Thirty Days of TV: Day Seven

[selenak]

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

I'm going to give my favourite historical and contemporary shows a pass here, because I honestly can't recall one particular episode pissing me off so much that it deserves the title of least favourite. (Not that there weren't weak ones, but none that stuck particularly in mind.

So, let's see, this leaves me with:

Buffy: Well, there are the usual suspects - Some Assembly Required, Doublemeat Palace, Where the Wild Things Are, As You Were etc. - and I certainly don't care much for them. (And don't think I ever rewatched.) But there isn't one I'd crown least favourite over another, unlike with the spin off. If I have to choose, probably As You Were for Spike's never before and after heard of again demon eggs hording activity rather than for Riley and Sam, Action Hero Couple (aka the reason most often named), and I am neither a particular Spike fan nor a Spike/Buffy shipper (clarification: I'm not an anti-shipper either, what I mean is that I enjoyed what the show gave us but I never was invested in "Will Buffy end up with *insert love interest of your choice*? as a reason to tune in). But that script really could have done with more editing and revision.

Angel: Tricky. I considered Hero (not for the character death, which I'm okay with, for the dumb lazy use of Nazis), and She (oh, Marti, why?), eyed Provider and Dad, but in the end, there can only be one choice: Tomorrow, the season 3 finale. I was this close to quitting the show after that one, that's how incredibly irritated and annoyed I was. (And am I ever glad I didn't, because as I may have mentioned a thousand times or two, season 4 of AtS became my favourite.) No, not with every single scene (those involving my boy Connor as well as the one Wesley/Lilah scene can stay), but most of them, and with nothing more than everyone and their dog telling Angel and Cordelia they're meant for each other (canon shipping: how NOT to do it), including Cordy's mirror image. I've written an essay about why I think the damage to Cordelia's character was done mainly in s3 with starts in s2, and that s4 was actually damage control of sorts, but anyway - Tomorrow is definitely, no question about it, my least favourite AtS episode.

Babylon 5: there are some awful s1 episodes I blotted out of my memory and never rewatched, so you won't find Grail or what's its name starting with T listed here. Eyeing Deconstruction of Falling Stars for the incredibly annoying Delenn and the historians scene but giving it a pass because that episode also has scenes I like plus it was written very last minute, I settle on A View From the Gallery, not because the self contratulatory Sheridan/Delenn fanboying by the pov characters is actually worse but because the basic concept for the episode is sound and could have resulted in something good. Outsider pov episodes often are, and in the same season with The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father, JMS gives us a splendid example why. But A View From The Gallery isn't really interested in the two maintenance guys whose pov we're in, it just uses them to spout admiring stuff about our regulars (as opposed to The Corps..., where the pov of the two Psi Cop Interns and of course Bester's on B5 is anything but flattering). Also there is the obvious episode to compare this one to at the time of broadcast, which was Lower Decks, a season 6 of TNG episode which had been shown only three or four years earlier. And there, the script really bothered to make the four crew members come alive in their own right and make you care about them (which also contributed to making their pov of the regulars interesting instead of self congratulatory). In conclusion, A View From The Gallery is a big squandered opportunity and therefore, I crown it least favourite episode.




Day 01 - A show that should never have been canceled
Day 02 - A show that you wish more people were watching
Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)
Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Day 05 - A show you hate
Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A show that disappointed you
Day 12 - An episode you've watched more than 5 times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood show
Day 14 - Favorite male character
Day 15 - Favorite female character
Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death.

Comments

I know the episode you mean

[rembrandtswife]

"TKO".

But there are two interesting things about that ep, if I remember correctly. One is that Ivanova sits shiva for the death of her father. You get to see an Earth-human character doing religious stuff.

The other is that the martial arts guy says to Garibaldi, "Watch your back." Playfully, a running gag between them. And then Garibaldi is shot in the back by one of his own men at the end of the first season.

"A View from the Gallery," yeah, that *was* a waste of airtime. "Lower Decks" (or was it "Lower Echelon"?) was *good*; I particularly liked that Riker was a bitch to work for, but Worf turned out to be a gentle and supportive teacher.

My god, I *do* know too much about these shows.

Re: I know the episode you mean

[selenak]

I liked Ivanova's subplot, but not enough to rewatch.

And one cannot know enough about B5 and TNG, so that's alright.:)

[aris_tgd]

I'm impressed that you dislike "A View" much less than "No Compromises" or "Learning Curve." Okay, I've got a particular beef with "No Compromises" because I had to watch it twenty times to try and untangle its chronology (which was eventually impossible), but "Learning Curve" completely and utterly ruined the mora'dum and Marcus' speech about the application of terror, and made it into a sad joke. It still makes me wince.

[selenak]

jesuswasbatman used to say that Learning Curve is where the Rangers come across as a fascist organization, and he has a point. But I still find View more obnoxious, possibly because nothing could have saved LC, whereas View is a good concept for an episode squandered for self congralation.