The Least Disliked Episode 2025: DS9 Season 1

[BlueStuff]

Our addictive biyearly game of rapid elimination returns - now with more shows than ever. It's generally a lot of fun, providing a chance to mentally revisit those episodes you may not have thought about in a while. With that in mind, why not play again?

So, here's the game. The basic idea is your standard elimination game. I'll provide a list of the episodes for each season and you need to eliminate your least favourite or the one you deem the 'worst.' Please provide an EXPLANATION for why you are eliminating your choice and be sure to copy and paste the list with your choice removed. Finally, leave at least 2 eliminations by other posters before you eliminate another episode.

No tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode just because you feel it would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Hall of Champions
2011 - In the Pale Moonlight
2013 - In the Pale Moonlight
2017 - Improbable Cause
2019 - Tacking Into the Wind
2021 - Duet
2023 - Call to Arms
2025 -

Season 1
Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Q-Less
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

A pretty strong first season to get the ball rolling.

I like Q on TNG, and Vash was a good match for Picard. That said, Q-Less is a boring mess.

Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Battle Lines
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

A pretty strong first season to get the ball rolling.

I like Q on TNG, and Vash was a good match for Picard. That said, Q-Less is a boring mess.

Showing Vash with a rash thanks to an exotic excursion with Q did help set the stage for DS9 being more daring than TNG, but that's about it. Even the highly vaunted boxing match is overrated. Q should have stuq with Jean-Luc or Aunt Kathy. /IMHOYMMVEIEIOETC

 

[Sakonna]

"Battle Lines" So visually uninteresting. Camille Saviola was great and it was a missed opportunity to ditch Opaka so fast. And especially in a way that creates so many logic problems - like, she's just hanging out there right on the other side of the wormhole for the rest of the series?

Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Dramatis Personae
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

Oh goody, it's time to raggety-rag on a story again!

Dramatis Personae

This one I easily dislike the most, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! /rabiddoggymode. Hated this one at the time and haven't warmed to it all that much since, so I've not watched it in over a decade. Reeked too much of "Sarek" with the crew all acting angry and out of character because of the treknobabble of the week feeling too rubberstampy. They put the "pathy" in "telepathy" for sure.


What's left:
Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
The Storyteller
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Takeru]

Storyteller, Miles safes the day by being a bad storyteller, sound like the start of a joke but it's an actual episode.


Emissary
Past Prologue
A Man Alone
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Detached Nacelle]

A Man Alone is quite bland and forgettable, so much so I couldnt remember it even after looking it up.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
The Passenger
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[BlueStuff]

I’m… removing… The… Passenger…

…and… I’m… sure… you… all… understand…

…why.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Vortex
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Sakonna]

"Vortex" is just stalling on Odo's story. There's not much to this episode.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
The Forsaken
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Victoria]

Ninja'd. I don't dislike "Vortex" and it does have some good points (the hinting at Odo's back story and Odo choosing "justice" over the "law") but it's fundamentally rather dull.


Removing "The Forsaken". I am not very keen on Lwaxana (although I think DS9 did her better than TNG) and the "Anbassadors with no tact or patience" is a boring trope.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Progress
If Wishes Were Horses
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

If Wishes Were Horses is next.

Its a bit dumb despite some moments of fun in it.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Progress
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

NINJA'D, QAPLA'!!! (I was going to take that one out, changed my mind, changed my mind back again, went down to the department store to change it royally, then saw your post so that was perfect timing. Also, squirrel.)

So the one I now deem zee worst is,

Progress

A fairly forgettable little entry, proving that small-scale personal drama isn't always zee best. But sometime it is. But this one ensures you get your zees...


What's left (and less forgettable!):
Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Captive Pursuit
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets



ON EDIT: I FORGOT TO REMOVE "IF WISHES WERE HORSES" FROM THE LIST, MY BAD, AND IF THE "BLINK" HTML TAG WORKED THEN YOU'D SEE THIS FLASHING MORE THAN THE 1974 OSCARS AS WELL...

 

[Sakonna]

I know people say "Captive Pursuit" was the first good episode after the pilot, but I just never got the appeal. This story doesn't work for me and is too simplistic. Colm Meaney is giving a rare weak performance. I don't like the work from either guest star, either, though they are both also usually good.

Great makeup on Tosk, though.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[BlueStuff]

I'll just wish If Wishes Were Horses out to fix the list.

Emissary
Past Prologue
Babel
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Seven of Five]

Babel is a desent station-based illness. I love the unique way the virus affects the host, but it's a pretty average episode .

Emissary
Past Prologue
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

So many strong episodes remain, but the episode I think is the worst of all these is...

Past Prologue

I know DS9 needed to have some links with TNG, but... the Duras sisters? The show's got plenty of new ground wth the Bajorans and Cardassians, there's no need for this TNG tie-in (something season 1 didn't need to do 2/3rds of the time with.)


What's left:
Emissary
Dax
Move Along Home
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[Qonundrum]

I'll just wish If Wishes Were Horses out to fix the list.

No need, there's plenty of others to remove - I'd fixed my post earlier anyhow.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Allamaraine count to four
Allamaraine then three more
Allamaraine if you can see
Allamaraine Move Along Home is removed

Emissary
Dax
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets

 

[BlueStuff]

No need, there's plenty of others to remove - I'd fixed my post earlier anyhow.

At the time of (my) posting, the episode hadn’t been removed from the most recent list.

 

[Sakonna]

You can see them still trying to figure out the Trill in "Dax." I don't like how much Dax herself becomes sidelined in the narrative.

Emissary
The Nagus
Duet
In the Hands of the Prophets