The Least Disliked Episode 2023: TNG Season 2

[BlueStuff]

So, here's the game. The basic idea is your standard elimination game. I'll provide a list of the episodes for each season and you need to eliminate your least favourite or the one you deem the 'worst.' Please provide an EXPLANATION for why you are eliminating your choice and be sure to copy and paste the list with your choice removed. Finally, leave at least 2 eliminations by other posters before you eliminate another episode.

No tactical voting! You cannot remove an episode just because you feel it would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win. Pretty simple. Enjoy!

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Hall of Champions
2011 - The Best of Both Worlds (I)
2013 - The Measure of a Man
2015 - All Good Things…
2017 - The Best of Both Worlds (I)
2019 - Yesterday’s Enterprise
2021 - Q Who
2023 -

Season 2

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Time Squared
The Icarus Factor
Pen Pals
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Up the Long Ladder
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance
Shades of Gray

 

[Farscape One]

First one to go is "Up The Long Ladder".

I'm sure many would agree this was just bad all around.


The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Time Squared
The Icarus Factor
Pen Pals
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance
Shades of Gray

 

[Brennyren]

"Pen Pals" introduced the 24th-century interpretation of the Prime Directive, which I loathe. To hear our rational Starfleet officers debate whether "destiny" or "fate" required them to let a world be destroyed and its inhabitants perish, even though they had the ability to intervene without anyone on the planet being the wiser (except a small child who no one would believe) -- that just appalled me. Our rational denizens of the rational future talking about destiny as if it had intentions and direction sounded more than a little superstitious, and invoking it as a reason to not save lives? Horrible. And Picard stood there and prated about letting people die being the moral choice. The only reason they all (except Pulaski and Data, who favored action all along) didn't come off as monsters was that they couldn't quite turn away from a small child's voice begging for help.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Time Squared
The Icarus Factor
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance
Shades of Gray

 

[Farscape One]

And Geordi... he was with Data and Pulaski. I believe Troi was, too.

 

[Takeru]

Time Squared because the conclusion made no sense at all. Picard decides to murder his future self and fly the Enterprise straight into the thing and somehow that resolved everything? How? Why?


The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
The Icarus Factor
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance
Shades of Gray

 

[Seven of Five]

Two of my favourites from this season are gone already. And I don't mean the awful Up the Long Ladder.

I understand the reasons why they needed to save money for the finale, but Shade of Gray is a terrible way to go about it. Perhaps pick a few characters for a one-set drama so that the end goal is achieved? I also thought Troi's constant crying over it all was a bit hammy and grating.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
The Icarus Factor
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Sakonna]

"The Icarus Factor" is repulsive. It's "hey, we all make mistakes, why are you so sensitive?" attitude towards Riker being abandoned by his dad as a child is disgraceful. This episode is "Code Of Honor"-level revolting to me. Burn every copy.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Takeru]

Samaritan Snare because the Pakleds sucked, they were the offensive dumb guy stereotype played straight and it didn't work, the show portrayed them as a credible thread but at the same time so stupid that they were fooled by a bit of gas and a light show. Picard and Wesley in the shuttle was mostly boring, I did like getting some backstory on Picard but other than that ... meh.


The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Q Who?
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Eckauskas]

Going to eliminate The Outrageous Okona. A roguish lone wolf type with a ponytail who immediately charms the first woman he meets into bed? Meh. An uninspiring story full of unremarkable characters.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
Q Who?
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Eckauskas]

Two of my favourites from this season are gone already. And I don't mean the awful Up the Long Ladder.

I understand the reasons why they needed to save money for the finale, but Shade of Gray is a terrible way to go about it. Perhaps pick a few characters for a one-set drama so that the end goal is achieved? I also thought Troi's constant crying over it all was a bit hammy and grating.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
The Royale
The Icarus Factor
Q Who?
Samaritan Snare
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

I thought Shades of Grey was a result of an ongoing writers strike at the time?

 

[Seven of Five]

The writers' strike affected the tail-end of season one and the beginning of the second. It changed the original plans to introduce the Borg back in S1 and also resulted in four episodes fewer at the start of S2. The Child is obviously one of the old Phase Two scripts recycled to get an episode on air in time.

There had been a miscalculation of the budget during season two with expensive episodes like Elementary, Dear Data, and Q Who in particular. It meant that by the end of the year, they were out of money and had to throw together something cheaply.

I wonder what the thought process was behind Shades of Gray, as they had run out of money, not time.

I'm not a fan of The Royale, so that's next for me. It definitely has a quirky, offbeat look and feel, but the actual plot bores me.

The Child
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Qonundrum]

To me, season 2 is underrated. It's usually full of good or great ideas in stories, if not stories, and even stories that start trends and tropes - generally because the stories and reasons used therein were so good.

