Season 3

By the end of the final episode this season just felt like a lot of build up for next season, which is a little frustrating. Season 3 has some of the same issues that season 1 had, such as an inconsistent tone. The first half of this season was very tame, slow moving, and more of a deeper study of the characters with some melodramatic moments sprinkled here and there. The second half the season, or rather the final few episodes, turned up the drama and pacing and became much more energetic and melodramatic, like what we saw from season 2. This shift in tone felt like the show didn't really know what to do with this season. I thought season 2 was better than season 1 because it committed to the melodramatic soap opera feel throughout, so that's what I was expecting going into season 3. I was surprised when they slowed things down a bit at the start of this season, but I saw the potential in a season that was more of a slow burn and focused on rich dialogue and character depth. However, I don't think the story was compelling enough to keep me entertained throughout, and by the end they had gone back to a quicker pace anyways but still without much happening with the main story. Overall I didn't think it was as troubled as season 1 but also wasn't as cohesive as season 2 so I would place this season somewhere in the middle. One highlight this season was Jamie's arc of becoming an antagonist. I think he is easily the character with the most depth which should make for a great antagonist in season 4, which will be good for the show since generally speaking the antagonists have been pretty weak characters. I did have some issues with two of the main reveals this season. First of all, learning what Jamie did to Beth was effective at building some sympathy for Beth, however the whole thing doesn't make much sense in that there's no way the clinic would perform a hysterectomy without telling the patient that they were doing it first. And secondly, learning that Jamie was adopted explains a lot and builds more sympathy for his character as well, but there's just no way he went his entire life up to this point without looking at his own birth certificate and figuring this out sooner. Some of these unrealistic plot points could be overlooked if the season committed to its sop opera feel (like season 2), but since they tried to slow things down and make this season more serious the unrealistic plot points really stood out. Overall this season was fine and good, it just felt a little like an entire season of filler in order to help explain some of the characters more and events from the first two seasons, and the tone felt inconsistent at times. I still get a lot of enjoyment out of these characters and this show and I'm curious to see the type of show they make next season.