Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 2)
Episodes
In the following table, episodes are listed by the order in which they aired.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 2)

Section Title: Episodes
Table Section Text: In the following table, episodes are listed by the order in which they aired.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Stardate	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	US viewers (millions)

27	1	"The Child"	42073.1	Rob Bowman	Jaron Summers & Jon Povill and Maurice Hurley	November 21, 1988	10.9

Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) joins the Enterprise while Lt.

28	2	"Where Silence Has Lease"	42193.6	Winrich Kolbe	Jack B. Sowards	November 28, 1988	10.3

The Enterprise becomes trapped in a spatial phenomenon. Here they are subjected to unusual experiments by the whim of a being unlike any they have encountered before.

29	3	"Elementary, Dear Data"	42286.3	Rob Bowman	Brian Alan Lane	December 5, 1988	Unknown

After Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) easily solves an ordinary Sherlock Holmes holodeck mystery, La Forge asks the computer to make a Holmes villain capable of defeating him.

30	4	"The Outrageous Okona"	42402.7	Robert Becker	Story by : Les Menchen & Lance Dickson & David Landsberg Teleplay by : Burton Armus	December 12, 1988	Unknown

The Enterprise is caught up in the schemes of a flamboyant space rogue on the run, while Data explores humor with the help of a holodeck comedian (Joe Piscopo).

31	5	"Loud as a Whisper"	42477.2	Larry Shaw	Jacqueline Zambrano	January 9, 1989	10.7

The crew play host to a deaf, telepathic ambassador (Howie Seago) who mediates difficult peace negotiations with the assistance of his trio of telepathic interpreters.

32	6	"The Schizoid Man"	42437.5	Les Landau	Story by : Richard Manning & Hans Beimler Teleplay by : Tracy Tormé	January 23, 1989	10.8

Scientist Dr. Ira Graves (W.

33	7	"Unnatural Selection"	42494.8	Paul Lynch	John Mason and Mike Gray	January 30, 1989	11.0

The Enterprise receives a distress call from the USS Lantree, discovering its crew has apparently died of old age. The race is on to solve the mystery before scientists on a research colony suffer the same fate.

34	8	"A Matter of Honor"	42506.5	Rob Bowman	Story by : Wanda M. Haight & Gregory Amos and Burton Armus Teleplay by : Burton Armus	February 6, 1989	11.3

Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is assigned to a Klingon vessel via an officer exchange program between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

35	9	"The Measure of a Man"	42523.7	Robert Scheerer	Melinda M. Snodgrass	February 13, 1989	11.3

After Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) refuses an order from Starfleet to be dismantled for research purposes, a hearing is convened to determine if he is a legal citizen or property of the Federation.

36	10	"The Dauphin"	42568.8	Rob Bowman	Scott Rubenstein & Leonard Mlodinow	February 20, 1989	10.7

The Enterprise hosts the young leader of Daled IV, Salia (Jaime Hubbard). Soon Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) finds himself falling in love with her.

37	11	"Contagion"	42609.1	Joseph L. Scanlan	Steve Gerber & Beth Woods	March 20, 1989	10.2

A dangerous alien computer virus runs rampant through the Enterprise after causing the destruction of her sister ship, the USS Yamato.

38	12	"The Royale"	42625.4	Cliff Bole	Keith Mills	March 27, 1989	10.6

Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Worf (Michael Dorn), and Data (Brent Spiner) investigate a structure on the surface of an icy gas giant, which appears to be a hotel from 20th-century Earth.

39	13	"Time Squared"	42679.2	Joseph L. Scanlan	Story by : Kurt Michael Bensmiller Teleplay by : Maurice Hurley	April 3, 1989	9.9

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) encounters his future self when the Enterprise becomes caught in a time loop.

40	14	"The Icarus Factor"	42686.4	Robert Iscove	Story by : David Assael Teleplay by : David Assael and Robert McCullough	April 24, 1989	9.1

Riker's estranged father, Kyle (Mitchell Ryan), visits to brief him on the new ship he's been offered, and Worf's friends discover he is about to miss an important Klingon rite of passage.

41	15	"Pen Pals"	42695.3	Winrich Kolbe	Story by : Hannah Louise Shearer Teleplay by : Melinda M. Snodgrass	May 1, 1989	9.7

The Prime Directive is threatened when Data befriends the child of a pre-warp planet that is suffering from devastating volcanic activity.

42	16	"Q Who"	42761.3	Rob Bowman	Maurice Hurley	May 8, 1989	10.3

Q (John de Lancie) flings the Enterprise 7,000 light years beyond Federation space and introduces them to the deadly Borg.

43	17	"Samaritan Snare"	42779.1	Les Landau	Robert McCullough	May 15, 1989	10.0

A group of seemingly dimwitted aliens, the Pakleds, kidnap Lt. La Forge to "make their ship go".

44	18	"Up the Long Ladder"	42823.2	Winrich Kolbe	Melinda M. Snodgrass	May 22, 1989	9.2

Captain Picard must find a way to rescue two radically incompatible cultures, one a primitive Irish farming colony threatened by solar flares, and the other a colony of clones facing inevitable genetic degeneration.

45	19	"Manhunt"	42859.2	Rob Bowman	Terry Devereaux	June 19, 1989	8.9

Troi's mother Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) is in the market for a new husband, and she has set her sights on Captain Picard.

46	20	"The Emissary"	42901.3	Cliff Bole	Story by : Richard Manning & Hans Beimler and Thomas H. Calder Teleplay by : Richard Manning & Hans Beimler	June 26, 1989	9.0

Worf's former lover comes aboard Enterprise to help deal with a ship full of Klingon sleeper agents unaware they are no longer at war.

47	21	"Peak Performance"	42923.4	Robert Scheerer	David Kemper	July 10, 1989	9.4

The Enterprise and USS Hathaway face off in simulated combat maneuvers. Data fails to beat a humanoid at a game of Strategema and exhibits self-doubt.

48	22	"Shades of Gray"	42976.1	Rob Bowman	Story by : Maurice Hurley Teleplay by : Maurice Hurley and Richard Manning & Hans Beimler	July 17, 1989	9.8

Commander Riker is poisoned into a coma in which he relives various moments of his service aboard the Enterprise.

Sentence(s)

After an initial slight decrease in viewers over the next five episodes, the season broke the 11 million mark with "Unnatural Selection" and then peaked as the next two episodes, "A Matter of Honor" and "The Measure of a Man", were both watched by 11.3 million viewers.

final_sentence: After an initial slight decrease in viewers over the next five episodes, the season broke the 11 million mark with "Unnatural Selection" and then peaked as the next two episodes, "A Matter of Honor" and "The Measure of a Man", were both watched by 11.3 million viewers.