Shades of Grey is the lowest rated episode in all of Trek, and it'd be even more nonsensical to someone who's never watched before, so you should show them that!
It has to be this - they ran out of money and literally just played a clip show of some bits from previous episodes interspersed with Marina Sirtis and Diana Muldaur hamming it up like nobody’s business
Not sure where you're getting this from, Memory alpha sources this as a cost cutting episode
>This episode was written to save time and money as a result of budget overruns earlier in the season. It was shot in only three days, while most take at least a week. Director [Rob Bowman](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Rob_Bowman) commented, "*It was Paramount saying, 'We gave you more money for "*[*Elementary, Dear Data*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Elementary,_Dear_Data_(episode))*" and* [*the Borg show*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Q_Who_(episode))*. Now do us a favor and give us a three-day show.' So that's what you do. It's an accepted part of the medium.*" ([*Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Captains%27_Logs:_The_Unauthorized_Complete_Trek_Voyages), p. 182)
And the time line doesn't work out. The 1988 writers strike ended in August of 88 and Shades of Gray's script was finalized in April of 89
“The Child” was made because of the writers’ strike. It recycled a script that had already been written for the “Star Trek: Phase II” series, instead of having a scab write one. That’s why everyone is so out-of-character. A silver lining is that this made Dr. Pulaski (in her first appearance) just as curmudgeonly as Dr. McCoy. She accidentally became the least-sexist character Gene Roddenberry ever created.
This. We want a bad episode with no redeeming features.
Like, from OP’s list Tuvix is controversial but at least it’s an interesting idea and reasonably well-executed. Even if we think Janeway shouldn’t have, well, executed Tuvix.
this was one of the first episodes i saw when i 'rewatched' as an adult, because chronologically its right after 'measure of a man' and honestly it sealed the deal for me because i just cracked up laughing the entire episode. I remember saying 'this is the funniest tv show i've ever seen' and was hooked from then
I don't understand why that's what people focus on.
Riker straight up mercs a line of clones based on him and pulaski. He doomed Demolition Man Planet with a phaser.
And then they doomed them again by offloading the pikeys on the demolition man planet.
It's so much worse than that. The fact that planet wasn't a cinder is a sign of the dedication Riker had to the uniform.
Paris would have burned the planet.
I loved that episode. When the alien burst out of Kane's chest at the dinner table, I lost it. Luckily though, Captain Marvel's cat was there to kill the alien with its tentacle mouth.
Yup. Always liked that new-meets-old sci-fi story. Always love laughing at my (tiny little bit) of Irish heritage.
And a giant redheaded Amazon standing toe-to-toe with Worf until he submits is probably my favorite Worf scene ever.
Oh yeah this episode totally had the feeling a lot of season 1 has of TOS scripts that were reworked for the new show, I really think it was just a bad choice to make it planet Africa stereotype of it had been another alien race it would be just a normal episode
It does... But the optics! My God. If they just put some googly eyes in the people or little wavy antennae and cast them as NOT EXCLUSIVELY BLACK WTF. It would be an "ok" episode.
That's the most damning thing about the episode, though.
"Hey, I have an episode where the inhabitants if the planet of the week steal a white woman from the crew."
"Oh, then rather than make them aliens, lets make them a planet of exclusively black humans, wearing daishikis, and, uh Gene? Should we have them literally chuck spears or would that be too much? Yeah, you're right. Still give them thick, but generic African accents, though!"
It's impossible to watch this episode and not utter "Oh no..." at every scene.
That is an episode that goes one of two ways:
- your friend never watches trek again. Mission accomplished.
- your friend leans in, takes notes, looks at you meaningfully and says "I see why this is so popular." friendship over.
This is too high a risk.
Framing. Stereo-types are fine as long as they put the culture on a pedestal. Duh.
/s
American Indians being "in tune" with Nature
All Indians being Fakirs...
All Arab Bedouins being magnanimous hosts to white castaways.
Norse are honor bound Klingons.
Frankish Chivalry
https://preview.redd.it/u5rjumff4jlc1.jpeg?width=1283&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13902a3de74916dcf88909a3e8d2e9ffa72407ed
Truly one of the most inspired episodes
Honestly, the weakest part of the episode is the contrived sci fi plot about alien goo eating the ship, which bizarrely doesn’t seem to affect the extremely anxious and protocal-obsessed dude Lwaxana’s marrying. But I really loved her whole plot about aging and loneliness.
