7 Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 You Can Completely Skip

By Rachel Hulshult

Published May 18, 2025

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Following its inconsistent first season, TNG's best stories moving forward.

Due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 only had 22 episodes, as opposed to the 26 of every other season. The strike also resulted in a delayed start to pre-production for the season, meaning the writers had to pull from an old Star Trek: Phase II idea for the season premiere, "The Child."

"The Child" is not a particularly good episode, but it does establish the new status quo for the season and introduces Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg). While "The Child" may be necessary viewing to set up Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, these seven episodes can easily be skipped.

7 "Where Silence Has Lease"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 2

"Where Silence Has Lease" begins when The Next Generation characters discover a strange void in space and experience events that make no sense. A being named Nagilum (Earl Boen) eventually reveals himself and declares his desire to learn about death by experimenting on the Enterprise-D crew. Picard bluffs Nagilum by setting the Enterprise to self-destruct, and the entity eventually frees the ship and its crew.

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"Where Silence Has Lease" is not necessarily a bad episode, and it has some fun moments, but it doesn't offer any particular insight into the crew or the Enterprise-D's mission. Between the all-powerful alien and the death of a redshirt, the episode truly feels like a story left over from the days of Star Trek: The Original Series. While there's nothing wrong with that, it ultimately results in a forgettable episode that can easily be skipped.

6 "Unnatural Selection"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 7

When the Starship Enterprise arrives at the Darwin Genetic Research Station on Gagarin IV, they find the staff dying from the sudden onset of old age. The research station is home to a group of genetically enhanced children who appear to be immune to the illness. Dr. Pulaski travels in a shuttle to study one of these teenagers and soon contracts the aging disease.

The existence of a Federation research station working on genetic enhancements complicates Star Trek continuity. According to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and other Trek stories, the Federation banned most genetic manipulation after the Eugenics Wars and the tyranny of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban).

The Enterprise crew eventually figures out a way to use the transporters to save Pulaski and the station's crew, but the genetically enhanced children must remain in isolation for the rest of their lives. Like several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, "Unnatural Selection" is a retread of ideas from TOS, and ultimately delivers a bland and forgettable story, even if it does have some nice moments for Dr. Pulaski.

5 "The Dauphin"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 10

Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) was never Star Trek: The Next Generation's most popular character, but not every episode centered on him is worth skipping. "The Dauphin," however, doesn't offer much to make it worth watching. The episode follows the Enterprise crew as the ship transports the future ruler of Daled IV, a young woman named Salia (Jaime Hubbard). Wesley immediately develops a crush on Salia, who turns out to be a shape-shifting alien.

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"The Dauphin" doesn't have much plot beyond Wesley's attempts at romance, and much of the story revolves around Salia's aid, Anya (Mädchen Amick, Paddi Edwards), being overprotective of her charge. The story doesn't reveal anything new or particularly interesting about Wesley, or any of the other characters, for that matter. There's nothing glaringly bad or offensive about "The Dauphin," but you won't miss anything by skipping it.

4 "Samaritan Snare"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 17

When Captain Picard travels to a nearby Starbase for heart surgery, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) must deal with a ship of Pakleds who kidnap Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) to help them "make [their] ship go." There's potential hidden somewhere within "Samaritan Snare," but the whole story makes Riker and the Enterprise crew look unnecessarily dumb.

"Samaritan Snare" does have one scene worth watching, as Captain Picard tells Wesley Crusher about the injury that led him to have an artificial heart. This incident will be further explored in the season 6 episode, "Tapestry."

Riker sends Geordi to the Pakled ship alone and then ignores Counselor Deanna Troi's (Marina Sirtis) warning that something is amiss. When Picard suffers complications during his surgery, there's inexplicably no one on the Starbase who can save him, so Dr. Pulaski (who should've been performing the surgery in the first place) has to do it. It all feels out of character and nonsensical in the worst way, making "Samaritan Snare" an episode worth skipping.

3 "Up the Long Ladder"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 18

After season 1's abysmal "Code of Honor," Star Trek: The Next Generation just had to get one more racially insensitive episode out of its system before the show truly became great. In "Up the Long Ladder," the Enterprise picks up a group of colonists from the planet Bringloid V who are descended from the crew of an old Earth freighter. The Bringloidi people come across as caricatures, based on painfully out-of-date Irish stereotypes.

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The Enterprise also visits another colony of descendants from the freighter, who have advanced technology, but a too-small gene pool of clones. The two stories never really come together, and the comedy mostly comes across as cringeworthy rather than genuinely funny. Plus, Riker crosses the line from flirtatious to slightly leering, which is never a good look for the character.

2 "Manhunt"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 19

Deanna Troi's mother, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), gets a bad wrap, and episodes like "Manhunt" illustrate why. The story centers on Lwaxana, who has entered a stage of Betazoid life called "the Phase," in which her sex drive increases drastically. This leads her to pursue Captain Picard, who retreats to the holodeck to avoid her. While it's always fun to see Picard's Dixon Hill holodeck program, the episode doesn't do enough with it.

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Majel Barrett will eventually turn Lwaxana into a fascinating and sympathetic character in later TNG episodes and in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but "Manhunt" does her no favors. The story ultimately goes nowhere, and the visiting Antedean ambassadors (who turn out to be assassins) barely leave an impression at all. If you need a Lwaxana fix, watch season 4's "Half a Life" and skip this season 2 misfire.

1 "Shades of Gray"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 22

"Shades of Gray" has achieved almost mythic status as possibly the worst Star Trek episode of all time. While there may be some truth to that, the episode's most egregious offense is that there is no reason for it to exist at all. The bare bones story finds Commander Riker fighting for his life while Dr. Pulaski tries to keep his brain active, causing him to dream of his past adventures aboard the Enterprise.

Truthfully, there's no reason for "Shades of Gray" to exist and no reason why you need to watch it, either.

Most of the episode's runtime is taken up by clips from other episodes, as a way to save money after production had gone over budget on much better episodes like "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Q Who." Truthfully, there's no reason for "Shades of Gray" to exist and no reason why you need to watch it, either. Other television series have since done much better clip shows, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's take on the format fails on pretty much every level.