The Most Disliked Episode of TNG - Season 4...

[Spirit of 73]

There are still a few good ones left on the list, but then season four was pretty consistent. Not too many bad episodes. I'll save Redemption, which I feel should have gone a lot earlier.

Brothers
Suddenly Human
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
The Host
In Theory

 

[BigDaveX]

Brothers; the split-screen work alone is impressive, but it makes for a nice return appearance for Lore, and the only time they manage to write him as something other than a cartoon villain.

Suddenly Human
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
The Host
In Theory

 

[Armus]

Brothers has a kick ass opening and a tour de force by Brent Spiner. Great music too. It was Rob Bowman's last Star Trek.

 

[Armus]

Identity Crisis has some spooky moments and some excellent fx.

Suddenly Human
Night Terrors
The Host
In Theory

 

[Sakonna]

The air goes out of it somewhere at the mid-point, but the set-up nightmares in "Night Terrors" are very effective.

Suddenly Human
The Host
In Theory

 

[BigDaveX]

In Theory probably worked better... well, in theory than in execution, but there are a few heartwarming moments with Data, plus some good atmosphere as they explore the nebula and things start to get weird.

Suddenly Human
The Host

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Removing Suddenly Human and crowning The Host the winner.

Suddenly Human has some problems but has a good human element to it. The Host handwaves what's essentially presented as slavery.

 

[BigDaveX]

For all that people talk about how TNG made a complete mess of the Ferengi and DS9 had to salvage them, you don't hear as much about how pretty much the same thing happened with the Trill. Interesting idea, but the execution really doesn't seem to have been thought through - and let's face it, that ending has not aged well in the slightest, no matter how the writers try to explain away why Crusher reacted the way she did.

 

[Armus]

For all that people talk about how TNG made a complete mess of the Ferengi and DS9 had to salvage them, you don't hear as much about how pretty much the same thing happened with the Trill. Interesting idea, but the execution really doesn't seem to have been thought through - and let's face it, that ending has not aged well in the slightest, no matter how the writers try to explain away why Crusher reacted the way she did.

How do you think it should have ended? I'm just curious. I was never a fan of The Host to begin with. It was too soapy for my tastes. TNG was starting to stray too far from its adventure roots by then. I interpreted Crusher's response to a female Odan as simply her heterosexual preference. Plus she was emotionally wiped out. I haven't watched it in awhile, I think she says something like "maybe someday humans will be able to accept all these changes". Perhaps that wasn't a very clear statement if she meant maybe someday women like me will love women like men.

 

[Farscape One]

"The Host" is the 'winner' of season 4.

Thank you for playing. I'll post season 5 either shortly or very late tonight, depending on whether or not I fall asleep in the next 10 minutes.

 

[Qonundrum]

For all that people talk about how TNG made a complete mess of the Ferengi and DS9 had to salvage them, you don't hear as much about how pretty much the same thing happened with the Trill. Interesting idea, but the execution really doesn't seem to have been thought through - and let's face it, that ending has not aged well in the slightest, no matter how the writers try to explain away why Crusher reacted the way she did.

I too haven't seen it in a long while but she did say something along the lines of Armus's paraphrasing "maybe someday humans will be able to accept all these changes" and he's right about the other points he brought up. In real life, many humans are between Kinsey 1-5, even though plenty of humans are also Kinsey 0 or Kinsey 6. Or that new table put out a few years ago that replaces the linear range of conditions with a lot more nuanced criteria.

It's not homophobic to not accept sexual advances from someone you're not interested in. Nor is it heterophobic to not accept sexual advances from someone you're not interested in. For the same cause and reason. And regardless if they're the same orientation as you or not. Ditto for bisexuality, demisexuality, etc. It happens. Everyone simply has individual tastes for sexual interests, right to not accept advances, and so on. It can be argued the episode pretty much shows Crusher looking for booty calls (nothing wrong with that but as with most repeated one-night stands, one person develops relationship feelings faster than the other(s)...) We could also retcon for no reason other than to prove the main point and say Crusher was bi but wasn't fond of the new host's appearance. Still works and it makes no difference in the end, especially if the episode was about lust (beauty and fantasy) and not love (often starts with beauty but often with a bit more and other). Lots of possibilities can be argued from there, some less shiny happy smurfy than others, but there's no need to wallow in excessively-ranged tangents on what the show put out.

But in keeping how the Trill came about, Memory-Alpha might have the definitive statements for the Trill here:

Jadzia Dax joked that Trills don't look for romance the way Humans do. Joined Trills consider it quite a nuisance and view it as a weakness of the young. While hosts may have romantic feelings as often as any other sentient species, symbionts try to live on a higher, more spiritual plane and try to rise above those sorts of temptations. (DS9: "A Man Alone")

Regarding how Trill society viewed romance and sexuality, Jadzia Dax actress Terry Farrell commented, "The Trill try to rise above such things. Sex is meant for procreation, not for enjoyment." (The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine issue 2, p. 57)
Trill law forbids reassociation between subsequent hosts of joined persons, whose symbionts were romantically involved in their previous hosts, and the people who the previous hosts were romantically involved with. This is because the main purpose of the transfer of symbionts is to experience new things in life. Trills who are found guilty of reassociation are expelled from Trill society, meaning that their symbionts die with their current host. (DS9: "Rejoined") Beyond the illegality of it, Trills almost universally view reassociation as a cultural taboo, but the degree to which they follow it is up to the individual. Some Trill take it so far as to not associate with any of their previous hosts' friends, family and colleagues, beyond the rare chance encounter. Others have a very narrow interpretation, and freely associate with the friends and acquaintances of their previous hosts & symbionts, avoiding only those with whom their previous hosts were intimately involved.

source: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Trill