Part II, Chapter V: "A Step in the Right Direction"
“Sure, the audience liked it more than the first season, and there are some episodes that are considered ‘classic’ by the fans, but it was clear, to me at least, that we still hadn’t quite found our footing yet. With how well Doctor Who’s first season had done, there was a real fear among the rest of the cast that we’d be cancelled. That, and the rift between ourselves and the writers, left many of us unsure of what was to come. We knew that drastic change was needed, I only hoped that didn’t mean killing off most of the cast like some were suggesting.”
- Marina Sirtis, taken from
Where None Had Gone Before.
Star Trek: The Next Generation was back for a second season, after what was described by many fans as a ‘rather lacklustre’ first season. Much of the ‘old guard’ that had accompanied Roddenberry to the new show had left, and that this show was going to be something different to the Original Series was becoming quickly apparent.
Many fans that had been turned off by the first season however, did not return to watch the second, resulting in slightly lower viewing numbers to begin with. While numbers fluctuated throughout the season, they did hit a higher peak than the first season. It would not be until the episode “Q Who” that the show was the third most viewed in its time slow however.
The character of Katherine Pulaski was not well received by the fans however. While Diana Muldaur was not staying past the season, it is likely that given the generally negative reception she got, her contract would not have been renewed past the one season it entailed. While her character was quite similar to Dr McCoy from
The Orginial Series, a fan favourite, fans generally agreed that she did not seem to gel well with the rest of the crew.
Better received were the two new “big bads” of the show, the Borg and the Iconians. The Borg, who had been hinted at during the first seaon, and the first half of the second season, were properly introduced in the episode “Q Who”, where they are established as a looming threat for the Federation and other powers of the Alpha Quadrant. The Iconians would not be seen on screen, as they were established as having gone extinct many thousands of years prior. Despite this, there were hints left throughout the season that the Iconians were still alive somewhere, orchestrating events from behind the scenes. [1]
Overall, the season was better received than the first, and given the number of viewers that stayed to watch it, the executives at Paramount were eager to renew for a third season, considering a fourth. [2]
List of Episodes of Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation:
- Abductions [3]
- 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 [4]
- Contagion
- The Royale
- Time Squared
- The Icarus Factor
- Derelict [5]
- Q Who
- The Dream Pool [6]
- Up The Long Ladder
- Manhunt
- The Emissary
- Peak Performance
- Icons [7]
Main Cast of Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation: [8]
- Captain Julien Picard – Patrick Stewart
- Commander William Riker – Jonathan Frakes
- Lt. Geordi La Forge – LeVar Burton
- Lt. Worf – Michael Dorn
- Dr. Katherine Pulaski – Diana Muldaur
- Counsellor (Lt. Cmdr.) Deanna Troi – Marina Sirtis
- Lt. Cmdr. Data – Brent Spiner
- Acting Ensign Leslie Crusher – Carla Gugino
Season 2 marked the only time in
The Next Generation where they won an Emmy. While most seasons would end up nominated for multiple Emmys, “Q Who” would be the only episode to win any. [9]
With a more successful second season, the producers were eager to get working on the third, though much work was needed. Roddenberry was slowly being pushed out of the production, and the writers were finding it increasingly difficult to balance the vision that Roddenberry had with the stories that they wanted to tell. And once again, they needed a new Chief Medical Officer. [10]
[1] As per OTL, the Ferengi aren't completely absent, but they take a back seat in this season. The Borg are hinted at more in "Abductions", which continues on from the Neutral Zone, I'll detail more in the next update.
[2] Paramount really wants to knock Doctor Who out of the park, so thing will only get more bold from here on out.
[3] Replaces "The Child", follows on from "The Neutral Zone"
[4] As Wesley is Leslie ITTL, the gender of the alien is changed.
[5] Unproduced TNG script from OTL, replaces "Pen Pals"
[6] Unproduced TNG script from OTL, replaces "Samaritan Snare"
[7] An original idea of mine, the plot to which will be in the next update. It replaces "Shades of Gray", possibly the worst TNG episode. Thanks to user 'unclepatrick' for convincing me to change this.
[8] I'm only listing the main cast here for convenice's sake. The only change from OTL is that O'Brien is established as a Chief Petty Officer, an enlisted crewmember. Much less confusion about his rank ITTL.
[9] As OTL, I might change this in the future, but I think that it shows that science fiction is still very much "nerd territory" at this time.
[10] I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about this, one one hand I could just follow OTL as I liked Crusher, but I want to start putting in some real big changes. Anyway, we won't see S3 for a good few updates anyway. Next update is an overview of the epsodes themselves, like I did for Doctor Who. Due to the fact that there are more stories here, it will likely just be summaries unless there are large changes that need to be pointed out. I don't want to burn myself out. Sorry about the wait again.