Tier Ranking EVERY EPISODE of Star Trek TNG Season 2
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- ‼️ Get FULL ACCESS to our entire Star Trek journey over on Patreon - / targetaudience ‼️
This segment is from our LIVE stream a couple weeks ago where we celebrated finishing Season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
This video is a clip from our April 3rd LIVE stream. Several of these will be posted over the next couple weeks on RUclips for those who did not attend the stream.
Personally would put Unnatural Selection and Contagion slightly higher, but agree with everything else.
At this point I am wondering if you guys have noticed the pattern of who carries the good episodes.
For me the top 2 are Data and Worf with the top 4 also including picard and Riker. Even in ensemble episodes the more it focuses on these 4 the better it is likely to be
A Samaritan snare is a term for a gift or trap where you ambush someone by pretending to need help, a good Samaritan if you will is the victim of your trap or snare.
Just remember Levar's real job at the time was Reading Rainbow. He can be forgiven for not being on the bridge.
Someday I hope they react to the Reading Rainbow episode where he went behind the scenes at the TNG soundstages and talked to the special effects people and stuff. I was so young when that came out, I literally thought they were two different people. I hadn't really grasped what fiction was, yet, and basically thought that Geordi and LeVar were two completely different people. To be fair to my young self, he did wear that visor as Geordi, so it wasn't as easy to tell they were the same person. Anyway, that's basically how I learned what acting was.
"The child" is a C for me because of Marina Sirtis' acting. The idea of having a child, it ages to around 8-10 years old in a matter of days(maybe weeks) then dies! Thats pretty heartbreaking.
Not just that, but the premiere of both Guinan and Pulaski as well as a new "feel" and new sets and computer graphic effects (such as out the window of 10 forward during the Crusher/Guinan scene) for season 2. And a nicely creepy sci fi vibe with the fast growing child who can talk in 1 day. Mustache man doesn't do it any favors, has some missteps and the ending is a little lame, but definitely a solid C or even C+ for me also.
Marina’s least favourite episode of the franchise apparently.
I think the biggest issue is that the script, along with several for Season 2, just seems far too rushed. If they'd had a couple more weeks on it, I'm sure it would have been a decent season opener.
@@j.rileyindependentproductions They should have moved the episode half way up the season, had her give birth in whichever became the first episode, and leave the kid in for a dozen episodes, then make him affect the ship and kill him off.
No one cares about someone you only saw 35 min ago for the first time.
Agreed
21:40 "Samaritan Snare" implies a trap aimed at Good Samaritans.
"Where Silence Has Lease" should be A or B tier. You guys really liked the creepy vibe of it, and I think you're forgetting Picard's brinksmanship in it, as well as his musings on the afterlife.
The drawback with that episode is that in spite of several memorable scenes, it doesn't ultimately add up to anything new for ST. I'm conflicted about it. It's always good for a re-watch, which is more than I can say about 80% of pre-season 3 TNG.
It's creepy, but nowhere near A tier.
“Okay, “Up The Long Ladder”…okay, so “Manhunt””, I love it, best moment in this segment!
"Shades Of Gray" was definitely an E-Tier episode of TNG
It might be the worst episode of Star Trek, period.
Yes, very nice idea! Do season 1 retroactively. I generally agree with your rankings. "The Outrageous Okona" is only that high because I have a crush on young Teri Hatcher. "Measure of a Man" should be S+.
We will eventually!
Samaritan - as in Good Samaritan…the enterprise crew helps a disabled ship
Snare - IT’S A TRAP!!!
My Season 2 episode ranking (not using tiers) is:
1 The Measure Of A Man
2 Peak Performance
3 Q Who
4 A Matter Of Honor
5 Contagion
6 The Child
7 The Emissary
8 Where Silence Has Lease
9 Manhunt
10 The Schizoid Man
11 The Outrageous Okona
12 Time Squared
13 Elementary Dear Data
14 Pen Pals
15 The Royale
16 Unnatural Selection
17 Samaritan Snare
18 Shades Of Gray
19 Up The Long Ladder
20 The Icarus Factor
21 Loud As A Whisper
22 The Dauphin
No Best Of Both Worlds?
