WORST episode in season 5?! VOTE!!

[galleywest]

Ask and ye shall receive.

While most of season 5 was strong--it really gave Enterprise some fresh new direction while revisiting some beloved storylines from previous seasons--let's face it, there were some stinkers. Which one gets your vote as the worst of the lot?

Debugging Entry
I know this one will fare strongly in this poll. Yes, third episode of the season, and it had us all worried. Seriously? A whole episode about the repairs the ship is undergoing? The sudden introduction of one of Archer's old flames (would have been nice to see Erika again instead!)? A toilet humor scene that went on way too long and wasn't actually amusing?? Overall, it fell flat. And then managed to sink even lower.

Celestial Children, part I
Ah yes, the dreaded Cloud City episode. Obviously someone watched Return of the Jedi a few times. Trip gets frozen in a Temporal Isolation Chamber? Archer gets tortured for information but still manages to break out of the interrogation room, but somehow minus his shirt. What, did I miss where he used it to pick the lock or something?? And what the hell happened to Phlox after he was shown to his quarters? Potentially good episode killed by some major continuity problems. Even the far better second half couldn't save it.

Beyond the Pale Moonlight
While I like the title of this one, ye gods it was a bore. I feel really bad about this, but storylines where Hoshi is the main character...well, they lose my interest. The only thing I liked about it was the opening scene where she kicks Malcolm's ass in martial arts training. That was funny, to have HER teaching HIM. Quickly downhill, though. An entire episode basically about a word puzzle from an unseen alien force...it really smacked of TNG's Night Terrors (but not as interesting). And a comedy side plot about the food processors not working? It seemed very out of place here.

Barbarians
Preachy, boring, and topical...for about 1989. Okay, okay, I know they're trying to tap into the "environmental awareness" thing, but it was very heavy-handed. And there was a great cry in Egypt (so to speak) when it was revealed that Archer knew about T'Pol's drug abuse in season 3. Okay, we know he didn't know during season 3, but c'mon, throw us a bone here--when did he find out? How? Don't give it one throwaway line and then never mention it again!! Oh, and did I mention: Aliens of the Week?? Yeah.

Trial by Fire
This one really disappointed me. We finally get to learn more about Malcolm's past...and suddenly he has some skanky, annoying girlfriend back home? Uh, what?! But for one episode only, folks! To have Archer conveniently knocked out for most of the episode was such a blatant Plot Device, too. Mostly, though, it was just too complicated a plot for one episode. It was a good set up for the season ender, but as a stand alone, I was very confused by it.

So what do you think? Which one was the biggest crap-fest of the lot??

 

[JiNX-01]

I hated Barbarians. I mean, my GOD, Jane Fonda in that Barbarella costume? AT HER AGE? Time to break out the Boobs of Steel video, honey!

 

[Pensive]

Celestial Children, part I
Ah yes, the dreaded Cloud City episode. Obviously someone watched Return of the Jedi a few times.

(Empire Strikes Back)


I'm voting for Barbarians. I like the environment, but get off my ass about it, Network Gurus. geez!

Close second was the Reed ep (everyone knows he was gay!)

 

[Plecostomus]

Debugging Entry. I'm not sure if they were paying homage to or mocking Voyager with all that technobabble. And really why do all Starfleet Engineers have missing fingers or are blind? Come on people come up with something original. Lastly, Trip asked for a 3/8ths inch wrench in that on scene but the bolt was clearly metric. Am I the only one who caught that? That and that alone ruined the whole episode for me.

 

[Blueicus]

Beyond the Pale Moonlight. There was something wrong about hearing that Hoshi didn't know how to cook and whining that she couldn't have her grandmother's udon, especially after learning of her obsessive need to get her family's recipes right while she was running the galley during Singularity. Oh, and Hoshi not only put the beatdown on Reed, but she also beat up that Klingon boarding party single-handedly... well, I can excuse it since it was only a hallucination induced by those mystery aliens.

 

[galleywest]

Celestial Children, part I
Ah yes, the dreaded Cloud City episode. Obviously someone watched Return of the Jedi a few times.

(Empire Strikes Back)

Er, I meant to say that. Oops.

I'm surprised Debugging Entry hasn't got more votes. There was some serious hate for that when it aired. Although an episode where they try to be silly is, I suppose, preferable to an episode that tries to be dramatic and comes off as a preachy public service announcement like Barbarians.

As for myself, I'm so torn! Beyond the Pale Moonlight was just such a snooze--a boring A plot and a ridiculous B plot!--but Trial by Fire was like, "hey, Reed hasn't gotten any screen time lately, let's make up for a whole season in ONE episode!"

 

[galleywest]

Debugging Entry. I'm not sure if they were paying homage to or mocking Voyager with all that technobabble. And really why do all Starfleet Engineers have missing fingers or are blind? Come on people come up with something original. Lastly, Trip asked for a 3/8ths inch wrench in that on scene but the bolt was clearly metric. Am I the only one who caught that? That and that alone ruined the whole episode for me.

Totally! Like we wouldn't notice?? Honestly, network people!!

