The Best of Both Worlds

The Borg are such a juggernaut. When one fights an enemy in war, one generally has an adversary that may be irrational, but that plays by some kind of rules. The Borg is a bee colony and it's a self sustaining entity. The entire colony has one purpose: to absorb everything in its path and make itself stronger. Intellect is of no use unless it helps the collective learn something. All sentient life is meaningless. They are the dead look in the shark's eye. As we will see later, they do speak and threaten. "Resistance is useless" is the response to all. In this episode we realize that the Federation has been anticipation this threat for a long time and decides to send its full arsenal at the Borg. The results of that and the future of Picard are the issues in the first half of this episode. At this point, the show kicked into a different gear, putting great stresses on all involved and confronting an entity that would haunt, not just the people in this series, but the Voyager crew as well.

The first two seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation ranged (in quality) from dreadful to uneven. There were some good stories being told and the characters were progressing somewhat, but nowhere near on a consistent basis. Fortunately, this Third Season is where Next Generation establishes itself as a very quality product.

Perhaps the biggest difference in this season is that there is a noticeable decrease in "clunker" episodes, as there really aren't any eps that are truly atrocious (a fairly common occurrence in the previous campaigns). Clearly, the writing was improved.

Another thing I liked about this season was that the stories were so varied. From single-arc mysteries to Data (Brent Spiner) creating offspring to over-arcing Roman plots, Season Three had a little bit of everything in a very nice mix. Of course, the return of the Borg at the end of the season may be the highlight, as Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) faces his greatest challenge yet. Basically, some great diverse storytelling and pacing.

I'm not going to summarize or review specific episodes here, but suffice it to say that Season Three is when Next Generation really makes the leap from "not sure this is ever going to come around" to "this is quality television". I hate to point fingers or cast aspersions, but the common rhetoric for this change is that Gene Roddenberry was less involved in the scripts by this time. While Roddenberry was a great world-builder (not unlike George Lucas of Star Wars fame), his week-to-week scripts or ideas tended to be rather pompous or high-minded. They either really worked or crashed-and-burned magnificently. So, while the decline of Roddenberry was obviously something that no one in the Trek universe wanted to see happen, it may have unintentionally allowed the show's writers to "loosen the bonds" a bit, working out for the better.

Bottom Line: If you can hold out until this Third Season, you'll become hooked on Next Generation, as this is when the character development and stories finally entertain on an almost every-episode basis. My exact star rating would be 4.5.

I could write such a long review of this but after reading the others, I just echo the repeated sentiments that this is truly some great TV! I remember being gutted that it was the end of the series and we, here in Ireland, had to wait months to see the 2nd part - but it was so worth it.

Patrick Stewart is fantastic and the story is gripping. I still remember the shock of what happens when I saw it that very first time....

I feel if I write any more, I will only start to drop spoilers without realizing it. I always loved the episodes with the Borg, and if you haven't see this, watch it. Resistance is Futile!

The starship Enterprise engages the Borg.

This is an exciting episode with strong character moments.

Part 1 of 'The Best Of Both Worlds' has one of the best character driven plots and probably the most memorable ending of TNG.

The majority of the focus is on a wonderfully tense dynamic between Riker and the ambitious Commander Shelby. These scenes help develop an excellent arc for Riker that builds towards a huge decision in the episode's final scene.

At the same time there is a lot of Borg exposition that sets the scene well and establishes them as plausible threat.

It is also a memorable episode for Captain Picard as it kicks off one of his most famous arcs that follows him through the series, plus a movie and the recent Star Trek: Picard show.

The visuals at the time were fantastic and still hold up to today's standard. The Borg effects, makeup and costumes are some of the most memorable of the franchise. The opening opening matte backdrop and reveal are also very good. All this is enhanced by a very dramatic and effective soundtrack.

All performances are excellent with all characters having moments to contribute. Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Elizabeth Dennehy standout.

This is often mentioned as the greatest TNG episode. It certainly is one of the strongest and on first viewing it works fantastically well, particularly when it was first broadcast. However, I find that it's key moments do not have the same clout on a repeat viewing.

ST:TNG:74 - "The Best Of Both Worlds, Part I" (Stardate: 43989.1) - this is the 26th and last episode of the 3rd season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Borg are back! The last time they were encountered was 7000 light years away in the 2nd season episode "Q Who?", with Starfleet thinking they'd have more time to prepare. Regardless, the Enterprise goes to intercept - with Elizabeth Dennehy as Commander Shelby. She has more than the Borg on her mind, wanting to replace Riker who has been offered command of the Melbourne. As tensions mount between Riker and Shelby, Picard is captured by the Borg!

Watch this part I of an exciting two part episode. You won't be disappointed.

Trivia note: Riker is offered his 3rd chance of commanding a starship. Also, we see the poker game again (this time Wesley joins in on the fun). And Whoopi Goldberg makes another appearance as Guinan.