[corderolover]

The Good Place

I want to finish this project the same way I started which is writing about another great that that I feel is perfect in every way and wouldn’t change anything about it. The show I’m talking about is The Good Place; the show had its series finale at the beginning of this year, and it was a bittersweet moment. The Good Place follows Eleanor Shellstrop who thinks she was accidentally sent to “heaven” and navigates her way around the neighborhood trying to avoid being exposed. She learns ethics from her supposed soulmate Chidi who was an ethics professor on earth. I started watching this show when it first aired because of the interesting promotions for it; I’m so glad I got to be a part of this show’s entire journey from start to finish.

I can’t even begin to list every single thing about this show, but I can mention all the main concepts that make it a show everyone could enjoy. Through the seasons, the character development for all of the main cast is phenomenal. It’s very apparent that every character has grown by the end of the series, but the show does something not all shows do. While there is character development, each person stays true to who they are; they grew for the better without becoming a completely different person. Sometimes other shows completely change a character in order to make them a better person. The intent for the show is very clear and has resulted in there being basically no filler episodes in the entire series. Mike Schur, the creator, only needed four seasons to fully narrate the story he wanted to tell. It’s also not a show I would consider to be religious even though it deals with the afterlife, which makes it more appealing to a broader audience. The show never mentions heaven or hell by name but by referring to it as the good place or bad place; this choice makes the show more about what would an afterlife be like if there was one as opposed to heavily referring to the Bible.

Some of the best moments in the show are the season finales; the first season finale has such a plot twist, and the entirety of the series finale is one of the most amazing episodes I’ve ever watched (I cried through the entire thing). Other moments I love include the complex relationship Eleanor and Chidi have throughout the show and the flashback memories the character have. This show is just all around perfect, in my opinion.

[corderolover]

A Tale of Two Shows

Wrapping this little journey up, I want to do something different this time. Instead of talking about one tv show, I’m going to be talking about a few tv shows that were once great but made one decision that tarnished the entire series. This post is going to be full of spoilers because there’s no way I can write around them. I used to really love the shows Jane the Virgin and How I Met Your Mother until the writers created storylines that I, as a viewer, felt like didn’t make any sense.

I want to start off with Jane the Virgin; I loved this show so much to the point I felt I needed to create an entire blog dedicated to it. I thought the relationship Jane and Michael had been building was so beautiful and depicted a healthy relationship you don’t see on television shows as often. Of course , they had their issues in the beginning, but they worked them out and became a stronger couple because of them. I will never agree with the writers for “killing him off” and making Jane a single mother. It was clear that they only wanted Michael out of the picture so Jane and Rafael could finally be together in the end. The writer wanted to create this story of them being pulled together by fate and becoming a happy family, but they way they did that just doesn’t feel write. There was no point in having Jane choose Michael as her true love just for him to die so Jane could realize her true love was actually Rafael. If they wanted those two to be together they shouldn’t have led the audience to believe that her and Michael were soulmates when that wasn’t really true in their eyes. I’m not even going to talk about Michael actually being alive with amnesia because that whole plot was another pointless story that’s supposed to show that Jane and Rafael were meant to be ( even though their relationship is highly toxic).

How I Met Your Mother used to be loved by many, but the series finale changed that for a lot of people, including me. We waited years for the mother to be revealed, thinking she was Ted’s soulmate, just for her and ted’s relationship to barely be shown. The worst part is they killed her off and had Ted pursue a relationship with Robin again. No one wanted that; everyone was happy with Robin and Barney together. Ted and Robin should’ve never been the end goal; if the mother had been written to stay alive, the show would’ve been received in a more positive way from the fans.

Moral of the story is don’t lead an audience on to believe one couple is destined to be together forever when that simply isn’t the truth.

