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

[(Anonymous)]

Some interesting points here!

I never got into Glee, in fact I always thought the concept was really stupid and was probably a bit superior about it. I don't really understand why; I am a massive fan of musical theatre and Glee certainly shares some aspects of that. Might have been that as far as I know it mostly used pop songs, and that is a different skillset to musical songs, for me, or possibly the school setting? Either way, I remember it being much talked about and me being all "Glee, bleh" about it.

The late character introduction debate is intriguing.

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.

I'm a Doctor Who fan, though more of the Classic series than the New one. It's funny actually, because I feel that in New Who you tend to feel the presence/absence of characters more due to the differences to the old series. For one, it does the very modern thing where, for the most part, actors are hide for seasons, therefore new companion in episode 1, and ending in the last episode of a season (and a seasonal plot can be built around this etc, etc, there's less focus on things just being stand alone). In the Classic series, it was fairly common for companions (and sometimes even Doctors!) to leave mid series and sometimes even mid serial, which I also felt has far more shock value, but also creates more natural flow although it lacks that ability for season arcs etc. I think the closest thing to a plot "arc" in the classic series was the Trial of a Time Lord series (all overarching story), and the Black Guardian trilogy, which was three linked episodes. (It's also my favourite introduction story of any Doctor Who companion - here is your new companion, who needs to kill the Doctor. Arc!). Additionally, particularly in the 60s, there were a lot of episodes (at maximum, there were 45 new episodes of Doctor Who in 1965) and so occasionally main characters like the Doctor just wouldn't appear in a few episodes or would do so very minimally to give the actors a break/some holiday time! Anyway, I've digressed a bit. Moving mid-season to me also made it less of a big deal, and more naturally accepting of a change, although you also felt the "presence" of characters less back then due to differences in characterisation, focus etc.

(-cough- Stand down, Doctor Who geek!)

I'm trying to think of other canons with late character introductions.

I'm currently playing Trails of Cold Steel 3 and I guess it kind of applies? Same protagonist, but the remainder of the main cast of the first 2 games are shuffled into more of a supporting role, while several mostly new characters take focus. I wasn't sure how I'd find this, but I really like them. It probably helps that there's less of them so I can get a stronger sense of them (I wasn't massively emotionally invested in the other characters, and tended to use people more out of convenience of how useful they were in battle), and for the most part they aren't trying to repeat character dynamics.

I guess Avatar does it with Toph? Again, I suppose the reason it works for me is that she brings such a different character dynamic - I think what I don't like is repeating or muscling in on another character pointlessly, if that makes sense.

Quantum Leap is effectively a series of setpieces - you only have a continuing cast of 2, and Sam is constantly bouncing off different characters and having to play different roles, so sometimes the only real visual similarity between episodes is Al. You had to like a cycling cast or you wouldn't like the show - people are basically playing out a tiny chunk of time/lives.

The original (1960s) Dark Shadows operated almost like a theatre troop. Again, to like that show, you had to be okay with change as the focus shifted quite a bit over time. Over the course of its run, it replaced several actors (some of main roles). Later in its run, it could be reasonably described as a theatre troupe. The show started exploring time travel storylines, and to do this they kept primarily the same cast, and simply had them play their own ancestors. This meant you didn't need to get new people in, and you could kill off your favourite actors as many times as you liked and still bring them back as another character! In time travel arcs, it was fairly common for nearly everybody except those who had to survive to have decendents to be killed off. The fondness for possession/"influenced" style plotlines also meant that in the present day actors could end up finding themselves playing another character playing at being their character. They got loads of mileage and fun out of it. Characters coming and going were fairly common, both as new additions to the "troupe" or returning cast members. I guess the continuing influx is part of what makes most of the character intros work? (Most, not all!).

Played anymore AI, btw? I am very invested in your thoughts!

-timydamonkey

[(Anonymous)]

which was three linked episodes

I mean serials! I make the distinction and then don't stay consistent with it.

troop

troupe. I know how to spell, I just didn't proofread and my hands went on the automatic "type it as it sounds". Probably doesn't help that I was looking at the word "troops" several times today!

[rionaleonhart]

Glee is pretty silly, I'll be honest, although at least it's often aware of how silly it is. It includes a fair few songs from musicals and other non-pop genres, actually! Its covers can be a bit variable, or cleave so closely to the original that I'm left wondering 'why did you bother covering this if you weren't going to do anything new with it?', and its plot is incredible non-stop bullshit, but it's definitely entertaining.

I'd forgotten about Toph! She's a great character introduction, although I'd heard of her from other fans before I reached her episode, so I knew to expect her. I wonder if I'd have received her differently if I hadn't been prepared for a new member of the team.

I've got the Ota and Mizuki ends, and I've started exploring the plot branch when you get the balloon resolution to Mizuki's Somnium! I'll probably make another entry in the next few days.