I saw that review when it came out. They make a lot of great points.
In particular (so here comes the novella...) they mentioned something about "Freiberger and too much romance", but a lot of that wasn't as bad. Especially as "Is There in Truth No Beauty" is the first one that comes across as having the most amount of thought put into it. Compared to "Requiem for Methuselah" where they ramp it up to 11 because of the surprise reveal (which also manages to get around the audience thinking of "afterward cleanup" and other problems.)
Or "For the World is Hollow and I'm Using Too Many Syllables For This Title" where McCoy and Natira get it on (with convenient cure at the end, Kirk swears to keeping McCoy's ailment a secret but then immediately blabs to Starfleet the intricate details as to WHY he needs an immediate replacement (good grief), "The Enterprise Incident" where Spock and the Romulan Commander's attempt at knocking go-go boots but at least this time it's part of the espionage trope and worldbuilding rather than plain old romance routines... it's rather and surprisingly effective, especially as it's the Romulan Commander thinking she can lure Spock. (Here's a question - would she keep her word? I'd be inclined to say "yes", there is some great dialogue in that episode where it counts the most...)
Scalosians luring humans to boink with, even though plot details and reasons for accelerated aging would - the moment you think about it since even high school biology teaches of how micro-scratches can form - would be a rather nasty death indeed... the only thing missing is Crewman Cedric's pet preying mantises getting to watch and then discuss the aftermath and how they have it better, I'd guess...
Even despite all that and other examples, most of them are surprisingly reasonably well-handled. Especially as season 3's use of sexuality and luuuuuurve is far better than the season 1 & 2 trope of "Kirk teaches love to the woman of the week", of which the most insipid example is his "dine and ditch" for Shahna, whom I felt particularly bad for considering how much of the episode is devoted to their talking. (No worries, Kirk freely invites Alexander into asylum later.) In re-reading the script for "Triskeleon" I threw up in my mouth a little over him leaving her there cuz the Providers will have teach them whatever before they can reach the stars -- even though the Providers themselves never had, wow... Indeed, a minor scripting change could have turned that headscratcher ending into a far more noble one. Two ideas now come to mind... but if they ran into deadlines, the script had to stand as it was... That said, even the "She's a robot" bit from "Requiem" isn't anywhere near the same ballpark.
Not to mention, "The Paradise Syndrome" - which blends romance with a downer of a tragedy that nobody was expecting. It works extremely due to the chemistry between the actors...
...unlike "The Lights of Zetar", where swapping Lt Romaine for an actual head of lettuce wouldn't made anything worse...
And, of course, "All Our Yesterdays" with selected characters devolving for plot convenience due to not being processed by the Atavachron, which - had they been processed - would have died had they found their way back. It's Spock's turn to get some more exploration, not unlike from "This Side of Paradise" where flowers make everyone high but with a twist...
...and that's the other thing; so many TOS episodes, especially the most creative ones so it's all thankfully easier to roll with, do indeed have some bizarre plot holes or impasses that couldn't be fixed in time, and even a basic word processor wasn't "a thing" yet. Just a typewriter and tons of "White-out" liquid paper correction goo that made Mike Nesmith's mom a happy camper. But I digress.
Season 3 arguably did have more emphasis on "romance". But it used it in many more and different ways, many of which broke the mold at the time and that probably caused consternation because fans wanted more of the same. And if there was a 4th or 5th season, they still wouldn't do what commonplace posters during WW2 did and warn of not getting busy due to the dangers of certain diseases as a result of said busy-getting...
...I really don't want to mention "The Mark of Gideon" as it's got the sloppiest allegory for diseases, and it's weird how all of a sudden Gideon's leader is fine with letting his daughter live (whom he had no qualms killing off like everyone else) after Kirk provided both the cooties (which does all but say outright it's sexually transmitted, and I get the feeling the writers wanted to go there, given everything else the story merrily mocks) AND their cure. But that story is overloaded with a mess of ideas; just mentioning them alone doesn't do much. At least Gene Dynarski ended up as Commander Quinteros - in a far better story that - woops - also revolved around a hollow romance... hollow... holo... pretty cheesy one either way (romance and/or the silly pun involving phonetics...)
Ultimately, nigh on six decades on, it's nice to see a fresh take on the show, and especially for its final season with the albatross of "fan consensus" sitting on it like an elephant on a tiny stepstool, with possums dancing around the stool and giggling. At the time, season 3 did get a bad rap - perhaps not undeservedly so, due to budget constraints and other issues. At the same time, season 3 definitely is going in directions 1 and 2 didn't for whatever reasons. And yet, if the show remained and felt the same, it'd burn out faster. Maybe the real issue was the budget and too many "bottle episodes", which definitely would have worn at the time. It's amazing how much of season 3 managed to keep things going DESPITE all of these limitations. That's impressive, in my book.
I forgot to add, season 3 also had new incidental music. It's a bit refreshing, and rather trendy for the time...
And the most interesting part is: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' was the ultimate in terms of "love solves all" for relationships, and it's clear that Lokai and Bele were in one - just not the literal sort. Especially as the dialogue and character actions showed the utter and sheer opposite of it.