That's the beauty of any piece of art or entertainment. We can respond to it in our own unique way. My ranking would have differences, but I can't say that yours is not valid. It's an expression of the worth you were able to find in each episode.
@@jedsithor Not a season 2 episode.
Thats season 3 @jedsithor
Measure of a Man is just everything Star Trek to me. “Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well there it sits.” You’re god dammed right.
The Star Trek comic book series published by Gold Key is worth checking out, and given the series ran from 1967-1979 (with the first few issues published while TOS was still on the air) it’d be completely spoiler free. It also exists in trade paperbacks that might be easier to track down than the individual issues.
The Gold Key series barely knew anything about the show. Seeing uniforms miscolored was common. Some plots were atrocious. Definitely not canon content. I read them when they originally came out and long before I became a fan and always lumped them in together with several toys of the era: Star Trek in name only. Kirk or Spock added to a Science Fiction gadget doesn’t make it Star Trek but it was common into the seventies.
Growing up in the 70's, they were like new episodes of the show for me. Not Perfect by any means but back in those days, you had to make do with what you got.
I liked Samaritan's Snare for showing that bad dumb people can still be dangerous.
you could maybe do a poll after you watch every episode. Then show all the results at the end of the season. You guys can also save your rankings RIGHT AFTER you watch an episode, so you have your initial reaction.
I saw "Contagion" when it was first broadcast, and I still remember the Iconians and that the episode was written by Steve Gerber, creator of Howard the Duck, and Beth Woods. That and "Where Silence Holds Lease" are A-tier for me, while "Manhunt" is D-tier.and "Measure of a Man" is B-tier.
As i got older i started to give Wesley Crusher a break knowing a little more as i do about Will Wheadon's personal life at the time, who in his adolescent angst wasn't sure he wanted to be an actor and faced pressure/abuse to continue (this is "public" knowledge and open to scrutiny) -
His self-depricating and funny turn in Big Bang Theory allowed me to watch his performance in TNG more sympathetically.
He was a cute boy.
"Live long and suck it!"
21:36 - 'The Good Samaritan' is a biblical story about a man who did a good deed for someone despite the cultural biases between them. In contemporary language, a 'Samaritan' is a person that does good deeds, so a 'Samaritan snare' is a trap designed to take advantage of someone else's good intentions.
Here are my top five fav episodes from season two.
5. Where Silence Has Lease. I actually enjoy this episode as I find it interesting for the crew to come across an alien being that doesn't want to battle or form any sort of relationship. Just wants to experiment on them as if they are lab rats. I find it an interesting concept.
4. Elementary, Dear Data. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan so combining Sherlock Holmes with Star Trek is just cool to me.
3. The Royale. This is just so funny to me and there is still some unanswered questions with it that are fun to think about. Like how did a ship from that Era end up so far out in space? What alien attacked the ship and why did they spare that one guy? Why did they make that world for him?
2. Q Who. I love Q and any episode with him is good. I love that he is just such a pain in the ass in this episode. I also love the introduction of the Borg. I love the camera shot from behind the Borg and there's music and we just see this robotic hand until the next scene.
1. The Measure Of A Man. This is just such a brilliant episode all round. I love how it was written, the acting, and just everything about it. It's just a brilliant episode.
S for Shades of Gray LOL
The title does start with that letter, yes.
I couldn't be there for the livestream, but I really like what I'm seeing.
Also I forgot that half of these happened this season.😅
O’Brien said “that” in pen pals because he wasn’t sure if the alien was a male or female. Even though she might of looked female, since she was an alien there was no way to be sure and saying “that” was being as polite as possible.
I had already put together a 3 tier list for every TOS episode. Green = Never tire watching itagain ( A goto episode that I would use to show a friend just how good this show is. Amber = Take it or Leave it. Red. Would never watch it again.
Say what you can about "Up The Long Ladder", - it's the only time in Star Trek history that someone is offered a foot job!
Sometimes people say TNG got better the less Gene worked on it. Maybe, but most of the best ones this season have a very Roddenberry vibe.
