‘That ’90s Show’ Part 3 Review

The Big Picture

• That ’90s Show
  balances nostalgia with new themes and character development, maintaining its charm.
• Pacing improvements by merging Parts 2 and 3 into a cohesive season elevate the viewing experience.
• The comedy successfully updates humor and maintains an engaging storyline for teens and original fans.

Given that summer had just arrived when That ’90s Show Part 2 premiered back in June, it’s only fitting that Part 3 brings Summer 2024 (and Summer 1996) to a close. Where Part 1 was more of a callback to the original series, and Part 2 distinguished itself by breaking away from the That ’70s Show to focus more squarely on Leia (Callie Haverda) and her friends, Part 3 now falls somewhere in the middle, acting partly as a continuation of Part 2 and partly as an exercise in nostalgia.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as this new approach might actually better serve to hone in on the series’ presumed demographic — however intentionally or unintentionally that demographic is courted. As the show continues into Part 3 and (I assume) beyond, and as it grows into its own, That ’90s Show is finding a way to capture the heart and spirit of the era in which it’s set, as well as the era in which it’s made, making for a surprisingly sweet addition to the That ’70s Show television universe.

What Happens in ‘That ’90s Show’ Part 3?

Part 2 ends with a car being driven through Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty’s (Debra Jo Rupp) kitchen wall, and, fortunately, Part 3 picks up in the almost-immediate aftermath, with Leia and her other grandfather Bob (Don Stark) doing their best to fix it before the Formans get home from Paris. Their attempts don’t quite succeed, as the pair walk in on the mess and lay down the law for not only Leia but her friends Gwen (Ashley Aufderhide), Jay (Mason Coronel), Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan), Nikki (Sam Morelos) and Ozzie (Reyn Doi).

The law doesn’t stay laid down for very long, though, and the gang is very quickly back to business as usual, with friendships fighting to stand the test of new relationships and changing dynamics in their friend group in the final days of summer. While the concepts themselves — love triangles, new crushes, feuds with your best friend — are all elements that were present in That ’70s Show as well, it’s a positive sign of how times change that the way they’re portrayed is different. Sensibilities are updated without the comedy being lost, and big, life-changing moments of adolescence are portrayed with a far softer touch than they were 20+ years ago.

This then brings me to my main question about the series overall, and about Part 3 in particular. Objectively, I enjoyed it very much, but I can’t help but wonder if the teen demographic is also actually watching. That ’90s Show is ostensibly aimed at this generation, given that the teens drive 90% of the plot, and the writing isn’t particularly complex, so it’s definitely not geared strictly toward adults. It handles things like friendships evolving, first jobs, first relationships, and first sexual experiences a hell of a lot better than That ’70s Show did, especially for people who are still in the middle of that time in their lives. My only hope is that the format — charmingly retro in the way it maintains the network sitcom pacing of its predecessor — isn’t standing in the way of teens giving the show an actual try.

Moving Up ‘That ’90s Show’ Part 3’s Premiere Works in Its Favor

If the wait until October felt too long for more That ’90s Show, then lucky for you, Netflix decided to bump up the third batch of episodes, launching them a full two months earlier than planned, and just under two months after Part 2. This move to bring the series back much earlier than expected works in the streamer’s favor for a variety of reasons. It’s a relief to close the book on Summer 1996 in Point Place before we say goodbye to Summer 2024 here in the real world. The most prominent reason this shift works so well is, frankly, the fact that Part 2 and 3 feel like one complete season, rather than distinct installments — Part 1, in comparison, functions much better as a standalone.

That decision to bring them closer together is also what salvages Part 3 from a pacing point of view. Traditionally, sitcoms like this aired week to week with a far higher episode count — for comparison’s sake, That ’70s Show Season 1 has more episodes (25) than all three parts of That ’90s Show combined (24). While Part 1 does feel like its own “season,” Part 2 and 3 seem incomplete without each other. Yes, a cliffhanger between seasons isn’t unheard of, but the entire emotional resolution of Summer 1996 was left hanging between Parts 2 and 3. Premiering them closer together feels more akin to Bridgerton‘s two-part season release than two distinct seasons.

The pacing of Part 3 as a whole is, really, its biggest stumbling point. Not that it doesn’t work at all, but more that it’s a case of doing the best with what you’ve got. The extremely short episode count means that each installment has to push the larger plot forward. There’s no time to linger with a filler episode that exists solely on vibes. In a way, this makes sense. Given the compressed timeline of the show — two months of summer as opposed to an entire year — there’s simply less story to tell. But part of the joy of basking in this kind of era-based nostalgia, be it the ’70s or the ’90s, is having the time to actually bask in it.

‘That ’90s Show’ Part 3 Plays Up the Nostalgia

When I was a teenager, you’d be hard-pressed to find a show I loved more than That ’70s Show. I drew fanart, I wrote fanfiction (which I then turned in as English homework; sorry, Ms. Caroline). I had a little notebook full of magazine cutouts. All this to say, if there was anybody who was going to wholly buy into the premise of a That ’70s Show sequel series, it would be me. And it really is in Part 3 that the show finds a balance with its own “sequelness,” so to speak.

Laura Prepon — pulling double duty as both actor and director — is once again the only one of the original teenagers to return to That ’90s Show, as Donna periodically pops in to visit Leia over the summer. She also delivers the news that, because Eric (Topher Grace) has gotten a job at Skywalker Ranch in San Francisco, Leia now has the option to stay in Point Place for the school year — setting up way more potential for Part 4, should the series be renewed. Beyond all that, though, her presence this time around also serves as a way to work in offhand callbacks to plot points from the original series. The biggest of these callbacks, though not one delivered by Prepon, is the inclusion of Betsy Kelso (Kira Kosarin), Jay’s older sister. Of all the kids, Betsy is the only one who is not a “new” character, per se, appearing as a newborn in Season 7 of That ’70s Show. While you don’t need the context of who she is necessarily to understand that Jay has an older sister none of them have met thus far, her introduction is obviously set up to be a gasp-worthy moment, and I don’t know if it’ll land the same way for every viewer.

There is one moment played purely for nostalgia, however, that I would not change for the world, and that’s when a dream sequence sees the new cast recreate the iconic Vista Cruiser opening credits from the original series — with Haverda even dressed like her on-screen mom. Gratuitous? Absolutely, and I wouldn’t change it for anything. Overall, Part 3 is the most solid installment of the series so far, really showcasing the benefits of letting a show find its rhythm. My only hope, at this point, is that the series gets the chance to find its audience if it hasn’t already, as it really is a refreshing throwback to what network TV comedies used to feel like, and I would love to see what becomes of That ’90s Show if it gets the chance to explore 1990s Point Place outside the summer months. How about a Christmas special?

That ’90s Show Part 3 premieres on Netflix on August 22.

Watch on Netflix