This is how you do flashbacks. This show found a really great way to do flashbacks and balance it with the present timeline and not overdo it so when they do flashbacks like this, they would blow your mind. And they did it again.
This might not be the best episode of the show as a whole, not even better than the ones before it, but it's definitely out there with how perfectly it's written and executed.
The way they find new ways to surprise you with the storylines you already are familiar with is just brilliant and they also do a great job of integrating the new reveals we had only a couple of episodes ago into it without the need of keeping it secret or mysterious since it's already out there. The reveals in the previous episodes help shed more light on the new storyline of the episode as well as multiple other storylines that we already know of, some of which already had their ending in season 2.
It's amazing how they can show a little more of an already finished storyline with characters that aren't there anymore and still blow your mind with it, and still connect the plot of the flashback episode to the present so it's not just a random filler flashback that just revealed some trivial details and is pointless.
This episode also serves as a great retrospective to show us how far these characters have come and how much they've changed and how good the writing for these character arcs is.
This is my first rewatch of the show after probably 6 years, so I'm familiar with the story and characters and how it ends, but I don't really remember everything and the show still manages to give me goosebumps from how well-written. I didn't really want to review episodes of the show on my rewatch and just wanted to review the whole series after I was done, but this episode was so good that I just couldn't not say anything about it.
The story might seem a little generic and boring from the beginning, but the more it goes on you realize that it is actually essential and related and even central to every single major storyline we've seen so far, and some characters. And the writers do a brilliant job of connecting every dot and giving us more from the storylines of the first season.
This might not be the best episode of the show as a whole, not even better than the ones before it, but it's definitely out there with how perfectly it's written and executed.
The way they find new ways to surprise you with the storylines you already are familiar with is just brilliant and they also do a great job of integrating the new reveals we had only a couple of episodes ago into it without the need of keeping it secret or mysterious since it's already out there. The reveals in the previous episodes help shed more light on the new storyline of the episode as well as multiple other storylines that we already know of, some of which already had their ending in season 2.
It's amazing how they can show a little more of an already finished storyline with characters that aren't there anymore and still blow your mind with it, and still connect the plot of the flashback episode to the present so it's not just a random filler flashback that just revealed some trivial details and is pointless.
This episode also serves as a great retrospective to show us how far these characters have come and how much they've changed and how good the writing for these character arcs is.
This is my first rewatch of the show after probably 6 years, so I'm familiar with the story and characters and how it ends, but I don't really remember everything and the show still manages to give me goosebumps from how well-written. I didn't really want to review episodes of the show on my rewatch and just wanted to review the whole series after I was done, but this episode was so good that I just couldn't not say anything about it.
The story might seem a little generic and boring from the beginning, but the more it goes on you realize that it is actually essential and related and even central to every single major storyline we've seen so far, and some characters. And the writers do a brilliant job of connecting every dot and giving us more from the storylines of the first season.