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TV series gone awry
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@Arkandel said in TV series gone awry:
Series based on ‘mysteries’ like Lost, Flash Forward etc are the same. Viewers are intrigued, but the producers know they’ll lose them as soon as they provide answers so… there are none.
It’s been ages since I watched it, but I thought Flash Forward did a pretty good job? A lot of plot threads set up in the pilot were resolved throughout the season, and I felt most of the flash-forwards paid off pretty satisfactorily in the season finale.
Prison Break’s first season did a similar good job IMHO - they had a solid premise, they paid off things as they went along, and it culminated in the titular escape. (Yeah it was kinda over the top and implausible, but I still enjoyed it.)
I think a big problem with high-concept shows like Prison Break is they become victims of their own success. The show-runners insist on milking it far beyond their ability to generate interesting plotlines.
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@Faraday IIRC Supernatural followed that pattern although instead it was the producers who got greedy, and the showrunner left after the number of seasons they had planned to run it all along (six?).
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@Faraday Flash Forward did well because it was one season. Now imagine 5+ seasons, each one retconning the real reason one obscure thing in season one happened. That’s the thing about mystery boxes - you need the whole thing set up in advance, and most people… don’t.
Mummy Pun? MUMMY PUN!
She/her -
So far, knock on wood, Severance is a wonderful example of a Mystery Box that’s actually slowly opening and trickle-answering questions as it goes, and I am very invested in it.
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@Solstice said in TV series gone awry:
So far, knock on wood, Severance is a wonderful example of a Mystery Box that’s actually slowly opening and trickle-answering questions as it goes, and I am very invested in it.
SEVERANCE IS SO GOOD OMFG
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What separates man from machine is that machines cannot think for themselves. Also, they are made of metal whereas man is made of skin.
At the center of industry… is dust.
I love this fucking show.
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@Jennkryst said in TV series gone awry:
@Faraday Flash Forward did well because it was one season. Now imagine 5+ seasons, each one retconning the real reason one obscure thing in season one happened. That’s the thing about mystery boxes - you need the whole thing set up in advance, and most people… don’t.
Yes, but my point was that even within the first season they did a good job of setting up and paying off the mysteries. At least for the story of season 1, they had a plan. Same with Prison Break.
Contrast that with a show like Falling Skies where it ended s1 with the main char getting on an alien ship without any flipping clue where they were going with that idea. Or Lost, or BSG, where it’s clear they painted themselves into a storytelling corner because they had no plan from the start.
I get why shows do this. It’s hard to plan things that far in advance, especially not knowing if you’re going to get renewed past half a season. It’s just frustrating from a storytelling perspective.
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@Faraday It also helps that Flash Forward was a book written a decade before getting picked up for a series. So like… it HAD a bunch of complete ideas and rules in place.
Mummy Pun? MUMMY PUN!
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@Jennkryst said in TV series gone awry:
@Faraday It also helps that Flash Forward was a book written a decade before getting picked up for a series. So like… it HAD a bunch of complete ideas and rules in place.
The series is only very, very loosely based on the novel in terms of its plot and characters. But yes, certainly, we can agree that having a complete set of ideas and rules in place for your mystery helps greatly in presenting a coherent storyline. Related, I found this take on mystery box storytelling interesting: The Mystery Box Is Broken, and Here’s How to Fix It
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@Faraday said in TV series gone awry:
Or Lost, or BSG, where it’s clear they painted themselves into a storytelling corner because they had no plan from the start.
Just @ me next time, this is how I usually DM/ST. >_>
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Westworld went from a beautiful and intricately crafted show in s1 to a parody of itself in s2 to a weird action-oriented side story in s3 to-- I mean, this current season has some potential, but the magic is long gone.
Once the showrunners decided that what people liked most and wanted more of was alternate time lines and identity-based twists, the show became entirely about those things for a spell, to its detriment-- and then attempted to simplify, missing the point in the other direction. I just want a pretty meditation on free will and the evils of capitalism guys, plz stop making me feel dumb for continuing to give you chances to provide
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@renaveleigh I absolutely adored season 1 of Westworld.
Then it just… lost me. Season 2 was okay. Not bad, but definitely not must-watch, OMG every time a new episode came out.
Season 3 and beyond just left me scratching my head a lot, and I gave up.
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Every season I think ‘maybe I’ll give Westworld another chance’ as it ropes in another actor I love, who will inevitably get one really good showcase episode, and every year I check out because of the sheer deluge of nonsense.
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Boston Legal.
I hope the rampant misogyny was meant to be a joke because jfc.
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@junipersky A joke, or an accurate representation of the legal profession?
He/Him. Opinions and views are solely my own unless specifically stated otherwise.
BE AN ADULT -
God I hope it isn’t THAT bad IRL…
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@junipersky said in TV series gone awry:
Boston Legal.
I hope the rampant misogyny was meant to be a joke because jfc.
It’s been a long time since it was on but I did watch it back in the day since James Spader was so very good.
What stands out for you from that perspective?
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@junipersky I never watched it but I highly doubt that misogyny in the legal profession can be exaggerated.
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The number of times the #2 to Danny asked various women around the office/community to have sex and/or was openly commenting on their bodies in relation to how much he would do them.
The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when a guy came in wearing women’s clothing and Danny kept calling him a “sicko”.
I didn’t get past there, and so maybe the guy hurt a child or something for real, but that is where I noped tf out.
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@junipersky I honestly don’t remember these scenes - it’s been years. Just as a follow-up question, were these incidents portrayed in a positive manner?
I.e. were the bigotry comments made by a character we as the audience were supposed to feel sympathetic towards or agree with? Or were they done to show he was flawed and had issues?
