Ancient Geeks episode 87: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 2

We continue our discussion of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two by discussing some of the must-watch and should-avoid episodes. There are classics like "Q Who," "Measure Of A Man," and "The Emissary." Not only are they really good, but they established characters, adversaries, and plot elements that continued to be important for the series. And then there are the regrettable episodes, like "Up The Long Ladder" and "The Child" that make you shake your head with disbelief that they did not learn the hard lessons from season one.

Both the good and bad episodes help triangulate on where ST:TNG had arrived in season 2. They also help identify what made this season important for the future success not just of the series, but also of the franchise. We'll continue discussing individual season 2 episodes next week.

Battling Borg! Cantankerous Klingons! Ambiguous androids! Cringy Celts! Clumsy clones! Menacing Moriarity! Engaging emissaries! It's all here.

Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic!

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© 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor