Star Trek: The Next Generation, Seasons 1–3

I started The Next Generation after finishing Strange New Worlds, which was basically my gateway drug into Star Trek. I’m coming into this as a lifelong Star Wars person who knows an unreasonable amount of that universe, so learning Trek from scratch has been a really fun experience.

And after finishing Season 3, I completely understand why so many people told me, “Season 3 is where TNG really starts.”

They were right.

The first two seasons were honestly pretty rough for me at times. Patrick Stewart was clearly operating on another level from almost everyone around him from the beginning, but Picard himself was not particularly likable. He could be incredibly stiff, cold, and occasionally had that painfully dated “a woman can’t speak to me like that” attitude that feels like it wandered in from television twenty years earlier.

There were glimpses of the Picard everyone talks about, but I wasn’t seeing the legendary captain yet.

Then The Measure of a Man happened in Season 2.

That episode was the first time TNG really clicked for me. The writing around Data, personhood, and what makes someone human gave Patrick Stewart material he could absolutely tear into. Picard’s argument that the decision wasn’t only about Data, but about what kind of people Starfleet was choosing to become, genuinely made me say, “Wow... way to go, Picard,” out loud. That felt like the beginning of Patrick Stewart finding the version of Picard I had been waiting for.

Season 3 takes that and runs with it.

Picard suddenly feels much more human and much easier to follow. The rest of the crew feels different too. Everyone seems more comfortable in their characters, the performances loosen up, and you can actually feel the cast having fun. Weirdly, that makes the dramatic material work better too. They stopped treating every second like they were carrying the entire dignity of science fiction on their shoulders.

The writing also takes a huge step forward.

The Offspring absolutely wrecked me.

And you cannot convince me Data “felt” nothing when Lal died. Maybe he doesn’t experience emotion in the same biological way humans do, but there is something happening there that feels much more complicated than the simple idea that Data has no feelings. That episode gave him an incredible amount of depth.

Then you get episodes like Transfigurations, which somehow turns into this wild story about human evolution, healing powers, persecution, transcendence, and basically becoming something beyond human. I kept seeing parallels to superhero stories, X-Men, religious stories, and other science fiction throughout it. That’s something I’m really beginning to appreciate about Trek. It can take a ridiculous premise and suddenly use it to ask a much bigger question.

Even the production itself has been fascinating to watch. As an editor, I keep noticing how actors from this era were still learning how to convincingly perform around visual effects that weren’t physically present. TNG probably demanded more of that kind of performance than most television shows simply because of what the show was. Eyelines, timing, reactions, all of it could get hilariously awkward. Even Stewart gets caught by it occasionally. Weirdly, Wil Wheaton might have been one of the best at just committing to the imaginary nonsense.

My biggest criticism is that I wish the show embraced longer-running story arcs more often. TNG is obviously built around episodic television, and I understand that was simply how television worked, but whenever continuity or a larger story starts creeping in, I immediately want more of it. And then Season 3 ends by reminding me exactly why.

I’m very glad I started my Star Trek journey with TNG instead of forcing myself through The Original Series because I thought I was “supposed” to start there. I know myself. The pacing probably would have burned me out before I ever got here.

Instead, Strange New Worlds got me through the door, The Measure of a Man made me pay attention, and Season 3 got the hook, line, and sinker.

I don’t think I’m stopping now.

On to Season 4.