#ofdo criticism

[showvyaps]

Dean saying “we didn’t have to worry about work or money” when arguably work and money were a huge part of the reason they broke up the first time and a lot of his past characterisation definitely stressed money struggles is sure…… something.

[heretherebedork]

And no one even kissed. Not a single person kissed anyone outside their designated pairing. No one. Not one. We got a hug. They didn't even give us the sexual tension they tried to TELL US WE GOT. Seriously?!

[heretherebedork]

OFDO Remix: A Rewrite with Better Drama

So we start at the beginning. Tua wants Jack to cast Arnold as one of the leads in the show so he can flirt with him. He's best friends with Dean, Jack's ex, and became friends with Jack through him... even if he did take Dean's side in their break up. So now he's trying to get Jack to cast Arnold and offers to bribe both Jack and Arnold while also trying to keep Dean from knowing he's doing it because, well, that's Dean's ex.

Dean is trying out for the show and everyone is laughing that he won't get the role because he's finally not sleeping with the director and it's a whole THING that the entire school knows he always gets cast because he's flirting with or dating Jack depending on when the other shows happened. Dean is pretty much the same about it but the rest of the students take this much more seriously.

Raffy is one of those students. He tries out for the lead alongside Dean and is actually a good actor who is in direct competition with Dean and that everyone thinks should get the lead role instead.

Dean and Jack sleep together again. Dean is cast in the lead role but Raffy get the second lead. Despite Tua's bribe, Arnold is a dancer and not an actor. BUT Jack specifically finds a way to bring him on as choreographer in order to get the money from Tua for letting him flirt and keep Arnold close. This role is basically made up and the entire dance scene is specifically for this. Arnold mentions that he mostly does tiktok and modern dance but Tua promises that they need him and that he'll get paid. Now we have multiple conflicts set up and they're interconnected!

Rome comes in... basically the same. But his relationship with Jack and their shared stepparents is more awkward and more centered in his life. Their parents try to be proud of both of their children but Jack repeatedly leading and directing the school play just sounds better than Rome's little DJ jobs so they're constantly being compared.

Now we've got Dean and Raffy playing leads across from each other while Jack tries to direct them equally without accepting Dean back as his boyfriend or leaving Raffy feeling lonely. Dean is dramatic and bitchy and Raffy finds out about the host thing and reveals it to try and knock Dean off his high horse... and it turns into a joke because it's a much smaller deal to most people in the theater department than Dean sleeping his way into the lead role again. So it backfires but differently.

Also, this entire time Timmy and co, the background characters actually making the show run, are seen to be having issues and we see the start of Pete's embezzlement as he gets frustrated at Dean's behavior and grabs just a little money out of an account to treat himself to a drink. It's a little thing... but a free drink is a free drink and it doesn't matter, does it? Timmy is just frustrated and stressed and doesn't notice because he's too worried about the rest of the cast grumbling about Jack's love life.

(Dean breaks into Jack's apartment and finds the rehab stuff but Jack gets so angry that he actually blasts him for breaking into his place in a group chat and it is the Talk of the University and that's when Dean jumps on a table to yell at everyone but they're all laughing at him regardless, no one cares that he's a host but they do care that he's a bit of stalker.)

Dean and Raffy start practicing their romance scenes and there is genuinely tension in the air. They don't feel like the kind of lovers they should be for the show but everyone in the background is talking about the possibility of a hatefuck. Jack hates it and rehearsal's tensions ratchet up another notch because Dean is flirting with Jack, Raffy is flirting with Jack, Jack is kind of keeping them both at arm's length in public (while also fucking Dean on occasion as we well know) and trying to direct two men in hate with each other to set it aside for acting.

Meanwhile Rome and Raffy have hooked up a couple times but it's still messy and Rome is not that quick to fall for him and Raffy finds out he's Jack's stepbrother and starts buttering him up because he wants to get closer to Jack's family in general only for Rome to finally tell him that they're not actually close at all and that, in fact, Raffy probably knows Jack better than Rome does.

.... I'm gonna stop here because there's just too much more to write to get to where we are but here are a few bullet points!

Boston, Tua and Arnold have a threesome because Arnold isn't sure about his feelings and Tua will take whatever he can get at that point to get closer to Arnold.

Raffy flirts with lots of people and not just Rome and they both continue to sleep around casually while hooking up until at least the halfway point of the show.

Jack and Dean get together and break up multiple times in the series and there's a betting pool that gets discovered for a little side plot. It's being run by Pete with the embezzled money and that's how he's caught.

