Was TNG Season 2 Really That Bad? 

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In "Peak Performance" when Data first loses the game he thinks something is wrong with him, until Picard tells him, "It is possible to do everything right and still lose. That is not a fault, that is life." This was a very important thing for teenage me to hear.

TNG and DS9 share one important trait. They both start finding their feet when the beards appear

Riker on the Klingon ship was one of the best episodes of the series imho. It set the foundation of Klingon culture for pretty much all the Berman era shows, and was a great Riker episode.

Let’s just say that Season 1 is B4, Season 2 is newborn Lal and Seasons 3-7 are Data

Yeah, do seasons 3 through 7. Personally, I think season 7 is just as hit and miss as 1 and 2. Fun to see other opinions!

I vote yes to recapping each season. These are great, even when I don't entirely agree (I love the episode 'Royale' -- it reminds me of 80s TV and Data's hilarious). Please keep going :)

Data's creepy smile while slowly dancing always makes me laugh. I wonder why its not memed more.

I really don’t care that seasons 1 and 2 are not as good as the remainder of the series, TNG feels like a cozy home and even those seasons give me that warm feeling..

Yes, now you need to cover each season. Love the synopsis.

As an Irishman myself I found the episode hilarious actually. Keep up these videos they're great! Been re watching the series and these seem to appear whenever I finish a season!

I actually like both The Royale, and Up the long ladder, the second one mainly because my Mother who was a animal trainer working for the company that did all the animals for Tng got to be an extra as well as my sister, so it's always fun to find them in the show. Fun fact, I got to go on the set of Generations during the Data finds his cat scene, best day ever!

I love star trek because you get a wide range of fans. You've got channels like tyler's which analyze and break down the show in a realistic way and then you've got certain podcasts that ruthlessly make fun of the show but are clearly big fans.

Prime directive would be an excellent topic to scrutinize. There's so much contention there, it's used as an excuse for inaction as well as disregarded when it's convenient, a thorough analysis would be interesting.

I 100% would love to see seasons 3-7 done like this. Hell, even seasons of the other series like DS9, Voyager, etc.

I'd love to see a review and episode guide for seasons 3-7. These have been great fun to watch. I've been trying to get my kids to watch classic Star Trek with me and these have been great at helping me pick out good episodes and avoid some stinkers. I particularly like that you mention how they connect to the series as a whole so if there is a mediocre episode but is important for story and lore reasons it can be worth watching.

I don’t have anyone I could discuss these seasons with so going through it is a very nice road down memory lane. I used to watch TNG with my mom on weekend mornings before she passed away.

I liked Pulaski too, although Crusher had better chemistry with the rest of the crew, Pulaski reminded me of McCoy. Old fashioned and a bit cranky. Season 2 was a mixed bag. Some really good episodes like 'Measure of the man' and I actually liked time 'Time Squared' A funny and enjoyable analysis, kind of got the feeling you'd been praying at the altar of the Vape god Mordock. I definitely feel you should continue analysing the seasons, to break up your deep dive episodes. The good episodes are worth highlighting and the bad episodes are worth ripping the piss out of.

14:24 I think Lower Decks has hit on something pretty ingenious, and I think Star Trek should explore it. That program of going back to check on past planets could be an entire show set in the Picard Universe. They can use the Miranda Class or whatever and either have one crew or they can have different crews and use the one set since it is a Miranda class. Anyhoo they can revisit these different planets. I think the story options would be endless!!!!

The Royal is an amazing episode. Very Twilight Zone. Love that episode.

Fun Fact: Billy Campbell (who played Okana) originally auditioned for the role of Will Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was the second choice for the part. Jeffrey Combs also auditioned along with Vaughn Armstrong.

YES! Please do Seasons 3-7 your style, pacing, and insight are spot on my dude! So please do all the Seasons of every Series in Star Trek (or at least what I call "my trek" .... the 90's stuff, yes, I'm old. Shoot me.) ... But fir really real main, do all the TNG, DS9, and Voyager seasons! Do it!

It's me, the one person who actually loves "The Royale". :P I have no idea why? I just think the episode is hilarious. I feel like if you look at it as a comedy episode, it comes off a lot better.

