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

[CitadelZombies]

"Future's End, Part II" is a pretty good conclusion to the story, and it gives The Doctor the mobile emitter, so it was good to see him get out of Sickbay more regularly.

"BASICS, PART II"
"THE SWARM"
"SACRED GROUND"
"CODA"
"DARKLING"
"RISE"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Qonundrum]

I hope one of the following in particular loses, but one I will save is one that isn't written by who you think'd have done it:

"CODA"​

Yeah, it's a time loop thingy, but it's fun - and is a hallucination. Wheeeeeeeeeee! Plus, it's got dialogue such as:

Janeway: "Maybe I could stand with an apple on my head and you could phaser it off."
Chuckles: "Sounds great. If I miss I get to be captain."​

Doesn't hurt. It all depends on the execution, no pun intended (believe it or not...).

Yeah, the episode shamelessly manipulates emotions and cheaply at times, but (a) I'm used to that being done countless times in modern day sci-fi as means to get around whatever, and (b) it does have a few scenes of genuine interest and - indeed - high-concept horror. Especially when future sci-fi takes ideas and refines them that takes a good idea to a great one... what's done first isn't always bad - just not optimally-used. This story can be derivative and truly corn-filled at times, but it's still underrated.

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And you know something's gone real kooky when season 1-TNG outfits make a comeback! Nice continuity, rather, especially when the show missed it.

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Good scene.


What's left:
"BASICS, PART II"
"THE SWARM"
"SACRED GROUND"
"DARKLING"
"RISE"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Farscape One]

Saving "RISE".

This was a good Tuvok and Neelix episode. This 'odd couple' pairing always worked well, and I always look forward to entire episodes that center on them both.


"BASICS, PART II"
"THE SWARM"
"SACRED GROUND"
"DARKLING"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Qonundrum]

Saving "RISE".

This was a good Tuvok and Neelix episode. This 'odd couple' pairing always worked well, and I always look forward to entire episodes that center on them both.

So, you might say that you got a... Rise out of that?

But, yeah, the Neelix/Tuvok combination really is a great juxtaposition - one of the best until Janeway/Seven came about, and both pairings are still terrific stuff - but I digress: It's a juxtaposition that, in more extreme scenes, made scenes like that specific one from "Meld" even more palatable regardless of how much one likes or dislikes Neelix. I'm a fan of both characters and how they were used, but for the haters that loved seeing Neelix choked to death and then whining because it was a holodeck scene...

 

[Farscape One]

So, you might say that you got a... Rise out of that?

I approve of this pun. It's one I would have made myself.

 

[Seven of Five]

I am struggling to choose now. As much as I hated the about turn or Seksa's baby's paternity, and Seska and Sudar dying during it, I still find Basics, Part II more memorable than the others.

"THE SWARM"
"SACRED GROUND"
"DARKLING"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Oddish]

I'll save "The Swarm". It wasn't too bad, as alien of the week episodes go. And we got to see Picardo stretch a bit as faux Zimmerman.

"SACRED GROUND"
"DARKLING"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Sakonna]

"Sacred Ground" is a very moving character piece. Surprised it's still here so close to the end.

These other two are just total dogs. Both essentially unwatchable.

"DARKLING"
"FAVORITE SON"

 

[Farscape One]

Both of these remaining are terrible.

I'll save "DARKLING" because at least it centered on The Doctor, and Picardo always gives an entertaining performance no matter the material he's given.

"FAVORITE SON" wins.


Fun fact: "FAVORITE SON" has won every season 3 game except for 2011. And that winner was "DARKLING".

I will start season 4 in a few hours. Hope to see everyone there!

Thank you all for playing.

 

[Oddish]

Favorite Son is arguably the most deserving loser we've gotten so far. Not only does it hearken back to the "evil female bloodsucking alien" trope, but this is the episode where they actually tried to do something to develop Harry Kim, like when they made Bashir genetically modified... and then they got shut down, either by Berman or some UPN busybody. It can be argued that the decision made regarding this episode ruined a character.

 

[Qonundrum]

I'll save "The Swarm". It wasn't too bad, as alien of the week episodes go. And we got to see Picardo stretch a bit as faux Zimmerman.

I'd have to see this one again, but if the EMH's circuit paths (hardware) are breaking down, hitting the reset button does precious little to fix the problem. It's like thinking that eating lunch will fix an aortic hemorrhage. The alien space trespass scene needed more to go on. Even the Tholians had better development.

That said, Robert Picardo steals the show - which is unsurprising - and seeing a hoard of teeny tiny ships chasing after the big one is a refreshing plot twist of the sort I'd wish they'd have done more often, but not too often of course.

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And there they are, all wanting to get it on with VOY's hull.

Good visual f/x and even the incidental music could teach TNG season 6 a chord and few...

 

[Farscape One]

I'd have to see this one again, but if the EMH's circuit paths (hardware) are breaking down, hitting the reset button does precious little to fix the problem. It's like thinking that eating lunch will fix an aortic hemorrhage. The alien space trespass scene needed more to go on. Even the Tholians had better development.

That said, Robert Picardo steals the show - which is unsurprising - and seeing a hoard of teeny tiny ships chasing after the big one is a refreshing plot twist of the sort I'd wish they'd have done more often, but not too often of course.

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And there they are, all wanting to get it on with VOY's hull.

Good visual f/x and even the incidental music could teach TNG season 6 a chord and few...

The EMH diagnostic program grafted itself onto the EMH program. It was less of a reset and more of a bandaid to allow The Doctor's program to heal, for lack of a better term.

 

[Qonundrum]

The EMH diagnostic program grafted itself onto the EMH program. It was less of a reset and more of a bandaid to allow The Doctor's program to heal, for lack of a better term.

Good point, though swapping out the hardware would still be the only solution, or why they couldn't replicate the needed circuit as they've replicated just about everything else? The ship having self-healing abilities should only be based on biological components like the bio-gel packs; this isn't and shouldn't be like Blake's 7 where auto-repair fixes the slightest anomaly and creating a superduper indestructible ship in the process.

 

[Farscape One]

Good point, though swapping out the hardware would still be the only solution, or why they couldn't replicate the needed circuit as they've replicated just about everything else? The ship having self-healing abilities should only be based on biological components like the bio-gel packs; this isn't and shouldn't be like Blake's 7 where auto-repair fixes the slightest anomaly and creating a superduper indestructible ship in the process.

It wasn't a hardware issue, it was software.