Elementary Dear Data, Matter of Honor, The Emissary: all have either no villain or a villain that changes to a good guy by the end of the episode.
Measure of a Man is arguably like that, depending on how you classify Maddox. He is "defeated" through court, but immediately accepts the decision. However it definitely epitomizes Gene's idea of everybody getting along and working through their problems.
For novels, I would recommend Strike Zone by Peter David, Masks by John Vornholt, and Exiles by Howard Weistein
Imagine doing this for every episode of Star Trek in a single tier list
Well, it would kind of create itself over time by doing each season
@@targetaudience Sure but I was more thinking of how hilarious and messy a tierlist with over 900 entries would be. Crazy.
Some episodes would move down from S-tier over time.
@@riccardogemme: >Vegeta crushes scouter
I always found the gambling scene in the Royale a callback to the Questor Tapes which had another Roddenberry android pull the same thing… rolling the required number with loaded dice.
I totally enjoyed the Star Trek comics by John Byrne. He is a huge fan, and it shows.
Knowing him, he was probably very tempted to name one of his villains J.S.
Well, I agree with... 9 out of 22.
Samaritan's Snare - Trap for goodwilled helpful people.
This came out yesterday and we've seen your reactions to the end of the season. No spoilers so far haha
I love this tier list that you did, great idea, I love it!
The Royale might seem inoffensive to a first timer, but putting it as high as a B hurts when it is such a nothing episode. In the later seasons it would be a D, probably. I think your other B episodes were much better.
I think it's a rather spot-on tier list for sure. :) Though, Peak Performance remains my personal favorite of the season.
Wish there was a bit more gain on the volume. I always have to turn things up for you guys after watching other channels.
You two like Manhunt more than anyone else. If you already like Majel's character now, you will really like her in the future as her character improves with time.
The Child was originally scripted for the proposed 70s TOS series before being shelved. TNG were really struggling for scripts at this time.
What a cool idea, I’m sorry I missed this live. Things will get a lot harder in later seasons. I don’t know about going back and doing Season 1 it will be too depressing.
S2 -- It's pretty easy to select the S and A levels in this season. It gets tricky after that. I think you guys and a lot of the audience missed the boat with "Pen Pals." I give it a high B or low A. My other big difference: I think "Royale" is a stinker. Otherwise, I'm on board with much of that.
My rankings from worst to best using my five groups:
FAIL
The Royale
Where Silence Has Lease (I likely rate this one a lot lower than most people do; I have an almost irrational hatred for this episode)
The Dauphin
Up the Long Ladder
PASSABLE
The Child
Shades of Gray (More generous than 95% of fans would say, I know)
The Outrageous Okona
Samaritan Snare
The Icarus Factor
Manhunt
The Schizoid Man
RECOMMENDED
Unnatural Selection
Loud as a Whisper
Contagion
Time Squared
Pen Pals
Elementary, Dear Data
OUTSTANDING
Peak Performance
The Emissary
TRUE TREK CLASSIC
A Matter of Honor
Q Who
Measure of a Man
Is this like the Teer from "Friday's Child" TOS?
This was a good idea!
When you finish the series, you should do a list of the worst episodes of each season. Maybe for TOS too. That would be fun.
I do a Worst 6 Episodes list and a Top 20 for each season. I only dislike maybe 5 or 6 Episodes per season
@@cashflowhustles A Top 20 list would be rather silly, since this season only has 22 episodes (if you count "Shades of Grey" )
I just posted IMDb's picks for top and bottom five for season 2.
