The Most Disliked Episode of TNG, 2023 Edition - Season 7...

[Qonundrum]

This one is fun lighthearted stuff:

"Liaisons"

This takes the aspect from "By Any Other Name" (and a handful of other TOS episodes involving aliens wanting to learn about human emotions) and has some impressive amount of po-faced fun with it all:

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Also,

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"LOOVEEEEEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" is unintentionally comedic.

Also, if the following scene is some warped form of influence to the infamous one in the teaser:

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Then it's a pleasant surprise.

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Dang, compare that to how Picard has his way with Armus and wince... at either or both, it's all good!

What's left:
"Descent, Part II"
"Attached"
"Force of Nature"
"Homeward"
"Firstborn"
"Bloodlines"

 

[Sakonna]

"Attached" is a lovely episode, and a clever way to explore Picard/Beverly. This episode also ages really well, I like it more each time I revisit it.

"Descent, Part II"
"Force of Nature"
"Homeward"
"Firstborn"
"Bloodlines"

 

[Farscape One]

These are not very good. I'll save "Descent, Part II".

We got Beverly in command, and she did well.


"Force of Nature"
"Homeward"
"Firstborn"
"Bloodlines"

 

[Qonundrum]

I was ninja'd, so here's my take on this episode:

While it's a good example of Star Drek The Next Generation, it's still fairly better than the crap that's left:

"Descent, Part II"​

It all feels superficial and by-the-numbers, for the sake of being graphic without any actual point.

The musak, once again, is so by-the-numbers that it manages to have the opposite effect - it's inducing laughter from the audience. The cable network sci-fi parody shows would have a field day with this.

Ditto for modern-day review channels on YouTube:

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(Now THAT is refreshing.)

Honestly, pt 1 had some potential and a good idea based on the result of Picard's eschewing Escher in favor or teaching Hugh how to teach the Borg about emotions and managing to cause a bigger mess. But it's all for naught.

And small universe syndrome, based on Lore even being there.

The acting by the guest cast is as suitably pathetic as the incidental muzak as well. The entire show clearly feels burnt-out as a result, and the rest of the season also struggles. (IMHO it's still better than seasons 5 and 6, which ironically didn't feel as experimental in tone (never mind "flustered"), which makes 7 even more a curate's egg.)

Let's focus on just one scene, if you can stomach it:

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At least Captain Beverly T. Crusher states "Databanks", but that alone doesn't begin to save this drek. Neither would a case of Corona, never mind just one...

During initial airing, some people at a convention while watching this openly and overtly compared Lore's one-liners to the politician of their choice. Ditto for BBSes and even Usenet. Good ol' Usenet, but I digress. Let's just say the show was watched by many people of all political persuasions. Yeah, the 1990s weren't too different in some aspects.

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I apologize for the pointless background music; no educational video should ever have anything distracting, since the spoken content should be the exciting stuff that keeps interest and attention. Or so the theory goes. Then again, have your local 7th grade school teacher play backing music while discussing calculus. That should go over real swell.

 

[Qonundrum]

Oh sheesh, these are terrible, but...

"Force of Nature"

is the least-worst by far, even if it's taking an interesting premise and making it so throwaway - and definitely not bothered with ever again. It's more half-baked than the cake I tried making yesterday.

What's left:
"Homeward"
"Firstborn"
"Bloodlines"

 

[Oddish]

While the first part of "Homeward" assassinated Captain Picard something awful, the rest of it was a nice look at the way the Federation should have been in such a situation: keeping the Boraalans in the dark, finding an appropriate home. In any case, it's better than the other two.

"Firstborn"
"Bloodlines"

 

[Seven of Five]

Not the final two I expected. I'll save Firstborn because even though Alexander has his annoying moments, I think this was a decent last episode. James Sloyan appearing as the future Alexander is wonderful.

 

[Qonundrum]

I would have saved "Bloodlines" despite it all, since "Firstborn" is a bit more cringeworthy, it turned out Jason Vigo wasn't Picard's son, and the Alexander future-self routine is way more small-universe-syndrome (despite James Sloyan's acting!) and, as with Cousin Oliver, was Alexander ever an interesting character?

"Bloodlines" also has Bok doing yet another revenge plot, but is typical season seven stale...

Here's the only Mr. Vigo we should ever have to see:

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But what might Maury say about Jason? Oh for the days of 1990s talk shows...


Last but not least, here's Cousin Oliver's greatest... hits:

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[Farscape One]

And "Bloodlines" wins the season.

Fun fact: With 5 different years this game has been played (2011, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023), a maximum of 10 episodes is possible to appear as winners or runner ups. To date, TNG season 7 has the most episodes that have done either with eight episodes. (That's including TOS and TAS games so far.)

I will start the TNG Finals later today. Hope to see everyone there.

Thank you all for playing.

 

[Vger23]

S7 is an interesting one. There are some better episodes here than I remembered. It doesn't have the absolute lows of S6 (Man of the People, Aquiel, Suspicions, Time's Arrow, etc) but it also rarely achieves the highs (Chain of Command, Ship in a Bottle, Frame of Mind, Tapestry) either...maybe with the exception of "..All Good Things" which is a top 10 franchise episode.

I still think, after looking at each of these seasons through the lens of this game, that S6 is TNG's low point.

 

[Farscape One]

Looking back at the TNG seasons, and judging by how many different episodes appear in the winner/runner up lists, seasons 3 and 6 are the strongest, with only 4 episodes achieving either rank in the five games that have been played. A breakdown...


Season 1 - 7 different episodes
Season 2 - 5 different episodes
Season 3 - 4 different episodes
Season 4 - 5 different episodes
Season 5 - 7 different episodes
Season 6 - 4 different episodes
Season 7 - 8 different episodes

 

[Oddish]

A lot of episodes on this list were pretty dismal. I barely remember "Bloodlines", which suggests that it was (1) below average at best, and (2) eminently forgettable. So, a deserving loser.