Yeah, it wasn't a secret as early as when season 1 was airing that Juliette had difficulty playing the role. She said it was incredibly tough and depressing. I remember discussing it in this thread? She said something along the lines of not realizing when she signed on how dark Natalie's story would be. She likely asked the producers after filming season 1 to be let go from her contract. I don't think there's any ill will, she seemed to love the actresses, showrunners, etc. – I honestly think she just didn't want to keep playing the role.
I just did a catch-up and the season was pretty much everything you've all said. I really, really struggled with the present-day storyline basically digressing into later-season Weeds quality, with a bunch of boring, slapstick subplots that felt like filler. The actresses all deserved better, frankly. All it did was take away screentime from the far more interesting wildness scenes, which could have used more development to make some of the big moments feel more earned. Can we fucking scrub Shauna's husband & daughter from getting any more screentime? And ditch Elijah Wood, too.
Things did get a lot more intense in the second half of the season, but the final 2 episodes felt so rushed, that it was more puzzling than exciting at times. The entire hunt sequence in the finale was honestly baffling, it just didn't ring true that any of them would be willing to do that again, except for maybe Van (because we know nothing about current-day Van, really) and Taissa (because she is fucking crazy, but she is free).
I'm glad that fucking cottage burned down. The wilderness scenes are due for a new setting. I'm not sure where I stand with season 3 - shows have certainly recovered from worse, but a big part of me has lost confidence that the writers are capable of giving us worthy answers or earned pay-off to all the questions they raised and stories they introduced. I'll be tuning in, for sure, but my expectations are definitely diminished.
I just did a catch-up and the season was pretty much everything you've all said. I really, really struggled with the present-day storyline basically digressing into later-season Weeds quality, with a bunch of boring, slapstick subplots that felt like filler. The actresses all deserved better, frankly. All it did was take away screentime from the far more interesting wildness scenes, which could have used more development to make some of the big moments feel more earned. Can we fucking scrub Shauna's husband & daughter from getting any more screentime? And ditch Elijah Wood, too.
Things did get a lot more intense in the second half of the season, but the final 2 episodes felt so rushed, that it was more puzzling than exciting at times. The entire hunt sequence in the finale was honestly baffling, it just didn't ring true that any of them would be willing to do that again, except for maybe Van (because we know nothing about current-day Van, really) and Taissa (because she is fucking crazy, but she is free).
I'm glad that fucking cottage burned down. The wilderness scenes are due for a new setting. I'm not sure where I stand with season 3 - shows have certainly recovered from worse, but a big part of me has lost confidence that the writers are capable of giving us worthy answers or earned pay-off to all the questions they raised and stories they introduced. I'll be tuning in, for sure, but my expectations are definitely diminished.
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