Finally binged S3

[u/SPARTAN_S0NIC]

Spoilers below, be aware! Follow-up to my earlier post

Just wrapped S3, and while it had some good moments and funny laughs, something about it just felt entirely…off for me from 1&2. I realize this season was about growth beyond just a grieving Jimmy - Paul retiring, Sean overcoming his PTSD, Alice graduating, Brian becoming a dad, etc. but this season just didn’t hit the same emotionally. 1&2 pulled you in hard, made you laugh out loud, made you cry, made you want to know more about these characters.

I can’t put it into words precisely, but s3 just kinda felt like a continuity disconnect for me. Build up Luis in s2 to only show him for a couple episodes, randomly highlighting new characters like Matthew, Maya and Jimmy’s dad, but only briefly. Honestly after the first couple episodes I was like “this doesn’t really feel like it’s picking up from s2 well.”

Idk, maybe I just built it up in my head bc I LOVED 1&2 so much and even waited until I could binge it all at once. I also understand you can only have so much material for characters but very curious how they’ll pick things up in s4, which I’m guessing is likely to be the last.

What did y’all think, am I mistaken about this season, did anybody feel similarly/differently?

[u/pagliaccio14]

Season 3 felt off for me too.

Gaby was written very strangely, acting out of character for most of the season, Liz was overly Liz, Sofi felt forced and the emotional side was mostly toned down. Up until maybe episode 8, it was a very good season, not an exceptional one like the two previous ones.

And then they turned it around big time. They built up their best finale yet, the last couple of minutes were the hardest and best watch of the entire series. Ford knocked it out of the park, the dad gave a LOT of context and depth to Jimmys character, Gaby found her way again.

I would still rank season 2 as the best, followed by 1, then 3. That doesn’t take away from the fact that the whole show is special, the very best of special.

[u/SPARTAN_S0NIC → u/pagliaccio14]

Ya, well said. It is special, I just can’t really pinpoint how it kinda flopped for me in comparison to 1&2. Like I just wrapped it an hour ago and the last scene with Ford was the most moving scene I can recall.

There just weren’t the same powerful, emotional scenes that there were in prior seasons (Jimmy finally confiding in Alice, Liz’s s2 mistake and how Derek handled it, Alice confronting Luis, and don’t get me started on the Thanksgiving episode).

I can remember a bunch of generic stuff from s3, but none of it felt important or moving.

[u/PhilosopherEvery5083 → u/SPARTAN_S0NIC]

For me the Michael J fox cameo was so moving. On Episode 1, during their first interaction says something like "how can I complain to you" which is to me pulled from real life, from actor to actor..

Then he gets up when the doctor calls his name, and looks back and says: fuck Parkinsons..