Season 2...underrated?

[euphorik]

Kegek said:
Season 2 is, frankly, the most wildly chaotic season of the entire franchise in terms of quality. It's got what I consider the best episode of TNG - "The Measure of a Man" and the worst episode of the entire francise - "Up the Long Ladder." I'm glad somebody agrees with me on that count.

wow...i watched "up the long ladder" the other day and really enjoyed it - this is one of those episodes, sort of like "the royale," that has aged really well for me. i don't think i liked it much on first run, but...i totally laughed out loud when o'dell steps off the transporter, offers a flask to o'brien and says "i knew twould be a good irishman runnin this ship..."

also, the classic ST theme of strength in diversity - something that's faded progressively into the background with more contemporary trek productions - is way up front here. the pre-ENT glimpse into 22nd-century earth is fun, too. altogether an enjoyably lightweight episode.

i agree that season is pretty schizo - there's grade-A undeniable brilliance - "q who," "the measure of a man," "a matter of honor" and there's totally embarrassing trash - "the dauphin," there's overrated - "the emissary," "peak performance" and there's underrated - "where silence has lease," "the schizoid man."

"samartian snare" is sort of a microcosm of season 2 as a whole: an unbearably stupid plot (the pakled "a"-story) coupled with some quietly superb character scenes (the "b"-story of picard's shuttle trip with wesley).

they took the basic concepts introduced in season 1 and experimented with them - some experiments worked: riker's beard, geordi as engineer, worf as security chief. some didn't: pulaski.

i really enjoy much of season 2, but it's hard for me to see it as anything other than "the season before season 3," when they started doing EVERYTHING right.

for all their respective shortcomings, i'd take seasons 1 and 2 over seasons 5 and 7 ANY day of the week, though.

 

[Angel4576]

I'd have given anything for them to have despatched Diane Muldaur's character in the same way that she departed LA Law, ie. by having her falling down a turbolift shaft!

Agree with most of that post, but I still think Up the Long Ladder is a horrible little episode.

 

[euphorik]

just wondering...where does everyone stand on "loud as a whisper" -??? i've always really liked that episode.

 

[Angel4576]

Pretty forgettable for me. Nowhere near the worst of the season, but far from the likes of Measure of a Man or Q-Who?

Personally, I think it sums up season two, that an episode like Loud as a Whisper is classed as being an average episode. An average episode from Seasons 3,4,5,6 or even 7, would be far superior.

 

[VOODOOXI]

Season 2 is a little underrated.

 

[Smiley]

"Loud as a Whisper" falls into the category of "tolerable" TNG episodes for me.

 

[TeutonicNights]

Loud as a whisper is kinda half there. Symptomatic for most of season two.
It had a ton of special fx, but they looked cheap and fake.
It had an interesting story and characters, but the dialog was lacking.
Everyone of the crew got something to do, but it wasn't really memorable.

 

[Kegek]

euphorik said:
wow...i watched "up the long ladder" the other day and really enjoyed it - this is one of those episodes, sort of like "the royale," that has aged really well for me. i don't think i liked it much on first run, but...i totally laughed out loud when o'dell steps off the transporter, offers a flask to o'brien and says "i knew twould be a good irishman runnin this ship..."

That pretty much sums up why I hate it. These guys are a rote stereotype of the rural Irish peasantry that was outdated, cheesy, and inappropriate even back in the late 1980s when this episode was written and shot. Projecting this ludicruous character three hundred years into the future is even worse. That's the main reason why I despise it.

A disturbing side issue is the whole 'kill-your-clones' thing. While intended as an abortion analogy, it basically gives us the kind of scenario you'd expect a pro-lifer to create - the bodies are obviously people, they're not inside any womb - and the solution of pro-choice. I'll give Snodgrass credit for sheer gutsiness, but it's a disturbing moment nonetheless.

And yes, "The Royale" is alright. It's got a line that's a lot funnier than I bet the writers intended it:

Riker: What do you call this planet?
Concierge: (befuddled) Earth. What do you call it?
Worf: We call it Theta 8.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Season Two is among my favorite seasons of TNG; it had a darker tone that I appreciated and many of the stories re-enforced the notion that space can be dangerous. Episodes such as "Contagion," "Time Squared," "Q Who," and "Where Silence Has Lease" showed that space can be mysterious, wonderous and deadly all at the same time. In later seasons, space became more like a trip to the corner store for milk.

Even the lighting on the ship was much more dynamic than the rest of the series, especially Rob Bowman-directed episodes (the opening shot in "The Child" for example). From season three on, the ship was seemed overly lit and it made the beige-colors appear flat and uninteresting.

And I'm in the camp that likes Dr. Kate Pulaski; she was more of a character than Crusher, and was able to challenge Picard in a way that no other character on the show could. (In fact, I thought that Riker should've disagreed more with Picard forcing him to rethink his decisions but that's another story). Crusher, for me, was always bland and nothing more than Picard's version of Janice Rand with a medical degree. Although, I would've liked to have seen Tracey Torme's doctor that he suggested as Crusher's replacement -- an alien who by culture could only tell the truth and lacked any real bedside manner.

Also, this season gave us the best exploration of the Prime Directive in "Pen Pals."

It's a shame that this season was hindered by the Writer's Guild Strike. I would've loved to see the original arc planned to introduce the Borg, according to Herb Wright, that would've teamed Picard and crew with the Romulans. Or Tracey Torme's script that would've brought back both Spock and the Guardian of Forever, which would've been a stronger season opener than "The Child."

 

[euphorik]

Kegek said:

euphorik said:
wow...i watched "up the long ladder" the other day and really enjoyed it - this is one of those episodes, sort of like "the royale," that has aged really well for me. i don't think i liked it much on first run, but...i totally laughed out loud when o'dell steps off the transporter, offers a flask to o'brien and says "i knew twould be a good irishman runnin this ship..."

That pretty much sums up why I hate it. These guys are a rote stereotype of the rural Irish peasantry that was outdated, cheesy, and inappropriate even back in the late 1980s when this episode was written and shot. Projecting this ludicruous character three hundred years into the future is even worse. That's the main reason why I despise it.

that's the main reason why i think it's funny.

 

[Cali]

Biggest problem with season two = Pulaski.

*pushes her out an airlock*