Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3

It's Star Trek!

The series has hit its stride! I never know what they’ll think of next and am surprised that a show of this complexity and depth could stay on the air during prime time. Star Trek TNG touches the imagination and the hopes and dreams deep in all of us. Peace, love, security, progress are some of the values explored in these episodes. War, hatred, fear, inadequacy are some of the difficulties faced.

I remember when this show was on TV when I was a kid and I had not interest in it. A few years ago I decided to explore the Star Trek series on Netflix, starting with TNG. I am immediately immersed in the world. I have now watched all of the newer series: TNG, Voyager, DS9, and Enterprise. TNG is what I would call the original for me, and has withstood the test of time. The writing, characters, and plot are second to none when it comes to TV shows, and it is shows like this that ushered in the TV series that we know today. The underlying themes in many of the episodes are timeless and have great social commentary The characters change throughout the course of the show, and you come to love them. And although out of all of the newer series, there is not an overriding theme or event that develops throughout the show (each episode exists more or less independent form the prior episodes), this is good in the fact that each episode bring a new adventure. I purchase shows that I love in order to support them, and this is a lovable show that will always have a place in my collection.

I think that the only thing that would make this season better, is if I could purchase Season 4-7 when I was done. However, this is a failing with iTunes and not anything to do with the productin of this show.

Many fans cite this as the season where TNG truly hit its stride. Not only do I agree on that sentiment, but I also believe that this is the best of all the seven seasons produced for this show. What makes this a very good season isn't just a very good line-up of episodes that range from solid to excellent, but that there is a much heavier emphasis on the main characters. Michael Piller stepped in as the new show runner starting this season and made an excellent point that the reason viewers tune in isn't just for some good sci-fi stories but also because of the characters. It's the camaraderie, the family of characters that viewers want to see grow and deal with a situation in their own unique way. Episodes like "The Bonding" that really get into characters, see what makes them tick. It's this emphasis that began in the second season with episodes like "The Measure of a Man", but never has it been done better than in the third season. Highlights for me are "The Ensigns of Command", "The Defector", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "The Offspring", "Sins of the Father", "The Most Toys", "Sarek", and "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I".

Great to finally have this season available on HD in iTunes.

Updated as of 9/24/13: The 1st truly/wholly great season of TNG. Unfortunately, at the time I'm posting this, it's only available in SD, but I'm sure they'll get the HD versions soon. Update: Now that they have the HD versions of the episodes, we all can watch the awesomeness as TNG's true kickoff season. I loved this season with the updated costumes, better story telling, & overall great batch of episodes. I'd recommend this season to anyone into TNG, or Star Trek in general. This season is a great watch. Update: Personally, I don't care which versions of the episodes I watch, either SD, or HD. I mostly buy/download the SD versions, as they take up less space on my iPod, but whatever. I'll still buy the HD versions for this series, no matter what.

It will only get better from here. Season 3 is great and I can't wait for the other 4 seasons. A must have for any Star Trek Fan!! Good price for this many digital episodes!!!

WHERE'S THE HD. I love Star Trek The Next Generation and I have been waiting for Season 3 on iTunes forever. However it's not worth it with out HD. Please get this in HD as soon as possible and let's get the other Season's out a little faster.

Rating will be upgraded once HD version becomes available.