Top 20 WORST episodes

[euphorik]

today it's:

angel one (like a bad TOS episode)
when the bough breaks (like a bad TOS episode, with cutesy-pie kids)
the outrageous okona (like a car crash - JOE f'ing PISCOPO?!?)
the dauphin (just embarrasing - with horrible monster suits)
manhunt (bad idea gone horribly wrong)
shades of gray (shades of gray)
the high ground (boring, clumsy, obvious, and heavy-handed)
the game (a stupid idea becomes a stupid EPISODE)
new ground (boring, worf-emasculating family "drama")
the outcast (makes "the high ground" look subtle, just awful)
cost of living (cutesy to the point of nausea)
imaginary friend (come on, who green-lighted such a stupid idea?)
i borg (as awful and embarrassing as BOBW was perfect)
rascals (was there some kind of paramount directive to include cutesy children?)
aquiel ("let's do a *geordi* episode!" - awful, directionless junk)
rightful heir (another stupid idea becomes another stupid episode)
homeward (forgettable junk)
sub rosa (indescribably horrible - worst episode of the series)
journey's end (political correctness + new age psychobabble = total shit)
bloodlines (more forgettable junk)

 

[SonicRanger]

Perhaps an unusual choice, but having recently viewed it, I have to put in Unification, Part II. The story is very weak (If the Romulans want to land an invasion force on Vulcan, why don't they cloak... well, the invasion force? Instead of just the accompanying warbirds?) , Sela is in it for no reason at all, the hologram gag is stupid, Spock is badly written and totally out of character, as well as appearing exactly the same as he did 80 years earlier in TUC. And his 'secret' cell are officially the worst secret society ever. They said more secret things in the soup café than in their hideout.

Yeah, I actually have to agree that Unification II is really klunker -- I remember being so disappointed with the "pay off" in that one. I don't know if belongs in the "Worst 20" list, but a lame second half to the story.

 

[Red Ranger]

Well, I can't compile a 20-worst list only because even in some bad eps, I can find gems. But there are three in particular that I have a visceral hatred for, so bad they make me want to barf:

-Shades of Gray: One word: Why? It was like one of those fill-in comic books they used to do years ago when the staff was going to miss their deadlines. No redeeming features whatsoever.

-Rascals: When the kid Picard says, "I'm still Jean-Luc Picard," in that high voice, it was just so cringe-inducing. Total shit!

-Home Soil: Wow, an even worse retread of an old TOS ep (Devil in the Dark) than The Naked Now! I laughed out loud at the ridiculous voice of the entity calling humans "bags of mostly water." Hoo boy, what utter crap!

Red Ranger

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

When choosing the 20 worst episodes, you pretty much have to take any episode where Troi was the main focus of the episode. The only episode of her's I would exclude would be Face of the Enemy.

I'm not so harsh, though she did have some stinkers.

The only reason The Loss isn't on my worst list is because it totally beats-down Troi. Riker even insults her. Sure, reset at the end, but the ownage remains. And for that the episode is amusing.

Home Soil: Wow, an even worse retread of an old TOS ep (Devil in the Dark) than The Naked Now! I laughed out loud at the ridiculous voice of the entity calling humans "bags of mostly water." Hoo boy, what utter crap!

Yeah, I should've put that on my list and spared "Emergence" or something. Any episode where Data gets possessed or goes haywire could be a bottom 20 contendor.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Perhaps an unusual choice, but having recently viewed it, I have to put in Unification, Part II. The story is very weak (If the Romulans want to land an invasion force on Vulcan, why don't they cloak... well, the invasion force? Instead of just the accompanying warbirds?) , Sela is in it for no reason at all, the hologram gag is stupid, Spock is badly written and totally out of character, as well as appearing exactly the same as he did 80 years earlier in TUC. And his 'secret' cell are officially the worst secret society ever. They said more secret things in the soup café than in their hideout.

Yeah, I actually have to agree that Unification II is really klunker -- I remember being so disappointed with the "pay off" in that one. I don't know if belongs in the "Worst 20" list, but a lame second half to the story.

It may not be perfect by any means...but believe it or not, Unification I was my VERY first Trek episode, and it did have something enough to get me to watch something called Star Trek when I used to just dismiss it as stupid before then. So I am really not bothered by either part of Unification. Maybe it's sentiment? I don't know, but to me there is FAR worse out there.

 

[The Great Meech]

I actually liked Masks pretty well. It was bizarre, but far from incoherent, and seeing Brent Spiner screw around in different roles was pretty neat.

Shades of Grey should take the tropy for worst episode of any Star Trek. It's a damn clip show. About Riker. In Season 2.

