from Charlie X But replacing awkward immaturity and a macguffin save with children from the Twilight Zone. I can also imagine the melting Goron chanting "death to you all!" is nightmare fuel for some people.

 

[drt]

"Turnabout Intruder" tired body-switching plot and weird sexism = goodbye



The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Elaan of Troyius
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Danny99]

Elaan of Troyius for one horrible guest star in a poorly written role.

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[JonnyQuest037]

For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky for having a long, pretentious title.

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Cloud Minders
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Sir Rhosis]

I bring The Cloud Minders down to earth. Heavy-handed allegory about the haves and have nots. Spock babbling "Me so horny every seven years" to a stranger, etc.

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
Requiem for Methuselah
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Mytran]

Awww, I wanted to zap The Empath!
Ah well, since Requiem for Methuselah is pretty much an absurd TOS parody, that one can go instead

The Enterprise Incident
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Norsehound]

Still totally surprised by the choices. "Mark of Gideon", "Elaan of Troyus", and "The Empath" are all better than Specter of the Gun, which is as hollow of a story as the supposed illusionary western town it is set in. "Mental projection" or not, this is a western, and though the show is a Wagon train to the stars it should not literally be a Wagon train in the stars. It tries to pass with the same excuse that "Patterns of Force" did with Space Nazis, but I'm not impressed with space cowboys that aren't even in space.

The Enterprise Incident
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
That Which Survives
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Merry Stripmas]

That Which Survives - boring, boring, boring.

The Enterprise Incident
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Whom Gods Destroy
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[telerites]

Wink of an Eye drinks its own kool-aid and just like that they are out of sight. I never liked this episode. Just seemed non-nonsensical to me. Not the weakest of Season 3 but to be honest, I'm surprised it lasted this long.

The Enterprise Incident
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Whom Gods Destroy
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[22 Stars]

Whom Gods Destroy will now be relegated to a penal asteroid!

The Enterprise Incident
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays

 

[Sir Rhosis]

"The Savage Curtain" is one of my guilty pleasures. But it is not up to the others still standing.

The Enterprise Incident
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
All Our Yesterdays