*makes a jerk-off motion*
It’s not that “Q2” is a bad episode, it’s that I don’t understand why it exists. We did not need a sequel to “The Q and the Gray”. We didn’t even need a “The Q and the Gray”! (We absolutely did not need a second sequel to “The Q and the Gray”, thank you very much, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.)
But here we are: the follow-up to an earlier episode that sees Q drop his annoying adolescent son in Janeway’s lap so that she can provide the parenting he so badly needs.
This is a consistent janeway episode
Here’s where the episode works for me: Janeway reacts to this plan the way she always reacts when given responsibility for children: she makes everyone else do the work, and treats the child in question as a Starfleet cadet. You know, someone who is old enough to drink in most jurisdictions.
(I am still slightly cross at a Tumblr post I saw a while back, which posited that both Janeway and Tilly having responsibility for cadets is a sign that Star Trek thinks all women should be put into maternal roles. I actually do think that’s a problem with a lot of Star Trek, and by the time this post goes up, the embargo on the SNW season 3 finale will be lifted and I will have had a LOT to say about Marie Batel’s bullshit death. But “college professor” or “university lecturer” or “pseudomilitary academy trainer” are elite professions, not maternal roles, even when they are filled by women.)
Here’s where the episode does not work for me
It’s a Q episode on Voyager, so naturally we have a lot of comedy sexual harassment, from Q turning up in Janeway’s bath to his son stripping Seven naked. It’s all very “boys will be boys”, and obviously doesn’t play well in 2025. Frankly, I did not care for it in 2001.
Second, we’ve seen this story before. One of TNG’s best Q episodes is “Deja Q”, where my least favourite trickster god is stripped of his powers and dropped on the Enterprise to learn an important lesson about not being a dick. “Q2” is a vastly inferior copy.
Third, none of our regulars really grow or develop from this episode. We get to see Icheb interact with a peer, which is great, and his nerd/jock friendship with Q2 is actually very charming. But there’s a sense that the writers have lost interest in the main characters, and that this is all an extended exercise in fan wank/letting John de Lancie’s kid have fun.
That is not to say that Keegan de Lancie did a bad job
I actually think he was great as Q2, and his performance — his final credit in a short career as a child actor — was more than just an imitation of his father. He imbued Q2 with pathos as well as arrogance, and a lot of presence. Had he remained an actor, I’m sure he’d have a respectable career — as it is, his LinkedIn page says he was working for the State Department as of 2024, and was highly respected, so God only knows what the Trump administration is doing to him right now. But the problems with Q2 as a character are entirely down to the writing, not his performance.
In conclusion
Save yourself 44 minutes and skip this one. It’s not the worst Star Trek ever, but it’s also simply not worth your time. One and a half bubble baths out of five.