On Liking One Character
Monday, February 6th, 2012 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retsukoIn one of my more first world problems lately, I've found myself in a somewhat awkward position in regards to several of the TV shows I follow: I only like one of the characters on it, and this person isn't the main character. So time spent watching these shows is an exercise in patience, a patience which I don't have much of.
In the case of The Office (the U.S. version), I suspect it's largely due to the slow death of the show as a whole. But it still saddens me to think I find myself annoyed by each and every character, except one. This is an ensemble show, with a talented cast; you would think the writers would have at least one other likable character. Especially since Daryl (the character I like) is one of the few left with an open-ended story line: will he get his act together and ask out the cute woman from the warehouse? Will he decide that he wants to move up in the company? Will he come to his senses and realize he's one of the few smart, down-to-earth people in the office and would be much better served in another job somewhere else? Whatever happens, it's going to make for great comedy and Craig Robinson is such a talented, fun actor that I'm happy to watch. The problem is, when is it his turn? The writers seem fixated on other, lesser concerns, and most of them haven't paid off narratively this season at all. (Jim has gone from being a reasonably funny, somewhat smug Everyman to a sad, more smug EveryJerk, and the plotline with Erin and Andy just hangs on the season like an albatross.) I can only hope that either some other characters become likable again, or that the writers realize that focusing on different characters would make for better episodes.
In the case of Dexter, though, this annoyance is more due to my loss of patience with the serial killer drama genre as a whole. I'm just catching up with Season 5 on Netflix, and it's very, very patchy. On one hand, we have Debra at her awesome, funniest, most vulnerable best. Watching her progression through the series has been a profound pleasure, and seeing her this season makes me wish there was just a show about her, without all the serial killer drama. Because the serial killer drama in Season 5 is... awkward at best, and downright disgusting at worst. Dexter still is a largely sympathetic personality, but his actions this season don't fit his character at all, and the wild consequences of them have been profoundly strange. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop--there are too many loose ends for the season to end well, for any of the characters. Of course, I don't expect that there's going to be a tidy happy ending all around, but in this case, my suspicions of what's going to happen are keeping me from enjoying the season as a whole. It's like watching someone prepare to do some prank or trick that's going to fail spectacularly, and the person just won't listen to common sense. ("It's gonna be great!" "No, not exactly, are you sure--" "No, seriously, it's gonna rock! Watch this--AUGH!") This used to be the one serial killer/police procedural I could reliably watch without feeling this way; now it's moving into a darker, less entertaining territory. If only the writers could take their expertise with Debra and apply it to the series as a whole. I don't want to be watching for just one character, because that's not going to bring much fulfillment.
In the case of The Office (the U.S. version), I suspect it's largely due to the slow death of the show as a whole. But it still saddens me to think I find myself annoyed by each and every character, except one. This is an ensemble show, with a talented cast; you would think the writers would have at least one other likable character. Especially since Daryl (the character I like) is one of the few left with an open-ended story line: will he get his act together and ask out the cute woman from the warehouse? Will he decide that he wants to move up in the company? Will he come to his senses and realize he's one of the few smart, down-to-earth people in the office and would be much better served in another job somewhere else? Whatever happens, it's going to make for great comedy and Craig Robinson is such a talented, fun actor that I'm happy to watch. The problem is, when is it his turn? The writers seem fixated on other, lesser concerns, and most of them haven't paid off narratively this season at all. (Jim has gone from being a reasonably funny, somewhat smug Everyman to a sad, more smug EveryJerk, and the plotline with Erin and Andy just hangs on the season like an albatross.) I can only hope that either some other characters become likable again, or that the writers realize that focusing on different characters would make for better episodes.
In the case of Dexter, though, this annoyance is more due to my loss of patience with the serial killer drama genre as a whole. I'm just catching up with Season 5 on Netflix, and it's very, very patchy. On one hand, we have Debra at her awesome, funniest, most vulnerable best. Watching her progression through the series has been a profound pleasure, and seeing her this season makes me wish there was just a show about her, without all the serial killer drama. Because the serial killer drama in Season 5 is... awkward at best, and downright disgusting at worst. Dexter still is a largely sympathetic personality, but his actions this season don't fit his character at all, and the wild consequences of them have been profoundly strange. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop--there are too many loose ends for the season to end well, for any of the characters. Of course, I don't expect that there's going to be a tidy happy ending all around, but in this case, my suspicions of what's going to happen are keeping me from enjoying the season as a whole. It's like watching someone prepare to do some prank or trick that's going to fail spectacularly, and the person just won't listen to common sense. ("It's gonna be great!" "No, not exactly, are you sure--" "No, seriously, it's gonna rock! Watch this--AUGH!") This used to be the one serial killer/police procedural I could reliably watch without feeling this way; now it's moving into a darker, less entertaining territory. If only the writers could take their expertise with Debra and apply it to the series as a whole. I don't want to be watching for just one character, because that's not going to bring much fulfillment.
