The Most Disliked Episode of VOY, 2023 Edition - Season 5...

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

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 - "THE FIGHT"
2018 - "FAVORITE SON"
2019 - "SPIRIT FOLK"
2021 - "FURY"
2023 - "FRIENDSHIP ONE"

Season Five -

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"TIMELESS"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"NOTHING HUMAN"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"BRIDE OF CHAOTICA!"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"DARK FRONTIER"
"THE DISEASE"
"COURSE: OBLIVION"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

Season 5... another strong season. Some really great concepts executed very well. A couple clunkers, but definitely one of the best seasons of this show.

My first save is one of the darkest endings of the franchise... "COURSE: OBLIVION".

It starts off with a mystery, and once you see the pieces fall into place, it takes a left turn and focuses more on the characters and it just gets more and more tragic.

One of the saddest endings of the franchise, these guys deserved better than to be liquified out of existence with no trace of their deeds. It's doubly sad that basically the one who started it all, Harry, was the last one left. He got to see the formation of their sentience AND their melting into nothingness. He really was the alpha and the omega.

I always wondered if our crew ever encountered people who were helped or offended by the copied crew. Definitely would have made a nice epilogue.

One of the best concept executions of the series. (Funny coincidence... both "DEMON" and this one were directed by Anson Williams.)

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"TIMELESS"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"NOTHING HUMAN"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"BRIDE OF CHAOTICA!"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"DARK FRONTIER"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Seven of Five · Oct 18, 2023

I don't like S5 as much as S4, yet it's still very strong.

Timeless is one of my favourite episodes of VOY. Who doesn't love a tragic alternate timeline?

The ship crashing on the ice planet still takes my breath away when I rewatch.

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"NOTHING HUMAN"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"BRIDE OF CHAOTICA!"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"DARK FRONTIER"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Oddish · Oct 18, 2023

Bride of Chaotica is lighthearted fun, allowing Mulgrew and Picardo to stretch a bit.

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"NOTHING HUMAN"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"DARK FRONTIER"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Qonundrum · Oct 18, 2023

I could Drone on and on, but...

"DARK FRONTIER"

is somehow quite enjoyable, despite making boo-boos against preceding canon with "The Raven" and earlier. The fact it holds its own makes it easier, unlike a certain later story - but before I digress...

The story had some great music, sometimes giving the feel of TOS but being distinctly VOY.

Having Seven battle her mind as to whom to be loyal to was really well done. Especially as Seven would re-sacrifice her life for the benefit of Janeway.

The shiny new Borg Queen poses question, but Susanna Thompson really steals the show as Queen.

I'm a sucker for a good train heist.

Yes, we all know that we'd see Seven's parents by the end, and using the same cloaking technology should have been an obvious moment for that piece of lint in the corner of the mess hall, never mind the top ranking officers who are completely duhblivious over it. At least the EMH states anything approaching the obvious, while forgetting that kiddies are on VOY, 1701-D, and lotsa other ships too. Also, freeze-frame at 1:30 for a thrill. I'm not complainin', especially as Seven is staring at his eyes and Queenie is staring at the fun parts. If made today, they'd either have black bars over the good bits instead of too-tight briefs, or they might dare to bare it all for realzies - well, maybe not, showing outies has generally been a no-no when it's the lower frontals and not the upper ones. That's a headscratcher, but I digress: He looks like the dude who stabbied Picard in "Suddenly Salad" from season 4. Oh wait, that's "Suddenly Human", but I think a salad had more taste and flavor as far as things go than that episode retreading the same old shtick but in a new package. But I just digressipooed again, oops...

(Okay, if their thoughts were one but Queenie has a zillion drones to fathom out an infinite number of ideas, how come she didn't anticipate Seven's melodrama? )

Yes, yes, start by copping that 1996 movie's shock reveal (but now on a teeny tiny teevee screen), but the scene genuinely gets better once they're done playing f/x and start blabbering to one another. The whole 2-parter is more than worth it for the Seven/Queen interactions alone. I love it. Ditto for that other clip at has that special moment starting at 1:27, but I digress again. And especially ditto for the Torres scene at the end where they get all intellectual again.

Obviously, I'm not showing the bit where the Borg surprise us all by sending a whopping two cubes to take over a planet, not because that's a fifth video but because I couldn't find it. And yet they can't do that to Earth, which isn't any more special...

