Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 Premiere - A New Beginning

Setting the Stage: TNG Season 1 vs Season 2

Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 is when the show began to find its footing, as the characters and their positions aboard the USS Enterprise-D are solidified.

Star Trek TNG The Child Commander Riker Captain Picard

TNG season 1 is considered the show's worst, but it had its moments and did a solid job of introducing audiences to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D.

Star Trek TNG The Child Worf Security Chief

Going into season 2, TNG's writers remained in flux and the 1988 WGA Strike certainly didn't help matters.

Star Trek TNG The Child Geordi La Forge Chief Engineer

TNG season 2, episode 1, 'The Child,' goes a long way to set up the future of the show.

Star Trek TNG The Child Guinan Wesley Crusher

Establishing the New Status Quo

The Enterprise crew takes up the roles they would hold for the rest of the series.

Star Trek TNG The Child Transporter Chief O'Brien Data

Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) officially takes his place as Chief of Security, after the TNG season 1 death of Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby).

Star Trek TNG The Child Deanna Troi

Worf will remain in this position, wearing the gold uniform with a metal baldric, until TNG ends and Worf transfers to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine following the Klingon's promotion to Lt. Commander in Star Trek Generations.

Lt. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) has been promoted to Chief Engineer, giving the character more to do after TNG season 1 often didn't know what to do with him.

First Officer Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) now has a beard, which he will keep for the rest of the series.

TNG's season 2 premiere also introduces Ten Forward, the lounge space on the Enterprise-D, as well as Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) as Ten Forward's bartender.

The only significant change from TNG season 1 that won't stick is the character of Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur), who will depart after season 2.

Troi's TNG Season 2 Premiere Story and Its Origins

When the WGA Strike of 1988 came to an end, the team behind Star Trek: The Next Generation wanted to begin filming season 2 quickly. To do this, they looked to old Star Trek scripts that had never been produced.

The character of Counselor Deanna Troi had been partially inspired by one of the proposed characters for Phase II named Ilia, who later appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

One of the scripts for Phase II featured a story in which Ilia was impregnated by an alien life form, and this story eventually became 'The Child.'

While the main story of Star Trek: The Next Generation's season 2 premiere may not be the show's best, the episode sets the tone for the rest of the show moving forward.