# 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:** 2
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/21 "2010-10-17T17:14:46Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > I don’t remember the name of the episode I hate the most or what season it appears in, but it involves Riker dealing with males who are discriminated against on a planet where some weird matriarchy controls everything. A similar episode involves Riker falling in love (lust? infatuation? I don’t remember exactly) with a person who is neither quite male or female. In this latter episode the alien gets in some kind of trouble for violating this planet’s rules about gender and Riker and Worf go rescue him and/or her. Or something like that. Forgive me if I got some of those details wrong. There was no matriarchy; that was part of the point. It was a race of androgynes; none of them were male OR female. Except for Riker’s love interest of the week, identified as fmale. You didn’t get the details wrong so much as you got them EXACTLY BACKWARD. It would be as if you thought “City on the Edge of Forever” (the TOs episode with Joan Collins) was about Kirk & Spock going back in time to find a way to murder Edith Keeler before she could authorize using the atomic bomb on Pearl Harbor. Which is not to say the episode didn’t suck. The producers were clearly trying to address homosexuality, but they were too wimpy to actually do it or even refer to it. There’s one good thing, though: it was the first clear intimation I saw that anyone in the group other than Data-LaForge and Picard-Crusher were actually friends. I liked the exchange between W & R, which may be summarized as “Commander, I know what you’re about to do. It’s stupid. If you fail you’ll probably get killed, and if you succeed you’ll dlefinitely get court-martialed. When do we leave?” ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/22 "2010-10-17T17:22:18Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > I don’t remember the name of the episode I hate the most or what season it appears in, but it involves Riker dealing with males who are discriminated against on a planet where some weird matriarchy controls everything. A similar episode involves Riker falling in love (lust? infatuation? I don’t remember exactly) with a person who is neither quite male or female. In this latter episode the alien gets in some kind of trouble for violating this planet’s rules about gender and Riker and Worf go rescue him and/or her. Or something like that. Forgive me if I got some of those details wrong. 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! ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/23 "2010-10-17T17:23:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > There was no matriarchy; that was part of the point. It was a race of androgynes; none of them were male OR female. Except for Riker’s love interest of the week, identified as fmale. > > You didn’t get the details wrong so much as you got them EXACTLY BACKWARD. It would be as if you thought “City on the Edge of Forever” (the TOs episode with Joan Collins) was about Kirk & Spock going back in time to find a way to murder Edith Keeler before she could authorize using the atomic bomb on Pearl Harbor. He’s referencing two different episodes there, “Angel One” and “The Outcast”. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/24 "2010-10-17T17:23:30Z")
I haven’t seen any episode of TNG for 10 years or more. The ones that stick out in my memory as bad are the one where Tasha Yar got eaten by a sentient oil slick (bad enough) and the one where she came back to life again (worse). Also, any episode involving a species with basically unlimited powers. I’m thinking of Q and the Traveler. Also, any episode where the snot-nosed brat Wesley Crusher saves the day at the last minute. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/25 "2010-10-17T17:28:36Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I haven’t seen any episode of TNG for 10 years or more. The ones that stick out in my memory as bad are the one where Tasha Yar got eaten by a sentient oil slick (bad enough). I actually liked the fact that her death was as pointless as any redshirt’s rather than being a noble, heroic sacrifice; and that it wasn’t the climax of the episode. And that’s not because I didn’t like Yar; I enjoyed the character. But giving her a death that occurred just in the course of doing her job fit somehow. I especially enjoyed the group rage in the conference room afterwards, with Picard having to quietly get everyone but Data to rein themselves in; and the funeral scene at the end. Which is why bringing her back as they did, to give her a “heroic” death, sucked. I mean, if you MUST kill someone, Will Riker is RIGHT THERE. 🙂 > [@jayjay](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > There was no matriarchy; that was part of the point. It was a race of androgynes; none of them were male OR female. Except for Riker’s love interest of the week, identified as fmale. > > > > You didn’t get the details wrong so much as you got them EXACTLY BACKWARD. It would be as if you thought “City on the Edge of Forever” (the TOs episode with Joan Collins) was about Kirk & Spock going back in time to find a way to murder Edith Keeler before she could authorize using the atomic bomb on Pearl Harbor. > > He’s referencing two different episodes there, “Angel One” and “The Outcast”. What have I told you about bothering me with facts? ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/26 "2010-10-17T17:31:22Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@jayjay](#): > > > > He’s referencing two different episodes there, “Angel One” and “The Outcast”. > > What have I told you about bothering me with facts? Sorry, your ex-evil-overlordship. ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/27 "2010-10-17T17:41:48Z")