I"m sad that you dissed Lwaxana Troi! I've always loved her character. She initially comes across as a very two-dimensional person, but, as time progresses, it becomes clear that she is hiding a lot of deep emotional experiences behind that facade. And, you should definitely do a review of the other TNG seasons. I'd be interested to see if you would recommend more than half of any of the other seasons, as was the case for the first two.

When Season 2 hit high, it was amazing. Count me in for further season reviews of TNG!

I've been watching and rewatching the TNG series since the late 90s when I was in high school, back then the depiction of "racist" was represented by an act of vulgar and insulting superiority of one race over the other, take for example the themes in the movie American History X and the events that take place; nowadays you cannot make a movie like that because some will claim it promotes discrimination and hate. We have to draw the line again between what is reality and what is fiction because we are slowly mutilating satire and creativity to the tunes of constantly redefining what "racism" is. I'm Italian and I've seen plenty of tv and internet content where they show stereotypes like organized crime families, men with greasy hair and white tank tops waving hands, families that always eat for dinner an exaggerated amount of food, how we are always late, how we cannot have anything but pasta, that we are obsessed with fashion, and so on. Some of these stereotypes are based on truths and some are exaggerated while others are fantasy, but we get along and learn to laugh at it because we are mature enough not to get offended by the slight of criticism. Also, consider the time context and how society was different thirty or forty years ago when productions were made. No Italian ever felt discriminated or called "racism" because of The Sopranos or The Godfather when they depict us as greedy-murderer-pasta-eaters. Nonetheless, I applaud you for the quality of your videos and knowledge in ST, keep it up.

I would love to see season 3-7. It's been really fun watching your review on them!

Measurement of a man is one of the best episodes of whole franchise

If you don't understand why Mudd worked so well, you wind up with Okona. Also, calling back to a recent episode, it would seem Darwin Station had espers. That video made me really want to get the current run of the comics, which features Gary Mitchell and other energy beings. I really enjoy this channel.

In " A Matter of Honor and Samaritan Snare" the Klingon captain and the Pakled captain are both played by Christopher Collins. He was the voice of Cobra Commander in the 80's GIJoe cartoon.

You started this ... now you have to do the rest of the seasons! I really enjoyed your commentary.

Yes dude, please keep this series going, and when you eventually finish TNG you could do DS9 one. Maybe eventually even Voyager.

Well done - I would definitely be interested in seeing the rest of the seasons analyzed in the same matter.

I remember watching as a kid, I love every season, it was so moralizing, hopeful and excepting. Growing up around bigoted family members really made TNG a place to escape to. With each episode, an injustice/problem appears and the crew seeks a resolution that treat one another with dignity, respect and tolerance (usually). Also, I'll be here whether or not you make reviews of seasons 3+, great content all around, but I really like these

Please do continue! These recaps have been fun.

I commented in the Season 1 recap that people would have liked Dr. Pulaski had she been in the original cast. The actress was even on two TOS episodes, as noted here. And, her questioning of Data's sentience would just be seen as part of Data's character development. A lot of the Pulaski hate was just her replacing Dr. Crusher. As a bonus, Wesley would have been on the ship on his own merit, rather than just because his mom is on the crew. The Wesley stories would have been somewhat more tolerable had he passed rigorous testing, perhaps being the top ranked human his age, to earn a spot on the Enterprise. Had it been reversed, fans probably wouldn't have liked Dr. Crusher. They'd say Pulaski was replaced by a younger actress who didn't have nearly the "edge" of Pulaski. They'd say her character was boring in comparison the acerbic, somewhat abrasive Pulaski. The "will they, won't they?" tension with Picard would be derided as forced and not that interesting. I prefer Crusher too. I just don't think it's what some make it out to be.

Keep going with these, very enjoyable. Watching these first seasons at time of broadcast was a chore, especially as here in Ireland their scheduling was so slow and chaotic that we watched most of them on rented VHS (2 episodes to a tape). A Canadian friend brought us home-taped Season 3 episodes while we were still at the start of Season 2 - and it was a horrible shock dropping back from that to this.

