# The Single WORST Episode Of Your Favourite TV Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717 "2009-11-16T01:01:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/41 "2009-11-16T13:37:57Z")
The Columbus Day episode of the Sopranos. I get what David Chase was trying to do - take a swipe at all the people who said the show was anti-Italian - but it just came off as overly preachy and very clumsily done. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/42 "2009-11-16T14:56:50Z")
> [@FordTaurusSHO94](#): > > I just can’t stand episodes of shows where a non-famous group of people suddenly gets famous, then in the next episode they act like it never happened. My #1 beef with the Simpsons since about, oh, season 3 or so … (Interestingly, when it happened with Bender and Zoidberg on Futurama, I was much more willing to suspend disbelief than I am with the Simpsons.) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/43 "2009-11-16T15:04:28Z")
The _Expose’_ episode from **LOST**. It was a watchable episode but so completely out of place from the rest of the series. To follow two secondary characters, Nikki and Paulo, for one episode on their own storyline felt like an odd experimental show that they never tried again. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/44 "2009-11-16T15:14:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The _Expose’_ episode from **LOST**. > It was a watchable episode but so completely out of place from the rest of the series. To follow two secondary characters, Nikki and Paulo, for one episode on their own storyline felt like an odd experimental show that they never tried again. I liked that one. It didn’t advance the plot or anything but it was nice seeing the point of view from some of the background characters. My vote is the **Seinfeld** episode where George’s fiance died from licking envelopes. It so turned me off I stopped watching the show until the final season which I only saw a couple of episodes. It seemed to me the writers were stuck on resolving the story line and just decided to take the easy way out. Also, it just felt excessively mean spirited and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/45 "2009-11-16T15:15:37Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > For my money the worst is either S1’s “Nightmares” or S6’s “Doublemeat Palace”. > > Angel didn’t have a lot of really bad episodes per se but “She” is only barely redeemed by the hilarious dancing scene at the beginning. Doublemeat Palace, yup, blacked that one out too. A few episodes later when Willow was describing it to Tara: “Yeah, it looked like a giant penis. If I wasn’t a lesbian before…” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/46 "2009-11-16T15:19:15Z")
**BtVS** was like the girl with the curl…when she was good, she was very good, but when she was bad she was horrid. “Doublemeat Palace” just edges out “Where The Wild Things Are” in my personal pantheon of Buffy suckitude. “Smile Time” rocked! In addition to Puppet-Angel we get Naked-Nina. What’s not to love? ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/47 "2009-11-16T15:31:45Z")
At least in WTWTA, Buffy got some quality sex. Who said Riley wasn’t good for anything! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/48 "2009-11-16T15:40:48Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Nah. _Spock’s Brain_ is golden compared to _Miri_. > > First, you have an exact duplicate of Earth for no reason whatsoever. > > Second, you have annoying brats going **BONK!, BONK!, BONK!** every five minutes. > > Nuke’em from orbit, Captain. It’s the only way to be sure. BONK BONK was annoying, but it occupied, what, a grand total of a minute of screen time? The iceburg of _Miri_ was Kirk’s relationship with the pubesant Miri herself - the way he kept hugging her and making lovey faces at her like he pretending to be her boyfriend was creepy enough. And then we get the “You’re turning into a WOMAN, Miri!!!” speach. :eek: But it did have Bones and Spock once again arguing for the right to commit suicide for the crew, so it wasn’t a total failure. _The Alternative Factor_ or _The Lights of Zetar_ (aka Scotty turns into a creepy stalker) were far worse. And, of course, \*Spock’s Brain \*is just hilarious. Futurama: _A Leela of her Own_. Did we really care to learn about Blernsball? Or watch a Futurama episode without jokes? Buffy: _Bring on the Night._ It’s like the writers said, “This show’s popular enough that we don’t actually have to have anything happen, right?” There were other episodes that were nearly as bad, but I believe that BOTN was the closest thing to a television void that has ever aired. Supernatural: …yeah, racist truck. Nothing’s going to top that. Kripke, this is not a dare. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/49 "2009-11-16T15:43:26Z")
