10 Terrible Star Trek Episodes With Awesome Endings
Further proof that Star Trek knows how to stick the landing, even on shaky flights
We can all single out our favourite awesome ending to a Star Trek episode. There are certainly plenty to choose from. Some are grandiose and dramatic, and are often the midway of a two-parter. Others are more understated, but equally as effective — Kirk's "Let's get the hell out of here" and Barclay's "Computer. End program!" for example. Others still have capped off a chef-d'oeuvre with little more than a hearty belly laugh on the bridge.
An awesome ending typically also means an awesome rest of an episode has gone before it. That final payoff has to feel earnt, after all. Sometimes, however, a great ending must swing in to bolster a not so great episode. Thankfully, this list took some time to compile, for there are very few examples in Star Trek of the bad needing last minute rescue by the good where quality is concerned.
An awesome ending doesn't mean redemption for a terrible episode either. It simply means they stuck the landing. In some cases, however, a conclusion (even years later) has provided at least a fresh perspective on a previously maligned part of the franchise.
So, like Data with a punchline to a bad joke, let's have a look at those episodes that got there in the end.
10. Fair Haven
With our sincerest apologies to Seán Ferrick and this writer's paternal grandfather, we're about to take a trip to Tom Paris' interpretation of 19th century Ireland. Get ready for some dodgy accents, and even dodgier signage!
Beyond the stereotypes and lack of a competent dialect coach, what is no doubt least fair about Fair Haven is the episode's treatment of Captain Janeway's love life. After all those years guiding Voyager safely through the Delta Quadrant, sacrificing romance for responsibility, Janeway deserved better than a dalliance on the holodeck. No offense, Doc! Plus, if you can ask the computer to stop your partner snoring, don't ask too many questions!
Whilst Fair Haven struggled on many fronts, it was the head of a neutronic storm that saved it. When Voyager begins to lose the inverse warp field it was using as an anchor, the only solution is to use a deflector beam to cut their way through the rest. To get the power they need will mean saying farewell to most of Fair Haven and maybe a certain Michael Sullivan.
For a moment, thanks to some superb acting from Kate Mulgrew, you can see all of the consequences of the decision to re-route power from the holodeck in Janeway's regretful expression, but it's only a moment. "Do it!" she orders, never forgetting her duty. Seconds later, we are also treated to one of the most awesome lines ever uttered in Star Trek: "Scrape the residual ions off the sonic showers if you have to!"
Oh, and "Delete the wife!"