What's left:
"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"NOTHING HUMAN"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

While I liked your entertaining read on "DARK FRONTIER", I have to say it truly began the defanging of the Borg. The Borg Queen obsessed with one former drone? They truly became a joke after this.

My next save is "NOTHING HUMAN".

This was Jeri Taylor's last episode for the franchise. While I didn't think she was a very good showrunner (she was in charge of TNG season 7 and VOY season 3, both extremely weak seasons), I did like a lot of the episodes she wrote. This definitely falls under that category.

Great moral dilemma with wonderful performances all around. A good swan song for Jeri Taylor.

(And going by production order, THIS was the 100th episode of the series, not "TIMELESS"... though that was produced directly after this one, so if you went by episode titles and not production code, it can be considered their 100th. Plus, "TIMELESS" had a bigger scope, so I can understand why UPN pimped that one as their 100th episode event.)

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"COUNTERPOINT"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

BlueStuff · Oct 18, 2023

I know someone here hates it but I'm saving Counterpoint - I love the musical cues throughout and the dynamic between Janeway and whats-his-name.

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Seven of Five · Oct 18, 2023

I agree with Dark Frontier defanging the Borg. VOY suddenly willing and able to take the Borg on for parts? And the Queen was a bit superfluous and didn't seem to have any bite like in FC.

Someone to Watch Over Me is a delight to rewatch, with so much comedy in the Doctor trying to help Seven get ready for a date.

Sandrines reappeared too, and I think that was probably the best hangout from over the years.

"NIGHT"
"DRONE"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Qonundrum · Oct 18, 2023

Frightscape One said:
While I liked your entertaining read on "DARK FRONTIER", I have to say it truly began the defanging of the Borg. The Borg Queen obsessed with one former drone? They truly became a joke after this

Thanks!

So in another era of the dark frontier,

"DRONE"

Season 5 is the final year of solid and/or great Borg stories, it's all downhill from there.

The episode starts out interesting enough with QT Mocahey. But by 1:50 in, the Borg now has a little cubicle set up that reminds me of this:

Just without Bernard Cribbins, or outlandish camp value.

Class II Claustrophobia? It is much smaller than TOS's shuttle...

It just dawned on me that I may have gotten this episode transposed with "One" from season four. Oops. It's an easy enough mistake to make, as just enough* of VOY's Borg episodes feel somehow like all those little itty-bitty bits of soap that get left over that you feel guilty over when thinking of chucking them into the bin so instead you try to lump together into a big ball and then wonder why they don't stick together like a fresh new bar does. So to counter that little hurdle, there's stuff like this:

And if you can handle the background muzak that drowns out the useless stuff like the narrator's voice and content:

It's nice to know that half the ingredients are otherwise edible, hence the old phrase of "Wash your mouth out with soap" came about-- oh, and then little Jimmy Terribletwo there eats the thing, nom nom... also, finding a circular enclosure for the newly recycled soap would make it more interesting than the usual rectangular brick that you don't mistake as a lump of cheese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qHoTKrdGqY
Hey nice, any muzak is kept to appropriate instances and volumes! Well, just about, it's the sort of hokey pseudosentimental schmaltz that nobody really believes is genuine. Also remember, the use of sped-up framerate to simulate faster speed always feels slower for some reason. But that's just me and my outdated belief that any good presentation is first and foremost about the spoken content, not the shiny bells and whistles. My cheesy whining aside, he's got rather a gouda selection of videos and there's still a lot I'd learned. Impressive process, rather... Definitely worth checking a bunch of them out.

* But I'd still save all of the Borg eps involving up to and including season 5, as most do something decent. Everything after Dark Frontier is when they really lost their way, of course - never mind conflicting against the TNG movies, so it's rather a good thing that DS9 didn't bother with the cybernetic beings... That said, it doesn't mean there aren't a couple good eps post-DF, but VOY's use of the Borg was made fresh by Seven's finding her humanity back. Not to continually dawdle with drones with their cut'n'paste speeches.

What's left:
"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"ONCE UPON A TIME"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Seven of Five · Oct 18, 2023

I nearly saved Drone in my last post, but glad it was saved. Seven's face in the mirror at the start and end of the episode when she is practising smiles, it makes the loss of One more poignant.

Sakonna · Oct 18, 2023

"Once Upon A Time" is one of the exceptionally rare Good Uses Of Neelix.

"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"INFINITE REGRESS"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

Saving "INFINITE REGRESS".

