Rank the second seasons... (updated through 2023)

[BlueStuff]

Original thread: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/rank-the-second-seasons.299356/

Now adding Picard. Haven't finished Lower Decks S2 or TAS yet.

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 material 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.
7. PIC - Promising start before nosediving into an absolute mess of a season.

 

[tomalak301]

1. DS9 - After the final two episodes of season 1, it was clear that Season 2 was all about world building, and it was awesome

2. Discovery - I didn't really like how the season shifted because of Control, but I think it was still my favorite season of the show

3. Lower Decks - I feel like I need to rewatch this season but I remember really liking it

4. Star Trek - It seemed a little repetitive, but there's many great episodes

5. Voyager - This season has Thaw, Basics 1, and the whole Seska storyline. It was a fun season

6. TNG - Better than Season 1, but still a show trying to find it's groove

7. Enterprise - It was a little boring, but it did give us The Expanse and more Shran

8. Picard - I hated this season. It started out with a ton of promise and then by the end I was actually really mad.

 

[BillJ]

TOS, TNG, Lower Decks.

 

[Gul Sengosts]

1. DS9 - Very good season even though it's still yet to reach its full potential.
2. TOS - Almost as good as S1.
3. TNG - Quality of episodes fluctuates so wildly it's unreal. Better than S1 though and has some all-time classics
4. VOY - Pretty good in the last third or so, and has my favourite two VOY episodes. Stagnant mediocrity during most of the season bars it from a higher rank though.
5. ENT - Same as S1. Tired, uninspired, doesn't go anywhere.
6. DIS - My least favourite season of Disco. Fairly promising start, a few nice episodes, but from about midway through it spirals down into oblivion
15. PIC - Worst season of Star Trek period.

Can't remember TAS and LD, maybe it's time for a rewatch

 

[Annorax849]

1. Discovery: You won't see Discovery anywhere near this high for seasons 3-4, but they had a pretty solid season here. I kind of think of it as comparable to ENT season 3 in that it started off sort of inconsistent but picked up as it went along

2. TOS: Close second, though I still prefer the first season's more "old-school" style

3. Lower Decks: This show's best season.

4. Picard: Lots of issues and some pretty mediocre episodes, but the quality of the first two episodes (and to an extent the third) keeps it from slipping

5. DS9: Actually somewhat underrated (in some circles at least). At least better than other "2nd gen" season 2s

6. Enterprise: Not particularly good, but also better than some think. The last stretch was actually pretty solid

7. Voyager: Some decent stuff, but overall VOY's weakest season

8. TNG: Better than Season 1 and had some strong points, but still a lot of problems

TAS I just think of as one season

 

[Oddish]

Voyager's second season is a favorite of mine.
* It had great episodes. The Thaw, Deadlock, Tuvix, Meld, Death Wish...
* It had episodes that I happen to like: Resolutions, Investigations, Twisted...
* It was still holding to the show's premise: limited energy, limited photons, a doctor who was confined to Sickbay... and Harry's low rank still made sense at this point.

 

[Lord Garth]

This is much easier for me to rank than Season 1. I didn't even have to think about it.

TOS Season 2
DS9 Season 2
DSC Season 2
TNG Season 2
VOY Season 2
PIC Season 2
ENT Season 2

 

[Qonundrum]

1. TNG. Despite a couple of clunkers that feel like leftovers from season 1 (burp) and that has far more to do with the writers' strike, there are far more high and exciting points. In this season, there's a proper sense of exploration and mystery. Complete with new and unique dangers that engage. This is even before Q pops in to remind of the same thing but introducing the collection of walking refrigerator, floppy disk drive bezels, and cappuccino maker parts known as "The Borg Collective". This season is very underrated and even underappreciated. It is also far more sci-fi in feel than most of TNG's 5th through 7th seasons combined. Lastly, for even the season finale, once you remove the dreaded clip show bits, it does something no show for over a decade managed to do: Show an alien jungle that felt genuinely authentic (and creepy). Yes, you read that right, I am defending "Shades of Gray". It shows the best and worst aspects of the season, with all the... um... shades of gray in between. It's outrageous to think this one is better than Okona, but weighing all aspect of both episodes, this one is better than "The Outrageous Okona"... (opinion may change after I revisit this episode later down the road.)

