The Most Disliked Episode of TNG, 2023 Edition - Season 3...

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?)
2011 - "Shades Of Gray"
2018 - "The Outrageous Okona"
2019 - "Code of Honor"
2021 - "Journey's End"
2023 - "Aquiel"


Season Three -

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"The Survivors"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Defector"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Deja Q"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"The Offspring"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Sarek"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

This was a fantastic season. Possibly the best of TNG. (Season 4 is also the contender for TNG's best, in my opinion.) An embarrassment of riches with the amount great episodes to choose from.

I'm going to start with a choice that is probably unexpected. (Though if you know my posting history regarding certain characters, this choice is NOT unexpected.)

"The Offspring" is my first save. I've got a list of reasons.

1. It's a great Data episode, and he will always be on my episode save list.

2. It was the first directing job for Jonathan Frakes, who turned out to be an excellent director. In turn, this opened up the doors for so many other great directors who were leads... LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson. That makes this a landmark episode, and not just for the franchise. Each of those actors turned director made a good career out of directing once their ST shows were done, and many are still in high demand. (Roxann Dawson, for instance, has directed four episodes of FOUNDATION. And damned good job she did each time, too.)

3. The acting was superb throughout, from Hallie Todd as Lal to the leads, especially Brent Spiner.

4. The dialogue was great. So much of it really got me emotional, like his log entry describing how teaching Lal brought up so many things for him. And one of my favorites...

"I can give her attention, doctor. But I am incapable of giving her love." - Data
(after he left) "Now, why do I find that so hard to believe?" - Dr. Crusher

That is one of the truest statements she ever said.

5. This episode never fails to make me start to cry. A single man tear, at the very least. The man lost his daughter. She enriched his life so much that he transferred her memories to him... in essence, keeping her alive. I'm starting to tear up just thinking about Data and Lal's last scene and him walking onto the bridge.

(Many in my life, especially my wife, finds it a true irony and conundrum that I have such a massive distaste and hatred of machines, but I am always so moved by one. The irony is not lost on me... but Data is the reason I am a science fiction fan.)

For me, this is a VERY obvious save.


"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"The Survivors"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Defector"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Deja Q"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Sarek"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

I think “The Defector” is one of the most underrated episodes in the entire franchise. Wonderfully tense plot filled with intrigue, awesome character work, an emotionally charged conclusion, and some outstanding performances all around. It’s every bit as good as more celebrated episodes like “Measure of A Man” and “Duet” except it has the added advantage of not being as static (I’m being charitable by not using the word “boring”) as those stories.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"The Survivors"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Deja Q"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Sarek"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

I will start with "Sarek", because Picard's mind melding scene is absolutely awe-inspiring.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"The Survivors"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Deja Q"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

Saving "The Survivors" next.

This is another underrated one. Picard figuring it all out as quietly as he did showed us why he earned the captain's chair.

And the Husnock ship was awesome.



"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Deja Q"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

"Deja Q" was the funniest episode of TNG, hands down. From the teaser with naked Q suspended in mid-air on the bridge (waggles fingers, "Red Alert.") to the mariachi band at the end ("Oh, you're so stolid, Commander You weren't like that before the beard!"), with a delicious assortment of punchlines in-between.

Q: I am human! What must I do to convince you people?
Worf: Die.
Q: Oh, very funny, Mister Worf. Eat any good books lately?

Guinan stabs Q's hand with a fork. Q screams.
Guinan: Seems human enough to me.

Q complains of back pain. Crusher responds by slamming an injection into his lower back.
Crusher: That's appropriate. You've certainly been a pain in our backsides often enough.

Q offers a solution to the problem of the week.
Q: Just change the gravitational constant of the universe,

And in all of that, some nice -- and unusually sympathetic -- characterization for Q.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

Yesterday's Enterprise is one of my favourite episodes of anything ever.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"
"The Best of Both Worlds"

 

Saving "The Best of Both Worlds".

Until DS9's "CALL TO ARMS" aired, this was the best season finale in the franchise. It's still amazing, though I do wish it focused on one or two more characters. (Which is one of the reasons why "CALL TO ARMS" is so superior... it gave everyone, including all the recurring ones, great scenes and furthered the story of the series well.)

The final scene and words made that summer seem like a VERY long time to wait. Very effective.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Sins Of the Father"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"

 

I'll save "Sins of The Father". Similar to "The Emissary" in Season 2 (but more so), it expands on Worf's backstory a lot more and introduced the awesome Tony Todd as Kurn. Our first full-on Klingon politics episode, which will have consequences for the next few seasons and beyond.


"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"Captain's Holiday"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"

 

Most of my favourites have already been saved - I would have saved "The Survivors" first purely because of Worf's 'Nice house. Good tea' scene . Fortunately, "Captain's Holiday" is still here to be saved. While I don't particularly care about the story (although it is quite interesting), it's Vash and her chemistry with Picard that makes this a favourite - along with Troi & Riker's Lwaxana-themed threat to get Picard to take the holiday, and Picard's silver trunks of course!

