Worst lines of dialogue in Trek?

[sljolt]

A lot of DSC dialogue struck me as weird and silly, and not in a fun way. "Kind of like an AI sausage", or Nhan's "Yum yum". Tilly, an otherwise likeable character, dropping a totally unnecessary "f" or talking about the "power of math" felt like it was really hitting me over the head.

Anything Riker says about or to women. I am aware that maybe it was written with a bit of irony, but it's still like nails on a chalkboard. From TNG, Up the Long Ladder:
BRENNA: And what are you staring at? Have you never seen a woman before?
RIKER: I thought I had.

The real Jadzia commenting on Bashir's fantasy version of Jadzia was painful, in DS9 If Wishes Were Horses:
DAX: She really is submissive, isn't she? Is that how you want me to be, Julian? So submissive?

Trek often handles sexuality and romance in a charmingly bad way, that just occasionally crosses over into just bad.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

My all-time nominee for the worst line of dialogue would have to be Spock's line from "Wolf in the Fold":

. . . women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species.

From SPOCK?!?!?

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

I was fine with swearing in PIC, I never assumed people wouldn't swear in the future. There is however one single innocent line that totally takes me out of the story. Out of the future, back to... circa 1990?! It's when Jurati says that sentence about scientists (or the Daystrom Institute?) being "kinda secret-keepey." That's only acceptable when, say, Willow Rosenberg said it. Back when. It's childish and unfunny. Ugh.

It's similar to Tilly's "math" line, but worse for me because Jurati is supposed to be older.

 

[at Quark's]

Always thought the "Time to start packing!" line from Weyoun in Sacrifice of Angels was kinda lame. Not necessarily the lamest in all of trek, but quite a stark contrast with the rest of the episode, which was great and of very high quality (well, except the Prophets Simply Making A Huge Dominion Invasion Fleet Disappear is a bit high in Deus ex machina content, even for Trek standards).

 

[Farscape One]

I actually thought that line was pretty funny, especially coming from Weyoun. Even Sisko said something can always make you smile in the darkest times.

 

[1001001]

It's similar to Tilly's "math" line, but worse for me because Jurati is supposed to be older.

Everything Tilly says is gold. Everything.

 

[Orphalesion]

Anything Riker says about or to women. I am aware that maybe it was written with a bit of irony, but it's still like nails on a chalkboard.

One particularly terrible line of his:

"Great job, boys. But, computer, blondes and jazz seldom go together."

Even if we ignore the fact that we're watching a character select their wank material, it's a pretty stupid line.

 

[Xhiandra]

Everything Tilly says is gold. Everything.

DSC: a show written by teenagers, in a noisy room, using only their feet. I remembered it being atrocious, but not that atrocious.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Don't mince words, "Xhiandra," what do you really think?

 

[Orphalesion]

DSC: a show written by teenagers, in a noisy room, using only their feet. I remembered it being atrocious, but not that atrocious.

Because the average dialogue in TOS or TNG is soooooo brilliant
Do I have to post a link to the transcript of "Mudd's Women" or do we leave it at that?

I know a lot of people who talk similarly to Tilly, her dialogue is a lot more natural than, for example Chekov's (to me, maybe people in the 60s talked that way, I dunno, I wan't around)
Edit: I don't mean his accent, I mean the general dialogue and his endless "X was invented in Russia!!!!" nonsense.

 

[Mage]

Everything Tilly says is gold. Everything.

Quoted for truth! Tilly for President!

 

[Xhiandra]

Because the average dialogue in TOS or TNG is soooooo brilliant
Do I have to post a link to the transcript of "Mudd's Women" or do we leave it at that?

I know a lot of people who talk similarly to Tilly, her dialogue is a lot more natural than, for example Chekov's (to me, maybe people in the 60s talked that way, I dunno, I wan't around)
Edit: I don't mean his accent, I mean the general dialogue and his endless "X was invented in Russia!!!!" nonsense.

TOS and TNG have bad lines, we've been quoting them in the thread before. I would've used early Spock ("ah, yes, one of your human emotions!") over Chekov, though. Still, hard to top "I like feeling feelings". Even Picard's French flag line doesn't reach that level of stupidity and cringe (and it doesn't sound like a teenager - Tilly's lines quote above really do).

 

[Orphalesion]

TOS and TNG have bad lines, we've been quoting them in the thread before. I would've used early Spock ("ah, yes, one of your human emotions!") over Chekov, though. Still, hard to top "I like feeling feelings". Even Picard's French flag line doesn't reach that level of stupidity and cringe (and it doesn't sound like a teenager - Tilly's lines quote above really do).

I dunno, I find a lot of the TOS and TNG dialogue a lot more cringe-worthy and artificial (let alone Voyager or ENT)
While "I like feeling feelings" is, to me, a lot more relatable and something I could see a real person saying. Heck, it's something I could see myself saying (not serious of course, it's something I'd say in jest or in a very causal conversation) It's "Buffyspeak" it happens.

 

[Xhiandra]

Even in jest, it would be extremely cheesy, and it wasn't in jest. But anyway, it's not dialogue alone. DSC is badly written overall.

 

[dupersuper]

Once he got the beard he had no chance. Jean Luc, jack, trill guy, highlander ghost Bev liked a clean shaved man.

It wasn't a deal breaker when her Trill boyfriend hitched a ride in Rikers body...

