5 Hated Star Trek Episodes That Aren't Really That Bad

When "Star Trek" is good, there's nothing else quite like it. It represents some of the best science fiction ever put to screen, and the franchise has not only informed the sci-fi genre, but also a number of real-life inventions and technologies. That being said, when it gets things wrong, "Star Trek" can also be absolutely awful. However, generally speaking, when a "Star Trek" show has a bad episode, fans wince but they quickly move on, preferring to focus on the good.

More often than not, it doesn't take long after a dud episode for a great one to come behind it and make up for it. The episodic nature of earlier "Trek" shows makes it incredibly easy to just skip the bad ones, after all. Yet, there are some episodes that have been deemed awful that don't actually deserve that distinction, and they have had fans argue against the consensus in their favor. To be clear, we aren't just talking about underrated episodes of "Star Trek" here. Rather, these are episodes that frequently come up in fan discussions about the absolute worst "Star Trek" episodes that also have a vocal minority that goes to bat for them.

We should point out that we decided to exclude episodes from any of the "Star Trek" series from the 2010s onwards. Those shows are too recent to have their most derided episodes earn the kind of positive reappraisal that typically only comes with the passage of time. Maybe in a decade or so, some of the worst episodes of "Discovery" and "Strange New Worlds" will have their own staunch defenders and we'll have to add those to this very list. But for now, here are five hated "Star Trek" episodes that actually aren't that bad.

It was pretty clear what the writers of "Star Trek: The Original Series" were trying to say with the Season 3 episode "The Way to Eden." 1960s hippie counterculture was in full swing at that point, and not everyone was on board with it — including, apparently, the people running "Star Trek." The whole episode is a thinly-veiled condemnation of the supposed aloofness and low intelligence of hippies, choosing to sing songs and sit on the floor rather than actually get anything accomplished.

Of course, even the earliest "Star Trek" episodes frequently had messages and used characters to comment on contemporary issues. But "The Way to Eden" didn't really land, deemed entirely too silly and on-the-nose in its approach. It would eventually find its way onto many worst-of lists, and, in fact, was even included in Looper's ranking of the worst "Star Trek" episodes. Rewatching it now, removed from the counterculture that inspired it, "The Way to Eden" feels that much more jarring and ridiculous.

However, some "Star Trek" fans have come to appreciate "The Way to Eden" precisely because it's so silly. "TOS" certainly got plenty ridiculous from time to time, and it was seldom a dealbreaker when it came to enjoying the show. In addition to those who enjoy the episode for its cheese, there are also those that argue that the surprisingly deep messages about the danger of following false profits and how unfair it is to take advantage of the young and idealistic make "The Way to Eden" one of the series' more underrated and misunderstood episodes.

It is generally agreed upon that the third and final season of "The Original Series" is the weakest. The writers seemed to struggle to come up with new things to do and places to go for the crew of the USS Enterprise, resulting in a number of oddball novelty episodes. This was made clear right from the season premiere: "Spock's Brain." In this much-derided episode, an alien named Kara (Marj Dusay) invades the ship, takes out the crew, and literally removes the brain of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). And thus begins a race against time to find the brain and put it back into Spock's head before he dies. 

Like "The Way to Eden," "Spock's Brain" tends to show up in every list of the worst episodes of "The Original Series." It took a concept that should've been as high stakes as they come — having only a few hours to save the life of a member of the crew — and turned it into a goofy, cartoon-like tale. That being said, there isn't unanimous hatred towards the episode. In actuality, "Star Trek" fans are divided over "Spock's Brain." 

Plenty of people have come to the defense of this episode, pointing to its fun, campy nature while dismissing those who are unable to handle "Star Trek" any time it ceases to be uber-serious. Because, let's face it, "TOS" seldom stayed serious for any significant stretch of time. On Reddit, "Star Trek" fans routinely defend "Spock's Brain" as an enjoyable romp. "I've never understood why people complain about 'Spock's Brain' so much," wrote u/LycanIndarys. "Yes, it's ridiculous; but it's still a fun ride that is perfectly watchable."