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"Tin Man"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"

 

This is perhaps the easiest season of “Most Disliked” - nearly every episode is excellent. I’ll save Hollow Pursuits, which for my money is the funniest episode of TNG.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"Tin Man"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"

 

Season 3 merely polished up on what season 2 already perfected or nearly so. Though I liked Pulaski, so seeing Dr Crusher return was a tad depressing as she was rarely developed...

But before I digress, here's my first save, since a few great stories still exist in amidst some treacle:

"Tin Man"

This is neat and unusual little sci-fi escapade, showing another neurodivergent person (Tam Elbrun) as well as an alien "organic" ship. This is a great episode for exploring Betazoids, as well as for Data, the only person Tam can appreciate because he can't sense anything from the android and therefore isn't overwhelmed with receiving thoughts. As much as I like Barclay, the introduction of Troi brought up a lot of questions on another species, so it's nice they would bring up neurodivergent persons to explore.

Naturally there's some action action action with the Romulans, cleverly reusing a TMP visual effect, and with music that gets close to being too bombastic at times, but somehow doesn't detract.

And, of course, what propels Gomtuu at light speed or faster?


What's left:
"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Menage a Troi"
"Transfigurations"

 

"Menage a Troi" because Lwaxana is just the BEST! Majel Barrett always brings it for Lwaxana who lifts any episode she's in (and some episodes really needed that lift), and her mother/daughter routine with Deanna, not to mention the fun she has with Picard and the Ferengi here make this an easy save for me.

"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Enemy"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

Plus, Ethan Phillips shows range other than Neelix by playing a Ferengi character with quite a bit of menace.

Still can't stand how Lwaxana's green towel becomes a full and gorgeous dress without any proper tailoring equipment nearby, what with her being a prisoner by a bunch of beings who think females shouldn't wear clothing.. yeah, yeah, the leader appeased her off-screen request to have it turned into Cinderella's emerald gown, but that's hard to swallow...



Great teaser, but I will say this about the latter half of TNG: They generally had more exciting teasers, which is remarkable...

 

I'm spoilt for choice here. I'll go with The Enemy, which is another great Romulan episode in S3.

Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Price"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

next up, it's the planet of the hot hockey players, Ms ballbricker, and Yuta Saint!

"The Vengeance Factor"



I sorta like the idea of Yuta being a unique biological weapon, like "That Which Survives" but without the plot hole in the TOS original as Yuta was a genetically modified being, rather than a computer-generated image of which the show's budget could only allow for one person and not really addressed in that script, but I gidress. Even if Riker has a summary execution thing instead of zapping her enough times to fall unconscious, right in front of Picard and all. Whoops!!

2:29 in. Riker is aiming the phaser at her head but the beam distinctly aims elsewhere. Are phasers artificially intelligent now?

Also, she also has her own song, sorta - but it fits and is not atypical for Gen X early-90s:


(dang those homophones and silly phonetics and all... but I'm not phoning it in, honest!)

What's left:
"Evolution"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Price"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

The Ensigns of Command saved. Main plot is kind of a drag - but Picard's dealings with the Sheliak are A+ material.

"Evolution"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Price"
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

I have to overlook the plot contrivance for the surviving Romulan's plight involving Worf's transfusion, especially as the episode goes out of its way to say the directly biologically-compatible Vulcans, for which they have a boatload of, are all utterly incompatible. Just saying "Dr Selar wasn't compatible so we have to check everyone and guess what?" would have been easier to roll with.

Thankfully, the Geordi/Baccarat subplot more than makes up for it as that was a genuinely gripping and engaging part of the story.



(right... but I have to admit, Riker's pretty awesome in this scene. So was Crusher, and some of those proceedings with Worf's conflict aren't bad - just contrived just enough... but before I sidresg...)

"The Defector" builds on the outcome of "The Enemy" beautifully as well and is another reason to roll with the episode as it stands.

 

Saving "The Hunted", which is sort of like Rambo in space. I particularly like Picard's final words to the Angosian leader: "We cannot interfere in the natural course of your society's development, and I'd say it's likely to develop significantly in the next several minutes..."

"Evolution"
"Who Watchers The Watchers"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Price"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"

 

I hear that! This was one of Trek's best seasons.

But I will put in a good word for "Who Watches the Watchers?", one of the few TNG Prime Directive episodes that I actually liked. (That I'm an atheist myself didn't hurt.) I liked Picard's firm, even strident, refusal to be thought of as a god.

"Evolution"
"The Bonding"
"Booby Trap"
"The Price"
"The High Ground"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"Allegiance"
"The Most Toys"
"Transfigurations"