Season 3 was a logical progression not only of the two preceding Sam & Max Seasons, but at least the Tales of Monkey Island as well.
The "overarching plot" was always present in the first two S&M seasons.The hypnosis paradigm flooded Season 1, a world domination plot with a slightly less likely eventual villain was what Season 2 was about. But like in an 80's TV series, continuity was pretty much irrelevant. Every episode was about a mildly new problem to be solved with the same old characters and their same old relationships, mostly in the same old environments, often starting in the office. Whatever happened in that last episode was of next to no relevance in the new one.
The "Tales" introduced actual continuity into the episodic concept, which was long overdue at the time already. Guybrush could find himself in any spot he got himself into during the last episode. Like chapters of an "actual" adventure game, a new setting, an entirely new situation, a story turning point/altered main goal marks the cut between episodes. Some Telltale developers have stated that the cliffhanger would be a defining element in what they do. But no continuity, no cliffhanger.
Season 3 is as of yet the best application of the episodic idea in Telltale's endeavors. The story arc is rather strong (although weird enough to fit the franchise
) and puts the players into wildly different situations at the outset of these episodes. Sometimes even the game mechanics are slightly altered (episode 2) to give the player a new experience.
Hopefully, Seasons which put the characters back to their version 1.0 are a thing of the past.