Yes, I was referencing two separate episodes . . . evidently “Angel One” and “The Outcast.” Sorry if my descriptions amounted to some kind of confusing conflation, and thanks to \*\*jayjay \*\*for identifying those episodes by name. I’m bad at keeping track of things like that, and I’m always going on about, _you know, that one episode with that one actress, you know, the sexy one, and there was a spaceship and an adventure . . . what do you mean you don’t know what I’m talking about, it was on television one time last year . . ._ Anyway, “Angel One” and “The Outcast” . . . I didn’t really like them much. But on balance, I think TOS, TNG, and DS9 were good series. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/28 "2010-10-17T18:06:45Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I haven’t seen any episode of TNG for 10 years or more. The ones that stick out in my memory as bad are the one where Tasha Yar got eaten by a sentient oil slick (bad enough) and the one where she came back to life again (worse). If you’re referring to _Yesterday’s Enterprise_, where Tasha is still alive in an alternate timeline, that’s one of the best episodes of the series. It also is the genesis for Sela, also played by Denise Crosby, who shows up in the excellent _Redemption_ and _Reunification_ arcs in seasons 4 and 5. > [@](#): > > Also, any episode involving a species with basically unlimited powers. I’m thinking of Q and the Traveler. Also, any episode where the snot-nosed brat Wesley Crusher saves the day at the last minute. The Traveler is super-lame, and Q is often misused, but one of my favorite episodes is _Deja Q_, wherein Q has his powers taken away for being suck a dick. It’s written extraordinarily well. (The Q Civil War arc would later become one of the very few redeeming bits on Voyager, especially _Death Wish_). ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/29 "2010-10-17T18:21:31Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > Yes, I was referencing two separate episodes . . . evidently “Angel One” and “The Outcast.” Sorry if my descriptions amounted to some kind of confusing conflation, and thanks to \*\*jayjay \*\*for identifying those episodes by name. I’m bad at keeping track of things like that, and I’m always going on about, _you know, that one episode with that one actress, you know, the sexy one, and there was a spaceship and an adventure . . . what do you mean you don’t know what I’m talking about, it was on television one time last year . . ._ > > Anyway, “Angel One” and “The Outcast” . . . I didn’t really like them much. But on balance, I think TOS, TNG, and DS9 were good series. I’ve been watching those three series recently after not having seen any in a decade. To my surprise, there were far fewer worthwhile TOS series than I remembered: maybe twenty or so out of the 79 that were produced. TNG’s third, fourth, & five seasons are much better than the rest (though there are enough episodes, like “Chain of Command” from the sixth or seventh season, to say that over half of TNG is watchable). DS9 is the best of the three; it found its far quicker than TNG and has fewer stupid episodes than either of its predecessors. _Voyager_ and _Enterprise_, as everyone knows, generally suck. The former had a great premise which it virtually abandoned in the second or third episode; the latter had just found its feet when it got cancelled, and has absolutely terrible series finale. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/30 "2010-10-17T18:51:51Z")
How about the season 6 travesty, “Rightful Heir”? This is the one where Worf meditates by some Klingon fire and then bears witness to the second coming of Christ…I mean Kahless. The whole thing was a thinly veiled reference to Christianity, and somehow implied that everyone’s life would be better by just believing in him. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/31 "2010-10-17T19:57:17Z")
Another really awful one that I kinda liked was “Up The Long Ladder” - a ship full of really stereotyped Irish peasants cause a variety of problems for the Enterprise. Actually, now that I look back on it, I didn’t really like it all that much. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/32 "2010-10-17T20:07:17Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Another really awful one that I kinda liked was “Up The Long Ladder” - a ship full of really stereotyped Irish peasants cause a variety of problems for the Enterprise. > > Actually, now that I look back on it, I didn’t really like it all that much. That was half a good episode, as I recall. The interaction between Riker & the colony leader’s comely daughter was funny. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/33 "2010-10-17T21:32:41Z")
