The least disliked episode of Voyager - Season One

[BlueStuff]

This is a game that we play every few years or so, 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, and wait at least 6 hours after your last vote, before voting again.

No tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions
2011 - Meld
2013 - Living Witness
2017 -

Season One

Caretaker
Parallax
Time and Again
Phage
The Cloud
Eye of the Needle
Ex Post Facto
Emanations
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Heroes and Demons
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[Gul Sengosts]

Ex Post Facto. A lame murder mystery with Tuvok as oldschool TV detective and a dog as the decisive witness.

Caretaker
Parallax
Time and Again
Phage
The Cloud
Eye of the Needle
Ex Post Facto - 1
Emanations
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Heroes and Demons
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[BigDaveX]

I'll jab Eye of the Needle out. No-one was going to believe they'd get home this early in the series, and the rest of the episode isn't memorable enough to stand on its own two feet.

Caretaker
Parallax
Time and Again
Phage
The Cloud
Emanations
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Heroes and Demons
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[Takeru]

Heroes and Demons, I just don't care about holodeck episodes.


Caretaker
Parallax
Time and Again
Phage
The Cloud
Emanations
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[cosmic mouse]

Time and Again- I found it one of the least memorable of season 1 and it's too weak imho for the high placement it receives in the series (episode #3) ...

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
The Cloud
Emanations
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[Seven of Five]

Emanations is one of many dull Harry Kim episodes.

Wow Eye of the Needle out so soon as well that was a season one top 5 for me. Even if it did lead to the sub-genre of 'Will the crew make it home this week?' They went to that well way too many times, though some were better than others.

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
The Cloud
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Cathexis
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[BlueStuff]

I'll leave Cathexis in a coma. Nonsensical Chakotay fare.

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
The Cloud
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Faces
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Eliminating Faces. The split B'elana idea is kind of a stock scifi gimmick they executed mediocrely and parts of the episode are gross.

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
The Cloud
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[Garth Rockett]

The Cloud. A bit too much like TAS’s One of Our Planets Is Missing.

Caretaker
Parallax
Phage
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[BigDaveX]

Parallax is next to go. An interesting idea, but it ends up feeling like an under-developed script brought up to length with technobabble, and the way Torres's becoming chief engineer is handled doesn't feel very credible.

Caretaker
Phage
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Jetrel
Learning Curve

 

[Brennyren]

"Learning Curve" had some good moments (Chakotay explaining "the Maquis way" is a favorite), but the resolution was ridiculously predictable.

Caretaker
Phage
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Jetrel

 

[Seven of Five]

Hmm I'll get rid of Caretaker. I think what's left are stronger episodes now.

Phage
Prime Factors
State of Flux
Jetrel

 

[Farscape One]

I will kill "JETREL". It is a fine episode with a great performance by Ethan Phillips, but it is basically VOYAGER's version of "DUET".

Phage
Prime Factors
State of Flux

 

[Takeru]

I'll kill Phage, a great introduction to the Viidians but I dislike how Janeway just lets them go, I also question why the viidians only took Neelix lungs and nothing else. Neelix is also very annoying.

Prime Factors
State of Flux

 

[Sakonna]

Wow, wandered in to see if this thread started yet, at just the right time to make the final call. I'll make State Of Flux the winner. Prime Factors is another one that's going to the "will they get home?" well too early, and it's not as good as "Eye Of The Needle."

My favorites from this season are already gone ("Phage", "Eye Of The Needle", "Jetrel"), but I do think "State Of Flux" is a legitimately good, exciting episode. Possibly the high-water mark for the Kazon in the series. Though there were all sorts of things wrong with her story arc, Seska herself was a fantastic character, and this is a good birth of her as a villain. This episode also fully uses the premise of the series and the Starfleet/Maquis tension in very effective ways. "State Of Flux"'s only real problem is too much Chakotay... there really was no scene Beltran could not completely bleed the life out of.