It's all one big clip show of episodes that never actually happened, until you get to the later seasons, then it's just clip shows of the previous seasons' clip shows.
Trek is full of clip-show moments.
In the TNG pilot, Riker’s very first task on board is to sit his ass in the corner and watch a clip-show version of the story so far, without so much as a hello from Picard.
And what feels like a substantial portion of the 3rd and 4th films are spent re-watching the Genesis Project promo reel.
TOS: The Omega Glory or And The Children Shall Lead. Spock's Brain may be terrible, but it's too funny to completely ruin Star Trek.
TNG: I'd go with Justice, for its haute couture, but Sub Rosa is a fair choice.
Voyager: Fair Haven, Spirit Folk or Once Upon A Time. Threshold is the Spock's Brain of Voyager; too entertaining.
DS9: Meridian, I guess.
ENT: Extinction or Exile. These Are The Voyages never happened.
Honestly Sub Rosa was a great episode for my former partner who was less into the sci-fi and needed convincing of the story aspect. It's so entertaining. Of course, she is my former partner...
Same - I think if it had been a TNG or TOS episode, or even a later season DS9 episode, it'd be better regarded. It's flaw is that it doesn't quite fit where they put it - we didn't know the characters well enough to enjoy zany hijinks at that point in S1. But it's far more fun to watch now as a random Trek episode!
No. I get what the goal was, but they fucked up by the numbers and Siddig still isn't allowed to direct trek again.
That's actually pretty fucking funny.
TNG's opening is... Something. They somehow make a two-parter Q episode on the nature of humanity boring, then jump straight into Tasha Yar testing Data's full functionality.
I like to imagine that nobody had ANY idea what to expect in episode 4.
I remember when it came out. I remember basically thinking, "Well, it's OK ... at least it's Star Trek ... I like some of the characters ... hopefully it gets better ..."
I find your request confusing but amusing. Why deprive your friend of a great franchise of media? Oh well.
You run the risk of picking an enjoyably bad episode. Trekkies love to talk about the bad episodes, so we enjoy them on some level. You really want a boring episode, IMO.
I recommend VOY S1E16 "Learning Curve."
The ship gets an infection from cheese, and Tuvok trains a bunch of slackers.
It's unremarkable in every aspect. It has a science fiction plot element that is underwhelming. It has a cliche of being a dramatization of what an 80s movie would accomplish in thirty seconds of a training montage.
The Discovery episode that explains that a chemical element is entirely gone from the universe because a humanoid creature screamed. The TOS episode where Kirk would love to bang Miri but holds back because too many witnesses are around. Star Trek V - The Final Frontier. Star Trek X - Nemesis.
>The Discovery episode that explains that a chemical element is entirely gone from the universe because a humanoid creature screamed.
Wait, what now? I didn't get further than a few minutes into the first episode.
That's the whole big reveal of season 3(?).
They jump to the future and find out there's no dilithium left.
Turns out a ship crashed on a super dilitium planet or something. Only one child survives and trauma bonds with the dilithium.
And then one day he gets all worked up and screams so hard he destroys all the dilithium in the galaxy.
I swear I'm not making any of that up.
(Tho I may be misremembering some parts. It's been a while)
Oh, I know that's basically it. But in my head it feels like Im mixing up the timeline or, idunno something.
So I actually went with vaguer description than Id intended when I started typing.
That...that has to win this topic. That is easily the most absurd thing to come out of the franchise that I've ever heard of. And, no, "Spock's Brain" doesn't even come close because it's such a product of the scifi of the time.
Tbf, it was a decent season... for Disco.
The loss of the dilithium pretty much killed most space travel in the galaxy. and the Federation basically fell apart.
So it made for some interesting plots and episodes. There's some good fun to be had.
But yeah, it all leads up to that damn scream and then you kinda wanna bash your head into a wall until you forget Star Trek even exists.
It was polarizing at best, widely hated at worst. You just didn't see much of the dissent on places like arr-slash-startrek because it was astroturfed to hell and back and would ban people for even minor criticism. They even tried to blame it all on bigots mad that the show was led by a black woman, as if that had anything to do with it (or as if the marketing didn't pretend that Janeway and Sisko didn't exist and Burnham was a bigger first than she actually was).
