Star Trek The Next Generation Season 3

By Reggie's Take on November 16, 2013

The third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation began airing on September 25, 1989 and concluded on June 18, 1990 after 26 episodes.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season three featured the return of Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher after she was replaced by Diana Muldaur for the second season.

The season also saw several actors who would reappear in the same roles and others throughout the franchise, such as Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay, and Tony Todd as Kurn, Worf’s brother.

The season saw such episodes as “Evolution”, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, “Sins of the Father” and “The Best of Both Worlds Part 1”.

The Ensigns of Command

Evolution: Stardate 43125.8
While Picard and the crew of the Enterprise races against the clock to launch a probe, a culture of experimental nanites accidentally released by Wesley threatens to render the Enterprise uninhabitable.

The Ensigns of Command: Stardate 43133.3
Data attempts to convince the leader of an endangered colony that his people must evacuate the planet or face extinction at the hands the Sheliak who are claiming the planet to colonize.

The Survivors: Stardate 43152.4
The Enterprise visits Delta Rana IV in response to a distress call and tries to persuade two colonists who are apparently the only survivors of an obliterated population their mysterious assailants have returned.

Who Watches the Watchers: Stardate 43173.5
A hidden outpost on Mintaka III is revealed after an essential holographic generator malfunctions, polluting the primitives’ religious and ethical beliefs and causing one of them to identify Picard with God.

The Bonding: Stardate 43198.7
Worf’s conscience struggles with a fatality under his command. Meanwhile, the deceased crew member’s son must confront an alien life form that attempts to take on the physical form of his mother.

Booby Trap

Booby Trap: Stardate 43205.6
After taking the Enterprise into a mysterious asteroid belt to examine the only known relic of a long-dead race, Picard discovers that the belt is actually a lethal snare and assigns La Forge the impossible task of finding a way out before it’s too late.

The Enemy: Stardate 43349.2
Trapped without the aid of his VISOR, Geordi is aided and abetted in his attempts to send a distress signal to the Enterprise by a shipwrecked Romulan.

The Price: Stardate 43385.6
Federation and Ferengi delegates vie for control of a unique stable wormhole allowing instantaneous travel across space and Troi makes discoveries both interesting and dangerous regarding one of the negotiators.

The Vengeance Factor: Stardate 43421.9
Riker and Picard run up against an age-old wall of mafia-like blood feuding, almost certain to ruin the first negotiations between a clan of vicious pirates and a race of civilized if arrogant beings in centuries.

The Vengeance Factor

The Defector: Stardate 43462.5
A legendary Romulan strategist races to warn the Federation of a massive Romulan invasion in the near future, but his attempts are thwarted by the crew’s prejudice and suspicions.

The Hunted: Stardate 43489.2
The Enterprise is faced with a destructive challenge in the form of the biologically altered war veteran whose mind allows no mercy in the face of danger, but all he and his fellow soldiers want is their freedom.

The High Ground: Stardate 43510.7
While tending to innocent bystanders, Doctor Crusher is taken hostage by a ruthless freedom fighter who is blind to the fate of his rebellion and refuses to hear any argument from the Starfleet officers or the local law enforcers.

Déjà Q: Stardate 43539.1
Q returns to the Enterprise, but this time his immortality and his powers have been rescinded by the members of the Continuum, and he must help the crew to deal with an asteroid that threatens to devastate an entire civilization.

Yesterday’s Enterprise

A Matter of Perspective: Stardate 43610.4
Riker is accused of murder after the apparent sabotage and destruction of a science station, but Picard and Troi gamble on using the Holodeck to recreate testimonies from all the surviving parties.

Yesterday’s Enterprise: Stardate 43625.2
The Enterprise-C emerges through a temporal rift, rewriting history for the crew of the Enterprise-D. The Federation is losing a war to the Klingons, Tasha is still alive, and the crew of the Enterprise-C must return to their own past to restore the timelines.

The Offspring: Stardate 43657.0
Data is inspired by a cybernetics conference and announces that he has created Lal, an android ‘daughter’ – which does not please the captain at first, but when Admiral Haftell arrives with the intention of taking Lal, she experiences an irreversible malfunction.

Sins of the Father: Stardate 43685.2
The Enterprise receives a Klingon first officer on the Federation exchange program who is actually Worf’s brother. When Worf learns that their father has been charged with betraying the Khitomer Outpost, he sets off on a mission to clear his family name.

Sins of the Father

Allegiance: Stardate 43714.1
Picard is kidnapped and deposited in a laboratory maze with three other captives, while a replica of the Captain begins to wreak havoc with the crew of the Enterprise, leaving Riker no choice but mutiny.

Captain’s Holiday: Stardate 43745.2
Picard is pressed into taking a vacation on Risa where he is tangled up in a plan by 27th century aliens to retrieve a weapon that has made its way back in time to the 24th century.

Tin Man: Stardate 43779.3
The Enterprise is called on to transport first-contact specialist Tam Elbrun to Beta Strongrem to make initial contact with an alien life form. However, things go disastrously wrong when Romulan attackers show up and the Beta Strongrem sun goes supernova.

Hollow Pursuits: Stardate 43807.4
Reginald Barclay neglects his duties in favor of spending time on the holodeck, where he has constructed programs simulating members of the crew. When the senior crew of learns of Barclay’s holo-addiction, he must come to terms that he has a problem.

Sarek

The Most Toys: Stardate 43872.2
Kivas Fajo, an ‘antique collector’, considers Starfleet’s only android officer Data, a prize for his collection and fools the crew of the Enterprise into thinking that Data has been killed in a freak shuttle accident.

Sarek: Stardate 43917.4
Vulcan Ambassador Sarek, father of Spock, beams aboard the Enterprise to be transported to his final diplomatic duty. But he is suffering the initial symptoms of a mind-deteriorating disease and his telepathic skills project violent, irrational impulses in the crew’s minds.

Ménage à Troi: Stardate 43930.7
Ferengi DaiMon Tog decides that Troi’s mother is the woman for him, and kidnaps her along with Deanna and Riker. On the Enterprise, Wesley forgoes an opportunity to travel to the Academy to help locate the Ferengi ship and recover the three captives.

Best of Both Worlds, Part 1

Transfigurations: Stardate 43957.2
The Enterprise rescues the lone survivor of an escape pod who has lost his memory. Crusher soon discovers not only is the alien recuperating with incredible speed, but is mutating as well.

The Best of Both Worlds, Part I: Stardate 43989.1
Lt. Cmdr. Shelby, joins the crew as they investigate the latest planet victimized by the Borg. The Borg soon intercepts the Enterprise and does critical damage, later boarding the ship and kidnapping Picard.

Season 3 Cast:
Patrick Stewart: Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes: Commander William T. Riker
Brent Spiner: Lt. Commander Data
LeVar Burton: Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge
Michael Dorn: Lieutenant Worf
Marina Sirtis: Counselor Deanna Troi
Gates McFadden: Doctor Beverly Crusher
Wil Wheaton: Wesley Crusher