Some review synopses, in under 25000 characters:
Best:
Q Who - it introduces the Borg with mostly style and a sense of overpowering threat. Even a seriously-played satire ON the Federation as both Federation and Borg Collective have some eerie similarities and the tangential differences that stem from those root similarities. The Borg are clearly inspired by Doctor Who's Cybermen, but are given the gravitas to make them
far scarier and DW has yet to top TNG in the ping pong version of "borrowing and innovating upon". Granted, shoehorning in the "begin as biological life forms" could easily have been worse, it was conversely the one time in the episode during the original airing that I burst out laughing at how cheesy it was. Little did anyone know, until the Borg state in a later episode they wanted Picard, that there's far more going on than a nursery of Borg that's on par with your back yard weed garden. Didn't John DeLancie improvise a scene in the briefing lounge, doing a cool and calm collected scene with an aura of superiority ending with "Oh please?" in response to Picard's concerns about the situation they were lumped into? Is this episode THE best of season 2? Not in all ways, but definitely is in enough important aspects.
Contagion - An episode with a bunch of firsts. At least regarding a new plot toy and the first time we see Picard's Earl Grey Addiction(tm). I like the twist that it's not a deliberately malicious virus rewriting computer systems but a probe simply seeking out - like "The Inner Light" but only on machine level. Not unlike VGER's creators only not destructive and a lot smaller. The "do a ctrl-alt-del" solution is staved off the way that "Court Martial" from TOS ignores the "yes kids, logs can be altered" plot point until toward the end. It's a genuinely epic adventure with the Ikonians, another starship (Yamato), and Romulans. Never fails to enthrall. And I liked, at least in concept, the setup for a warp core breach and the urgency of the issue. It's a shame later episodes ditched the "highly improbable series of events has to take place" aspect in favor of the somewhat less compelling "let a strand of hair hit the deck plate and the ship will promptly explode".
A Matter of Honor - Foreign exchange program...
in space! Everything's pretty well-handled, though Picard does get a bit up-nosed with Ensign Mendon as on the Enterprise it looks like Mendon is the only one doing any learning of another culture and not the other way around. The Klingon scenes are not to be missed. I'll save the tangential babies joke that takes place in the Klingon ship's mess hall for another day... but the joke worked, given the constraints of the plot. It's a must-see episode.
Elementary, Dear Data - a couple of gaffes aside, such as Geordi being melodramatic while holding a piece of paper with the Enterprise drawn on it upside down, not to mention his taking it out of the holodeck and it doesn't vanish, it's one of the best and very engaging. Especially the Old London set! Daniel Davis steals the show as Moriarty, helping to suspend disbelief even more given the show's premise.
Time Squared - a great piece on predetermination and paradox, the only snafus are hinted at the "reverse phase" scenes regarding shuttle and otherPicard. Is it 100% reversing the medications, not smaller amounts - like how the shuttle had the power adjusted slowly? The lack of motivation or reasoning for the tornadomonsterthing also detracts given emphasis is placed on the thing having such qualities to begin with, though Troi does get to explain the rudimentary basics for this spatial phenomenon. Even if it's rough around the edges. It's enjoyable for the pulp conceptual ideas storytelling. It's also worthy of a Doctor Who episode, but DW hasn't quite done the identical thing. Yet. And Doctor Who did try it, once. It's called "episode 1 of 'The Space Museum'." TNG just did the same thing and with a bit more panache. Maybe HG Wells did something not dissimilar in one of his writings as well.
The Schizoid Man - Definitely another must-see episode, just don't ask how the scientist spent enough time watching "The Wizard of Oz" to know the tune, though if Shakespeare plays are hundreds of years old and are still played then there's nothing implausible about the classic "Oz" being re-told as well, musical numbers and all. Mortality is not often touched by Trek, and season 2 has the bonus of being as much conceptual as it is emotional. It takes the basic idea of "Four to Doomsday" (Doctor Who) and "What Are Little Girls Made Of" and "Return to Tomorrow" (TOS) and explores in a rather new direction the concept of putting a human mind inside an android body -- instead of wasting 40 minutes having Lurch and eye candy wandering around in skimpy outfits while Kirk hides in a cave with a rather odd looking stalactite after getting his chest hairs shaved because Gene didn't want hairy chested captains, or Spock becoming evil to anyone who tuned in too late, or the Doctor battling frogs with first rate sartorial taste to go along with their superiority complex since Leader Frog claims to be God and all. "Monarch", indeed. But back to TNG-ville: Brent Spiner really does a class act as "Data being bodysnatched" routine and it's
very compelling to watch. W Morgan Sheppard also hits a home run as Graves. TNG did do the concept best, partly because it's the most focused and assured in what it's telling and is honed extremely well. So far. I believe this is also the only episode where we see Dr Selar onscreen? Suzie Plakson is as phenomenal as Selar as much as she
is K’Ehleyr as well. She's
that good. Definitely a must-see episode, despite my officially not having the sub-groups in any proper order, sorta. Oh, it's also known that the episode's title is homage to a certain BBC show from 1967 starring Patrick McGoohan with an episode of the same title.
