Can't wait for season 3 but....
I sure hope it's better than season 2 because the whole depression story line sucked!!! It brought down the whole tone of the show. They almost lost me.
shareMe too. The depression story was so dry. The could have tweaked the story by simply putting her in the hospital for attempt of suicide or overdose. Maybe down played it but still kept it at least moving.
shareThe depression story-line was brutally emotionally honest. A suicide attempt or overdose would have been too cliche and over the top.
shareThe problem is, it went from "You're the worst - without any excuses and without any hesitation or reason" to "You're really not that bad because we've seen that Jimmy's family are trash and Gretchen has depression and blah, blah, blah."
It was much more entertaining when every time the looked like they were going to do something decent for someone, they were still true to themselves and we saw them be "the worst."
I guess we have a fundamental disagreement on what good tv is then. Season one was good. But if they kept the show exactly the same and the characters never had layers revealed, never had reason for their actions explained and never had growth then it would be boring and redundant. To me, tv is at its best when it evolves or reveals character. You don't get to be "the worst" without reasons unless you're a character with no character.
shareOn the other hand, you've not gotten explanations as to why they are the worst and now we feel sorry for them. So, awww, they aren't REALLY that bad now, are they?
That is the usual TV sitcom cr*p. Mimi acts horrible to Drew until the 3rd act when Mimi explains that she's jealous of him because she never got invited to the "cool kid parties." So, Drew is nice to her, the end. Next week - Mimi acts horrible to Drew....
Because they put in all of the background stories as to why they are all horrible people, they lessen the "shock value" of them acting like horrible people. Now it will be, "Wait, last week they were nice to each other, but this week they hate each other again?"
They will either have to address it or act like it didn't happen. Either way, it will lessen the show.
In your first paragraph you say we haven't gotten explanations, we just feel sorry for them. In your third you say we did get explanations in the background and that it "lessens the shock value" so which is it?
And to address "lessening the shock value when they act like horrible people"...
If they acted horribly every episode with no explanation it would not be shocking at all unless you're an absolute idiot. The only reason their bad actions would ever have shock value is if they are humanized. Otherwise it's just like "oh, Jimmy was a dick to Edgar again with no backing explanation or forward growth, didn't see that one coming AGAIN."
The show is a dramady character dissection into two people who seem like the worst on the surface, and are pretty bad, but not without reason. If you want to watch a shallow show with no character development, growth, or reasoning then just stick with Always Sunny for 30 mins of laughs but no substance.
In your first paragraph you say we haven't gotten explanations,
I was referring to the first season of how they were without any excuses, but now we have an understanding as to why they are like they are.
If they acted horribly every episode with no explanation it would not be shocking at all unless you're an absolute idiot
No, only a child-molesting meth addict would think that. (See how it works when you start throwing out insults because you disagree with someone?)
The first season was all about how every time they were in a spot where someone might get some sympathy, the rest of them sh!t on them. They didn't make excuses. These aren't good people (other than Edgar) and they don't care.
They even continued on with it this year in some spots, like when Edgar was confessing it had been a few years since he had sex. Instead of reassuring him that it will be fine, they ridiculed him.
The show is a dramady character dissection into two people who seem like the worst on the surface, and are pretty bad, but not without reason.
It was in the first season, and it was why the first season was much better.
If you want to watch a shallow show with no character development, growth, or reasoning then just stick with Always Sunny
I've never seen it. It seems like a typical TV show. This show seemed to be more "realistic" inasmuch as it was absurdities.
Now it has fallen into the same tripe as other shows. Give background as to why people are like that so we sympathize with them, but then they have to be consistent or it becomes stupid. You can't keep having them have breakthroughs and come to understandings and yet continue to do horrible things to each other. share
I was referring to the first season of how they were without any excuses, but now we have an understanding as to why they are like they are.
I still fail to see how this is a criticism. Unclear character motivation is a cardinal sin in writing. Knowing some backstory is good, but it doesn't excuse their actions, just helps us understand them. Like, we know a little about why they are like they are, but those reasons don't excuse all of their behavior or anything. You can't treat someone like that, say "i have depression/a sh!t family" and then magically everything is okay.
The first season was all about how every time they were in a spot where someone might get some sympathy, the rest of them sh!t on them. They didn't make excuses.
I'm saying that would get boring if it continued season after season without change. The show you're describing would mostly have jokes structured as:
SETUP: someone says something that would normally gather sympathy.
PUNCHLINE: Jimmy/Gretchen sh!t all over them.
If the show did that 1000+ times and you were shocked by it every time... meaning you failed to pick up on that pattern... well...
The only way that set up works is with something like Always Sunny. Like you said, that's a typical TV show. Having a combination of breakthroughs and backslides is more realistic, emotionally engaging, and saves shock value. People don't have their bad behavior pointed out to them and change overnight. It's constant work to break bad habits and sometimes your motivation wanes.
It's a compromise that every show has to make. Keep it the same and there is no shock or character development, just comfortable patterns. Develop your characters and you have to figure a way to change things while keeping the core identity of the show. share
I'm saying that would get boring if it continued season after season without change.
Was the first season boring? No.
Was the second season? No, but it was bothersome that they had to include all of the huge background cr*p.
It's constant work to break bad habits and sometimes your motivation wanes.
But that's just it. The characters with the "bad habits" didn't care that they were awful people. They just were the way they were. It was nice that they didn't have the "emotional break through" and then sit there on the steps looking out into the night like puppy dogs.
Develop your characters and you have to figure a way to change things while keeping the core identity of the show.
Which they didn't. Now it is, "We'll, you're not the best but I understand what you are going through so I guess you aren't the worst either."
share
...yeah, that's not how boring works. one season of that formula is funny. three is tiresome. more than that and I quit. because seeing the same formula season after season gets boring. it's bred by repetition.
in the rest of this you are conflating "core identity" with "title." the title is "You're the Worst" but the core identity is about two self-destructive people trying to make a relationship work. relationships are all about evolving as people together. If Jimmy and Gretchen are going to get what they want (each other) then they have to make compromises, which neither had to do before. so them being in a relationship and fulfilling the core identity of the show requires that they change for each other to make the relationship work. if they're making compromises and eroding who they were before then they are going to change going forward outside of the relationship as well.
or we could just rehash season 1 over and over and over.
more than that and I quit.
Whoop-de-fu*king do???
share
Well it looks like the show is going with evolution over boring repitition and stagnation thankfully. If you don't like that and would rather see the same season 8 times in a row then...
Well, you've said the rest yourself.
There is a difference between staying true to the characters and falling into typical TV sitcom trope where there are breakthroughs followed by those characters reverting back to how they were, followed by breakthroughs....
shareTypical TV shows (TBBT, Friends, Always Sunny) aren't always bad, but usually don't consist of breakthroughs period. Those shows just stay constant, like how you want this show to be, and they do end up not reaching their potential because of it.
In this show the characters don't revert back to how they were. In the pilot, Jimmy and Gretchen don't believe in relationships, then they end up in one. Evolution. Jimmy and Gretchen are afraid of domestic life so they party a lot at the beginning of the season, then later Gretchen fantasizes about being the cool couple who lives on their street. Evolution. They hate it when couples "check in" but then fall into that practice. Evolution.
This is basic character development and they aren't backsliding on it. In the "little writing" they can still act horribly because they aren't developing consciously. But in the "big writing" their actions indicate that development and that's what makes them and the show great. Not the would-be repetitive structure of "oh, that person deserves sympathy but in this scene Jimmy/Gretchen were mean to him. Hahaha, this isn't old after 5 seasons"