Same episode (Parallax):

JANEWAY: If your analogy's correct, how do we get through that sheet of ice?
TORRES: Look for a crack.
JANEWAY: Or make a crack. Take something and smack it into the ice until it buckles.
TORRES: Wait a minute. What if we've already made a crack in the ice?
JANEWAY: When we first entered the event horizon.
TORRES: If we could find our entry point, we might be able to slip out the way we came in.
JANEWAY: So we'd be looking for a subspace instability in the event horizon. What would make it show up on our sensors?
TORRES + JANEWAY: Warp particles.

Them saying the last line together... ugh.

An early example of Voyager "science".

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

early example of Voyager "science".

Torres was an amateur. LaForge would have just realigned the deflector and been done in seconds

 

[1001001]

Quoted for truth! Tilly for President!

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

TOS and TNG have bad lines, we've been quoting them in the thread before. I would've used early Spock ("ah, yes, one of your human emotions!") over Chekov, though. Still, hard to top "I like feeling feelings". Even Picard's French flag line doesn't reach that level of stupidity and cringe (and it doesn't sound like a teenager - Tilly's lines quote above really do).

TOS and TNG I would say are crap delivery more than dialogue especially in early TNG where it feels like people reading lines rather than a fluid conversation where as the DIS conversations feel mor e real with the 2 exceptions of 50 shades of Georgiou who suffers from the same crap camp as most MU characters and Tilly who much like Wesley is way too much of a child for me to ever believe they would be let near a console of a ship.
Nothing wrong with the acting but the whole character of Tilly belonging on Orville, lower decks or Sabrina the teenage witch

 

[Qonundrum]

Everything Tilly says is gold. Everything.

I hated that line initially, but thinking of other perspectives it's still true that Tilly still has smarts and just because she's not the same plank of wood doesn't mean she can't contribute. Stamets smiling by her is kinda sweet. Yes, this contradicts my previous statements about all humans being more formal in the future (obviously), so I'll explain my change in belief: She's a younger officer (Stamets is perhaps twice her age), not unlike Chekov only not saddled with self-serving "inwented in wussia" comedy (which was bad back then and hasn't aged well since, as what TV Sins pointed out in a video covering TOS.) And this Tilly scene is reminiscent of season 1 TNG, which didn't know half the time if it was writing for kids or adults or trying to blend to appease both. With "Justice" being the worst offender ("Hey there's this relaxing planet, they all have lots of sex, so let's also bring down the boy for some of that sweet sweet shore leave.") In the end, I'm still somewhat ambivalent. It'd almost be funnier if she got all excited after leaving with him to go to the mess hall and then exclaim it.

More or less ditto regarding that "****ing cool" moment, which is often taken out of context on youtube. I still dislike it as it's unnecessary, but Stamet's response is basically trying to mimic her usage in a way that makes her question her use of it. Is this scene still great for a Trek show? I dunno. I prefer softer vulgarity as "damn" and "hell" as those were largely tolerated even in the 1960s' TOS, but that's 50 years ago. But there is a message to this scene that works a lot better in some mindsets than in some others.

I never saw the original scene, in either entirety or clipped form. But "I love feeling feelings" is actually quite hysterical. Makes me like her character that much more. I've always liked Trek but my favorite characters (regardless of genre) are usually oddballs lumped together and having to work together despite being individually grating or what not That said, had I seen that a year ago, I'd have disliked it too since all Trek up to now has been "all formal people from the future". I still prefer that but it's also true that a show about the human condition still has a lot of facets to cover and DSC there is indeed trying something different yet still fits the theme of exploring the human condition.



Now Spock showing showtunes in the roller coaster turbolift - that's still one of the worst scenes any Trek show that isn't a self-parody cartoon has committed. Then again, maybe they just got out of the mess hall and were drunk and in the very special episode that can sit next to "Symbiosis" for all that I currently know about it. As I will be buying the DVD sets in due course, I will eventually give proper and full TLDR reviews.

 

[Qonundrum]

TOS and TNG I would say are crap delivery more than dialogue especially in early TNG where it feels like people reading lines rather than a fluid conversation where as the DIS conversations feel mor e real with the 2 exceptions of 50 shades of Georgiou who suffers from the same crap camp as most MU characters and Tilly who much like Wesley is way too much of a child for me to ever believe they would be let near a console of a ship.
Nothing wrong with the acting but the whole character of Tilly belonging on Orville, lower decks or Sabrina the teenage witch

In fairness, TV up to the 1990s was more akin to "televised theater" and the 1980s was the first decade to start shifting from "stage play" to "natural dialogue". I'll admit, I find it appealing at times but there's something about stage acting that requires more of something different and TOS, et al, had actors to keep it engaging. TNG too.

Agreed on Tilly and Wesley - both in real life would be too undisciplined to really be in a militaristic situation and its command deck, that seems rather unlikely. But rolling with that can yield a different perspective. If I could deal with "Space 1999"'s truly idiotic premise and find much to enjoy (and the actors play it with such conviction, which doesn't hurt) then it's not impossible to believe they'd have a kid up there. Okay, Picard barely tolerated Wesley and likely wouldn't stand Tilly - I'd love to see PIC season 2 have a Tilly-like character and how they'd explore that.

Agreed with Tilly being on the Orville. That show also covers the human condition and uses direct 21st century personality analogues rather than theorizing that all humans would become perfect proto-Vulcans -- and even VOY showed it not only takes a special chemistry to pull that off, some of VOY's best episodes have moments of emotional response or character differences other than their usual selves (Timeless, Living Witness, etc) TOS aged better in that regard yet TNG is still refreshing. That aside, Trek is about the human condition and how others react to Tilly are part of her arc as well.