#what if I created a storyline based on the idea that mentally ill people deserve care and the opportunity to recover

[glitter-stained]

Dc writers be like yeah sorry this character was doomed by the narrative there was nothing we could do, like my brother in christ you ARE the narrative

[mxgilray]

Loki Season 1 Thoughts

Overall, I really liked this series. It has some issues without question, but I sincerely don't think it's the dumpster fire so many viewers on this site treat it as. Did it go how I expected? Not at all? Did I enjoy the heck out of it and look forward to it every Wednesday? Hell yeah!

Loki's Good Guy Personality

A big complaint many have had with it is how much Loki's demeanor has changed and how his emotional growth feels rushed or his personality is ooc. Truth is, he saw his entire future, saw what his angry, power hungry, I-work-alone persona would get him in the end, and it snapped him back to reality. He has always been shown to be quite emotional and craving attention and lacking in self assurance, it's just in the past movies he's masked it with violence and fake narcissism, and he's always been a secondary character so his perspective is rarely shown. But if you really pay attention it's obvious he isn't truly villainous; we all know that, it's largely why he has such a huge fan base.

Right after meeting Mobius, Loki got an infodump of his future, saw his parents both die, found out that free will means jack shit, and learned he's absolutely powerless in this realm. On top of that, this is 2012 Loki, fresh off of being under Thanos' control, suddenly being shown that the guy who controlled him is going to end up killing him. Frankly,, I think it all broke Loki. He was too shook up by it all and by the sheer helplessness he found himself in at the TVA that he let all his barriers down momentarily. Just long enough for him to open up to Mobius about his motivation and his lack of self confidence. And you know what I bet? Loki felt relieved after talking to Mobius. A weight was lifted, because he bore his heart to someone and wasn't rejected or laughed at or treated like a psycho. And after letting his walls down fully, Loki didn't feel the need to put all of them back up. He stayed guarded around other people, but he didn't need to pretend around Mobius. Mobius has seen under the mask, so Loki doesn't feel pressure to perform as an all knowing, all powerful God around Mobius. That freedom is life changing.

People who gravitate towards broken, pseudo-villain characters do so because we relate to their internal conflict, their mental illness, their need to fake it around everyone close to them. Their turmoil and depression and self destructive behavior are familiar and we see ourselves reflected in their actions. Now, when a person really truly let's their guard down, drops all their layers of facade, and embraces themself, they tend to change demeanor and even personality pretty drastically. It's jarring in real life, so of course when it happens to a fictional character who you usually relate to it is going to be jarring, maybe even more so because it feels like a change you yourself would never go through. I know this sounds bad and people might get at me for it, but...

I believe the issue here is that a large part of Loki's fan base doesn't want him to get better. They don't want him to move past his mental illness, to learn how to cope with anger and disappointment in healthier ways, to be happy. They like his damaged persona, they like the internal conflict. Maybe it's because they're still at that low place themself and feel like a relatable character is getting taken away from them, maybe it's because they don't understand how much being at peace with yourself can alter a person and to them it feels like he's been changed too much. To those of us mostly on the up and up from battling depression and mental illness, it's comforting to see Loki getting a chance to be genuinely happy and accepting of himself.

Sylki and Lokius

First things first, I'm not anti anything. Ship what you want, idc. Personally, I do not see the Sylki dynamic as romantic, but I get why people read it that way. I thought the series did a good job of showing unrequited love, namely Loki falling for Sylvie and Sylvie feeling zero romance towards him. This was aware of his attraction and in the end used it as a distraction so she could get the upper hand. The show played up the potential romance because we are viewing things from Loki's perspective and he's become smitten as a kitten. I do think in the long run they'll have a more sibling-like dynamic, one Loki realizes that you can feel extreme love and care for a person without it being romantic. I enjoyed how the show explored their relationship, though I do wish they hadn't had every character under the sun mention their moment on Lamentis-1 like it was some big deal to bond with someone you're about to die with.

I'm bitter towards the development of Lokius. It had a strong start in the beginning, and in ep 5 had some potential reignited, but then they had Mobius not know who Loki is at the end. I'm still hoping they're playing the long game with this ship and that it'll come to fruition partway through season 2. The chemistry is there, and Mobius knows Loki very intimately and isn't put off by his past. Loki also feels much more at ease around Mobius than he does around Sylvie. It's the comfort of a deep loving bond with Mobius verses the nervousness of a new crush that he feels for Sylvie.

I don't think Loki is quite aware of his feelings for Mobius, simply because it's based in friendship and mutual respect and isn't a hot and heavy lust. Plus, as soon as he was away from Mobius he was thrown into a near death experience with Sylvie and developed a surface crush during their heart to heart. Since Loki's still figuring out what genuine feelings are beyond anger and sadness, he sees the simplistic crush he has on Sylvie as love and the intimate bond he's been forming with Mobius as friendship. He doesn't understand his own feelings yet, but I think he'll figure it out next season. I mean, he was probably already rethinking his feelings for her after she kissed and betrayed him, mentally kicking himself for expecting her to not pull a Loki betrayal like he would've in the past.

