#reused plot points without the same emotional weight

[elevenenthusiast]

Season 3 is my least favorite season of Stranger Things, and honestly, I think it’s the most overrated. I’ll never understand why people defend it so hard. I’m not saying it’s completely devoid of good moments Robin’s coming out scene was genuinely heartfelt, the cast is always giving their best, and the soundtrack is fun but on a story level, it feels hollow. Season 3 is where the show started to unravel into a glossy, corporatized version of itself.

It stopped being eerie, emotional, and grounded. It started becoming a theme park ride.

The tonal shift is jarring. The entire season is soaked in American consumerism, and instead of critiquing it in a meaningful way, the show indulges in it. The mall aesthetic, the excessive product placements, the New Coke ad disguised as a character moment it all felt like a love letter to capitalism rather than a clever takedown of it. When Lucas starts praising Coca-Cola like it’s a Super Bowl commercial, it doesn’t feel satirical. It feels like actual marketing. And that’s the issue.

On top of that, the portrayal of the Russians as the new cartoonish enemy felt lazy and outdated. The evil foreign villains trope has been done to death, especially in American media. It would’ve made way more sense if the American government was the one operating under Starcourt Mall. That would’ve been a stronger metaphor. Imagine discovering that the same shady lab from season one didn’t go away it just went underground, disguised beneath the very symbol of American capitalism. That would’ve been brilliant. That would’ve been a statement.

But instead, we got… Russians. In Indiana. Building an underground base. Under a mall. And no one noticed.

The contrast between the first two seasons and season 3 is stark. Season 1 had nuance it tackled grief, loneliness, trauma. It used the supernatural as a metaphor for real emotional experiences. Season 2 dug deeper Will was possessed by the Mind Flayer, but he was also emotionally isolated, and people around him started treating him differently. Billy’s racism, especially toward Lucas, wasn’t subtle it was brutal and uncomfortable, and it was meant to be. Season 2 still understood what it meant to be a “horror” show rooted in a real-world emotional experience.

Season 3 just… forgot all of that.

It feels like a caricature of what Stranger Things used to be. The horror got dialed down for more action and jokes. The characters became tropes of themselves. And for a show that once prided itself on heart, season 3 became weirdly empty. Even Hopper, who had one of the most compelling arcs in the first two seasons, was suddenly turned into this loud, aggressive caricature of American masculinity. And it’s all set during the Fourth of July, a decision that only amplifies how patriotic and propagandistic the whole thing starts to feel. It’s hard to ignore that it plays like a commercial for America and this is all happening during a time period (the ’80s) when the country was deeply embroiled in racism, homophobia, the AIDS crisis, and Cold War paranoia.

And then they had a little Black girl talking about how she loves America like it’s the best country in the world. That moment just didn’t sit right. It was weirdly sanitized and tone-deaf, especially for a show that once allowed itself to confront hard truths.

But the most frustrating thing is that season 3 had potential. The core idea, the mall, the facade of comfort hiding something sinister could’ve been amazing. If they had leaned into the consumerism, if the mall itself was the enemy, if the threat had come from within from American power structures the story could’ve been a meaningful exploration of identity, trust, and institutional corruption.

Instead, they turned it into fireworks, evil Russians, and Coca-Cola ads. The horror was gone. The intimacy was gone. The message was gone.

Season 3 is where Stranger Things stopped being thoughtful and started being marketable. And once you see that, it’s hard to unsee it.

[jayjaysocks]

Listing my favorite animes (because I’m jumping on the bandwagon)

❗️⚠️ *spoilers!! (Duh)* ❗️⚠️

5. Deadman Wonderland

I was really really sad when I found out this anime got cancelled. The music was fantastic, the animation was really good, and the voice acting was incredible. Even the fucking dubbed version (I loved the voice they chose for Senji. God he was hilarious). I binged this show so fucking fast it wasn’t even funny. I loved watching the characters go through their own struggles and grow as people in the very small amount of episodes provided. There was a lot of development within the snippet that we actually saw, and I was thoroughly impressed with how well it was done. I wanted to scream or something when I found out there wouldn’t be a second season.

Sigh. Oh well. At least we got some of the manga’s masterpiece translated into a show, even if we were missing some fucking awesome characters.