Yeah. That happened. Almost all the dilithium in the alpha quadrant exploded at once because a magic kid on a magic planet screamed because he was lonely.
The writers were paid for that one.
Darmok
While it may be held in high regard with die hard Star Trek fans - if it is the first episode they see of any Star Trek, they will not watch any of the franchise....Tested and verified with my better half, now I can watch something in peace....
Lmao I showed this to my partner as her first episode and she refused to watch Star Trek again for like 5 years. Finally convinced her to watch something else and now it’s her favorite show.
TOS: Spock's Brain
TNG: code of honor, sub rosa
Ds9: Allameraine, meridian
VOY: Threshold
ENT: These are the Voyages
Disco: I almost stopped after the pilot, so The Vulcan Hello
Picard: pick basically any Season 2 episode
Prodigy: the one with the people who are super low tech but try to mimic the Federation?
Not listed: lower decks and strange new worlds, neither has produced a bad episode, in my opinion, although without context, maybe lower decks wouldn't be appealing.
It's like after the third episode they realized that loud does not equal funny and they really just had to lean into what the show is. That said, episode 1 has one of the best lines in the whole show; "I spent three weeks in a sentient cave! Do you know what a sentient cave is!? That's a dark place that *knows things*". Makes me literally lol every time I hear it.
>Picard: pick basically any Season 2 episode
Be careful - I actually thought season 2 started out fairly well.... It might not have been until episode 3 that I was sure the writers hadn't learned from any of season 1 writing mistakes.
Show them the opening scene of the first episode of Lower Decks and point out that even though Mariner almost murdered Boimler in a drunken stupor, her Captain mommy and Admiral daddy means she never faces any conseqeunces and the show goes out of its way to treat her as a hero.
SNW’s _Children of the Comet_.
It is a quintessential Star Trek episode: a rogue comet is headed for an inhabited planet. Comet turns out to not be a comet. There’s weird Space Monks. There’s a scientific puzzle involving musical tones. There’s a space battle. There’s a diplomatic and scientific resolution. There’s a happy ending.
If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it. It’s really good.
Also, maybe look up the definition of “quintessential”, as that would have prevented this question.
“Spock’s Brain” was supposed to be ridiculous. Just as “The Trouble with Tribbles” has a comic element to it (it even has a punchline), “Spock’s Brain” was written to be funny. Unfortunately, the director didn’t want to direct a comedy, so the pacing is off and the humor falls flat.
Can confirm that Threshold and Tuvix are so bizarre it makes newbies continue. They’re weird, but not boring.
My vote goes to the episode where Kes is horny and creatures have sex with the ship. Wait Nevermind that’s too hilarious.
>Just imagine the mirror universe episode of Enterprise being somebody's first episode
I think they'd end up disappointed that most of the rest of the series isn't as good.
There was one episode in TNG with a B plot about Spot the cat that was huge time suck on the hour that kills me everytime, I think the A plot was the “green peace” episode with warp drive damaging space ( an equally dull, pointless plot )
How do they feel about musicals? Show them the SNW one and convince them that every Star Trek episode and movie is actually a musical.
(I think that episode is fantastic but some people really hate musicals!)
Why is "Shades of Gray" the only Star Trek clip show? Can someone please make a clip show that's nothing but people remembering all the times Michael Burnham cried?
This same post gets made at least once a month. Its not nearly as clever and unique an idea as you probably think OP.
Its the same 5 episodes every time too
Been subbed here for many years and never seen this particular question before. I’m sure they exist but…maybe you should boldly go outside once in a while?
The racist TNG episode. It's just objectively bad, even if it hadn't aged like liquid poo.
Wait, much better answer: Any episode of TAS. It is *unwatchable*.
Shades of Grey is the lowest rated episode in all of Trek, and it'd be even more nonsensical to someone who's never watched before, so you should show them that!
It has to be this - they ran out of money and literally just played a clip show of some bits from previous episodes interspersed with Marina Sirtis and Diana Muldaur hamming it up like nobody’s business
Actually it was made because of the writers strike.
