I saw your awesome take on Shannon and I wanted to know if you could do Taylor is you hadn't already?
Absolutely! I would be more than happy to so without further ado...
The Shining Bright like A Diamond: Miss Taylor Kelly
How I feel about this character
I love Taylor. I love her growth and her depth that we got to see during season four. I love how she's unapologetic in her goals. I love how she, like many, has had a real reshaping of her world from this pandemic. I love how she isn't afraid to call people out on their shit even if she likes them most of the time. In short, Taylor is a boss and had she been a man, people would've fallen all over for her.
But most specifically and most passionately, I love Taylor even with her flaws. She very easily could've fallen into the category of The Shrew. The unfeeling, power driven woman who doesn't care who she steps on and tears down the tragic feelings of men in the process. She could've been lost into the void of another static character with no agency other than to be an easy villain.
But she wasn't. She was saved! And she was saved by actual thoughtful writing. Because most mindless villains, in order to be beloved, are given a redemption arc (John Murphy on The 100, Loki, Black Widow, Cat Woman, Sharpay Evans, Amy March etc etc). They have to do a penance in order for us to even consider giving them our forgiveness.
The 911 writers gave us something better: they gave Taylor growth.
Her capacity for compassion has grown without the dismissal of her ambition and I don't think a lot of people realize just how rare that is. Particularly in female characters, too many times you have the female characters having to "give up" something about themselves in order to be redeemable. For the simple crime of being a victim of lazy writing, we have gotten used to the hefty punishment of expecting these (again often female) characters give something of themselves up in order to be forgiven (which is often not given in most cases). This stems all the way back into this societal inherited tendency to believe that a woman who is bold enough to speak up and speak often even if it's the unpopular opinion in the room must be silenced to be redeemable. We take away agency of these characters by not allowing them to have flaws and condemn them when they are too perfect or The Angel (see Ana).
But Taylor is messy. She makes mistakes (her unflinching approach to unbiased reporting) and instead of drowning herself in guilt she moves on (another unforgivable sin in a society that expects continual groveling). She learns and she grows (her connection to the misery she had to film during the pandemic and finally reaching out, despite her anger, towards Buck to do something to help).
We see that growth and change so clearly too in that scene outside of the hospital in 4x14 when Buck assumes she's there for her story. She could've easily used her connections to try and get a scoop. But she didn't. She was concerned about Buck and his friends. She was there to be a steady hand when he needed one. She put aside the barrier of the camera lens to become a part of the story.
Remember what that guy said to Chimney in Chimney Begins?
"The guilt, the loss, the images. We can't drink or sniff or screw them away. Hand it off."
Taylor is just now learning that. Because she's raised her hand and said yes please to being dedicated to the story; to the truth. But she's learning how to survive the toll it takes to be a perpetual spectator to adrenaline and tragedy (just like Abby and Maddie at the 911 dispatch positions). I think she found herself at a breaking point from having to document all the death and sorrow and grief of the pandemic. She became part of the story when she broke on camera. So, her coming to see Buck in the hospital in 4x14, her trying to shield Buck from the pain of watching Sue being hit by the car, and then celebrating in the glory of being a part of story for a little while in 4x11 and joining the chaos of Treasure Hunt in 4x12 was Taylor learning how to "hand it off."
She was learning how to be human again.
And sure she's struggled with the concept of glory but so have a lot of people like Chimney and Buck. She's struggled with a code of ethics too and remembering that there are people on the other side of the lens. But the point is she struggled. She struggled and she moved on and she's hasn't sat around waiting for people to move along with her. She's learning to be a better person regardless of if people want to get on board or not.
I love Taylor Kelly and I cannot wait to see what else with get with her.
All the people I ship romantically with this character
I'm a Buddie shipper through and through but I'm also totally on board with exploring her relationship with Buck. I think Oliver and Megan have amazing chemistry and they're a lot of fun to watch. (Also I HC Buck as being bisexual so it would be incredibly hypocritical of me to get all worked up that he's with a woman). I don't necessarily think they would be endgame but I am excited to see their journey nevertheless.
BUT ALSO, now hear me out because I was thinking about this while I went to get coffee, but the matchmaker in me also feels like Taylor and Tommy Kinnard would be kind of cool together. Tommy's a little bit of himbo himself but also a total goofball and I feel like he would be like the perfect guy who would be like "Sure, I've got muscles made of marble but my girlfriend is much scarier than me and I love it." They would also make beautiful children. Imagine the cheekbones.
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Here's the other thing about Taylor that I love. I love her as Buck's friend too. Like if they decided not to be a couple and would rather stick as friends, I would be totally onboard. I love that she calls Buck out on his shit but also deeply understands and cares about him. I think she sees Buck in a way that not a lot of people--including, Buck, himself-- do. She doesn't coddle him but she doesn't hold a grudge to his flaws either. She nudges Buck to get out of his own head. She understands him even when she doesn't understand his choices. But most importantly, she accepts Buck for who he is.
It's a really nice parallel to what I was saying about my character anaylses with Shannon and Eddie. Shannon pushed Eddie to be different. Taylor pushes Buck to stop getting in his own way of being his true self.
ALSO I feel like if you put Taylor, Hen, and Athena together world peace would be solved in a matter of hours. They would be the balance to chaos of Bobby, Michael, and David.
My unpopular opinion about this character
Once again for the people in the back, her name is not a slur and if you use it as such then you diminish the credibility of the character analysis.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
UGH give me anything. I'd watch her reading the gas prices.
I'd also love to see her with Bobby. Because I do agree that her wanting to use the footage of him on his bad trip in Dosed was wrong and a clear example of her forgetting the human beings on the other side of her camera lens. I understand her thought process though. To be unbiased is to be unfeeling. Her job there was to film the life and stories of the 118 whether it be the good, the bad, or the ugly. But there is a line and she did cross it. And I'd love to see her talk with Bobby and show that growth. It would be another nice parallel to Bobby's relationship with Tatiana in season one too.
Give Me A Character and I’ll Break Them Down