The West Wing, “Isaac and Ishmael,” aka “A Very Special Episode About the September 11 Attacks.” It was preachy and lame and happened outside the “reality” of the regular series. At the time I only found it mildly cringe-worthy, but in retrospect it was just completely awful. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/50 "2009-11-16T17:07:46Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > Are either of those episodes worse than The Way to Eden? With the groovy, singing ‘space hippies’, really, Herbert? All three are golden compared to “Turnabout Intruder”, where Kirk’s body is taken over by a Woman Scorned. Terrible. Also the very last episode broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Xavier\_T.Nougat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bcef8e/32.png) [@Xavier\_T.Nougat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier_T.Nougat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/51 "2009-11-16T17:23:30Z")
Nobody mentioned _Stranger in a Strange Land_ from Lost yet? After weeks of watching aggravating, soap opera bullshit between Kate, Sawyer, and Jack while we slowly forget about all the cool stuff that they were building up to featuring Ben and the Others, the network advertises that “Three Big Mysteries Will Be Revealed!” Then we get 45 minutes of EVEN MORE soap opera bullshit, which now slows the show down from it’s crawling, tedious pace to a stone-cold coma, while Jack grimaces at the camera and has memories about… his tattoos. Yes, Lost. We tuned in because we didn’t care about mysteries or intrigue or interesting characters. We wanted to get 45 minutes of extra behind-the-scenes footage of television’s dullest character, who has already had 15 episodes devoted to his daddy issues and emotional problems, just to find out about a couple of shitty tattoos that we never noticed before and which will never come up again or be relevant in any meaningful way. Fortunately, the show got significantly better after this episode. It marks the end of the season 3 slump. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/52 "2009-11-16T17:32:10Z")
> [@](#): > > All three are golden compared to “Turnabout Intruder”, where Kirk’s body is taken over by a Woman Scorned. Terrible. Also the very last episode broadcast. Trek Geek nitpick. Eden was last broadcast, Intruder was last filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/53 "2009-11-16T17:36:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, I’ll grant that “Gray 17 is Missing” was pretty awful, too, but I still maintain that the lack of connection to other episodes made “TKO” worse. OK, there was the thing with Ivanova and her dad, but that was introduced as the C plot in **a single earlier episode** , and never brought up again after TKO, so it’s not really much of a connection. Quibble–many episodes, not just “a single earlier episode”. There’s the 2-3 episode sub-arc with Garibaldi trying to figure out who’s sending messages on the uber-forbidden Gold Channel. Then there’s the “Dad Dies” ep. Then the TKO/Rabbi subplot. Then there’s four or five other eps where Ivanova talks about her relationship with dad and brother and how she’s dealing with their deaths. Despite her talking more about her mom, more actual screen time (IMO–I haven’t counted. 🙂 ) is spent on Dad+Brother. > [@](#): > > And while “watch your back” might count as foreshadowing if Kosh or someone said it (heck, everything Kosh says counts as foreshadowing, no matter what it is), when some punch-drunk idiot wannabe who only appears in one episode says it, it doesn’t mean anything. No–I meant “foreshadowing” in the standard way: the author is foreshadowing–it’s not “oracular warning” like Kosh says. And it gets to the fact that Garibaldi is too trusting of friends and doesn’t cover his ass. > [@](#): > > Mind you, I can’t actually remember _what_ connection to the plot “Gray 17” had, but I know it had more than that. IIRC, none at all. There’s an entire section ring of B-5 that no-one noticed. No maintenence bots, etc. And the wrap-up was A) stupid and B) stolen from Brown’s short story “Arena” (which was also stolen for a Star Trek ep)–only stupider. Garibaldi’s solution wouldn’t have worked. (He dumps a bunch of bullets in a metal tube and lights the back of the tube on fire. This has the effect of turning the tube into a machine gun (firing each bullet one at a time)). There’s no actual “B” plot, but there’s like a 3 minute bit where Delenn becomes head of the Rangers and Neroon is pissed off…but it’s just a bookmark–nothing actually _happens_ Plus, the punch-drunk fighter was Sir Lawrence Oliver compared to Jerimiah the cult leader. PLUS _JMS apologized_ for Grey-17. > [@](#): > > Grey 17" is the same thing, for me. There are bits in that I like a lot. And some parts of it just fell down dreadfully. That’s simply the nature of the beast. I thought I’d try something different in the tone of “Grey” and while most