"Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season Two Recap/Review
Warning: The following contains spoilers for a show that started airing before I was a year old. If, like me, you've not seen it, go and watch and then come back. Thank you.
Previously on "pk Has Never Seen TNG: The Series," I complained about things, liked other things, and was generally ambivalent.
Like last time, I'm going to break this down into a Whole Season Overview, a list of Good and Bad Things, and Specific Episode Commentaries.
The second season was much, MUCH better than the first. There was still some stuff that could be improved and some really bad episodes (I'm referring to you, season finale!), but overall, the show seemed tighter than the previous season. The writers seemed to have a much better handle on the characters, especially LaForge and Worf with Data and Wesley being much less annoying. And they didn't rip off a single plot from The Original Series! (They did kinda rip off The Animated Series, but it's a plot they started ripping off the previous season.) That said, it's not all good as several characters are annoying, some episodes are just stupid, and I want to punch Pulanski in the face. REPEATEDLY. With a board.
The good:
* The production design is still fabulous. The Borg cube feels completely alien, and the close-ups of it fixing itself is chilling. (More on the Borg later, but I like their intro.) The aliens are starting to look more alien, such as the fish assassins in the episode with Lwaxana Troi. Overall, it's really good.
*Finally, they know what to do with LaForge and Worf. Last season, they were just there and nobody really knew what to do with them. LaForge (who I want to call Geordie now so good job) kept switching jobs last season. Finally, he feels like he has a purpose other than being the non-alien black guy. I really like that Worf is now Head of Security. It feels very fitting since he and Tasha had a friendship last season; of course, he'd take up her mantle to honour her.
*They didn't forget Tasha. It's mostly subtle, but there are references to her and that they miss her. For a franchise that defined expendable characters, it's really nice to see that. Especially since I still miss Tasha.
*Chief O'Brian. It's something you don't think about until they point it out, but of course, there are people who have to be in-charge of the vital-but-not-super-awesome things. Especially the transporters since if those go wrong everybody dies. I also like his character, what little of it there is at this point. (It's possible this is just me being all "You are so awesome in DS9! So awesome!" I never pretended to be unbiased.)
*Guinan. She's awesome.
*Riker is finally a character rather than Capt. Kirk But on This Show! He's come into his own, and it's really helped sell the show to me. In fact, he's my favourite character this season.
*Wesley isn't nearly as annoying this season. For the most part, they keep from shoehorning him into episodes where he doesn't belong. And I love the episode that deals with him falling in love for the first time. It's really well-written and plotted. I still have issues with Wesley, but he's better.
*I prefer Data this season too. He still has his problems, but he's far less annoying. The best episode this season (by far) was a Data episode. He also had one of the worst episodes, though. I think Data works better as a straight man or at the very least, someone deadly sincere in what he's saying. The writers are starting to do that more this season. However, I know part of the fading Data hate comes from sympathy due to the way Pulanski treats him. More on that later when I talk about her.
*The sci fi is smarter this season. There's still a lot of action, but there are also several episodes when what's at stake isn't really that big a deal and what's important is the story/argument. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of making me sad because that sort of sci fi doesn't exist in the mainstream anymore.
The bad:
*The non-Starfleet uniform costumes. It's not even that they're all that bad, it's that they're not William Ware Theiss. They don't even try to be WWT-esque either. It's like being fed Kobe beef with handmade rolls and fresh picked vegetables cooked by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto for a week and then being given a McDouble and cold fries and being told, "They're the same thing." They're not and I'm resentful that they even tried it. (I know WWT left the show because of his health, dying a few years later. I don't begrudge him anything. But maybe they could've picked someone with a closer aesthetic to take over.)
*Some of the episodes treat the audience like they're stupid. The answer to the problem (or something they're trying to keep hidden) is obvious, and the show tries to pretend it's not. I'll have specific examples when I talk more about the episodes.
*Troi has taken a backslide into mostly useless. Also, her major episode this season just freaked me out and made me uncomfortable. More on that later. For the most part, there isn't really a strong female character on the show anymore. You can argue Pulanski fills that role, but I feel like she's a bitch more than a strong character.