The Time Variance Authority

I really like the concept of the TVA, the structure of it, the methods they use, the deeply fucked way they recruit employees, the cult like motto, shady Miss Minutes who is definitely playing her own long game, and the blind acceptance TVA agents have of the Time Keepers' will. It's all very well done... until your dig into the core, aka He Who Remains. They built up the idea that the Time Keepers created the TVA to prevent a multiverse war and that they created agents to enforce their will. Then the creating agents turned out to be fake, the Time Keepers were fake, I expected the reason for the TVA's existence to be fake to. It felt too simple to have it genuinely exist just to keep the multiverse in check. Why the anonymity, unless it's to keep from having agents target and prune versions of himself which.. songs like a decent solution. HWR made it sound as though the multiverse war was just a bunch of versions of himself screwing shit up, so why isn't the TVA's focus on eradicating every other variant of this guy? Sounds a lot easier and nicer than fucking with the free will of every other living being. So either Marvel made a bad call when choosing what HWR's motive was for creating the TVA, or he was lying about it all to cover up something sinister.

Overall Storyline

I'm fairly happy with the plot as a whole. There were some pacing issues and I think a few missed chances for deeper conversations between various characters. While I enjoyed the Loki variants, I honestly would've been happier seeing Tom playing most the variants (except Kid Loki and Classic Loki since they are clearly different age ranges). If there is supposed to be one sacred timeline, it seems off to me that Lokis would be allowed to vary so extremely without it causing a nexus event(an alligator, whose nexus wasn't that he's an animal who obviously can't do any magic much less command Thanos' army, but that he ate someone's cat) and not just in appearance but in life path (ie boastful Loki collected all the infinity stones but it wasn't till he had 6 that he caused a nexus event even though him gaining control of the Soul, Power, and Time stones should've each caused nexus events since on the sacred timeline he never interacts with those 3 and taking any one of them would've fucked up a lot of other timeline parts)

I love the display of Lokis raw power, and 2012 Loki coming to the realization that he's way more powerful than he ever thought. And it wasn't just Classic Loki who spent thousands of years alone honing his skills, 2012 Loki reversed time on a goddamn falling building! I also liked the small magic, the fireworks, the tablecloth blanket, Loki yanking Sylvie away from HWR with just magic.

As someone who is both bisexual and genderfluid, I would've really loved more concrete representation. The comment about there never being another female Loki hit me in the gut; it undermined the Easter egg "Sex: Fluid" on Loki's TVA file. With how big a deal Sylvie being female was made out to be throughout the season, I expected her gender to play a key role in taking down the head of the TVA, like it was foretold that only a female Loki could end it all or some shit.

I don't mind the idea of Loki finding love in a straight passing relationship. I don't even mind the selfcest all that much. It just feels so obvious to me that Sylvie is written as not having any romantic inclination towards Loki, while Mobius is clearly written as falling in love with someone he shouldn't and trying to maintain an heir of professionalism to keep from wrecking his bond with Loki. I really really hope they come through on season 2 and give Lokius the canon relationship and proper representation they deserve.

Mmkay I thinks that's all the thoughts I've got right now. If you've been feeling cheated or clowned by how things went this season, maybe my perspective of things can help ease your pain.

[castielscrookedtrenchcoat]

CW’s Supernatural

At first glance, the CW's Supernatural may seem like any other dramatic paranormal show for teenagers, but it's so much more than that.

Not only has this show been around for over fifteen years, but it has also been a lifeline for so many struggling. Not only has the show gotten people through tough times, but the actors have as well.

The actors made a public announcement that the show's fifteenth season would be their last on the 29th of March, in the year 2019.

The video that was posted by the actors immediately got millions of views, accompanied by outrage from the Supernatural community, family, and fandom*.

While some fans attacked the actors, taking out their anger on people that didn't deserve it, others were in support of the rest of the family. That's what this is about. The Supernatural Family.

Due to running for fifteen years, Supernatural has an immense amount of plot points and character storylines, which are prone to being extremely complicated and somewhat confusing at times. The different degrees of fans is important to distinguish if one is looking for specific answers.

Some fans of the series consider themselves to be more than just passive fans. While the two may share some similarities, they couldn't be more different. Passive fans are likely to simply enjoy the show and casually talk about it with others, while 'aggressive' fans are prone to spend more time, money, and energy (both emotional and physical) based on the show and what goes on behind the scenes; whether it's because of the interest in the actors' personal lives, the making of the show, the character timelines, conspiracy theories, reading various forms of writings based on the show, or something else, the fandom is much more time consuming to aggressive fans rather than the passive ones.

Through all the confusion and ideas throughout the show, it's important to have different social media groups made of more engaged fans. These groups can help guide the fandom through the complex and intricate storylines.

As much as people enjoy the show, it's more than just a show in many people's eyes. There's confidence in saying that Supernatural characters have saved lives while their viewers were struggling with mental illnesses. Though nearly everyone agrees, even more people can say that about the actors themselves.

The main actors on the show are Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester), Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester), and Misha Collins (Castiel). Recently, there have been more characters that have remained constant on the show, and therefore more actors have joined the cast.

When somebody in the Supernatural Family is struggling, it's extremely common for them to look up to the actors and their actions for inspiration and motivation. Sharing some of those quotes may show how important these actors are to so many people of all ages.

