I've been trying to facilitate my thoughts about yesterday’s news… It has been overwhelming to say the least, the past twelve-thirteen months has been an emotional rollercoaster.
First, I want to say that we can be happy about John Reardon’s return to Hudson & Rex, while still acknowledging the outrageous behavior of the production from the past year. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. We can celebrate the win—because that’s what this is—while also remembering that Shaftesbury is still guilty of kicking John Reardon to the curb when he was battling cancer, and should have been supported, instead of tossed aside.
Shaftesbury still tried to hide the fact that they weren’t bringing him back for all of summer last year, they still silenced us in every way they could and attempted to create a false narrative regarding John’s exit by lying. Sherri Davis still told several lies, threw John Reardon under the bus the first chance she got; attacked fans multiple times over, and tried to manipulate us into believing season 8 was going to be the same show we all knew and loved for the previous six seasons.
Those facts remain and won’t just cease to exist because they finally did one good deed by brining John back; which they didn’t even do for us. I don’t want anyone to deceive themself into believing that the producers all of a sudden had a change of heart and started respecting the fans, and valuing our feedback. They ”changed their minds” because the show was risking a cancelation by the network.
If season 8 had been a success, if the ratings—despite the backlash—had been good, then there would have been no reason for the producers to bring John Reardon back. And they wouldn’t have done it. They did it as a last effort to save the revenue the show generates, because at the end of the day, that’s what matters to them.
So don’t thank them. If anyone is worthy of a ’thank you’, it’s the fanbase and audience, who stayed vocal and didn’t accept the ”new direction”. By being persistent with our criticism of their actions, and by turning off our TV’s, we managed to achieve something I didn’t think was possible.
The other thank you, goes to John Reardon, for agreeing to come back after how he’d been previously treated. The powers at be should consider themselves damn lucky that John has more grace, and professionalism than they ever will, to come back and try to salvage the mess they created by letting him go in the first place. I hope they won’t take it for granted.
Last, but not least, there’s the factor of the creative aspect of the story. From a storyline perspective, the damage already caused by season 8 can’t be undone.
Charlie’s return will not change the fact that they tried to erase his existence from the show during season 8. It will not change the fact that they wrote Sarah as if Charlie’s presumptive ”death” didn’t affect her, Rex, or Joe and Jesse. It doesn’t change that they had Rex—who’s supposed to be fiercely loyal to Charlie and have a unique bond with him—partner with a new random guy as if it was nothing. Even if they do some kind of retcon, they can’t unring those bells.
It remains to be seen how they’ll handle all of that, especially since there’s many questions still unanswered. I hope they will realize the stakes of it to be done right and handle it with careful hands, but after everything, my faith in them is below the bar. But we shall see if more than one miracle can happen…
Ultimately, this whole headache of a circus carrousel could have been avoided, if production had just bothered to have one finger on the pulse of their audience. If they had cared to do find out what made the show beloved, they would’ve maybe understood that removing John Reardon and replacing Charlie Hudson was never a viable option.
We were right about that all along. And now, the order is restored.
After all of this, I just want to be happy about that one fact. And look forward to John Reardon taking back his rightful place as the lead, as Charlie returns to our screens and reunites with Rex and Sarah—where he belongs.
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