4. Guilty Crown

Ugh, don’t even get me started. This anime was beautiful and I got so invested so freaking quickly. I literally go back every few years to rewatch it because I get ship starved.

Shu and Inori’s story was so beautifully done; between Shu uncovering his courage and Inori’s journey of self-discovery, I was continuously awe-struck and filled with feelings—I mean, I had never felt such raw emotion while watching something and I was completely blown away by the affect it had on me. Anger, hatred, sadness, it was all there (even for the main character lmao) and it was one of the first times I had ever felt a ship so heavily that I literally cried at the end. It was one of the very first Animes I’d ever seen and was one of the reasons I got such a taste for them. Thanks for throwing me down that rabbit hole, GC.

3. Soul Eater

This was literally the first Anime I’d ever seen, and my god I couldn’t have asked for a better starter. What I like about this one is that it’s style is so unique and different. It’s very punk and grunge, something I admired and appreciated in a genre that is normally the opposite (like Guilty Crown, for example). Also the fight scenes were badass, like holy shit just look at that gif ??? Freaking amazing.

I loved the way the show transitioned from light hearted to intense and adrenaline pumping so effortlessly. That can be said about a lot of shows, but this one went from *haha cute show* to *holy shit, like they’re actually gonna die ohmygod howaretheygoingtosurvivethis* so smoothly I was genuinely surprised. They made one of the main villains actually cool and each character had their own beautifully done arc. I loved and adored how the show solidified and expanded on the different friendships/relationships that were involved—specifically Soul and Maka’s (also, holy shit, Stein’s arc? Fucking prime, dude). There was a lot of growth in each and every friendship (CRONA!!!), and that really pushed the viewer to invest in the individual characters.

I am fucking delighted that this was my first anime, and (though the ending was a little anticlimactic) it remains one of my top favorites to this day. It set the bar pretty fucking high, and for that I am extremely greatful.

No one asked for Soul Eater: Not! It is the unspoken sin of the Soul Eater world (then again, it is called Soul Eater: Not!)

2. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

If you have been following me for a while, then you are no stranger to my love of FMAB. Some of my most popular posts are about this anime, and for good reason.

Unfortunately, I was late to the party. I actually didn’t watch this until last year, but got invested really damn quick. I have a tendency to be extremely picky about the animes that I watch/like (which is why NONE of these shows are that recent), to the point that I will literally research them before I start watching (a bad habit, do not copy me). I have an incomparably hard time finishing a show when I start, because I get bored really quickly, but this was an exception. I started watching and I just... didn’t stop. I spent a straight week watching FMAB, gobbling it up during any small amount free time I could manage, and finished it before I even knew what happened. I wasn’t picky about it, I didn’t research it, I just dove right in and gosh, I was not disappointed.

The subtle romance that was alluded throughout the entire show was super cute, the devotion the brothers had for each other was to die for, and the struggles that each person went through was more than moving. I never once found myself bored while watching, and that’s saying a lot for my adhd ass. I was invested in each and every second of that damn anime and I was never, ever left underwhelmed. That probably had to do with the fact that every. Single. Character. Had a purpose. I’m not even kidding. Every single person contributed to the big fight at the end and that alone is fucking fantastic.

Not to mention ALL the women, every female character, was a badass bitch. None of them were reduced to sex appeal or romantic subplot, they all had real feelings, real arcs and real, unadulterated badassery that I thoroughly admired and appreciated. I could watch this anime over and over again every single month and I wouldn’t get bored. Between the emotional struggle, self discovery, and personal development of each character, I promise you will not see a lack of plot or meaning here. The more you watch, the more you discover and that is not a lie. There are so many layers to its story, which only makes me wish I had watched this sooner.

There is nothing I have to offer in the ways of criticism, and for that I couldn’t be happier. Thank you, Hiromu Arakawa, for such an incredible piece of art. You deserve every bit of love that this manga/anime gets. You go girl.

1. Cowboy Bepop

Holy shit holy shit holy shit this anime is so fucking good and it has been my favorite for so damn long. I have been watching anime for years, and while some of the shows in my list have moved around, this one has yet to be bumped down from the top (and I doubt it ever will). There’s a reason it became such a cult classic.

