All your favorite posts, one swipe away
I think what really set hoa apart from other shows for me ( other then my kid brain thinking season one had 90 episodes) was that all the relationships felt real? and like not even the romantic ones the platonic ones especially. like yeah some of the scene can come off as something out of a cheese romance fic but they can also come off as just them being friends and bonding? and especially bonding with people that they've known for ages but haven't really like connected with if that makes sense? and I think it really reminds me of my old classes where yeah we’d not talk but when it got to certain times ( like before an exam or a last day of school) where we’d all just band together and chat and laugh and be a group? that's what I see in the relationships shown on the screen. but maybe that was also what was missing in season 3 for me at least, because it introduced a lot of new characters who didn't know anyone/ new a few people. with Nina and Eddie the show showed that the og house residence already knew these people so it felt like we with Nina were being introduced into their lives and becoming friends with them and forming the deep bonds they already had. and then with Eddie we still follow Nina sorta so its not as jarring as if the pov suddenly switched to Eddie for season 2 ( and I think it made Eddie being the protag in season 3 a much cleaner transition then it could have been). but with season 3 there were a lot of new characters that didn’t have already formed dynamics. and to go from the tight knit group of season 2 to people leaving, relationship drama, old couples that we loved being replaced by the new people ( and that's not the characters fault nor is it exactly unrealistic but its jarring all the same if that makes sense) it feels odd. it feels like almost a season 1 relationship building style with a season 3 plot and at times it made the show harder to watch because it couldn't explore as many emotions without redoing them from Nina's time, and it couldn't explore as many plot dynamics because the bonds weren't as strong.
but like season 3? pretty good considering they lost their old protag and then also Amber. though I do with we saw Fabians struggle with both of them leaving more because like sabuna was the 3 of them to behind with, and to be the last of the founders must feel horrid. and then for Eddie to rightfully take the lead and Patricia to take his place as like the love interest to the lead it must have been awkward? idk maybe they did explore that its been years since I watched season 3