Now You're Just Some Programme That I Used To Know.

[rionaleonhart]

Some more notes on our Glee rewatch! We've gone through the third season and are now in early season four. I originally stopped watching at some point in late season four, I believe, so we're approaching uncharted territory. (But not Uncharted territory. I bet Nate can't sing.)

I love the extreme intensity with which Blaine performs. He's always so into it!

I think Kurt and Blaine may be the only couple in Glee who actually communicate about the problems in their relationship and find ways to resolve them. It's really noticeable in contrast to the other relationship plotlines.

(Their relationship becomes much less functional in season four, which has an early episode where the writers evidently went 'you know, I'm bored of the canonical couples; let's break up ALL OF THEM.')

Season three isn't my favourite (that would be season two), but I do love how much of it is devoted to Rachel becoming friends with everyone. She's come so far!

Blaine having an intense duet of 'Somebody That I Used to Know' with his brother is even weirder than I remember it. If they had an affair, it would explain why Blaine never talks about his brother.

Slightly shipping Quinn and Artie after Quinn's accident in this rewatch, which I wasn't expecting! Artie helping and encouraging her as she gets to grips with the chair is very endearing.

I like that friends in Glee are prepared to say 'I love you' to each other. I love the Kurt-and-Rachel dynamic so much; it's probably my favourite relationship in Glee. I got slightly tearful when Kurt showed up to surprise her at the start of season four, when she was alone and upset in the big city. Rachel's friendship storylines are so much more enjoyable than her romantic ones.


Season four of Glee introduces a bunch of new characters and then only gives them plotlines with each other, which strikes me as an odd choice. Sam and Blaine, in season two, were more successful character introductions because they actually interacted with the characters we already knew and cared about, rather than the show going 'now, after that scene with characters you know and care about, let's switch to a load of strangers!'

I'm pretty interested in what makes a late character introduction work or not work. Obviously, in some cases, such as Doctor Who or Waterloo Road, a general cycling of characters is expected and new characters don't really feel like latecomers. In canons where the cast is mainly static and then they throw in a new significant character, though, what determines whether I'll go 'ooh, I like you' (e.g. Nathaniel Plimpton of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Blaine Anderson of Glee) or 'YOU'RE TOO LATE, THERE'S NO ROOM IN MY HEART' (e.g. Sam Drake of Uncharted, the new Glee kids of season four)?

I wonder whether it depends on how emotionally invested I am in the canon. I was having fun with Glee before Blaine showed up, but I wasn't really invested, so I could cheerfully embrace the new guy. The more I care about the existing characters, the more likely I am to resent new characters for taking screentime away from the ones I'm invested in.

I'd be interested in hearing about late-arrival characters that worked or didn't work for you!

Comments

[wyomingsmustache]

They’ve done things like this a few times in MLP and every time I’ve been fully prepared to hate them on the grounds that they’re not the characters I’ve spent all this time investing in, but every time I get to be pleasantly surprised by how well they were handled. I think Starlight Glimmer was my least favorite of the new additions and that was just because she was a character type I’m predisposed to not liking, and I still DID warm to her pretty quickly. And the Young Six are my children and I actually wish we’d got to spend MORE time with them

I think the biggest factor with me is how well they merge with the established cast and whether their addition feels natural. In RWBY we added a few new characters in volume four because the world had just gotten a lot bigger, but they were written into the story organically instead of just showing up- we were introduced to the big bad, naturally she was going to have minions beyond the couple we’d already met. We spent a whole season occasionally jumping over to Oscar while he made his way to join the group but his scenes were few and far between enough that it didn’t feel like we were ignoring the other four stories happening around him.

I guess it comes down to whether the character is integrated into the story naturally or whether they take it over. MLP didn’t become the Starlight Glimmer show after she was introduced, she just became a new source of stories and a new way to look at friendship. On the flipside, Clover was introduced and now he’s the only person Qrow interacts with, and I can’t wait for him to either die or reveal himself as a traitor so Qrow can go back to interacting with, you know, other people. And so the shippers will be upset but that’s the spite talking

[rionaleonhart]

I should really go back and watch the rest of Friendship Is Magic at some point! It was such an enjoyable show, and it's great to hear its character introductions after the point I watched up to were well-handled.

Clover was introduced and now he’s the only person Qrow interacts with, and I can’t wait for him to either die or reveal himself as a traitor so Qrow can go back to interacting with, you know, other people.

Oh, wow, yes, that sounds really frustrating.