 

[euphorik]

i've never understood the hatred of "masks," either - granted, not an especially *great* episode, but i don't find it as unwatchably horrible as so many others seem to. it, at least, looks to me like a show that somebody put some effort into imagining and visualizing, which is more than i can say for tossed-off junk like "bloodlines." it may or not have succeeded on whatever level, but it looks at least like somebody was trying, which is more than i can say about a lot of 7th season TNG episodes.

actually, now that i think of it, i'd definitely have to take something (probably "the high ground") off my personal list and add "face of the enemy." what a lousy episode - i really couldn't stand those 11th-hour late season shows where there was a flaccid, too-little-too-late attempt to "toughen up" troi and crusher. troi-centricity is usually a red flag for major TNG suckage, but i'll take earlier episodes like "loud as a whisper" and "the price" over "face of the enemy" and similar "troi's a REAL BRIDGE OFFICER" crap because at least those early shows were true to the original conception of the character.

if it weren't for the great lore stuff, i'd have to add "descent" as well. beverly "outside the command structure" crusher in command?!? against the BORG?!? whatever.

 

[apenpaap]

Code of Honour
Justice
Angel One
Home Soil
We'll Always have Paris
The Icarus Factor
Sins of the Father
Suddenly Human
Cost of Living
Man of The People
True Q
Aquiel
Interface
Sub Rosa
Journey's End
The Chase
Tin Man
The Outrageous Okona
Too Short a Season

 

[Pinkle]

I'm making my way through all of TNG for the first time (so much I missed back in the day!) and I just finished Shades of Gray.....jesus f-ing christ what a horrible episode. Seriously, were the writers on vacation at the time or something? I would prefer any "boring" episode with some kind of plot rather than freaking FLASHBACKS. guh.

 

[cultcross]

Just re-watching season 6 of TNG, I'd forgotten what a generally mediocre season it is, especially compared to the preceding three years of largely strong stories. It has, of course, some gems such as Chain of Command, but an awful lot of 'album track' episodes.

 

[Neroon]

I'm trying to come up with a Worst 20 list, and at the same time remembering why I felt that way about each one. It's had the curious effect of making me wonder, if I'd seen some of these episodes earlier in TNG's life would I have reacted the same way? The reason is one of the worst offenses I feel a series can make is to return time and again to the same premise, the same plot devices, etc. For example, "Emergence" is definitely on my "Worst 20" largely because we have yet another holodeck malfunction, particle of the week based story that had been done over and over ad nauseum.

 

[cultcross]

I'm trying to come up with a Worst 20 list, and at the same time remembering why I felt that way about each one. It's had the curious effect of making me wonder, if I'd seen some of these episodes earlier in TNG's life would I have reacted the same way? The reason is one of the worst offenses I feel a series can make is to return time and again to the same premise, the same plot devices, etc. For example, "Emergence" is definitely on my "Worst 20" largely because we have yet another holodeck malfunction, particle of the week based story that had been done over and over ad nauseum.

Quite true, if Emergence had been done in, say, the third season, it might rank much higher in my esteem.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Too many of season 7's episodes felt phoned in or too late in the game to matter. Plus that awkward Troi-Worf relationship never jelled.


"The Outrageous Okona" and "Too Short a Season" suck because they center too much on one-shot guest stars in forgettable plots, at a time when they should've been developing the main cast they use the cast as "The Love Boat" crew playing supporting roles to guest stars. Every Trek series had that issue at some point or another.

 

[Neroon]

Quite true, if Emergence had been done in, say, the third season, it might rank much higher in my esteem.

Precisely. That's what makes evaluating things tricky. Again, for my part I tend to give higher marks to attempts at trying something new. Of course, they have to be decent attempts, more than just "a new idea". However... it works best if you just list those that turned you off when you first saw them, regardless of whether you think they'd have done well at some other point in TNG's life cycle.

I'd have to say, just off the top of my head and in no particular order episodes that i disliked:

Shades of Grey
Angel One
Sub Rosa
Force of Nature
Emergence
Blood Ties
Code of honor
Justice
True Q
Journey's End
Cost of Living
The Outrageous Okona
New Ground
Too Short a Season
The Naked Now
The Outcast
Who Watches the Watchers
Skin of Evil
Eye of the Beholder
Aquiel

 

[I am not Spock]

Have to agree that most Troi focused episodes are appalling.

As a kid, I must confess to rather enjoying 'Rascals', 'Genesis', and 'Masks', but they don't hold up that well..at all really, nowadays.

 

[SonicRanger]

... I just finished Shades of Gray.....jesus f-ing christ what a horrible episode. Seriously, were the writers on vacation at the time or something? ...

Strike, actually... That's why Season 2 is so short.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike