The Most Disliked Episode of DISCO, 2023 Edition: Season 1...

[Farscape One]

Welcome to our bi-yearly 'Most Disliked Episode' games! Now that the 'Least Disliked Episode' games hosted by BlueStuff (who inspired me to create these games, so thank you very much for paving the way) have concluded, we can begin the opposite side of that coin.

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 most favorite or the one you deem the 'best.' 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!

Hall of Champions (or Failures?)
2021 - "The Red Angel"
2023 - "The Red Angel"

Season One

"The Vulcan Hello"
"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Context Is for Kings"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Choose Your Pain"
"Lethe"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Into the Forest I Go"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Farscape One]

And here we are, the start of the Kurtzman era of the franchise. DISCOVERY season 1, in my opinion, had a LOT of things that needed work. But the behind the scenes insanity really can be only partially blamed for this season's issues. Despite that, there were a few gems this season, and I'll start with one that I felt truly was one of the best executions of the premise to date.

"Lethe" was a superb story, and very, very well acted. The best part about this episode is that it retroactively explains WHY there was such a rift between Sarek and Spock. And it doesn't violate anything that's been established before!

For all the issues that went with doing a show set so close to TOS, and many of the arguments I agreed with, this episode goes a long way toward justifying why the series is set at this time. And this was, frankly, the ONLY justification for making Burnham Spock's adopted sister.


"The Vulcan Hello"
"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Context Is for Kings"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Choose Your Pain"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Into the Forest I Go"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[CitadelZombies]

I'll save "Context Is for Kings" a great introduction to Discovery properly after the first 2 decent episodes (Star Trek: Shenzhou). Probably should have started the series here and flashback to the Battle of the Binary Stars later on, though.

"The Vulcan Hello"
"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Choose Your Pain"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Into the Forest I Go"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Sakonna]

I will save "The Vulcan Hello." There were are some flaws (hideously written opening scene, misbegotten Klingon concept & non-functional makeup, brutally bad exposition, stupid tactical helmets, tortured relationship to prequel status, etc), but Trek's return to TV was pretty much a religious experience for me, everything wrong with this episode I forgive. I am surprised how often I rewatch it.

They got the casting perfect right out of the box, which is the most important order of business for a series to be able to run.

And I gotta say, it's been a fascinating arc for Burnham. What a place to start Trek's most emotive and feelings-oriented captain.

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Choose Your Pain"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Into the Forest I Go"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Farscape One]

My next pick is "Choose Your Pain".

I like Lorca and wish he wasn't from the mirror universe. And I liked Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd.


"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Into the Forest I Go"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[BlueStuff]

"Into the Forest I Go" - for me this was the first great episode of Discovery; a true spectacle.

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Seven of Five]

Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad has a lot of Harry Muss fun in it, so it's an easy save. I love the dark humor in the episode with the time loop and the different ways Mudd kills Lorca.

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Farscape One]

Slim pickings left. Most of the remaining, I can't separate what each episode is because of how tightly bound the arcs are or are just plain terrible.

I'll save "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry". It's a fun title.


"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"
"Will You Take My Hand?"

 

[Oddish]

"Will You Take My Hand" ended Burnham's story arc on a positive note, and tried to present a very "Trek" message (if the Federation has to be like its enemies to survive, is there a point?)

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"What's Past is Prologue"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[CitadelZombies]

"What's Past Is Prologue" is a pretty fun conclusion to the Mirror Universe arc.

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"Vaulting Ambition"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll go with Vaulting Ambition because I liked the MU arc more than the Klingon one in S1. Well, despite the poor way that Lorca went out.

it was fun to see Georgiou again because Michelle Yeoh is awesome!

"Battle at the Binary Stars"
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[Sakonna]

I'll finish up saving both halves of the premiere and go "Battle At The Binary Stars."

"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum"
"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[CitadelZombies]

"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" is a good episode for Saru, (who doesn't get used enough during the first half of the season) and I always enjoy seeing non humanoid aliens on the show.

"Despite Yourself"
"The Wolf Inside"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[BlueStuff]

Despite Yourself shouldn't have gone this far. A good episode, well-directed by Frakes.

"The Wolf Inside"
"The War Without, the War Within"

 

[Farscape One]

I'll just end this by saving "The Wolf Inside". I don't really remember either well, but the title is cool.

"The War Without, the War Within" is season 1's winner.

I will start season 2 shortly. Hope to see you all there.

Thank you all for playing.