Writers of Star Trek: The Next Generations "Samaritan Snare" hated the episode

Star Trek: The Next Generation got off to a rocky start in its first season, and while the second season had some markedly better offerings, "Measure of a Man" standing out in particular, there was one episode that even the writers hated—"Samaritan Snare." Written by Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, and Lisa Putman White, the episode was about aliens called the Pakleds who engineered ways to steal technology from other species. In this particular case, they claimed to need help from LeVar Burton's Geordi LaForge due to their ship being disabled. Despite Worf's [Michael Dorn's} misgivings, Commander Riker [Jonathn Frakes] who was in command of the Enterprise due to the captain's surgery, allowed Geordi to beam over to the ship. As a result, Geordi was kidnapped, and it took some machinations to get him back home.

In Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, writer Dennis Russell Bailey, called the episode “the most abysmal piece of Star Trek ever filmed.” [via Giantfreakinrobot]. This is debatable according to many viewers who would give that honor to "Code of Honor" or "Shades of Gray." But Bailey criticized the entire plot of the episode by saying "none of the plot could have happened if all of the characters hadn’t suddenly become morons that week."

Riker didn't listen to Counselor Troi's [Marina Sirtis] warning about Geordi being in trouble, chossing instead to let the chief engineer stay aboard the Mondor. Bailey took particular issue with this, especially since "no one even responded" to Troi. Had Riker listened, he could have beamed Geordi back immediately and foiled the Pakleds' plans. Instead, the Pakleds have to be fooled by a pyrotechnic display while Geordi disables their weapons. It's all rather anti-climatic, and the Pakleds aren't really seen as equal foes to the Enterprise and its crew.

Granted, this wasn't one of the series' finest episodes, but it certainly wasn't the worst. But to compensate for this one, the writers of "Samaritan Snare" went on to write "Tin Man," for the series' third season. That episode certainly faired better with critics, but it, too, had its detractors. It's sufficient to say that not everyone is going to like every episode of The Next Generation. In this instance, it just so happened that the writers probably hated "Samaritan Snare" more than the viewers did.