Season 2 is really underrated

[Roboturner913]

From what I remember the popular narrative is the series really "found its stride" in season 3, but I'm most of the way through season 2 right now and this is really, really good. I haven't watched the show in many years and expected I would be grinding my way through a bunch of clunkers but that hadn't been the case at all.

You can see how the writers really went all out in terms of developing back stories and background they could build on later. In fact I'm realizing a lot of episodes I remember as favorite "deep cuts" are in season 2. Armageddon Game, Invasive Procedures, Necessary Evil, Whispers, Paradise, Blood Oath, Tribunal.

Really cool how they're already weaving little threads into the storyline. Ominous mentions of the Dominion, showing more of the Bajorans' social/political chaos instead of just telling us about it. Rules of Acquisition is a pretty deep dive into the Ferengi society (which we still don't know a ton about, up to this point). A ton of character development on Quark and Odo. The Circle trilogy and Maquis two-parter are super ambitious and lay the foundation for a lot of stuff that shows up later on. The first mirror universe episode. A couple of "poor O'Brien" episodes that would be a staple of the series. and obviously The Wire is incredible.

I really hated Second Sight though, aside from the end. Melora wasn't great either. But aside from those I haven't been tempted to skip over any episodes. I forgot how good this show was early on.

 

[Gul Sengosts]

I think S2 is better than S3. Not by much, but still.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Season 2 has some great episodes like Whispers but also, for me at least, has at least half of the series 'skip' episodes.

 

[The Wormhole]

The first half of the season is somewhat hit or miss, though the hits are really great episodes. But the second half are some damn fine episodes.

 

[GulBahana]

There's some great stuff on that season. I'd put The Maquis and Tribunal up there with any top Trek episode.

 

[Seven of Five]

I love season two as well. The trouble is the middle third of episodes are all a bit average, which was very apparent when I last rewatched. The opening and the last third of episodes were very good though.

Here are my favourites - The Circle trilogy, Invasive Procedures, Cardassians, Necessary Evil, Armageddon Game, Whispers, Blood Oath, The Maquis two parter, The Wire, The Crossover, The Collaborator, Tribunal and The Jem'Hadar.

I think people think the show didn't pick up steam until season three, when Odo finds out about his origins, and also when Sisko comes into his own. Some people also think season four is where it took off. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

 

[Tomalak]

I've been watching Trek in broadcast order since the 50th anniversary, and I'm near the end of TNG S7 and DS9 S2.

What's striking is how poor TNG had become. Aside from a handful of episodes like The Pegasus and Parallels, there's a definite feeling of desperation and running out of ideas, just going through the motions by introducing a character's family member week-after-week. At least they pulled it together for All Good Things.

In comparison Deep Space Nine is so much more compelling. After S1 they retooled some of the characters who didn't work - Bashir is toned down, Dax is almost completely rebooted - and they focused on what was best about the characters who did work (Kira, Odo, Quark). The only one who still seems a bit low-key is Sisko. I think it's really the fourth season where it comes together for him.

The three-parter to open the season is as epic as anything TNG did aside from BOBW, and I think it has a good balance of stories and character focus. Seeding references to the Dominion, and building the Maquis is done effectively, and recurring characters like Garak, Dukat, Winn and Bareil are fleshed out.

ISTR season three is more or a mixed bag, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares which early Voyager, which I haven't seen for a very long time.

 

[tomalak301]

Season 2 is my third favorite season of the series, behind 5 and 4. There are some clunkers but when the episode was good, it was extremely good. Not only that, but this was the season of alpha quadrant building, getting more on the Cardassians, having three straight episodes focused on Bajor, and delving more into the Maquis. It’s a very important season, as foreshadowing of what was to come.

 

[Armus]

From what I remember the popular narrative is the series really "found its stride" in season 3, but I'm most of the way through season 2 right now and this is really, really good. I haven't watched the show in many years and expected I would be grinding my way through a bunch of clunkers but that hadn't been the case at all.

