The Most Disliked Episode of DS9, Season 1 - 2025 Edition...

[Detached Nacelle]

I place A Man Alone higher than the other 2.

"VORTEX"
"THE STORYTELLER"

 

[Faintly Macabre]

Nearly missed this game!

I am going to save "Vortex" as a good Odo episode. Odo's need to know about his "people" is a thread that continues throughout DS9 and which becomes very important . Also, this episode is an example of Odo being more concerned with the abstract "justice" rather than the concrete "rules", another recurring strand

The winner, therefore, is "The Storyteller" although I don't think that's a particularly bad episode. At least O'Brien gets to be central to the action without being tortured!

 

[Qonfounding Ghooool]

D'oh! Ninja'd! But here's my save anyway:

You know DS9 is not going to be TNG when (a) it'll do edgier things and (b) they'll do lines of dialogue that fly in the face of all the sexual undercurrents in TOS and TNG what with people getting googly-eyed or slapping bottoms or "The Naked Now" and "Justice" where they just stopped bothering with allusion or double meaning and just tried to show it. Wait, where was I going with all this? Oh yeah,

DAX: It's a weakness of the young, and although a Trill host may have these feelings occasionally, it is our wish to live on a higher plane, to try to rise above these kinds of temptations.

Never mind the predictable response:

BASHIR: You said, try to rise above, which suggests you don't always succeed.

Sorry Julian, you great allegory of the galaxy, she's just not into you and that happens to everyone - contrary to what previous Trek shows tried telling us (again, DS9 going into overdrive to prove it is ≠ TNG or TOS, despite being in the same universe, in trying to show the "duck analogy" where you see the duck looking content (TNG) but under the water those flippers are flappin' wildly to keep things running smooth, but I digress.) That's an A- for effort in continuing to nag persuasively hit on her, if not pointing out logic gaffes because that turns me on so therefore it must turn everyone else on (right, right? Well, no...), but plenty of chicks and hunks and chunks and hicks are out there to choose from.

So
"A MAN ALONE"

Gets saved for that gem of a line plus Jule's response there, though it's not a terrible story by any means. But that said, everyone loves Julien's potatoes...

 

[Captrek]

If I understand the rules, now we start over without the Storyteller? I save Duet.

"EMISSARY"
"PAST PROLOGUE"
"A MAN ALONE"
"BABEL"
"CAPTIVE PURSUIT"
"Q-LESS"
"DAX"
"THE PASSENGER"
"MOVE ALONG HOME"
"THE NAGUS"
"VORTEX"
"BATTLE LINES"
"PROGRESS"
"IF WISHES WERE HORSES"
"THE FORSAKEN"
"DRAMATIS PERSONAE"
"IN THE HANDS OF THE PROPHETS"

16 more votes until we eliminate Vortex and start over again.

 

[Sakonna]

If I understand the rules, now we start over without the Storyteller? I save Duet.

We move on to season 2 now, that thread will start... later today, I'm guessing? @Frightscape One will post it.

After we do all 7 seasons, we'll have a Final round with the final two from each season (the rules for the final round work a bit differently, then it takes 4 votes to save an episode).

I am pleased with the "Vortex"/"Storyteller" final two on this round! I know those two eps plus "Dramatis Personae" would make up my personal bottom three of this season.

I probably hate "Dramatis" the most.

Then "Vortex" really doesn't do it for me, though I appreciate this Old TV pacing where you could have a long arcing mystery about Odo's origins, and early on you can do a whole episode about it that doesn't move the story forward at all because there was space for that kind of red herring.

I do enjoy the Jake/Nog B story of "Storyteller", but oh my god that O'Brien/Bashir A plot, what a mess!

 

[Captrek]

I guess it’s just early episode weirdness, but I’m annoyed by Odo getting knocked out in “Vortex” by a blow to the head. Episodes like “The Forsaken” establish that when Odo takes humanoid shape, he doesn’t do the internal anatomy, it’s just a shape. There’s no brain in his head to get concussed.

 

[Sakonna]

I guess it’s just early episode weirdness, but I’m annoyed by Odo getting knocked out in “Vortex” by a blow to the head. Episodes like “The Forsaken” establish that when Odo takes humanoid shape, he doesn’t do the internal anatomy, it’s just a shape. There’s no brain in his head to get concussed.

Oh my god that drives me crazy too! It shouldn't bother me that much, but it totally does.

 

[Pumpkin Bread]

One thing I'll say for both those two, is they tried to have endings that were sort of upbeat. Episodes like Duet and Progress might have had far superior technical merit, but the endings were so depressing.

 

[Captrek]

Oh my god that drives me crazy too! It shouldn't bother me that much, but it totally does.

I wonder about the Founders. Odo’s lack of internal anatomy means you can easily discern him from a solid with a tricorder. Expert Changelings do the anatomy so you need the blood test. Could you knock one of those guys out with a surprise blow to the back of the head?

 

[Frightscape One]

One thing I'll say for both those two, is they tried to have endings that were sort of upbeat. Episodes like Duet and Progress might have had far superior technical merit, but the endings were so depressing.

But those are also realistic endings, which is another reason why DS9 is the spinoff most like TOS. (TOS had some dark endings, but they were realistic. "A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR", for example.)

We move on to season 2 now, that thread will start... later today, I'm guessing? @Frightscape One will post it.

After we do all 7 seasons, we'll have a Final round with the final two from each season (the rules for the final round work a bit differently, then it takes 4 votes to save an episode).

I am pleased with the "Vortex"/"Storyteller" final two on this round! I know those two eps plus "Dramatis Personae" would make up my personal bottom three of this season.

I probably hate "Dramatis" the most.

Then "Vortex" really doesn't do it for me, though I appreciate this Old TV pacing where you could have a long arcing mystery about Odo's origins, and early on you can do a whole episode about it that doesn't move the story forward at all because there was space for that kind of red herring.

I do enjoy the Jake/Nog B story of "Storyteller", but oh my god that O'Brien/Bashir A plot, what a mess!

Thank you for explaining, Sakonna. You are quite correct about how this game is played.



And "THE STORYTELLER" wins season 1! Interesting to note that neither the winner or runner up has ever been in either position before.

Thank you all for playing! I will start season 2 shortly. Hope to see everyone there.

 

[Captrek]

One thing I'll say for both those two, is they tried to have endings that were sort of upbeat. Episodes like Duet and Progress might have had far superior technical merit, but the endings were so depressing.

Progress is even more depressing when you realize Brian Keith killed himself four years later. I always imagine Mullibok did the same. Could’ve had an S6 scene where Kira gets an oven tile or something he left her, could’ve been powerful.

 

[Pumpkin Bread]

Progress is even more depressing when you realize Brian Keith killed himself four years later. I always imagine Mullibok did the same. Could’ve had an S6 scene where Kira gets an oven tile or something he left her, could’ve been powerful.

My head canon is that he spent the rest of his life in some Bajoran retirement community, relentlessly rebuffing anyone's efforts to reach out to him. The only satisfaction he ever got was when some people from the Agricultural ministry went to him. They heard about his farming expertise and asked if he would share that knowledge... and he slammed the door in their faces.