#my t90s content | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatseventiesbitch · 1 year

Text

My That ‘90s Show Review: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Alright, a few days (and rewatches) in, and I’m finally ready to give my thoughts on That ‘90s Show - a show I waited on for two years (but really, more like 17 years). Buckle in for a looooong essay, lol.

I give That ‘90s Show a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I’ll do my best to explain my rating below.

The Good

The Eric-and-Donna of it all. Well - this is an Eric & Donna blog above all else, so of course we were watching first and foremost to see our OTP reunited onscreen after 15 years! And we were not disappointed by what we found. 💗😭

Eric and Donna are happily married in 1995, and navigating the perils of parenting a teenager (shudder). They’re still just as in-love as ever, but now in their mid (late??) 30′s and acting like they’ve been married for 150 years. I guess they have been together since they were 4 🤣.

One thing I think the show really got right is Eric-and-Donna-as-parents. That went exactly as I could’ve predicted. Eric is Kitty to his daughter, well-intentioned but overbearing - and Donna sets boundaries with Leia (like her parents didn’t with her) but is also there to reel Eric in and to remind him of the important stuff: to trust their kid, to let her have her own experiences, to help teach her to take (smart!) risks. I adored that we got to see them “in action” as a parenting team, I loved when Donna went out to check on him and they talked through his fears about Leia growing up and not needing him anymore, I loved seeing how Eric is clearly worried he’s going to become his father (but it’s so clear that he’s so not)... I just loved it all.

Specific shout out to Donna-as-a-mom, which I never knew I needed in my life so much until I saw it! Her running into the Forman’s living room, screaming that she got Leia condoms, jellies, and the uglies underwear she could find... 🤣 Hysterical, and also felt so true to character. That’s exactly how I saw Donna parenting a teenager.

The Red-and-Kitty of it all. Red and Kitty are a joy. Seeing them as grandparents - and as a still-happy couple, enjoying their retirement (or not-so-retirement?) -was the other high point of the series for me.

Red and Kitty are still happy and in love. I never doubted they would be, but it was just heartwarming to see. I also loved their interactions with other characters, like seeing Bob and Fez come back (!!) and the introduction of Sherri, who very much feels like pseudo-daughter for them.

Red as a grandparent was everything I wanted it to be. Him calling Leia “kiddo” - my heart 💗. We kind of got glimpses that he was excited to become a grandparent on the show - like Eric and Donna’s pregnancy scare in season 6 - and I think now we see why. Red knows being a grandpa is where it’s at! He’s done with all the hard parts of being a father, being the ‘bad cop’, and just gets to enjoy and be the fun one! I am picturing him doing this Leia’s whole life lmao... like Eric and Donna sent her over for an afternoon and she comes home hopped up on sugar and Red’s like, “Sorry, she wanted it all and I couldn’t say no. Oh, getting her to bed tonight? I don’t know, not my problem!” Or like, he always gets her the noisiest gifts for Christmas. Kitty as a grandparent was also very sweet - her and Leia making up the pasta names is what immediately comes to mind 😂. Their “good cop” and “bad cop” dynamic has definitely shifted with the grandkid, and I could have predicted that (but it is fun to see!!).

Leia Forman. I adore Leia. I saw someone online say she’s the rare case of two great characters not having a super annoying kid, and I thought yep, spot on. Reboots are always a tricky beast, casting the kid of two beloved characters even more so, but this one worked out.

Leia is funny, endearing, smart, and I see a lot of shades of both Eric and Donna in her but also plenty that sets her apart as her own character. Her storyline about being a coddled, sheltered kid looking to break free and have some adventure worked for me, and I would love to get the chance to see how Leia continues to evolve as she gets older and spends more summers in Point Place.

Gwen and Leia, aka Geia. This is my ship! I really love Gwen and Leia together, and want them to fall in love (cackles in *fanfic author*). But I want it to be a slow-burn, where they realize they’ve fallen for each other, ‘accidentally’, over time. Falling for your best friend... who lives next door... hmmm, wonder why I like this pairing so much...? 😉🤣🥰

Pure nostalgia. The basement. The Hub. The Vista Cruiser. Fenton. Leo. I wanted nostalgia, dammit, and the show delivered. I will even (tentatively) put a few ‘90s references in this column, like hearing ‘Shoop’, ‘I’ll Make Love to You’, and ‘You Outta Know’ and seeing a few other 90s things that reminded me of my childhood, like Free Willy and snap bracelets.

The humor. I went into the show with low expectations, specifically in this department. I was worried the humor would feel ‘off’, or would feel cheesy, or just not funny to me. There were definitely a few jokes that didn’t land (aren’t there always?), but over all I am happy to put the show’s humor in the ‘win’ column! I laughed out loud - a lot. I could tell that the same writers/showrunners were involved - it felt like similar humor from the original series. I think I enjoyed so much partly because I just love these characters, but many of the new characters had me in stitches too. Ozzie and Sherri in particular.

Sherri. Speaking of Sherri, she was my favorite of the new characters. Obvious Laurie stand-in is obvious, and that’s sad/unfortunate, but once I can move beyond that I really enjoyed her. I liked that she was a well-meaning mom but she definitely needs Red and Kitty’s support and guidance - I look forward to seeing how their relationship will develop. I even thought Sherri’s storyline with Fez was funny. It leaves the door open for Wilmer to return.

The references back to the OG show. The split-screen moments. The extended 90210 daydream/fantasy sequence. The Circle. The screen change sequences (the one with Kitty and Leia in the beanie hats is my favorite!)