A fellow Supernatural fan, Holly, decided to share some of their experience for this piece. "These actors have taught me to never give up. This show has let me look forward to things, and get me through the day like nothing else has before." As a fan, I can once again confirm that these actors have saved my life. These characters have saved my life. This show has saved my life. Holly goes on to say, "It's not just another show, they are not just characters." and even that cannot begin to explain the massive impact this community has had on each other.

There are so many different things that these men have contributed to society, and all of their additions to this world couldn't possibly be written down in the span of only a few short pages. It would do them a disservice.

Since all fans have different experiences with the show, the characters, and the actors, it's difficult to distinguish the little things that they do. Anybody can do a quick internet search and see the millions they've donated to financially struggling countries and families; those struggling with not having shelter and food; and many more. Financial issues aren't the only things that these men focus on.

Collins, Padalecki, and Ackles are three influencers who acknowledge that mental health needs to be focused on just as much, if not more, than physical health. They've teamed up to form multiple organizations acknowledging and helping those struggling with mental illnesses and potentially unsafe households.

The actors are part of the family and refuse to stay silent about it. They are very vocal towards those that look up to them, intent on making sure others know that they're still people and they experience difficulties with their mental illnesses as well.

Originally, the show that started on the 13th of September in 2005 was meant to end May 15th, 2020. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic prolonged the inevitable ending for over six months; the current end date now falls on November 19th, 2020.

Aside from the plot and characters, this show differs from others in so many ways. With the sentiment of the used props; the dedication of the cast; and the fifteen-year running time, this show is automatically set miles apart from any others. 

This show takes props and sets to another level. Instead of using the plastic blades that other shows tend to do, the CW uses real blades. This has resulted in the actors’ experiencing bruises, cuts, stabs, breaks, and sprains; however, there has never been a complaint or lawsuit filed. When the cast is actively avoiding being injured, they believe it makes it seem 'more realistic.’

Supernatural has been running for over fifteen years, currently making it the 12th longest-running show in US history. In the beginning, nobody knew that the show would be a hit, but the fans kept asking for more, eventually demanding it, and keeping it going for ten years longer than they'd originally planned.

Dedication is an extremely important trait in an actor, especially if you'll be playing a specific character for a long period of time. While many shows have actors that give it their all on screen, the men that took the characters and turned them into something beautiful have gone as far as getting real tattoos, spending millions of dollars for their characters or the show, and spent hundreds of hours going on tour and meeting fans.

This show has more than just a fanbase or a fandom. Over the course of fifteen years, this show has brought together so many and created a family through the episodes, the actors and their characters, and all of the work that goes into behind the scenes. 

They've gotten questions from fans, reporters, and even other crewmates, but one of them really rose above the others and struck an emotional chord with the audience. When asked, "what's the hardest part of playing your character on the show?" Ackles replied with tears brimming in his eyes and a small broken voice, saying something we could all relate to.

"Having to say goodbye."

'Glossary'

*Fandom

noun

the fans of a particular person, team, fictional series, etc. regarded collectively as a community or subculture. "Which fandoms are you part of? I'm in Sherlock and Doctor Who. Those are my favorite shows." "I'm in the Supernatural fandom and there's no turning back."

[jazy3]

MerHayes Interview Thoughts Part 1

Some thoughts I have on the comments that Krista Vernoff has been making in interviews lately about Meredith, Hayes, and DeLuca. First off, I try to not to read that stuff as it is often misleading, but I had a feeling people were going to ask me about it so I did. I'm glad to see Krista talking about how Meredith and Hayes are equals, how great their chemistry is, and that they are going to be exploring that next season. Makes my heart happy. Based on Krista's comments it's likely that Hayes will be upped to a main character next season which also makes me happy because he's great! I also love that Krista pretty much admitted that while she's still carrying a torch for Meredith and DeLuca because she's the one that put those two characters together they don't work on screen and everything they tried to make work didn't.

If you actually read the articles all of the comments about it being a love triangle or Meredith and DeLuca being a couple come from the interviewers or Krista responding to a direct question where those things are implied or outright stated. This is bad journalism in that it puts the person responding in a difficult position in that in order to be factually accurate they have to disagree with the interviewer or tell them they’re wrong and are forced to adapt their answer to what the interviewer clearly believes. I also noticed that in a couple of the interviews I read that the interviewers kept pushing Krista for a straight answer as to who Meredith ends up with and kept pushing her on points she’d already addressed.

Again, this is bad journalism as they’re asking for answers they know the other person can’t possibly give which puts them in an awkward position. Because let’s face it, if she gave a straight answer there would be no reason to watch next season because we’d already know what happens. Also, no one on the planet can give a straight answer about anything right now because the whole world is on lockdown due to the quarantine. At this point, they have no idea when they’ll be able to film again. No one does. All this to say that I think asking anyone for a straight answer about anything right now is kind of ridiculous and that includes questions about a season that hasn’t even been written yet.

That being said it looks like Krista did her best to answer the bizarrely worded questions she was asked so let’s take a closer look at what she actually said and not what the headlines or the interviewers implied or stated based on their own opinions and the need to generate shock value. If you look at what she actually said it gives me hope. For instance, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter she talks about how there are many pieces to making television. There's the conversation in the writers’ room, the script you write, and then there’s what the actors do with what they’ve been given to play. She talks about how the storylines that were written for Meredith, Hayes, and DeLuca evolved in a way that they didn’t expect, but that’s a good thing because they wound up way better than what they had originally envisioned because of the way the actors chose to play those roles.

