MovieChat Forums > Babylon 5 (1993) Discussion > Finding the worst episode - second attem...

Finding the worst episode - second attempt

posted 9 years ago by Solasd
27 replies | jump to latest

Hi everyone

a couple of years ago someone had the idea to start this game of determining the worst episode of Babylon 5 (there were many people who didn't consider "Grey 17 is missing" the worst, IIRC).
Please forgive me if I can't remember who had this idea in the first place.
Unfortunately, the game wasn't finished and I was not able to find the thread again.

So why not start a new attempt?
The rules are simple: You copy and paste the episode list from the last post in which an episode was removed, then remove one episode and explain its highlights and the reasons why you consider it a top episode or at least not the worst episode.

Cheers
Solasd

List of episodes

Season 1
Midnight on the Firing Line
Soul Hunter
Born to the Purple
Infection
The Parliament of Dreams
Mind War
The War Prayer
And the Sky full of Stars
Deathwalker
Believers
Survivors
By any Means necessary
Signs and Portents
T.K.O.
Grail
Eyes
Legacies
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 1
A Voice in the Wilderness, Part 2
Babylon Squared
The Quality of Mercy
Chrysalis

Season 2
Points of Departure
Revelations
The Geometry of Shadows
A Distant Star
The Long Dark
A Spider in the Web
Soul Mates
A Race through Dark Places
The Coming of Shadows
GROPOS
All alone in the Night
Acts of Sacrifice
Hunter, Prey
There all the Honor lies
And now for a Word
In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum
Knives
Confessions and Lamentations
Divided Loyalities
The Long, Twilight Struggle
Comes the Inquisitor
The Fall of Night

Season 3
Matters of Honor
Convictions
A Day in the Strife
Passing through Gethsemane
Voices of Auhority
Dust to Dust
Exogenesis
Messages from Earth
Point of No Return
Severed Dreams
Ceremonies of Light and Dark
Sic Transit Vir
A Late Delivery from Avalon
Ship of Tears
Interludes and Examinations
War without End, Part 1
War without End, Part 2
Walkabout
Grey 17 is missing
And the Rock cried out, no Hiding Place
Shadow Dancing
Z'ha'dum

Season 4
The Hour of the Wolf
Whatever happened to Mr. Garibaldi?
The Summoning
Falling toward Apotheosis
The Long Night
Into the Fire
Epiphanies
The Illusion of Truth
Atonement
Racing Mars
Lines of Communication
Conflicts of Interest
Rumours, Bargains and Lies
Moments of Transition
No Surrender, no Retreat
The Exercise of Vital Powers
The Face of the Enemy
Intersections in Real Time
Between the Darkness and the Light
Endgame
Rising Star
The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Season 5
No Compromises
The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari
The Paragon of Animals
A View from the Gallery
Learning Curve
Strange Relations
Secrets of the Soul
Day of the Dead
In the Kingdom of the Blind
A Tragedy of Telepaths
Phoenix Rising
The Ragged Edge
The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father
Meditations on the Abyss
Darkness Ascending
And all my Dreams, torn asunder
Movements of Fire and Shadow
The Fall of Centauri Prime
Wheel of Fire
Objects in Motion
Objects at Rest
Sleeping in Light

[–] alpha128 9 years ago

I don't want to rain on your parade. But, wouldn't it be more expedient to go here?
http://www.lurkersguide.org/poll-5-summary-by-rank/

[–] sticksstoneswwiv 9 years ago

no, because a thread means we interact and the board is kept ative. we could all go to links and not bother with he board.

lurker's guide is a great time caspule for b5 development and the show in general but its frozen in time. my views on the show have moved over the years, lurkers is a reference point.

if we are to vote, why not do one for the board.

[–] alpha128 9 years ago

no, because a thread means we interact and the board is kept alive. we could all go to links and not bother with he board.

lurker's guide is a great time capsule for b5 development and the show in general but its frozen in time. my views on the show have moved over the years, lurkers is a reference point.

if we are to vote, why not do one for the board. - sticksstoneswwiv

I'm all for keeping the board alive. But if there wasn't enough interest to complete the game when Babylon 5 was fresher in everyone's mind, I doubt there is enough interest now. But feel free to continue.

[–] coolgit 9 years ago

Hard to pick the worse. Best sci-fic series but some terrible individual episodes.

Looking at the lurker link, the worse are on the bottom and rightfully so.

[–] hamsterrox86 9 years ago

I actually liked Grey 17 is Missing aside from the odd plot with Garibaldi which didn't make much sense. I also liked TKO from Sn 1. This is my first time through the show and i 'm on Sn 4 Ep 16.

Renee

[–] alpha128 9 years ago

I actually liked Grey 17 is Missing aside from the odd plot with Garibaldi which didn't make much sense. I also liked TKO from Sn 1. This is my first time through the show and i 'm on Sn 4 Ep 16. - hamsterrox86 / Renee

I liked the Delenn/Marcus/Neroon subplot of "Grey 17" quite a lot. The Jeremiah subplot however is dreadfully dull. I also liked TKO, especially the Ivanova subplot.

Congratulations on your first viewing.

[–] sticksstoneswwiv 9 years ago

this is a silly way of doing it, better to start with points and vote off.

+ 1 / - 1

usually starts with 5 points and counts down to zero when they are removed.

makes thread more active and the way you have it, episodes are gone before you can really discuss them.

[–] Solasd 9 years ago

Good point!
I will adjust the list later today

[–] JetLagDMT 8 years ago

Worst episode in the series for me, is easily the Mac and Bo episode from season 5. A View From The Gallery. Good idea, pitiful execution. Easily a series worst.

