I don't really like romance in my TV, period. I can be brought around to it, but it takes me a long time to accept it, and there is pretty much no show I can think of that I *wanted* romance, that I was disappointed because a pairing didn't hook up in canon (I'll get disappointed if my OTPs get broken up by alternate pairings, but that's a different story.)
NCIS is an interesting case, because yeah, I think if I'd watched s4 as it aired I'd have hated the Tony/Jeanne stuff. As it is, watching it bored me, but I knew it wasn't going to last, and in retrospect I really like what it did with Tony's character. (I also knew it was part of his undercover assignment, which on the one hand was a frustrating spoiler, I really want to know if I would've guessed it on my own - but on the other hand it meant I never saw Tony as OOC, and a lot of their conversations play really interestingly when you know that's his core motivation. The writers really knew what they were doing!) In the end it brought him even closer to the team; the moment in "Family" where he makes the choice, and chooses them - gah, words cannot express my love for that scene! So ultimately I kind of love Tony/Jeanne, because it failed.
Meanwhile I'm slowly being brought on board to Tony/Ziva - it's not that I *want* it, quite, but rather that I can see a basis for it, and it wouldn't upset me if it happened in canon. (Actually what I really see is an OT4 between all of Gibbs's "kids"...) I love them as platonic partners, and I think if they hooked up it would change relatively little about their friendship otherwise, which is how I like my pairings to go.
So, yeah, NCIS is a happy place right now, and I have a fair amount of faith that the writers will keep it that way. Getting back to SGA - I think one of the problems with s5 is the lack of character development. It's not just Sheppard - the only character development for anyone has been the Keller romance, save for a little bit with Teyla and her baby. But that was brought over from s4 - there's been no new developments with anyone, except Ronon with Keller (and as soon as Keller rejected him he stopped getting any kind of character storyline) and Rodney with Keller.
Which I suspect is one of the reasons there's been such a negative response to the McKeller. Sure, it's a badly written, clumsily done romance, but we didn't expect anything better. But we're not getting much else to distract us. For four years we watched John & Rodney's relationship develop from teammates to friends hanging out together to friends supporting one another; now John & Rodney don't have scenes together anymore, they're pretty much back to being teammates. For three years Ronon opened up, got a sense of humor, went with John back to Earth, proved himself to the IOA - now he's just there. And Keller has been in two seasons, but the only real development we've seen in her is her learning how to fight (an arc spanning only two episodes a year apart and never referenced in between) and who she's dating; she hasn't developed any friendships, or started doing new science, or gotten any happier off-world.
I don't think the writers have any idea what viewers want, considering they don't even seem to know their own characters (Gero saying Rodney just wants love like it was a huge revelation - umm, seriously? You didn't know? Because we viewers all knew that about him about five years ago! It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic...)
Oh well - four more episodes and then these characters are ours, and can't be hurt by the writers anymore!!
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2008-11-27 08:44 am (UTC)NCIS is an interesting case, because yeah, I think if I'd watched s4 as it aired I'd have hated the Tony/Jeanne stuff. As it is, watching it bored me, but I knew it wasn't going to last, and in retrospect I really like what it did with Tony's character. (I also knew it was part of his undercover assignment, which on the one hand was a frustrating spoiler, I really want to know if I would've guessed it on my own - but on the other hand it meant I never saw Tony as OOC, and a lot of their conversations play really interestingly when you know that's his core motivation. The writers really knew what they were doing!) In the end it brought him even closer to the team; the moment in "Family" where he makes the choice, and chooses them - gah, words cannot express my love for that scene! So ultimately I kind of love Tony/Jeanne, because it failed.
Meanwhile I'm slowly being brought on board to Tony/Ziva - it's not that I *want* it, quite, but rather that I can see a basis for it, and it wouldn't upset me if it happened in canon. (Actually what I really see is an OT4 between all of Gibbs's "kids"...) I love them as platonic partners, and I think if they hooked up it would change relatively little about their friendship otherwise, which is how I like my pairings to go.
So, yeah, NCIS is a happy place right now, and I have a fair amount of faith that the writers will keep it that way. Getting back to SGA - I think one of the problems with s5 is the lack of character development. It's not just Sheppard - the only character development for anyone has been the Keller romance, save for a little bit with Teyla and her baby. But that was brought over from s4 - there's been no new developments with anyone, except Ronon with Keller (and as soon as Keller rejected him he stopped getting any kind of character storyline) and Rodney with Keller.
Which I suspect is one of the reasons there's been such a negative response to the McKeller. Sure, it's a badly written, clumsily done romance, but we didn't expect anything better. But we're not getting much else to distract us. For four years we watched John & Rodney's relationship develop from teammates to friends hanging out together to friends supporting one another; now John & Rodney don't have scenes together anymore, they're pretty much back to being teammates. For three years Ronon opened up, got a sense of humor, went with John back to Earth, proved himself to the IOA - now he's just there. And Keller has been in two seasons, but the only real development we've seen in her is her learning how to fight (an arc spanning only two episodes a year apart and never referenced in between) and who she's dating; she hasn't developed any friendships, or started doing new science, or gotten any happier off-world.
I don't think the writers have any idea what viewers want, considering they don't even seem to know their own characters (Gero saying Rodney just wants love like it was a huge revelation - umm, seriously? You didn't know? Because we viewers all knew that about him about five years ago! It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic...)
Oh well - four more episodes and then these characters are ours, and can't be hurt by the writers anymore!!