Rank the second seasons...

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by BlueStuff, Apr 21, 2019.

  1. BlueStuff

    BlueStuff Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I did this last year for the first seasons; now that Discovery has finished its second year, we can officially compare it to the second seasons of the other Trek shows.

    1. TOS - More clangers than the first season, but still the most entertaining second year overall.
    2. DISCO - Pretty strong overall with a handful of legitimately great episodes. I wasn't a fan of the Red Angel stuff but there was a lot of superb stuff here. An Obol for Charon was probably my favorite episode of the entire show so far.
    3. DS9 - Fairly consistently decent. Great finale.
    4. TNG - Better than its first year, which isn’t saying much. But this season featured some of TNG’s first truly great episodes.
    5. ENT - Very stale, admittedly with a few standout episodes.
    6. VOY - Tired plots, with an incredibly lame enemy in the Kazon.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
  2. NovaStar

    NovaStar Commander Red Shirt

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    Not including Discovery since I've only seen the first few episodes and don't plan on watching more.

    1. TOS - this was the season that made me keep watching the series. I would rent the tapes from the library so much they got worn out. The high point of the series for me. I have so many favorites here it's hard to list them all. However, some disappointments were found here form me including The Immunity Syndrome, The Omega Glory, A Private Little War, & Bread and Circuses
    2. TNG - this slightly edges out DS9 for me because some of the episodes that came out of this season are some of my all time favorites (Q Who, Where Silence Has Lease, Elementary Dear Data, Contagion, etc). However, what brings it down is the terrible season finale that is little more than a clip show.
    3. DS9 - this finally got the series going for me with some great opening episodes and an excellent finale.
    4. VOY - hard to put this here because of some really good episodes out of this season (Projections, Death Wish, The Thaw, Deadlock) but the rest is very ho-hum and drab. I did not find the Kazon to be that interesting of an enemy and Basics could have been handled so much better.
    5. ENT - very few standout episodes that I enjoyed and overall very dull and boring. Carbon Creek is the only one I really had a good time with. (Plus it had two of the worst episodes of the whole series, A Night In Sickbay and Precious Cargo).
     
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  3. Seven of Five

    Seven of Five Stupid Sexy Flanders! Premium Member

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    1) TOS - there were still a lot of good episodes in S2 here, though a few more clangers than the first. Lots of outright classic Trek - Amok Time, Mirror, Mirror, The Doomsday Machine, The Trouble With Tribbles, others too that I can't think of right this second. :p
    2)DIS - season two was quite the step-up from season one. Anson Mount was my favourite part as Pike, and Ethen Peck as Spock was nicely done as well. The overall arc landed well, more or less, and I await S3.
    3) DS9 - it really came into its own, building on the themes that made S1 so interesting. We had The Circle trilogy, Necessary Evil, Crossover, The Maquis two-parter, the build-up of The Dominion threat, and then The Jem'Hadar.
    4) TNG - I think S2 ranks better than S7 for me on rewatching the show, but it's not quite up there with DS9. Q Who really threw the cat among the pigeons with the Borg, The Measure of a Man is one of my favourite TNG episodes, and a solid mix of episodes (and good music!) that made space still feel scary, new, or exciting . Where Silence Has Lease, Contagion, Pen Pals, Elementary Dear Data, A Matter of Honor - I could go on.
    5) VOY - its attempts at continuity just outright fail in places - I'll still never forgive them thinking Neelix discovering the Kazon spy was a good idea. I didn't enjoy the second season as much as the first, but there were solid episodes along the way.
    6) ENT - the most mediocre run of episodes I can think of is S2, right up there with the very average season one. It had about five good episodes.

    Edited as I forgot DIS. Ooopsy-poopsy.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
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  4. Vger23

    Vger23 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    1. TOS- While not perfect, this was virtually the height of the best show in the franchise
    2. DSC- Flawed and somewhat disjointed, but far more bold and entertaining than any of the other shows (with the additional handicap of having only 15 episodes in it's premier season as opposed to 24+)
    3. TNG- I'm a big fan of TNG's second season. It may have captured the mystery and wonder of space exploration better than any other show in the franchise. Too bad the series didn't continue growing in this direction.
    4. ENT- Very underrated, ENT's second season is great comfort food, but not much more
    5. DS9- Still getting its space legs at this phase.
    6. VOY- Really unremarkable and tepid.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
  5. BlueStuff

    BlueStuff Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I finally remembered I made this thread and updated the list to include DISCO season 2.
     