*Wesley is on the Enterprise. I know I said I found him much less annoying this season, and I really do. But why is he on the ship? I know he's an "acting ensign" but he's also a *15 year old*. A 15 year old who is alone in space without any form of parental supervision. Yes, Riker is supposed to be looking over his schooling, but it appears that Wesley is living on his own. At 15. On a spaceship that almost gets blown up once a week. Beverly Crusher is a horrible, horrible mother.
*Holy crap, Data can be bloody annoying. I think this depends on the writer. Some people write him as a quirky android with a job to do who just wants to understand how people work ; some write him as an omnipotent, superior being that can do no wrong, even when he's totally wrong; some people write him as the team pet with his silly jokes and funny antics. There's some consistency from episode-to-episode, but there's not much. The worst are the episodes were he's trying to understand humour. They just grate on my nerves.
*For a show that's so creative and innovative, some episodes are really stupid and boring. (I'm talking to you, season finale!) There are a few episodes where it's like someone said, "Forget this sci fi nonsense! I wanna write detective novels!" (The casino episode, which seemed like it was twice as long as it actually was. I thought it was a double-episode at first.) Other episodes seem like everybody had an idea so they crammed them all together and hoped nobody noticed. (The war games episode.) There were far fewer missteps this season, but when they stumbled, they landed on their face and broke a nose.
*PULANSKI. I saved the worst for last. Holy shit, I HATE Pulanski. I'm a little scared of how much I hate her. I understand what they were trying to do: make McCoy 2.0: Female Edition. And it didn't work. For a couple of reasons. One) we already have the real McCoy. Two) A grumpy doctor and the people he's known for years can pick on each other and make it feel affectionate. Pulanski has just met these people so she comes off as mean. Three) Wesley disease a.k.a. Let us tell you how awesome this character is! She's so awesome! Super awesome! She's the super best medical officer to ever exist. In fact, she's so awesome it makes no sense for her to be here when she could be somewhere else doing nothing but awesome life-saving medicine of awesome. Did we mention she's awesome? (Or the show is trying too hard to push her as being a fantastic doctor rather than allowing us to come to the realization she's awesome.) Four) Spock actually had emotions that he suppressed. So when McCoy makes fun of him for being emotionless, it was a sort of bizarre, backhanded compliment. He was saying, in essence, "You're doing such a good job at suppressing your emotions that I forgot you had them." Data does NOT have emotions and wants nothing more than to have them. So when Pulanski makes fun of him for being emotionless, it's a cruel taunt. She's essentially saying, "Na Na Na Na Na. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you're not going to have emotions. *raspberry*" Which does not endear me to a person, especially when that person is being presented as a caring, loving individual.
That's my basic overview for the second season . Now I'd like to talk a little about specific episodes. Once again, plot summaries will be a mix of official and my summaries.
"The Child:" Troi is energy raped, giving birth to her own rapist and nobody comments. Also, Pulanski arrives on board and is a dick to Data.
This episode squicked me out like nobody's business. I do like that when Troi decides what she's going to do the others go along with it. However, she's pregnant without having sex and the child is growing insanely fast. And Troi doesn't seem fazed. I understand she's an alien, but surely someone could have done a quick Wikipedia search and realized something was up. From there it's not a far reach to say she was being mind controlled. Nobody freaked out the way I would've, and that squicked me almost as much as the whole "giving birth to her own rapist thing." This is also an episode that treats the viewer like an idiot. The containment field is freaking out because of radiation. But that radiation wasn't there when they put the container on the ship. You know, back before Troi was mysteriously pregnant. A monkey could've solved it quicker! And then the problem could've been "The only way to save the crew may be to kill a child. What do we do?" instead of "Oh noes! Mysterious radiation!"
"The Outrageous Okona": The Enterprise crew encounters a flamboyant space rogue while Data tries to learn comedy from a holodeck comedian.