You can see how the writers really went all out in terms of developing back stories and background they could build on later. In fact I'm realizing a lot of episodes I remember as favorite "deep cuts" are in season 2. Armageddon Game, Invasive Procedures, Necessary Evil, Whispers, Paradise, Blood Oath, Tribunal.

Really cool how they're already weaving little threads into the storyline. Ominous mentions of the Dominion, showing more of the Bajorans' social/political chaos instead of just telling us about it. Rules of Acquisition is a pretty deep dive into the Ferengi society (which we still don't know a ton about, up to this point). A ton of character development on Quark and Odo. The Circle trilogy and Maquis two-parter are super ambitious and lay the foundation for a lot of stuff that shows up later on. The first mirror universe episode. A couple of "poor O'Brien" episodes that would be a staple of the series. and obviously The Wire is incredible.

I really hated Second Sight though, aside from the end. Melora wasn't great either. But aside from those I haven't been tempted to skip over any episodes. I forgot how good this show was early on.

Season 2 is where I became a real fan of DS9. I had watched season 1, and I had enjoyed most of it, but season 2 is where DS9 spread its wings. The stories are varied, ambitious, and represent the best of classic 1990s standalone Star Trek. In DS9's early days it had potential to be even more Orthodox Star Trek than TNG. In season 7 of TNG there were a lot of silly technobabble thrillers and boring family reunion stories. At the same time on Deep Space Nine, the viewers got an engaging exploration of the Cardassian justice system in "Tribunal", a film noir look at the Occupation of DS9 in "Necessary Evil", and exciting look at the complexities of messy frontier politics in "The Maquis". And there were many other great episodes. The cast and their relationships were really starting to gel in season 2, the writers were carefully setting up the Dominion while maintaining all the other overarching threads of DS9. I think season 2 is easily the best scripted season. Also, unlike the later seasons, Bashir and Jadzia are not annoying in season 2. If there was better music during this period(a pity Ron Jones never got to score DS9), and if the producers had let Sisko shave his head earlier, season 2 would have been even better.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Season 2 is great, the writers had a better handle on what to do with a station, they realised they didn't need to rely on TNG as a crutch, and developed the series to focus on bigger, more complex issues, which is ultimately the shows strength.

 

[UnknownSample]

How good 2 is for you depends on your expectations. Spending that much time on Bajoran politics was a mistake so early on. We had no connection with or interest in Bajor yet as viewers. However, watch it again after finishing the entire series, and season 2 works. Then you do want to know more about Bajor, after having spent all that time on the station with the developed characters.
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Seasons 1 and 2 work best as a prequel you watch after 3-7.

 

[UnknownSample]

How good 2 is for you depends on your expectations. Spending that much time on Bajoran politics was a mistake so early on. We had no connection with or interest in Bajoe yet as viewers. However, watch it again after finishing the entire series, and season 2 works. Then you do want to know more about Bajor, after having spent all that time on the station with the developed characters.
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Seasons 1 and 2 work best as a prequel you watch after 3-7.

 

[Armus]

^Aside from the the opening trilogy and the "The Collaborator" Season 2 did more than just Bajoran politics.

I agree that as a whole the Bajorans could have been better developed. I don't think they were as interesting to the general public as the some of the TNG's menacing aliens of the week. The look of The Bajorans, established in a TNG episode, was bland. They were humans with little ridges on their noses and they wore flowing robes and had ear rings. They liked their veggies and they ate something called hasparat. Their religion was pretty generic too. The only thing memorable was their history with the Cardassians. The backdrop of an oppressed spiritual people who defeated an evil secular totalitarian regime, and racial strife, resonates with a lot people. Now that they were free they could have a second chance and a "rebirth" as a people.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

How good 2 is for you depends on your expectations. Spending that much time on Bajoran politics was a mistake so early on. We had no connection with or interest in Bajor yet as viewers. However, watch it again after finishing the entire series, and season 2 works. Then you do want to know more about Bajor, after having spent all that time on the station with the developed characters.
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Seasons 1 and 2 work best as a prequel you watch after 3-7.