But if anything, don't watch this just to be awed by Data wearing a fake beard. Doesn't work... And, yes, "Schizoid" does define the scientist's lifestyle almost perfectly, prior to his taking over Data... If anything, how can Troi's biological empathic process pick up circuit responses from a walking mobile computer? AI or not, Data still has no emotions, they're programmed electronic impulses and Troi doesn't go nuts every time shew picks up energy flowing in the Enterprise's computer systems, so Troi is just spouting what everyone else already know - Data is acting unusual. Or else she would have picked up on Lore long before Wesley had in "Datalore". If nothing else, any TNG story featuring a starship whose name has 5 or more syllables in it (
Constantinople) deserves a watch for that alone.
Good:
The Child - the season 2 opener mostly serves as filler and character introduction, complete with premise that could have been handled by any bog standard freighter and not the flagship but then we'd have no story so I rolled with it the same way I roll with Kirk beaming down all the time to get it on with the woman of the week when a captain should be stuck on the ship and going down with it instead, but I digress - Doctor Pulaski and Guinan instantly make their mark and with some direction and dedication in both scripting and acting and it's marvelously done. Troi finally gets another episode where she's integral to the plot and Marina Sirtis sells it eminently well. The abortion subplot is also level-headed and even-handed. And superbly directed and acted. Extremely mature scene. I've never understood why people dislike it, but that's just me. The story may be schmaltzy filler, but it's good schmaltzy filler. And given how nasty outer space is, even with the box of organisms they're having to ferry, "The Child" is positively benign given the mysterious space creature known as Ian.
The Royale - it's different, but played with dedication, which makes it work. Every TV show will break out of established format, and this episode is a prime example of trying something different while remaining true to the characters (or trying to). The reason for the astronaut being there is pretty cool in a way, though had he figured out how to leave... he still couldn't have. It's eye-opening and fairly clever in how it treats a scenario involving an alien race that has a chance encounter with a human.
Where Silence Has Lease - terrific mystery/thriller piece, though when Data goes out of his way and over the top to go on and on about how nothing like that void has
ever been encountered before, how many people were screaming at their TV about TOS' "Immunity Syndrome"? Still, the only similarity is a void and once inside both TOS and TNG put in some awesome thrill rides IMHO. TOS is a bit more conceptually original than "nasty guy who wants to do experiments", of which Diana from "V" was more effective (and a lot easier on the eyes too). But I'm wondering if an external shot of Nagillum's visage over the Enterprise may have helped convey the claustrophobic notion of everyone being trapped inside a luxury beige hotel spaceship to be used as hideous lab experiments. Thankfully he was focused more on death than procreation, but he couldn't help notice Pulaski looked different to the rest of the bridge crew. Wasn't Troi in the same room at the time Nagillum realized he was going through his version of puberty? Why not notice her first?
WSHL is still an effective thriller, especially its first two-thirds or so. The ending is a step down, but doesn't wreck it. Great incidental music, too.
Loud as a Whisper - very novel episode, though I wish the two warring factions had a little more depth. It's hinted at, loosely, but for all the merits the story has, it all feels throwaway by the end. This is the smallest review but by no means is it an episode to miss out on as what aspects of the story that DO work more than make up for the throwaway. There's nary a bad performance to be had, and even the Chorus was well-handled. Especially the apparently lust-driven muse guy considering what a debacle season 1 was. Definitely an underrated episode, let down mostly by the ending.
