Worst TNG episodes ever

[TheLobes]

Sub Rosa
Code of Honor
Rascals
I, Borg
Measure of a Man
The Nth Degree
New Ground
Second Chances
Homeward

Eh?

Guess I should explain myself...

For me, Measure of a Man created long standing issues in the Trek Universe because of its 'all or nothing' plot (much like I, Borg). Data was either going to be 'killed' or found sentient with the rights of sentient beings and if this episode stood alone it would've been fine. But because it's popular its' themes were re-addressed in Voyager to far less entertaining results. It makes my worst TNG episodes list precisely because the writers and producers didn't really think through the long term ramifications of the story. YMMV.

Isnt that a bit like blaming Charles Darwin for the Holocaust?

 

[Alrik]

I always get a kick out of these threads. It is always interesting to see what some consider 'bad TNG'.

aren't people allowed their own opinions? lol...

Sure......as long as its that same opinion as mine.

Devil's Due is obviously meant to be a light-hearted and comedy episode, but IMO it's way too silly and goofy to hold water.

I can give it a pass and enjoy it for what it is, a re-worked script from Star Trek Phase II.

To clerify my earlier statement, I get a kick out of these threads due to some of the venom that is spewed toward different eps. For me, there isn't a TNG ep that I find unwatchable. I grew up with TOS, but became a loyal fan of TNG as well, when it came out. Are some eps far better than others? Sure. But to be honest, I'll take a poor TNG episode over most of the crap you find on TV these days.

 

[scotthm]

The idea of the crew reverting to primitive life forms was just as stupid as the Paris/Janeway fiasco from "Threshold".

Bad, but not that bad.

With so many bad TNG episodes to choose from, it's difficult to pick a "worst", but I'll stay away from the obvious first season episodes and say "The Game".

---------------

 

[Electric Coleslaw]

"Darmok" makes me run for the remote every time.

Dennis, when the Bristol danced.

 

[erastus25]

"Darmok" makes me run for the remote every time.

Dennis, when the Bristol danced.

Interesting. A teacher showed it in HS philosophy once and most everyone groaned. Be the end they were all transfixed. As everyone was leaving he whispered to me (we had discussed trek before so he knew I was a fan), "Did you notice how everyone was paying attention at the end? " Score one for ST! That memory will always make me chuckle over Darmok.

 

[tomalak301]

Darmok is one of my favorite episodes because of that reason. It was a good study in communication and I appreciated the whole lack of UT angle it brought.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

These 'worst TNG episodes' threads show up every other month or so. Although, I think the last one was mid-2010?

Anywho; off the top of my head:
Darmok
Inner Light (boring)
The Game
Samaritan Snare
Genesis
Angel One (only because the female characters still need saving, and they are not written to be strong individuals; a cop-out)

 

[GalaxyX]

I always get a kick out of these threads. It is always interesting to see what some consider 'bad TNG'.

aren't people allowed their own opinions? lol...

Sure......as long as its that same opinion as mine.

Devil's Due is obviously meant to be a light-hearted and comedy episode, but IMO it's way too silly and goofy to hold water.

I can give it a pass and enjoy it for what it is, a re-worked script from Star Trek Phase II.

To clerify my earlier statement, I get a kick out of these threads due to some of the venom that is spewed toward different eps. For me, there isn't a TNG ep that I find unwatchable. I grew up with TOS, but became a loyal fan of TNG as well, when it came out. Are some eps far better than others? Sure. But to be honest, I'll take a poor TNG episode over most of the crap you find on TV these days.

I really can't think of much worse than a TNG episode like "Half a Life". It would have to be abbysmal for me to prefer "Half a Life" to it.

 

[Bishop76]

Season 1

 

[cbs7lb]

I can't bear Up the Long Ladder because of the excrutiating Irish stereotyping (I'm English). There's a Voyager episode where they do it as well - Spirit Folk or something?

I think we should forgive Shades of Grey - there was a writers' strike on after all.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The writer's strike ended six months before "Shades Of Grey" was shot, and there were twenty-one episodes of varying quality, some quite successful, shot before it.

 

[tomalak301]

The writer's strike ended six months before "Shades Of Grey" was shot, and there were twenty-one episodes of varying quality, some quite successful, shot before it.

Why did they go ahead with Shades of Grey anyway. Could they just have had a 21 episode season and ended it with Peek Performance (Or Q Who which would have been a great season ender)? I mean I'm not has hateful on Shades of Grey as most are, but with the writers strike and the uncertainty of that year, was that episode really necessary?

 

[Alrik]

I really can't think of much worse than a TNG episode like "Half a Life". It would have to be abbysmal for me to prefer "Half a Life" to it.

To each their own I guess. That's why I find these 'Worst Ep' threads interesting. For instance, you'd probably rather watch paint dry than sit through Half A Life, while I enjoy watching the interaction between Majel and David Ogden Stiers. Plus without that ep, we probably wouldn't have gotten Forbes as Ro Laren later on. A good part of why she landed to part of Ro was due to her performance as Dara. Do I expect any of that to sway anyone? Hell no. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, likes, and dislikes. I'm good with that.

