Top Ten Worst Episodes?

[Frontier]

Assembling a list for some new trekkies on the worst episodes they can, basically, skip and... yeah, need help. I know it might be a little heretical to say "skip this episode" but... hey, we want these people to like Trek, right? Forcing them to watch "Way to Eden" could put that in danger!

So, 10 or so worst episodes?

My list so far...

• "The Way to Eden"
• "Return of the Archons"
• "Catspaw"
• "And the Children Shall Lead"
• "The Empath"

Opinions? Additions?

 

[gottacook]

My list of episodes to avoid, in approximate order:

"The Alternative Factor" ("What of Lazarus?" "And what of Lazarus?" etc.)

"The Omega Glory" (yes, I know it was one of the original Roddenberry story treatments for the second pilot, and I like Cloud William and his utterances, but anyone new to Trek ought to be spared the Yangs and Kohms)

"And the Children Shall Lead" (nice score by George Duning, though, largely unused in later episodes)

"The Paradise Syndrome" (worst actress in the entire series, bad enough to drag down an intriguing episode; sorry, Sabrina, but someone had to be)

"Whom Gods Destroy" (I really enjoyed Steve Ihnat and Yvonne Craig in this, but a novice shouldn't be exposed to dialogue such as "It is time I took command of the Enterprise")

"Plato's Stepchildren" (just plain stupid, despite the presence of Barbara Babcock and Michael Dunn, who both project intelligence as they usually do)

"The Mark of Gideon" [which depends on (1) the Gideons, not even Federation members, being able to build an "Enterprise" that could fool its captain AND learning of some obscure disease he once had, and (2) the bridge crew not at first recognizing that transporter coordinates were transposed]

"For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (as David Gerrold wrote in The World of Star Trek, "[McCoy] gets to fall in love and almost die in the same episode - a plethora of devices to create artificial excitement.")

 

[Bones_McCoy21]

My list is:

1.The Way To Eden

2.The Omega Glory

3.Charlie X

4.CharlieX

5.Charlie X

6.Charlie X

7.Charlie X

8.Charlie X

9.Charlie X

10.Charlie X

So yeah I'm a big Charlie X hater.And in the same episode; seeing Kirk in those tights DID NOT help. And because of my intense hate for Charlie X I did not have room for And The Children Shall Lead or that episode witht he people with the black and white faces. Cna't remember the name of thaat episode.

 

[Admiral Shran]

From "best" to worst.....

10.) The Omega Glory
9.) Turnabout Intruder
8.) The Way to Eden
7.) Charlie X
6.) Catspaw
5.) Plato's Stepchildren
4.) Mudd's Women
3.) Spock's Brain
2.) The Alternative Factor
1.) And the Children Shall Lead

 

[Octubre]

1) Metamorphosis (The end was terrible - loss of two personalities by joining them in one is so romantic! )
2) The Alternative Factor (pure, gold boredom)
3) Charlie X
4) The Omega Glory
5) Who Mourns for Adonais? (Is this Apollo? He could be exellent Stanley Kowalski. Besides, Pan wasn't boring! )
6) Assignment: Earth (Women and cat were great, but only they)
7) The Ultimate Computer
8) Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Obvious simbolism is too obvious)
9) Mudd's Women (It's very happy end for woman who had been washing dishes for her father and brothers for the whole life - to marry wild miner and wash dishes for him)
10) Shore Leave (Too much craziness and too long fight scene. Poor Sturgeon's script, it might be good)

 

[BillJ]

I think it's wrong to cut out episodes because everyone's taste is different. I routinely put The Omega Glory and Bread and Circuses in my top 10.

 

[Octubre]

but I doubt it'll be on anyone else's.

For this reason I was surprised that I hadn't liked it so much. I had heared a lot of good things about this episode and I expected more.

 

[Saga]

10. Spock's Brain
9. Elaan of Troyius
8. Patterns of Force
7. Wolf in the Fold
6. Turnabout Intruder
5. Spectre of the Gun
4. Plato's Stepchildren
3. The Way to Eden
2. Catspaw
1. And the Children Shall Lead

 

[Gojira]

My list is:

1.The Way To Eden

2.The Omega Glory

3.Charlie X

4.CharlieX

5.Charlie X

6.Charlie X

7.Charlie X

8.Charlie X

9.Charlie X

10.Charlie X

So yeah I'm a big Charlie X hater.And in the same episode; seeing Kirk in those tights DID NOT help. And because of my intense hate for Charlie X I did not have room for And The Children Shall Lead or that episode witht he people with the black and white faces. Cna't remember the name of thaat episode.

I actually like The Way to Eden and I am 100% with you on your hatred of Charlie X.

 

[Winterwind]

Episodes I can easily skip are...

The Alternative Factor
Catspaw
The Omega Glory
Spock's Brain
And The Children Shall Lead
Plato's Stepchildren
The Mark of Gideon
The Way To Eden

 

[scotpens]

Seven of my top ten worst episodes are from the third season (surprise!)

The Alternative Factor
The Apple
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Spock's Brain
And The Children Shall Lead
Plato's Stepchildren
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Mark Of Gideon
The Cloud Minders
The Way To Eden

1) Metamorphosis (The end was terrible - loss of two personalities by joining them in one is so romantic! )

Sacrilege! "Metamorphosis" is a beautiful story. YMMV.

2) The Alternative Factor (pure, gold boredom.

That ep was worse than boring. Muddled plot, incomprehensible science, script padded out with endless spinning starfields and stuntmen fighting in dry-ice fog.

8) Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (Obvious symbolism is too obvious)

It's not even symbolism -- just 52 minutes of preaching.

