The least disliked episode of TNG - Season Two

Discussion in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' started by BlueStuff, Oct 20, 2017.

  1. BlueStuff

    BlueStuff Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2011
    Location:
    South Coast, UK - formerly 中国
    This is a game that we play every few years or so, and it's generally a lot of fun, providing a chance to mentally revisit those episodes you may not have thought about in a while. With that in mind, why not play again?

    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 favorite 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 because you feel they would threaten your preferred episode's chance to win.
    Pretty simple. Enjoy! :bolian:

    Hall of Champions
    2011 - The Best of Both Worlds (I)
    2013 - The Measure of a Man
    2015 - All Good Things...
    2017 -


    Season Two

    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
     
  2. Captain of the USS Averof

    Captain of the USS Averof Commodore Commodore

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    Jul 26, 2016
    Location:
    Greece
    The Child right off the bat. It was written for Phase II and it was poorly adapted for TNG.

    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
    50? Shades of Gray
     
  3. BigDaveX

    BigDaveX Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2016
    I'll go right to the other end of the season and give Shades of Gray the chop because... well, it's not even an actual episode, is it? And even for a clip show, the concept is thin at best; there were better ways of going about it.

    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
     
  4. Trek Survivor

    Trek Survivor Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2009
    Location:
    UK
    Of course "Shades of Gray" is an episode.

    I'll remove "Manhunt". This one was boring, the pacing was all over the place as was the tone, Majel Barrett was at her worst in acting (and the part written for her) and there is so little to like about it. The old fish-face aliens were fun, I guess...!

    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
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  5. Armus

    Armus Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2003
    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    Unnatural Selection. The only season 2 episode that I cannot rewatch. It's a shame the one episode to focus entirely on Dr. Pulaski was a lame remake of The Deadly Years.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Outrageous Okona
    Loud as a Whisper
    The Schizoid Man
    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
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  6. SpocksOddSocks

    SpocksOddSocks Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    May 30, 2015
    Location:
    SpocksOddSocks
    Removing The Icarus Factor. Ooh look, Riker's dad is aboard... *snore*

    You know, seeing that list, season 2 looks more decent than I remember.

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

    **edited to reflect the ninja post above this one.
     
  7. BlueStuff

    BlueStuff Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2011
    Location:
    South Coast, UK - formerly 中国
    The Outrageous Okona is shot out the airlock. Yuck. This was supposed to be a comedy? "You're a droid, and I'm annoyed." Guinan described that joke (her own joke) as "funny". WTF? Had the writers ever heard or seen a joke before?

    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
    Time Squared
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    Up the Long Ladder
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2017
    LJS1138 likes this.
  8. BigDaveX

    BigDaveX Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2016
    I'm giving Up The Long Ladder a push off of the ladder. While I don't believe it was intentionally racist, seeing how Melinda Snodgrass and Maurice Hurley both had Irish ancestry, the Bringloidi are still incredibly cartoonish and annoying. The cloning sub-plot was a bit better, but even more under-developed than... well, the unfinished clones of themselves that Riker and Pulaski kill.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    Loud as a Whisper
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    The Dauphin
    Contagion
    The Royale
    Time Squared
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  9. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    There are other possible contenders in my bucket list, but

    Loud as a Whisper

    As with a lot of season 2, this has an interesting idea but it doesn't quite work. The chorus idea worked rather better in "Herman's Head", though there are some set piece scenes that are effective, especially Troi as this episode would highlight her abilities. But the episode is not the sum of its parts and ends up being a remarkably forgettable story despite some ideas at work. That and Riva's chorus guy who represents his libido - that could have gone in any number of salacious directions. Had this been made before or just after "Justice", I reckon THAT would have been the show's focus instead. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I prefer my sci-fi without sexual innuendo unless it's meant to be an outright comedy like "Red Dwarf".

    Almost voted for Schizoid Man. It too has an interesting premise but as much as the episode tries, something doesn't stick, and not because Graves-inside-Data wants to get busy with the lady-of-the-week.

