The jumps back in time have gotten so bad this season that it looks like a case of showrunner schizophrenia. Three minutes of present day gives way to 4 minutes of teen drama. The kid they have playing Pope makes him look like a zombie. Shawn Hatosy as Pope does a good job of presenting someone who is out of synch with the world, but this kid presents a flat affect with perpetually pursed lips.
The kid playing Baz presents an insufferable idiot, where Scott Speedman presented Baz as a self absorbed maniac barely kept under wraps. It's too much to expect those two inexperienced adolescent actors to be able to play younger versions of characters who have already been the central characters of the early seasons, played by seasoned actors. It ain't workin'.
The jumps back to the '90s aren't working the way the jumps back to the late '70s/ early '80s did. I think that it's because there's almost nothing going on in '92 with these kids. Also, Jeannine has become Smurf the godmother of Oceanside and does nothing except manipulate her little brood of kids.
Why didn't they write a whole episode of the earlier time for each season instead? That worked out well before when they did it.