For starters, the animation. I mean, just look at Spike and the way they animate his fighting (yes I am aware that this gif is from the movie, but that still doesn’t change my point). The sequences in the show/film have been reused in many other shows and for good reason. It’s good, incredible, actually and they make him look so badass with just a few hand movements. I was consistently impressed with the way the fight scenes were portrayed and wasn’t ever left underwhelmed or disappointed (or, for that matter, feeling like they completely over exaggerated/overcompensated the scene with huge close-ups and tons of debris and lights). I loved watching this and my heart was always pounding with every intense interaction. I didn’t feel bored during any of the episodes and always found myself laughing when they cracked a joke—pretty much all of their funny lines hit and that’s saying something, dude.

The show, while having a lighthearted surface, has a heavy meaning that you don’t see at first glance. It’s about dealing with grief and loss, and how the characters themselves accomplished that in different ways. The most prominent quote is the biggest indication of its moral “you’re gonna carry that weight”. Basically: ‘You’ve gotta pick up your baggage, because the world moves on, with or without you’. Or ‘You’re going to carry that weight whether you like it or not, because life keeps going’. When I figured out the show’s actual message, while staring at my ceiling in the long hours of the night, I almost cried. This realization brought something entirely different to the table, a new understanding of the show’s characters and overall essence.

The main characters, all of them, had depth. They had real, palpable depth, and even if you didn’t want to care you found yourself seriously interested in their lives. Each of them had relatively shitty pasts. Faye with her lost memories, Spike with Julia and the people who fucked him over, Jet with his old flame and the ISSP, Ed and her/his father... throughout the entire show we got to see how all of them dealt with these things, whether they wanted to continue on with life or not. The way they portrayed it was engaging, because the characters individual, contrasting journeys weren’t repetitive or one note. The beauty that the show holds so achinging close to its core, the layers of grief that the characters are wrapped in so delicately is almost suffocatingly real—because they’re all different. It’s something you discover when you think on the subject in a deeper light, which is another reason why I enjoy it so much. It has both a surface story and a deeper one. You can either take the show at face value or choose to understand the underlying moral.

This show inspired my very first, thoroughly fleshed out OC, and continues to inspire me to this day. It has contributed to my own personal growth, and has helped push me to continue my art and writing. It is beautifully written, beautifully executed and even though some of the episodes seem like filler, it has never disappointed me. I rewatch it all the time because there’s something so infinitely refreshing about the beauty of this anime, whether it be the way we watch the characters develop or the overall moral it portrays. This show has given us a message that is essentially timeless, it can be ‘carried’ through generation after generation, and still have the same impact—something I absolutely fucking adore.

I owe so much to this anime, including my very own artistic development. I discovered it during a really shitty time in my life and I couldn’t have asked for better timing. I will never tire of the bittersweet message or the thoroughly fucking fantastic animation. Everyone who contributed to this masterpiece deserves love, because it’s seriously fucking gold.

[vagrant-soul]

Yet again, I got hooked by a stinger implying something interesting that wound up amounting to nothing, and I’m starting to feel like the lore is just never going to be able to escape the consequences of being built on an endless string of cliffhangers with disappointing exposition for resolution.

Extensive analysis of why the Empire narrative failed in 4.5 under the cut.

I really liked the twist where Varis was a knowing puppet of the Ascians; sure, it introduced another boring, flat villain characterized primarily by Crazyface, but it did so in a way that gave a character we were more familiar with, who has more emotional weight, a few more shades of complexity. 

Varis previously had one apparent goal (maintain + grow the Empire), a logistical struggle to attain that goal (defeat the warrior of light), and no apparent concerns outside of the scope of that goal beyond glimmers here and there that there might be something more going on beneath the surface (as with your first encounter with him in Heavensward, or when he dismisses his own son as a monster despite the apparent hypocrisy). The twist gave the story an opportunity to provide us with something other than a stock villain in a fancy tin can.

Except, of course it didn’t.

Varis shows his hand immediately, revealing that his solution to the tension and conflict created by the disadvantaged position we’ve just discovered is really just additional brute force. Jumping to any conclusion is disappointing when you’ve only just introduced a concept that leaves room for doubt, surprise, tension, character growth, and all the other things that make a story interesting, but the particulars of this conclusion are especially disappointing because it’s a very simplistic idea dressed up in complexities and contrivances.

