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missekondor-blog-blog · 12 years ago

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Rules of Engagement- The Couples

One of the main staples behind the sitcom show is the consistency. A viewer will never turn on the show during any given season and not be able to figure out in three minutes what's going on, providing a mindless comfort for those times when we all need a boring safety in front of our eyes. The main problem is that this setup doesn't work for good character development and a show suffers when it's characters are so interesting on the surface that they practically beg for development.

I just finished all seven seasons of Rules of Engagement and found that after enjoying it for a short time, I won't re-watch very many episodes, chiefly because of the characters.

Because I loved them the first time around.

And it's because I love them that I wanted to know a lot more about them and see how/why their relationships are what and where they are. After re-watching a few episodes, I found myself realizing how little each episodes goes into the couples it follows.

Starting from the most long-term couples:

1.) Audrey and Jeff. These two are the long-time married couple of the show. Their quest for a baby and option for a surrogate tie a lot of the show together plot-wise, making for fun guest appearances by their surrogate and giving the viewer a sense of time. I enjoyed their relationship best in the show. It remains consistent because of their 12-year (and ongoing) marriage and the fact is that they know each other fairly well. Audrey's need and failure to be a "people-person" comes across very understandably, as well as her desperation to prove herself leading to the inevitable disaster of trying to hard, and Jeff's likability comes across very realistically in an ironic result of his lack of concern and even dislike of other people. Their competitive relationship carries real emotion behind it and makes for a truthfully very stable couple no matter the chaotic situation.

The problem with Audrey and Jeff primarily results from playing up the crazy situations they get into and not the quirky, seemingly mismatched teamwork that makes them such a good match. Both educated in the same college where they met, although Audrey aspired for a more elite education (season 7), Audrey often wonders aloud why she married Jeff and if she couldn't have done better. Those questions are valid on a surface level; Jeff's constant thoughtlessness puts her in a bad mood and ruins their social lives to a degree and Audrey seems much more professional and put-together. Yet these differences result from goals and wants, not fundamental personality differences. As the show went on, it started to seem less and less likely that this couple could not see or have it pointed out to them that they are in fact a great combination. At some point I would have liked to have seen a transition from Audrey and Jeff as tired, "too-different" spouses into a joint force that would create its own problems.

2.) Jennifer and Adam. The newly engaged couple starts the show by having moved in after seven short months together and an on-the-spot engagement. Adam proves to be very silly and at times downright stupid, which Jen discovers repeatedly. I love Adam, especially his metrosexual hobbies and clothes that often lead to jokes at his expense. The problem that I find with Adam is that he makes sense, raised by a hippy mother without boundaries, to the extent that he is proud of being a male cheerleader, likes feminine clothing and doesn't understand the social taboos against finding (a picture of a younger) Jeff attractive. And then he stops making sense. Far overstepping boyishness, Adam at times can barely function as an adult of any kind, needing constant mothering from Jen and Audrey. There is no mention of what he does that the Dunbar company (not that anyone seems to do anything) and it's never stated how anyone even hired him. The fact is that Adam would be a much better character with scaled back idiocy and more focus on his lack of conventional heterosexual boundaries, traditional indoctrination of misogynistic innuendos and unwillingness to act like an adult rather than an incapability to think at all. At the rate he cannot understand, Jen seems like she is marrying a man with metal retardation.

Jen becomes problematic the more the show progresses, because not only does she remain the same besides hairstyle, but we never learn anything about her. What relationship did she have with her mother? Father? Siblings? Friends? At one point she has college friends over, but never even has an on-screen conversation to reveal anything about herself. She is frequently called easy and made the target of light slut-shaming, but not enough for the audience to feel badly for her. Nothing about Jen warrants the attention of the writers, quietly reinforcing much of the idea that a woman exists as a companion of and is defined by her man. Audrey stands outside of that status because as a married woman she is jaded and now outspoken. Jen has yet to step into a personality or even control a driving plot line because she's too in love to be doing anything, even seriously second-guessing her hippy boyfriend. In season 2, Jen meets Adams mother and questions if she can live with Adam's upbringing, and later gets uncomfortable with his friendships with exes. But these issues quickly die away in a day and never come up again. Other questions concern her past. Everyone implies that Jen ran around and it is revealed she once made a sex tape. This background never seems to bother her, as she once tells Russel, "Women enjoy sex too." But she doesn't even run with that as a character theme because she's too busy rolling her eyes at Adam all the time.

Overall, Adam and Jen's dynamic rely on their youth, attractiveness and "being-in-loveness." They don't need drama, but they certainly need consistent and prominent backgrounds to inform the viewers as to how on earth they even got where they are, and then maybe work on why.

3.) Russel/Liz. I adore this combination. I disliked Liz at first, as the typical, crazy cat lady who desperately wants a husband, but then she absolutely steals the show with her surprising forcefulness, utter confidence in herself and maddening dedication to anything she decides she wants. When she marries Russel in Season 6, she balances his need for attention, want of a mother/lover figure and because she isn't a six foot tall model Russel doesn't automatically treat her the way he treats the usual woman that he solicits. What I love most is that she cheats on him and it is never suggested that he ever did, in fact he remains obsessively faithful to her, although oddly resentful of it.

4.) Russel/Timmy. I need to count these two as a couple, since they become more and more attached as the seasons go on, perhaps showing the most and the least development of every couple on the show.

Timmy at first only guest stars, quickly becoming a lovable punching bag and regular cast member. Then, as the show goes on, one has to wonder why Timmy, a seemingly gentle soul, stays and lures women into disgusting situations with Russel, exposing them to STDs and never actively trying to save anyone, including himself. In one episode he tells his boss that at a certain point it's not Russel's total responsibility for "making" him preform these tasks. And of course it's not. While Timmy is seen crying in his shower over all the reprehensible things Russel has done, he stays as his assistant. It's made clear several times that Timmy can get a better job with better pay than with Russel. So why does he stay? Timmy obviously wants to be needed, and as the show goes on Russel clings to Timmy more and more obviously and obsessively. It becomes too much, but how does it ever get to where Russel puts a tracking device in Timmy's arm after panicking that there might be a time he couldn't reach his assistant.

Russel himself proves to be a disturbing sociopath that is not actually that funny. It is unsettling to watch how he actively victimizes women and many times refers to stalking/assault/harassment charges and the laugh track is cued. Where he shines is when he reveals how talented he is, which explains how successful a sociopath he is, and how those talents impress and relate to Timmy. Russel becomes obsessed with Timmy and at times abandons his evenings to pursue him. In season 5, he and Timmy plan a wedding for Jen and Adam, in sync with everything, including their failure to incorporate a price limit. It is adorable to watch and becomes a motivation to want a horrible liar like Russel on the show at all. Timmy brings out a much more childish, desperate yet vulnerable side of Russel. The dysfunction of this relationship is absolutely fascinating and never addressed in more than a very shallow, comical way.

Overall the plot is one of the most comprehensible, well-paced timelines due to the main focus on Audrey and Jeff, but the failure of the show is the frustration created by the neglect to explore the premise of the show: how various couples in various stages/ages function.

#rules of engagement #writing #E. Kondor #criticism #tv #characters #writer

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