Why do TV Shows Always Break our Hearts?
It's funny, I wrote the title to this article about two weeks ago and then decided to put it on the back burner. However, NOW with the recent demise of McDreamy- I think it's time we take a stand and tell writers how we really fucking feel.
Stop stressing us the fuck out!
I first started thinking about this while I was catching up and binge watching Scandal. (Yeah, sorry. I just now started watching it....go ahead let me have it....) I was getting so upset!! We love the President. We love Fitz! We understand the history between him and Olivia. We get it. We want them to be together. Why can't you let them be together for five fucking minutes!! Why must I go to bed sad everynight?
Then I started thinking, this happens all of the time! Either the show gets super dramatic and every week someone either dies or gets cancer- OR - they play with our heart strings like we are marionette dolls, HELLO? We have feelings too you know.
Let's go back. Remember Gilmore Girls? Luke and Lorelei. What the F was that? After a few seasons of will they, won't they? They finally get together! -for about 2 seconds. Then Luke leaves for six weeks to help his sister out. SIX WEEKS. Then when he gets back- I think they are happy for a total of eight minutes before the writers bring Christopher back into the picture. Then it was back and forth between Christopher and Luke for the remaining seasons. Besides the fact that it upsets the audience, do the writers ever think about how this takes away from the character? All of the stupid mistakes that Lorelei would make, it made her come off as weak, and self centered- when at first we thought she was strong, independent and we respected her.
So, this brings me to last night when I read a tweet from Michael Weatherly asking what we thought of how Grey's Anatomy handled Patrick Dempsey's departure. One fan tweeted him back attaching a facebook post that pretty much summed it up. (You can read the full post from Ashley Reynolds here.) The end of her post states, "And for the love of God, why couldn't Shonda give us ONE happy ending?? Send him off to DC for a year if you have to but atleast leave it to where the show can wrap up with Meredith being happy for f's sake. (disappointed face)" A lot of people were talking about Meredith's reaction to her husband's death and how stone faced she was. There was almost no emotion- except for when she puked in the bushes- but that was really it. She also didn't have her kids in the room to say goodbye to their father when they pulled the plug. It seemed so cold- like who cares if you have been on this show for 11 years- see ya!
Do you remember when the show first came out? How fun it used to be? There was drama but it wasn't so intense, The show was smart, quick witted and fun. Somewhere it took a turn and I honesty haven't been able to watch it in a really long time. I just so happened to catch last week's episode. Remember those times?! Remember when you watched a show because you had a long stressful day and you needed to unwind. When a TV show was entertainment and it made you feel good?
Now I'm not talking about shows on HBO or Showtime- those are series and they are like mini movies every week and if you want to get stressed out and cry- well then you have to pay money for that. I'm talking about your basic cable- your CBS, NBC and ABC- your free channels. The channels for everyone. When Thursday night was the funny night, the night of comedy- MUST SEE TV. Now it's, oh, hi sorry, did you want everything to be ok and everyone to live happily ever after? Well, no, that's not good for ratings so... oh, does that upset you? That's ok because you are still going to watch anyway. That brings me to another point. Why do we still watch? What is wrong with us? I think we watch because we are hopeful- hope. Isn't that why you voted for Obama? Well, hope isnt everything folks. (Sorry)
Okay, I'm going to circle back and end on a positive note. Now, don't you think I missed the fact that it was Michael Weatherly who brought up the McDreamy departure to his fans. What is he trying to say? Is he testing the waters? Is he thinking of leaving NCIS and wondering if all hell would break lose if they killed off Tony? Nah...I mean, right? He wouldn't do that to us, RIGHT?!! Let's stop the elevator and talk about this for a minute.
There is a reason why NCIS is the most popular show on TV. They respect their audience. We know the characters inside and out. We know what Gibbs is going to say before he even says it. This doesn't mean that the story line is predictable. It means that the writers have put in the time to develop the characters so well, they are so flushed out- that they actually seem human. We can relate and that's what we love. It creates a connection and a trust. To kill a main character off in such cold way- that would be breaking the trust. NCIS could have done it. They could have done it with Ziva but they didn't. They played it smart. They also played the relationship between Tony and Ziva smart. They haven't broken our heart yet. Well, they have toyed with it, can somebody say Mike Franks ?! Ugh, that one stung. But being the Director of NCIS, or one of Gibb's ex wives or even Gibb's best friend- doesn't make you immortal. Just as long as the top five live forever- we will be happy. Sorry Kate- you weren't on that long anyway.....
