Worst Episode of TNG Season Two Part One

[AdmiralGarak]

middyseafort said:
"Shades of Grey," the first time I'd ever seen a science-fiction drama doing a clip show. I had, up to that point, thought that had been the purview of the sit-com.

And then SG-1 started doing the blasted things once a season. SG-1 did them much better, fortunately.

Of course, "The Menagerie" is technically a clip show, too. It was a brilliant means of utilizing the unaired pilot's footage, but everybody has seen "The Cage" now.

 

[TrekNut87]

Shades of Gray- How this ever ended up on T.V. I'll never know
The Outrageous Okona- So bad it made me angry
Loud AS A Whisper- Dull

 

[Tralah]

Blueicus said:
With regards to the Emissary I never quite understood why the Klingons would send a ship on a sleeper mission that took place 70 years after it was launched. What benefit did it serve compared to attacking immediately or simply waiting for another Chancellor 70 years later to decide to attack? It's not like the colony was that far away from Klingon space. It's like if the Soviets sent a sleeper submarine away for 70 years in the 60's to attack Florida with missiles. Surely circumstances would have changed greatly in 70 years to make the attack pointless.

I could be wrong as I haven't seen the episode in years, but I seem have the impression that it wasn't INTENTIONAL for the sleeper mission to last 70 years, and that something went wrong to delay waking them up.

 

[chancellorjake]

TrekNut87 said:
Shades of Gray- How this ever ended up on T.V. I'll never know

There was a huge writers strike before Season 2 and TNG wasn't prepared for it. It was the main reason there were so many horrible, horrible episodes during this season. It's, also, the main reason why I cut this season a lot of slack.

Anyway, my picks for the worst are:
The Schizoid Man ...
Samaritan Snare ... Klingons joined the Federation? Really?
Up the Long Ladder ...

 

[Red Ranger]

My votes: "The Outrageous Okona," "Unnatural Selection," and "Shades of Grey." Very poor eps! -- RR

 

[Dane_Whitman]

This season reeks of Data-loaf!

"The Outrageous Okona"
"Up the Long Ladder" (gotta be one of the most obnoxious episodes in all of Trek)
"Shades of Grey"

 

[Mitty]

Is Shades of Grey as hated as "Threshold"?

 

[Mordock]

I'm inclined to give "Shades of Gray" a mulligan, because circumstances beyond the control of the production had limited it from the very start.

"Up the Long Ladder" doesn't have the same excuse, and manages the neat trick of being both bad on its own terms and highly reminiscent of lesser TOS.

 

[Nebusj]

Oh, there's a whole buffet of loathsomeness this season.

Prime would have to be ``Up The Long Ladder'', for which Trek owes reparations to everyone of Irish descent, including people whose Irish descent consists of nothing more than having ever eaten a bowl of Lucky Charms.

And then there's ``The Icarus Factor'', in which nothing happens. It's a complete and unmistakable void. It's the programming equivalent of turning on the air hockey table to discover you have only one paddle and no puck, so you let the paddle float around to see if it ever stops somewhere. And it gets lodged in a corner marked Klingon Bar Mitzvahs.

And let's not forget ``The Outrageous Okona'', not the first nor the last Mary Sue on Modern Trek, but surely the one we would most like to have grasping the pain sticks of John Tesh.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Kegek said:

AdmiralGarak said:
"Up The Long Ladder" - After all of the talk about the unintentional racism in "Code of Honor", we shouldn't let this one slide. All it was missing was leprechauns.

My thoughts exactly. Not just the worst episode of the season, worst episode of the franchise. And this one can't be chalked up to unfortunate casting decisions, it's all there in the script.

Yes, another episode that shows the producers didn't give much thought on how it's portrayal of an ethnicity would be perceived.

 

[DeafPoet]

Unnatural Selection
Up the Long Ladder
Shades of Gray

I was chuckling to myself when I clicked in here wondering "Gee, I wonder if the goddamn clip show's going to be winning this one?!"

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Two of my votes were also chosen by quite a few of you: "The Outrageous Okona" and "Shades of Gray."

However, I'm surprised more people did not vote for "Manhunt." My guess is that everyone has forgotten about it because nothing remotely memorable happens in the entire hour. The episode meanders around, goes nowhere, accomplishes nothing, and ends leaving the viewer saying "That was it?"

 

[Dorothy_Zbornak]

"The Royale"

"The Schizoid Man" - uck, shut UP, Spiner.

"The Dauphin"

"Shades of Gray" gets enough abuse that it doesn't need another vote from me--when I first got into TNG I had missed the first season, so "Shades of Grey" gave me my first glimpse of it and for that I'll always think fondly of it.

 

[Vasquez Rocks]

Unnatural Selection
Samaritan Snare
Shades of Gray

 

[Starpaul20]

The Dauphin, Pen Pals and Shades of Gray are what I voted for. Couldn't stand them.

 

[LancasterTrek]

Unnatural Selection

Really? I love that episode! I thought it was terrific.

Manhunt

Ugh...forgot about that one. I would have voted for that one before The Emissary if I'd thought of it.

 

[Keogh]

For me definitely Shades of Grey.

 

[K-Star]

I like most of them, so I just picked the ones that interested me least.

The Schizoid Man
Time Squared
Shades of Grey

 

[Natural]

I'd forgotten how many terrible episodes there were in season 2. I voted for Manhunt and thought, "wow only 3 other votes?" Then I read through the episode list and began to understand.

Up the Long Ladder
Manhunt
Shades of Grey

 

[KingstonTrekker]

"The Royale" (a boring and totally pointless episode)
"The Icarus Factor" (boring)
'The Outrageous Okona" (cringe-worthy)