His resolution - to kill the Ascians in order to permit humankind greater control of its own affairs, separate from divine meddling - is a plot point once again lifted directly from Final Fantasy XII. In FFXII, it was an excellent motivator for the villain that elegantly added dimension to the story, and that’s probably why it was chosen for reuse here - where it doesn’t work, because the two worlds have VERY different relationships to divinity and use their plot-moving God characters to different ends.

The Ascian narrative particulars have always been hazy, but their central purpose to the story has ALWAYS been to cut across the more political and human stories and play devils-ex-machina. They’re an easy, boring and perpetual threat that allow the player’s eye and the writer’s time to be drawn elsewhere. This is, in fact, the EXACT purpose Ascian-Solus serves; it creates unity in the story through keeping the Greater Evil consistent and it allows the human characters in the foreground the capacity for a little more depth. Crucially, the fact that they’re meddling is not the problem, as Hydaelyn meddles all the time and the narrative tends to agree this is Good - the problem is just that they’re evil (or “agents of chaos”, if you will).

The idea of adding a divergent motivation to a villain by proposing they team up with the heroes to defeat the Greater Evil is itself fine, but the constraint that made this interesting in FFXII is that said villain still had to do it at cross-purposes with the hero’s interests, goals, and well-being; they were still a villain, even if they were aligned on a single point. The writers clearly tried to achieve the same effect here, but because the greater evil in this case is not the silent hand of fate but a bunch of saturday morning cartoons, it became much more difficult to keep the Emperor villainous as well. They needed his methods to keep him antagonistic, and there wasn’t any tool on the table to let them do this besides to make up something arbitrary.

Varis’ proposal to kill the Ascians therefore involves just killing a load of people. In fact, it involves doing all the same stuff the Ascians want to do, except more. His plan heavily references FFXIV’s bloated and complex cosmology, introduced an expansion ago and entirely inconsequential ever since, making it difficult to recall as well. It also introduces a new, unexplained, unsubstantiated idea that going along with the Ascian’s desired plan to unite all the worlds will also, somehow, transmogrify everybody who didn’t die in the process into a race of ultra-peaceful super-humans that will then be able to rid the world of Ascian influence.

It’s a new, thinly explained concept that doesn’t have any connection to any of the narrative mechanics we’ve learned in the past. You can’t draw on past story experience to intuitively understand why this character believes this plan would work and is worth pursuing, because it has no basis in anything we’ve learned so far. 

The other problem is the story information we do have - just a few story-hours ago we were introduced to another character who has been hunting Ascians, manually, with, like, a sword and a gun. And he’s been, apparently, quite successful in this approach! Of course, we, the player, have also been pretty successful in a similar approach as well, and have killed 4 or 5 of what were once-12 Ascians in the course of doing other kinds of business. 

The net result is that Varis’ proposal appears both foolish and hasty. It’s a high-effort, high-cost, ???-reward proposition that closes the door on further introspection he or any other character might have about how to solve a difficult problem (i.e. “How do we free the empire of Ascian influence”) that might in turn create a new world state (i.e. “What does Garlemald look like WITHOUT that influence?”). It ignores proven, in-world story information in favor of something invented on the fly, making it obviously irrational to anyone who has taken even a cursory look at the other options. It doesn’t make him look complicated, dastardly, or cunning - it just primes us to expect another cartoon villain, this time with exciting new fascist overtones.

The most frustrating part isn’t the lost opportunities or the strain on believability or even the way the lore seems like an overly complex rusty jungle gym, duct-tape hastily applied to support whatever direction the writers care to go in this time. It’s that this one scenario I’ve written a thousand words on is a microcosm of the interplay between these problems and the greater ones they have created in the past. It just seems inevitable they’ll be repeated into the future.

