Top 5 Episodes of Star Trek TNG Season 2

This segment is from our LIVE stream a couple weeks ago where we celebrated finishing Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation

[targetaudience]

Season 3 videos start May 6th. They’ve already started hitting Patreon.

[carlosvergara]

W.

A long 2 weeks to wait! You have no idea how comforting and familiar your videos have become in the mornings, is like a nice cup of tea, earl grey, hot ☕️

[jonbolton]

My top 5 are:
5 Contagion
4 A Matter Of Honor
3 Q-Who
2 Peak Performance
1 The Measure Of A Man
HM The Emissary, and The Child.

[ElOroDelTigre]

You want a great top five? Well THERE IT SITS!

[Wolf_Dominic]

Gotta say, I love that background for the stream.

[silikon]

Feels like "Measure of a Man" is indeed classic Trek at its finest. But "Emissary" is all "we got this-- TNG almost has its sea legs, and it's going in very new directions".

[brendandax]

I worry that we've all been talking up S3 so much (with good reason) that the guys might be underwhelmed. You know when you go in to something with huge expectations... It's all relative

[trickshotsmoviesandcubing]

Honorable Mentions: Contagion, The Schizoid Man
5. The Emissary
4. Elemantary, Dear Data
3. A Matter of Honor
2. Q Who
1. The Measure of a Man

[timothybuckley]

To start, I’ll group the Season Two episodes by “Best (Classics or significant to the series), ” “Upper Tier” (Mostly good but not quite classics), “Middle” (Neither great nor terrible, but mostly enjoyable), “Lower Tier” (Generally weak efforts, but maybe with some good moments), and “Worst” (Little or nothing to recommend). Within each category, I’ve grouped by airing order. I. Best: A Matter of Honor: The Measure of A Man; Q Who: and The Emissary. Upper Tier: Where Silence Has Lease; Elementary Dear Data; Contagion; and Time Squared. Middle: Loud as a Whisper; The Schizoid Man; The Dauphin; Pen Pals; Samaritan Snare; and Peak Performance. Lower Tier: Unnatural Selection, The Royale; and Icarus Factor. Worst: The Child; The Outrageous Okona; Up the Long Ladder; Manhunt; and Shades of Grey.
In retrospect, Season Two is often lumped in with Season One as “the bad seasons.” But at the time, Season Two was seen as a significant improvement. Not everything works, and the season overall suffers from being rushed. But it feels much more like Star Trek – and not in the “pale retread of TOS sense.” The series and characters are stepping out from the shadow of TOS to be their own thing. That is one of the reasons why “The Child” and the character of Dr. Pulaski are so frustrating. “The Child” is a rushed re-write of an episode written for the TOS characters. And for much of the season, Dr. Pulaski seems like a female version of Dr. McCoy. But for the first time, there are truly great episodes (see “Best”) that will stand up to the best of TNG as a whole. There are more upper and middle tier episodes that really advance the characters while being good stories. The lower tier episodes generally fall short by being less about the main characters and more plot-driven. Yes, I know I included Icarus Factor in that category. But there, the family conflict between Wil and Kyle Riker is so generic and resolved in such an odd way that it just falls flat. And the worst episodes are either all plot-driven or lacking much in either plot or character.
In looking back at my own memories of the first time watching this season, I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as Alex and Josh. But this was still a series that I made time to watch, and I stuck with it even through some of the weaker episodes that pissed me off. (I recall disliking “Pen Pals” much more, but now, it doesn’t annoy me that much.) Interestingly enough, the one episode I missed on the first viewing was “Q Who.” I didn’t see it until about 3 years later, after the Borg were a much bigger thing. But I think everyone watching at the time realized that the Borg were going to be a game changer for this series and Trek as a whole. The important thing is that I wanted to keep watching – it kept me engaged in a way that a certain “New Trek” series fails to do for me.
The show is also very much a product of the late 80’s. This is classic episodic TV, and the broader idea of story or character arcs is barely touched upon. And Season Two is even less ambitious in that regard that Season One. Overall, the stories are better, but many of them are still wrapped up too quickly. (Q Who is a notable exception – the immediate crisis is resolved by Q, but they leave the consequences open.) The writing and dialogue is improved from Season One, although the characters are inconsistently written. However, the characters are a lot closer to how they will be for the rest of the series. I look forward to seeing Alex and Josh’s reactions to Season Three and beyond.

[bobmathis-friedman]

My Top 5: 5) Elementary, My Dear Data 4)Q Who 3)A Matter of Honor 2)Loud As A Whisper 1) Measure Of A Man

[scgreek]

A definitive top 5. No surprises here. It makes me like S2 a bit more than I remember.
I'm not gonna beard-shame anyone, but one of you needs to loan the other a trimmer. 😁

[HopemanGG]

I feel like The Measure of a Man almost transcends Star Trek. You could show the episode to somebody without any knowledge of Star Trek and they would be able understand. I could see this being a popular watch in philosophy or IT classes.
So yeah, The Measure of a Man is maybe my favorite episode of TNG with its only negative being that it indirectly spawned the new Picard show.

[vohbovohborian]

Anything other than:
1) Measure of a Man
2) Q Who

Is objectively wrong

[jerobriggs]

My top 5 season 2 episodes:

5. Elementary, Dear Data
4. The Emissary
3. A Matter of Honor
2. The Measure of a Man
1. Q Who

Honorable Mentions:

Manhunt, Time Squared, Pen Pals, Contagion, Where Silence Has Lease, Peak Performance, and Up the Long Ladder (despite what people think, I personally like this one a lot).

Dishonorable Mention:

Shades of Gray

[Thunderwing]

Guys, The WWE Network is dead, at least here in the States. All of WWE’s content has been moved to PeacockTV.

[KevinPSmith-fkeb]

I'm broke. I can't afford to be a patreon. Sorry. But to make us poor youtube watchers wait 13 days for the next one? Some of us may lose interest.

[jakkrem]

Got a hunch it'll take a bit longer than 5 minutes to come up with your top 5 for season 3.

[SupremeCleave]

I am so glad to take this journey with you guys. It's a lot of fun watching you discover this show and enjoy it on your own terms.

[iKvetch]

You guys are gonna have a MUCH harder time picking your Top 5 for Season 3...LOL...I count at least 20 S Tier episodes that you will need to choose from. I hate to sound like a broken record, but Season 3 changes the scale of how episodes are judged...it is so good that it made a lot of people judge Season 2 more harshly than it should be. You may be getting a hint of it already, since I read that you are already watching S3 episodes on Patreon...I cannot wait to see them for myself when they get here.😁

[scrapperlock]

My top 5 are:
1. Q Who
2. Measure of a Man
3. Matter of Honor
4. Emissary
5. Elementary Dear Data