Better Than I Remembered

TNG Season 2
We're currently making our way through season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  I never liked season 2.  I have always disliked Dr. Pulaski, and for some reason, she dominates my memories of the whole season.  I think I was bothered by the way she treated Lt. Data, but I realize now that there is another reason: I'm weirdly loyal to Dr. Crusher (as I seem to be generally to all redheads).

I'm also a Cancer.

Now that I'm watching it all again, though, I think I misjudged the second season.  There are a lot of good episodes, and a lot of important stuff happens.  We learn a lot more about Worf, we learn a lot more about Data, and Picard is pursued by those twin terrors that continue to haunt him for the rest of the series: The Borg, and Lwaxana Troi.

Which is worse?  They're both unwelcome touch.

Mostly, though, I'm just so glad to be watching TNG.  Unlike the original series, which is all about one megalomaniac actor captain saving the day in increasingly improbable and sleazy ways, this show is about the whole bridge crew.  It's an ensemble cast, and it's much closer to the ideal of the Federation than its predecessor.  (On the other hand, you should hear Marina Sirtis tell "the costume story".)

And during all of this, we see in the news that Patrick Stewart is returning to TV as Jean-Luc Picard!  I could not be more excited to see what stories they have to tell about Picard years after the Enterprise.  He has long been a template of leadership to me, and as others have said before me, he's the captain we need today.

Although the exhibit that inspired this whole project closed earlier this year, our trek continues.  Engage!