She talks about how when they first envisioned the mental health storyline for DeLuca one of its early incarnations was that it would serve as a vehicle to improve his character and bring him and Meredith back together. That because, “DeLuca has been so heroic and so dynamic in his mental health storyline that, in a strange way, I expected that storyline would illuminate him as a love interest for Meredith and it ironically feels like it's done the opposite.” There are a few things I want to point out here. Notice how she says she thought the storyline would illuminate him as a love interest for Meredith? That implies that she no longer saw him as a love interest for her despite the fact that those characters were still together on the show when they decided on that storyline.

What Krista is saying here is that when they originally wrote the mental health storyline for DeLuca they expected the character to rise to the challenge and address his issues. They expected him to become this dynamic hero and that through this storyline he and Meredith would come together as this great medical team and find their way back to each other, but because of the way the actor chose to play the character that's not what happened and you can really see that on screen. We didn't see DeLuca rise this past season. We saw him fall spectacularly.

This storyline was supposed to bring Meredith and DeLuca closer together, but instead it pushed them farther apart. It was supposed to help resolve their issues, instead it only served to exacerbate them and emphasize why they don't work. It was meant to illuminate him as a suitable love interest, but instead it turned him into this cowering figure and in his place Hayes rose as the dynamic romantic lead that Meredith deserves. Krista goes onto say that it’s been amazing to watch the actor resonate with the storyline and that there’s a part of her that feels like if DeLuca got the right kind of treatment and worked on himself he could potentially become a human being with the kind of life experience that would help him rise to Meredith's level.

Personally, I don’t think that’s possible so my hope for Season 17 is that they’ll find a way to wrap up DeLuca’s storyline with regards to Meredith so that both characters can move on. Krista then talks about how in contrast the character of Hayes rose this season as a great new love interest for Meredith and how Hayes is a man that’s entered Meredith’s life unexpectedly, co-signed by Cristina, and how the audience has seen the pain he's survived and how, in so many ways, his life experience really mirrors Meredith's. Krista calls all of this a love triangle in response to the interviewer phrasing it that way, but what she goes on to describe isn’t really a triangle at all. What she’s basically saying here is that while she still ships Meredith and DeLuca together, she recognizes that they’re not working on screen. They had two seasons to make it work and they couldn't.

I’m really glad that they actors chose to go that way with their performances because to be honest the original incarnation of DeLuca’s storyline sounds dumb. Krista’s comments imply that the mental health storyline was supposed to make DeLuca into some kind of romantic hero and would somehow bring him and Meredith back together. This makes me sad because it implies that Krista Vernoff and the writers of Grey’s Anatomy don’t actually know anyone who suffers from Bipolar Disorder. I have family members that do and there is nothing romantic or heroic about it. It’s a disease. It sucks.

One of the worst parts as it’s been described to me is that so many of the medications you have to take for it make you flat to the point that you go from feeling everything, the highs and lows, to feeling nothing. You’re flat all the time. That’s not to say that people with Bipolar Disorder can’t live full and happy lives they can. But it’s challenging and the medications you have to take can create as many problems as they solve. I know everyone’s experience is different, but the notion that having a mental illness makes you some kind of hero or could possibly turn you into a romantic lead is just insulting to me. I’m really glad they didn’t go that route and that Giacomo Giannotti didn’t play the character that way. While I don’t like DeLuca as a character, I can’t deny that the actor did an amazing job with those scenes. He really sold just how sick DeLuca was and how badly he needs help.

It seems clear from the interview comments Krista has made and what we saw on screen this season that the storylines for Meredith, Hayes, and DeLuca went through several different incarnations and ended up in a different place than originally envisioned. Based on the information we have this appears to have occurred for two main reasons. The first was that the actors’ responded to and played their roles differently then expected and seeing how great that was the showrunners and writers leaned into that chemistry and those performances and ran with it. The second was the sudden and unexpected departure of Justin Chambers halfway through the season.

Chambers was originally expected to be there all season. It seems pretty clear based on what we did see that Alex was supposed to come back to Grey Sloan with the rest of the doctors and head up Peds again. And you can kinda see part of that in the storyline that did go to air. It appears that Alex was supposed to return to Grey Sloan and that he and Hayes were supposed to co-chief Peds together. This was well done from a writing standpoint in that it gave the writers lots of room to play, but also gave them an easy out if the actor they hired to play Hayes, Richard Flood, didn't work out. This was necessary for them to do because literally every single actor they’ve hired to play a love interest for Meredith since Derek died, and Patrick Dempsey left the show, has ultimately fallen through for one reason or another.

This has been touched on in various interviews given by the cast and crew over the last few years. Ever since Patrick left, they’ve been trying to find a new suitable love interest for Meredith that worked well on screen and that fans liked. Following Derek’s death, the cast and crew felt strongly that Meredith should be single for a while as losing your spouse and the father of your children is a devastating loss and should be dealt with tactfully. Ellen Pompeo has gone on record saying that she felt very strongly about this. Instead the Studio forced their hand and made them hire a new love interest.