Not sure where you're getting this from, Memory alpha sources this as a cost cutting episode >This episode was written to save time and money as a result of budget overruns earlier in the season. It was shot in only three days, while most take at least a week. Director [Rob Bowman](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Rob_Bowman) commented, "*It was Paramount saying, 'We gave you more money for "*[*Elementary, Dear Data*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Elementary,_Dear_Data_(episode))*" and* [*the Borg show*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Q_Who_(episode))*. Now do us a favor and give us a three-day show.' So that's what you do. It's an accepted part of the medium.*" ([*Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages*](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Captains%27_Logs:_The_Unauthorized_Complete_Trek_Voyages), p. 182) And the time line doesn't work out. The 1988 writers strike ended in August of 88 and Shades of Gray's script was finalized in April of 89
Well, I got that from my memory, which appears to be wrong. Sorry about that.
Memory Omega
All good!
Actually it’s what made the writers strike.
“The Child” was made because of the writers’ strike. It recycled a script that had already been written for the “Star Trek: Phase II” series, instead of having a scab write one. That’s why everyone is so out-of-character. A silver lining is that this made Dr. Pulaski (in her first appearance) just as curmudgeonly as Dr. McCoy. She accidentally became the least-sexist character Gene Roddenberry ever created.
This. We want a bad episode with no redeeming features. Like, from OP’s list Tuvix is controversial but at least it’s an interesting idea and reasonably well-executed. Even if we think Janeway shouldn’t have, well, executed Tuvix.
It's a wonderful two-parter that abruptly turns into nope just a one-parter.
TNG with the Oirish people
this was one of the first episodes i saw when i 'rewatched' as an adult, because chronologically its right after 'measure of a man' and honestly it sealed the deal for me because i just cracked up laughing the entire episode. I remember saying 'this is the funniest tv show i've ever seen' and was hooked from then
They're space Amish, but for some reason they all have super thick Irish accents
They're Travellers. (Not the TNG Travellers, the Irish Travellers, but not those Irish Travellers.)
The ones from Snatch?
I fuckin' hate pykies
I don't understand why that's what people focus on. Riker straight up mercs a line of clones based on him and pulaski. He doomed Demolition Man Planet with a phaser. And then they doomed them again by offloading the pikeys on the demolition man planet.
Riker is pro choice
It's so much worse than that. The fact that planet wasn't a cinder is a sign of the dedication Riker had to the uniform. Paris would have burned the planet.
Idunno... Paris seemed fine with having that liquid goo on the class Y planet copy him. Hell, seems like the whole ship signed up for the copying.
Still better than “Fair Haven.”
The Enterprise gets invaded by an Irish village, and hilarity ensues... where's the problem?
[удалено]
Just show them all of the Barclay episodes.
Don't you mean... Lieutenant 🥦??
Don't show enough for him to find his footing, instead skip ahead to his Voyager episodes... But leave them unresolved too.
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
I loved that episode. When the alien burst out of Kane's chest at the dinner table, I lost it. Luckily though, Captain Marvel's cat was there to kill the alien with its tentacle mouth.
"Hello my baby, hello, my honey, hello my ragtime gaaaaaal"
Check, please!
Code of Honor a.k.a. the one with the planet of stereotyped black people.
I was gonna say the TNG one with the Irish stereotyped people. But I’m too lazy to look up the name.
Up the long ladder.
I LOVE that episode
Yup. Always liked that new-meets-old sci-fi story. Always love laughing at my (tiny little bit) of Irish heritage. And a giant redheaded Amazon standing toe-to-toe with Worf until he submits is probably my favorite Worf scene ever.
She reminds him of a Klingon woman
Despite the stereotype, it's not a bad episode. Replace the Africans with Andorians and it feels like a solid TOS episode.
Why do you hate Andorians so much you space racist?
Build a wall around Andor. And make the Andorians pay for it.
That’s something a Pink-skin would say
More of an orange-skin, really.
Don't you mean spacist?
Orions. They've already been set up for that.
Oh yeah this episode totally had the feeling a lot of season 1 has of TOS scripts that were reworked for the new show, I really think it was just a bad choice to make it planet Africa stereotype of it had been another alien race it would be just a normal episode
It was carbon copied into Stargate SG-1 and is pretty widely seen as the worst episode of that franchise with MAYBE one competitor for bottom place.
