Worst plot resolutions?

[Seven of Five]

Hmm. Here are some of my favourite ones:

Extreme Measures - particularly fresh in my head after my DS9 rewatch, this is a totally botched episode in the Section 31 arc, and undermined any sort of antagonism that was there previously.

The Search, Part II - whilst Odo discovering about his people was fascinating, finding out that everything else that was happening in the episode wasn't happening was such a dull end.

Fury - I was looking forward to Kes coming back, yet this poor effort made me wonder why they bothered.

Shockwave, Part II - a very dull follow-up to what was a very exciting cliffhanger. Oh and the gazelle speech Archer makes at the end was awful.

Birthright, Part II - so the most interesting part of the first half (Data dreaming) actually finished in part one. All we have here is the dull Worf story.

 

[Nightdiamond]

Another is when a crewman (redshirt) or otherwise innocent character gets killed during the episode and the lead characters joke at the end.

These two episodes have to be among the worst all time plot resolutions.

Datalore -- Lore just tried kill everyone on the Enterprise. He threatened to shoot Wesley, and almost killed Dr. Crusher.

So they manage to beam him off the ship. They don't scan for him, ask where he is, or consider bringing him to trial.

They just leave the area. And share a small chuckle as they continue off to explore lol.

Lonely Among Us - they're transporting two alien enemy delegate groups.

During the episode a crewman is accidently killed, and at the end, Tasha tries to tell Riker that one of the delegates is missing and the other enemy delegates might have killed him and tried to have him cooked by the chef.

So Riker is like, "hey can't this wait until you welcome the captain back?" Picard with a smirk says he needs a rest and Riker is in charge and the crew has a nice laugh.

Those first season TNG episodes were really bad at this

 

[The Wormhole]

Birthright, Part II - so the most interesting part of the first half (Data dreaming) actually finished in part one. All we have here is the dull Worf story.

I used to think part 2 was dull, to the point that I actually went over a decade without re-watching both parts. But I recently did (mainly because I had just gotten the Blu-ray) and damn, I was actually blown away by Birthright, particularly Part 2. That has some really interesting stuff there.

 

[Captain Rob]

They never morn the dead redshirts due to a nasty little secret. All non officer redshirts are just clones created as needed by typing in an authorization code into the transporter console.

 

[Griffeytrek]

Lonely Among Us - they're transporting two alien enemy delegate groups.

During the episode a crewman is accidently killed, and at the end, Tasha tries to tell Riker that one of the delegates is missing and the other enemy delegates might have killed him and tried to have him cooked by the chef.

So Riker is like, "hey can't this wait until you welcome the captain back?" Picard with a smirk says he needs a rest and Riker is in charge and the crew has a nice laugh.

Those first season TNG episodes were really bad at this

I think Simon Pegg agrees with you. The opening of Star Trek Beyond is in many ways making fun of that episode.

 

[locutus101]

Tuvix: Janeway executes a man who's sole crime is to exist!

I mean they wouldn't even kill Suder who was a murderer, which is ok by me, but that shows how wrong is was of Janeway to take it upon herself to execute someone who was guilty of nothing. She should have been tried and punished for that.

She had no right to kill that person. Plus what was the rush? They found a way to bring back Tuvok and Neelix by destroying Tuvix then how about doing more research to see if there wasn't a way do so and keep Tuvix alive? There was no urgent need to do that..

 

[Makarov]

Clues. The whole episode is about how the alien plot doesn't work because they leave clues... and the plan is to eliminate the clues again. Weak. Plus this alien culture is free to blow up any passing ship that doesn't get memory wiped successfully. Letting the whole crew get knocked out and brain scrambled is nuts.

 

[T'Arwen]

Erika Hernandez: I actually like her as a character but she got reduced to a deus ex machine twice. One romantic night in the mountains cures Archer of his Xindi PTSD. Riiiiiight. It's a shame because they really do make a good couple.

Then there's Bound. Trip isn't on Columbia that long but she just lets him go when he's the best engineer in Starfleet? Yes he was snippy on the crew but still. This and a little immunity from Orion mojo makes everything cool between Trip and T'Pol. What's the point of dragging out the angst (which I'm not against if done right) when there's such a lazy resolution?