  6. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    1. TOS - At times I think I might actually like the second season better than the first.

    2. DSC - There's not a single episode I didn't like, I thought it was a lot of fun, some of it was outright wacky (in a good way), and the only two serious problems I had were dealt with (Tilly's more eccentric than usual behavior was explained early on and Control, I'm sorry to say, was the best thing that happened to Leland). The stuff that people have an issue with when it comes to this season are things that I disagree with wholeheartedly. I won't dredge them up here because I don't see the point and I'm not going to argue about this mere hours away from Picard's premiere, so we'll do it another time. Needless to say, I think it's an extremely underrated season. I've seen the general sentiment against this season fester and multiply. I think it's judged VERY unfairly. And I'll leave it at that.

    3. TNG - I'm surprised that I'm putting TNG's second season this high but, like with DSC, I think this is also a season that's underrated, though not as badly treated as DSC S2. I like Pulaski and any season that has "The Measure of a Man" and "Q Who?" can't be that bad, can it? This is also the season that brought us Guinan, Moriarty, and K'Eylar. I wish "Peak Performance" was the season finale instead of "Shades of Gray". This would've been the perfect way to end the season "No. I did not win. I busted him up!"

    4. DS9 - It's a good, solid season. A lot of strong episodes. Why don't I rate this higher? It's too restrained, unlike the second seasons of TOS, TNG, and DSC, and some type of spark isn't quite there yet. It's good, don't get me wrong, but something's still missing.

    5. VOY - Isolated episodes are good. A lot of them aren't. More like "Deadlock", less like "Threshold". More of Suder and less of Jonas. More real drama like Tuvix and less staged acts like the one Paris put on.

    6. ENT - Possibly the single dullest season in all of Star Trek. I'm pretty sure I was sleep-watching most of this season when I was binging it in 2010. I don't remember anything from it, except "Cogenitor" and "The Xindi". Nothing else from this seasons sticks out in my mind.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
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  7. 1001001

    1001001 Serial Canon Violator Moderator

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    Carbon Creek? Dead Stop? The Catwalk? Regeneration?

    :shrug:
     
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  8. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    This is going to sound awful, but I legit forgot all these episodes.
     
  9. 1001001

    1001001 Serial Canon Violator Moderator

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    Carbon Creek and Dead Stop are two of my favorite episodes...

    :(
     
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  10. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    TOS
    TNG
    DS9
    ENT
    VOY
    DSC
     
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  11. Lord Garth

    Lord Garth Admiral Admiral

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    All right. This is what I'm going to do then. I can't very well tell people to give DSC and PIC an honest chance if I'm not going to even do it with ENT. It would make me look like a hypocrite.

    I already re-watched TNG and have said I'm going to go through TOS again. I didn't want to go through all of TNG and then not go through all of TOS. After that, I was going to eventually cycle through DS9 and VOY. Instead of that, after TOS, I'll re-watch ENT. And I'll take my own advice and give it a serious chance.

    But it's going to come after re-watching TOS. TOS and TNG are the two main series, so they take priority. Luckily TOS is only three seasons and I'll breeze passed it. Then I'll give ENT an actual chance with an open mind.

    EDIT: It's the :( emoticon. It made me feel bad. That's what did it. Someone should've used that on me years ago. :p
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
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  12. XCV330

    XCV330 Premium Member

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    I could not have said it better.

    6: VOY was.. it was about on par with season one and deserves where it needs to be.
    5: ENT does have some bright spots in season 2 but they are rare enough to show just how dreary it mostly was
    4: TNG was better than season 1, but that was not setting the bar very high.
    3: DS9 was pretty good, and had hints that it was about to get even better.
    2: DISCO knocked it out of the park in season 2.
    1: TOS season 2 is legendary.
     