Lesser episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" don't seem to get as much flak as bad "TOS" episodes simply because there are so many more of them: It's hard to be too tough on the occasional dud when an hourlong sci-fi show managed to turn out an astounding 178 episodes. That being said, "TNG" has worst-of lists, too, and there are a few episodes that are inevitable inclusions therein, including Season 7's "Masks."

Data (Brent Spiner) gets infected by a comet that the crew is investigating, which results in him forcing everyone to reenact the traditions of the ancient civilization whose history was recorded within said comet. Even the basic premise is borderline nonsense, and things only get more absurd and incoherent from there. Though it wasn't entirely his fault given the impossible assignment he was given, Spiner would later reveal that neither he nor his castmates were able to take the episode seriously — and that the crew was growing increasingly frustrated at how long the shoot was taking because none of the actors could keep it together in the face of how stupid the whole thing was.

Yet, "Masks" does get some praise within the "Star Trek" fandom. Some fans simply appreciate that the episode at least went for it, unlike other hated episodes that are disliked for being boring and uninspired. The actors gave it their all — even if they were laughing between takes. "Spiner's performance is so memorable in this episode, it's been years since I've last seen it and I can imagine it so vividly because of that," wrote Redditor u/Y0ki. "Overall pretty great episode imo."

Some episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" do very little to advance the overarching narrative or contribute anything of lasting value to the "Star Trek" mythos. The Season 2 episode "The Royale" is certainly one of those episodes, the kind that fans typically skip when doing a re-watch. A writers strike during the production of Season 2 made things difficult for "TNG," resulting in the show being forced to shoot the rough first draft of scripts — and in some cases, repurpose old ones that never got used. That was the case with the widely-panned episode "The Royale."

The plot sees the crew of the USS Enterprise discover a small pocket of activity on an otherwise uninhabitable planet. When Data, Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Worf (Michael Dorn) investigate, they find what is essentially a 1970s Las Vegas casino. Of course, they become trapped there, and they have no choice but to essentially gamble their way out. They have to deal with a man named Texas (Noble Willingham) who is more of a '70s southern tycoon caricature than Rich Texan from "The Simpsons."

It all sounds pretty ridiculous, but, like the other episodes we've covered here, there are those who adore "The Royale." Defending the episode in a piece for StarTrek.com, Catherine L. Hensley called it "great 'Star Trek.'" She begins by admitting, "There's so much about 'The Royale' that shouldn't work, on paper at least." However, she goes on to say that the episode "drops its eclectic cast of characters into a wildly imaginative situation and lets them play. It's a showcase of what 'The Next Generation' did best."

There's a fairly large number of Trekkies out there who proclaim "Deep Space Nine" as the best "Star Trek" series of all time, and it's a tough opinion to argue against. While "TOS" had a rough home stretch and "TNG" struggled to get going, "DS9" arrived fully polished and self-assured from the beginning and carried that through all seven of the show's stellar seasons. Still, "DS9" wasn't exempt from its own fair share of creative missteps.

Episodes that focus on Quark (Armin Shimerman) and his Ferengi brethren tend to be picked on the most, and perhaps none more so than Season 1 episode "Move Along Home." The episode was considered so bad, in fact, that legendary "Star Trek" writer Ronald D. Moore almost declined joining the "DS9" writing staff entirely after he watched "Move Along Home." The main plot of the episode sees Quark having to play a board game against a group of hostile aliens called the Wadi, with the lives of the station's entire crew in the balance.

On the popular forum Star Trek BBS, one user asked the community what the most underappreciated episodes of "DS9" are, and reply after reply came to bat for "Move Along Home." Many expressed complete bafflement as to why the episode was even hated to begin with, arguing that it was not only a fun episode but one that served as a great example of "DS9" differentiating itself from "TOS" and "TNG." Forum user DeepSpaceWine wrote that the episode "doesn't deserve all of the vitriol it gets. I saw it again in 2010 after having last seen it sometime in the '90s, and all the scenes people cringe at, didn't seem remotely as bad as they made it out to be."