Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Third Season
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DVD details
Actor: Brent Spiner, Patrick StewartBrand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1181 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-07-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Third Season
DVD Review: The First "Polished" Season, Though the Luster is Uneven.
Summary: 5 Stars
"There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders."
-- Jean Luc Picard to Admiral Haftel, "The Offspring"
Of all the Next Generation seasons, Three may be the most difficult one to define. It's easy to point out the fact that it's a far more polished season than its predecessors, featuring immensely superior production values in terms of lighting, color balance, and costumes that lend a more dignified look to the show. Beyond that though, things get muddled.
Season Three undergoes a massive change of identity, most likely due in part to the arrival of new head writer Michael Pillar and a change of executive producers as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry let go of the reigns due to his declining health. The new guard behind Next Gen seemed very concerned with making Trek more respectable and less fantastic. So, while the production values were enhanced to bring about this affect, the direction of the series seemed to follow, largely de-emphasizing the prominence of science fiction in most episodes (with several notable exceptions) and honing in, instead, on political, ethical, and personal drama.
This works amazingly well in several groundbreaking episodes including "The Survivors," "Who Watches the Watchers?" "The Enemy," "The Defector," "Booby Trap," "The Offspring," and "Sins of the Father". The Offspring, in particular, is one of the most powerful dramatic episodes in the entire Star Trek franchise, while "Sins of the Father" lays the basis for Worf's personal struggles throughout his tenure on Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
There are also several episodes that play up a more character-rich and light-hearted side of Trek, including Luwaxana Troi's abduction by ogling Ferengi in "Menege a Troi," Q's amusing tenure as an ordinary human in "Deja Q," and Picard's less than laid back vacation in "Captain's Holiday."
Unfortunately, this season also contains many relatively dull and dreary episodes that necessarily result from this first attempt to lend more dignity and restraint to a formerly far-out science fiction series. It's difficult to decide how to fill 45 minutes of episode run time when the phasers aren't firing and there's no hostile force threatening the ship. As a result, while I'd be hesitant to call any episode in this season bad, there are many that I simply consider skippable. Each has a strong concept at its center, but most simply run too long and fail to provide enough dramatic action.
However, just as Next Gen is beginning to feel almost uncomfortably restrained in this season, the writers deliver two of the series' best remembered fantastic science fiction premises: "Yesterday's Enterprise," and "The Best of Both Worlds P.1". Both are, perhaps, so utterly successful because they blend the fantastic with rich, realistic human drama and polished, respectable production values. Even if the rest of the season were a total wash, these two episodes would warrant the purchase of this volume by themselves, clearly benefiting from all that the new creative team brought to this season.
Finally, by the end, Season 3 achieves a new apex of excellence for Star Trek, delivering balanced episodes with compelling human drama at their core while framed by solid, enjoyable science fiction premises operating in the background. The strongest of these are "Hollow Pursuits," which introduces us to the unforgettable Reginald Barkley, and "Sarek," in which Mark Lenard reprises his role from the original series. Then, of course, the series concludes with the already mentioned "Best of Both Worlds p.1" which, though primarily centered on an action-intensive plot, does incorporate significant emotional drama for the characters and viewers alike.
So, while Season Three brings production values, realism, and political and personal drama to the next level, the end result is uneven. There are many dull moments in this season, yet one can't deny the quantity of exceptional episodes that are spaced out between them. You're not going to love every episode that Next Generation Season Three has to offer, but the highlights of this season are amongst Trek's finest.
DVD Review: Engage3
Summary: 5 Stars
Closet Trekkie is back! Love the new uniforms, hate the cliffhanger season ending. Oh well, there's always next season!DVD Review: Jean Luc!!
Summary: 5 Stars
What can you say about a Shakespearian actor set in Sci-Fi? He's awesome, holds the show together when the cast is young, then they all grow into good actors along the way.DVD Review: Absolutely awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Star Trek TNG is great. The writing and acting are superb, and still beat most modern sci-fi in quality.DVD Review: Season 3 of The Next Generation is consistently smart and entertaining.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a Star Trek fan, and for me this season of The Next Generation is as good as Star Trek gets. It's consistently smart and entertaining. Every episode gives you something to think about. I'd recommend it.
Description of Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Third Season
26 episodes on 7 discs: Evolution, The Ensigns of Command, The Survivors, Who Watches the Watchers, The Bonding, Booby Trap, The Enemy, The Price, The Vengeance Factor, The Defector, The Hunted, The High Ground, Deja Q, A Matter of Perspective, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Offspring, Sins of the Father, Allegiance, Captain's Holiday, Tin Man, Hollow Pursuits, The Most Toys, Sarek, Menage a Troi, Transfigurations, The Best of Both Worlds Part 1.Star Trek: The Next Generation's third year was an important development in syndicated television. After two shaky years, Paramount nonetheless decided the franchise still had plenty to do. Their confidence was bolstered by two significant factors. First, cast uncertainties were finally settled: Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher) was back for good; Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) regretted her first-year departure, and so contrived a return in the Emmy Award-winning "Yesterday's Enterprise"; and Whoopi Goldberg happily continued her actor's-scale contributions.
Second, after the show had survived the previous year's writers' strike, new writing blood revitalized both characters and ideas: Data experienced fatherhood ("The Offspring"), Worf's Klingon heritage kick-started a huge story arc ("Sins of the Father"), and Picard got a saucy vacation ("Captain's Holiday"). There were memorable star cameos: John de Lancie played more mischief alongside Corbin Bernsen ("D?j? Q"); Dwight Schultz played truant in a gentle warning about addiction ("Hollow Pursuits"); and pleasing fans even more was Mark Lenard as Spock's dad ("Sarek"). The strongest evidence that TNG would continue for some time was the trend-setting cliffhanger finale. Fans and critics still agree that "The Best of Both Worlds" (properly introducing the Borg) was one of the greatest tricks ever pulled on TV to make audiences come back for more. --Paul Tonks
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