🎉 almost to 50k subs man you can do it

20:53- CarolYN Seymour's Sci-Fi background also goes back to the mid-seventies. She was one of the leads in Survivors, created by Terry Nation previously partially responsible for the Daleks in Doctor Who, and guest starred in a Year 2 episode of Space: 1999.

This was a lot of fun to listen to. Please do Seasons 3 - 7, I'd love to hear what you think about the uptick in quality.

Yes, all seasons please. Then all the others... DS9, Voyager, Enterprise... there can never be too much Tyler geeking out on Trek!! ❤🖖🏻👽

I'd really love if you covered the rest of the seasons for TNG, I'm very interested to hear what your thoughts are on the memed "jump" in quality for season 3 onwards I really enjoy your videos Orange, thanks so much for the uploads my man

@OrangeRiver I'm always looking into new ways to make videos, but don't you - you're nailing it. Cheers!

When Tyler alluded to the worst episode of TNG being in season 2, I couldn't picture which episode he was referring to. But then he showed "Shades of Gray" and then the pain came rushing back to me. I had blocked this episode out. I've seen every TNG episode atleast 6 or 7 times, except for "Shades of Gray". I saw it once and once was enough.

i've seen every episode of every season but probably never going to do a watch-thru again while still having good memories and nostalgia for TNG, so i fully support you doing videos on every season not just the first 2 because i will certainly watch to get my fix

Time Squared is one of my favorite tng episodes, mainly because of Stewart's performance.

there is an interesting scene in the episode pen pals which i feel like is so suttble and never talked about but it is the start of a character ark with riker which plays an important part best of both worlds. because in that episode riker is so sure the thing to do in every situation in pen pals is to ask yourself one question what would picard do. and in the best of the worlds it turns out its the one thing you have to not do in order to save the day. it almost feels like in some ways the best of the worlds was calling out season 1 and 2 for its sumg way of thinking. saying that way of thinking needs to change. its funny because i have no idea if that was intentional to have riker have to figure out he is the captain and has to not think like picard to save the day or not but it feels too subtle to be intentional lol but if its not intentional then it somehow ends up fitting perfectly with rikers established character.

You offer a balanced retrospective on these often derided seasons. Because of that, I'd rather see your analysis on the other overlooked seasons from other series (basically the first/second seasons).

I'd love to hear your perspective on the entire series, I was 3 when season 1 aired, and I have fond memories of watching the show growing up, and I actually enjoy some of the really bad episodes, but that's just the warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. I like seeing other perspectives, especially from people younger than me.

I wonder at what point TNG passed the Bechdel test.

Tyler I just wanted to thank you I'm just getting into TNG and your videos help to catch me up and they are lots of fun you are rocking it dude please keep it coming

Do all the seasons and all the trek shows....even the bad ones! Good work sir

I always thought it was a shame that they never referenced the Moriarty hologram on Voyager. They essentially created the base code for the EMH programme *by accident*

I think that seasons 3 through 7 are pretty uniform in their quality. However, I think what would be super-interesting would be going through the connections between episodes, both with TNG episodes and other episodes of the franchise. Highlighting the House of Duras from "Sins of the Father" to "The Sword of Kahless", for example, or AI rights from "Measure of a Man" to "The Offspring" to "Author, Author" to Star Trek: Picard can show off one of the biggest appeals of Star Trek - long-term world building. Doesn't need to be huge explorations, just examples of how "canon" is developed.

I’m totally loving this! Yes to seasons 3-7!!

I absolutely would enjoy more seasons broken down..this and your season 1 are good videos

Pen pals was one of my favorite earlier episodes. Good data character development.

Yes, do the rest of the seasons. You are informative and entertaining.

More seasons please! Format is getting better! Love the jokes and outtakes left in! More of this! Good job!

I would definitely enjoy more TNG retrospectives, and maybe some videos on the other Treks too. Thank you for another excellent one here! God be with you out there everybody! ✝️ :)

Yes yes yes! All the seasons will spice up our life! Thanks for all you do!