[corderolover]

The Office

This week I’m proclaiming my deep love for The Office. If for some reason you don’t know what this show is about, let me briefly explain it. The Office is American remake of a British show that films the everyday life of office workers. The mockumentary follows Dunder Mifflin employees and their life journeys over the nine seasons it was on air. My absolute favorite part of the show is the character development for every single character. At the beginning, Michael Scott, the manager of the office, was an unlikeable guy that no viewer was really rooting for. Later in the series, the writers changed Michael’s character to be an ignorant guy with obvious good intentions most of the time as opposed to the sleazy guy he once was. Pam is another major character that had a noticeable character development. Pam was originally a shy, meek receptionist that let people, including her fiancé, walk all over here. A few seasons in, the audience can see Pam standing up for herself more and coming realize her self-worth. The amount of funny, (sort of) real life scenarios written are what make the show so popular and rewatchable. The only things I don’t like about the series was the last few seasons. I almost always skip the last season when re-watching the show. I think most people can agree that the show was not the same after Michael left. The writers consistently tried to replace Michael’s character with other crazy characters and it just wasn’t as funny. Absolutely no one can replace the hysterical character that is Michael Scott. Another issue I have is the marital problems Jim and Pam faced. I get that no marriage is perfect, but the show subtly alluded to the idea that Jim or Pam would cheat on each other. A character in season eight was trying to seduce Jim and Pam was consistently seeking comfort in one of the camera guys in season nine. With all the history and time spent creating their story, these last seasons just didn’t fit the narrative their story created, especially since it was some of the last storylines they had. I think it would’ve been better if they had marital problems without the involvement of outside characters threatening their relationship. I also want to briefly mention The Office Ladies podcast; it’s so fun to listen to. I love the playful banter between Angela and Jenna and all the stories they have to tell about filming the show.

[corderolover]

Desperate Housewives

This week’s show is Desperate Housewives, aka, my guilty pleasure show. Don’t get this confused with The Real Housewives franchise; the show I’m talking about was the inspiration for the reality television show. The show follows four housewives as they navigate through their relationships, motherhood, rivalries, and dark secrets. The series starts just after a close friend of theirs commits suicide; we meet all the main characters at Mary Alice’s wake. To this day, I’m not really sure why I started watching it, but something just told me to add it to my list of things to watch. I’ve rarely had a show hook me in so quickly with just the first episode; there was always a new shocking revelation that kept viewer, like me, watching.

What makes the show binge-worthy is the amount of drama in it. Everyone is having an affair, covering up some secret, or manipulating someone to get what they want. Each season brings new residents on the lane and the new residents are always running away from something in their past. Bringing in new cast members allows the show to create new, outrageous plotlines. For me personally, there seems to be a good  mix of realistic plotlines and completely chaotic plotlines. There’s most definitely a character everyone watching can relate to or would want to be.

What I don’t like about the show is the time jump that happened in the middle of the series. To someone watching each episode back-to-back, it’s quite obvious that the writers messed up the timeline for a lot of characters, or they purposefully change ages around for the sole reason of creating more stories. The time jump is where the show went from amazing to just great and sometimes barely okay. Another issue I have with the show is the last season and the character-development for a few series regulars. The last season deals with the women covering up a big secret after they committed a crime. I just found the whole plot of season eight as pointless; there was no need to actually cover up the crime because there was a justifiable reason for what they had done. Not only was it pointless, but it was irritating to watch some of the characters almost reveal the secret to outsiders because of their own guilt. The entirety of season just brought a whole new darkness to the show that wasn’t really need and didn’t fit with the rest of the series.

[corderolover]

Veronica Mars

This week we’ll be talking about Veronica Mars and I’ll be trying my best to refrain from spoiling anything in the show. Veronica Mars is a crime-solving show that follows teen Veronica Mars as she struggles with school, the death of her best friend, and solving the latest mystery. Each episode focuses on a new case for her to solve while each season has one major mystery that needs to be solved. The franchise was cancelled after three seasons, but received crowdfunding for a movie, and then got picked up again by Hulu. This series has seen many reboots because of the loyal fanbase it accumulated in its first airing. While I may deem it as one of my favorite shows, there are major flaws that plague the later seasons.