The Bad

The 10-episode format. To me the most glaring issue was the 10-episode format, which rendered the season far too short to develop any of the characters or plot-lines they’d set up to satisfaction. Now, in fairness, maybe this is just the order they got for season 1. If they are successful, perhaps a longer order can be made for season 2. But also - maybe not. A lot of Netflix shows are consistently 10-episodes only these days.

But That ‘90s Show had less than half the episodes That ‘70s Show had in its first season to develop character and interesting conflict - and it shows. I like where they were going with everything, but storylines often felt rushed or like a lot of jumping around had happened from one episode to the next (For instance, I thought the Leia-and-Jay dating story went really fast. One minute they were all will-they-won’t-they, Leia’s never kissed a boy, and then BAM they’re together, calling each other babe, and she’s sneaking him up into her room for make-out sessions. Whoa!). The characters felt underdeveloped, too, or like we only knew one thing about them - because we didn’t have time to learn more.

So I know this is unlikely to change, but my biggest gripe is that there wasn’t enough runtime. You have an interesting premise here, you’ve sucked me in. Now properly develop it.

The focus on romantic relationships. Related, the focus on Leia’s romantic relationships was not my favorite aspect. I actually liked how they started the thing with her and Jay - Jay’s a playboy, but he’s not being one with her. They should’ve developed that out through all ten episodes, and had him just give her her first kiss in like, episode 9 or 10. The twist with Nate at the end is kind of interesting and could still happen (but as it is, it comes out of left field... which, now that I think about it, is how Leia felt about it too, I guess).

Regardless, I am neither team-Jay or team-Nate. I didn’t think either couple like, blew me away with their chemistry (although I don’t think we’re meant to feel that way yet, as viewers). My favorite parts of the season were seeing Leia’s friendships blossom, with Gwen and with Ozzie mostly. I’d have liked this season to be more focused on that - and maybe she stumbles into her first kiss along the way by the end of the season, anyway, and there’s still a romantic cliff-hanger.

The timeline inconsistencies (and others). There were several - the most notable being the timeline around Jackie-Kelso getting back together and Jay’s existence, and Eric’s age (38? He was born in 1960 so he and Donna would be 35 in 1995) - and while I am disappointed, I am not surprised.

These are the same showrunners who gave us 3 different birthdays for Eric during the run of the show. The same people who gave us 3 different stories about how/when Eric and Donna met for the first time. The same people who gave Donna 2 sisters and then - poof - magically wrote them off (including in That ‘90s Show lol - “There’s only one girl in the world with Bob as her dad, and Eric had to pick her!”). The same showrunners who had Hyde turn 18 two seasons before Eric. The same - you know what, I’m going to stop myself. The point is, this shit is nothing new. That ‘70s Show fans are used to setting their non-sensical mistakes aside and enjoying the show anyway. Their inattention to detail officially goes in the ‘Bad’ column, though. It’s frustrating.

Jackie and Kelso endgame. Well, this ended up being exactly as it was leaked to be, and Jackie and Kelso were on their second remarriage. I do not mind Jackie and Kelso together and do frankly find it realistic, but this isn’t the happiest ending for Ms. Jackie Burkhart. I thought their scene was pretty funny (we did get a “Damn, Jackie!”), albeit brief, but I had higher hopes for the state of their relationship based on some recent promo materials. I also wished we’d seen (1) Jackie, Kelso and Jay interact as a family, (2) Learned what Jackie and Kelso do for a living/a little bit of backstory as to how they ended up back in Point Place.

No on-screen character reunion. I am bummed that Eric and Donna didn’t interact with the Kelso’s - or with Fez! (I guess Donna did, briefly) Seeing this picture makes me want to see it so, so badly in season 2! I think we’re all curious as to what Eric and Donna’s relationship is like with Jackie and Kelso these days.

The Ugly

Hyde’s absence. I think any long-time fan of the show felt Hyde’s absence, and wondered about the character’s ending. The character’s ending is: totally open-ended, since he was not mentioned at all. Although it was painful to feel his absence, I preferred this to giving him an ending like prison or death, which would have felt like a fuck you to the actor but not fair to the character of Steven Hyde. Mostly because it allows us to fill in our own ending for him. I’m going to say that he finally moved to New York, and he’s happy out there. He keeps in contact with Eric and Donna still. 😊

A few side-notes: One, I have a feeling most of the OG cast actually supports Danny Masterson, so... yeah. Do with that sinking feeling in your heart what you will. But I doubt they will write him off in a mean way for that reason.

Two, I think they were in between a rock and a hard place with this. Honestly, if they’d written Hyde in, in any way, I’d feel squicky about it. Even an off-screen mention. But long-live the fan fiction, am I right?? I’ve already started to see some popping up 👀

Kitty’s moment. Kitty had a moment where I clapped my hand over my mouth (even though I literally knew it was coming), and that was when she called Leia, “That lying little bitch,” when Ozzie told her they were at a rave. It was very shocking, and very un-Kitty-like. Did not like.

(That said, I am not one who uses labels like out-of-character in a context like this. It’s not my character - it’s Debra Jo’s and the showrunners’. It’s a part of her character I didn’t like. And that’s okay. She was in a moment of huge stress, probably suddenly worried sick about her granddaughter. I have certainly had bad reactions to stress, too. As my girl Brene Brown says, “People get scary when they’re scared.”)

Overview

So, I mean... I have largely good things to say about That ‘90s Show, and it was a tall order man, because That ‘70s Show is my baby. And ain’t nobody finna touch my baby!!!

Was it perfect? No. Some of the little things were off, but it felt like overall, the big things were on. And that’s what’s important. I also feel invested enough in the new kids (definitely in Leia), and I think they have a lot of different directions they can take the rest of the series. So 4 out of 5 stars, and when can I expect a season 2 announcement, Netflix??? 😆

69 notes · View notes