Peak Performance - the story's plot is clearly nonsense, I mean they want to fight the Borg - an adversary so unlike the Federation - so they do what amounts to nothing more than a glorified pillow fight amongst Federation ships, complete with laser tag. It's also way too convenient for Wesley to get at that antimatter, and why isn't the security guy verifying it got beamed into deep space? And Worf really knew how to hack Ferengi ship codes on top of everything else, how convenient!! (Seriously, was there a time crunch in writing the script or did they think that the good guy knows all the codes in enemy fleets? Or does thew audience need a hint that the Federation spies on unaligned empires, but it would have been nicer if a follow-up had the Ferengi addressing the issue. But that's more a DS9 plot tactic and that's the sort of thing DS9 would show, so DS9 retroactively justifies it as much as TNG season 2 took the initially annoying Data/Yar tryst and retroactively gave it some gravitas, which is a very remarkable feat.) Still, the Pulaski/Data scenes are great and are something you could never see McCoy/Spock do. Ever. Pulaski was never a McCoy clone to begin with, which was what the complainers were saying at the time. Nor was Data a Spock clone as such. Both have some influence by the TOS characters but both were given original origins and paths and are far more than the basic archetype double-act trope of "grumpy old person next to aspie persona" and I say that as being an example of the latter. But having said that, it's way too easy to roll with the story - and there is MUCH to like - even when something just sticks out badly. A mixed bag is far better than total dross, so when I put this in the "above average" category, I do so with complete sincerity. It's a great action romp and a lot is needed to remain compelling if enough plot conveniences are taken.
Manhunt - in the right mood, this comedic episode has its moments of greatness, especially Lwaxana who is unaware of what a holodeck is, never mind her interactions with the guy she can't begin to read. Loved the ending, where the fish creatures start to wake up and Lwaxana is quick to read they're scaly plan to blow up the conference. It does bother somewhat that she's freely reading everyone's minds and Troi says nothing, since Troi in past episodes has stated she trains her mind to blot out others. And how Tam Elbron had no ability to blot. So here's Lwaxana acting like she's in a giant beige bookstore, with hands covered in taramasalata (now there's an in-joke worthy of Kryten!), reading every book she wants to get her hands on! So anyway, Mick Fleetwood appears, and in full mask costume - much to the surprise of many if I remember the media blitz of the time. But is Worf really just admiring their looks or does he need to spend more time in the holodeck the way Riker was shown to in season one ("11001001", pity the janitor)? Worf seems to be uncharacteristically written in this episode - when's the last time you looked at a giant
Betta Splendons fish and wanted to mate with it, complete with big goo-goo eyes and virtually drooling everywhere every time you went to that latest magazine issue of "Piscenehouse" or "Playfry"? Lwaxana too has some moments of hilarity but some moments feel out of place as well. But the show is aimed at humans, which might not make anything better but might explain why. At least she wasn't trying to make Troi a sibling with Picard as the intended father... But don't think into this one as it is comic relief set on board a big beige hotel in space, roll with it, it's the best Lwaxana episode of them all. Even if she makes a lot of poor-taste fishy jokes that seem even more and far, far worse out of place than the ones I attempted a moment ago, since the show is about numerous species across the galaxy. If nothing else, they did go both ways with the retorts of "To them you're ugly too" and it's just banter. Anything else as a comedy and this episode flounders. Okay, I'm done, time for the next episode, I'll show myself trout and watch a
Red Dwarf marathon...
The Measure of a Man - I am going to do a Devil's Advocate thing and make a case that it is an overrated episode that's also arguably apocryphal to Trek, since - until now (or, rather, 1988) - Trek has had starship captains nagging computers into exploding with glorious logic gaffes -- either before or after telling The Grand Kirklitany(tm) of how people need to govern and do things. Fortunately, this isn't quite the same issue. But the courtroom drama setting is rock solid and does a good job of getting the viewer to side with Riker, for which the conflict the JAG imposed was rather good if not great . But it's also a little heavyhanded that they reduce androids into the tropes of "cheap and disposable" and "slavery" when technology is generally used to make peoples' lives better to begin with and nobody's batted an eyelid when passing any electronics landfill before or sine this episode was aired. It's a partially clunky story about anthropomorphization, elevated by top notch execution. The allegory is there, it could have been refined a tad more, especially as the ending's wishy washy nature doesn't answer the big blue light special question of Data being sentient or not, only - and I quote - "to choose" (meaning to not be allowed to be disassembled, where's Chief Engineer Paisley Argyle from season 1 when we need him?) Oh, making lots of cheap and disposable androids - just a bunch of smartphones or the electronic form of breeding? Then again, this isn't the last time Starfleet forgets its basic tenet of "the needs of the many" as well - look at how "Insurrection" mishandled all of its plot points. But at least "Measure" is well-written as a story and Data isn't an ordinary computer. Then again, "The Offspring" has Data trying to make more androids, which then arguably runs counter to this episode's themes. But that's another story.
