FULL DISCUSSION - Star Trek TNG S2E1 - The Child

Season 2 is 👍 in my opinion since you keep learning more about the characters, and that's a big plus to me.

Not that this really matters, but I don't think they made the pregnancy and birth "easy" because they just didn't want to deal with what an actual birth would be like, in my opinion. I think they did it that way, and left her with no lasting signs she was ever pregnant to show that the lifeform wanted the process to be as easy as possible on its "host", to show that it doesn't have any bad intentions. That's how I took it.

While this episode is not the best by far it was better than I remember. That being said there are a few good episodes in this season, a couple are really good.

Despite Denise Crosby regrettably leaving the show, there are still too many main characters. I like all the actors and they all do a good job with their roles. However, there is still too much cross-over between characters. We have Picard & Riker, Data & Geordi, Troi and Guinan. Worf at least is given more space to develop. While I always really liked Gates McFadden, Pulaski is at least better written as a doctor in terms of her expertise. Crusher was often left looking a little incompetent in order for the plots to keep working.

First season there was a handful of times Geordie filled the engineer role. He seemed pretty knowledgeable with tech stuff.

This episode is more of the same. There is this strange aversion to drama and tension this show can't get away from. "You have been impregnated against your will and the zygote is now eligible for a pension". "And your point? " And Picard has an equally disinterested reaction: "oh you mean an alien life form is on my ship mysteriously and behaving in unexplainable ways? That's nice, anything on tv tonight?" The other plot was forgettable. This Troi plot reminds me of the worst Marvel comic ever written, Avengers 200, which the writers eventually apologized for.

When are you guys going to have the season one recap?

And again like you guys did in TOS espetially 3rd season-I am like meh-I don't remember liking this episode much but I'll watch it with them. And-not as horrible as I remember..That is why I enjoy this channel-watching episodes I didnt care for in my youth but NOW as I am older - it is like watching them all over again with fresh eyes.

People gotta stop hating Pulaski just because she's "mean to Data." That's not a good enough reason. Darth Vader was mean to everyone. But he was a great character. Also, I don't think she's particularly MEAN to him, though she is clearly dismissive of certain aspects of Data.

I actually always liked Pulaski. I don't care that she's rude. She's a character -- not my next door neighbor. Then again, I appreciate blunt and sarcastic people, and would actually like if he were my neighbor.

Whoopi was in Roots with Levar Burton and kept calling him throughout season 1's filming to see if he could put in a good word for her. The idea of an A list Hollywood actress wanting to do Star Trek that badly wasn't very plausible to be fair, and I think she ended up phoning someone personally before they realised she was serious (she said she'll play almost anything they want). The show runners not only created the part for her but they created Ten Forward and even altered the design of the new 4ft filming model of the Enterprise (built for season 3) to include Ten Forward's windows, which weren't included in the original 2ft and 6ft filming models. Imagine having your character alter the design of the Enterprise itself.

On a TNG related note, I just finished listening to the audiobook of Patrick Stewart's memoir, "Making it So." It was really good and he narrated it. The voice isn't quite the same, but then again he is much older now. There are some TNG spoilers with both the TV series and the movies, but if you don't mind that it's worth a read or a listen.

Michael Dorn's head piece was actually update for this season because the original one was stolen from the set. When this show was originally airing it was on the same time as L.A. Law which Diana Maldaur was also guest staring in. i found her character extremely annoying in both shows. It was so bad in L.A. Law that they actually killed off her character by having her fall down an elevator shaft. Some of my friends and i hoped she'd do the same thing in TNG. She is the main reason I consider season 2 to still be in the bad category.

This was the pilot of the 70's series with Decker and Ilia in the roles. Then TMP happened I believe.

Whoopi absolutely nails the "Magical Negro" trope unfortunately.

Season two is a season of extremes in my opinion. I find that the clunkers are worse, and the outstanding episodes are far better, than anything we got from season one. If season one was a steady stream of mid tier episodes, then season two is a graph going up and down huge valleys and peaks.

Re: Gates firing, I remember in ‘88 (reading the sci-fi mags) there was definitely a negative reaction including a letter writing campaign. I wouldn’t call it the level of say, if they’d fired McCoy after season 1 of TOS, but she was well liked by fandom.