Oh, I wanted to like this ep. I like Okona. I liked how he and Riker interacted since they're the same archetype with one being Chaotic Good (Okona) and the other being Lawful Good (Riker). I even like the conflict. By law, Picard has to turn over Okona, but who should he turn him over to? And I like the way the dispute is resolved. It's quick thinking on Okona's part, rather than the Enterprise crew. But I really hate the subplot. I dislike wacky Team Pet Data, and this episode played that to the hilt. He's really annoying, especially when he puts on his "stereotypical comedian" voice, which just sounds like the Penguin to me. Add in the fact that I dislike Joe Piscopo (I don't think he's funny), and this episode actually became one of the worse of the season for me.
"A Matter of Honour": Riker is first officer on a Klingon ship. I nearly die of squee.
Dudes. I love the "our enemies are people too" episodes. They're one of my favourite cliches. (I've seen Enemy Mine more times than the people who made it.) I quite like Klingon culture because it's something I can understand (space Vikings) and I love their death rituals. And as I've mentioned, over the course of the season, Riker became my favourite character. It's like the writers wrote an episode for me. I love most of the Klingons, including the woman who hits on Riker. I love how awesome Worf is. (He shoots Kargan before the other man can pull out his phaser.) My big problem is Kargan. He makes leaps of logic that make no sense and even when confronted with evidence to the contrary, he keeps on plugging his theories. Not very honourable. I really want Klag to give him the opportunity to "honorably retire" i.e. assassination for sucking. However, Wesley asking an alien "how can you tell each other apart?" was cringe-worthy. Is he going to ask Geordi if he and Guinan are siblings next?
"The Measure of a Man": When Data refuses to be dismantled for research purposes, a trial is convened to determine if he is a citizen or the property of the Federation. I realize why everyone says TNG is the best Trek.
This is easily the best episode of the first two seasons. EASILY. It's so good that it's almost hard to explain how good it is. Almost everything is perfect. The acting and writing is brilliant. I especially love the way Guinan made Picard realize the issue at stake. She lead him to the right conclusion, made him say it aloud, gave him an opportunity to backtrack, and then supported him when he stood his ground. It's a subtle scene, but it's brilliant. The judicial procedure being ignored irked me a little, but this episode is still fantastic. Viewing this episode should be mandatory for anybody who wants to write screenplays.
"The Dauphin": Wesley's got a girlfriend! And she's a shapeshifter.
This is a really solid story I feel. It hits all the right points for a standard first love story. But there's more going on here. Both Wes and Salia are struggling with what they want to do versus what their destiny is. They want to be together, but it can never happen. Which mirrors Salia's desire to see the universe. There's lots of nice parallels here with just enough sci fi to make it work. Though, it also shows that Wesley apparently lives alone at 15. Fortunately, Salia's the first person he's been interested in because he could've been humping everyone and nobody would've known.
"The Royale": Riker, Worf, and Data get trapped in a bad novel. No questions are answered.
Hate. The story is stupid. The writing is bad. They keep bringing up questions (how did the astronauts get here? Who is doing this? Why are they doing this?) that they don't really answer. (The aliens did it. The aliens are doing it. They're doing it 'cause they're aliens.) No explanation of how. No explanation of why. And it felt twice as long as it actually was.
"Q Who": Q wants to be on the Enterprise with his crush, Picard. Picard says no. Q throws a temper tantrum by introducing the Enterprise to the Borg.
This whole episode kinda reads like "If you won't love me, I'll make you love me by saving you from ship eating cyborgs! There's no flaw in this plan. Oh wait. Massive flaw. Huge flaw." This is another episode that makes me think Q is just a softie at heart. (The other is "Encounter at Farpoint." He just wanted to save the space jellyfish.) He knew the Federation was getting complacent, and in space colonization, complacent can get you killed. He introduced them to the Borg. Now the Federation knows what's out there and they're preparing for it. Now I know Guinan said the Federation wasn't supposed to meet the Borg for a couple of centuries, but they were scooping up outposts in the Neutral Zone previously so... I guess Q could've been doing that, but it doesn't seem his style. (Also, I totally want to write fic in the movie 'verse where Q didn't interfere and the Borg grew up before they met the Federation.) The Borg had a decent introduction. The ship and costumes looked cool (even if Baby Borg were kinda bathos-y. And adorable). The Borg didn't do much, but the fact that didn't have to kinda made them scarier. But if I had been watching this during the original run, I doubt I would've expected them to become the franchise Big Bads. But I bet the writers weren't expecting that either.