 

[Garth Rockett]

Debugging Entry. Technobabble just puts me to sleep. It's sad when the toilet humor bit is the highlight of the episode.

I know I'm in the minority, but I liked Celestial Children Part I. Of course, I like Empire Strikes Back, so maybe there's some carryover there. I like the action-packed stuff like that, and I can forgive it a few continuity errors. I agree that Part II was much better, though. I particularly like the scene where Hoshi and Travis figure out how to save the Captain and Trip. Travis' speech to the crew was pretty insprirational. Too bad they never followed up on his emerging leadership skills.

 

[Michael]

I rather liked "Debugging Entry" so I voted "Barbarians". I mean, come on, the whole plot felt like it was a recitation of a damn Greenpeace brochure! Seriously, that was one of the episodes where I wished they'd have stopped right after "These Are The Voyages". At least this episode respected canon in SOME way.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Barbarians, by far the worst listed. I can justify the rest as character development no matter how flawed.

I think Debugging Entry gets a bum rap. It's not great, but it's not that bad.

I'm a bit suprised "Resolutions" didn't make the finals. To just go back and finish that plot line they way they did.

 

[cooleddie74]

Debugging Entry.

It was 42 minutes too long and the toilet humor was uninspired and straight out of a REVENGE OF THE NERDS sequel. And not a good sequel, either. One of those that went straight to cable or video.

 

[Tyberius]

Debugging Entry. I'm not sure if they were paying homage to or mocking Voyager with all that technobabble. And really why do all Starfleet Engineers have missing fingers or are blind? Come on people come up with something original. Lastly, Trip asked for a 3/8ths inch wrench in that on scene but the bolt was clearly metric. Am I the only one who caught that? That and that alone ruined the whole episode for me.

I thought it was an intentional slight. I mean a ten millimeter and 3/8 will interchange quite well, so that was OK. I just thought Trip was talking about usefulness of keeping old ways of doing things while showing his disapproval for what was clearly "empire building".

 

[cooleddie74]

And the way the episode kept implying the Trip didn't like Vulcans because one had drunkenly raped him as a teenager? Not. Good.

 

[Mr. Fergy]

I hated Barbarians. I mean, my GOD, Jane Fonda in that Barbarella costume? AT HER AGE? Time to break out the Boobs of Steel video, honey!

Agreed.

 

[Plecostomus]

Debugging Entry. I'm not sure if they were paying homage to or mocking Voyager with all that technobabble. And really why do all Starfleet Engineers have missing fingers or are blind? Come on people come up with something original. Lastly, Trip asked for a 3/8ths inch wrench in that on scene but the bolt was clearly metric. Am I the only one who caught that? That and that alone ruined the whole episode for me.

I thought it was an intentional slight. I mean a ten millimeter and 3/8 will interchange quite well, so that was OK. I just thought Trip was talking about usefulness of keeping old ways of doing things while showing his disapproval for what was clearly "empire building".

Clearly you are not a machinist or engineer like I am. I get paid to screw all day and all of my colleges agree any engineer or machinist worth his salt would not compromise when it comes to tool selection.

 

[ALF]

Sorry to be so candid, but the entire season was shit.

Should have stopped at season 4, on a high note.

 

[JiNX-01]

Should have stopped at season 4, on a high note.

Boy, you're not kidding! TATV ... I can't remember when I've been so moved to tears...

 

[galleywest]

Hey, the season as a whole was good--I thought it was a solid round of ENT eps, for the most part. Win, Place, or Show was actually the funniest episode in all of Enterprise, I thought. The look on Mal's face when he realizes that Trip has accidentally gotten them, er, "employed" at the alien pleasure palace is priceless. Bump in the Night was an excellent plot-driven mystery, and Outer Space was deeply moving--It really addressed the isolation the crew must have felt after they thought that all their commanding officers had died. Kind of like TNG's Lower Decks but with gusto.

Barbarians, by far the worst listed. I can justify the rest as character development no matter how flawed.

I think Debugging Entry gets a bum rap. It's not great, but it's not that bad.

I'm a bit suprised "Resolutions" didn't make the finals. To just go back and finish that plot line they way they did.

At least it finally showed what happened to those aliens they stole the warp core from in season 3. Although I will admit that having them blow up in a fiery blast from Naussican pirates was kind of a bummer.

And I thought Jane Fonda's outfit was the only redeeming quality of Barbarians. It was funny, at least. Could have been worse--I never, ever want to see another "Phlox prances around sickbay in the nude" scene again like that one in Debugging Entry. I know, we've seen that before but...we didn't see that much! Ugh, how those screen captures were photoshopped! *shudders* Icky!

 

[JiNX-01]

I never, ever want to see another "Phlox prances around sickbay in the nude" scene again like that one in Debugging Entry. I know, we've seen that before but...we didn't see that much! Ugh, how those screen captures were photoshopped! *shudders* Icky!

Well, I was surprised to see how many he had!

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

I liked the episode where Porthos came into contact with that alein that made him super intelligent. It was really sad when he decided he had to move out of Archer's room because Archer would kick him off the bed during the night. I also liked how he got to be an acting ensign and that uniform was adorable. I think the episode was called "The Musketeer."