2. DS9. A very strong season indeed, continuing to show a radically different nature from TNG and TOS, but without "deconstruction", either in original or colloquial (e.g. "render as lesser") use. "Paradise" still astounds as one of the series' most underrated gems, but the season is loaded with goodies. Plus a few bland entries that easily could have been more, but DS9 is holding its own, and arguably had since the get-go.

3. TOS. The season starts out decently but descends into worn out tropes and cringe - possibly in part due to the cancelation, with nobody realizing the avalanche of fanmail that was to come. That said, as a whole, this season is still fairly stellar.

4. LD. A very solid year.

5. VOY. A couple very strong episodes just don't save 20-some episodes of half-baked filler or mush, but - dang - those strong episodes pull a lot. "Meld" never ceases to win me over and the episode hinges on Tim Russ, who readily delivers. The guy rules.

6. PIC. Not perfect, but is much improved over season 1. Q and Borg Queen help save the day in a partial retelling of STFC that does a better job overall. However, Guinan and Wesley from Travellers' Rent-a-Creepycar pretty much ruin it via questional scripting choices that just don't fit. As said by others and also by me regarding TOS/2, this season starts largely great but indelicately dwindles downward.

7. ENT/DSC virtual tie. At best, prequels just don't do anything for me and what I did see didn't really add confidence.

IMHO, YMMV, of course.

 

[Vger23]

1. TOS: And the 2 slot doesn’t even come close
2. DSC: Arguably this series strongest season, even with the jarring mid-season shift
3. DS9: The Circle trilogy to start the season was a great way to show this would be a very different Trek. We also get the 2-part Maquis arc, and the introduction of the Dominion
4. TNG: Uneven, but much better than its reputation suggests. There are some real gems in this season
5. VOY: Too many forgettable or downright poor episodes to overcome the handful of really good ones.
6. ENT: Easily the worst season of this show.
7. PIC: Starts out great, stumbles unbelievably after 3 episodes, barely recovers for the finale.
8. LD: It’s fine, but I don’t care.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

TOS
DSC
LD
TNG
DS9
VOY
PIC
ENT

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

1. Lower Decks - A step up from the already-solid first season, with Mariner in particular benefitting from all her season 1 character growth.
   
2. Discovery - I'm sure the plot would've been a ridiculous mess even without the switch in showrunners, but it likely didn't help! I was drawn in by its madness though and I thought the finale was some of the best TV I've ever seen. Even though I agree with everyone's complaints about it.
   
3. Picard - This season took off like a rocket and fell back down just as quickly. Though I was still entertained despite its wheel-spinning and bizarre logic just because of the characters.
   
4. TOS - Sometimes you get a Doomsday Machine, sometimes an Omega Glory. There are some real classics here but it's dragged down by its wild inconsistency.
   
5. DS9 - Starts great and finishes strong, but a lot of this season just seemed listless to me, without a feeling that anyone was really working towards anything.
   
6. TNG - Any season with Outrageous Okona and Shades of Gray should consider itself fortunate it's not at the bottom of the list. I really enjoyed stories like Contagion and Q Who though.
   
7. Enterprise - The season started really well, but I soon felt like I was watching a group of explorers that had lost all interest in exploring, and were just trying to get through another day. Archer in particular seemed thoroughly sick of space and everyone in it.
   
8. Voyager - It picked up a bit in the second half, but the first half of this season is pretty rough. Elogium, Twisted, Cold Fire, Threshold... every time I thought I'd seen the worst of it, it surprised me.
9. TAS - It was a step down from season 1 in general I thought, but Counter-Clock Incident makes sure it's at the bottom of my rankings.

 

[Paul755]

TOS
DS9
TNG
LD
ENT
VOY
DISCO
PIC

 

[Farscape One]

1. DS9 - what a great second season! Starting off with the franchise's first trilogy was a great idea, plus you get the return of Kang, Koloth, and Kor, the creation of the Maquis, the Dominion enters the scene, and possibly the best line ever spoken in the franchise was here: "Especially the lies."