"Manhunt": Troi's mother is looking for a new husband, and she has her eyes set on Picard.
I know I should find Lwaxana annoying. For all intents and purposes, she is. She hits all the annoying buttons. But for some reason, I like her. I don't know. However, This episode was a filler episode, filled with filler. All the stuff in the holodeck when Picard was fighting with the computer had nothing to do with anything. If your episode can't fill 50 minutes, don't try to fill 50 minutes.
"Peak Performance": Riker is given command of a derelict ship in order to play war game. Meanwhile, Pulanski wants to bring the Federation observer down to size, resulting in Data questioning whether he can be First Officer. Also, Ferengi. Because there wasn't enough going on in this episode.
Like I said, if your story can't fill the running time, come up with a new story. Or you can go the route of "Peak Performance." In that case, gather up all the plots you couldn't stretch to fill the running time and combine them. Hope nobody notices. They will notice, though. They will.
"Shades of Grey": A bloody great clip show. With a stupid wrap around plot.
I found out from Wikipedia that this was a result of the Writer's Strike. I didn't know that when I was watching it, though. And...I forgot what I was talking about. I seem to think it was the finale of the second season of TNG. But surely, if I had seen the finale, I would've remembered it, right? I mean, it was a finale. Guess I've not seen it. Oh well. I should watch it... Right. So I'm back. The finale of the second season of TNG was...uh...I guess I've not seen that. Sorry, guys.
For the most part, the second season was leaps and bounds better than the first season. And it gave us one of the best episodes of the show. Unfortunately, it also gave us Pulanski (who I HATE), Troi being useless, and costuming that's just not up to par.
Onward, to Season Three!
Previously on "pk Has Never Seen TNG: The Series," I complained about things, liked other things, and was generally ambivalent.
Like last time, I'm going to break this down into a Whole Season Overview, a list of Good and Bad Things, and Specific Episode Commentaries.
The second season was much, MUCH better than the first. There was still some stuff that could be improved and some really bad episodes (I'm referring to you, season finale!), but overall, the show seemed tighter than the previous season. The writers seemed to have a much better handle on the characters, especially LaForge and Worf with Data and Wesley being much less annoying. And they didn't rip off a single plot from The Original Series! (They did kinda rip off The Animated Series, but it's a plot they started ripping off the previous season.) That said, it's not all good as several characters are annoying, some episodes are just stupid, and I want to punch Pulanski in the face. REPEATEDLY. With a board.
The good:
* The production design is still fabulous. The Borg cube feels completely alien, and the close-ups of it fixing itself is chilling. (More on the Borg later, but I like their intro.) The aliens are starting to look more alien, such as the fish assassins in the episode with Lwaxana Troi. Overall, it's really good.
*Finally, they know what to do with LaForge and Worf. Last season, they were just there and nobody really knew what to do with them. LaForge (who I want to call Geordie now so good job) kept switching jobs last season. Finally, he feels like he has a purpose other than being the non-alien black guy. I really like that Worf is now Head of Security. It feels very fitting since he and Tasha had a friendship last season; of course, he'd take up her mantle to honour her.
*They didn't forget Tasha. It's mostly subtle, but there are references to her and that they miss her. For a franchise that defined expendable characters, it's really nice to see that. Especially since I still miss Tasha.
*Chief O'Brian. It's something you don't think about until they point it out, but of course, there are people who have to be in-charge of the vital-but-not-super-awesome things. Especially the transporters since if those go wrong everybody dies. I also like his character, what little of it there is at this point. (It's possible this is just me being all "You are so awesome in DS9! So awesome!" I never pretended to be unbiased.)
