#i did actually post this in a reblog at like 2am but i'm redoing it now as a separate post bc it felt more appropriate idk??

[elizabethshaw]

Okay. Thoughts on Stranded 3! (under the cut for spoilers):

Starting off, I really enjoyed this boxset!! I'll be honest and say I did kinda miss the more domestic aspects of the previous two, but the creativity of the stories this time definitely made up for it! There were some really cool concepts in each of them, and the atmosphere of each story was also done very well.

The first episode was probably my favourite - it was very unhinged and kinda trippy but in a good way, and was very satisfying to see come together. I also loved how the characters were paired off in different ways, it made for some interesting dynamics and a fresh perspective on the team as a whole I think. (Andy and Liv's dynamic was also just. Really fucking hilarious ngl, right from the off. Loved it.)

The second episode was also really cool! There was something disorientating about being dropped in in the middle of an adventure, but it actually worked, and the tension of everyone working undercover was really well done too.

"Snow" was one I was predicting would make me cry based off what had been said about it before release, and, in a surprising turn of events, I Was Right. For some reason I've got incredibly attached to Ron and Tony while listening to Stranded, so the whole plotline around Ron's grief over Tony's death... it got to me, to say the least. Add in the scenes between Liv and Tania, and the stuff with Zakia... it was a Lot (in the best way!!)

And the last episode. I knew before it was gonna be ordered weirdly, but hearing the credits at the start proper disorientated me akskfjgjksjf Anyway, this was a very interesting one (that I think I'm definitely going to have to relisten to to really get the most out of) - it was definitely an experiment, but I think it worked, and did a great job at showing the impact the smallest events or words can have on the bigger picture. Absolutely devastated at what happened to Andy though 😭 Hope he gets out of it somehow...

However, (as there are with these things), there were a few creative choices I didn't like quite as much unfortunately. I mentioned in the tags of an earlier post that I was a bit disappointed in how sidelined Helen felt at times (mainly in the last two episodes) - I'm a massive fan of her as a character (like, I absolutely cannot understate how much I love her, idk exactly why but I have vibed with her on an unreal level), and tbh I would have liked her to feel a little more involved at times this boxset.

I also would've liked a bit more between the central trio of Eight, Liv and Helen, because I really love their weird little found family dynamic, and their friendship is the main reason I've loved their audios so much, and if I'm being honest it didn't really feel like they interacted as a trio at all in these episodes which was a bit of a shame. The same also goes for the individual dynamics between them - Eight and Helen got some good material as a duo, but Liv didn't actually have that many proper scenes with the others :/ (However, I did really love the scenes she had with Tania this series!!! I am admittedly still a Liv/Helen fan and clowning myself hoping something still might happen with those two, but I've really liked how Liv and Tania's relationship has grown so far, and I thought they had the best emotional content by far in this boxset.)

(I am now very worried Liv's gonna leave at the end of Stranded though. I reckoned that would be what would happen for a while, but now it seems a bit more real and. I'm not ready for her to leave yet aaaaaaaaaaaaa-)

Overall though, very good boxset!! I think I'm going to have to relisten, and at a bit of a slower pace, to really appreciate everything, but I definitely enjoyed this rather crazy first listenthrough :)

Other misc thoughts, in no particular order, and not coherent in any way:

"There's an alien chair! Two alien chairs! By an alien table!" "Stop saying alien." "No, it's just... oh, what's that feeling?" "Sunstroke." 💀💀

I said earlier that Liv and Andy's dynamic was one of my favourite parts of ep1, the comedy of it all was just... so funny

Helen and Tania's dynamic was also very cool; I've always liked the little we've got of their friendship and it was nice to see it explored a bit more :)

The way I unironically thought when the psychic stuff and visions started being brought up that the writers might actually have decided to do something more with Helen's eldritch psychic powers... i am such an idiot

(I may or may not have a whole mini essay of a post about said powers currently sitting in my drafts... not sure whether to post it though)

Tania just. Lying on the floor feeling slightly dead inside... mood

"I used to think I couldn't... wouldn't find what you've found. But seeing you two... it gives me hope." Shut up shut up i am actually going to cry

They didn't really touch on it much this time around, unlike with stranded 2, but I'm glad they did still have some continuation of the subtextual arc about Helen coming to terms with her sexuality and that she can be happy as who she is; it makes me Feel Things and I hope it's still given time to breathe in stranded 4

Liked the intermittent scenes with Eight narrating a story with this ep, kinda reminded me a bit of Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg and his storytelling then

Liv being described as a "rainbow dolphin" is singlehandedly one of the funniest things to come out of this series istg

Ah yes, solitary, my favourite card game

Episode two my beloved thank you for giving me the Helen Content i owe you my life <3

Helen deciding that if Liv was gonna die she was too definitely Got Me emotionally (their devotion to each other... god), but also uh. She was very quick to decide dying was the best option there. Is she okay

Also Liv is very much Going Through It this time round - hope she gets a break at some point

The snow keeping Ron company because he missed Tony so much 😭 this is fine (it's not fine.)

The stuff between Liv and Tania in ep3 was so heartbreaking too!!! The bond between them both felt so much deeper this boxset, and in a way that was such a natural progression from the previous stories, and really helped make the emotional crux of this episode even stronger

This story was also very much Fairytale of Salzburg if Fairytale of Salzburg was just. Really really depressing

Anyway this is irrelevant but what happened to their eighty-year-old stasis field cat from 2.3?? Is she okay???

"What Just Happened?" was the most appropriate title possible for that last episode. It was easier to grasp than I thought it'd be, but still Very Mad haha

Idk I feel like the way it was structured actually made the emotional impact stronger? Like there was something really compelling about seeing where the events were unfolding from, and realising the little things that were adding up to what happens at the beginning, and it made it retrospectively hit a lot harder

If Eight, Liv and Helen don't get at least one group hug in the next boxset I'm rioting