The Most Disliked Episode of DS9, 2023 Edition - Season 3...

[Farscape One]

Welcome to our bi-yearly 'Most Disliked Episode' games! Now that the 'Least Disliked Episode' games hosted by BlueStuff (who inspired me to create these games, so thank you very much for paving the way) have concluded, we can begin the opposite side of that coin.

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 most favorite or the one you deem the 'best.' 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 because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Hall of Champions (or Failures?)
2011 - "PROFIT AND LACE"
2018 - "LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN..."
2019 - "THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOAK"
2021 - "THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOAK"
2023 - "PROFIT AND LACE"


Season Three -

"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"THE HOUSE OF QUARK"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"CIVIL DEFENSE"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"PAST TENSE, PART II"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"IMPROBABLE CAUSE"
"THE DIE IS CAST"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Farscape One]

A lot of great ones this season... it's hard to pick my first. I am truly torn between 4 episodes.

But I think I will start with "CIVIL DEFENSE". The one thing that separates this one from my other picks is this... it utilizes the ENTIRE cast. And very, very well. I've always loved episodes that do that.

Each character had a lot of shining moments. And of course, having Garak be a big part is a huge plus. Even better when you have Garak and Dukat bickering.

This one is always a rewatch.


"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"THE HOUSE OF QUARK"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"PAST TENSE, PART II"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"IMPROBABLE CAUSE"
"THE DIE IS CAST"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Oddish]

"The Die is Cast" is my first save, for Cardassian/Romulan/Dominion intrigue, and a great fight scene at the end.

"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"THE HOUSE OF QUARK"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"PAST TENSE, PART II"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"IMPROBABLE CAUSE"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Qonundrum]

This one somehow hits all the right spots.

"THE HOUSE OF QUARK"

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What, no fight to the death? Oh well, no story is 100% perfect!


What's left:
"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"PAST TENSE, PART II"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"IMPROBABLE CAUSE"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Saving Past Tense II. This just gets better with age. Although a lot of the expository setup comes in the first episode, this one actually has a lot to say about how protests succeed and fail. There is a hidden conversation about what counts as respectable protest and the appearance of chaos.

Here's the man himself talking about the show.

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"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"IMPROBABLE CAUSE"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Farscape One]

Saving "IMPROBABLE CAUSE"


This episode was flawless. A Garak centered is alwaysgoing to be a win, but add in Odo being the best investugator in the franchise? Just perfection.

And Avery Brooks again showing his incredible eye for shots with the cave set. The angles and shots used here were the best of any cave scene in any of the shows. (And I challenge someone to show me a better shot cave scene.)


"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"FACETS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Oddish]

I don't know what's better, Avery Brooks playing the psycho or Rene Auberjonois as a Curzonified Odo. Either way, Facets FTW.

THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Farscape One]

I don't know what's better, Avery Brooks playing the psycho or Rene Auberjonois as a Curzonified Odo. Either way, Facets FTW.

THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"PAST TENSE, PART I"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"VISIONARY"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

I heard that Brooks played an even creepier version of Joran but the director, Cliff Bole, told him he needed to scale it back.

I REALLY wish we had those outtakes, because Brooks was already extremely chilling as Joran.

 

[kkt]

Then I'll save Past Tense 1. No point in having part 2 without part 1.

(Hey, the Bell Riots are less than a year away! Anyone making plans for San Francisco?)

 

[CitadelZombies]

"Visionary" is a really fun and different take on the time travel episode and a strong O'Brien episode. Also can't go wrong with Romulans being sneaky.

"THE SEARCH, PART I"
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Seven of Five]

I'll save The Search, Part I. Great start to the season, following up on a lot of intrigue from last season, and of course, the reveal of Odo making it home.

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"EXPLORERS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Farscape One]

Saving "EXPLORERS".

I have always loved this one. Bashir and O'Brien drunk was just awesome. O'Brien admitting that he does... 'not hate' Bashir anymore never gets old.

The real win here is the father and son adventure. It's always an absolute joy when Ben and Jake are together, and this is one of the best episodes of these two together.

It also brings up to the surface Sisko's rather obsessive streak/trait with him building a ship on his own from scratch just to prove it was possible to pilot a lightship out past the Denorias Belt. In this case, his obsessive tendency is used for good. (And as we see later, it can be used as a bad trait.) It humanizes Sisko even more and adds yet another layer to an already very layered leader.


"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"FASCINATION"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[BlueStuff]

Ah, my biyearly rescue of Fascination comes again. I love the fun party vibes of this one. Sorry folks, this one won't be making it to the garbage heap - not while I'm around!

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"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"DESTINY"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Cyfa]

"DESTINY" is one of my favourite DS9 episodes (there are so many!) because of the look at a different facet of Cardassian culture (the shared meal in Quark's is alternately hilarious and awkward), Kira's beliefs vs Starfleet science, O'Brien unintentionally flirting with a Cardassian ( ), and the prophecy came true!