Why? According to Ellen, the Studio thought the show wouldn’t survive without Patrick and so while she was on vacation in Sicily, trying to relax after the show wrapped for the season, they sent her pictures of men and called her up saying, “What do you think of this guy?" Over and over again. Classy right? Ellen was livid and rightly so. She couldn’t understand why the Studio was in such a rush to replace Patrick and immediately give Meredith a new love interest. The Studio believed that she couldn’t carry her own show so they forced them to bring in a new love interest for Meredith the next season.

Which is a big part of the reason why there’s an episode that encompasses an entire year. Because otherwise Meredith would have started dating right away before Derek was even cold in his grave because the Studio forced their hand. So, faced with a situation that no one was happy with they hired Scott Elrod to play William Thorpe and create a transition point for Meredith. They then hired Martin Henderson to play Nathan Riggs, who they knew and liked because he had worked on another Shonda Rhimes show Off the Map back in 2010. They did their best to make it work, but it was clearly way too soon for Meredith to be dating again and as much as I loved Meredith and Riggs together you can see the reluctance and the anger that Ellen felt in her performance.

As anyone else could have predicted fans were not happy about this either as it was way too soon. And eventually, the Studio got it and gave them the go ahead to end that storyline. And that’s why the write off is so sudden. As soon as they were given the go ahead they immediately wrote Riggs off to go be with Megan and Farouk in California. And Martin Henderson was fine with that because he told them from the beginning he didn’t want to be on the show long term which they were fine with because bringing him in was a temporary measure to pacify the Studio until they finally got it.

Following Patrick’s departure the ratings for the show actually went up and the show continued to thrive which eventually resulted in the Studio backing off with their ludicrous demands and allowed the showrunners and writers to regain creative control over Meredith’s love life. Following Henderson’s departure it was reported by TV Line that the show had cast a new love interest for Meredith to replace Riggs and that this new character would be a hot foreign doctor whose parent was also a famous surgeon. I remember reading about that at the time and being really excited for it. I loved Meredith and Riggs together and I was really sad and shocked to see him go. But then Season 14 came and went and this new love interest never materialized.

They did come close once when they cast Scott Speedman to play Nick Marsh and did a whole episode about Meredith opening herself up to love again and connecting with him. From what I’ve read the cast, crew, and Studio wanted him to be Meredith’s new love interest, but Speedman had just finished a several year run as Baz on the show Animal Kingdom and wanted to try something else before committing to another tv show.

It eventually came out during the summer break between seasons 15 and 16 that they had hired someone to play a new love interest for Season 14, but then the news got leaked to the press and spoiled the surprise. After that they were forced to scrap that storyline and what they had originally planned turned into the Marie Cerone storyline about Ellis Grey and the Grey Method. I loved that storyline, but I was heartbroken when I found out that the information getting leaked to the press was the reason we had to wait so long for Meredith to get a new love interest and why we wound up with the disaster that was Meredith and DeLuca. 

Having regained creative control over the storylines regarding Meredith’s love life they were finally able to do the storyline that they had originally planned in Season 15 with Meredith hiring a matchmaker and going on a bunch of blind dates. I expected based on what they set up with CeCe the matchmaker that Meredith’s new love interest would come from one of these blind dates. But then they started having both Link and DeLuca pursue Meredith. They spent a lot of time showing us what a great guy Link was and how he took the time to get to know Meredith and do nice things for her. In contrast they showed DeLuca to be a bumbling mess, who her friends couldn’t stand, who didn’t know Meredith at all, and was only interest in dating her not being a part of her life.

Which is why I, like a lot of fans, was so surprised when Meredith stood Link up and started dating DeLuca with no explanation given for either. Following that Amelia and Link got together and as I think many will agree they’re great together and are obviously a better fit. Prior to the conference episode Link and Amelia only had one small scene together that I can recall which makes me wonder if they shot a deleted scene together where their chemistry came through and the writers decided to put them together instead.

During Season 15 when Meredith had just started dating DeLuca, Ellen was interviewed at an awards party and was asked about her potential love interests. She said that Meredith had chosen DeLuca for now and that one of the challenges about having a show go this long is that it’s hard to find actors who are willing to be on a show that’s already so established long term. This makes it sound like they were in the process of hiring a substantial new love interest for Meredith for Season 15 and it fell through because the actor was offered a part on a new series or perhaps a movie role. With this context, the about change of face we saw in the second half of Season 15 starts to make sense. A few different scenarios are possible here.

One, they hired Chris Carmack to play Link with the intention of making him Meredith’s new love interest, but then realized he worked better with Amelia and then decided to put Meredith with DeLuca as they had already set that up. Two, they did all of that and then when they realized Amelia and Link worked better together, they decided to have Meredith date DeLuca to create a transition point, before introducing a new more permanent love interest only for the casting to fall through at the last minute.

We’ll probably never know what the real story is, but it seems clear that the only reason that Meredith and DeLuca wound up dating or being anything more than a hookup or a brief fling is casting for Meredith’s new permanent love interest fell through. You can tell that once they decided to go for it, they tried to give DeLuca more depth by giving him part of the backstory that they originally wrote for the love interest that was supposed to appear in Season 14.