Average:
The Emissary - it's a bit soap opera, but it still never fails to entertain. Suzie Plakson has some great on-screen chemistry with Michael Dorn, as we've seen before, and that easily clinches the episode. Both also create what is to become little Alexander later on. (see, another baby action story and there's more!)
Unnatural Selection - pretty much inspired by TOS' "The Deadly Years" but without the quick-reset-drug ending that episode had, though both - if you roll with the concept - are suitably horrific on an empathy-driven level. The bad news and I'll get that over with first since I like to dwell over it, is that the TNG episode contrives the transporter as means to rejuvenate, and does so well within the confines of the episode. No other episode brings up this new ability panting in the store window for your attention. Just don't think about it too much since who needs a Briar Patch and magical radiation rings that are proven to be useless the second Geordi requires implants again by the time the next movie hits, rendering the movie with said Briar Patch to be completely pointless in the first place. But I digress, this is also the first episode that starts to take transporter technology and gets a bit "lax creative" on just how far it can be used beyond its original, intended function. And yet I like the episode, what's good - and is really good - is that we get to see Pulaski's drive and character firsthand and the risks she is willing to take. She IS one of my favorite characters. And the quarantine and ship destruction scenes at the end always seem to work. I'm not going to mention how genetically modified children involves a eugenics backstory and, of course, makin' babies...
Up the Long Latter - a story of two extremes reuniting, but also relying on racial and cultural stereotypes to save on script writing time but inevitably the same call would be made regardless of what was chosen to rely on as backstory for each group. The "planet of the Clone Sheldon Coopers" is interesting, and all that hairspray for the big hair alone probably made people feel sick. They did have nice hair, though. Why am I talking about hair? The cloning subplot is pretty much a tangent of abortion (interestingly enough) and is inclusive to both sexes given the unique subject matter at hand (unwanted cloning,
taken by force)... oh, and slavery though that's tangential at best, because "The Measure of a Man" did the same concept first but with a machine. But the goal here is to expand the genetic pool so the planet of the "swapping liquids is gross" people can continue on - this episode really takes its concepts with mature and even frightening seriousness as well as frightening extremes, even if it boils down to disgusting swapping of bodily fluids the way the leader of the Sheldon planet opined. Like I said, makin' babies... The ending is a bit quick, the Sheldonians don't like it ("eww, gross!") and the leader of the Larrydalleses just can't want to get it on and are left to get along (or not, I sometimes wonder how a follow-up episode might have panned out thanks to the Federation meddling, and in a way that felt a lot more authentic than "The Masterpiece Society" and its contrivances...)
Samaritan Snare - Yeah, I'll try defending this one: Season 2 went for
unconventional aliens and not lazy cliches. Don't think into the plot too much as how the Packrats - I mean Pakleds - can manage to get so much and travel the galaxy at warp speed... but they do have a cleverness, which even Troi had problems trying to figure out. And one other note on Troi, she gets some of the best handling in this episode along with some of the absolute worst. The viciousness they display to Geordi is also remarkable in its brutality. The Wesley/Picard subplot has an uncomfortable feel, but it's also got an authentic feel that was absent or forced in season 1. Wesley continues to have depth put into his character and bounces off of Picard perfectly and vice-versa. Didn't care for the hospital subplot, and it's no surprise it's Pulaski saving Picard at the end. The procedure probably could have been done on the ship anyway. But the gambit between Enterprise crew and trapped Geordi - dislike anything of the episode you like, that scene where they rescue him was very nicely written. And stays on the right side of camp, even Worf's "24th level of awareness" doesn't stray into camp but I got the vibe the Pakleds knew enough of Klingon culture to buy into it. They'd have to in order to successfully steal various technologies from so many empires and the Klingons are mentioned by name as an empire the Pakleds got some goodies from. But one other point on the Pakleds - audiences often mention feeling uncomfortable watching them. As do I. But what's the underlying reason? It's not the acting, it takes talented actors to pull off what we find in humans as being, perhaps, "neuro-atypical behaviors".
The Dauphin - Another Wesley story, but it's a great coming of age story with an alien twist. The shapeshifting effects were pretty good, and Worf gets a couple of great scenes. And, no babies were conceived in the making of this episode. I didn't write much about it, but that doesn't mean it's not worth watching at least once. Wesley is grating, but for appropriate script-worthy reasons and not season 1 mishandling/poor writing.
(what, no Homer Drooling Emoticon? 
