Christmas 2018 review

[Dînadan]

So the TKO thread doesn’t keep getting derailed in starting this one for people to speculate on what they predict 2018’s Worst Episode is going to be/why they think it should be a particular episode. So, discuss.

[RobbyB1982]

Well, of the series that Chuck has done a lot of so there'd be context for a "worst of" episode...

Farscape- He's only done 16 episodes out of 88 (and a movie) so there's a lot to choose from. Would probably have to be one of the "weird" episodes.

Firefly- He's done six episodes out of 12, and they're all decent. Not much fodder there.

Transformers- He's already done BOT which is generally considered the worst in the series.

Beast Wars-He's been requested to do the rest of season 2 and most of season 3, so he'll have most of the series for context... there's a still a few iffy season 1 episodes but he's already covered the most lowbrow of them. The season 3 episode Go With the Flow is pretty terrible amidst an otherwise really strong season in that it requires everyone to be holding a complete idiot ball. Megatron made a device that transformers cant use so he has to make a caveman finish building it. Made even worse by the fact it replaced what sounded like a strong Ratrap/Dinobot episode under Hasbro's insistence.

Batman- Beteen TAS, Superman, Justice League, there's a tooooon to choose from but I have no idea what would qualify as a worst. There were certainly bad episodes in there. Maybe Batman in my Basement, the s1 episode with Penguin chasing some kids who constantly save Batman, or a JL episode focusing on C string characters. Maybe Critters, where the farmer makes giant mutant pigs to terrorize Gotham.

Clone Wars-He's done a bunch of them, but I can't think of anything particularly notorious.

Battlestar Galactica- He's only done 6 episodes out of 76. Probably way too broad to pin down a worst yet. Probably like TKO it would be an episode that's just dull more than anything, or contradictory to any other development in the show.

X-Files- He's done 23 episodes... out of 12 seasons. Probably too broad unless there's something specific in mind.

Stargate Atlantis- He already did Stargate's worst but Atlantis should be up for grabs I think.

Twilight Zone- Considering every episode is a 1-off this would be an exceedingly hard one to pin down.

Doctor Who- He did the worst of Old Who, but from Nu Who he's already done the two most infamous episodes, Love and Monsters, and Fear Her. Unless he went in on something like Kill the Moon for its horrific science (even by Who standards) and unintended abortion metaphor.

[nebagram]

Wouldn't be too sure about BSG having a 'hard to pin down' worst episode. Two words: Black. Market. I imagine it'll be Farscape's worst though, as he's done more of that than any other series that hasn't had a 'Christmas Special'. Maybe Jeremiah Crichton for that one?

[bronnt]

Wouldn't be too sure about BSG having a 'hard to pin down' worst episode. Two words: Black. Market. I imagine it'll be Farscape's worst though, as he's done more of that than any other series that hasn't had a 'Christmas Special'. Maybe Jeremiah Crichton for that one?

I don't even know that "Black Market" is bad. it's just an episode that comes out of nowhere and doesn't go anywhere-like suddenly introducing a never-before mentioned dead fiance for one of the main characters (who will never again be mentioned). It might be perfectly palatable in a series that was less interested in character continuity, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in that series.

[Independent George]

'The Woman King' was way worse than 'Black Market'.

X-Files is the show that's hard to pin down for a worst episode, because pretty much every mythology episode from S5 onwards was a tangled, mostly unwatchable mess.

[bronnt]

'The Woman King' was way worse than 'Black Market'.

I had to look that one up, but yeah, I agree. I remember watching that and asking, "Wait, what the hell is Helo's actual job at this point?" Plus the desire to inject social commentary really rang hollow in that case. It's an episode that, in retrospect, would be more fun if it never existed.

I really think next year should be Farscape. I'm pretty sure that the worst episode has to come in season 1, where Farscape was struggling to find its voice-there were a ton of episodes that really fell flat for me.

[ChiggyvonRichthofen]

Stargate Atlantis would be a viable option. It has a handful of episodes that are clearly much worse than the rest of the series, and they also tend to be the kind of bad that Chuck could rant about, as compared to the just-not-well-made, kind of boring bad of some other shows.

Farscape would also be a good option.

The X-Files has a lot of bad episodes, episodes that are bad for their own unique reasons, to the point that it would be really difficult to pick out a single, worst episode of the series. There's three options in season seven alone- First Person Shooter, all things, and Fight Club.

"Worst of" episodes are hard for shows as continuity-heavy as BSG. Sometimes a really great episode can have one bad plot thread that goes on to infect other episodes- but it wouldn't really make sense to structure a long review around one bad plot point, especially since BSG reviews have been really sparse lately. Black Market or The Woman King stand out as bad in BSG, but they wouldn't stand out at all among some of the other stuff that's reviewed regularly.

[Ghilz]

Stargate Atlantis- He already did Stargate's worst but Atlantis should be up for grabs I think.

Hrrrm, what would that be? He's already done the episode where a rapist is treated as a joke (Irresistible). I guess Inquisition would be the next Worst? (Where the show points out what a bunch of fuck ups the expedition is and the show expects us to not agree). Or Irresistible's follow up, Irresponsible

[RobbyB1982]

I really think next year should be Farscape. I'm pretty sure that the worst episode has to come in season 1, where Farscape was struggling to find its voice-there were a ton of episodes that really fell flat for me.

Season 1 may have had the weaker episodes, but seasons 3 and 4 had a far more irritating cast. Stark, Jool, Noranti and Sikozu were all pretty insufferable in different ways.

[Independent George]

I really think next year should be Farscape. I'm pretty sure that the worst episode has to come in season 1, where Farscape was struggling to find its voice-there were a ton of episodes that really fell flat for me.

Season 1 may have had the weaker episodes, but seasons 3 and 4 had a far more irritating cast. Stark, Jool, Noranti and Sikozu were all pretty insufferable in different ways.

Er, something's wrong with your quote. I didn't write that.