Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3

Welcome, gentle reader, to the third of a projected series of 7 blog posts about Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For convenience, I'll be using the standard fan abbreviations to refer to Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the original series (TOS).  Also, probably best to assume that a Spoiler Alert remains in effect at all times, just on general principle.  I'm not precious about giving away details of a TV series broadcast 25 years ago.

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Ooh, a new title sequence.  This one feels more familiar to me, but I think I prefer the other one, with its journey out of the Solar System.

Still loving Ron Jones' musical stylings.  Also, welcome Jay Chattaway who debuts with some interesting sounds in "Tin Man".  Every time I notice interesting incidental music in an episode, I smile and imagine Rick Berman shaking his fist in thwarted fury.

My feeling about Season 3 after watching it all is that it has a higher number of passably good episodes than Season 2, but fewer standouts.  It's as if both seasons started with the same total volume of quality, and Season 3 spread it around more - but more thinly - than Season 2, which concentrated it in some episodes at the expense of others.

"Evolution"
The one in which Wesley Fricking Crusher's science project achieves sentience and is granted its own planet.  Honestly, that child needs supervision.  A fair season opener, but not a dazzling one.
"The Ensigns of Command"
In which Data has to persuade a colony to evacuate a contested planet, while Picard buys time by picking loopholes in a treaty.  This kind of feels like the sort of story Star Trek ought to do, but it also kind of feels like the writers and the characters are just going through the motions.  Which is no less true of the next couple of episodes, but somehow this one has left less of an impression on me.
"The Survivors"
An old-fashioned episode, but well handled.  It actually has a bit of the feel of an old Twilight Zone story about it.  It's Kevin's revelations at the end that save this episode from sinking into blandness.
"Who Watches the Watchers"
Presented as a dilemma-tastic Prime Directive episode, except that nobody really seems to have much trouble with throwing the Prime Directive out the window.  Plays better as a story of first contact, none too surprising but somewhat charming.  I enjoyed it.
"The Bonding"
A welcome left turn, examining how the crew of a utopian 24th century exploratory starship manage a child's bereavement.  A really good handling of difficult subject matter.
"Booby Trap"
Geordi and the Enterprise on Holodeck 3, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.  As a story about how poor old Geordi La Forge can't get a date, awkward.  As a story about the alchemical marriage between the Chief Engineer and his ship, better.
"The Enemy"
Enemy Mine rewritten with Geordi and a Romulan.  Pretty good.
"The Price"
The one where Troi is pressured into bed by the sort of manipulative weasel I wouldn't have expected to find working as a diplomat in the 24th century.  And yes, I dare say this was intended and I dare say that everyone was happy with the result - so a slow handclap there, production team - I just don't believe it should have been made as an episode of TNG.  Uncomfortable viewing.  And Troi (certainly in the opening scene) seems strangely out of character to me.  This whole episode looks like it was written by an intern.
"The Vengeance Factor"
Reconciliation between alien factions, blood feud, etc etc.  This feels like rote Star Trek storytelling - a so-so episode.  And the Snake Plissken Cosplay Society Gatherers are far too '80s to be taken seriously.
"The Defector"
As episodes about the Neutral Zone go, a good one.  Including the "king in disguise" scene from Henry V is a good move on several levels: that it establishes the "eve of war" mood of the episode is fine, that it prefigures later revelations in the episode is a bit more subtle, but that it should feature Patrick Stewart - the Enterprise's own king - in disguise as one of the holographic soldiers is downright brilliant.
"The Hunted"
The one about the rehabilitation of war veterans.  Well-constructed in narrative terms, but unsubtle and didactic.
"The High Ground"
The one where Dr Crusher gets abducted by terrorists.  Unlike the previous episode, this one presents the issues for the viewer's own consideration and doesn't pull its punches as often, so TNG is to be commended for that.  But it's a bit too gritty for me to want to watch it again.  Let's get back to the wacky cosmic shenanigans, shall we?
"Déjà Q"
As a comedy episode, it feels quite mean spirited in places, but the script is a lot wittier than almost any other TNG comedy episode I can think of.  Almost witty enough for me to forgive the excessively cheesy ending.  A couple of nice reflective moments in here too.
"A Matter of Perspective"
The one where Riker is tried for murder on the Enterprise's holodeck.  Hinges on the rather odd and dubious premise that the holodeck's set dressing can somehow interact with scientific apparatus outside the ship in exactly the same way as the real - and apparently experimental - bit of apparatus it's imitating.  Still, a pretty good episode.