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  13. eschaton

    eschaton Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hrrm...this is an interesting question.

    DS9 - Very underrated. Only two genuinely bad episodes (Melora and Second Sight) and plenty of amazing ones (Necessary Evil, Whispers, Blood Oath, The Wire, etc).

    TOS - Not a bad season, but a massive step backward from the first season, and a lot more formulaic and a lot of medocrity. IMHO if it wasn't for Amok Time, The Doomsday Machine, Mirror Mirror, and The Trouble With Tribbles it wouldn't be remembered so fondly.

    DIS - A big improvement over the first season, but it basically fell into a ditch beginning with The Red Angel, which destroyed what was up to that point a strong season.

    TNG - A massive step forward from the awful first season - and criminally underrated. However, there was still more meh than wow. Plus of course a few stinkers like Up the Long Ladder and Shades of Gray.

    VOY - More or less an average season for them. About as many bad episodes as good ones, but mostly just meh all around. Of course, Threshold is one of the awful ones, but it's kinda in the "so bad it's good" realm for me.

    ENT - Has one of the worst episodes, if not the worst episode, in all of Trek (A Night in Sickbay) which is basically character assassination of the lead. And that's not even the only stinker of the season. Sure, there's some good outings, like Carbon Creek, Congeniter, and Regeneration, but this season being so mediocre is part of what killed off ENT, and ultimately TV trek for over a decade.
     
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  14. Armus

    Armus Commodore Commodore

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    I'm not going to rank them since I only saw the second seasons of TOS, TNG, and DS9, and I like them all.

    I think the second season of TOS may be my least favorite season of TOS. It's still quality television but there were too many parallel earth stories and shows like Catspaw, The Changeling, The Apple, Who Mourns For Adonais feel by-the-numbers to me. Plus season 2 had some of TOS's most melodramatic and tiresome incidental music. Everyone loves The Trouble With Tribbles and Amok Time but my favorite episodes from season 2 include Metamorphasis, Wolf In The Fold, By Any Other Name, Patterns Of Force, and Bread and Circuses.

    The second season of TNG is one of my favorite seasons of all time. The cast had truly become a family, the ship was still exploring the unknown, and the show had amazing music. There are a few clunkers like The Child, Unnatural Selection, Manhunt, and Shades of Grey but most of the mediocre shows like The Royale and Up The Long Ladder are entertaining. Q Who and A Matter of Honor are classic episodes that are as well-written, directed, and musically composed as anything Star Trek has ever produced.