9) Mudd's Women (It's very happy end for woman who had been washing dishes for her father and brothers for the whole life - to marry wild miner and wash dishes for him)

You're missing the entire point.

 

[Gojira]

These are the episodes I ignore.

The Man Trap*
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Alternative Factor
Catspaw
The Omega Glory
And The Children Shall Lead
Plato's Stepchildren
The Mark of Gideon
Charlie X


* The Man trap isn't too bad I just find it a bit boring now after so many viewings.

 

[Saga]

These are the episodes I ignore.

The Man Trap*
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Alternative Factor
Catspaw
The Omega Glory
And The Children Shall Lead
Plato's Stepchildren
The Mark of Gideon
Charlie X


* The Man trap isn't too bad I just find it a bit boring now after so many viewings.

i feel the same way about certain episodes. i've seen The Enterprise Incident so many times that i try to avoid it.

 

[Bones_McCoy21]

My list is:

1.The Way To Eden

2.The Omega Glory

3.Charlie X

4.CharlieX

5.Charlie X

6.Charlie X

7.Charlie X

8.Charlie X

9.Charlie X

10.Charlie X

So yeah I'm a big Charlie X hater.And in the same episode; seeing Kirk in those tights DID NOT help. And because of my intense hate for Charlie X I did not have room for And The Children Shall Lead or that episode witht he people with the black and white faces. Cna't remember the name of thaat episode.

I actually like The Way to Eden and I am 100% with you on your hatred of Charlie X.

thanks for the support on Charlie X I do however know that a lot of people like The Way To Eden I just didn't a matter of personal tastes though.But I did forget Mudd's Women but Charlie X takes the cake sorry I don't like The Way To Eden

 

[Starbreaker]

The Omega Glory x10

 

[Isis]

I'll give you original thinking for putting SHORE LEAVE in your worst ten, but I doubt it'll be on anyone else's. The Finnegan-Kirk fight WAS long, but I'm glad this episode set the record. Anyhow, it was long drawn out wish-fulfilment.......to beat the TAR out of Finnegan!!!!

I'll pick my ten after consdering it some more. CATSPAW and PLATO won't be on it.

Sorry, fox, but I put "Shore Leave" among the worst TOS episodes as well.

 

[Octubre]

I'm still wondering just how McCoy was really brought back from the dead

And this lady, whose fiance was killed in Balance of Terror, too.

 

[Mr_Homn]

I couldn't narrow it down to only 10. I was left with 15. These 15 episodes of Star Trek are on my DO NOT WATCH list.

My List in order of appearance, not rank:

-Mudd's Women - Not horrible , has a couple fun elements, and the questioning of mudd is cool, but the corny end makes it unwatchable for me.

-Miri - Hodgkin's retarded law of parallel planet theory bullshit is retarded bullshit. Can't stand the children actors in this, even the "good" ones.

-The Alternative Factor - This episode will give you an Aneurysm. Stay away.

-Catspaw - I like beginning until we meet the main villains and then it's really, really boring. The funny puppets at the end are worth a look.

-Friday's Child- This episode just sucks. Dr. Mccoy hits a pregnant lady though, that was funny.

-I, Mudd - This episode has really embarassing scenes. It's just very dated and lame feeling.

-A Private Little War - Stupid Viet Nam war 60s propaganda.

-A Piece of the Action - I've never been able to sit through the whole thing. It doesn't work as a comedy the way Trouble with Tribbles worked. I guess I just don't dig the whole 20's mob thing. Just seems like a cheap money saving decision, except without the creativity or subtlety normally used in making such decisions.

Spock's Brain - Dumb

-And the Children shall Lead - This episode is bad, but it isn't as bad as it's made out to be. But it's pretty meh. I actually enjoy it more than most, but it's pretty universally hated. I usually hate episodes with lots of child actors though.

-The Empath - Gem the empath is annoying and stupid looking. This episode has some nice concepts, but fails in most of it's execution. Very boring to sit through.

- That Which Survives - Not as bad as people say, but still cheap, stupid, and lazy.

-The Mark of Gideon - Ridiculous concept and solution.

-The Way To Eden - Cheesy and hard to sit through. More embarassing musical scenes.



As for the worst episode.....

Assignment: Earth -This doesn't even qualify as a Star Trek Episode and therefore automatically must be the worst episode of Star Trek ever. It might be entertaining TV, but it isn't Star Trek. It's Gary 7. Kirk and Spock make a cameo appearance.

 

[Frontier]

400 quatlous to whomever gathers and tallies the combined results... lol

 

[Admiral Shran]

^ Okay, why not.

9 VOTES
And the Children Shall Lead

7 VOTES
The Alternative Factor
The Omega Glory
The Way to Eden

6 VOTES
Catspaw
Plato's Stepchildren
The Mark of Gideon

5 VOTES
Charlie X
Spock's Brain

4 VOTES
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Mudd's Women

3 VOTES
The Empath

2 VOTES
Assignment: Earth
Metamophosis
Shore Leave
The Cloud Minders
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Turnabout Intruder

1 VOTE
All Our Yesterdays
A Piece of the Action
A Private Little War
Elaan of Troyius
For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
Friday's Child
I, Mudd
Is There in Truth No Beauty
Miri
Patterns of Force
Requiem for Methuselah
Spectre of the Gun
That Which Survives
The Apple
The Enterprise Incident
The Man Trap
The Paradise Syndrome
The Return of the Archons
The Ultimate Computer
Whom Gods Destroy
Who Mourns for Adonais?
Wink of an Eye
Wolf in the Fold