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
Not just a good old time travel/parallel timeline story, but a way to reaffirm the joyous voyage of discovery TNG wants to be (and sometimes is) by contrasting it with the grim militaristic adventure it so easily could have been (and that Deep Space Nine would end up becoming).  War with the Klingons?  That's not what this series is about.  Probably my favourite of Season 3.
"The Offspring"
Feels a lot like the poor cousin of "The Measure of a Man".  Captain Picard's behaviour here runs completely counter to his position in the earlier episode, which makes for uncomfortable viewing.  And too much of Lal's screen time is given over either to "amusing" antics or to sledgehammer sentiment.  Like a number of other episodes in this season, it's well made but just not what I came looking for.
"Sins of the Father"
The one where Worf accepts public dishonour for the sake of political expediency.  I can see that this episode is deliberately setting Worf up for further development later on, so can make allowances for the downbeat ending.  Perhaps not as strong as other Worf episodes to date, but Michael Dorn hasn't had a bad one yet.
"Allegiance"
The one with the alien abductions and fake Picard.  Unremarkable stuff.
"Captain's Holiday"
In which Captain Picard takes shore leave on Risa, the planet of the sex tourists.  Cue a lot of lingering bikini shots and gags about "the women", lest there be any doubt as to the target audience being pandered to.  The story itself is a so-so Indiana Jones runaround.
"Tin Man"
The one with the neurotic telepath and the living spaceship.  I didn't find this one a knockout episode, but I did find it quite charming - somewhere just short of the top rank of the season.
"Hollow Pursuits"
The first one to feature Howlin' Mad Murdoch as Reg Barclay.  Here we have the same problem as with Ensign Gomez in last season's "Q Who", namely that a qualified Starfleet officer - I mean, somehow he's made it to the rank of Lieutenant - could possibly be such an incompetent klutz.  Still, it's a pretty good episode for Guinan.
(And speaking of Ensign Gomez, that's the last time I can remember seeing a female crewmember in Engineering.  They've started to reappear in Season 4, which only emphasises Season 3's shortcomings vis-à-vis female characters.)
"The Most Toys"
The one where Artie from Warehouse 13 kidnaps Data for his collection.  A great guest performance from Saul Rubinek.  The story itself... another one of those Season 3 also-rans.  And having Data possibly attempting to kill the collector sullies his character unnecessarily - having him throw that "only an android" remark back in the guy's face at the end and leaving it at that would have been ample payoff.
"Sarek"
So TNG is visited by part of TOS, and within 20 minutes there's a full-on old-fashioned brawl happening in the bar.  I think this one falls within the top third of the season, but let's face it, it's largely carried by (and possibly, for all I know, built around) that scene of Patrick Stewart showcasing his theatrical skills.
"Ménage à Troi"
The one with the Ferengi sex pest.  Naturally I'm not keen on seeing another Lwaxana Troi episode - the "predatory older woman" stuff has been dialled back a bit, but the "overbearing mother" stuff has been dialled up to compensate.
"Transfigurations"
Oh, that old business about evolution being a teleological progression towards non-corporeality.  A good-enough story about finding potential within ourselves, but a decidedly ordinary TNG episode.
"The Best of Both Worlds"
At last, TNG figures out how to do season finales!  Introducing an obvious replacement for Riker and dropping hints about Riker's own imminent promotion to Captain makes for a good feint - it really does feel as though the resolution to the cliffhanger in Season 4 could go either way.  I'm prepared to make allowances for the fact that this episode is all set-up for next season's opener - there's a lot of running on the spot to get us to the big "Locutus of Borg" moment.  But I think this episode's strength is not in its plot, but in the friction between Riker and Shelby - it could have made for some very interesting character development in Season 4.

Rankings, from favourite to least favourite:
"Yesterday's Enterprise"
"The Bonding"
"Déjà Q"
"Sins of the Father"
"The Best of Both Worlds"
"Who Watches the Watchers"
"Tin Man"
"Sarek"
"The Defector"
"The High Ground"
"The Offspring"
"The Most Toys"
"A Matter of Perspective"
"The Enemy"
"Booby Trap"
"Evolution"
"The Survivors"
"Transfigurations"
"Allegiance"
"The Hunted"
"The Ensigns of Command"
"The Vengeance Factor"
"Hollow Pursuits"
"Ménàge a Troi"
"Captain's Holiday"
"The Price"

Episodes that I remembered seeing before: 3 ("The Enemy", "The Offspring", "The Best of Both Worlds")

Episodes that I would make a point of watching again: "Yesterday's Enterprise" has the richness of content and themes to support a rewatch.  I think that's the only real standout for me this season; maybe "The Bonding", at a stretch.  But as I said before, there are a lot of episodes here that I would describe as passably good - more or less on the level with Season 2's second tier episodes.  Probably the entire first half of the list above would fall into that category.