The bottom six would be:
SCORE TITLE
3.4 Shades of Grey (worst-rated in all of Star Trek)
5.8 The Child
6.1 Manhunt
6.2 The Dauphin
6.3 The Outrageous Okona (tie)
6.3 Up the Long Ladder (tie)
@MrDeathpilot I'm looking at 7 seasons. Back then the average was 25 or 26 per season going back to the 60s. Season 2 was a single exception due to a writer's strike
Oh wow, another upload by the Enterprise D Ensigns :)
Here's a S1 and S2 combo ranking, from worst to best:
FAIL
Justice
When the Bough Breaks
The Royale
Code of Honor
Where Silence Has Lease
The Dauphin
Up the Long Ladder
The Last Outpost
The Lonely Among Us
Angel One
PASSABLE
The Child
Shades of Gray
The Naked Now
Hide and Q
Symbiosis
The Outrageous Okona
Encounter at Farpoint
The Battle
Samaritan Snare
The Icarus Factor
Manhunt
Too Short a Season
We'll Always Have Paris
Datalore
Haven
The Schizoid Man
RECOMMENDED
Unnatural Selection
Skin of Evil
Home Soil
Arsenal of Freedom
Loud as a Whisper
Coming of Age
Contagion
The Neutral Zone
Time Squared
The Big Goodbye
Where No One Has Gone Before
Pen Pals
Elementary, Dear Data
OUTSTANDING
Heart of Glory
Conspiracy
11001001
Peak Performance
The Emissary
TRUE TREK CLASSIC
A Matter of Honor
Q Who
Measure of a Man
My scores for season 2:
e1: 1
e2: 4
e3: 6
e4: 2
e5: 5
e6: 5
e7: 4
e8: 8
e9: 9
e10: 4
e11: 5
e12: 3
e13: 5
e14: 2
e15: 6
e16: 9
e17: 3
e18: 3
e19: 5
e20: 8
e21: 7
e22: 0
This means my top 5 for Season two is:
1) The measure of a man
2) Q Who
3) The Emissary
4) A matter of honor
5) Peak Performance
The season average for me is: 4.73
Significantly better than the first season, but below the TNG standard.
Like Spock says: Fascinating
I'll repeat a suggestion I made on another video that would be Spoiler Free and a Deep Trek Dive: Do some TOS BTS Behind The Scenes Documentaries! Lots of great Spoiler free content and info.
Can't Do any TNG docs because it would be difficult for them to be Spoiler free.
Keep up the tier lists!
Some of these belong on the Tear List 😂
Good Ranking!
the Royale E tear, Pen pals low C or high D, Samaritan snare E, hate any that are from the past in holideck.
I wish I stuck around for this one! I like this! And with one or two exceptions, I agree with your rankings!
For the most part, I agree. While I too enjoyed watching Season 1 when it was new (and would still watch it over most TV) I care less for a lot of episodes after repeat viewings. Season 2 had great highs (Measure of a Man, Q-Who), and low lows (Shades of Gray). With too many episodes in that D range. I think after this, the show got more consistent.
I had to bow out of three stream during this section so I didn't get to comment then. I think all your ratings are about right (within one or almost two tiers) except for Contagion which is a high B or even low A for me. While the resolution of yhe plot was uninteresting and obvious even in the 1980s, I really enjoyed seeing Picard off the bridge, the technology of the Iconian gateway was super cool, and Riker's line, "Could you get me some rocks to throw at them" is hilarious.
Controversial take: Q Who in the grand scheme of TNG is only an A episode.
IMDb's TOP 5 SEASON 2 EPISODES (Rated 1-10)
Rating Episode
9.2 The Measure of a Man
9.0 Q Who
8.2 Elementary, Dear Data
8.1 A Matter of Honor
7.8 Peak Performance
IMDb's BOTTOM 5 SEASON 2 EPISODES:
3.4 Shades of Grey (worst-rated in all of Star Trek)
5.8 The Child
6.1 Manhunt
6.2 The Dauphin
6.3 The Outrageous Okona (tie)
6.3 Up the Long Ladder (tie)
For comparison, here are the ratings for the Top 5 Season 3 episodes:
9.7 Take a Guess
9.2 I'm Not Telling
8.6 Wouldn't You Like to Know
8.5 No Spoilers Here
8.5 Tie For 4th
(The worst Season 3 episode still got a 6.3)
Don't agree exactly on everything, but it's a good tier. W
I'd say that's a pretty solid tier list tbh!
Maybe there should be an 'incomplete' grade category for Shades of Gray type episodes.
Now map the writers and /or of the episode to the tiers. Any patterns?