Timmy gets to yell at Jack for casting Dean just because he's sleeping with him.

Raffy quits the show when Jack and Dean get back together for the second time. It's days before the show starts, everyone panics and they end up shoving Arnold into the role because he knows most of the lines just because he's always been hanging around.

Dean and Arnold have electric chemistry and everyone sees it the instant they start to dance together. It is a Thing. They don't start the hashtag, the other actors do.

Because of the last moment cast change there is a lot of drama and the weird acting feelings that Dean and Arnold have don't have a chance to simmer, they simply go straight to a boil and they DO make out while filming content and it's accidentally uploaded.

Everything explodes.

[heretherebedork]

I cannot believe that the Big Drama of the show happened in episode 9 and involved a drunk hug that didn't go anywhere. Like... a single drunk hug when one was single and the other was drunk and on unknown drugs causes this huge fallout with everyone screaming and being kicked out and friendships breaking... and for what!? Again, a HUG.

The worst part is that the show put in exactly zero work to make this feel like it could be a big thing. Like, show me where I was supposed to think Arnold was doubting his feelings towards Dean? Show me where I was supposed to think Dean was doing anything but fanservice with Arnold? If you're going to just tell me they had mixed feelings but show me nothing than why should I care?!

This is a show that feels afraid of itself. It's unwilling to commit to anything and so everything feels unfinished.

They can't give us an actual cheating or affair moment and so everyone has to start screaming about a hug and break up over nothing. They can't commit to anyone actually betraying someone so instead they make just the tiniest things into huge deals but also don't bother building up to them.

Why are we told that angry Tua is scary instead of seeing a smaller moment first and then the big explosion? Why is Raffy never quite able to go the full distance in his quests? Why is Dean forgiven everything except, apparently, a hug?! Why does no one care that Jack is obviously picking the main lead based on sleeping with him?! Why are the wrong things a big deal and the actual things such nothingburger?

There is hidden somewhere in this a good show but it is buried beneath a desperate attempt to please all the CP fans who can't bear to see their biases anything but together. I wrote a whole thing last week about how Raffy has been villified because he's the only character in the show truly interested in someone besides his CP and so nothing he does can ever be enough or be right until he chooses Rome over Jack.

If the show had actually let them be messy than Boston refusing to sleep with Tua would be even more meaningful. And if Arnold and Dean had felt like they might be cheating it would have been so much bigger to have that hug. And maybe if Jack's flirting with Raffy didn't feel painful and awkward I would see why Dean might be worried. If they'd built up whatever's going on with Jack and Rome at home with their parents, maybe I would care? If Boston actually did things maybe he would matter! What if the embezzlement plot hadn't just been an obvious afterthought with zero consequence?

Or, and hear me out here, what if Dean and Raffy had been cast as love interests and in their equal lead roles been seen to be competing for Jack while Tua talked Arnold into choreographing for the show to sneak him in? Just imagine!??!

[heretherebedork]

Which cheating is worse?

Getting hugged in the forest and not doing anything else

Receiving flowers while begging your boyfriend to forgive you

Saying you're dating someone else after breaking up because of a hug

Voting ended onMay 3

[heretherebedork]

This would be so much more interesting if the show had built anything up around this and then not had it specifically broken up by their designated pairings. Also, damn, longest fifteen minute intermission ever. I did appreciate seeing Rome punch Jack but like... I also kind of didn't care.

I wish I cared. This could have been so interesting. But nope! Instead it was just amusing for a moment and then utterly unimportant because nothing has a lasting impact in this show.

[heretherebedork]

And all because of a hug. While he was drunk. That didn't turn into anything else. This is so dumb. And then Jack gets back together with him?! This show is a punishment for sins I committed at some point and will never know.

Y'all, this drama is so dumb. They're such good actors and they nail the emotions, it's amazing. But they capture nothing of the story that leads us to these moments.

[heretherebedork]

This show has nothing to do with the original series at all. Not even a little. Look at that original friend group! Like, sure, it's a good message! But it's meaningless. Rome doesn't have friends! We've never seen him have someone need him or be sincere to anyone besides Raffy and that's romance! This entire attempt at a penultimate episode about friendship is falling flat because the show didn't give us any friendships! So why is this the focus all of a sudden?!

Like, seriously. This is what we focus on in the end?! Why would we ever think about this!? They were barely friends even in the show! They had like one scene together as friends! ONE. Why do I care about this friendship conflict?! YOU HAVE TO BUILD A FRIENDSHIP TO MAKE ME CARE ABOUT IT.