*Guinan. She's awesome.
*Riker is finally a character rather than Capt. Kirk But on This Show! He's come into his own, and it's really helped sell the show to me. In fact, he's my favourite character this season.
*Wesley isn't nearly as annoying this season. For the most part, they keep from shoehorning him into episodes where he doesn't belong. And I love the episode that deals with him falling in love for the first time. It's really well-written and plotted. I still have issues with Wesley, but he's better.
*I prefer Data this season too. He still has his problems, but he's far less annoying. The best episode this season (by far) was a Data episode. He also had one of the worst episodes, though. I think Data works better as a straight man or at the very least, someone deadly sincere in what he's saying. The writers are starting to do that more this season. However, I know part of the fading Data hate comes from sympathy due to the way Pulanski treats him. More on that later when I talk about her.
*The sci fi is smarter this season. There's still a lot of action, but there are also several episodes when what's at stake isn't really that big a deal and what's important is the story/argument. Unfortunately, this has the side effect of making me sad because that sort of sci fi doesn't exist in the mainstream anymore.
The bad:
*The non-Starfleet uniform costumes. It's not even that they're all that bad, it's that they're not William Ware Theiss. They don't even try to be WWT-esque either. It's like being fed Kobe beef with handmade rolls and fresh picked vegetables cooked by Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto for a week and then being given a McDouble and cold fries and being told, "They're the same thing." They're not and I'm resentful that they even tried it. (I know WWT left the show because of his health, dying a few years later. I don't begrudge him anything. But maybe they could've picked someone with a closer aesthetic to take over.)
*Some of the episodes treat the audience like they're stupid. The answer to the problem (or something they're trying to keep hidden) is obvious, and the show tries to pretend it's not. I'll have specific examples when I talk more about the episodes.
*Troi has taken a backslide into mostly useless. Also, her major episode this season just freaked me out and made me uncomfortable. More on that later. For the most part, there isn't really a strong female character on the show anymore. You can argue Pulanski fills that role, but I feel like she's a bitch more than a strong character.
*Wesley is on the Enterprise. I know I said I found him much less annoying this season, and I really do. But why is he on the ship? I know he's an "acting ensign" but he's also a *15 year old*. A 15 year old who is alone in space without any form of parental supervision. Yes, Riker is supposed to be looking over his schooling, but it appears that Wesley is living on his own. At 15. On a spaceship that almost gets blown up once a week. Beverly Crusher is a horrible, horrible mother.
*Holy crap, Data can be bloody annoying. I think this depends on the writer. Some people write him as a quirky android with a job to do who just wants to understand how people work ; some write him as an omnipotent, superior being that can do no wrong, even when he's totally wrong; some people write him as the team pet with his silly jokes and funny antics. There's some consistency from episode-to-episode, but there's not much. The worst are the episodes were he's trying to understand humour. They just grate on my nerves.
*For a show that's so creative and innovative, some episodes are really stupid and boring. (I'm talking to you, season finale!) There are a few episodes where it's like someone said, "Forget this sci fi nonsense! I wanna write detective novels!" (The casino episode, which seemed like it was twice as long as it actually was. I thought it was a double-episode at first.) Other episodes seem like everybody had an idea so they crammed them all together and hoped nobody noticed. (The war games episode.) There were far fewer missteps this season, but when they stumbled, they landed on their face and broke a nose.