Any person who doubts Jeri Ryan's acting chops... show them this episode. There is no way that person can say with a straight face that they can still doubt her acting skills.

A pretty routine story that is made extremely good by simple virtue of her acting. The way she weaved in and out of each personality... MORTAL KOMBAT says it best.

Flawless... Victory!

"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"BLISS"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Oddish · Oct 18, 2023

Saving "Bliss" because of the creepy "we found a Wormhole" vibe, plus Naomi's relentless cuteness, and also Morgan Shepherd as a star borne Captain Ahab.

"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"11:59"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Sakonna · Oct 18, 2023

I adore what an idiosyncratic episode of Star Trek "11:59" makes. Someone said "why not just put Kate Mulgrew in a Christmas TV movie?" and everyone else said "let's do that!" So random! I love it.

I do wish they had the other series regulars playing the townspeople.

"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"THIRTY DAYS"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Qonundrum · Oct 18, 2023

One of my dates lasted about this long:

"THIRTY DAYS"

I betcha were thinkin' of that other title, weren't you? :shifty:

One of the better set-pieces Trek in general has done... oh wait, wrong episode! Woops!

So back on course:

It's about time Trek dared to do a concept like this, especially within the juxtaposition of a lighter-themed spinoff than DS9. No, not Neelix torturing prisoners by trying to be friendly, but exploring the opposite of promotion because a crewmember dared to Maquis it up again.

Sheesh, given how often someone nicked a shuttle and everything else on Janeway's list and only now do we see repercussions?! VOY had its mojo going on. This definitely is a solid episode, one that - as with quite a few others - is better than VOY's reputation as a whole by its detractors... If only VOY had its mojo going on a year sooner, but the payoff is worth it.

What's left:
"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"THINK TANK"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

Saving "THINK TANK".

One of the most unique villains the series ever created. I wish we saw them again, but they are honestly more effective as a one-off villain.

You can tell Jason Alexander was having a blast as Kurros. As a lifelong Trekkie, if I was cast in a series, I'd be loving every second of it, too.

"NIGHT"
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

BlueStuff · Oct 18, 2023

I’m saving The Fight. What a fascinating look at boxing, and Chakotay, and… and boxing, and Chakotay.

Just kidding, obviously. Night had a great premise, so I’ll save that.

"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

BlueStuff said:
I’m saving The Fight. What a fascinating look at boxing, and Chakotay, and… and boxing, and Chakotay.

Just kidding, obviously. Night had a great premise, so I’ll save that.

"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"
"EQUINOX"

I almost spit out my drink laughing at this! Appreciate the laughs.

Qonundrum · Oct 18, 2023

Didn't we recently pass the vernal one? Or the other one? Meh, we'll get round to both of them again one day...

"EQUINOX"

Or perhaps it's really the venereal one if we're talking about my ex, except there's no free clinic in space. Which is okay as nobody can hear you scream... oh dear... So anyhoo, this is quite a fun episode, with a buildup leading to a robust payoff like this one:

We've seen space fritters before, but never used like what they did in this episode - which also poses a cool moral dilemma, or multiple ones the more you think about it. If anything, the wallpaper muzak does this story and franchise little good, unless "good" means "franchise burnout". I suppose the music is now iconic to the franchise, but imagine this episode with the more cinematic style that TNG 1-4 had. It'd be a lot stronger, especially with the old standby of x systems being taken down with each phaser blast.

What's left:
"EXTREME RISK"
"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"

Farscape One · Oct 18, 2023

Saving "EXTREME RISK".

Roxann Dawson was always a strong actress, and this episode was more proof.

Also, we get the Delta Flyer premiering here.

"IN THE FLESH"
"LATENT IMAGE"
"GRAVITY"
"THE DISEASE"
"THE FIGHT"
"JUGGERNAUT"
"RELATIVITY"
"WARHEAD"

The Most Disliked Episode of VOY, 2023 Edition - Season 5...

Admiral

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I'm beginning to thnk I can cure a rainy day!

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Just graduated from Camp Ridiculous

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Rear Admiral

I'm beginning to thnk I can cure a rainy day!

Just graduated from Camp Ridiculous

I'm beginning to thnk I can cure a rainy day!

Rear Admiral

Admiral

Admiral

Rear Admiral

Just graduated from Camp Ridiculous

Admiral

Rear Admiral

Admiral

Just graduated from Camp Ridiculous

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