10 Most Hated Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

If you dreamed of seeing Captain Jean Luc Picard brandishing a sword as Robin Hood then this is the episode for you. The Enterprise is hosting an archaeological summit and one of the delegates is Vash, an old flame of Picard, (previously seen in “Captain’s Holiday,”) who is looking to rekindle that spark when Q arrives and transports them all to a fantasy version of Sherwood forest.

The first problem with Qpid is that Vash is an unlikeable guest star coming off as self-centered and selfish. Upon arriving at the Enterprise, she is immediately taken aback by the fact that no one has ever heard of her. She gets annoyed at Picard for not telling anyone about their history which is a foolish expectation since there is no reason for the captain of the ship to share such personal details with the crew.

The second and bigger issue is that the Nottingham parts are devoid of laughs (Okay, Worf growling “I am NOT a Merry Man!” is funny). The crew plays various recognizable supporting characters, as Data for instance is Friar Tuck, but are given nothing to do but smirk in the background. In fact, the entire setting gets squandered with unimaginative plotting that simply has Picard sneak into the castle to save Vash, and rote action scenes which feel like a poor man's version of The Princess Bride. Worf, the warrior of the group, swings his sword in such a clunky manner you worry he might hurt himself while Picard as Robin Hood doesn’t even get to shoot an arrow.

It’s just all so lazily executed that Qpid ends up straying far wide of its target.