As many other people have commented on, while Ellen and Giacomo are friends in real life it’s pretty clear that Ellen is not into the Meredith and DeLuca pairing and that really comes across on screen. They’re both good actors, but they come across as so wooden and stiff every time they’re on screen together in what is supposed to be a romantic way. From the fragments of interviews I did read from Season 15 and the break between seasons 15 and 16 when the showrunners brought the idea of bringing the two characters together to the actors were both really surprised and confused.

Ellen’s opinion on the pairing clearly hasn’t changed whereas Giacomo seems to have really gotten into it which is a shame considering that they have absolutely no chemistry and don’t work at all. When Season 15 wrapped Krista did a post-mortem interview which I read to try and understand the cluster eff that was the second half of that season and it only left me more confused. The show that got described in that article sounded nice, but it had absolutely no relation to the show that actually aired that season.

It appears based on this that during Season 15, the first season not to have Shonda Rhimes’ direct daily oversight as she moved on to other projects, the perception of the cast and crew as to what was working on screen and the reality was wildly off base. It’s also possible that they knew certain storylines weren’t working, but they hoped that if they talked them up enough and gave the fans more time to get used to them they would warm up to them. This might explain why they decided to keep pushing ahead with the storylines they had planned, rather than what actually worked on screen during the second half of the season.

As we saw that straight up didn’t work and it appears that they realized it too because in Season 16 they retconned, changed, and fixed all of the storylines that didn’t work from the previous season. In fact the only two major storylines that they kept were the pairings of Amelia and Link and Teddy and Tom because those were the only storylines out of that season that really worked. As I’ve said before I’m very glad that they did because this resulted in the introduction of Hayes as a character.

While I’m strongly of the belief that Meredith and DeLuca make no sense as a pairing and should never have happened, one of the silver linings of that storyline is that in enabled the show to finally hire a permanent love interest that worked. I noticed that during and after Season 14 every other article that came out about the show was about who Meredith’s new love interest would be. So, in a way it’s not surprising that information got leaked to the press because they absolutely hounded them about it.

After Meredith got with DeLuca the media attention subsided which allowed the show to hire an actor to play Meredith’s new love interest that actually worked and keep it a surprise. I remember when they announced that Hayes would be joining the cast. I remember being annoyed because I wanted Alex back at Grey Sloan and I saw a lot of people speculating that he was a new love interest for Maggie. This redirected attention allowed the show to hire a new actor to play a permanent suitable mature love interest for Meredith without the entire storyline getting spoiled.

Also, you’ll notice that in creating Hayes as a character they used the other part of the backstory they had crafted for the Season 14 love interest that had to scraped. I think these two storylines really showcase how the right casting and the right set up can make all the difference. As my Tumblr friend @onthetrailtohappiness once said DeLuca was never intended to be a love interest for the show’s main character. Suddenly forcing him into that role didn’t change that. The set up wasn’t there and shoehorning in a backstory for him that was taken from an abandoned character to magically give him something in common with Meredith after he’d been on the show for several years didn’t change that and it clearly didn’t work.

The character of Hayes on the other hand was clearly created to be a love interest for Meredith. You can tell from the way they gel on screen that they did a chemistry test with the actors and I’ve read that Ellen herself was part of the casting process. They took the unused backstory that they had and built it into his character from the beginning which is why Hayes works so well. That and the actor does a great job playing him and giving him a depth and a complexity that makes him really interesting and fun to watch. Part 2: https://jazy3.tumblr.com/post/620941935846293504/merhayes-interview-thoughts-part-2

[skamamoroma]

It’s such a shame with Druck’s focus this season.

If you’re going to bring something like the transgender experience into a show like this where each season is heavily character focused to the point of exclusion of all other viewpoints (to an extent), to me, there’s either two ways of doing things:

- focus entirely on that person (aka a David season): or

- bring the matter into the storyline in a way that facilitates the story of the main character too so that the issues can be played out fully

By that last one, I mean having the issue connected to the main character in a way that the issue you’re talking about can be explored even with this focused format to be given the respect and time it deserves as a topic to discuss.

That’s why with the original (not that I think the remakes should follow the originals closely, I love originality in the remakes) worked so beautifully because yes it introduced bipolar disorder as an element and brought mental illness into Isak’s story but we already knew mental illness was a topic Isak was affected by in some way before Even. By having the issue linked to Isak, we got to explore issues surrounding mental illness in a much more detailed way for example to impact of a parent who struggles with mental health, microaggressions and speech when talking about mental illness... once we got to know Even, he made that issue much more real. We saw his struggle, his behaviours, his highs and lows and we experienced that alongside Isak all the way through to the finale when Isak learned about mental illness himself, learned compassion with it and how to support someone etc. Yes, we could have had a very focused season for Even but regardless, the topic of mental illness was never Isak’s issue but it absolutely impacted his life and his story and his growth and all the while giving Even plenty of focus and respect and growth too... and the audience was educated and filled with affection for both characters.

What Druck is doing is admirable and wonderful to bring transgender issues into a show aimed at young people. That’s can only ever be an amazing thing. I am a cis female so I wouldn’t dream of speaking for those who share the experience and I know many many people have felt supported and represented by David. That’s a damn special thing. But I’ve felt a little confused and cringey at times with the approach Druck has taken because David has been absent for this entire story it seems.

