The third and final season of Kung Fu brings Kwai Chang Caine's quest to a closure and it does so with the style and sense of cool that has made the series a cult favorite even to this day, thirty years or so after it was first broadcast. By this point in time, his character has evolved and Carradine has done a fine job of falling into the role, playing it with such a fantastic calm demeanor that it's hard to imagine anyone else in the role, even if it was initially designed for Bruce Lee (you've got to wonder what that would have been like…).

For those not in the know on the series, Caine was a Chinese monk who fled to the United States after killing the emperor's son, enacting vengeance on the man who killed his teacher. When he arrives in America, during the era of the Wild West, he outwits those who have come after him in retaliation and also seeks to find his long lost brother in hopes that they can start a new life there. Along the way he helps out plenty of people and beats the crap out of the bad guys who get in his way. While many of those who wish to stop Caine or cause him grief are armed with pistols and rifles, he's a living, breathing weapon who is more than capable of taking care of himself and spouting philosophical wisdom to those who will listen.

Aside from the wrapping up of loose ends and plots left over from the first two seasons, there are a few things that make the third and final season of Kung Fu interesting. First and foremost are the episodes set in China. While throughout the series we'd seen flashbacks of Caine's past in the orient, here there are a few complete episodes that take place on the mainland and it's interesting to see how the tie into the themes and storylines of the series. We also get to see some real development between Caine and his brother, who he has been searching for around the country for so long. Things don't go quite as well for Caine in this regard as he had hoped for and these storylines are some of the more interesting ones from the series.

Some of the stand out episodes include My Brother, My Executioner where Caine gets things a little messed up with his brother in terms of who he really is and what he really does in life. Some gun play erupts over this and this is a fairly action intensive episode in some spots. A Small Beheading brings an interesting twist to things – Caine can go back to China with a full pardon from the Emperor if he agrees to let them chop off the top of one of his fingers. William Shatner of Star Trek guest stars in this one. The two part Blood Of The Dragon finds Caine on the coast of California where he learns that his grandfather was killed the day before his arrival. Caine sets about investigating things on his own unaware that there are agents from the Order of the Avenging Dragon who are tracking him in hopes of killing him off once and for all. Eddie Albert of all people shows up in this episode, looking somewhat out of place.

The complete third season contains the following episodes in the following order – three episodes each on one side of the four double sided discs in the set.:

DISC ONE:
Blood of the Dragon
A Small Beheading Part One
A Small Beheading Part Two
This Valley Of Terror
The Predators
My Brother, My Executioner

DISC TWO:
Cry of the Night Beast
The Devil's Champion
The Garments of Rage
Besieged: Death on a Cold Mountain
Besieged: Cannon at the Gates
The Demon God, The

DISC THREE:
The Vanishing Image
A Lamb to the Slaughter
Forbidden Kingdom
One Step to Darkness
Battle Hymn
Barbary House

DISC FOUR:
Flight to Orion
The Brothers Caine
Full Circle
The Thief Of Chendo
Ambush
The Last Raid

A note about the third season – the episodes on this set are presented in their original broadcast order, but it should be mentioned that technically, Full Circle is the last episode. The three that came after it, The Thief Of Chendo, Ambush, and The Last Raid tell stories that take place after the story of Caine ends. It's rather strange, but that's the way it is.

The DVD

Video:

Not much to worry about there – the episodes are all as they should be – fullframe. Quality is decent, though not perfect. There's some softness to the image and some of the fine detail is a little muddy looking at times but for the most part, things are perfectly acceptable. Colors look nice, skin tones look natural and black levels are pretty stable. There's some mild grain and some mild print damage here and there that you're bound to notice if you pay attention to such things and it's obvious that these episodes haven't been given a full restoration or anything like that, but they do look good enough and if you were fine with the presentation quality of the first two seasons you'll likely have no gripes with the third.