10 Worst Sequels In Star Trek
We counted the best sequels in Star Trek, which begs the question: who didn't stick the landing?
For all that is good, there is something that is...less good. Though we begin with a powerhouse of composition, these examples are those episodes and storylines that simply missed the mark. We discussed the best sequels in Star Trek in a previous list, but what of those that left us cold?
There are many stories in Trek that begged a follow-up, only for the result to leave the audience wanting. Did we, for example, really need to have certain questions answered? Were certain characters reintroduced for reintroduction's sake? What, if anything, did this do for the overall narrative?
To be fair, crafting a sequel to anything is a difficult task. As soon as a sequel is announced, it carries the weight of expectation. Sometimes the initial story was so strong that any follow up is starting from the back foot, while other examples offer odd sequel choices to stories that weren't that strong to begin with.
There is always a place for further exploration in Star Trek and beyond, with so many episodes and movies delivering on the promise. Consider The Best Of Both Worlds - one of the greatest cliffhanger endings in television history followed by an episode that nailed the landing. There were many, the writer of said story included, who felt it couldn't be done. Yet it was, and we were the better for it.
This list does not feature those episodes.
10. Among The Lotus Eaters
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds shone in its debut season, offering audiences a hopeful view of the future with a return to episodic form, boldly going into the 23rd Century once more. Though it played fast and loose with canon, it was able to largely create its own universe, but there were those episodes that began to confuse those following closely.
Among The Lotus Eaters serves as a sequel to both If Memory Serves and The Cage, with the Enterprise returning to Rigel VII - the scene of the ill-fated mission that had occurred just before the events of the first Star Trek pilot.
While the episode itself deals with loss, responsibility, and guilt, it also stumbles from some production errors. For example, a rogue Starfleet officer is wearing a uniform that is noticeably incorrect, despite having been marooned for years. The episode If Memory Serves, from Discovery's second season, re-confirmed that the events of The Cage did take place in the years before Discovery picks up. The uniforms worn by the crew in Strange New Worlds are new variations - ones that would not have been available to Nguyen.
This, combined with the fake-out of an Ortegas episode, makes Among The Lotus Eaters a frustrating follow-up to the Pike stories that had come before.