What makes the show great is its concept and execution. It’s a well-written that is the perfect balance of teen drama, mystery, and comedy. When watching the show, you just want to be Veronica Mars herself because she is such a phenomenal character that can basically do anything. I wish I could fully articulate what makes the show so great; just know that it’s basically everything I wanted in a tv show. Do yourself a favor and go watch the first two seasons if you haven’t. Trust me there’s a reason its fans raised millions to create a movie spin-off.

Now, let’s focus on what went wrong. I wasn’t the biggest fan of season three, to the point that I forget it exists sometimes. There wasn’t one season long mystery, but two half season mysteries. Season three just felt a little lackluster compared to the previous two. The very last season, produced by Hulu, was just a huge disappointment. Comparing it to older seasons, this just didn’t feel like the Veronica Mars that I had grown to love so quickly. This season, I wasn’t as fond of her character for numerous reasons. She was the reason for the toxicity in her relationship, she was ruining new and old friendships, and there just wasn’t a real reason to root for her anymore. Don’t even get me started on the series final; it ruined any chance there was of redeeming itself and possibly getting a season five. If you grow a bond with the series regulars then I’m strongly suggesting not watching the last few minutes of the last episode in the very last season. That series finale ripped my heart out and stomped on it. The creator completely ruined the show by being greedy and leaving a series changing cliffhanger so they could be renewed for another season. If I just ignore the ending, then I could look past all the other issues there were.

[corderolover]

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to talk about a few of my favorite tv series and my opinions on them. My main focus will solely be on shows that I’ve seen in their entirety and feel somewhat passionate about. Don’t let the word passionate fool you; I will never watch some of these shows again because how much I disagree with the writers. Ironically, that’s why I want to write about them and possibly start a discussion with you guys. Essentially, all of the show I’ll be talking about have made me felt an urge to rant to someone at some point in my viewership. We’ll discuss what makes them great, where they possibly went wrong, and maybe throw out suggestions on what could’ve been changed.             Let’s start with the first show to kick things off: Avatar: The Last Airbender. The series follows Aang, Katara, and Sokka around on their journey to defeat the fire nation and return peace among all the four nations. As the avatar, Aang has the responsibility to restore peace; this responsibility especially weighs heavily on Aang because he accidentally disappeared for a hundred years right before the war starts. On their journey, Aang must master all the elements to be able to face Firelord Ozai and defeat him before the end of the summer. The audience watches as Aang searches for element masters and slowly build his small army of friends throughout the series.

This may seem like a random choice to some, but Netflix recently added it to their discography, and I had to revisit this blast from the past. The only thing I regret is finishing it in less than a week. Watching the kids show again rekindled the original love I had for it as a child except this time I fell even more in love with this story. There are so many beautiful aspects to the show from the animation, the friendships made, and the underlying messages throughout the whole show. I can’t even remember how many times the animation took my breath away. A few of my favorite scenes being every single time Aang enters the avatar state, Aang and Zuko learning the early history of fire bending, and the final fight scene between Aang and Firelord Ozai. Friendship is one of the biggest themes in the show. Since Aang’s entire nation was killed and destroyed, Katara and Sokka become his new family and we see these three’s bond grow stronger every episode. The Last Airbender offered many great life lessons about forgiveness, empathy, acceptance, and learning from past mistakes. Overall, this show is just amazing and will always hold a special place in many people’s hearts. I strongly recommend watching this show if you haven’t yet.

[corderolover]

Hey Guys!

I have a college assignment that requires weekly blog posts about any subject we have a passion for. So, I’m choosing to post mine on here reviewing tv shows I find interesting. Just wanted to let everyone know because the posts are going to be kinda lengthy and won’t focus on JTV. I understand if any of you unfollow since this isn’t the content you were seeking. Hopefully some of you guys find new tv shows you like during this whole process. Anyways, stay safe and stay healthy during this stressfult time.