*PULANSKI. I saved the worst for last. Holy shit, I HATE Pulanski. I'm a little scared of how much I hate her. I understand what they were trying to do: make McCoy 2.0: Female Edition. And it didn't work. For a couple of reasons. One) we already have the real McCoy. Two) A grumpy doctor and the people he's known for years can pick on each other and make it feel affectionate. Pulanski has just met these people so she comes off as mean. Three) Wesley disease a.k.a. Let us tell you how awesome this character is! She's so awesome! Super awesome! She's the super best medical officer to ever exist. In fact, she's so awesome it makes no sense for her to be here when she could be somewhere else doing nothing but awesome life-saving medicine of awesome. Did we mention she's awesome? (Or the show is trying too hard to push her as being a fantastic doctor rather than allowing us to come to the realization she's awesome.) Four) Spock actually had emotions that he suppressed. So when McCoy makes fun of him for being emotionless, it was a sort of bizarre, backhanded compliment. He was saying, in essence, "You're doing such a good job at suppressing your emotions that I forgot you had them." Data does NOT have emotions and wants nothing more than to have them. So when Pulanski makes fun of him for being emotionless, it's a cruel taunt. She's essentially saying, "Na Na Na Na Na. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you're not going to have emotions. *raspberry*" Which does not endear me to a person, especially when that person is being presented as a caring, loving individual.
That's my basic overview for the second season . Now I'd like to talk a little about specific episodes. Once again, plot summaries will be a mix of official and my summaries.
"The Child:" Troi is energy raped, giving birth to her own rapist and nobody comments. Also, Pulanski arrives on board and is a dick to Data.
This episode squicked me out like nobody's business. I do like that when Troi decides what she's going to do the others go along with it. However, she's pregnant without having sex and the child is growing insanely fast. And Troi doesn't seem fazed. I understand she's an alien, but surely someone could have done a quick Wikipedia search and realized something was up. From there it's not a far reach to say she was being mind controlled. Nobody freaked out the way I would've, and that squicked me almost as much as the whole "giving birth to her own rapist thing." This is also an episode that treats the viewer like an idiot. The containment field is freaking out because of radiation. But that radiation wasn't there when they put the container on the ship. You know, back before Troi was mysteriously pregnant. A monkey could've solved it quicker! And then the problem could've been "The only way to save the crew may be to kill a child. What do we do?" instead of "Oh noes! Mysterious radiation!"
"The Outrageous Okona": The Enterprise crew encounters a flamboyant space rogue while Data tries to learn comedy from a holodeck comedian.
Oh, I wanted to like this ep. I like Okona. I liked how he and Riker interacted since they're the same archetype with one being Chaotic Good (Okona) and the other being Lawful Good (Riker). I even like the conflict. By law, Picard has to turn over Okona, but who should he turn him over to? And I like the way the dispute is resolved. It's quick thinking on Okona's part, rather than the Enterprise crew. But I really hate the subplot. I dislike wacky Team Pet Data, and this episode played that to the hilt. He's really annoying, especially when he puts on his "stereotypical comedian" voice, which just sounds like the Penguin to me. Add in the fact that I dislike Joe Piscopo (I don't think he's funny), and this episode actually became one of the worse of the season for me.
"A Matter of Honour": Riker is first officer on a Klingon ship. I nearly die of squee.
Dudes. I love the "our enemies are people too" episodes. They're one of my favourite cliches. (I've seen Enemy Mine more times than the people who made it.) I quite like Klingon culture because it's something I can understand (space Vikings) and I love their death rituals. And as I've mentioned, over the course of the season, Riker became my favourite character. It's like the writers wrote an episode for me. I love most of the Klingons, including the woman who hits on Riker. I love how awesome Worf is. (He shoots Kargan before the other man can pull out his phaser.) My big problem is Kargan. He makes leaps of logic that make no sense and even when confronted with evidence to the contrary, he keeps on plugging his theories. Not very honourable. I really want Klag to give him the opportunity to "honorably retire" i.e. assassination for sucking. However, Wesley asking an alien "how can you tell each other apart?" was cringe-worthy. Is he going to ask Geordi if he and Guinan are siblings next?
"The Measure of a Man": When Data refuses to be dismantled for research purposes, a trial is convened to determine if he is a citizen or the property of the Federation. I realize why everyone says TNG is the best Trek.
This is easily the best episode of the first two seasons. EASILY. It's so good that it's almost hard to explain how good it is. Almost everything is perfect. The acting and writing is brilliant. I especially love the way Guinan made Picard realize the issue at stake. She lead him to the right conclusion, made him say it aloud, gave him an opportunity to backtrack, and then supported him when he stood his ground. It's a subtle scene, but it's brilliant. The judicial procedure being ignored irked me a little, but this episode is still fantastic. Viewing this episode should be mandatory for anybody who wants to write screenplays.