 

[Kelthaz]

Listed in chronological order.

Season 1:

Code of Honor
The Last Outpost
Where No One Has Gone Before
Justice
Angel One
11001001
When the Bough Breaks
Coming of Age
The Neutral Zone

Season 2:

Outrageous Okona
Loud as as Whisper
The Dauphin
The Royale
Samaritan Snare
Up The Long Ladder
Shades of Grey

Season 7:

Liaisons
Sub Rosa
Emergence

 

[Saxman1]

I can't bear Up the Long Ladder because of the excrutiating Irish stereotyping (I'm English). There's a Voyager episode where they do it as well - Spirit Folk or something?

I am half Irish with an English surname and I think it's a hoot. Go figure. I also like Spirit Folk (ducks). I've never been accused of having any taste, LOL!

TNG I don't like:

Code of Honor - all it needs is Rodchester from Jack Benny and the 1930s/1940s movies saying, "Feets, don't fail me now!"

I, Borg (the beginning of the end of The Borg as scary and near-omnipotent adversaries). I don't blame Adimiral Hotness Nachaya for lighting into Picard later: he should have destroyed them. But then, no First Contact or Seven. I enjoy the Seven character on Voyager, one reason being Jeri Ryan's often overlooked comic timing - She and Picardo's Doctor were a great one-two humor team without being groan-inducing (at least to me).

Genesis - plain stupid, the prelude to the garbage that is "Threshold" (Voyager).

The two - parter with Jellico (I don't like watching Picard tortured, although it upped the hotness of Troi tremendously by getting her into a uniform)

Descent - whiny Hugh and the rougue Borg, Spiner chewing the scenery as Lore and EVIL DATA, Picard sending almost the entire crew down to the planet to look for Data, need I go on? What a crap-fest of illogic!

So overall, not a lot I dislike. Same with TOS and DS9.

 

[GalaxyX]

I really can't think of much worse than a TNG episode like "Half a Life". It would have to be abbysmal for me to prefer "Half a Life" to it.

To each their own I guess. That's why I find these 'Worst Ep' threads interesting. For instance, you'd probably rather watch paint dry than sit through Half A Life, while I enjoy watching the interaction between Majel and David Ogden Stiers. Plus without that ep, we probably wouldn't have gotten Forbes as Ro Laren later on. A good part of why she landed to part of Ro was due to her performance as Dara. Do I expect any of that to sway anyone? Hell no. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, likes, and dislikes. I'm good with that.

Well I can tell you why I hate the episode. It doesn't gel with me that someone would so casually just kill themselves because society has decided you have no use anymore. Not only that, but to do it in such a calm and cool manner, like nothing is wrong at all, and this is the way things are supposed to be.

I can understand that if a culture has been like that for centuries, then the people experiencing it probably don't see anything wrong with it. I still can't stomach it.

 

[Pseudo]

I really can't think of much worse than a TNG episode like "Half a Life". It would have to be abbysmal for me to prefer "Half a Life" to it.

To each their own I guess. That's why I find these 'Worst Ep' threads interesting. For instance, you'd probably rather watch paint dry than sit through Half A Life, while I enjoy watching the interaction between Majel and David Ogden Stiers. Plus without that ep, we probably wouldn't have gotten Forbes as Ro Laren later on. A good part of why she landed to part of Ro was due to her performance as Dara. Do I expect any of that to sway anyone? Hell no. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, likes, and dislikes. I'm good with that.

Well I can tell you why I hate the episode. It doesn't gel with me that someone would so casually just kill themselves because society has decided you have no use anymore. Not only that, but to do it in such a calm and cool manner, like nothing is wrong at all, and this is the way things are supposed to be.

I can understand that if a culture has been like that for centuries, then the people experiencing it probably don't see anything wrong with it. I still can't stomach it.

Are saying is the problem is with you and not with the episode?

 

[GabeHimself]

I think a bad episode is an episode that is boring and has no redeeming characteristics. That would be:

The Royale

Only that episode is pointless, painful drivel that rambles on for 50 minutes. I assume its 50 minutes because that's what all TNG episodes are -- it was so boring it rendered human concepts of time meaningless in an ontological mobius strip of "Oh my God END END END!"

 

[starfox]

Rascals.

The kid playing picard is awful. Punch myself in the face awful.

And the bridge crew are a bunch of idiots.

A painful show to watch.

The premise was silly (Transporters work at the quantum level, and don't have the intelligence to "reconstruct" someone in a younger form). But I still found it to be a fun episode, perhaps because I'd give anything to be a kid again.

 

[Forbin]

My wife can't stand Darmok, but not because of any quality issues. A friend of mine asked her to make him Picard's jacket, which first appeared in that ep. So we spent an entire evening fast-fwding, rewinding, and freeze-framing the episode so she could make sketches. the jacket came out beautiful, but she never wants to see that episode again.