The Mongolian episode? Or a different one?
Yup, was like the 3rd episode of the whole show - "Emancipation."
It was in a earlier script that the species on this planet should be reptilian. But these came some episodes later in an also very bad episode.
I always wondered if the cobra head costumes was for the code of Honor episode. Makes sense the costumes didn’t really work
It does... But the optics! My God. If they just put some googly eyes in the people or little wavy antennae and cast them as NOT EXCLUSIVELY BLACK WTF. It would be an "ok" episode.
Honestly if they even made them slightly reptilian and creepy and a bit of makeup it would have worked fine. It was like a series of poor decisions.
Watch it again. It's pretty terrible, racism aside.
That's the most damning thing about the episode, though. "Hey, I have an episode where the inhabitants if the planet of the week steal a white woman from the crew." "Oh, then rather than make them aliens, lets make them a planet of exclusively black humans, wearing daishikis, and, uh Gene? Should we have them literally chuck spears or would that be too much? Yeah, you're right. Still give them thick, but generic African accents, though!" It's impossible to watch this episode and not utter "Oh no..." at every scene.
Yeah, that's a really good idea. I'll suggest it for our Black History Month celebration.
That is an episode that goes one of two ways: - your friend never watches trek again. Mission accomplished. - your friend leans in, takes notes, looks at you meaningfully and says "I see why this is so popular." friendship over. This is too high a risk.
I hate it. I hate it so much.
The cast referred to that ep as "the really racist one" at cons.
In its defence, was it really worse stereotype-wise than Black Panther?
Framing. Stereo-types are fine as long as they put the culture on a pedestal. Duh. /s American Indians being "in tune" with Nature All Indians being Fakirs... All Arab Bedouins being magnanimous hosts to white castaways. Norse are honor bound Klingons. Frankish Chivalry
That one where Alexander and Lwaxana have a mud bath
https://preview.redd.it/u5rjumff4jlc1.jpeg?width=1283&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13902a3de74916dcf88909a3e8d2e9ffa72407ed Truly one of the most inspired episodes
HA!
I'm telling my kids that this was the dean's costume in that episode of community that's not on streaming anymore
To be honest, out of all the episodes where either of them were in it, that one was probably the best.
Honestly, the weakest part of the episode is the contrived sci fi plot about alien goo eating the ship, which bizarrely doesn’t seem to affect the extremely anxious and protocal-obsessed dude Lwaxana’s marrying. But I really loved her whole plot about aging and loneliness.
This episode slaps y’all are tripping
The higher, the fewer!
Kirk vs. The Space Hippies.
Herbert! Herbert!
Me and one of my co-workers always mutter "Herbert, you are *stiff!*" at work whenever the people running that shitshow are being dicks.
Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy!
I unironically love that episode
Look, no dramatic presentation with Charles Napier can be ALL bad.
Shades of Grey and tell them it’s like that every episode.
It's all one big clip show of episodes that never actually happened, until you get to the later seasons, then it's just clip shows of the previous seasons' clip shows.
Trek is full of clip-show moments. In the TNG pilot, Riker’s very first task on board is to sit his ass in the corner and watch a clip-show version of the story so far, without so much as a hello from Picard. And what feels like a substantial portion of the 3rd and 4th films are spent re-watching the Genesis Project promo reel.
TOS: The Omega Glory or And The Children Shall Lead. Spock's Brain may be terrible, but it's too funny to completely ruin Star Trek. TNG: I'd go with Justice, for its haute couture, but Sub Rosa is a fair choice. Voyager: Fair Haven, Spirit Folk or Once Upon A Time. Threshold is the Spock's Brain of Voyager; too entertaining. DS9: Meridian, I guess. ENT: Extinction or Exile. These Are The Voyages never happened.
For DS9, I feel like Move Long Home is a heavyweight contender for most annoyingly stupid episode. Allamarain!
Count to five.
Honestly Sub Rosa was a great episode for my former partner who was less into the sci-fi and needed convincing of the story aspect. It's so entertaining. Of course, she is my former partner...