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"DEFIANT"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[CitadelZombies]

Gonna save "Defiant". It's a very nostalgic episode for me (along with "Fascination"), as it's the first DS9 VHS I bought. Mainly based on having Riker on the cover. Was really surprised with the reveal that it was Thomas not Will Riker (I hadn't seen "Second Chances" at that point). Love the performances from Nana Visitor, Avery Brooks, and Marc Alaimo as well.

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"FAMILY BUSINESS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Saving Family Business. Ishka 1.0 was a riot. I love Martin's performance and this perspective on how feminism might grow in a culture otherwise hostile to progressive change. And in spite of the OTOH nature of the episode, it manages a modicum of realism by showing compromises people tend to make.

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"THE ABANDONED"
"MERIDIAN"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Qonundrum]

Like taking in a stray cat or asking why earlobe hair begins to sprout by age forty-five, these are the days of our lives:

"THE ABANDONED"

Yeah. the story is more derivative than original at times, but it's a minor nitpick.

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Cost to remaster the CGI in this scene alone: $8,675,308. And yet it's still a better love story than "Twilight". Not much else to say except the debate that follows is a rehash of Hugh Borg or Prime Directive from TNG. At least Odo and Sisko get the great retorts, and that matters more.

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Hey cool, Odo can make a gooey mess wherever on the floor he wants now! Good boy! Woof!

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Another robust scene, one that can't be cut and pasted to all monsters, but before I digress... Even the incidental music, which feels slightly generic at times, isn't as bad as approaching TNG's action scenes from "Power Play".

Really good episode, rather...

Oh, and then there's this:

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OMG, that late-March/April relationship* is just tooooooooooo much! (Well, he's 16 and not 18, so there's something of a valid point here...) Then comes the din-din scene. I liked Sisko grilling her like a salmon, plus her response about judgment based solely on job. Cool scene. A shame we don't see her again, but there'd only be two routes they could take - one would be boring and generic, the other would be something not dissimilar to 'character assassination' for the sake of drama. Even then, her appearance in this episode drops off suddenly in mid-episode and only appears holding hands in the story's exciting ending.

* one's legally able to drink in May. Just don't say in a public the day you break up with a guy who drank like a fish in Lake Vostok, openly said out of nowhere how fell off the wagon while enjoying his fifth glass of rum, cheating, and a handful of other nasty digression thingies that he has an alcohol problem as he'll scream at the top of his lungs that he has no problem and then everyone in the mall - especially those cute guys in those dark blue uniforms - start to gawk and feel even more uneasy than you do. But I digress.​

What's left:
"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"MERIDIAN"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"SHAKAAR"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Qonundrum]

I'll save The Search, Part I. Great start to the season, following up on a lot of intrigue from last season, and of course, the reveal of Odo making it home.

The icing on the cake is this:

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Starfleet: "Hey Ben, this is a prototype ship. It only tears itself apart when at full capacity and in the 1996 movie it's almost destroyed very nimbly by the Borg but the 1701-E came in right on cue."

Sisko: "I should feel disappointed that nobody believes me about the Dominion threat, but I'll be Polyantony instead! Chief O'Brien, put a cap on the engines so it will never get to full capacity."

O'Brien: "But that's warp 9.5. Or 9.8 depending on which script we're reading. Not bad when my Enterprise did 9.6 but only for a few hours. But I think warp 7 should be safe."

Sisko: "Fair."

Kira's audacity is probably justified, but...

Two weeks later (cue dramatic actiony music here):
Sisko: "Set a course at 9.982, we can handle that for twelve hours, Memory Alpha told me so!"
O'Brien: "Not a problem!"
Kira: "Wait, what was all that jabber about the ship tearing itself apart?"
O'Brien: "Thank you for remembering since everyone else, including me, forgot. That was a previous script just trying to be dramatic and to show we're in the region of space known as 'the colostomy sector'. Everyone says we're in a crappy region of the galaxy."
Kira: "Well, I don't feel disheartened by that name. Let me ring up some of my friends and hear what they have to say!"

 

[Sakonna]

“Shakaar” is a pretty great Bajor episode. I just love the way they play the stakes in, the dispute over farming equipment escalating to the brink of civil war. Fabulous Winn showcase.

The only real problem is the casting of Shakaar.

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"MERIDIAN"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS"
"THE ADVERSARY"

 

[Seven of Five]

Through the Looking Glass tells the next thrilling part of the MU saga - back when it was still thrilling.

"THE SEARCH, PART II"
"EQUILIBRIUM"
"SECOND SKIN"
"MERIDIAN"
"LIFE SUPPORT"
"HEART OF STONE"
"PROPHET MOTIVE"
"DISTANT VOICES"
"THE ADVERSARY"