To each his own. I think there are far, far better episodes of Trek in TOS alone, let alone the other series. I'm not saying City is bad. Bad is an episode like "The Alternative Factor." City, to me, is just overrated. It is primarily a love story for Kirk, and I just don't like how TOS does love stories. I don't think there is a single romance in TOS that I care for.
"Good Episodes" you think are bad?
- Thread starter carcinoGeneticist
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Thank you for the discussion.
I've never liked a single episode of TOS and the TOS movies are mid at best.
That one, for me, sits in a special category of "episodes where a character has to learn a lesson they should have already known". They seem to congregate late in a series: "Take me Out..." and "Nightingale" are two prime examples.
I want to special mention a good episode that falls shy of great, namely "The Best of Both Worlds". It takes Riker on an involved but very straightforward journey, where we see him struggle with the loss of Picard, his own conflicts, and having to face the reality of command. In the process, yes he learns lessons, but a great captain emerges in the process. But then... no payoff. Instead of completing, or rather continuing, his journey... he really sort of stagnates.
I liked Riker's arc to be honest, even if it's a bit of a retread of The Icarus Factor. The guy is forced to step up and make the hard choices, like 'Do I fire on the Borg Cube with Picard on board?', 'Do I risk the ship to try to get him back?' and finally 'Do I stay as first officer or do what other people expect of me?' By the end he's got the confidence to tell everyone else, including the viewers, that his career plans are none of their business. His arc is supposed to lead to him becoming a captain, but he's made his own decision and that's the end of it.
The Last Generation - Picard. Maybe not bad, but it is cliche and predictable. The Borg...again? Ugh. And yet people treat it as the best thing ever because the band got back together again, and because the Ent D returned
A popular episode I really don't like... "Tacking Into the Wind". Because it puts every Klingon in a bad light.
Gowron, previously seen as a savvy politician but a fierce and honorable warrior... becomes an utter idiot who is ready to sacrifice the Empire to prevent Martok from replacing him as Chancellor... despite the fact that it's painfully obvious that Martok not only has no interest in being Chancellor, but would rather watch the Empire crumble around his ears than challenge him.
Worf challenges Gowron and defeats him, then proceeds to plop the whole disgusting political mess that results in Martok's lap, despite Martok's repeated protests that he doesn't want the job. Martok should have grabbed that robe and shoved it back on Worf and told him to clean up his own [insert Klingon cussword here] mess.
And Martok comes off like Toral, who Lursa and Betor attempted to just install as Chancellor. No, Martok's not a pawn and Worf's no puppetmaster, but the overall procedure was the same.
Gowron, previously seen as a savvy politician but a fierce and honorable warrior... becomes an utter idiot who is ready to sacrifice the Empire to prevent Martok from replacing him as Chancellor... despite the fact that it's painfully obvious that Martok not only has no interest in being Chancellor, but would rather watch the Empire crumble around his ears than challenge him.
Worf challenges Gowron and defeats him, then proceeds to plop the whole disgusting political mess that results in Martok's lap, despite Martok's repeated protests that he doesn't want the job. Martok should have grabbed that robe and shoved it back on Worf and told him to clean up his own [insert Klingon cussword here] mess.
And Martok comes off like Toral, who Lursa and Betor attempted to just install as Chancellor. No, Martok's not a pawn and Worf's no puppetmaster, but the overall procedure was the same.
Do people really think "The Last Generation" is the best thing ever?
I am a big fan of Picard season 3, but the episode I think is pitch perfect is "Vox," the penultimate episode. The last 10 minutes or so are just perfection, IMHO. The TNG gang getting back together on their own to solve a problem, the reveal of the Enterprise-D and especially the bridge set, the jump to warp. It's all just exactly what it should be. Most of all, the musical cue "Make It So" that Frederik Wiedmann did for that scene is magnificent. And I like the actual message that just because you're over 40 years old doesn't make you useless, which is something that Hollywood could stand to acknowledge more often.
However, for me, "The Last Generation" is actually a bit of a letdown after that, with the one exception of the final poker scene and closing credits with the classic TMP music, which I thought was good.
First off, I agree with you that going back to the Borg well was one too many times. I like that they followed up on Voyager's finale and what happened to the Borg there, and it makes sense for Picard to confront the Borg again, but after the first two seasons of Picard were also Borg-related it was time to do something different. Sticking to the changeling threat alone would have been better. Or revealing that the changelings were working with someone else.
Second, after being so excited about the return of the Enterprise-D and the wonderful job they did of bringing it back to life in "Vox," to see it treated like it was the Defiant or the Millennium Falcon and doing its big action sequences just knocks me right out of the episode. That's not the Enterprise. That's not how that ship ever operated. And, no, that wasn't just because of visual effects limitations in TNG, because when we saw those huge CGI battle sequences in DS9, the Galaxy class still behaved the same way. It's a massive, massive ship and it wasn't supposed to behave like a fighter jet. Treating it that way muted my excitement over its return.
So, yeah, I think season 3 was good, "Vox" was fantastic, but then "The Last Generation" was a letdown.
Highest rated Star Trek episode of all time on IMDb, so pretty much.
Recency Bias, thy name is "The Last Generation."
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