Star Trek: The Next Generation becomes a soap opera when Commander Riker's scumbag father visits the Enterprise. I guess I'm being too hard on him. He did give Riker 13 years and his wife died, ya know. Plus, he snagged that wonderful Dr. Pulaski! He can't be all that bad. Or can he? Anyway, Wesley bugs the hell out of Worf and something is wrong with the ship's computer. And there is blind samurai-karate-sword fighting. Yeah.

Double the action! Double the fun! It's double mint, double mint... gum! When the Enterprise discovers a Picard doppleganger from six hours in the near future, the crew must figure out a way to avoid catastrophe! They also try to figure out what made the captain such a scaredy-cat that he would run off on his own and leave everyone else behind! Oh, and Picard dies. So much death in this second season!

This is the holodeck, taken to the next level! When the Enterprise discovers some debris from a NASA spaceship, it leads down a rabbit hole of blackjack, desk clerks, and mobsters named "Micky". This is an episode that has figured out how to avoid the pitfalls of the typical holodeck adventure: don't go on the holodeck, and use a terrible novel as the basis for the plot!

Ctrl+Alt+Delete. When the Enterprise enters the Neutral Zone and observes the destruction of the USS Yamato, it becomes a race against the clock to find out what happened before the same circumstance befalls another ship! Plus, Riker wants to throw rocks and Data dies! So much action! So much feels!

Dauphin? Do-phan? La Dauphine? However you pronounce it, it means "love"! Or "dolphin". Or something. When young Wesley Crusher falls for a shape shifting peace maker, hormones start raging and Riker starts a-flirtin'! Seriously though, not much else happens here. I guess the only other fact worth mentioning is that Worf will certainly smack down an old lady if given the chance.

To be a machine, or not to be a machine. That is the question. We all know that Data is "fully functional", but is that also the case in the eyes of the law? When a driven officer shows up on the Enterprise and demands to dissect Data, Picard must pull off his best Matlock impersonation to save his android officer! Plus, Riker gets shoe-horned into the plot!

The Klingons are back, and this time they've brought some space germs with them! When Commander Riker accepts a temporary transfer to a Klingon ship, he learns the importance of laughter, Klingon threesomes and how to take a punch. Seriously, though, this episode is something of a turning point in the series: it's unabashedly good!

Our first Pulaski-centric episode! Our chief medical officer (at least for season two) takes the reins for an episode that involves genetic engineering, advanced aging, and difficult decisions (made badly)! Is Pulaski really that bad? Is she just Crusher with a slightly grumpier demeanor? Why did they make these genetically engineered children telepathic? We answer all this, and more, in this episode of the podcast!

Data can chew scenery and kick Picard's ass, and he's all out of scenery. When a mad scientist inputs his mind into Data's body, the sneering Data-Graves monster wanders the ship subtly insulting everyone. The horror!

When a mute mediator tries to settle a dispute on an alien planet, he forgets to give his telepathic chorus of assistants laser-proof vests and learns a valuable lesson! Featuring some wooden romance, a rare case of an overacting Patrick Stewart and Data talking about moon lit walks on the beach, "Loud as a Whisper" isn't even all that bad!