145: It's Too Short A Season

Essential TNG Season 2.
Daniel, Darren and Phillip continue the proud
Trek.fm "essential" tradition of breaking down a season of their
favorite series, sorting through which episodes should be
officially kept. The trio begins, reluctantly, with "The Child"
and makes their way through Next Gen's too short a season, all
the way to "Shades of Grey." There are quite a few 2-1 votes for
whether an episode is considered "essential" in this installment
- that is, whether it embodies the spirit of TNG or sets up
much-needed elements for later Next Gen or later parts of the
subsequent Trek series. Earl Grey discusses when Lwaxana Troi
should "officially" show up, whether "Q Who?" should be "very
essential" or "most essential," and if Worf's "two bridges?!?!"
must officially be retired.

Season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation suffered from a
series of writer strikes and bad plots, along with captivating
stories ("The Measure of a Man"), new characters (e.g., Guinan
and Dr. Pulaski), and promotions for our crew. Join Earl Grey as
they hold up season two to the "essential" winnowing
process.


CHAPTERS
Episodes (00:05:09)The Child (Yes)
Where Silence Has Lease (No)
Elementary, Dear Data (Yes)
The Outrageous Okona (No)
Loud As A Whisper (Yes)
The Schizoid Man (No)
Unnatural Selection (No)
A Matter Of Honor (Yes)
The Measure Of A Man (No)
The Dauphin (No)
Contagion (Yes)
The Royale (No)
Time Squared (No)
The Icarus Factor (Yes)
Pen Pals (Yes)
Q Who (Yes)
Samaritan Snare (Yes)
Up The Long Ladder (No)
Manhunt (Yes)
The Emissary (Yes)
Peak Performance (Yes)
Shades of Gray (No)12 Yes / 10 No
Final Thoughts (00:54:59)

HOSTS


Daniel Proulx, Phillip Gilfus, & Darren Moser

PRODUCTION


Darren Moser (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive
Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao
(Executive Producer) Michael E Hueter  (Associate Producer)
Stephen Boyd (Associate Producer) Ron Saarna (Associate Producer)
Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Will Nguyen (Content
Manager)