This brings tiers to my eyes.
My defense of "Samaritan Snare" is its a PRO-PRIME DIRECTIVE episode. It's a C for me.
Good idea with this ranking thing.
Thanks!
@@targetaudience food for thought while the seasons are still fresh in your minds, i would suggest picking a set number from each season that you like, so you can either pit them off against each other in a future discussion or at the very least make a top "x" amount of your favorite episodes after you've gone through them all. Itll also highlight the change (if any) in taste that you may have while you're watching the episodes. This should help you milk the TNG for a few more videos ;) Cheers bud.
Guys, how about an additional top 5; for the overall series. Would any Season 1 episodes make it?
I do like this tier ranking and the graphics. I agree with your ratings mostly. I admit I don't know the difference between a livestream and a superchat but I find it very disconcerting that Josh and Alex are constantly looking off-screen. They never looked once at the camera (at us) like they usually do. It seems like something more important is happening over to their left. Perhaps it's just my ignorance of the YT technology.
They are looking at the computer screen that is displaying the ranking system and episodes.
OK, @@johnbauer2979, that's fine. But maybe they could move that screen closer to the camera so they could at least pretend to be looking at us. I'm feeling left out 😥
Can't go wrong with Klingon Episodes.
The teir ranking is great but you should start ranking them right after you have watched them and then go over the results at the end of next season
Easy! They are all in category E
I pretty much agree with this list.
This was fun!👍
Maybe an unpopular opinion and one that goes against your goals of creating positive audience engagement but I'm not much keen on live streams for content like this. I think you guys are much better just on your own, not having to deal with technical stuff or the opinions of others. Just seems to break the flow a bit. Although in the end this is obviously just a bit of fun. But any more rankings I'd prefer done on your own :)
Setting this aside in my history for later when I wake up.
Bro is on RUclips asleep 😳
@@targetaudience Oh yes, I’m typing all this mid sleep. It’s one of my many superpowers.
This was the most inconsistent season due to the Writer's Strike, conflict with the producers and writers, etc. Luckily next season producer Michael Piller comes in with his mandate of focusing on character rather than high concept storytelling.
Contagion and Up The Long Ladder are the only ones I disagree with you on. More the former than the latter. I've got too much family that is exactly like that episode.
I like the fan made version of "The Child". It makes more sense. I think you can read the original Phase II script online as well.
Axanar is great fan made.
I feel conflicted about supporting Axanar. It's so high quality, but the business behind it seems somewhat shady. Plus they essentially ruined fan productions for everyone.
It was shady and slimeey but CBS Paramount were just as wrong as to punish the entire fandom for the actions of one jerk by enforcing guidelines that effectively killed the fan film scene and it’s still a real black eye moment for all involved.
I thought "Unnatural Selection" was great. Probably B tier for me.
And I would swap it with "The Royale". It's a mysterious one when watching for the first time but whenever I revisit TNG I skip through a lot of it because while there are a few chuckles to be had with Worf and Data reacting to a piece of American history, there is few worthwhile Star Trek character moments, no character development and barely any drama in that one.
And there is just no way "Time Squared" is worse than "Manhunt" and "The Royale". Come on. 😂
Also "Loud As a Whisper" had Troy actually somewhat semi-carry an episode with some nice moments.
I like the format.
Thanks Tom
With all the episodes in D tier it kind of refutes your claim that the season is overall very good.
Typically most episodes of a season would fall into B or C tier, however only about a third of this season’s episodes are there. This list exemplifies the roller coaster of quality in this season, which is what we’ve said repeatedly.
I notice you have been putting some B tier into the A column (still watching so don't know if you correct later...)
I love drinking with you guys 😁🍺
Looking forward to when your review of Star Trek .... Continues. (see what I did there?) 🤣
The Picard component of Samaritan Snare is a prequel to a season 6 episode. Your commentary that you were glad there was no flashback may or may not be vindicated.
Don't spoil stuff.
SPOILER ALERT
For a season you guys spent so time defending, you sure handed a lot of D scores.
