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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Seasons 3 and 4 Review

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So I finished watching Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation the other day. Normally I’d give you reviews of each season like I did with One and Two, but thanks to the amazing two part episode The Best of Both Worlds, both seasons blended so well, that I didn’t bother taking a break to review Three before I moved immediately onto Four. People had told me that Season Three was where The Next Generation really took off and they were certainly right, not to say anything bad about the first two seasons of course.

The noticeable improvement to me actually began with episode 3.12 The High Ground, where Dr. Crusher was taken hostage by terrorists. Not that the episode itself was amazing, but it was a really solid episode that combined everything great about Star Trek (personal relationships mixed with social and political conundrums), and from then on, each episode maintained a solid consistency in terms of quality. Deja Q, where Q is stripped of his powers and kicked out of the Q continuum, Yesterday’s Enterprise, involving an alternate Enterprise from another timeline, Hollow Pursuits, which introduced Barclay and his wonderful use of the Holodeck, and of course the first half of The Best of Both Worlds, the season finale where Picard is taken hostage by the Borg were all standout episodes. You can pretty much guarantee that any episode involving Q, the Borg, or alternate timelines is gonna be amazing. I’d have to say Yesterday’s Enterprise was probably the best of the standalone episodes.

Season Four continued Season Three’s ascent into pure amazingness. The change here that really made a great impression upon me was that Season Four began to acknowledge the events of previous episodes. I don’t need a single storyline carried over the entire series, but you can’t have these life changing events each episode, and then never mention them again. Storylines like the effects the Borg had on Picard, Worf having to defend his father’s name and its ongoing consequences, and recurring characters like Lore, the Traveller, and even Vash, add a sense of continuity between episodes, which I find very welcome. Not to mention the introduction of half human, half romulan Sela which I found quite awesome.

Standout episodes this season included the second part of The Best of Both Worlds of course, Data’s Day, where we see a day in the life of Data, Devil’s Due, where an all-powerful being claims to be the Devil and holds an entire planet hostage, Clues, where the crew — excluding Data — is rendered unconscious and they need to discover what happened to them during those thirty seconds, Galaxy’s Child, where the Enterprise accidentally kills the mother of a giant space creature and needs to lead the baby to safety, The Nth Degree, where Barclay becomes a super intelligent being and takes over the Enterprise, Qpid, where Q sends the crew to act out a Robin Hood fantasy, and In Theory, where a random crewmember (who I dubbed an android hag) falls in love with Data. And believe it or not, that’s a narrowed down list of episodes. They were all so good this season!

While the Klingon civil war season finale of Four doesn’t really compare to the Borg season finale of Three, I enjoyed the fact that they built up to it a bit more in previous episodes, and kept Sela in the shadows for a few episodes prior to the big reveal. The cliffhanger was quite nice, but didn’t have me racing to put in the next disc as I did with The Best of Both Worlds. But I watched the first episode of Five last night and it wrapped up nicely.

REVIEWS, TELEVISION | Craig | July 1, 2010 6:37 am

12 Comments

By Brian F., July 1, 2010 @ 6:50 am

Q: What can I do to prove to you I’m mortal?

Worf: Die.

Q: Oh, very good, Worf. Eat any good books lately?
By Tam, July 1, 2010 @ 7:50 am

I used to watch all the time when it was on, but haven’t seen too many episodes since. I loved when Q got taken down a peg or two though.
By Polt, July 1, 2010 @ 8:16 am

Captain, I protest! I am NOT a Merry Man! – Worf, QPid. Sheer awesomeness.

Yesterday’s Enterprise ranks as perhaps my favorite episode of the series. Although if you like alternative timelines, wait until the 7th Season’s “Parallels” (I think that’s what it’s called).

Near the end of season 7, the series kinda falters a bit, in my opinion, as they were concentrating more on DS:9 at that point. But from season 3 all the way through until that point, the series was rolling!

Continue to enjoy them, Craiggers. I envy you, getting to experience them all for the first time!

HUGS…
By Craig, July 1, 2010 @ 8:52 am

Worf gets some of the best lines. This one’s from Season 2:

Riker: “Looks like the poor devil died in his sleep.”
Worf: “What a terrible way to die.”
By Andrew J., July 1, 2010 @ 9:03 am

I once tried to figure out which season of TNG was my favorite (excluding the first two seasons), and I couldn’t do it. I think the only conclusion I came to was that season 4 was the most *solid*. Seasons 5, 6, and 7 had such high points, that even the tiny few stinker (or filler) episodes sprinkled her and there couldn’t detract (season 5′s Unification episodes, as well as “Inner Light”; season 6′s multiple forays into ACTION!; and 7′s politics, gravitas, and incredible series finale).

Ensign Ro was the best cast addition for the final three seasons with loads of pay-off (that she wasn’t elevated to “series regular” amidst Wesley’s irrelevance and Yar’s vacuum always eluded me…)

Have fun with the rest, Craig! I can’t wait to read what you think of the remaining seasons!
By The Ryan with the Cupcake, July 1, 2010 @ 9:45 am

I should get around to watching these. I got the first disc of season one on Netflix, but didn’t put any of the others my queue.
By Michelle, July 1, 2010 @ 11:04 am

I’m glad that you mentioned Galaxy’s Child and Clues, I agree that’s one of the best but I often forget it. Along with the quote Polt mentioned, I love the part where Worf breaks Geordies’ Mandolin. We still quote Q today, like “It’s hard to work in a group when your omnipotent”
There are great ones but none of the cliffhangers or movies come close to Best of Both Worlds imho. Mom, Nicolle and I were at a convention when we saw part I & the premiere of part 2 with a huge audience. Still gives me chills.
The only alternate timelines that I didn’t like were the DS9 episodes, where all their parallels were annoying especially Keira with that tin foil on her head.
By Alvaro, July 1, 2010 @ 2:19 pm

I really need to get on board for this Star Trek dork-fest. I loved the movie. Does that count?
By Craig, July 1, 2010 @ 2:35 pm

It’s a start, but you don’t get your dork card until you delve into the television series(s)!
By Nathan V, July 2, 2010 @ 10:39 pm

There is a Star Trek concert happening in K-W where Q is hosting.
By josh, July 3, 2010 @ 7:53 pm

I never saw this show! It must have been playing at the same time as The Simple Life!
By Justin, July 8, 2010 @ 4:56 pm

“Parallels” is one of my absolute favorites, too.

Amongst my top other favorites are “Remember Me”, “Masks”, and “Genesis”. Plus the series finale.

In general I don’t like the “Traveller” ones too much because they involve too much Wesley.