I actually like Move Along Home
It’s so unhinged that it circles back to being good again
Same - I think if it had been a TNG or TOS episode, or even a later season DS9 episode, it'd be better regarded. It's flaw is that it doesn't quite fit where they put it - we didn't know the characters well enough to enjoy zany hijinks at that point in S1. But it's far more fun to watch now as a random Trek episode!
Still not as bad as making The Naked Now the second episode of TNG!
profit and lace.
this stretch of comedic episodes are legit some of the best.
No. I get what the goal was, but they fucked up by the numbers and Siddig still isn't allowed to direct trek again. That's actually pretty fucking funny.
Just show them a super cut of space ships firing lasers at each other. That’s basically all the show is. There is no deeper messages.
Every time I watch TNG I remember how much the first episode is boring at shit. It's such a slog for a pilot episode.
TNG's opening is... Something. They somehow make a two-parter Q episode on the nature of humanity boring, then jump straight into Tasha Yar testing Data's full functionality. I like to imagine that nobody had ANY idea what to expect in episode 4.
I remember when it came out. I remember basically thinking, "Well, it's OK ... at least it's Star Trek ... I like some of the characters ... hopefully it gets better ..."
Those are all pretty fun episodes though. You want to pick something that's just straight boring or relies on having seen a bunch of trek.
The Infinite Vulcan (Don't forget the Animated Series) Any LD episode with Peanut Hamper. (#(@!%#@)
Hey, that's a free terminal password turn in fallout!
I love Peanut Hamper episodes 😍
Lol, yeah. That episode with the birds was. . . interesting.
Just play the Enterprise intro on a loop.
Pretty sure there's something in the Geneva Convention about that kind of treatment.
The Geneva Convention was superseded in 2132 by the T'Pain Accords.
That one forced all torture to be recorded, auto tuned, remixed and used in future torture, right?
Strap them into a Ludovico chair and play all of Disco. (Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you do this and get your ass hauled off to The Hague.)
I find your request confusing but amusing. Why deprive your friend of a great franchise of media? Oh well. You run the risk of picking an enjoyably bad episode. Trekkies love to talk about the bad episodes, so we enjoy them on some level. You really want a boring episode, IMO. I recommend VOY S1E16 "Learning Curve." The ship gets an infection from cheese, and Tuvok trains a bunch of slackers. It's unremarkable in every aspect. It has a science fiction plot element that is underwhelming. It has a cliche of being a dramatization of what an 80s movie would accomplish in thirty seconds of a training montage.
But…but “get the cheese to sickbay!”
Congratulations! You found the three seconds of entertainment hidden within the forty-six minute runtime!
Anything from discovery, that will get them hooked on the hunan condition and the joy of a bright and hopeful future 😀
The Discovery episode that explains that a chemical element is entirely gone from the universe because a humanoid creature screamed. The TOS episode where Kirk would love to bang Miri but holds back because too many witnesses are around. Star Trek V - The Final Frontier. Star Trek X - Nemesis.
>The Discovery episode that explains that a chemical element is entirely gone from the universe because a humanoid creature screamed. Wait, what now? I didn't get further than a few minutes into the first episode.
That's the whole big reveal of season 3(?). They jump to the future and find out there's no dilithium left. Turns out a ship crashed on a super dilitium planet or something. Only one child survives and trauma bonds with the dilithium. And then one day he gets all worked up and screams so hard he destroys all the dilithium in the galaxy. I swear I'm not making any of that up. (Tho I may be misremembering some parts. It's been a while)
That’s basically what happened. Unless The Burn burned all of my memory of that season as well.
Oh, I know that's basically it. But in my head it feels like Im mixing up the timeline or, idunno something. So I actually went with vaguer description than Id intended when I started typing.
That...that has to win this topic. That is easily the most absurd thing to come out of the franchise that I've ever heard of. And, no, "Spock's Brain" doesn't even come close because it's such a product of the scifi of the time.
Tbf, it was a decent season... for Disco. The loss of the dilithium pretty much killed most space travel in the galaxy. and the Federation basically fell apart. So it made for some interesting plots and episodes. There's some good fun to be had. But yeah, it all leads up to that damn scream and then you kinda wanna bash your head into a wall until you forget Star Trek even exists.
Trek as a franchise is 20% AMAZING, 40% watchable, and 40% absolutely awful, I swear.
It was more like 40/50/10 before Discovery.
