Your Top WORST Episodes!

Enterprise S2 - Cogenitor
Ah Tucker, I am very disappointed in you! How could you try to free someone from slavery instead of just keeping up the status quo? Ts ts ts. I am very smart. Learn from this episode, kids, you should never try to help someone or they will off themselves. Also remember to always misgender people.

 

wait shit this is the tng thread im sorry. Then its the one where they get abducted by aliens X-Files style. Why do that

 

Bad TNG episodes aren't all that bad.

There's a small number I won't rewatch at all...or hadnt in the past. Maybe a dozen? That's a pretty good ratio

 

Some of these are awesome. Well you know what they say about mileage.

I've always felt that of middle tier episodes, Too Short a Season was unjustly maligned, lots of people focus on the aging story which, to me is very secondary to the message about what was happening in the world at the time with Reagan' s dirty deals.

 

Here's my small list, in no particular order:

The Naked Now
The Dauphin
Who Watches the Watchers
The Most Toys
Ménage à Troi
The Host
Rascals
The Chase

 

The worst episodes for me (going over an episode list and remembering off hand, so not necessarily a full list):

"The Naked Now"
Lord, painful.

"Code of Honor"
Looking back quickly over old posts of mine, trying to find one where I laid out my reasoning (didn't find it), I did find posts where I called it a steaming pile of monkey shit, and that it has absolutely no redeemable qualities what so ever.
This shit should be de-canonized.

"The Outrageous Okunoa"
Oh my God, space pirate baby drama. Next up on Jerry Springer and the 24th and a Half Century...
This shit should be de-canonized.

"Rascals"
Lord.

"The Chase"
Absurdly sttupid plot with wide-reaching implications which are quickly forgotten. This shit should be de-canonized.

"Sub Rosa"
Scottish alien ghost sex. Fuck this episode.

 

I remember the New Trek Programme Guide entry for "The Outrageous Okona" said something along the lines of: "starts badly and descends into utter gittishness after five minutes". That phrase has stuck with me since childhood...

 

Two episodes I never liked and that haven't been mentioned yet were Violations and Imaginary Friend

The first one probably isn't a bad episode, objectively speaking. It's just that I really, really, really don't like the 'rape' theme in the episode (which we see in various forms).

The second one I think is fairly substandard (even if not one of the very worst) - with a little girl who has an 'imaginary' friend, who she insists is real. Of course no adult believes her, until she shows herself with the intent of letting them all die because they were mean to Ciara. Picard gives her The Lecture about how parents protect their children and everything is set straight. The (few) times I watch this episode, I end up with a faint headache.

 

I can understand your reason for hating "Violations". I thought the creepy vibe and way it was directed helped elevate it. The biggest problem of the episode is that we, the audience, already know it was Jev from the start. It was spelled out in the teaser with his creepy smile before the theme, and we see him in those mind rape visions. It didn't allow us to try to solve the mystery of which of the three did it. For me, that was what truly hurt the episode.

I agree about "Imaginary Friend". It was dull. Noley Thornton was adorable as Clara (she would also be Taya in "SHADOWPLAY" less than 2 years later, and was even better there), and 'Isabel' was creepy as hell... which I think was the point. An alien posing as a child... I can see beimg this creepy. As a horror fan, I appreciate that. Still doesn't save the episode, though.

 

I actually like "The Outrageous Okona". Billy Campbell was hilarious in it, and a mostly-unknown Teri Hatcher had a small role as well.

 

Even the writers took a cheap shot at the Ent-D crew in DS9 "Bar Association" when Odo reads Worf's security chief record to filth as casually as ordering lunch...and the one example that really sticks out is 'you let yourself get taken over by Ferengi rebels in a derelict bird-of-prey.' (Never mind that we can fast-forward to Generations where the Ent-D gets blown up by Klingon rebels in a derelict bird-of-prey...have we found the true Achilles Heel of the Galaxy-class here?)

Agreed the good concept got out-gimmicked by the fountain of youth gone wrong plot line. No one even mentions the fact that a respected, wisened Starfleet admiral literally tells his own beloved long-time wife, right to her face and with zero remorse, "I got enough of the anti-aging drug for the two of us...and I took both doses." If I was Mrs Jamieson, I'd be calling a divorce lawyer and signing up for Star Trek: The Golden Bachelor. An unreal portrayal of total betrayal, very much glossed over.

The most important--I think--part of the story that truly gets lost: if the enemy of my enemy is my friend...you better be damn sure they're still going to be your 'friend' for the long-haul. We've seen enough examples of that go wrong in the last 20-30 years or so to let that lesson go unlearned. But that's all I'll say about that real life topic outside of the Misc or Neutral Zone boards.

Look, I like Lwaxana Troi. I know most people don't, but I do, and still I struggle with this episode. However, I am totally unwilling to put it on an all-time worst list. For one very, very good reason. Michelle Forbes, somehow, against all odds, was able to pull off a straight face while wearing the world's goofiest hairpiece. Just Google "Michelle Forbes Half A Life" and look at the image results. She deserves a trophy just for that.

So, my worst episode of TNG? Certainly not The Naked Now, Code of Honour, Justice, or Angel One. They've all become such caricatures that they've moved into pure comedy territory over the years; they make fun of themselves so well with no effort at all, so I can't include those.

I'll go with either The First Duty or Journey's End. It's not on purpose that they're both Wesley episodes - but it seems like Wesley had become the character the writer's room used to get a lot of their underperforming script ideas out of the way.

 

It looks like there should be fruit or something balanced in there...

 

Regarding GENERATIONS...

At least that had the excuse of the Duras sisters being able to see through Geordi's visor.