YMMV / Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E1 "The Child"

• Growing the Beard: Geordi and Worf received promotions to Chief of Engineering and Chief of Security, which allowed their characters to grow and arguably had a much greater impact on the show's quality than Riker's beard (since, even beardless, Riker already had a reputation as a badass).
• Harsher in Hindsight: In 2019, Marina Sirtis revealed that she had been molested at the age of 3 by her babysitter's teen sons. This makes the fact that she is essentially raped in this episode all the more uncomfortable.
• Strawman Has a Point: Once again, Worf expresses an aggressive action so that the rest of the cast can dismiss it. He is, however, quite correct that an unknown and potentially hostile alien entity essentially raped one of their officers and impregnated her with a child that will be born in less than a day! His recommendation to play it safe and terminate the pregnancy is simply an example of him, as Chief Security Officer, putting the safety of the ship above all other concerns.
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • During the awkward turbolift conversation between Picard and Wesley. Picard barely even makes eye-contact with the lad, and after Wesley says how hard it will be for him to leave the Enterprise, Picard delivers the line "Mixed feelings for all of us" with what can only be described as a sense of irony.
  • It's a very quiet take-that, but when Pulaski rudely blows off Data's offer to be Troi's birthing partner, claiming that she doesn't need "the cold hand of technology," Troi calmly replies, "Commander Data will do just fine," before giving him a reassuring smile. It's not overt, but it has a clear air of "Data's my friend. Back off."

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