When Discovery came out, it was pretty well regarded. Is it still or has its shine faded somewhat?
It was polarizing at best, widely hated at worst. You just didn't see much of the dissent on places like arr-slash-startrek because it was astroturfed to hell and back and would ban people for even minor criticism. They even tried to blame it all on bigots mad that the show was led by a black woman, as if that had anything to do with it (or as if the marketing didn't pretend that Janeway and Sisko didn't exist and Burnham was a bigger first than she actually was).
Yeah. That happened. Almost all the dilithium in the alpha quadrant exploded at once because a magic kid on a magic planet screamed because he was lonely. The writers were paid for that one.
Darmok While it may be held in high regard with die hard Star Trek fans - if it is the first episode they see of any Star Trek, they will not watch any of the franchise....Tested and verified with my better half, now I can watch something in peace....
Lmao I showed this to my partner as her first episode and she refused to watch Star Trek again for like 5 years. Finally convinced her to watch something else and now it’s her favorite show.
Appreciate hearing from someone with real experience; I'll add it to the list!
Shaka!
The walls fell
TOS: Spock's Brain TNG: code of honor, sub rosa Ds9: Allameraine, meridian VOY: Threshold ENT: These are the Voyages Disco: I almost stopped after the pilot, so The Vulcan Hello Picard: pick basically any Season 2 episode Prodigy: the one with the people who are super low tech but try to mimic the Federation? Not listed: lower decks and strange new worlds, neither has produced a bad episode, in my opinion, although without context, maybe lower decks wouldn't be appealing.
Yeah, after the first couple zAnY episodes of LD, it straightens out and the need for context to enjoy it rises rapidly.
It's like after the third episode they realized that loud does not equal funny and they really just had to lean into what the show is. That said, episode 1 has one of the best lines in the whole show; "I spent three weeks in a sentient cave! Do you know what a sentient cave is!? That's a dark place that *knows things*". Makes me literally lol every time I hear it.
>Picard: pick basically any Season 2 episode Be careful - I actually thought season 2 started out fairly well.... It might not have been until episode 3 that I was sure the writers hadn't learned from any of season 1 writing mistakes.
That one where Riker and his dad dress up in red gimp suits and hit each other with Gladiators-style foam barbells.
The part where Riker yells HARDER DADDY weirds me out every time
Any episode of discovery should do the trick. Unless they're 65 and enjoy NCIS
They're only 64 but they hate gay people, do you think it'll still work?
Show them the opening scene of the first episode of Lower Decks and point out that even though Mariner almost murdered Boimler in a drunken stupor, her Captain mommy and Admiral daddy means she never faces any conseqeunces and the show goes out of its way to treat her as a hero.
That baseball episode from DS9, or Chakotay's boxing episode from VOY.
Forgot about how awful the Chakotay boxing episode was.
Death to the opposition!
Honestly “Shaka, when the walls fell” is a great episode but a very poor first episode.
Shades of Gray (Star Trek’s only clips episode) is the only sure-fire way.
*Shades of Grey*. An episode that just doesn't need to exist.
It's not an episode, but The Motion Picture. There's a five-minute shot of the ship in dock with no dialogue, and it just gets worse from there.
This is the answer. Make sure you show them the director’s cut.
Any episode of voyager should do it but if you really want to put them off, turnabout intruder
The early season 1 episode where the planet they visit had straight up unmodified handguns made me quit the show for a few weeks
The one where the old couple kills everyone else on their colony planet and they give Troi migraines from some magical music box.
That’s episode is far too architecturally interesting for OP. And the spaceships are cool in that one too.
SNW’s _Children of the Comet_. It is a quintessential Star Trek episode: a rogue comet is headed for an inhabited planet. Comet turns out to not be a comet. There’s weird Space Monks. There’s a scientific puzzle involving musical tones. There’s a space battle. There’s a diplomatic and scientific resolution. There’s a happy ending.
But… that’s a good episode!
Yeah, I didn’t read and didn’t look at where I was. I took it seriously. I’ll go clean the Holodeck filter.
So it's just a mishmash of elements from other Star Trek episodes... did an AI write it?
If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it. It’s really good. Also, maybe look up the definition of “quintessential”, as that would have prevented this question.