I love these break downs. I would love to see you do the rest of TNG. If possible I would love to see this for Voyager and DS9. Your videos are awesome. Your cuts, your jokes, and your mannerisms keep me laughing and watching. It's refreshing to watch a youtub video and not be inundated with political messaging. I don't know your politics and I don't care. We are all Trekky sci fi nerds. That's all that matters. Live long and prosper.

YES! I would love to hear your takes on all of the seasons. Hearing your input now is interesting both as just a good review of the episodes in and of itself, and it is also fun for me because at the time these shows originally aired, I loved them all equally and uncondtionally with the hubris and "blank slateness" of youth. Now, when I rewatch them, I find some of them have aged well and some, obviously, haven't, so it is *VERY* interesting for me personally to hear you disect the why of that. And I would love to hear you go on and do that for the rest of the series. Either way, though, thanks for your insights on the first two seasons! I look forward to rewatching these takes every now and then throughout the years!

Season 3 is where the show came into its own.

Looking forward for seasons 3 through 7 reviews!

These videos are so interesting and should be made about the rest of TNG's seasons(3-7) but also for the rest of the Old Trek series (DS9, VOY and ENT)

Brilliant as always! Awesome for bagging HelloFresh as a sponsor as well! Live long and prosper. 🖖 And... I vote yes to doing the rest of the series.

Someday I hope I get the chance to sit down with you over a refreshing malt beverage and talk Trek.

I liked Pulaski too. She showed growth. Elementary Dear Data is one of my favorites! I've often wondered if Okana was a backdoor pilot? Its just so out of place with a typical episode.

Definitely wanna see the rest of the seasons Tyler. Keep it coming homie. I love this format.

Awkward is probably the most accurate description for the issues TNG's first two seasons went through. But as bad as some of those episodes were , both S1 & S2 had some of the best episodes in the entire series. I don't think anyone would argue my opinion that s2's Measure of a Man is not just a Top 5 TNG episode but one of the beat episodes of any ST series period. How about S1's The Big Goodbye which gave us Dixon Hill & was the first Holodeck centered episode. As far as S2 I think I'm in the minority but I actually really enjoy The Royale. There are some pretty funny moments. Where Slience has Lease is a good episode considering the fact that it's one of those cheap episodes in which 90% takes place on the bridge. Pen Pals is a good one. Samaritan Snare isn't a particularly good episode but we get some much needed character building for Picard & the artificial heart story is used in Tapestry which is an excellent episode. Ya know I'll agree that S1 was rough & S3 was when they hit the mark , but I don't think S2 is simply a bridge to S3 with a few good episodes. This video shows it was much better then we remember. The biggest problem with S2 is that the Stinkers are REALLY BAD & Shades of grey was a huge mistake.

Despite the writers strike, this season has a lot more good and even great episodes than I remembered. And I do miss Polaski and wish crusher had stayed gone.

Loved it. Please do more seasons

Just found out about your channel and almost instantly subcribed :D And I would like to belive, that we all can agree to love to hear you talk about all the other seasons of TNG :D Keep up the good work!

Eyy thanks for providing this nice summary. Despite these two videos having served their purpose, personally I would like you to continue, because it ultimately comes down to whether you feel it is worth it or not.

The fact, "They confirm that people use it for that", was never in doubt. 😂😂😂😂😂

I'd sooner watch season 2 than season 7. I'm probably forgetting an episode or two but the only ones I like from season 7 are lower decks, the one where worf goes to the bat'leth competition and the finale. Season 2 has a 50 percent success rate and considering the writers strike and the strife behind the scenes how they made so many watchable episodes. It's also striking how much better season 3 is.

Bro I lost it when you kept messing up on hole and hull 🤣 also don’t even get me started on Miranda classes, they’re the bane of my Star Trek online experience WHY DOES CRYPTIC GOT SUCH A HARD ON FOR THEM THERES LIKE 20 VARIANTS I SWEAR

I would love to see individual videos on the remaining seasons of tng! I also really enjoyed the more silly parts of this video. great work as always!