Three trendy tropes and tropey trends come to mind already. Those episodes still remain in the list at this time. As do others, because - to me - most are very watchable with great moments. (Thankfully some stinkers are gone and I'd defend parts of one of those, but unsurprisingly I digress.) Each of those I'd have reasons to plip off the list because some aspects of those are so dumb. But instead of continuing to bore you with more syrup than what's found in a pancake buffet, I'll take out this one:

The Child​

It has the unenviable task of not just introducing a new set and two new important characters, it's also a big chance to make a robust Troi story. Sadly, Troi doesn't do much and any ol' random crewmember could have been used. That said, there are a few very solid set piece scenes, and Marina Sirtis easily knocks it out of the park with Troi's dialogue that helps elevate the story, but Troi still could have had more actual prominence and not just the kid who won the latest "Win a chance to be in Staaar Trek - The Next Generation!" contest from that box of cereal sugar and/or Nintendo game pack for all I could remember, which is for the best since I was happy with the Atari 7800 console until 1990, but there I go digressing again...

Never mind the flagship hauling deadly critters around; maybe the properly equipped science vessels wouldn't arrive until Tuesday?

Lastly, how they divvy up the parental/guardian aspects for Wesley also seemed underwhelming. On the other hand, they were also all ordered to and by the same captain dude who basically says "he'll just create problems". As Dr. McCoy might say, "Good god, man!" really sums that coda up. So chalk up yet another reason for "underwhelming". At this point, I'd feel bad for Wesley as he's standing there with a grin hiding what we all know he's really thinking as a result.

P.S. Here's the actual line that Picard, the guy established as the one who is uncomfortable around kids, put out:

PICARD: I haven't as yet, Number One. I didn't think it was my responsibility alone. His remaining will create difficulties for us all.​

What's left:
Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Qonundrum]

First one to go is "Up The Long Ladder".

I'm sure many would agree this was just bad all around.

It's clumsily written, but a lot of television of the time - even/especially sci-fi - didn't really discuss having a larger genetic base to build up a species from better, which is even more important when considering reversing endangered species (read: get them in a motel room and turn off the "vacancy" sign sooner rather than later.) And news stories at the time did occasionally bring up some species teetering in that direction. The guest cast also do well in rising above some risible material. But it does feel like a throwback to season 1.

Going to eliminate The Outrageous Okona. A roguish lone wolf type with a ponytail who immediately charms the first woman he meets into bed? Meh. An uninspiring story full of unremarkable characters.

But... but... "My Terri Hatch! My Rocketeer dude Billy Campbell who was competing for the role of Riker!" Well, if that's how it works then that one Star Wars movie with Christopher Lee is by far the best one ever made, to the point I can't remember the full title. Wasn't it the second episode one? Maybe the third episode one too as everyone is killed so that must be great or something, complete with dialogue so hokey it makes the worst of TNG seem stellar by comparison."

Nope, the prequels were still a mess and so is the Okona story, where the only good bits involve Brent Spiner and Whoopi Goldberg effortlessly stealing the show.

"The Icarus Factor" is repulsive. It's "hey, we all make mistakes, why are you so sensitive?" attitude towards Riker being abandoned by his dad as a child is disgraceful. This episode is "Code Of Honor"-level revolting to me. Burn every copy.

^^this. It is that simple. This one is season 2's truest nadir.

Two of my favourites from this season are gone already. And I don't mean the awful Up the Long Ladder.

I understand the reasons why they needed to save money for the finale, but Shade of Gray is a terrible way to go about it. Perhaps pick a few characters for a one-set drama so that the end goal is achieved? I also thought Troi's constant crying over it all was a bit hammy and grating.

Yeah, as was said it's the tail end of season 1 that got clobbered. It's a bigger shame since, sans the clip show aspect, the sense of threat from this alien world is surprisingly palpable, and we finally get a gorgeous looking jungle planet set that looks far better than it should (or arguably deserves, given the rest of the script -- so the story at least has something of merit, despite the script.) Had there not been the strike, it's too easy to see how they'd have a larger away team and a bunch of them get clobbered, with Pulaski racing around the clock. Meanwhile the Borg or Pakleds' big brother or someone else arrives to cause havoc.

Along with the clips, lengthening out Troi scenes cuz Riker's like her Imzadeeeeeee! or whatever is definitely cringeworthy.

 

[Eckauskas]

But... but... "My Terri Hatch! My Rocketeer dude Billy Campbell who was competing for the role of Riker!" Well, if that's how it works then that one Star Wars movie with Christopher Lee is by far the best one ever made, to the point I can't remember the full title. Wasn't it the second episode one? Maybe the third episode one too as everyone is killed so that must be great or something, complete with dialogue so hokey it makes the worst of TNG seem stellar by comparison."

Nope, the prequels were still a mess and so is the Okona story, where the only good bits involve Brent Spiner and Whoopi Goldberg effortlessly stealing the show.

