Game The Most Disliked Romance-Of-The-Week Episode

[Summer Solstice]

TOS, Season 3: "The Mark Of Gideon"

Man, this episode is warped, and I'm not mentioning the coordinate transposition that's aimed squarely at the audience, whom they think are (for once) solely comprised of 5 year-olds who otherwise can't figure it out. Trek's treated its audience with having a lot more intelligence in other episodes, but not all of them are going to work out. Oh well...

Umm, I really liked this episode when I was 5 years old... There are quite a few episodes that may not be that objectively good but I really enjoyed them when I was a small child so I'm a bit nostalgic about them. The faces peering through the viewscreen was kind of creepy.

I will now follow up on my comment a few posts up and save "Two Days And Two Nights." They give Trip & Reed dialogue in this that is properly repulsive, but since it's all just a justification to get them in their underwear again...

I so intensely loathe DS9's visit to Risa that I sometimes think I hate "Two Days And Two Nights" as well, merely by association. But I actually do think the other stories in this ep are kind of fun! There's an appealingly dreamy atmosphere in a lot of it.

I'd even be interested in seeing what SNW might have to offer in terms of a visit to Risa...

I'm really glad you saved this one. Hoshi was just trying to relax and have fun and ended up having a brilliant holiday. Everyone else was trying a bit too hard and didn't have a great time. Except Archer, who inexplicably gets beaten up... But that's a bit of a theme.

I'm saving "Prime Factors". Not for the romance but because it's a brilliant episode. I love the interactions between Janeway and Tuvok - Tuvok tries to help Janeway do what he believes she wants to do but can't because of her principles and it turns out she doesn't like that. I loved seeing Carey and Seska in engineering and that B'Elanna learned a lot. Harry really seemed quite bad at dating (not a positive thing). The idea that a culture can travel so far using the Sikarans technology is pretty cool and I love that a culture values stories above everything else. It was a shame to not see more Sikarans later in the show as they could travel a very long way.

TOS, Season 2: "The Apple"
TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 5: "Cost Of Living"
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 2: “Profit And Loss”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 2: "Non Sequitur"
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II

 

[Qonundrum]

Umm, I really liked this episode when I was 5 years old... There are quite a few episodes that may not be that objectively good but I really enjoyed them when I was a small child so I'm a bit nostalgic about them. The faces peering through the viewscreen was kind of creepy.

I had the same reaction when I was that young. And while the coordinates issue was still a little too oversimplified, it works for the kids.... and the initial reveal of the faces still holds up. The basic concepts are fine, but it's more visceral and conceptual than logistical. Trek works best with all three aspects working with synergy.



My next pick is taken from a tree and also turns me closer to the Doctor (Who):

TOS, Season 2: "The Apple"​

Where do I begin...

There are some deadly plants. Not quite the best way to get high... The exploding rocks are potentially interesting, but go nowhere. Unlike Chekov, who's close to third base after babbling about what the Russians didn't create (as usual cuz it wuz funny for 1967, give me season 3 Chekov any day by comparison), but Vaal (the big snake in an allusion that's as overt as it is lame) doesn't like that.

Spock and McCoy have a nice Prime Directive exchange, which despite its potential ends up remaining very superficial and despite the plot time allotted compared to other scenes also goes nowhere...

Unlike Akuta, when Vaal tells him to instruct how to kill the strangers and he discusses how to smash their brains in the same way we tell our well-behaved kids to set the table for dinner, which is one of the few effectively chilling scenes the entire episode has to offer. Pity the episode is less than the sum of its parts.

There's plenty of eye candy in bath towels... but Kirk pretty much comes in, makes a superficial claim, destroys their system and leaves. If only Vaal turned off the energy draining beams, which would prove that at least one thing in this episode had some actual substance and up the story's ante. But that didn't happen either. Even "wham bam thank you Shahna" had more philosophical depth (and a lot more at that).


TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 5: "Cost Of Living"
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 2: “Profit And Loss”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 2: "Non Sequitur"
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II

 

[Sakonna]

A lot of the Berman Trek romance dialogue is seriously WEIRD in a way I really did not grasp as a kid.

But "Profit & Loss" turns this into an asset! These bizarre lines totally work for a love story between a lizard and a swamp rat.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 5: "Cost Of Living"
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 2: "Non Sequitur"
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II"

 

[Summer Solstice]

I'm saving "Non Sequitur". The idea of Harry ending up in an alternate universe where things happened slightly differently is cool and works well pretty much up to the point where the alien has to tell Harry how to fix the situation because otherwise there won't be enough of the episode left for Harry to get back. I liked the friendship between Tom and Harry and how Tom just needs to feel that someone values him for him to decide to try to be a better person. Libby didn't seem that great though and I thought Harry could do a lot better. The episode needed something that it doesn't have to explain why Harry wanted to return to Voyager though, like a scene at the end with Harry saying to Tom that actually the friendships he has with Tom and B'Elanna mean a lot to him and maybe his career isn't where he thought it would be, but his life is an adventure.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 5: "Cost Of Living"
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II"

 

[Brennyren]

Saving "Cost of Living," because I actually clapped for the scene at the end, when we saw Lwaxana had her moxie back. I'm not a huge fan of the character, but her marrying that dreary bureaucrat just felt so wrong.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II"

 

[Qonundrum]

TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”​

Mostly for all the eye candy with big hair, the mystery of the killer who was around long ago killing them all didn't do much for me, but Riker being pushed into a corner was pretty decent and gutsy for the era.