[zorilleerrant]

this thing is offering writing advice about fanfic and it’s basically “write something that has story elements” and. okay?? look, if you want to give advice about fanfic, it has to be stuff that’s different from advice on writing original fiction, not where the overlaps lie. here:

don’t get bogged down in details and accuracy. feel free to look things up if you want something specific, but whatever stands out in your memory is probably what stands out in a lot of other people’s memory, too, and is more narratively weighty than exact continuity.

nothing will be entirely canon compliant. canons are never entirely compliant with themselves. don’t even worry about the timeline because it never made sense. offer notes about major changes you make, but people will just roll with minor ones.

if your story doesn’t revolve around plot, the best thing to do is reuse the original canon’s plot. it will be familiar and not distract the reader from the more important elements of your story. otherwise, use a stock plot from something else familiar, like Shakespeare or Sherlock Holmes.

likewise, if character personalities, arcs, relationships, etc. aren’t the central focal point, it’s easiest and least obtrusive to stay close to canon in how you represent them. you should probably do this with canon characters that only play a small part in your story, especially if they’re major characters in the original.

you only need to introduce elements if they’re unique to your fanfic. you can assume the average reader is familiar with the worldbuilding, characters, plot, storytelling style, etc. you can even assume popular fanon elements will be familiar, and treat them as if they’ve already been introduced in your story.

speaking of, treat fanon the same way you treat canon. keep it if you like it, toss it if you don’t. fanon is no better or worse than canon, and it’s just as up to you what you do with it. sticking to fanon isn’t ‘uncreative’ or ‘trying to be popular’, and straying from it isn’t ‘hostile to other fans’ or ‘trying to prove you’re better’. it’s just more story elements you can mix and match as you like.

whether or not you invent elements to add to the story is up to you. you can, but you don’t need to. additional advice about this is about audience reception, not whether you enjoy writing it, so keep in mind that framework when you look at it.

if there are plot holes, you can fix them. you can give shallow characters more depth. you can flesh out the world. none of these things are strictly canon noncompliant, because they might have been changed with more editing. if you want to make huge changes, though, do it.

if you use quotes from the text, try to use familiar/popular ones, and try to keep the number of them down. most people are already familiar with the original canon and aren’t looking to see it copied word for word.

there’s a lot of things you can do in fanfic without worrying like in original, such as using brand names, making blatant references to media or real life figures and events, or adding crossovers. if you think the original canon could benefit from that fix, go ahead.

you can also feel free to fix things that were implied but not outright stated in the original canon, like making characters queer, explicitly stating their religions, or developing their non-Western cultural connections more. disabilities, especially mental illness, may also be useful to develop here, even though they’re often accidental rather than subtle.

tropes are a great kicking off point, but don’t feel pressured to use them if you have nothing to say with them. sticking one in just to have it there will come off. well. tropey

the fic version of ‘write what you know’ is ‘write the parts you care about’. make your favorite character the narrator. set it during your favorite plot event. use your favorite slang and nicknames. it will all have more emotional weight if you do that, because you care more.

titling is hard. but it doesn’t have to be unique or even particularly memorable. unlike picking a book off the shelf, readers are rarely opening up a fic based on title. what I do is title them so I can remember what fic it is if someone leaves me a comment or kudos.

add references. everyone likes a good easter egg. canon, fanon, another fic, fanart, meta, a joke or meme going around the fandom, a different fandom, your own original writing or personal posts, tumblr, pop culture, history facts, etc. fanfic is way more open to them. go nuts.

[upslapmeal]

Opinion: Jane The Virgin it's losing it's charm. It let me down after episode 10 and I tried to keep watching but it's disappointing me so far. I just feel is not as funny and smart written as it was and it's just reusing storylines. And I'm still not used to the characters now after the 3-year jump, it feels so hurried.

Ok so I know the point of this ask game thing is just to say whether you agree or disagree but I have way too many thoughts about this to just leave it at that. So. In general I agree, at least to a point. And I’ve literally written over 1000 words as a reply so I’m putting it under a readmore bc….whoops…….

Right to start off, I know something everyone used to complain about the crime plots but that was something I really thought was missing at the start of S3. Those plots were usually good at providing drama that really contrasted with Jane’s life and I’d been looking forward to Michael finally going back to work so we’d get them back. Which obviously didn’t happen, and I know we have Dennis and they’re still part of the plot but it’s different from having one of the main characters directly involved. 

Something else that definitely hasn’t helped but isn’t necessarily the show’s fault is that we’ve lost side characters because the actors have become involved in other shows - specifically Luisa, Lina and Rose. This limits the interactions we can see, and means that when they’re on the show they don’t get any meaningful longer storylines because they won’t be around for long. This has been a specific problem for Luisa who seems to appear for an episode or two then get sent off to rehab. Rose was a great villain and that’s something else the show’s been lacking, especially since Mutter’s dead though she was never as compelling as Rose. 

