# Worst Single Episodes Of Otherwise Well Written Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014 "2009-04-22T20:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/121 "2009-04-28T21:44:16Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > X-Files had a lot of lemons during its run, but I was particularly unimpressed by “The Field Where I Died”. Boring, pointless, and shamelessly piggy backing on the Waco debacle. Oh, and there was the Fluke Man one, which remained a kind of running joke for the duration of the show, in a “did we really shoot such a ridiculous episode ?!” way. I know it’s blasphemy to say so, but I actually liked that ep overall. What DID annoy the bejeesus out of me was the fact that the timeline of reincarnated souls did not add up in any way, shape, or fashion. That was really shoe-horned in, and badly. Flukeman was fine imho. I think one reason joke references kept being woven in was because the guy who played the flukeman later became a writer for the show, and he wrote some of the best humorous episodes. > [@Morgis](#): > > Speaking of _The X-Files_, I need to mention the episode “Home.” I guess it accomplished something by being memorable and shocking. The thing is, this seems to be the only episode that _X-Files_ haters have ever seen or heard about. This is the one they always bring up when you ask them what they didn’t like about the show. Yeah. It’s not an ep I ever look forward to watching, but it wasn’t badly done. Just … unconventional. LOL > [@tds1273](#): > > I had to have missed the post about the Lost episode centered on the two most pointless characters to appear on that show, Nikki and Paulo, right? Too obvious? Whoever okayed that one should also be fed to spiders and buried in a pit. By the time that ep rolled around, the show runners had gotten the message that the fans didn’t like Nikki & Paulo. So that ep was done with a lot of wink-wink, nudge-nudge. And I agree with the other poster, more Artz is always a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/122 "2009-04-28T21:53:30Z")
Missed the editing window and forgot to add my own “worst” … The _Flying Circus_ episode with the Scotsmen and the blancmanges, “You’re No Fun Anymore.” I can watch the first part, then I turn it off. The entire fourth season wasn’t very good, but I do love the “Michael Ellis” episode for some reason, and parts of “The Light Entertainment War” make me chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/123 "2009-04-28T21:54:08Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’m not familiar with the episode, or even the series, but at a guess I’d say it was from the same place Harry Lime got the penicillin he was peddling - it was stolen from the legitimate suppliers. Selling legal drugs illegally \*can \*make sense, and and it is \*possible \*to base a good story on it. It can make sense _to the smuggler_, but that’s no reason for the _authorities_ to allow the sale of these stolen goods. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/124 "2009-04-28T22:30:47Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > By the time that ep rolled around, the show runners had gotten the message that the fans didn’t like Nikki & Paulo. Cite? They were previously only bit parts with only a couple of lines each. I think most people neither liked nor disliked them, but barely noticed them. If they were actually disliked, why give them an entire episode? They could have been dropped with nobody noticing their absence. I think they were created with the intention to kill them off after a couple of lines and one episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014.md?page=6)