What's left:
TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Melora”
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II"

 

[Sakonna]

There's all sorts of things wrong with it, but there is some weird level at which I just like the vibe of "Melora." I think maybe I enjoy how lived-in DS9 feels in this one? The Klingon restaurant and all that. I also think they did a great job with the no-gravity effects. It's hard to resist a floating make-out session, even when it is an outrageous violation of medical ethics.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6: "Fair Haven"
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero, Part I & II"

 

[Oddish]

They're getting pretty bad at this point, but I will admit that I consider Fair Haven to be underrated. We get to see Janeway in a different light than usual, and the Doc as Father Mulligan is amusing as well. And who could forget that immortal line: "Delete the wife."

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 5: “The Disease”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

TNG, Season 3: “The Vengeance Factor”​

Mostly for all the eye candy with big hair, the mystery of the killer who was around long ago killing them all didn't do much for me, but Riker being pushed into a corner was pretty decent and gutsy for the era.

I think Nancy Parsons (Coach Beulah Balbricker) does a great job as Sovereign Marouk.

 

[Farscape One]

Not a good bunch of episodes.

Surprisingly, I am saving "THE DISEASE", but I'm actually going to save it for a rarely used reason for myself.

Musetta Vander... I always thought she looked great. She's been on SG-1, B5, HIGHLANDER, and many others. Very easy on the eyes.


TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “The Host”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[Sakonna]

I'll save "The Host", for introducing us to the Trill. Though this episode is awful and nearly everything about the Trill as we know them came from DS9's reinvention.

Still, it all started here!

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Choosing
TNG, Season 5: “The Masterpiece Society”
I thought it was above average for the episodes broadcast at the time. Not an awful treatment of xenophobia and social responsibility vs personal freedom.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 4: “In Theory”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[Sakonna]

Surprisingly, I am saving "THE DISEASE", but I'm actually going to save it for a rarely used reason for myself.

Before you got to it, I was like "I could save 'The Disease' for that great long one-take argument between Janeway/Kim that goes from room to room." That was so well directed!

We are definitely at the point where you have to really search for the positive! Though I'd say I like one-and-a-half episodes still on the list...

 

[Seven of Five]

So In Theory has a strange premise, to begin with. It's odd that a member of the crew would like to date Data in the first place, especially because they're supposed to work together, so surely Jenna would know he was emotionally unavailable because he's an android?

But if you can get past that, I find the episode, and the romance, enjoyable.

TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 4: “Unforgettable”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[Farscape One]

I have reached the point where I'm eliminating entirely for superficial reasons.

Saving "UNFORGETTABLE" because despite the fact I've never been into blondes, Virginia Madsen used to always catch my eye.


TNG, Season 3: “The Price”
TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I'm going to save The Price. Marina Sirtis gets loads to do for once. Between a love story for Troi we have Ferengi and a stable wormhole too. It's not my favourite episode by any means but it's not without merit.

Also, superficially... that Yoga scene. How did that make it past anyone in terms of TV censors?

TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 3: “Meridian”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[Oddish]

Rewatched Meridian recently, and while it was no masterpiece, it was mostly inoffensive, and a genuine hint of tragedy and loss to the ending. Even if it was never spoken of again.

TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”
VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Choosing VOY, Season 6/7: "Unimatrix Zero,Part I & II"
I wasn't as pleased with this episode as I'd hoped I would be. I never really bought the idea that the hideaway could exist in the hive-mind. But there were some interesting aspects, the brutality of the Queen and the twist in the ending that Seven's friend was physically unreachable.

TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection”
DS9, Season 7: “Chrysalis”
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”

 

[Seven of Five]

Chrysalis is next for me. I loved the Jack Pack characters, so whilst this episode was particularly average, I love the song they all sing to Sarina to bring her out of her catatonic state always makes me smile.

TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection"
VOY, Season 3: “Darkling”

 

[Brennyren]

I have reached the point where I'm eliminating entirely for superficial reasons.

I hear that! And on that note, I will save "Darkling" mainly because watching Robert Picardo go sinister (or indeed, have any chance to show his range) is always worth the time. And also because Byron having a conversation with Gandhi amused me.

TNG, Season 6: “Aquiel”
TNG, Season 6: "Birthright, Part I & II"
DS9, Season 2: “Second Sight”
DS9, Season 6: “Resurrection"