 

[Zonker]

Erika Hernandez: I actually like her as a character but she got reduced to a deus ex machine twice. One romantic night in the mountains cures Archer of his Xindi PTSD. Riiiiiight. It's a shame because they really do make a good couple.

Then there's Bound. Trip isn't on Columbia that long but she just lets him go when he's the best engineer in Starfleet? Yes he was snippy on the crew but still.

I don't know what it is but I just liked her a lot so I agree it seemed like a bit of a letdown to use her this way. I was really looking forward to seeing what they did with her character later on. I was hoping to see her and Archer coordinate during the Romulan war.

 

[Paradise City]

The way they killed off Sloan was certainly a big damp squib.

 

[locutus101]

The way they killed off Sloan was certainly a big damp squib.

Sloan was a brilliant man, always one step ahead of everybody else and all of a sudden his IQ dropped dramatically. There's no other explanations for the way he was captured by Bashir. Was he hit on the head by a brick or something?

 

[USS Firefly]

Sloan was a brilliant man, always one step ahead of everybody else and all of a sudden his IQ dropped dramatically. There's no other explanations for the way he was captured by Bashir. Was he hit on the head by a brick or something?

Everybody make mistakes and Bashir is a quick learner

 

[locutus101]

Everybody make mistakes and Bashir is a quick learner

I am sorry but I don't buy that. Sloan wouldn't fall in such an obvious trap. It looks way too convenient to me.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Slackers

I would have loved if they'd used this dog...species?...in that VOY episode as a callback. That would have been silly, but satisfying for this TOS fan.

 

[Paradise City]

Sloan was a brilliant man, always one step ahead of everybody else and all of a sudden his IQ dropped dramatically. There's no other explanations for the way he was captured by Bashir. Was he hit on the head by a brick or something?

It's not as if it was the first time they did the old 'get into someone's mind' trick either. It was a clumsy way of destroying a classy character. I think it was the writers who got clattered with that brick.

 

[locutus101]

It's not as if it was the first time they did the old 'get into someone's mind' trick either. It was a clumsy way of destroying a classy character. I think it was the writers who got clattered with that brick.

Yeah, they did.

 

[retroenzo]

A fairly obvious and easy cheap shot, but Star Trek Voyager as a whole, as in the last minute or so of Endgame. We're back, the end.

This. So much this. I really would have liked Voyager to have reached Earth about half way through the final season and then to see what happened to the Maquis, Seven of Nine, Tom Paris, The EMH and (if he hadn't found a colony of his own people) Neelix.

Would the Maquis crew and Tom Paris been given pardons for their previous indiscretions based on their actions onboard Voyager?

Would the EMH, Seven of Nine and Neelix integrated well with the Federation people?

(on a side note, did any Voyager novels address these stories at all?)

 

[stardream]

This. So much this. I really would have liked Voyager to have reached Earth about half way through the final season and then to see what happened to the Maquis, Seven of Nine, Tom Paris, The EMH and (if he hadn't found a colony of his own people) Neelix.

Would the Maquis crew and Tom Paris been given pardons for their previous indiscretions based on their actions onboard Voyager?

Would the EMH, Seven of Nine and Neelix integrated well with the Federation people?

(on a side note, did any Voyager novels address these stories at all?)

They do in the re-launch duology Homecoming/The Farther Shore.
I tell people to read Homecoming up to the point where Harry meets his parents. After that, there is little need to read any further unless you are really really interested in the story.

 

[retroenzo]

They do in the re-launch duology Homecoming/The Farther Shore.
I tell people to read Homecoming up to the point where Harry meets his parents. After that, there is little need to read any further unless you are really really interested in the story.

Thank you - I'll check them out.

 

[locutus101]

As a rule I detest Voyager's overuse of the reset button. For example when they took the ship back from the Kazons they had to damage it pretty bad and yet they repaired it so fast that Janeway didn't even have time to clean the dirt off her face.

I mean: Oh come on!