Game The Most Disliked Barclay Appearance

[Sakonna]

THE OBJECTIVE: A sudden-death elimination game in which we remove our personal favorite episodes from a themed list, until we arrive at the episode that is, if not the worst, at least the most disliked.

THE RULES: Below is a list of all the appearances of Barclay in TNG and VOY.

Eliminate/save your favorite, or the one you deem the ‘best.’
Post something you love about the episode you are saving, and copy-and-paste the list with your choice removed.

You can use any standard you like to judge which option is "best." You can save episodes for being widely recognized “best Trek” classics, or for idiosyncratic qualities that no one appreciates but you.

But -- no tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode because you don’t think anyone else will, or because you feel it would threaten your preferred episode's chance to “win.”

You can take multiple turns. Leave at least 2 eliminations by other posters before you eliminate another episode.

New players are always welcome, you do not have to already be a "most disliked game" regular to dive in.

Enjoy!

TNG, Season 3: "Hollow Pursuits"
TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
TNG, Season 7: "Genesis"
TNG Feature: "Star Trek: First Contact"
VOY, Season 2: "Projections"
VOY, Season 6: "Pathfinder"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Vger23]

"Pathfinder" was one of my favorites of S6 (and S6 overall was a strong VOY season)...and it was ironically one of Troi's best episodes of the franchise.

TNG, Season 3: "Hollow Pursuits"
TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
TNG, Season 7: "Genesis"
TNG Feature: "Star Trek: First Contact"
VOY, Season 2: "Projections"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Seven of Five]

I always liked Barclay. I'll go with his first episode, Hollow Pursuits, as the characters are trying to work out if he's an asset or a liability. He's a bit of fresh air amongst the other crew, who are all more confident and at ease with things.

His holo-program was hilarious as well, as were the different characters reacting to just what exactly Barclay had been getting up to. "I am the goddess of empathy!"

TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
TNG, Season 7: "Genesis"
TNG Feature: "Star Trek: First Contact"
VOY, Season 2: "Projections"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Eckauskas]

I'm going to save First Contact because it was a very pleasant surprise to see Reg cutting about on Earth. It's just a shame he never appeared among the Enterprise crew again.

TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
TNG, Season 7: "Genesis"
VOY, Season 2: "Projections"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Sakonna]

I'm a little tempted to go "Nth Degree", but the truth is I love "Genesis" more. Yes, I love the trashy ones. ESPECIALLY the trashy/spooky ones.

For a second, I was going to write something like "I know Barclay's role isn't that significant", and then I suddenly remembered SPIDER BARCLAY. I want to slap myself for forgetting that for even one moment.

TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
VOY, Season 2: "Projections"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Seven of Five]

I still remember me and my friends jumping at the spider dropping onto the screen.

 

[Farscape One]

Saving "PROJECTIONS". Definitely a highlight of the season 1 produced episodes... possibly the best one.


TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Realm Of Fear"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Summer Solstice]

Realm Of Fear - I liked seeing Barclay overcome his fear even though it was a bit unrealistic.

TNG, Season 4: "The Nth Degree"
TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Seven of Five]

The Nth Degree is a fascinating look at a Barclay who has been altered to the point where he is almost a computer. Hearing him communicate with the crew when he had merged with the Enterprise was quite creepy, a bit like HAL from 2001.

TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
VOY, Season 6: "Life Line"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Brennyren]

"Life Line" wasn't a stellar showcase for Barclay himself (though he had a decent part), but it was a fine follow-up to "Pathfinder." And the Picardo/Picardo face-offs were every bit as good as you might expect.

TNG, Season 6: "Ship In A Bottle"
VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Vger23]

"Ship In A Bottle" was a solid TNG outing, particularly for Season 6...and a nice sequel to the "Elementary Dear Data" episode.


VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"
VOY, Season 7: "Endgame"

 

[Summer Solstice]

Saving Endgame. I really liked Barclay in this - his career was going well and he was friends with Admiral Janeway.

VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
VOY, Season 7: "Author, Author"

 

[Farscape One]

I am abstaining from the rest... one is horrendous, another makes a character look like a selfish prick, and the other is just bad.

 

[Summer Solstice]

"Pathfinder" was one of my favorites of S6 (and S6 overall was a strong VOY season)...and it was ironically one of Troi's best episodes of the franchise.

Really glad this one was eliminated first. I agree it was one of Troi's best episodes. There aren't many where we actually see her being a councillor. It was cool to see B'Elanna and Chakotay in Maquis uniforms and hologram Janeway was very like the real Janeway.

I hadn't realised Barclay was in more VOY episodes than TNG episodes.

 

[Seven of Five]

I love Author, Author, so it's an easy choice for me. It riffs strongly on The Measure of a Man, but it's a great look at holographic rights, and actually gives the Doctor some nice closure on that ongoing theme. Barclay sticks up for him in this episode, even if it's not a strong Barclay episode, per se.

The program that the Doc was working on was a very funny take on VOY. Paris's updates to this to make his point was the icing on the cake.

Inside Man is a very mediocre VOY episode, even if the holographic Barclay doing impressions of the crew was hilarious. Ferengi hijinks is not really the sort of thing I wanted to see in VOY, especially in the final season. It was just the standard cliche Ferengi plot.

Troi's third appearance in VOY was unfortunately very superfluous, and just unneeded in this episode.

Inside Man wins.

 

[Farscape One]

Totally agreed "INSIDE MAN" is the worst Barclay episode. Hell, only DS9 did good Ferengi episodes. (And not all of them were good.)

I will say, however, that while "AUTHOR, AUTHOR" is "The Measure Of A Man"-lite in the back half, and Paris' alterations were funny, the first half of the episode paints The Doctor as selfish and uncaring of the crew. Which is, frankly, very bratty, considering how much freedom he has been given. I've always felt this and "VIRTUOSO" damaged his character badly.

 

[Sakonna]

For me, there could certainly be no better winner on this list than "Inside Man." Haaaaaaaaaaaaaate that one, hate everything about it.

I like most of these. "Projections" and "Endgame" disappoint me, but all the others I decisively enjoy.

The 2020 winner of this game was also "Inside Man." Perennially hated!

I need to St. Patrick's Day today , so next list will be up tomorrow. Hope to see you all there!

MOST DISLIKED WINNERS, 2022
MIRROR UNIVERSE EPISODE: DS9, Season 6: "Resurrection"
HOLODECK EPISODE: VOY, Season 6: "Spirit Folk"
BARCLAY EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Inside Man"
2-PART/DOUBLE EPISODE: VOY, Season 7: "Flesh And Blood"
VISIT TO EARTH'S PAST: ENT, Season 4: "Storm Front, Part II"
TIME TRAVEL/TRAVELER/LOOP/ANOMALY: DIS, Season 2: "Perpetual Infinity"
REGULAR CHARACTER: PRO, Drednok

TOTAL SHOW WINS
TOS, TAS, TNG, ST, PIC, LD, & Movies: 0
DS9, ENT, DIS, & PRO: 1 win each
VOY: 3 wins

 

[BillJ]

All of them.