    That and I had also rewatched "The Royale" recently and it wasn't anywhere as bad as its reputation suggests, and "Samaritan Snare" was meant to make the viewer uncomfortable, so it's nowhere near the bottom for me either.

    Other episodes too have some strong points despite not being fan favorites so the list is now:




    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    The Dauphin
    Contagion
    The Royale
    Time Squared
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  10. dstyer

    dstyer Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2009
    Location:
    Battle Creek, MI
    I have eliminated "The Royale." I did not care for the concept, nor the acting, even though it was supposed to be acting out a bad novel.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    The Dauphin
    Contagion
    Time Squared
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  11. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2007
    The Dauphin is a stupendous combination of awkward, silly, boring, poorly acted & pointless, & its time for dismissal has come

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Time Squared
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2017
  12. Sakonna

    Sakonna Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2015
    Time Squared has never done it for me. You can do fun things with short term time travel (see: DS9, "Visionary"), but in Time Squared the story plays out in such a dreary, belabored fashion. Sucks all the excitement and fun out of it.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Pen Pals
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  13. Brennyren

    Brennyren Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2003
    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA, USA
    Signing off, "Pen Pals," for introducing the 24th-century interpretation of the Prime Directive: no interference at all regardless of the nature of the problem, because we can't know what God or Fate or Nature intends. That always struck me as bizarrely mystical for a supposedly rational future.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Schizoid Man
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  14. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2007
    It gets tough now, but I'm dropping The Schizoid Man, despite being a Data episode with a cyberneticist, played by a Trek veteran. Something about the execution of this story just doesn't come off as well as it could've. Besides, the possession Trek episode trope is overused

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    Samaritan Snare
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  15. BigDaveX

    BigDaveX Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2016
    I'm going to make Samaritan Snare go. An interesting concept, and there is some good character stuff for Picard and Wesley (and Geordi to some extent), but ultimately the Pakleds just come across as too stupid for it to seem credible that they'd successfully pull their scam on the Enterprise crew.

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    A Matter of Honor
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  16. SpocksOddSocks

    SpocksOddSocks Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    May 30, 2015
    Location:
    SpocksOddSocks
    Well, I know it's not a terrible episode, but it is a Riker episode, and Riker is my least favourite character on TNG, so I'll have to pick A Matter of Honor.

    Also doesn't help that the title contains one of those words that Americans spell wrong :p

    Where Silence Has Lease
    Elementary, Dear Data
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  17. Sakonna

    Sakonna Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2015
    And now it's at the point where it's really tough, all these episodes are great. I'll toss Elementary, Dear Data, though I mostly have only good things to say about it -- it's a favorite holodeck episode, it's gorgeously produced, it's a great use of Pulaski to give us some tension among the crew, it eventually gives us "Ship In A Bottle", which is an absolute favorite of mine. But it has a few off beats (Geordi storming out of the holodeck because he doesn't like how Data is playing), so the other episodes here just play more smoothly...

    Where Silence Has Lease
    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
    Armus likes this.
  18. LJS1138

    LJS1138 Lieutenant Red Shirt

    Joined:
    May 29, 2017
    Location:
    NJ
    I'm going to remove Where Silence Has Lease. Interesting premise, not as badly executed as most episodes, but certainly not the best episode of season 2.

    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    The Emissary
    Peak Performance
     
  19. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2007
    Ooo! I still get to knock off a top spot. All good episodes, but I'm going to sack The Emissary. I've never been fond of Worf's K'Ehleyr/Alexander arc even if the actress is really good

    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?
    Peak Performance
     
  20. Captain of the USS Averof

    Captain of the USS Averof Commodore Commodore

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    Jul 26, 2016
    Location:
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    Peak Performance is easily the “fourth best” episode of the bunch. That outdated video game...

    The Measure of a Man
    Contagion
    Q Who?