I’ve been watching or rewatching them in order, and _Justice_ is by far the worst, as of the middle of the third season anyway. Scantily clad chicks in no way reduce my rage at “resolving” the dilemma by violating all the constraints defined in the beginning of the show. However the worst one I recall had alien abductions really happening, with anal probes and everything. Whitley Streiber and John Mack were loons, no reason to encourage them with a show. The morons who wanted Ellison and Roddenberry to do the movie about the Mayans must have taken over at this point. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/34 "2010-10-17T21:41:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’ve been watching or rewatching them in order, and _Justice_ is by far the worst, as of the middle of the third season anyway. Scantily clad chicks in no way reduce my rage at “resolving” the dilemma by violating all the constraints defined in the beginning of the show. > > However the worst one I recall had alien abductions really happening, with anal probes and everything. Whitley Streiber and John Mack were loons, no reason to encourage them with a show. The morons who wanted Ellison and Roddenberry to do the movie about the Mayans must have taken over at this point. I dunno. I think alien abductions happening in the 20th century is perfectly consistent with the Star Trek universe. Wouldn’t it be stranger if it had NEVER happened? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/35 "2010-10-17T21:55:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’ve been watching or rewatching them in order, and _Justice_ is by far the worst, as of the middle of the third season anyway. Scantily clad chicks in no way reduce my rage at “resolving” the dilemma by violating all the constraints defined in the beginning of the show. > > However the worst one I recall had alien abductions really happening, with anal probes and everything. Whitley Streiber and John Mack were loons, no reason to encourage them with a show. The morons who wanted Ellison and Roddenberry to do the movie about the Mayans must have taken over at this point. i’ve been rewatching them also. it’s what prompted this thread. i’m almost done, about 10 or so left in season 7. voyager is next. i really never liked DS9 for whatever reason. i still stand by my opinion that sub rosa is bad, mostly because it had almost zero sci-fi in it. even the clip show had a few bits of technobabble in it. the “crew getting drunk off a disease” one really bothers me though. the fact that it was a “wesley-saves-the-day” episode is just the tip of the suck-iceberg. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/36 "2010-10-17T22:04:42Z")
Don’t remember a specific episode but an early-in-the-series scene with Tasha Yar explaining the evils of drugs to Wesley is the worst I remember. There was a later episde where the counselor and the doctor were exercising. I was torn between liking the exercise outfits and thinking “we’ll still have to exercise that far into the future”. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/37 "2010-10-17T22:34:48Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Don’t remember a specific episode but an early-in-the-series scene with Tasha Yar explaining the evils of drugs to Wesley is the worst I remember. > > There was a later episde where the counselor and the doctor were exercising. I was torn between liking the exercise outfits and thinking “we’ll still have to exercise that far into the future”. I’m not sure why the exercise bit would surprise you. Would you expect them to do it with a pill? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/38 "2010-10-17T22:37:40Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Now that is simple madness. Family was wonderful as it showed consequences to trauma, not to mention getting rid of Troi in less than 10 minutes. And having her one scene ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE. I sense anger. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/39 "2010-10-17T23:55:02Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > > > Another really awful one that I kinda liked was “Up The Long Ladder” - a ship full of really stereotyped Irish peasants cause a variety of problems for the Enterprise. > > > > Actually, now that I look back on it, I didn’t really like it all that much. > > That was half a good episode, as I recall. The interaction between Riker & the colony leader’s comely daughter was funny. She _was_ one of the better-looking girls he shagged during the course of the series - and that’s saying something… ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414/40 "2010-10-17T23:59:28Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > There was a later episde where the counselor and the doctor were exercising. I was torn between liking the exercise outfits and thinking “we’ll still have to exercise that far into the future”. You can’t stay mad at this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMjxbXwph4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZMjxbXwph4) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tng-episode-ever/557414.md?page=3)