2. TOS - "THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE" was here. That alone elevates the season, never mind that there were a lot of classics here, too... "AMOK TIME", "THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES", "JOURNEY TO BABEL", "MIRROR, MIRROR', and the 'risk is our business' speech in "RETURN TO TOMORROW".

3. LDS - it was season 1, but even better!

4. VGR - highly underrated, it had some very strong episodes like "MANEUVERS", "DEATH WISH", "MELD", "DEADLOCK", "THE THAW", and "TUVIX".

5. TNG - far better than its reputation, TNG season 2 was the season that showed space being truly dangerous. It was a needed reminder, and something every other show, including later TNG, forgot for the most part. "Where Silence Has Lease", "The Measure Of A Man", "Contagion", "Q Who", and "Peak Performance" are among the very best of TNG, period.

6. ENT - a few really solid episodes, but it was very mundane. Easily the worst season of this show.

7. PICARD - great first two episodes, but the season took a complete nosedive in quality afterward. Except for the last scenes of Picard and Q, this entire season felt like a failure.

8. TAS - despite it only being 6 episodes, I still find enjoyment out of them more than DISCO season 2.

9. DISCO - easily the worst second season of the bunch. I know the switching of head writers really hurt the show, but the whole Red Angel stuff and Control was just terrible. Anson Mount as Pike was the only true redeeming factor of this season. (Number One was awesome, too.)

 

[Richard S. Ta]

My favourite is TOS Season 2.

By a mile actually.

My least favourite is ENT Season 2.

Everything else is in a muddle in between.

 

[donners22]

TOS - Some of the best episodes in the franchise

DSC - Introduced Pike and co well enough to spawn a spin-off and was a fun adventure

PIC - Pacing was off and never really came together but had some great moments

LDS - Reasonably solid but forgettable

DS9/TNG/VOY - All still finding their feet with more misses than hits

ENT - Some truly awful episodes towards the middle and otherwise mediocre

TAS - The only series I’ve never finished

 

[Seven of Five]

DS9 - I guess YMMV on whether you took to Bajoran politics, but the worldbuilding this season was great.
TOS - Not quite as strong as S1, but still lots of awesome episodes.
TNG - Growing pains are still a little evident, but a vast improvement on S1.
DIS - I loved the S2 cast so much, and it started off so well. It just tanked with its arc.
VOY - A very uneven season, with some great episodes, but also some terrible ones. I quite liked the Seska/Kazon arc.
PIC - It started and ended pretty well, but what a meandering mess of an arc.
ENT - Oh dear. Outside a few episodes, dreadfully mediocre.

 

[Trek Survivor]

TNG - so many strong, enjoyable episodes to like in a season that is criminally underrated

DS9 - a terrific second season on good episodes beginning with the franchise's first three-parter. "Necessary Evil", "The Jem'Hader", "Invasive Procedures" - so many good episodes

Voyager - I will always favour "ambitious but flawed" over "reasonable quality but played it way safe". Piller really did try and do something different with this season - he saw shows like "E.R" and realised Trek looked like it was standing still. The "Kazon spy" arc was a good effort, and there are plenty of other episodes here that are pretty decent.

TOS - plenty of classics here, a show confident that it is at the top of its game

DIS - I think this was the time I most enjoyed Discovery; seasons 3-4 just haven't been as good.

TAS - only 6 episodes, but they are fun :-)

ENT - I can't even remember any episodes here, which probably tells us something.

LDS - still entertaining, but nowhere near as good as season 1

PIC - I wanted to love this, but it is truly awful. Maybe a rewatch would soften my feelings, but right now, this season comfortably comes last in the season 2 rankings!

 

[valkyrie013]

TNG: Its growing the beard, some great episodes, its starting to find its feet, but still some of the wonder from season 1 still there. Didn't like Pulaski that much.
DS9: Need to re watch, so have no opinion.
Voyager: Threshold.. the end.
TOS: Has its good and duds, Some great stuff, probably best season to me.
Dis: Best season of the series, but thats not saying much. Still problems, but was pretty good, Pike and Spock saved it.
LDS: Has its legs, pretty great season.
ENT; Not bad, some great episodes, Mine Field, Dead Stop, some duds. Probably 2nd best season after season 4
PIC: Crap.. First couple of episodes were good, but Ugh.. Utter Merde