of the writing works (mostly), the production fell down on a couple of aspects. It happens. It doesn’t mean anything. > \ > Where it falls down, for me, is the Zarg…I just have this constant desire to go to everyone’s house and personally apologize… 😃 That said, if you and I are in agreement that one of those two are “the worst” out …um…110 eps, B5 did pretty damned good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/54 "2009-11-16T17:44:37Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > I think I’ve completely blocked out that episode of Heroes that involved Elle, Sylar, the worst acting I’ve ever seen on film committed by Robert Forster, baked ziti and suicide. I suspect my own blocking out has been a bit too effective so, at the risk of opening up old wounds, which episode from S3 IS that? (I always thought Robert Forster performed pretty well considering the piss poor quality of the material he was given to work with, btw. ) My own Heroes pick is Episode 3.04 “I Am Become Death” in which Peter travels to the future in the company of his saturnine future incarnation. And from there, the show decides to not only piss all over every bit of characterisation of every character, it also decides to throw out such things as narratives that make any sense. Plus, they introduced a bunch of plotpoints which were never heard of every again, which, as they all stunk was probably no bad thing but did mean they were a massive waste of time. Close runner up: The ‘Villains’ flashback episode for adding nothing worthwhile and yet undoing a lot of the loveliness of the far superior previous flashback episode “Six Months Ago”. Bad enough that the current season stunk, they didn’t have to go back and try and make that earlier ep retroactively dumb. (Is this in fact the episode you are talking about, **Annie**?) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/55 "2009-11-16T18:03:45Z")
For Heroes, can I just pick “every episode where Hiro and Ando are in medieval Japan”? Jesus christ that was a boring storyline. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/56 "2009-11-16T18:12:36Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > Eh, weird ass coincidences, the all-Nazi planet, gangsterland, all par for the _Trek_ course, but then: > > Dammit Jim, just smack that kid! The child protection workers on that planet died 300 years ago- the only person who’d give you shit about it is Rand, and you get to tell her to shut up since you’re her CO. > > I honestly thought he was going to throw the little one at the Bonk Bonk kid when I saw that Miri tried for a little emotional depth. Spock’s Brain had the cave babes. **The Alternative Factor** on the other hand had a hero/villain looking like the guy running into the camera shouting “It’s, it’s” at the beginning of many Monty Pythons, a spaceship that looked less spaceworthy than Ray Walston’s in My Favorite Martian, the hero/villain choking himself in the middle of special effects that were awful even for 1967, and the supposed lead characters standing around looking confused and not contributing to the story in any way. And extra demerits for it being on during the first season when Roddenberry was supposed to care. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/57 "2009-11-16T18:42:02Z")
**Lost** : “Stranger in a Stange Land,” for all the reasons Xavier T. Nougat mentioned. I think this is even worse than the Nikki/Paolo episode. **The Office** : The pilot was pretty bad, but as for a bad episode after the show hit its stride, “Chair Model” comes to mind. Michael gets himself all worked up over a furniture catalog model? Meh. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/58 "2009-11-16T20:27:02Z")
Recently we added the original series to the DVR list. My wife enjoys TNG and had come to appreciate DS9, but she had never seen any of the original series episodes. So the first two episodes that show up on the list are: _The Way to Eden_ and _Turnabout Intruder_. I’ll give her credit, she sat through both episodes, but decided the original series was sillier than The Monkeys. I tried to explain. The reruns reset and we started getting some first season goodness, but it is hard to lose a first impression. But yes, both of those are terrible. I guess the space hippies one is worse, imo. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/59 "2009-11-16T22:06:07Z")
I can’t recall any I don’t like from _Futurama_ but that is probably b ecause I am suffering from a case of explosive amnesia. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717/60 "2009-11-16T22:17:09Z")
As **Fiddlesticks** pointed out it’s hard to think of one for _The Wire_ so I’ll nominate one for _Firefly_ instead. For me it’s _The Message_ with it’s over-elaborate plot and sappy ending. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-single-worst-episode-of-your-favourite-tv-series/517717.md?page=4)