ST:TNG:27 - "The Child" (Stardate: 42073.1) - this is the 1st episode of the 2nd season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This episode marks the first of many firsts.
1. Dr. Beverly Crusher has gone off to head Starfleet Medical and won't come back until season 3 (trivia: this is a position she will later hold after Star Trek: Nemesis).
2. In her place is Dr. Kate Pulaski (played by Diana Muldaur - who is a Star Trek veteran, having starred as Lt.Cmdr.Ann Mulhall/Thalassa and Dr. Miranda Jones - 2 separate characters in 2 separate episodes of the Original Series). She is very much like Dr. McCoy in her disdain for technology - this is made apparent with her initial disregard for Data.
3. Geordi La Forge is now chief engineer (after the rotating chief engineers of the 1st season) and now has a yellow uniform instead of red.
4. Worf is now also upgraded to chief of security, filling the spot that Tasha Yar had until she died. Worf also has a yellow uniform in place of red now, AND better makeup effects for his face than in the first season.
5. Commander Riker now has a beard - he won't be clean-shaven again until Star Trek: Insurrection - a good 10 years from now!
6. Whoopi Goldberg makes her first of many appearances as the bartender Guinan - she is a mysterious figure supposedly a friend of Picard's - this mystery will slowly unravel itself as the seasons progress.
7. In the same vain, Ten Forward, the bar that Guinan runs is shown for the first time. Ten Forward will be seen in many of the episodes.
8. Troi gets the hairstyle we're accustomed to from this episode on - "Old Bunhead" as she was known in season 1 is no more.
9. Troi names her "child" Ian Andrew, after her father.
10. Colm Meany returns, this time in charge of the transporters - he wasn't seen since the pilot episode "Encounter At Farpoint".
11. You can see many new Enterprise shots, including seeing the Enterprise physically go into warp from the point of view of inside the ship (in this case in Ten Forward).
Indeed, the second season slowly but surely feels more like the series we will come to know as it becomes more comfortable being a series of its own, and not one that relies on Star Trek's past.