The conversation in Pen Pals is the first time Star Trek deep dives into the prime directive. But it’s terribly done it makes me infuriated just thinking about it. All of the arguments against helping or asinine and not even based on any real fact. Hell, Riker argues God wants them to die. Picard with some semblance of common sense, brings up, taking sides in a war. Much like the Vietnam allegory from a private little war. But that has nothing to do with a natural disaster. E-Tier for me.
The Deadly Years kknockoff was a little bit better than D, scrpaing C I think.
So huh.... when is S3 coming to youtube?
But you guys didn't rank your S tier list. What was the Best of the Best of the season.
Top 5 still to come
For me there are two S tier in season 2. Measure Of A Man and Best Of Both Worlds (which at the time of posting hasn't been shown on the YT channel yet). Picard's speech (Star Fleet was founded to seek out new life...well there it sits) in Measure Of A Man in phenomenal and Best Of Both Worlds, as a season finale, is outstanding (I hope you guys watched it the way it was broadcast and not the combined version).
SPOILER ALERT. You're mentioning an episode that's not even in S2.
@@greenbrown7776 Oops...you're right. I dunno why but for some reason I thought it was season 2, not season 3.
@@jedsithor I had a feeling that might be an accidental spoiler vs. a deliberate one. Just something in the way you wrote it. It would still be good if you could edit and remove what you have about S3 episode. If they happen upon your comment, that could mess up their viewing pleasure.
21:20 You're putting "Q Who" in S Tier? Don'tcha know that Q deserves his own Q Tier above S?
If you do this again, please do a 1 or 2 sentence synopsis of the plots. Not everyone will remember just from the title. And some of those thumbnails are too generic to make it stick out. Its 22 episodes.
Your audience base might increase if you do these shirtless.
Gotta pay for that
S is for SUPER, you know... It's on YT on time guys, what are you talking about "not in order"?
WHAT
@@targetaudience You said in the LIVE CHAT, that the tier list will appear AFTER your LIVE CHAT is over, that may be, but on the VIDEO part of your channel you put it after the last episode was uploaded. That is why I wrote that on YT it's on time (again after the season had ended.)
Oh, yes obviously we were talking to the people in the live chat at the time
@@targetaudience My bad, I forgot that you put your LIVE streams as regular videos, that is the point. You know I'm enjoying your STTNG video and discussions because it was my "go-to" show as a teenager.
You’re good, this is actually the first time we are doing this turning live stream segments into videos.
You must finish Enterprise before watching Prelude to Axanar so that's not due for a while.
Axanar is a fan film that will likely never see the light of day thanks to CBS's interference forbidding good fan films to promote their shit instead.
I think I'm just generally a bit less impressed than you guys are. Maybe some of that is down to having seen better seasons, but I think it was somewhat true at the time as well (though some of that is because I wanted a less episodic show, where character actions mattered past the immediate story, something that was in short supply at the time, but something there's plenty of today, so I probably appreciate TNG's format more now than then). Some episodes where I'm at odds with you guys:
"Elementary, Dear Data" has kind of a cool idea behind it, but the holodeck is garbage, and I don't want to watch the Enterprise crew cosplaying. D-tier.
"Q Who". I dislike godlike beings and don't much care for Q's silliness. Also, the Borg are overrated. B-tier... maybe A given the season it's in.
"The Royale". I really don't get your fondness for this one. I'll be kind at put it in D-tier, because it wasn't painful, though it's a D- to "Elementary, Dear Data"'s D+.
"Pen Pals". Come on, guys. E-tier.
I'd probably bump "Where Silence has Lease" up to A. In the scheme of the overall show, it's probably more of a B, but for a Season 2 ranking, I think it deserves an A. There are a few others I might nudge up (or down), but nothing more than a single tier, so I won't bother agonizing over those.
W
here's a hot take, because I started with TNG and then DS9 I am too spoiled that I dont like TOS at all, and for 2 reasons. Mainly the time it was made, graphics sucked in that era, but also 70's tv is hard for me to watch and be engaged with, might as well be black and white tv the worse tv ever next to silent era lol
70's TV? TOS is late 60's. And it always was in full color.
Krome is better than Worf.