#that both worked with canon but didn't require the viewer to have 20 years of plot stored in their brains

[mybrainproblems]

the thing is i'm hyperaware of the fact that i'm Weird About Andrew Dabb but it comes from a place of me realizing back in fall 2021 that i wanted to identify why exactly i didn't like him and deciding to do a close watch of his spn eps. and when i realized i was enjoying parts of it, i decided to see what i could turn up any of his non-spn work. (this is something i've always tended to do with creatives: tracking down older stuff for a more holistic view of their work.)

i was so stuck on how much i hated some parts of his writing (s7 dabb-loflin is horrendous) and couldn't get past that... then i found out independently that he was showrunning the upcoming netflix resi show (a franchise i both love and have complicated feelings about) which filled me with dread that the guy who co-wrote 07x22 would helm a show with a predominantly black cast -- especially with the ultimate villain, albert wesker, played by a black man (RIP lance reddick, you are dearly missed). i wanted to be optimistic but i was ready to be infuriated and was so nervous that i'd hate something i'd been looking forward to as some camp horror tv.

but then. oh. OH. it was everything i ever wanted from resi and never thought i could have. i could not conceive of a resi like this. a resi where women and poc are treated with empathy and as nuanced characters with interiority. where they are the central characters. the video games have their own issues but the movies are truly egregious when it comes to black characters. so to have a predominantly black cast (and a black female protag, no less!) and have them treated respectfully was amazing. this was a show that had heart and a somewhat diverse writer's room and bts crew (not saying it was perfect) and you could see that difference in how characters were treated and how the plot and direction was handled. (i think having female directors and producers in particular helped a lot.)

for those who have not seen the anderson/jovovich movies: there is always a token black character and they will always die by the halfway mark bc they make stupid decisions. it's non-stop tits and ass shots of jovovich (which feels super weird when the director is her husband). alice (jovovich) is an Action Girl who is frequently subjected to sexualized violence but unfortunately, i love the camp horror of it. it's complicated. the video games have their own issues with the portrayal of women and ada wong being DLC feels really shitty when she's so pivotal. women are largely either helpless or Strong Sexy Action Women.

like i really cannot express just how much 8 episodes of tv so wholly changed my opinion of a writer/showrunner bc it showed such growth. a showrunner is only one piece of the puzzle of a tv show but they are the ones guiding it and the ones who have substantial influence in the hiring and development/direction of the story.

it's like. i don't forgive dabb for 07x22 and the shit he wrote with loflin (or solo, tho he improved a lot without loflin), but to see how resi turned out and to read/watch interviews with him and the bts crew is like. oh, okay. i think this person gets it now. i don't think i can forgive and forget bc s7 makes my blood boil, but i can accept that growth has happened here and that's what we should want from people.

also i'm gonna say that when i look at how i am Weird About Dabb and take a step back, i can see that i'm about as weird about him as some folks are about other writers and actors from spn (and willing to acknowledge his faults). i just chose a weird writer to be Weird about.

sorry but i just have a lot of feelings about resi.