The only real enemy to have ever existed, is an eternal one.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Worst episode in the series for me, is easily the Mac and Bo episode from season 5. A View From The Gallery. Good idea, pitiful execution. Easily a series worst. - JetLagDMT

That's also one of my least favorite episodes. Thankfully "A View from the Gallery", AKA "Mac and Bo Buff the Floor", is completely standalone and therefore easily skippable. During my last complete rewatch I skipped it, and didn't miss it at all.

[–] teadogg4 8 years ago

You two are mental, the Mack and Bo episode is the hidden gem of S5-- literally every scene is comedy gold! I was crying tears of joy after the G'Kar/Londo interaction and Mack just sums up their 5-minute-plus love/hate dialogue with the one-liner:

"Well, I wonder how long they've been married?"

Brilliant. You have no taste, I must say.

HEY BABY LOOK AT MY EYES. I LOVE YA BUT I HATE YOUR LIES.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

You two are mental, the Mack and Bo episode is the hidden gem of S5 - teadogg4

Let's separate subjective opinion from objective fact. And the objective facts state that "A View from the Gallery" is not highly regarded by B5 fans. Here on the IMDb it is rated #69 out of #110 episodes: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105946/eprate?ref_=tt_eps_rhs_sm. On the Lurker's Guide, which includes movies, it is rated #76 out of #114 titles: http://www.lurkersguide.org/poll-5-summary-by-rank/

So, in either case, "A View from the Gallery" ends up in the bottom 37% of titles. If not liking it makes me "mental", then I'm going to have lots of company in the asylum.

literally every scene is comedy gold! - teadogg4

To you perhaps, but as the Centauri Emperor says: https://www.youtube.com/v/wDKHmlBzG6o?version=3&start=105&end=&autoplay=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

I love it when people cite polls as "objective fact."

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

I love it when people cite polls as "objective fact." - kerryedavis

The consensus of fans surveyed puts the episode in or near the bottom third of B5 titles; that is an objective fact. Whether or not it belongs there is subjective opinion.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

Saying "It's a fact that X percent of people answered poll Y in way Z" appears to be just a way of trying to elevate the opinion aspect, to the fact aspect. Which is really still essentially useless, especially if you know anything about how polls work.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Saying "It's a fact that X percent of people answered poll Y in way Z" appears to be just a way of trying to elevate the opinion aspect, to the fact aspect. - kerryedavis

Perhaps. But with poll results like that, I take umbrage when strangers question my sanity for espousing a majority opinion.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

But that's one of the tricks of polling. A majority of a very small sample is still a very tiny minority of the overall population. And in certain situations can be even more tiny yet.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

But that's one of the tricks of polling. A majority of a very small sample is still a very tiny minority of the overall population. And in certain situations can be even more tiny yet. - kerryedavis

Regardless, I think it's safe to say that "A View from the Gallery" is not a B5 episode with anything approaching universal acclaim. Examples of highly acclaimed episodes would be "Severed Dreams" and "The Coming of Shadows", which not only won Hugo Awards, but also appear in the Top 5 of both polls.

If JetLagDMT or myself had called either one of those "WORST. EPISODE. EVER.", then teadogg4's reaction would be understandable. But coming as it did in response to comments about "A View from the Gallery", teadogg4's reply comes across as an overreaction.

[–] coolgit 8 years ago

As a standalone episode i liked it better than others. A refreshing change from being focused on the main characters all the time. It gave a different perspective from lower ranked workers. It was pretty funny.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

The "Lower Decks" episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation is similar but done better.

[–] janmschroeder 8 years ago

No, thanks. Not at all interested in concentrating on negatives.

“You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. -Harlan Ellison

[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

You know, I hate to have to admit it, but as much as I didn't like this show (kind of a Russian producer's version of Star Trek with a religious bent), I can't say that there were really any "bad episodes" as such.

There really weren't.

I think the whole Kosh rescuing Bruce Boxleiter from the tram and appearing as various messianic figures was about as hokey as the series got. So much that I had to laugh at it, but even that episode, as a whole, wasn't bad.

The show itself was overwritten. You can hear dialogue that's reinforced and restated by the main characters time and again throughout the show's run, but even so I can't think of any bad episodes.

[–] action_on_deck 8 years ago

I would go with TKO, but it us saved by a wonderful b-plot. Infection is really not very good. That's probably my pic.

[–] There_Is_No_Sayid 8 years ago

A long time ago someone said that if you took half of TKO and half of "Grey 17 is Missing" and put them together then they'd be the worst episode of the series. Both episodes have truly bad A plots but actually pretty strong B-plots.

TKO's main plot is a dull one about a friend of Garibaldi's being involved in underground MMA match. But the b-plot is a good one about Ivanova dealing with the death of her father.

"Grey 17 is Missing" has this dumb and goofy plot with Garibaldi investigating these weirdos living in a disused level of the station and then fighting one of the worst costume monsters in television history. But the b-plot is a great one about Lennier and Marcus and the Rangers internal dynamics.

Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything.

[–] Theoden_of_ODU 8 years ago

A long time ago someone said that if you took half of TKO and half of "Grey 17 is Missing" and put them together then they'd be the worst episode of the series. Both episodes have truly bad A plots but actually pretty strong B-plots.

Sprinkle Mack and Bo running away from the alien from Infection and you probably have an episode that could destroy the universe.

On the flip side, I always wondered about taking the "B" stories from both Believers and TKO and putting them into one story. It would have been a *very* Ivonova heavy episode - going out after raiders while avoiding dealing with the death of her father (until the end).

No, not the mind probe!