    The second season of DS9 is very underrated. Michael Piller, Ira Behr, and his writing staff produced a season of stories that are consistently intelligent and entertaining. The second season established DS9 as an original and worthy spinoff of TNG. Some of my favorite episodes from this season include Cardassians, Necessary Evil, Paradise, The Maquis, and The Wire.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2020
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  15. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    IMHO, YMMV:
    1. TNG - To say the least, it's a criminally underrated year!!! Yes, it has a couple clunkers, and every season does. Yes, a strike clobbered off four episodes. As a result of that, the season required digging up Phase II scripts to revise (which wasn't a terrible episode - just different), and... a clip show whose non-clip bits have an authentic alien aura and feel and palpable sense of real threat -- which is something missing entirely from almost everything that has the audacity to label itself "sci-fi" in the 21st century (or even latter-end 20th in some cases!), often in favor of lame soap opera. Seven or eight episodes are outstanding, most are actually if not surprisingly good, many are original or innovative - being true exploratory and/or experimental stuff... the couple of true clunkers are on par if not "not as bad" compared to some other 'season two' exhibits, though on the other hand being influenced by Three's Company and Jerry Springer to make "The Outrageous Okona", which also accidentally shows the comedic talents of Goldberg and Spiner far more than hapless Piscopo (and look on youtube for the slowed down version of his speech, which got by the censors since nobody had slow-down machines back then, yikes... )
    2. DS9 - Definitely a solid run, it's grown on me a lot and it's close on my list of marathons. I recall Ira would get full rein and reign for season 3 onwards but some of his style definitely seeps into season 2 and it's wonderful and chilling. The take on Odo being tortured was never seen before and it's shocking, compelling drama. The first time I saw 'Paradise' I was gobsmacked over its ingenuity. Kirk or Picard would not do what Sisko did. I perceived it in a different way to many but it's great when an episode allows one to perceive it in multiple ways. The Maquis is a very robust entry. The finale was spectacular... I recall 'Armageddon Game' being a good OBrien/Bashier piece too...
    3. TOS - Armus said it best but I'm going to ramble my unique brand of caffeinated ambivalence anyway: The high points are awesome. The lows can be quite embarrassing, and a few of those are also wardrobe-raiding somnambular epics that are parallel-to-Earth throwaways - one or two of that style episode are great but the season is flooded with too many of them. There's more casual sexism on display, which grates given the cringe that it is. Immunity Syndrome, its plot sibling Doomsday Machine, for the parallel Earth stories Bread and Circuses is actually robust and Patterns of Force has more pluses than minuses, By Any other Name is fun with some moments of high concept horror that got me as a kid but hold up today with turning people into packing cubes (and the woman is murdered by Rojan, it's usually the male security officers that get killed!), Amok Time takes sex in a surprisingly serious and engaging way, the Tribble episode is okay (too comedic at times)... Friday's Child is flawed but worthy, Babel and Ultimate Computer are classics, I'll defend Triskelion any time...
    4. VOY - Definite burnout plotlines, the Kazon were always beyond belief (even the name is a lame ripoff of Klingon and their groups of clans would be more entertaining on Jerry Springer if not a very special episode of Maury), Threshold was awful, Flashback upended ST6 but it was nice to see the cast again and at that point in VOY's run I would have preferred The Sulu Show(tm)... The "Twisted" episode I recall having potential but on recent rewatch... ugh. VOY didn't have any cohesion until season 3 and peaked in season 4 (but whose seasons 5 and 6 largely better TNG's (!!), but that's another story). It's one I won't ever return to, which can also be said for:
    5. ENT - Very forgettable, very stale/burnt out franchise at the time, and being a prequel it was trying to answer questions nobody really cared about because "reed alert" and warp limitations and transporter stuff that ENT revolved around just didn't do it because we all know how it turned out and it's harder to make an afterthought show (aka "prequel") stand on its own given relevant continuity baggage - at least for me anyway, and future generations watching this as DSC/ENT/TOS/etc will then gripe about the newer shows even more than some of us did and still do for their continuity foibles. That latter gripe also applies equally to:
    6. DSC - What I tried sitting through in what could be called "Yet Another Prequel" was still trite and uninteresting cringey fluff, just of different sorts. Relying more on garish and needless special effects scenes doesn't sell well, much less begin to hold up if the stories don't work (of which they will for some but not others, that's true for any show.) Among other things, Spock doesn't begin to convince... still a lot of characters reminding me of fast food worker cliches (so we know this show is aimed at teens, if nobody else)... and Section 31 flaunting itself -- is Discovery a Section 31 ship? And why not call it "Section 54" since that opens up a lot more to make heckling actually enjoyable... or did they film it in a studio... studio 54... that explains shirts with "DISCO" emblazoned on them. Now add in embarrassments like "The Trouble with Edward", which only seem to serve to show how unevolved pre-TNG was...
     
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  16. Tim Thomason

    Tim Thomason Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    TAS also had a second season.
     
  17. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    1. TOS
    2. Disco
    Only 2 that found their identity before S3
    3. DS9
    4. TNG
    This is close for me. TNG has the two best episodes but much lower lows than DS9 season 2.
    5. Voyager
    Bleh in general but mostly watchable.
    6. Enterprise
    The only season of Trek that ever made me quit a Trek show. Though probably closer to being watchable than season 1. Season 2 had all the reductionism of 90s TV without the fun. Everything so dumbed down and simplified. Ooh, Klingons are raiding us, teach us martial arts! Okay, if you ever get attacked by a Klingon, duck backward twice and roll away! Hey, it works! Ent is a show that did not respect its audience until it was too late to save.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2020
  18. BlueStuff

    BlueStuff Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I’m aware, but I haven’t seen it.