When he WAS present, yes the love story element was so lovely, but for most of the time we were gifted that without any focus on the transgender story which is excellent as why should a sweet character like David be reduced to being a vessel for an empty PSA butttttttt the fact that the second we learn of David’s truth and he’s able to be open... he disappears from screen. I mean, narratively it makes sense because he’s clearly massively impacted by what happened but it has reduced his story to be being told by all of the other characters who have zero idea, much like me, how it feels to be David and to have his experiences. Also the focus appears to be on everything but David’s character. The chats and quite a few of the comments in clips (outside of Matteo) have been pretty on the nose and topic based and forgetting that there’s a real human behind the “issue”. Without David there to experience things with him and without this issue being tied to Matteo in a way to assist that even if David is missing then it just becomes a little empty and it’s such a shame. I mean, I cringed like mad at the social media more than once this last week and a bit.

I absolutely understand that perhaps this storyline was created to educate cis folks which isn’t a terrible thing butttttt I can’t understand why they aren’t giving trans folks a character present on screen for THEM and not as a bit of a pawn for education. He’s too cool and sweet and interesting a character to have him absent and to have his experiences aired and discussed by others. With Even and Nico and Eliott so far we have had their experiences tied closely to their Isak, we have seen an element of their struggle but only once we grew to know them as beautiful well rounded interesting people, we got to watch a character grow in knowledge and compassion for mental illness and we were able to do all of that without once losing focus on the Isak and without it ever feeling like a lesson or a lecture.

David is such an important character and one that means a lot to people but I can’t help feeling disappointed that the show chose to incorporate him in the way they have. He’s missing from the narrative and transgender issues are something nobody in the show has any connection to so the story of the transgender experience can’t really be furthered while he’s not around so what we have is a transgender teen hiding and his life being discussed by people who don’t understand, and not even in an obvious enough way to be a lesson to other cis folks in how to approach this kind of thing. Aka what not to do which they have touched upon but not really in any obvious way!

This is just me, though. I’m no doubt in the minority but I hope that when David returns, there can be the focus required. Regardless, the fact that none of this was tied to Matteo and really didn’t massively further his story (other than him perhaps learning more about the LGBT+ community etc and to be supportive)... the show dropped the ball in mental illness with his hugely prevalent in Matteo’s life (both with his mum and the show have shown in every way possible that Matteo himself struggles) and it is a massive shame that the important transgender experience as a teen has been included in this way. It’s wonderful that it’s included and I hope so many people have got something positive from it but it absolutely could have been more, for both transgender folks watching and for Matteo’s story.

[myhahnestopinion]

THE AARONS 2018 - Best TV Show

I stated last year that 2017 was the year Peak TV broke me, with too many shows spread across too many services, with many more on their way. 2018 was the year I learned to let go of the fact that I will never be able to watch every show, and to just be content with all the great shows I was able to catch. Here are the Aarons for Best TV Show:

#10. Barry (Season 1) – HBO

A simple premise that could initially be dismissed as prestige TV’s over-fascination with anti-heroes mixed with Hollywood’s over-fascination with itself, Bill Hader’s dark-comedy about a hitman who moves to LA to pursue an acting career quickly develops into a complex examination of post-war PTSD, a deconstruction of television tropes, and, simultaneously, just one of the funniest shows of the year. With veteran comedic talent like Henry Winkler and surprising break-outs like Anthony Carrigan to bolster a firing-on-all-cylinders Bill Hader as the titular character, Barry says “Yes, and…” to every opportunity to mix its hilarity with harrowing content to pitch-perfect results. While the premise, which feels dangerously close to slipping into Dexter territory by season’s end, may end up unsustainable at this level of quality, for now, Barry is a sure-fire hit, man.

#9. Dear White People (Season 2) – Netflix

More than weathering the backlash to its misnomer title, as well as the political climate that feeds into that backlash, Dear White People channels all that rage, frustration, misunderstanding, and fear into an oft-livid, oft-cathartic, and always witty season of television. Funny while never losing its firm focus, the most amusing aspect of Dear White People is perhaps the absolute joke it makes of the idea “diversity of thought” is mutually exclusive from “diversity of people” through the deft writing of its exceptional ensemble cast, who take turns shining in episodes that range from a groovy neo-noir mystery to an emotionally-eruptive bottle episode, culminating in an intriguing cliffhanger that suggests Dear White People has plenty left to address.

#8. Daredevil (Season 3) – Netflix

Just as Wilson Fisk clawed his way back up to being the King of Crime throughout the third season of the superhero drama, Daredevil clawed its way back up to the King of the Marvel-Netflix collaborations (and back onto this list following its nod all the way back in the 2015 Aarons) with a storyline based on the acclaimed “Born Again” comic-book run. While the show continues to have significant failings (including, most egregiously, the literal fridging of a female character in this latest batch of episodes), it’s easy for viewers to become blinded to them thanks to the chemistry of its main trio of friends, its renewed fixation on weighty thematic content, and, of course, its impressive fight sequences, including most notably the now-requisite one-take fight sequence that takes the form of an expansive prison riot this go-round. While the series has now been cancelled, solace can at least be found in the fact the show underwent such a creative rebirth before its untimely demise.