I thank Data in part for introducing me to Basil Rathbone's iconic 1940's run as Sherlock Holmes in film and radio. The writers were obviously inspired by Rathbone when creating Data's look and character in general, not just when Data plays Holmes. Too bad Data's brother was the evil Lore instead of Microft!

Measure of a Man is my personal favorite episode of the series. I loved its take on human rights vs artificial intelligence, the tension-filled courtroom scenes and the final scene between Riker and Data - "That action injured you and saved me. I will not forget it."

I love Season 2. It’s very corny at times, but I enjoy the weird vibe. It feels like a different show than any other season, and I like it even if it’s not objectively as good.

OMG YES!! I just sat down to play some Dwarf Fortress and was browsing youtube for something to listen to. Hit refresh and here is my man OrangeRiver with a new vid. THANK YOU!! edit: just wanted to say that I have always liked the first two seasons but I think that is because I distinctly remember seeing them on TV when I was a kiddo. Even back then TNG was my comfort show.

Dr. Pulaski will always be my favorite. She actually grew as a character. I would have loved to have seen her in future seasons.

Love a Friday with a new OrangeRiver video. And add me to the list of wanting to see you do season reviews of the entire series.

I always love your videos. I think you're poster in the background is trying to send a message from another dimension. But seriously, I was wondering if you ever decide to do a breakdown of the Pakled, would you consider doing a cross channel project. I know my tiny channel isn't on the same level as you, but it would mean a lot. You do such high quality dives into the biology of the species you examine, and I tend to stay within the cultural study along with production and social reasons for some choices. I think our different ways of examining the species would work off each other well, and it might help my channel.

Oh man, if you want to do a season by season breakdown like this, I will absolutely tune in every time. Love these. Also, I know I'm (rightly) in the minority on this opinion, but for me "Hotel Royale" falls into a "so bad its good" area of fun cheese. It's terrible, but I never skip it on rewatch.

I can never get enough of people talking about Star Trek on RU-vid, whether I agree with it, I always seem to enjoy the conversation on it.

1. I'm from Northern Ireland. We still don't have running water. Lol where are the clones. 2. I think Troy's mother character is under rated especially with the ds9 episodes in mind where its shown she is extremely lonely. It's very bittersweet.

I would enjoy more in this series, i understand why you originally only intended to cover the first 2 seasons. But i'm enjoying this series, so by all means, continue!

I think seasons 3-7 would be fun. Even if it took awhile, it would be interesting if you did other series in the franchise.

Of all the times the Prime Directive was used as a plot tool to test the characters morality, the one in Pen Pals is one of the most egregious I can think of. I thought one of the main points of the directive was to minimize the chances that a potentially warmongering race, who would normally destroy itself before developing long-range space travel, got access to the Federation's advanced technology and knowlege and would then pose a threat to the Federation itself. But in this situation they were about to leave an entire species to die, not because of a nuclear war, but because they were unfortunate enough to be dealing with a world ending natural disaster they had no control over. They even had the means to quickly fix their problem in secret and without contaminating their culture but they still would not have intervened if not for Data's initiative and that always left a sour taste in my mouth.

13:47 The effect when Riva's chorus is killed is GREAT!

Please review all seasons. I really appreciate those reviews 😊

I would definitely be interested in more. I find you are funny, insightful, and focused. 🖖

TNG doesn't get good until Riker has a beard.

I have my thoughts on the Data vs Kolrami rematch. I think Kolrami quit, not because Data was actually doing well, but the fact that he may have caught onto the fact that data wasn't actually trying to win. And on the subject of Data trying not to win, if he can accurately drag out the game by preventing his opponent from winning, it logically makes sense that he could actually win if he actually tried.

Man, yes, I want to hear about the rest of the seasons! Great coverage.

Hey, just discovered you today, I really like your commentaries (especially the "Deal with it" bit, to hell with useless fragilities!), so I've subscribed in case you do the other seasons as well. :) In any case, thanks! :)

Diana Muldaur was also guesting on LA Law at about the same time. She played an equally abrasive character, and got one of the most disrespectful and hilarious kill-offs in tv history. Look up Rosalind Shays She brought that interpersonal conflict that makes for good stories and disappointed Gene so much.