# Worst epsisode of star trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964 "2016-02-12T20:27:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/121 "2016-02-16T22:44:36Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Leonard Nimoy was still figuring the character out so Spock acts very oddly in those early episodes. He smiles broadly (nearly laughing) and shouts commands a lot. Again, fans have come up with more retcon explanations like he was still trying to fit in with humans and ‘experimenting’ with mild emotions etc. _Get a life, will you people!_ 😃 The explanation is easy: He originally was not conceived as being emotionless. That was added only after the first pilot, to make up for the “cold and efficient” Number One being cut from the cast. It took Nimoy until the middle of the first season to get the role down pat. Watch him in every episode up to “The Galileo Seven,” and then in “Court Martial.” The change is obvious. The same is true of Shatner’s interpretation of Kirk. In the first few episodes, he was a something of a dick. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/122 "2016-02-16T23:01:07Z")
I’m Free Garvin, male prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/123 "2016-02-17T00:39:07Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Now that I think of it _Catspaw_ was at least as bad as Eden. In fact the only thing I can remember about it was the really cool practical-effect puppet aliens they turn into at the end. I also thought those puppets were very cool. I’ve heard them described as one of the worst special effects on TOS, presumably because of the clearly-visible strings. I never had a problem with that; watching all those Gerry Anderson shows as a kid evidently desensitized me to visible puppet wires. I can’t remember if I’ve seen the “remastered” version of that episode, but I presume the strings were digitally removed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/124 "2016-02-17T02:11:21Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Leonard Nimoy was still figuring the character out so Spock acts very oddly in those early episodes. He smiles broadly (nearly laughing) and shouts commands a lot. “The women!” ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/125 "2016-02-17T02:33:28Z")
First off I think that seeing that it was a “clip show” that “Shades of Gray” should be disqualified. And although “Profit and Lace” has been mentioned, no one has gone into detail as to exactly how bad it really was. It was the _worst_ Ferengi-centered episode, and that’s saying something. Quark in drag!!! Who thought _anybody_ would want to see _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/126 "2016-02-17T05:02:04Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I also thought those puppets were very cool. I’ve heard them described as one of the worst special effects on TOS, presumably because of the clearly-visible strings. I never had a problem with that; watching all those Gerry Anderson shows as a kid evidently desensitized me to visible puppet wires. > > I can’t remember if I’ve seen the “remastered” version of that episode, but I presume the strings were digitally removed. [Yes they were.](https://youtu.be/I7aujPZwQp0?t=349) They also added some extra smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/127 "2016-02-17T06:06:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The explanation is easy: He originally was not conceived as being emotionless. That was added only after the first pilot, to make up for the “cold and efficient” Number One being cut from the cast. It took Nimoy until the middle of the first season to get the role down pat. > > Watch him in every episode up to “The Galileo Seven,” and then in “Court Martial.” The change is obvious. > > The same is true of Shatner’s interpretation of Kirk. In the first few episodes, he was a something of a dick. Not just the early eps. Here’s the ones i can remember off the top of my head. “Any time you can bluff me doctor!!” Or something like that…I never quite understood what he was saying. (Corbomite Maneuver) He goes after Bailey a little hard.,Yes Corbomite is an early ep “Lieutenant, you have the field localizer set to wide beam, narrow it!” Again, something like that. (Journey to Babel) He doesnt even apologize for that one nor should he. Some snippet about his command crew conspiring against him. Don’t remember the ep,he quickly apologizes. Half the plot of “Obsession” is him unfairly going after the guy who hesitated because HE hesitated, In “Operation Annihilate” he can’t help but grrr at Bones for blinding Spock. OKAY everyone sat their and stupidly let Spock not wear glasses because it wasn’t field approximate…and then you’re going to get pissed at McCoy?? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/128 "2016-02-17T16:03:36Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > In “Operation Annihilate” he can’t help but grrr at Bones for blinding Spock. OKAY everyone sat their and stupidly let Spock not wear glasses because it wasn’t field approximate…and then you’re going to get pissed at McCoy?? I don’t remember- was Bones not aware that Vulcans had that second eyelid (?). You’d think the ship’s surgeon would by familiar with Vulcan physiology. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/129 "2016-02-17T16:19:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The explanation is easy: He originally was not conceived as being emotionless. That was added only after the first pilot, to make up for the “cold and efficient” Number One being cut from the cast. It took Nimoy until the middle of the first season to get the role down pat. That’s not an “explanation,” that’s the actual reason. No fun there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/130 "2016-02-17T16:38:12Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Some snippet about his command crew conspiring against him. Don’t remember the ep,he quickly apologizes. “A Private Little War”: _“I did not invite a debate!”_ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/131 "2016-02-17T16:42:15Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t remember- was Bones not aware that Vulcans had that second eyelid (?). You’d think the ship’s surgeon would by familiar with Vulcan physiology. You’d think so, but no. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/132 "2016-02-17T17:04:16Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The Infinite Warp episode of THAT ONE SHOW where two people become space slugs and mate. > > Pencils down, thread over. As a pretty big Star Trek fan, I hate to admit this, but I have no idea what you are talking about here. Can you help a fellow nerd out? (Unless you’re talking about The Motion Picture.) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/133 "2016-02-17T17:11:57Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > As a pretty big Star Trek fan, I hate to admit this, but I have no idea what you are talking about here. > > Can you help a fellow nerd out? > > (Unless you’re talking about The Motion Picture.) What’s being referred to is a horrible episode of Voyager called “Threshold” [Threshold (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Threshold_%28episode%29) ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/134 "2016-02-17T17:13:51Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > What’s being referred to is a horrible episode of Voyager called “Threshold” [Threshold (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Threshold_%28episode%29) Ahhh. Thanks much. Didn’t see much of Voyager. Was a TNG and TOS guy. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/135 "2016-02-17T17:14:32Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > As a pretty big Star Trek fan, I hate to admit this, but I have no idea what you are talking about here. > > Can you help a fellow nerd out? > > (Unless you’re talking about The Motion Picture.) Voyager one of the early episodes, Paris perfected a warp-ten drive which caused him and Janeway to become giant salamanders before the end credits. As I recall the crew left their litter of offspring on a jungle planet when they tracked them down and forced them to get better. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/136 "2016-02-17T17:28:29Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > There have been numerous variations on this thread over the years, and what’s most interesting to me is that nobody ever seems to nominate ANY DS9 episode as worst ever. Was DS9 then the best ST series? There were a few like “The Game”, “Profit and Lace”, and “Meridian” (I remember the last as being particularly weak, between the whole Brigadoon-planet thing and the B-plot about the sleazy guy wanting a holobrothel session with an avatar of Kira, though the latter was somewhat redeemed by the final comeuppance). > [@terentii](#): > > “A Private Little War”: _“I did not invite a debate!”_ :mad: Actually, he did immediately say that he regretted snapping, explaining it as a result of the more-than-usually stressful situation. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/137 "2016-02-17T17:38:41Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t remember- was Bones not aware that Vulcans had that second eyelid (?). You’d think the ship’s surgeon would by familiar with Vulcan physiology. > [@terentii](#): > > You’d think so, but no. ☹ [M’benga](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/M%27Benga) was the actual xenophysician, and the actual Vulcan specialist. McCoy, even as CMO, was (self-admittedly) less familiar and less skilled with non-human medicine. Odder is the fact that **Spock** forgot about the inner eyelid, although the excuse that its use was reflexive (and the parallel assumption that it almost never gets used, even outdoors, in modern Vulcans) is a hand-wavy explanation for that. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/138 "2016-02-17T17:40:19Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Some snippet about his command crew conspiring against him. Don’t remember the ep,he quickly apologizes. That was also Obsession. UHURA: Captain, the Yorktown requesting information on how soon we expect to rendezvous with them. KIRK: Thank you. SCOTT: The medicine for Theta Seven colony is not only needed desperately and has limited KIRK: I’m aware of the situation, Engineer, and I’m getting a little tired of my senior officers conspiring against me. Forgive me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the word conspire. SCOTT: Agreed, sir. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/139 "2016-02-17T19:00:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > National barriers in the future are obviously nowhere near as high as they are today. If you go to Britain even today you’ll find people of many nationalities living there. Not at all unusual that a Frenchman would learn English with an English accent, particularly one that employs Received Pronunciation. I am probably not the first one to think of this, but how about blaming a Universal Translator implant? He’s actually speaking French all of the time, but the UT is set to “English(UK)”. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964/140 "2016-02-17T19:04:22Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > The first two seasons of TNG had a lot of fails, but “Conspiracy” stands out in my mind. This episode, more than any other, demonstrates the kind of chaos they were dealing with in the early seasons, when they didn’t really know what kind of show they were making. It’s very clearly an experiment, in which someone suggested making TNG into something like “Alien.” This one has always been a head-scratcher, because at the time Gene Roddenberry’s jackassery was actively preventing them from making decent shows… But “Conspiracy” doesn’t just push against Roddenberry’s “vision,” but takes it all the way to the opposite extreme. It’s very, very strange. I seem to recall a writer’s strike that may have been going on around that time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-epsisode-of-star-trek/745964.md?page=8)