What if after all the discussion about the debut of Pulaski, it turned out that they decided to make the doctor a revolving door of random characters like they did with the engineers in Season 1?

BTW guys, Diana is half Betazoid. Her father was Human. That's why she cant actually read minds like her mother. She only senses strong emotions.

I think the main problem with trying to recreate the McCoy-Spock dynamic with Pulaski and Data is that Data is really such an innocent childlike character. While Spock gave as good as he got, with Data it's more like a kid getting bullied. A guy who really wants to be human is being told that he's not human.

This is a strange one because both the A and B plots feel too short and rushed. The best scene I think was the creepy first appearance of aged-up Ian and Picard and Pulaski trying not to freak out. But then it got less creepy afterwards.

Although the overall story is a retread of a Star Trek Phase II script, and is rather meh, I tend to like this episode a little more than most people, mainly from the performances of all the actors, especially Marina Sirtis. The main issue that Roddenberry initially wanted this story to wrestle with were the topics of abortion and a woman's right to choose. That all gets kind of glossed over as soon as the briefing room scene ends.

I'm not really a fan of Whoopi, but I like her the most in this role.

The writer who took over the show after Roddenberry’s departure had a grudge against Gates McFadden because she had the temerity to make suggestions about her character. According to McFadden, as soon as he knew he would be in charge, he declared he was getting rid of her.

I really liked Whoopie Goldberg in Trek. She was a big star but had always been a massive Trekkie and was eager to be on trek. I liked DrPulaski but really miss Dr Crusher. I agree they are trying to redo a Spock/bones th8ng and i didn’t care for that. Let new characters be new characters. This season made changes that were wise such as Geordi as chief engineer.

As a high schooler, I was so mad when I heard at a con that they had fired Gates, just after we lost Tasha, I signed the petition and letter writing campaign in protest. I hated Pulaski for how she treated Data. Thank God that Whoopi came on as Picard needs a sounding board and Beverly was gone.

Troi cant read thoughts, she reads emotions. Those voices where actual conversations in the briefing room

Excellent point on the overreaction to Data. The new doctor is downright rude/racist to Data. And the Federation is well aware of Androids existing…less advanced than Data, but plenty of examples from almost a century ago, the ones Harry Mudd was hanging with, and also the ones Nurse Chapels ex fiancée was involved with.

Wesleys outfit is not a uniform, its just nicer looking civilian clothes, he is still just an acting ensign. Actual ensigns wear the same uniform as everyone else (in whatever colour per their assigned division) with no rank pips.

I love Marina Sirtis, and her job was definitely saved by (a) Denise quitting (b) Gates getting fired and (c) playing the daughter of the boss’s wife (who relished the part of Lwaxana).

Whoopi Goldberg was a big star when she started on TNG, so it was a bit of a coup for the producers that she actively sought a role. The role of Guinan and the concept of Ten Forward (deck 10, forward section on the ship) was created for her.

Whoopi was definitely well known when she came on the show, they considered it a huge get that SHE approached THEM about a role because she was such a big fan. She wouldn't get her Oscar for another couple of years but she was famous.

I think it makes a certain amount of sense, people having this overreaction to Data, because while I can see aliens and all sorts of weird creatures being taken in stride, essentially a human replacement creature and an AI genuinely thinking to boot will ALWAYS be weirder to us because it hits uncomfortably close to home.

Silly trivia, but the reason it being called "Ten Forward" is that it is on deck ten at the bow "forward" section of the saucer.

Whatever happened to the discussion you were going to do about your feelings about Season 1 as a whole?

1:00 It's Doctor PULASKI, not Polanski. No relation to Roman.

Ian isn't nearly as annoying as most of the other kids on this show or TOS. Granted, it's a pretty low bar.

This was the first TOS script that was "Edit/Replace" treated because of the writers strike. It was written for ST:Phase 2. It's the problem I had with the first season and I felt got worse in this season, that it felt like the stories were for the TOS cast and then names and places were changed. I liked TNG, but that aspect always haunted me.