I increasingly see that question on other forums and it drives me up the wall. That question is a perfect storm of two things: ▪︎the mindless consumer fanboy-ism that has destroyed all major film franchises ("it contradicts the lore, is objectively miserable, and an active waste of my time, but it has Star Trek in the title, so I'll watch it.") ▪︎developmentally stunted inability to fill in any blanks whatsoever
I promise you, Pee Pee Poo Poo: The Musical: Season 1 has absolutely no key nutrient you have to absorb to comprehend season 2. In fact, if we're talking one of these shows that go through three showrunners a season, it might be more comprehensible if you skip the earlier stuff.
If the first one has no direct connection to the sequel, then it shouldn't be a sequel. Either make it its own separate thing rather than parasiting off the "brand value" or make it clear that its just "X character in a new adventure!" rather than brand it like its a straight continuation of the previous adventure line.
So I genuinely have the opposite issue you have. Where I find the dumbing down of sequels to make sure you can skip the first part to be actively detrimental to the quality. Whether by overtly explaining obvious shit everyone should know (to catch you up), creating obnoxious flashback chunks, or just retreading the same shit just to hammer in some development you might have missed.
Because god forbid the consumer have to actually want to consume the product. Better dumb it down endlessly so that no one feels left out or gatekept (and they can reach broader audiences to milk their shekels) and its as easy as possible for them to just rich in a bin and pull out a random chunk of it and be instantly able to comprehend everything.
The only time I feel otherwise is when creators decide to mass diversify the story across multiple mediums and genres. Star Wars is a great example, both EU and whatever the fuck the new one is. As is Kingdom Hearts because it shouldn't take 6 consoles and 7 types of games to get a full story.
After playing Tears of the Kingdom, I was left wondering what was the point of even playing Breath of the Wild when everyone treats Link like a stranger. The devs got rid of all the Sheikah shrines, towers, and Guardians, and when asked in an interview where the hell they went, they blatantly said, "Don't worry about it lol."
That one is even more egregious because its not even a sequel, and closer to a straight expansion pack. Where it even more so should be interconnected, with half the draw being getting to see how the world changed after the Calamity Boi left.