Christ, I’d forgotten about the b-plot of that episode being the one with Data trying to master humour with that god awful comedian (I’m not American so I dunno who he is). Absolutely dreadful.

 

[Qonundrum]

Christ, I’d forgotten about the b-plot of that episode being the one with Data trying to master humour with that god awful comedian (I’m not American so I dunno who he is). Absolutely dreadful.

That's the worst part: Goldberg and Spiner, especially in their final scenes, are far more genuinely entertaining than "The Comic" character ever was; it all feels natural. (Though I'll admit, the earlier scene involving "You're a droid and I'm a noid" (a numbingly bad way to get to "annoyed") didn't do much for me at the time, and not because - in 1988 - there was a pizza chain had a mascot called a Noid... ) Not even Robin Williams, Richard Pyror, et al, could have saved that plot thread of teaching Data "What is funny". I suppose the idea was that the computer reacted to Data by putting in a Jerry Lewis trope, but - ugh - it did not work then and still does not. Joe Piscopo got the role of "The Comic" and, you guessed it, he has no on-screen chemistry with Spiner - and the Comic scenes needed that screen chemistry to even begin to work...

 

[Sakonna]

Strong list!

I"m always a little disappointed to revisit "Elementary, Dear Data" because the story is very clunkily structured. I love Moriarty and "Ship In A Bottle" and the production work and Pulaski, but the actual story of "Elementary, Dear Data" is quite meh.

Where Silence Has Lease
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
Manhunt
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Sakonna]

"Pen Pals" introduced the 24th-century interpretation of the Prime Directive, which I loathe. To hear our rational Starfleet officers debate whether "destiny" or "fate" required them to let a world be destroyed and its inhabitants perish, even though they had the ability to intervene without anyone on the planet being the wiser (except a small child who no one would believe) -- that just appalled me. Our rational denizens of the rational future talking about destiny as if it had intentions and direction sounded more than a little superstitious, and invoking it as a reason to not save lives? Horrible. And Picard stood there and prated about letting people die being the moral choice. The only reason they all (except Pulaski and Data, who favored action all along) didn't come off as monsters was that they couldn't quite turn away from a small child's voice begging for help.

Just the other day I was scrolling through Trek trying to pick an episode, and wondered to myself "why do I never rewatch 'Pen Pals'?"

This is why!

Two of my favourites from this season are gone already. And I don't mean the awful Up the Long Ladder.

I understand the reasons why they needed to save money for the finale, but Shade of Gray is a terrible way to go about it. Perhaps pick a few characters for a one-set drama so that the end goal is achieved? I also thought Troi's constant crying over it all was a bit hammy and grating.

It's funny, I originally hated it as much as everyone else, but I've been gradually warming up to "Shades Of Gray" over the last few years, and I have now arrived at the place where I FULLY LOVE IT and am so glad it exists.

Seasons 1 and 2 of TNG are such a distinct era of Trek, they stand apart from the rest of TNG and all the other shows. Nowadays, I love that this era ends with a bizarre greatest hits wrap-up that is similarly unique for the franchise.

The writers' strike affected the tail-end of season one and the beginning of the second. It changed the original plans to introduce the Borg back in S1 and also resulted in four episodes fewer at the start of S2. The Child is obviously one of the old Phase Two scripts recycled to get an episode on air in time.

There had been a miscalculation of the budget during season two with expensive episodes like Elementary, Dear Data, and Q Who in particular. It meant that by the end of the year, they were out of money and had to throw together something cheaply.

I wonder what the thought process was behind Shades of Gray, as they had run out of money, not time.

Nothing saves more money than cutting shooting days (well, you could save way more by cutting the bloated salaries of the top producers, but if we limit ourselves to "Things That Could Happen In Reality," cutting shooting days is your best cost-saver).

"Shades Of Gray" was done in three, instead of the usual seven.

 

[Farscape One]

Strong list remaining.

I will take out "Manhunt".

While I flund elements of the episode funny (Picard backing himself against the wall in panic with the tommy gun facing him is always hilarious), it's definitely the weakest of the remaining.


Where Silence Has Lease
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Seven of Five]

As much as I love the design of the makeup of the girl in Pen Pals, and also as much as I love Data's affection for her, I agree that the Prime Directive premise is a poor example. Shame.

Unnatural Selection is next for me, as it's a pretty average episode. Didn't we have an episode where the cast aged rapidly on TOS that was better?

Where Silence Has Lease
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
The Emissary
Peak Performance

 

[Sakonna]

No one kill me, but "The Measure Of A Man." It's a bit stagey, and the other nine of these I rewatch TO DEATH. The only thing I rewatch regularly from "Measure Of A Man" is the Guinan scene where she leads Picard to his epiphany about the case.

Where Silence Has Lease
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
A Matter of Honor
The Dauphin
Contagion
Q Who?
The Emissary
Peak Performance