I love That 70’s Show but one thing I hate about the show is the eighth season. Ok, there’s more that I don’t like but I’ve talked about that before here and here.

I actually watched the eighth season first. I was in America with my aunty and it was on TV and I thought it was hilarious but certain things didn’t make sense. They kept talking about Eric but Eric never showed up and Donna really wasn’t over Eric and she was stringing that Randy guy along, I felt bad for him.

However I was still rooting for Eric because he seemed as if he was the love of her life. It’s funny how even when I knew nothing about the show I still picked that up.

Then I found out it was in fact the last season and there were seasons before it. I was excited, like there’s more! So I went and watched the seasons in the correct order. The further in I got and the closer I got to eight the more horrified I got.

Because I had already watched season eight so I knew what was coming and I was like, OMD why did they do that?!

Seeing everything in context made me realise how bad season eight was. I mean, to be fair, season eight is good if it belonged to another show or if it stood on it’s own but in the context of That 70’s Show it’s bad.

The thing that they ruined the most is Jackie and Hyde’s relationship and their character development.

From my point of view they had been sowing the seeds of Jackie and Hyde’s relationship from season one but instead they put her with Michael first and I’ve already talked about that.

When they started dating in season five it was like, “Finally!!” I had been ready from season three.

They had chemistry, so much chemistry it was like, why was she with Michael for so long?

It wasn’t just that though, they also made a good couple. Who would have thought that they would actually make each other better people?

Hyde challenged Jackie’s materialistic ways. He wasn’t rich and he wasn’t going to spoil her even if he was rich. He treated her like an equal and was always honest with her. He was never shallow and he was always upfront.

However, he did cheat and we can’t skip over that and that was a result of his insecurity over her past relationship with Michael. Either way that was wrong and I’m glad she made him suffer for it.

Normally, I would not root for them getting back together but he was genuinely sorry and if a person has it in them to forgive and take them back on the condition they don’t do it again, I don’t discourage that. And he actually did change and he never cheated again so I also forgave him as his actions matched his words.

Jackie was Hyde’s first proper relationship. She truly cared about him and nurtured him and encouraged him to open up emotionally to her. She did try to change him at first but then she accepted the things she couldn’t change and worked on the things that she could work on.

They were friends as well as lovers as they confided in each other and Hyde truly respected her and Jackie needed that.

Jackie gave Steven that love that he had never gotten before outside of Eric.

However, she was too obsessed with marriage. Even for the 70’s, was that normal? I wish they would have compromised or talked more on that issue.

To be honest season seven was also iffy. That whole break up and how they got back together was just… lame. They liked each other for more than that and honestly I think that’s when they (the writers) started to throw the character development away.

What gets to me is that they were laying the ground work for Jackie and Hyde to be a couple like Red and Kitty. When they broke up I was so sad. All that progress, all the potential was flushed down the drain.

What’s worse is that the characters regressed after they broke up for good. They became worse versions of themselves and Hyde married a random woman?

WHAT!!!

Also, my hot take is I don’t believe Hyde would have flipped out at Jackie at the end of season seven as he did if they had kept him in character with all the development. As the season seven finale was a mirror of what happened in season five. He jumped to a conclusion about Jackie and Michael and cheated. So I thought they were going to show his growth and that he would see Michael and be like, “Get out of here!” And then talk to Jackie as he knew she had standards!! Or rather he knew she wouldn’t do that to him.

But no, it’s like the writers forgot their own character all of a sudden.

They had the potential to be the best TV couple after Monica and Chandler but they messed up. They fumbled the bag. I 100% think that because of that season eight flopped. If they had given us a Jackie and Hyde wedding season eight could have been the best one yet with an emotional reunion with Eric at the end.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Ah, what could have been. Sometimes that’s worse, seeing the potential a show had and watching it crash and burn. Although, we did have seven good seasons. As many fans of That 70’s Show I just pretend the eight season doesn’t exist.