[upslapmeal]

I realise expectations were absolutely rock bottom but JtV could have at least dignified us with an explanation of how Charlie went from literally ready to shoot Michael without a second thought to putting him back together after Jane left. Or at least made sure chapter 88 was written in a way that showed Charlie liked this New Not-Jason. Like I know the writing in s5 should have warned me but it would have been nice for a former main character’s sendoff to have at least treated the audience like people with brains who aren’t going to immediately go hmm yes sure she hated his guts but then she, a Woman, saw Sad Man and was immediately there to put him back together and get pregnant.

[upslapmeal]

I keep seeing people being annoyed that Michael was brought back just to prop up jafael so they could be endgame but you know what??? you know what????? it’s worse than that because he wasn’t even brought back for that! that would imply that bringing him back was some necessary story element that affected how the show would end!! no they literally brought back a main character who had had relationships and storylines of his own purely so that they could create a bit of drama to procrastinate the big event in the show’s finale! that’s it!!! and in the process they managed to make everyone involved look terrible because the characters treated what happened in the same one-dimensional way as the writers!! because he was there only to be an inconvenience and any torture and trauma was purely a means to an endpoint of having him interfere with Jane’s love life rather than something to be approached from a point of compassion!! because then that would be too much for a stick man character with one sole function!!!!! and then??? then????? this one almost throwaway plot that had no bearing on the overall trajectory of the season ends up retroactively undermining the significance and importance of all the relationships Michael had with every character on the show, especially Jane, because now they’re dealing with the fact that the series has to continue like normal while this person who was so loved and grieved and a key part of the show is alive and wandering around in the middle of nowhere in Montana but god forbid any of the people who cared so much about him want to see him or involve him in the life he was ripped from, oh no he’s served his purpose and the jafael wedding has been successfully delayed until the finale so BYE! but don’t worry he’ll get closure! not with the plot of taking down the person responsible for ruining his life which he was involved in since the pilot and which was resolved the episode he returned, no he’s knocked up someone who was ready to shoot him last time we saw her but don’t worry it’s cute because it’s Brett’s real life fiancée! and don’t get me wrong, I’m mad about this because I loved Michael and villadero but they had gone!! I had accepted that!!! they had what they had and the show moved on! but then they did all this and I’m mad because it’s such awful writing from a show that prided itself on being grounded in humanity and compassion and that I loved so much.

[charliedayofficial]

i cannot believe the absolute dumpster fire that jtv has become. every week i don’t think that it can get worse, but here they go. please leave michael ALONE!! that man has suffered more than enough and you throwing some random woman at us and expecting us to be grateful happy about it is insane. michael was a MAIN character and was the MAIN love interest for over half of the shows run. the writing is just laughable at this point that michael, whose entire identity was being a detective and tracking down rose, doesn’t have a final scene with her or isn’t the one to take her down?? like make it make sense!! the single storyline that jsu wanted to see through was jane and rafael ending up together and the reception to that has been piss poor

[claired3lune]

You see, the thing with season 5 of Jane the Virgin is that…. bringing Michael back from the dead only did bad things for the show. R*f and Jane’s relationship pre the season 4 finale was something that Villadero shippers had accepted because Michael was gone, and had been for years in the show’s time, and R*f was making Jane happy again. Their (R*f and Jane’s) relationship was respectful towards the one Jane had with Michael and many viewers, whether you shipped them or not, were looking forward to R*fael proposing. Michael was brought back to create drama and to delay the J*fael wedding until the very end. This was extremely disrespectful towards not only Michael but every character who had a relationship with him because it tarnished those relationships. It was also completely unnecessary.  J*nnie wanted to create drama and delay the wedding? The Rose storyline was right there. Michael should have stayed dead and we should have seen more of them finishing up Rose’s storyline, as she was the series’s villain and was important to the plot with all that she has done to the characters over these 5 seasons. I would have much rather watched Jane and everyone else band together to take Rose down one last time. It would have made me root for and be happy with the J*fael endgame if I saw them work as a team to bring down the biggest factor to their lives being a living hell the past few years.