That's a bit of a paradox, how do we learn more about the Bajorans if we don't learn more about the Bajorans? Given that it is a Bajoran station with a predominately Bajoran crew in Bajoran space with Starfleet's mission being to help facilitate Bajor's reconstruction after the Occupation and assess Bajor for entry into the Federation, then they had to focus a lot on the planet and people early on and how that impacts on the station and our heroes.

 

[UnknownSample]

That's a bit of a paradox, how do we learn more about the Bajorans if we don't learn more about the Bajorans? Given that it is a Bajoran station with a predominately Bajoran crew in Bajoran space with Starfleet's mission being to help facilitate Bajor's reconstruction after the Occupation and assess Bajor for entry into the Federation, then they had to focus a lot on the planet and people early on and how that impacts on the station and our heroes.

I didn't say Bajor's politics shouldn't have been dealt with at all. People keep translating what I say into simple absolutes... There are different ways of going about it. They could have done it economically. As opposed to throwing us into seasons full of their politics. The later seasons bring us into the world of Bajor without overloading us.

 

[Tomalak]

There's hardly any Bajoran politics episodes - there's the opening three parter, which is full of action and is all about a coup d'etat orchestrated by the Cardassians. There's also The Collaborator later on.

 

[Sarxus]

I actually think that each season 2 and 1 from all Star Trek series are underrated To me it seems like there's this kind of myth that each series started to be great with its third season, at least I heard many people claiming this. In the end it's a matter of opinion and yeah, you usually find the classic episodes in the mid or late seasons. However, I also like the first seasons of each show. I have already rewatched like half of the episodes from TNG season 1 for example and even if the really great ones were still to come at this time, I actually don't find an episode there which I can't enjoy.

As for DS9 season 2, I also remember it to be very good. The three-parter at the beginning is great and could (or should!) have been made into a DS9 cinema movie. I also enjoy "Rules Of Acquisition" which is funny and deals with the nasty treating that Ferengi women receive. "Blood Oath" is a great character episode for Jadzia Dax who gets torn between the loyalty to her Klingon friends and the Federation rules, plus the episode provides a great combat action scene.

I don't remember all episodes so well, but there are definitely many good up to very good ones. And I liked a lot how the Dominion is slowly introduced during the season and gets revealed in the last episode.

 

[Tomalak]

To be fair TNG season one was less bad than I remember, but I wouldn't say it was consistently good. Season two is much better, probably better than season seven.

 

[Hey Missy]

When watching TNG and DS9 in airdate order you certainly get the feeling that all of the "good" writers went to DS9, while TNG became the Jeri Taylor Soap Opera/Brannon Braga Mindfuck Show.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I didn't say Bajor's politics shouldn't have been dealt with at all. People keep translating what I say into simple absolutes... There are different ways of going about it. They could have done it economically. As opposed to throwing us into seasons full of their politics. The later seasons bring us into the world of Bajor without overloading us.

Right. Minimizing Bajor's importance to the series by filling in more Jem Hadar and Dominion excess and also bringing more Klingons and Romulans, like the previous series, to make DS9 more closer to the Federation space than it was originally conceived. Add more senseless battles in space with the Defiant as other ships blow up -- all for the mini-brains' short attention spans. Bajor's politics should've always been front and center of DS9 because one of the major plot threads was to get Bajor into the Federation. Season 2 exposed threads and threads of complexities to this whole new world which again could not just be solved by one episode; not only that but the main villains were just as complex, so it would not be such a quick fix. Deep Space Nine: S1 and S2 was a very smart show, outstanding television, and probably too good for the simple minded watcher. Since the new showrunners had their heads up their asses during seasons 4 thru 7 they totally forgot the whole f^cking reason the Federation was there in the first place. BAJOR! What you Leave Behind? Indeed.