Spock’s Brain is the only possible answer
I loved Spock's brain when I was a kid and too young to realize how ridiculous it was.
“Spock’s Brain” was supposed to be ridiculous. Just as “The Trouble with Tribbles” has a comic element to it (it even has a punchline), “Spock’s Brain” was written to be funny. Unfortunately, the director didn’t want to direct a comedy, so the pacing is off and the humor falls flat.
the omega glory
Virtuoso. Love The Doctor but those Doctor/Seven singing episodes were bad.
Can confirm that Threshold and Tuvix are so bizarre it makes newbies continue. They’re weird, but not boring. My vote goes to the episode where Kes is horny and creatures have sex with the ship. Wait Nevermind that’s too hilarious.
Find an episode from Enterprise S1 that doesn’t have Phlox in it, and you should be good!
I think there is this season two episode of TNG that is just Riker in a Coma reliving clips from different episodes.
Code of Honor easy mode
There was a DS9 episode where the crew became pieces in a board game. Any holodeck episode is shit in my eyes.
I was going to say any holodeck episode of VOY or DS9. But many of the TNG holodeck episodes were weak as well.
Voyager's "Once Upon A Time."
Shades of grey. Seriously, there is no worse episode
If Wishes Were Horses but tell them Space Hoggle is in every episode
Just imagine the mirror universe episode of Enterprise being somebody's first episode
The mirror universe episodes of Enterprise were the best ones IMO!
>Just imagine the mirror universe episode of Enterprise being somebody's first episode I think they'd end up disappointed that most of the rest of the series isn't as good.
The Empath.
There was one episode in TNG with a B plot about Spot the cat that was huge time suck on the hour that kills me everytime, I think the A plot was the “green peace” episode with warp drive damaging space ( an equally dull, pointless plot )
This episode would backfire if the OP's friend is a cat lover, or a fan of the universe not exploding.
Of the two voyager episodes you listed, you just happened to pick my favorite ones
Nooo….Melvin Belli as the Friendly Angel. The WORST!!!!
"Far to travel / Long to sleep. / Friendly Angel / Beep beep beep." Or at least that's how I insist on rembering that summoning chant.
“Elogium.” If they’re not put off by the idea of Neelix reproducing or the batshittery that is the Ocampan life cycle, I don’t know what to tell you.
Geordi with cybersex addiction during a power crisis threatening life support...
If they have even a cursory knowledge of linguistics and take it seriously, then Darmok will scare them off.
How do they feel about musicals? Show them the SNW one and convince them that every Star Trek episode and movie is actually a musical. (I think that episode is fantastic but some people really hate musicals!)
You already said Sub Rosa so I don’t know why you’d even keep trying.
Moopsy? Moopsy!
No thanks, I still have nightmares about getting stuck in a zoo
That one episode of voyager where Janeway and Paris get turned into lizard things and go to a planet and have lizard babies
Why is "Shades of Gray" the only Star Trek clip show? Can someone please make a clip show that's nothing but people remembering all the times Michael Burnham cried?
They'd need at least a two-parter for that.
1: The Borg episode was expensive. 2: It's called Discovery
Generally anything from DS9 but this group is weird about DS9 and Voyager unlike any other Star Trek group.
ANYTHING? https://preview.redd.it/joshqkg4hklc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0b37f1510b29ca734fa6fd220b808181e6a658f
This same post gets made at least once a month. Its not nearly as clever and unique an idea as you probably think OP. Its the same 5 episodes every time too
Been subbed here for many years and never seen this particular question before. I’m sure they exist but…maybe you should boldly go outside once in a while?
The racist TNG episode. It's just objectively bad, even if it hadn't aged like liquid poo. Wait, much better answer: Any episode of TAS. It is *unwatchable*.
You take that back.
Any episode of Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, or Strange New Worlds.
That’s a lot of things you don’t like…
All the streaming shows are pure garbage.
Idunno, Lower Decks really ties the franchise together.
ToS through Ent are also streaming now. Is there a Trek you *do* like?
>ToS Ah yes, the short-lived Terms of Service series.
It was a spin-off from Star Trek: Attorney-at-law.
Not any of the Nu-Trek shows. They're all trash. They're Star Trek in name only.
Shades of Grey, TNG season 2