By Season Three, the show about the inner workings of a group of close friends and married couples had reached full maturity as a series. The relationships and conflicts existed on a completely realized level that allowed the viewer to associate, to new heights, with what was happening on their TV. Whether it was Michael and Hope trying to keep their fire lit, Gary evolving into fatherhood, the ongoing struggles of Melissa with the opposite sex, the wandering moral judgment of Ellyn, or a transformed Elliot caring for his cancer-stricken wife Nancy (an Emmy-winning performance by Patricia Wettig): the lives of these characters had come a long way in just a couple of seasons, much like the progression of real life.