Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for That ’90s Show Part 3.
Part 3 ofThat ’90s Showhas just dropped on Netflix,picking up where Part 2 left off, and it seems liketheThat ’70s Showreboot is finally finding its footing. To viewers' surprise,all eight episodes of Part 3 were pushed up from their original October 24 release dateto August 22, allowing the final episode to conveniently coincide with the end of summer. Directed by formerThat ’70s ShowstarLaura Prepon(who also returns to guest star in a few episodes), the finale of Part 3 switches up the formula forThat ’90s Show, opening up new possibilities for the series as well as Point Place’s favorite group of delinquents.
That ’90s Show
Now it’s 1995, Leia Forman is visiting her grandparents for the summer where she bonds with a new generation of Point Place, WI, kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red.
Eric and Leia’s Dreams Come True on ‘That ’90s Show’
In Part 3’s seventh episode, “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” Donna (Prepon) arrives in Point Place with some life-changing news — for the entire Foreman clan. Eric (Topher Grace) has been offered his dream job shadowing George Lucas — that’s right,theGeorge Lucas — at Skywalker Ranch to eventually write a book on the making of the new Star Wars prequel movies (the first of which would premiere three years later, in 1999). This is huge for Leia (Callie Haverda): since Eric will be in California,Donna is considering letting Leia stay in Point Place year-round, meaning she’ll attend school with the gang and live withKitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red (Kurtwood Smith)full-time.
Leia and her friends rejoice, with no one more excited than Kitty,but Donna has not made her decision yet. It takes a serious amount of cajoling from Leia, plus a pep talk from Grandpa Bob (Don Stark), before Donna feels comfortable enough to let Leia stay in Point Place for the school year. When Donna does relent, however, Leia is overjoyed and, in a touching moment,Donna presents Leia with her old Point Place High School gym shirt.
Donna Struggles with Her Decision on ‘That ’90s Show’
Freedom is just within reach for Leia,but she’s not cruising down easy street yet, because Donna may have decided to let Leia stay with Kitty and Red,but that doesn’t mean she trusts Leia’s friends— Jay (Mace Coronel) and Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide) especially. The gang has an end-of-summer tradition where they gather on Point Place High’s roof the night before the first day of school, but Leia worries thatshe’ll risk her future in Point Place if she joins and is caught by Donna. Leia does agree to go, and Jay offers to swipe Kitty’s keys (remember, Kitty took a nursing job at the high school) so they’ll have an easier time getting on the roof, but Leia refuses, as Kitty could be fired if the gang gets caught.
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Back at the Foreman house, Donna has her own problems to deal with: namely, she will have to spend the year traveling between Eric in California and Leia in Point Place.This creates a conflict between Donna and Kitty— who has the final say on raising Leia while she lives in Point Place? The two matriarchs spend the finale sniping at each other which, while not ideal, could be charitably explained away as a satirical take on how relationships between mothers and daughters-in-law were written in the ’90s. Donna and Kitty’s bickering comes to a head when Donna discovers that Leia has snuck out with her friends — partially aided by Kitty.
‘That ’90s Show’ Part 3’s Finale Puts Leia’s Future in Point Place in Jeopardy
Viewers might have a wait ahead of them to find out how Leia’s summer ends, becauseThat ’90s ShowPart 3 ends on yet another cliffhanger, as is tradition at this point.As the gang celebrates the last night of summer, their excitement is cut short by the arrival of Donna, Red, and Kitty, who catch the gang in the middle of a classicThat ’70s ShowCircle — or, as Red eloquently puts it, “smoking grass on the school roof.” The adults are furious, and Leia finds out that Jay went ahead and took Kitty’s keys against her wishes, telling him he’s “ruined everything.” That’s the note the finale ends on, Netflix has yet to order a Part 4 ofThat ’90s Show, so viewers will, unfortunately, have to wait and see what fate befalls the gang, and whether Donna’s wrath will rival Red’s.
Parts 1, 2, and 3 ofThat ’90s Showare available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
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