And honestly, everything else aside, I think this is the real answer. This is not meant as a knock against Jewel Staite, Keller's character, or even the writers. This is the way Hollywood works. This is the way it would work even if she were the quirkiest, most well-defined character in the history of television.
This is true. Frustrating, but true. Sigh!
Still, I think they could've handled it/her better. Jewel's a great actor, she deserves a good part! The writers are incredibly lazy with her - they're relying on us to make her a likable character. They're relying on us to smooth over the discrepancies in her character and fill in the gaps in her motivations - they're counting on us to provide that fanon background that you mentioned (because yes, as far as I can tell, most of the Keller fans have a story for her that's largely unsupported by the canon, but hasn't been specifically denied, either, so they can maintain it.)
...Which is where I feel a bit hypocritical, because if I liked the character I'd be tempted to just play along, help make up fanon. I can think of motivations to ascribe to her, we just haven't been given any. But the whole McKeller thing, and the triangle thing, and the getting-more-Keller-instead-of-more-Team, makes me cranky enough that I don't want to play along. Phooey! XP
Honestly, as much as I love Brad Wright as a writer, I'm not sure he took into account, because of the situation and issues the episode deals with, how utterly unromantic and wrong that final scene can be read as.
Actually, read unromantically, I kind of find the last scene fascinating - seriously, in Jennifer's place, I'd be wigged out more than touched, by a guy I've casually dated telling me he loves me when he's brain damaged. (you might also want to check out this essay on it, because it basically proves that whatever Wright intended, what he actually wrote is the McSheppiest scene in the whole show...)
I count "The Shrine" as a Keller episode - it's primarily a Rodney episode, but Keller is definitely the second major character; she's in most of the scenes, and the episode begins and ends with her. I think she's probably got more screentime in "The Shrine" than in "The Seed", even though the other characters spend more time talking about her in "The Seed."
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This is true. Frustrating, but true. Sigh!
Still, I think they could've handled it/her better. Jewel's a great actor, she deserves a good part! The writers are incredibly lazy with her - they're relying on us to make her a likable character. They're relying on us to smooth over the discrepancies in her character and fill in the gaps in her motivations - they're counting on us to provide that fanon background that you mentioned (because yes, as far as I can tell, most of the Keller fans have a story for her that's largely unsupported by the canon, but hasn't been specifically denied, either, so they can maintain it.)
...Which is where I feel a bit hypocritical, because if I liked the character I'd be tempted to just play along, help make up fanon. I can think of motivations to ascribe to her, we just haven't been given any. But the whole McKeller thing, and the triangle thing, and the getting-more-Keller-instead-of-more-Team, makes me cranky enough that I don't want to play along. Phooey! XP
Honestly, as much as I love Brad Wright as a writer, I'm not sure he took into account, because of the situation and issues the episode deals with, how utterly unromantic and wrong that final scene can be read as.
Actually, read unromantically, I kind of find the last scene fascinating - seriously, in Jennifer's place, I'd be wigged out more than touched, by a guy I've casually dated telling me he loves me when he's brain damaged. (you might also want to check out this essay on it, because it basically proves that whatever Wright intended, what he actually wrote is the McSheppiest scene in the whole show...)
I count "The Shrine" as a Keller episode - it's primarily a Rodney episode, but Keller is definitely the second major character; she's in most of the scenes, and the episode begins and ends with her. I think she's probably got more screentime in "The Shrine" than in "The Seed", even though the other characters spend more time talking about her in "The Seed."