Pretentious TV Show Review

With zero experience whatsoever in judging TV shows, but immense experience in watching, I decided to do a review. Mostly because I learnt of a new concept and I am dying to apply it somewhere.

I learnt about something called a Character Arc. A character arc defines how the character changes and develops over a period of time. This can be found in any story - movies, books, tv shows.  I particularly like applying this concept to TV Shows because of the longevity which gives scope for an actual character arc to develop.

Let's take the example of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. This is a rare example of a show where every single character had an amazing character arc. And this also probably explains why we keep watching this show again and again and again. Because we can see the circle unfold, we can see characters grow and we grow with them. Let's look at each of them.

Rachel Green: Starts out as a stubborn, spoilt, dependent character. Through the seasons, she grows in every possible way - independent, mature, career oriented, becomes a mother, has better relationships and starts taking big decisions in life.

Monica Geller: She is an unsure, unconfident chef in the beginning - trying to get over the fat girl inside her, trying to understand men, relationships, using her controlling nature as a way to control her life crumbling around her. But then she grows. Into a confident, talented, in-demand chef, who knows what she wants. She is still controlling but she now does it knowing she wants nothing less than perfection. She is now also mature about men, relationships, knows what she wants and gets it even when in a relationship with a man-child such as Chandler.

Which brings me to my favourite character arc: Chandler Bing

Chandler Bing has arguably the best character arc any character has had in the history of sitcoms. He grows from an awkward, weird guy using humour as a defence to a mature, dependable husband, willing to take on more responsibility as a parent, looking out for friends, being there for family, choosing a career in advertising that lets him utilise his strength in humour. By the end of the show, he is not just adorable, he also naturally infuses that growth into how good he looks.

The same is true for all characters in Friends. 

Phoebe grows from a weird cat lady into a woman who yearns for normalcy and gives it her all. 

Joey puts in a lot effort to grow, and he does grow - he is no longer the dumb, good-looking guy. He is now the guy people can depend on, who can fall in love, who wants relationships. 

And Ross! From being an uptight family man who keeps getting into marriages in the false hopes of stability, to someone who actually goes out, puts himself out there, tests himself in relationships of all kinds (kids half his age to highly qualified phds), till he figures out what he wants.

The point is, they all grow. And that's why the audience keeps going back to them. They represent all of us. We look back at ourselves a few years back and know we have grown like them.

Then there are sitcom characters who show no growth. 

For instance, Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. He is the same person, who does the same thing again and again and again. And it finally clicks and works for him in the last episode.

Or for that matter, Jess in New Girl. She starts out as a funny girl, trying to find love, but keeps running away. Falls in love with Nick, but is scared to tell him. Every season has the same story line - she finds a guy, gets serious, then chickens out because she loves Nick, but cannot tell Nick, becomes miserable. Then she finds another guy. Rinse, Repeat.

Some sitcoms don't need character arcs, because they dwell in the current character. For example, Seinfeld. Seinfeld relies heavily on the stupidity of George, the weirdness of Kramer, the quirkiness of Elaine and the normalcy of Jerry. If these characters were to grow, the show would lose its charm. But what they did do in the show was to rotate these characteristics. There are moments when Elaine is stupid instead of George or Jerry is weird instead of Kramer or George is quirky instead of Elaine. And that works too.

Which brings me to the discovery of the year for me, and the rest of the world. Schitt's Creek.

Sherlock asks me often why I love the show. And after a lot of thinking, I realise it's because of the character arcs. 

A rich, snobbish family of four find themselves robbed of all their wealth, in the middle of nowhere in a small town, aptly named Schitt's Creek. In the beginning, they still yearn to go back to the riches they were used to. But through the seasons, they accept and make the best of where they are. This show has character arcs so significant in shape that you can almost imagine the writers having the end in mind when they started. And that's what makes this show beautiful. 

Let's look at the characters.

John Rose: The head of the family, owner of Rose Videos - gets cheated of millions of dollars by his business manager, now finds he has to start from scratch, looking after his family of 2 overgrown kids and a spoilt wife. In the beginning of the show, he is desperate to make money and get back to his lifestyle. And through every season, we see him grow - make the best of his current situation, do odd jobs till he finds his next big thing, run a restaurant for a day, join as a business partner in a dying, out-of-business motel and finally get investments to grow a new business. He grows as a father - supporting his kids, teaching them to be on their own, providing for them when they need help. He grows as a husband - not for a moment letting Moira feel like she deserves any less, even if it means gifting a minor, inexpensive spa day in the town nearby. 

Moira Rose: What can we say about Moira. Not once in the six seasons does she lose her poise and sophistication. And yet, she grows. From a selfish, spoilt actress to a loving woman who supports and stands behind her husband. From a mother who was never there to a mother who performs at her daughter's graduation to make her feel loved. And all this while keeping her humour intact.

David Rose: Again, should go down in history as one of the nicest character arcs. From a spoilt brat to a business owner helping local businesses, standing up for his rights and his needs. The best part about David is that he knows he has special needs thanks to his upbringing and he is not willing to compromise on those. But he is also not scared to work hard to be able to afford the riches he feels he deserves. By the time he gets married in the sixth season, he has everyone rooting for him. He deserved the best. And he grew to get those things he deserved. 

And finally, my favourite Alexis Rose: When the show started, I found Alexis annoying. Here was a self-absorbed, selfish, arrogant, spoilt girl who used people for her benefit. How could you like her? And yet, how her character grows in the six seasons! She grows to realise she does not need riches to be happy. She grows to love someone other than herself. She puts family before herself. She learns to work hard for the riches. She cares about people. She is sweet and nice to everyone. Her interaction with waitress Twyla in the last episode had me in tears. As I'm sure it did for a lot of people. The sheer joy of watching this person live up to her potential makes the heart leap with happiness.

And mind you, all this, while the show consistently remained funny to the bone. My hypothesis is funny works very well - but funny with character arcs that people can see and relate to work even better. That might be the reason why Schitt's Creek became a household favourite in this shit of a year. We saw John, Moira, David and Alexis in us and around us. And watching them grow made us feel more hopeful. And watching the show end had all of us in tears - happy tears to see these characters reach their full growth potential.

Or maybe I just read too much into it. Basically, I loved the show. Have you seen it? Did you love it? Or did you love it?

Cheers

Preeks