#7. American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (Season 2) – FX

Ryan Murphy’s anthology series may have been working with less well-known true-crime material in its second outing, but the resulting exploration of the sinister systemic forces that influence such shocking stories is no less resonant. True-crime has several difficult hurdles to clear to not feel like cheap exploitation, and American Crime Story strikes the right balance to its appropriately disturbing portrayal of the heinous acts by framing them through the devastating impact they have, not only on the direct victims, but on the whole of a society more concerned with reinforcing homophobic power structures than with the pain and horror such structures produce. The season’s reverse-chronological structure not only makes for compelling storytelling, but seems perfectly suited for the way in which the series traces the sins of America’s modern day to the crimes of its past, creating impactful television.

#6. Supergirl (Season 3b-4a) – CW

Supergirl’s continually-increasing confidence and complexity has sent the series soaring to new heights with its pointed fourth season, which distills its obvious real-world political influences into an effectively universal rumination on the insidious nature of bigotry, the trials of public perceptions, and the necessity of hope. It remains to be seen whether Supergirl can stick the landing with its lofty ambitions, which deserve appreciation regardless, but grounding its dynamic superhero storytelling in the inspirational performance of lead Melissa Benoist, as well as a further push for inclusivity with the introduction of television’s first transgender superhero Dreamer, makes for television that is quite super, girl.

Hey, it’s my awards show. Let me pun.

#5. Better Call Saul (Season 4) – AMC

Better Call Saul’s fourth season appeared to reach a breaking point in regard to its overlap in cast, stories, and timeline with its parent show, it’s an aspect that could be read as a significant flaw or as the greatest strength of a great season. It’s easy to lament the loss of the quirky lawyer comedy the show was in its earlier episodes, but this mourning is perhaps reflective of the soul-wrenching moral descent of Jimmy McGill, spiraling harder and faster in wake of last season’s tragic ending. It’s painful in all the right ways watching the excellent cast lead their characters to fates both known and unknown, making for a momentous (and still endearingly offbeat) season of television that recalls the finest moments of Breaking Bad, but just might be arguably better.

#4. BoJack Horseman (Season 5) – Netflix

In a series renowned for its gut-punches, the underlying message of BoJack Horseman’s fifth season might be the most difficult to grapple with: No amount of regret, good intentions, or tragic backstories excuses BoJack or entitles him to a happy ending. But that’s no reason not to continue to seek healing. Netflix’s animated adventures of anthropomorphic animals continues to be one of the most important and affecting examinations of toxic relationships, mental illness, and the cycles of abuse in art. The fifth season’s added meta-narrative allows the show to deconstruct the uncomfortability of its own representations, and the toxicity in its own fanbase. At a time when questions of abuse and reconciliation not just in Hollywood, but everywhere, rage in our cultural consciousness, BoJack Horseman provides a powerful way to grapple with these issues… and make them digestible through its quick-witted wordplay, visual gags, and general horsing around, as always. 

#3. Legends of Tomorrow (Season 3b-4a) – CW

If you were to travel back in time to just a few years ago, it would feel unbelievable how big the CW’s interconnected superhero universe has become... and that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow would lead the pack in quality. However, the once middling show really went the extra mile in spicing things up. Sending a talking, telepathic gorilla back in time to kidnap a young Barrack Obama? Combining elemental energies to form an enlarged Tickle-Me-Elmo rip-off named Beebo to take down a Time Demon? Having your Time Demon played by classical actor John Noble, and then having an episode in which the characters travel back in time to the set of the Lord of the Rings movies to record the voice of John Noble, playing Denathor, playing himself in order to trick a character into believing that John Noble’s John Noble voice is in fact the voice of John Noble’s Time Demon character?? It’s hard to believe that these episodes exist in any show, let alone all of them (and so much more) in one. This zany energy, accentuated by a game cast and an embrace of its misfit nature, reflected in the character’s diversity in both backgrounds and powers, have allowed the show to finally rightfully claim the title of legendary. 

#2. Atlanta (Season 2) – FX

Much like the last entry on this list, it’s impossible to know what to expect when one sits down to watch the latest episode of Donald Glover’s uncanny comedy Atlanta, which, when it first appeared on this list two years ago, was aptly described as like a never-ending Christmas. Whether banding together its group of rising comedic talent (including Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lakeith Stanfield) or spinning them off into their own madcap adventures, Atlanta continued to surprise and stupefy in style in its sophomore outing. Once again weaving insightful socio-economic commentary into sitcom premises cranked up to ten and funneled through an idiosyncratic vision, Atlanta’s quality remained as lush and bold as evergreen lantana.

That one’s not really a pun, but, again, this is my awards show, so no one can stop me.

AND THE BEST TV SHOW OF 2018 IS...

#1. The Good Place (Season 3) – NBC

When The Good Place began, it was met with a caution concerning its long term sustainability, but in its now third season, the show’s penchant for blowing up its own premise at every opportunity can be clearly seen as the confident strokes of a long-gestating story. Even within its absurd afterlife of bizarre predilections and oddball characters, the show never loses sight of its stirring humanistic core, which found new resonance in an inspirational third season premise that provides hope and happiness in the seemingly most dire of circumstances. While, as of this writing, it remains to be seen in what ways the show might again radically alter its make-up heading into the confirmed fourth season, but, based on the bonzer quality of the entire show thus far, it might be time to start considering that we’ve all been in the Good Place this whole time.

NEXT UP: THE 2018 AARONS FOR BEST TV EPISODE!