Very Short Treks have been releasing on Star Trek’s official Youtube channel since Star Trek Day.
One Very Short Trek has been releasing every Thursday since September 8th, and while they’ve been generally harmless fun, “Worst Contact” took things in a very different, disgusting direction. I rarely write negative reviews as I know opinions differ. What one Star Trek fan likes, another might loathe. However, I am making an exception in this instance as I truly almost turned off the episode shortly after it began.
“Worst Contact” was certainly intended to be comedy, but, instead, it comes across as just a crude attempt at humor that is not only gross but demeaning to the characters of Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes).
Very Short Treks “Worst Contact” comes across as simply trying too hard for laughs.
The comments on the video express varying degrees of disgust and enjoyment, with some commenters saying they didn’t see how Trek could get any worse until now. While I’m certainly glad these short episodes aren’t canon, I can see why this type of humor would appeal to some fans, but for many of us, the absurdity of this first contact negates any positives this episode has.
Yes, it brought back Dr. Crusher and Commander Riker, but it also placed them in an untenable position that was supposed to be for laughs. It was great to see the two of them together again, but not in this manner.
I’m certainly not saying there’s anything wrong with those who enjoyed and even laughed at “Worst Contact.” I’m just saying that it was, to me, an episode that was better left unwritten.