"The Dauphin": Wesley's got a girlfriend! And she's a shapeshifter.
This is a really solid story I feel. It hits all the right points for a standard first love story. But there's more going on here. Both Wes and Salia are struggling with what they want to do versus what their destiny is. They want to be together, but it can never happen. Which mirrors Salia's desire to see the universe. There's lots of nice parallels here with just enough sci fi to make it work. Though, it also shows that Wesley apparently lives alone at 15. Fortunately, Salia's the first person he's been interested in because he could've been humping everyone and nobody would've known.
"The Royale": Riker, Worf, and Data get trapped in a bad novel. No questions are answered.
Hate. The story is stupid. The writing is bad. They keep bringing up questions (how did the astronauts get here? Who is doing this? Why are they doing this?) that they don't really answer. (The aliens did it. The aliens are doing it. They're doing it 'cause they're aliens.) No explanation of how. No explanation of why. And it felt twice as long as it actually was.
"Q Who": Q wants to be on the Enterprise with his crush, Picard. Picard says no. Q throws a temper tantrum by introducing the Enterprise to the Borg.
This whole episode kinda reads like "If you won't love me, I'll make you love me by saving you from ship eating cyborgs! There's no flaw in this plan. Oh wait. Massive flaw. Huge flaw." This is another episode that makes me think Q is just a softie at heart. (The other is "Encounter at Farpoint." He just wanted to save the space jellyfish.) He knew the Federation was getting complacent, and in space colonization, complacent can get you killed. He introduced them to the Borg. Now the Federation knows what's out there and they're preparing for it. Now I know Guinan said the Federation wasn't supposed to meet the Borg for a couple of centuries, but they were scooping up outposts in the Neutral Zone previously so... I guess Q could've been doing that, but it doesn't seem his style. (Also, I totally want to write fic in the movie 'verse where Q didn't interfere and the Borg grew up before they met the Federation.) The Borg had a decent introduction. The ship and costumes looked cool (even if Baby Borg were kinda bathos-y. And adorable). The Borg didn't do much, but the fact that didn't have to kinda made them scarier. But if I had been watching this during the original run, I doubt I would've expected them to become the franchise Big Bads. But I bet the writers weren't expecting that either.
"Manhunt": Troi's mother is looking for a new husband, and she has her eyes set on Picard.
I know I should find Lwaxana annoying. For all intents and purposes, she is. She hits all the annoying buttons. But for some reason, I like her. I don't know. However, This episode was a filler episode, filled with filler. All the stuff in the holodeck when Picard was fighting with the computer had nothing to do with anything. If your episode can't fill 50 minutes, don't try to fill 50 minutes.
"Peak Performance": Riker is given command of a derelict ship in order to play war game. Meanwhile, Pulanski wants to bring the Federation observer down to size, resulting in Data questioning whether he can be First Officer. Also, Ferengi. Because there wasn't enough going on in this episode.
Like I said, if your story can't fill the running time, come up with a new story. Or you can go the route of "Peak Performance." In that case, gather up all the plots you couldn't stretch to fill the running time and combine them. Hope nobody notices. They will notice, though. They will.
"Shades of Grey": A bloody great clip show. With a stupid wrap around plot.
I found out from Wikipedia that this was a result of the Writer's Strike. I didn't know that when I was watching it, though. And...I forgot what I was talking about. I seem to think it was the finale of the second season of TNG. But surely, if I had seen the finale, I would've remembered it, right? I mean, it was a finale. Guess I've not seen it. Oh well. I should watch it... Right. So I'm back. The finale of the second season of TNG was...uh...I guess I've not seen that. Sorry, guys.
For the most part, the second season was leaps and bounds better than the first season. And it gave us one of the best episodes of the show. Unfortunately, it also gave us Pulanski (who I HATE), Troi being useless, and costuming that's just not up to par.
Onward, to Season Three!