Instead of all of that, we got the characters we fell in love with ruined. We got the endgame couple spending a majority of the season broken up and fighting almost every time they were in the same room. We got the main character of the show being pressured into a divorce and basically told to forget all about her soulmate. We got a woman being treated like trash for her rightly complex feelings over her thought-to-be-dead husband actually being alive. We got the main character being turned into an empty shell of herself, season 5 Jane didn’t feel like seasons 1-4 Jane. We got the villain’s storyline squeezed into a few episodes. We got episode plotlines that went nowhere, almost every episode this season felt like it was a filler episode. Finally, we got a crappy final season for what used to be a good show.

[strideofpride]

in the JTV writer's room

Writer: idk man, Gina and Brett have incredible chemistry and a lot of fans wanna see Jane and Petra happen, maybe we should consider alternate endgames?

Jennie: yeah but Justin's hot so...¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[claired3lune]

Okay……. but imagine if Villadero was the endgame couple. It would have been an epic love story that not even death could defeat.

[eggosandbluefood-deactivated202]

ummm

The original: “We belong together, and I’ll never stop believing that.” and for as long as Michael lived, until he drew his last breath, he never did.

Which they changed to: Michael would love Jane until his dying breath

Which they changed to: Michael only loved Jane because she led him to his post-tortured shot-gun wedding partner because that’s his real destiny

??

[starksistersftw]

So glad I jumped on the Jafael train. I used to say shit about Raf on SM. Haha. I liked Michael. But watching the show back has really made me see how blindly shipping (tv) couples can take the fun out of a story & watching a TV show that I fell in love with because of it’s magical crazy twists & turns. I enjoyed the show far more the 2nd & 3rd. I missed the many times Michael’s demise was foreshadowed & some of his alarming behavior which was hardly ever addressed. He wasn’t meant to last imo.

I wish I could have had the same experience as you, anon! For me it was actually the opposite - I liked Jafael the first time through and liked them less with subsequent viewings. Once I got past the ‘magic’ of them having an accidental baby together and being drawn together that way, I kind of felt like there really wasn’t much holding them together except said baby and sex appeal, whereas the relationship they built up between her and Michael had more substance and felt more built to last.

Honestly, I saw the foreshadowing that something was going to happen to Michael too… but that’s all the more reason why this final season infuriates me? Like, Jane the Virgin’s original plan was Jafael endgame, obviously. But then their characters outgrew that endgame, they let Jane marry Michael, they had them be very happy and make a lot of sense together… and then they killed Michael off to be able to still achieve their original endgame. And like, as much as it sucked, I understood it then? I was okay with it then? I watched season 4 (admittedly I couldn’t bear to watch it live, my heart got too attached to Michael and I knew Jafael was coming and I wanted to be prepared), but the way they wrote it wasn’t as awful as I expected and it made sense for this more grown up Jane and while I still liked them better as friends and didn’t think they were a very good couple… I knew the Jafael ending was coming. I accepted the Jafael ending, even if it wasn’t how I would have wanted it to turn out, but I appreciated the ‘magic’ of the show still and would have been okay with it.

And then, they brought Michael back and they wrote season 5 horribly, and that’s what made me have such strong feelings about all of this. They made Michael, a character people knew and loved, into a one-dimensional prop, used his trauma as a roadblock for Jafael, and painted Rafael in a hideously negative and selfish light along the way. A relationship I’d grudgingly came to tolerate started feeling toxic and gross, and a character I loved and who deserved better was discarded just so the writers could try and convince us that ‘their original endgame was the right one.’ It was disrespectful, and it was poorly written – Jennie Urman even said herself that she wouldn’t give Michael a scene with Rogelio because she wanted the sympathy to be for Raf in the situation. It was just all super poorly done IMO, so I’m super glad that you grew to like Jafael and are happy with the final season but as a writer and as someone who hyperfixates and pours all my love into shows, I’m not impressed with what Jane the Virgin has done with this final season and never will be.

