Deep Space Nine's third season begins eventfully, with Sisko promoted to Captain and being given a prototype warship equipped with a cloaking device, while Odo learns where he came from. In the two-part opening tale, this clever gambit is played to hook viewers into the idea of DS9 becoming an ongoing mystery/conflict show. Why the sudden intense change in format? Mostly it was to ensure the show continued to thrive, when a rather greedy production hierarchy fast-tracked Voyager onto the air mid-season (cue unnecessary crossover episode with Tuvok). Of greater concern was ratings thief Babylon 5, which played its counter-Trek cards at precisely the right time. Fortunately the result (initially at least) was a genuine boost for DS9.

Things start to heat up!

This is the turning point of the show. The slow seasons preceeding this are over with the season opener. "The Search" takes us father into the Gamma quadrant than ever and introduces a really cool starship "The Defiant". Not as recognizable as its sister ships, it makes all others seem wimpy. This is a Federation warship designed to combat the Borg.

The characters are totally fleshed out to make them seem like old friends. Aliens abound and are developed further. Gul Dukat is a likeable villain, Garek is focused upon in this season making him my favorite character, the entire Cardassian plot line becomes more intricate and complex. There is even some Romulans thrown in for fun! The Founders finally reveal themselves and I personally feel they are more dangerous than the Borg! This presents some of the most clever writing and takes the Star Trek universe to a place it has never been- into War!

AAAAAAAAAAH

I love this series XD season 3 is where it started getting good too... all my favorite episodes XD

The 3rd Season receives 4, its contents just 1...

Beware!

I have received the Third Season Set and was overjoyed by the quality of the image and sound.

But at discs four and five, the fun was soon over.

Chapter began to jump and especially from the second and third episode on each disc, the DVD began to freeze frames and pixelate images all over the place.

Thank Heavens I have an "intelligent" DVD player and as soon as it became unbearable, it turned itself off rejecting the disc.

I don't blame Amazon.com for this, I much rather blame Paramount and its mass production tactics.

It appears that quality control has gone out of the window nowadays and this is truly deplorable.

Besides, I do not understand this mania of complete sets.

I can bet that some fans of Star Trek have only a very limited budget per month, and spend it on a whole DVD collection at once, may be a burden to many.

I can already hear the outcry of the industry, for costs reduction and I can well understand it, but nevertheless, those of us who still have to work now and then to make a decent living, don't have those masses of money to throw at them this way.

I think that Hollywood lives on its own, private Planet and has absolutely no more connection to reality anymore (as if they ever had it!).

Why not distribute these series in single DVD packages (I think that if one watches 4 episodes per month, finds that he has enough for its money right there).

But everyone is mass-producing and speed-selling like crazy, as if there were no tomorrow.

We will be still alive in a year or so, or at least I hope so...

So, why on Earth all this rush in selling items "en masse".

If one is a fan of the series, he will "religiously" collect them anyway, unless he has a short span memory.

No, lucky for me I received a replacement that had another two defective ones in it, but thank Heavens, not the same ones.

So I had to order two to have one complete set.

Granted, I was promptly refunded for the second set, but is it really necessary to go through all this trouble for seven DVDs?
(Also read my review for the Fifth Season set of DS9).

I pity the poor guys at Amazon.com that have to work hard and still have to struggle to receive decent merchandise.

It is simply not fair to them, not fair to us and not even fair to the industry itself, which should actually care a little bit more to protect their products, not just from piracy, but rather also from their own carelessness in allowing the release of these "batches" on the open market.

It might be profitable in the short run, but in the long one, it can only damage the good name of those who have worked so hard to produce it in the first place.

My apologies to all of you out there for this overlong tantrum.
But there are things that have to be said once and for all.

Also just for the sake of having some executive read these warning and complaints.

They simply have to aknowledge that there are unhealthy practices out there and I really doubt that they would consider such selling methods as being in their best interest.

Now go and read what I have to say about Set 5 of Deep Space Nine.