Props To A Series Hack.
I've previously confessed that I watch Grey's Anatomy. I'm not proud of it. But tonight's season finale, with it's complete disregard for character motivation or plausibility was . . . fucking brilliant.
The writers needed to hit the reset button. They did. It was absolutely ruthless. They took a big machete to every continuing plot line and cleared the ground for next season. It was completely ridiculous. But it worked.
One of the great dangers of writing an ongoing series -- and it doesn't make any difference if it's books or TV -- is the danger of being buried alive by your back story. You build up a barnacle encrustation of plot lines, each of which has to be serviced, which leaves you less and less space to develop anything new. I know: I've been buried before.
So, as a series hack I bow in the direction (I'm going to say, westward?) of Grey's creator, Shondra Rhimes. Bold. Ruthless. Right.
This entry was posted by Michael Reynolds, on
Thursday, May 17, 2007.
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11:15 PM
Mmm, perhaps, but the whole show is about the characters and how they can't get over themselves and their emotions. The relationships that supposedly ended will no doubt still be dragging on into the next season. I don't think the average viewer could handle that much change, anyway. I just wanna smack all the women going after the married men. Maybe it's just too real. I mean, I watch the show, but I really don't like it that much. Weird. I get enough reality the rest of the week, I guess.