[alittlesliceofeverything]

This might just be me, but something feels really off about season five. The characters seem to be watered down versions of themselves.

I understand that it's the final season, and of course the show runners want to show how the characters have grown, but they just don't feel like the characters I used to know. I used to be so invested in Xo and Ro's storylines in particular, but I'm not feeling that passion this season. I don't know if it's just a perception thing, but it doesn't feel like the side characters are getting as much attention as before.

I would have been happy if they had ended the show with season four. I was happy with season four. I'm not enjoying season five in the same way I've enjoyed the other seasons. And while I don't ship Japhael myself, I was completely on board with where their relationship was in season four. I liked that Jane was able to properly grieve the death of her husband, whom she loved, and she was able to find love again and move on. Rafael was nothing but supportive to her and loved her completely without putting pressure on her. I loved season four Rafael, but season five seems to have undone that. While they were apart, he was completely childish (I mean, avoiding Jane? How old is he again?)

On a small tangent, give the guy some actual friends. Him only having Petra and Jane is kinda sad after all that growing he did after Michael died. Zen Rafael could have easily made some genuine friends.

I don't think they should have brought Michael back. They should have used a different obstacle to Jane and Rafael's relationship, because it completely changed how I viewed it. I saw it as love before. And despite what Jane says about it, I can only view it as guilt now. If she knew that she loved Rafael and wanted to be with him, she shouldn't have gone to Montana with Michael. She should have let him go. But she didn't. Because she still loves Michael. And even then, I could accept that she had moved on with her life and her feelings for him weren't the same if the whole trip hadn"t been a positive, fun thing for her.

I could also accept if they had handled her thoughts differently. Instead of Rafael interrupting her and Michael, it could have been done in such a way as it had been Rafael she was imagining after all. There could have been a cut and have Raf where Michael was before when they cut back. As it stands, it just looks like Jane is hesitating because Rafael is Mateo's biological father and that he won't have easy access to his son, rather than her being in love with him.

The whole "waiting for you to choose Michael is painful" thing doesn't help me on the love over guilt front. Michael is able to live his life even if she isn't in it. Michael is willing to walk away from Jane if it means that she will be happy. Rafael fell apart when it looked like Jane was going to leave him. Again, it doesn't help at all that Rafael has no friends other than Petra. Again, I could buy Jane loving Rafael over Michael if Raf had a good support system, like Michael does. But the fact that he doesn't, that he cannot cope without Jane, doesn't sit right with me. It feels more like an obligation to choose him, because his suffering is incredibly self destructive.

I don't like what they did with the love triangle this season. I don't like what they did to Michael. And I do find it telling that they had to literally change who Michael was by merging him with the Jason character for Jane not to choose him. I do believe that if he was the same Michael as before that she would have chosen to stay with him, because they compliment each other so well. They knew each other so well, and they would have small romantic gestures for each other that Jason/Michael now craps all over.

And a very definite "this is my perception and how I relate to particular lines" thing is Petra with J.R. I love the relationship they have. It's good for Petra, and the kind of love that makes you want to grow and be a better person is definitely the ideal. But the whole "I've never felt this way with anyone else" line feels a lot like an invalidation of the love Petra had for Rafael. This is where the personal perception comes in. I hear a line like that and it makes me think that the character hasn't experienced/ been in love before. And I can't just wipe away four seasons of Petra being in love with Rafael, as unhealthy as they were for each other. They had plenty of opportunities to make it clear that what Petra felt for Raf wasnt love, but they did the opposite. They reaffirmed her romantic feelings for Rafael. It just doesn't sit well with me.

Basically TL;DR. Michael was better off staying dead instead of being used as an obstacle for Jafael, because it really undermined the relationship in my eyes.

They can't wipe away four seasons of Petra loving Rafael with that one line.

[solanospetra]

honestly fuck the hundred episode goal, i think maybe if we’d gotten a 13 ep order the writers would have thought twice about their choices