Star Trek The Next Generation: Every Season Ranked

This is the year where things really started to take off for the Next Generation. The uniforms were updated and the writing staff changed over, with both Michael Pillar and Ronald D. Moore joinging. Maurice Hurley left the show along with Diana Muldaur, leaving the door open for Gate McFadden to return.

The episodes took on a more emotional drive, with Sins of the Father, The Offspring and Sarek displaying this best. Characters like Kurn and Barclay were both introduced and Tasha Yar returned in the series' highlight Yesterday's Enterprise.

The end of the third season also saw not only the first cliffhanger in Star Trek history but the assimilation of Captain Picard by the Borg. While today this is simply part of Trek lore, this was a monumental step at the time. For all intents and purposes, they killed Picard and the show went off the air for months, leaving audiences crying out for more. Season three gave us The Enemy and The Defector, furthering and heightening the Romulan threat throughout the year.

This was the year when the Next Generation came into its own. From year three on, it was already snapping at the heels of the Original Series as the stronger of the two iterations. Episodes such as The Offspring displayed to audiences just how much they had really come to care for the crew and The High Ground showed that the show was bold enough to deal with controversy head on. The Next Generation had landed and it was here to stay.