# Worst TNG episode ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414 "2010-10-17T05:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/281 "2010-10-23T06:03:11Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Which is funny, because the canon explanation, IIRC, is that he won it in a card game. 😃 I thought he won the Millennium Falcon in a card game! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/282 "2010-10-23T06:20:56Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I thought he won the Millennium Falcon in a card game! That too. He also lost it in a card game, interestingly enough. Actually, he won and lost the danged thing in a series of card games with Han in one book before finally saying “Screw it, it’s your ship, Bros before Ships!” ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/283 "2010-10-23T15:08:20Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > That too. He also lost it in a card game, interestingly enough. Actually, he won and lost the danged thing in a series of card games with Han in one book before finally saying “Screw it, it’s your ship, Bros before Ships!” Ah yes, I remember reading the “Han Solo Trilogy” back in high school, and seeing something about that. Solid books, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/284 "2010-10-23T15:49:45Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I thought he won the Millennium Falcon in a card game! \A [sabacc](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sabacc) game, specifically.\ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/285 "2010-10-23T16:05:33Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > No no no no. We have already established that Bill Campbell is a good guy and also [gorgeous](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2854394624/nm0001004). Any episode with that kind of interest can’t be _that_ bad. Hey, our own **Anamorphic** even made a movie with him, so there! And according to IMDb, heir to the Champion spark plug fortune and second cousin of Bruce Campbell. A pedigree like that has got to qualify him for some kind of geek demigod status, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/286 "2010-10-28T18:37:55Z")
I rewatched TNG Season 1 on YouTube this week, and I have to nominate “[Too Short a Season](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Short_a_Season)” for Worst. It’s the one you’ve probably forgotten where a geriatric ambassador has to be flown in specially by the Enterprise to save the day, and ends up a) not saving the day b) killing himself with an alien youth drug overdose for absolutely no reason. It’s utterly dull and not even interesting to make fun of. Crappy old-age makeup, unflattering costumes, the three speaking guest roles all played by actors who suck and aren’t interesting to look at even with the sound off – and the story makes _no sense_. Not _nonsense_, it’s not absurd; just painfully stupid. The main cast has almost nothing to do, and what they do do does nothing to advance their characterizations. The freakin’ LIGHTING even sucks. Even given the lameness of the season as a whole, even given the writer’s strike, that one’s a stinker. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/287 "2010-10-28T20:21:27Z")
Yeah, I remember that. Pretty crappy episode… but 'twas no “Code of Honor.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/288 "2010-10-28T20:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > A pedigree like that has got to qualify him for some kind of geek demigod status, doesn’t it? If he’s only a second cousin, I think that makes him a hemidemisemigod. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/289 "2010-10-28T22:21:42Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > the three speaking guest roles all played by actors who suck and aren’t interesting to look at even with the sound off No way! The aging guy was in **Just One of the Guys** , classic 80’s comedy with the girl who goes undercover as a boy, plus Billy Zabka as the bad guy, and Sherliynn Fenn as the slutty girl. The other guy was the Klingon who started the fight in the TOS episode **The Trouble With Tribbles** , but more famously (for me) was the Russian from **WKRP** who wanted to defect after falling in love with Bailey. (“Hold me closer, tiny dancer!”) ---
**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:** [October 28, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/290 "2010-10-28T22:31:24Z")
I always thought that episode with Lucy baking the giant loaf of bread was pretty stupid. Ooh! Remember the ‘very special episode’ with the little girl’s imaginary friend? That one sucked, too. But, the clip show has to be worst ever, just because it was a clip show. Eliminate that and there’s about 4 that are tied for last. ---
**Author:** ![kevinflynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@kevinflynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevinflynn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/291 "2013-05-20T19:54:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > The first one is “Angel One” and the second is “The Outcast”. Both are deeply steeped in the Roddenberry tradition of dropping anvils. “Angel One” was “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” bad…“Let’s show everyone what modern American society would be like if sex roles were reversed!” Which would have been somewhat relevant as a TOS episode, but was kind of “meh” in the late 80s. > > “The Outcast” blows on several levels. It’s trite. It’s stupid. And it’s a massive cop-out. It was supposedly Paramount’s nod to fan demands that the issue of GLBT acceptance in the far future be shown, but they couldn’t just have the occasional same-sex couple holding hands in Ten-Forward to show that. Noooo…they have to make it the centerpiece of its own episode (probably so they could point to it and say “SEE? We did it!” and then promptly forget about the issue and the demands), and then cloak it in metaphor that’s simultaneously onionskin-transparent and mud-opaque. And then, in the end, send ENTIRELY THE WRONG MESSAGE as the titular outcast rejects Riker’s rescue attempt and lets hirself be co-opted back into her repressive society. Thanks, Paramount! First off, do a search for top 10 worst or whatever. You will be shocked at the sheer lack of MASK being there!!! I think it’s because it was so crappy nobody watched it to remember it to put it on the crappiest show list. Shades of grey was a cop out for sure but it wasn’t horrendous. What makes it on the top 5 is that it was a season finale… BOO. But The Outcast wasn’t a bad episode. I think you have to look at it through 1993 eyes. Also I think his wife probably put him up to the task. (for those who may not be aware his love interest in the episode is actually Frakes’ real life wife.) I think Angel One is overHated. I find the hot chick from KnightRider good eye candy and those half-fags are fuggin hysterical! Tell me you weren’t laughing your ass off the night it aired and those wisps were running about with their ballet cups on… hysterical. “CASTING FOR TNG! 8am-3pm only! Must be effeminate and stand no taller than 5’4” Blondes a plus. MALES ONLY" ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/292 "2013-05-20T19:58:47Z")
You joined in order to resurrect a zombie and then use a slur in your post? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/293 "2013-05-20T20:05:46Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > You joined in order to resurrect a zombie and then use a slur in your post? :dubious: I’m not sure why this surprises you. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/294 "2013-05-20T20:06:01Z")
> [@kevinflynn](#): > > But The Outcast wasn’t a bad episode. I think you have to look at it through 1993 eyes. Also I think his wife probably put him up to the task. (for those who may not be aware his love interest in the episode is actually Frakes’ real life wife.) Ignoring your horrific slurs for a moment, this part is in fact incorrect. Frakes’ real life wife is Genie Francis, famous for her role as Laura on General Hospital. She was not Soren in Outcast, nor did she appear in any episode of TNG. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/295 "2013-05-20T20:21:15Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **kevinflynn**. You’re welcome to share your opinions, but leave the homophobic slurs out of it, please. > [@kevinflynn](#): > > …those half-fags are fuggin hysterical! Tell me you weren’t laughing your ass off the night it aired and those wisps were running about with their ballet cups on… hysterical. … Thanks, **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/296 "2013-05-21T00:28:29Z")
> [@Waffle\_Decider](#): > > This. > > I think most of TNG season 1 & 2 are pretty bad and painful to watch today. They were pretty bad and awful when they came out, too. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/297 "2013-05-21T00:59:17Z")
Ugly bags of mostly water! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/298 "2013-05-21T01:15:36Z")
The Trek thread, resurrected. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/299 "2013-05-21T15:39:20Z")
**Scylla** and the Blimp, at Midnight. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/300 "2013-05-21T17:41:53Z")
I saw Darmok for the first time in a while last night, and have concocted the following fanwank: They are telepaths, who use spoken language only for ceremonial purposes, thus their spoken language is confined to their myths and legends. They use telepathy for everything else, and therefore could develop modern technology, but can’t communicate telepathically outside their species, so they are forced to learn spoken language by marooning Picard on a planet with a monster. Makes perfect sense, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414.md?page=16)