| | Criminal Minds - Too Much Character Development?I accidentally erased my House fandom rant. Good thing? Or bad since it broke up the constant Criminal Minds posts? But, that's another issue.
The issue is someone says that there's too much character development on the show. Their definition seems to be basically anything that can tie into a particular character. Like if a case bothers a character, that's too much development. Even worse if it's something that carries over for more than an episode. Like Hotch's divorce or Reid's drug issue. She describes them as "must see" episodes, and that's not a promotion of them. Because she says if there are too many must see episodes, people will miss them and get confused, so they should spread them out.
Obviously, I object. First, to some of the episodes she defines as must see, by her definition. She says if someone missed In Birth and Death they wouldn't know Hotch transfered and Prentiss resigned. She's right. Except, ultimately, not knowing those things wouldn't effect someone's understanding of the show. Because both the transfer and the resignation lasted all of one episode and wrapped up the season 2 cliffhanger. Someone watching the show for the first time after that episode would not need to know that two agents were briefly off the team to know what's going on now. And, those people who do want to know could easily be filled in and watch the episode on a later date. Hotch's divorce? Lets say you miss the episode where he gets served the papers. Setting aside that you'll have missed one of the most powerful moments of the show, it's still not something that will cause a viewer so much confusion they can't keep up. If they see the episode where Hotch tells Reid that Haley wants him to sign the divorce papers uncontested, it's a no brainer that she filed for divorce before that episode. You might ask, "when did she file for divorce?" Or, "when did they separate" and it wouldn't take a viewer who's seen those episodes any trouble to explain (unless you're really dense). About Face? She says if you miss that, you won't know about Rossi's unfinished (not anymore!) case or why he came back. Uh, no. Now, if you miss About Face, Identity, Birthright and Damaged you might not know about it. But, they certainly kept harping on it enough that the odds that you would be in the dark if you missed one episode are pretty nonexistent.
But, that brings up another point. Should the show write for the viewers who aren't watching and either give the characters no lives or development so someone can miss five or ten episodes in a row and it doesn't matter because they haven't missed anything that might call back to a previous episode or space any character development so far apart (like only a couple of episodes a season) that a person still could still miss a bunch of episodes and still be able to keep up with the characters because they only have to see two episodes the whole season? Or, should the show write for the viewers who are watching? Who, more than likely aren't going to miss any of the "must see" episodes and who don't want to have arcs stagnate or drag out at a snails pace just so that some other viewers won't ever have to be behind? I say, you write for who's watching, not for who might not be. Those who can't see every episode can easily catch up through the internet, friends who watch the show regularly, and dvds.
Ed Bernero (showrunner) also said something that makes sense. He said they have a case in each episode that you can follow without having to know anything about the characters or their lives. Even Elephant's Memory, if all you care about is the case, you won't be all that concerned with why Reid is being a brat (which they explain quite thoroughly in the episode anyway, so if you did care, you'd find out) or how he came to have a problem with Dilaudid. He also said he puts in stuff for the viewers who are invested in the characters and want to know more. And, those viewers will almost inevitably have seen Revelations and Third Life (both episodes that factored into Reid's story in Elephant's Memory) or, if they missed an episode, they would care enough to be caught up in the immediate drama, even if they didn't know all the details of the set up and then would simply take the time to find out what they missed. So, it seems that both sets get what they want. And, yeah, season 3 (and 2) has deeper character stories and some that stretch out over episodes but all the cases could still stand on their own. Even Rossi's stupid case. He gave the team a recap in Damaged, so if that's the first episode, you'd know what the case was (and even that it's 20 years old) .
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| | Posted 4/30/2008 4:32 AM - 0 comments
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