I remember back in S1 wondering how long the show would last because it seemed unlikely that they would be able to keep generating such elevated plots and ridiculous twists, and I think that’s just part of the nature of the show unfortunately. In that during S1 (and S2 though less so) all the ~telenovela aspects were new and fresh, but they used up a whole bunch of tropes and plotlines, and also we’ve just got more used to it and better at predicting what will happen. That’s not to say repeated elements don’t always work - the Anezka twist at the end of ch39 completely caught me off guard despite the Roman/Aaron plot in S1. I had thought that Rafael finding out he wasn’t a Solano would be an opening for more telenovela plots, possibly involving the art theft and Italian orphanage, but instead it fed the more grounded emotional plots in that it made Raf want to turn over a new leaf. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and that’s not to say it won’t lead to those plots in the future, but considering that the show seems to be lagging a bit in its telenovela side it does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity. 

Which brings us to ch54, Michael’s death, and the time jump. Considering what I’ve said about plots running out it made sense that they needed to shake things up, and Jennie said Michael’s death was the mid-show equivalent to Jane’s insemination in that it was an event that completely turned Jane’s life upside down and changed what she’s imagined her future to be. And it certainly did that but I do think it also did several things that hurt the story. Firstly, it just added to the problem I talked about with the show losing characters and so losing different interactions and relationships to explore. Brett said after the end of S2 that he’d love Michael to have more scenes with Alba and see what the relationship is there, and personally that was a relationship it really hoped we’d get to see, especially after those vows. Losing characters hits harder when they’re part of the main cast. Then we also lost our main connection to the police side of all the telenovela crime drama. And as well as losing a telenovela aspect we also lost many more grounded potential storylines. What’s Michael’s role in bringing Mateo up as he gets older? How do they deal with the difference between Mateo, who’s constantly moving between parents, and JM’s potential future child(ren) who would live with them all the time? Would we get to see Rogelio take Michael, Rafael and Mateo out on an over-the-top Father’s Day bonding adventure? Idk, it just feels like there were so many more potential storylines to mine from that family.

Then there’s the issue of trying to use the death in the same way as the insemination. The problem comes from the fact that they gave the show very different things. The whole show sprung up from Jane’s insemination. The show would not exist without it and the whole show since then has been dealing with the consequences of this event. We got to see the very real and emotional effects, the difficulties it caused and how hard it could be, really letting Gina flex her acting muscles, but it was also a ridiculous telenovela event that could be used as a source of humour and ultimately ended up being one of the best things to happen to Jane. And the problem with using Michael’s death to similarly shake up her life is it only provides the first half of that, the difficult, emotional side. It’s not something that can be joked about or used for fun drama.

And so then we have the time jump. I absolutely understand why they decided to have the jump, if the show had gone straight into the period after his death it would have been too dark for the show, and the jump lets us see the long-term effects. Unfortunately though, they literally killed their protagonist’s husband after they were married for 7 months. They created a situation where the consequences are dark and difficult and heartbreaking. And so while I appreciate that we’re seeing Jane still affected by it after three years, we need to see more of this difficult stuff that the show made for itself. I’ve already rambled a lot about this here so I won’t get into that again but if the show’s going to use this death supposedly to be a mid-show insemination equivalent, it mustn’t shy away from the situation it’s made for itself. And I’m not saying the show isn’t showing Jane’s grief but I don’t think it’s changed enough or doing it in a way that justifies killing him in the first place.

In fact the biggest change to the show that’s come from Michael’s death is the time jump. And honestly, outside Jane’s story I do think it’s done the show good. It’s refreshed a lot of storylines and from a practical pov has made sure they have good kid actors instead of just hoping that Aiden (who played young Mateo) turned out to be a good actor. And you know what? I think the time jump would have been a great thing to happen to show without Michael dying. Because then you haven’t lost one of the pieces in the game, just rearranged them. Rather than carrying the weight of showing Jane moving out of deep grief, the flashbacks would help fill in the gaps better for more characters. Everyone would be in a new place and there wouldn’t be the weird rushed disconnect there is now where the show has gone from an incredibly traumatic event back to near-normality in the space of less than an episode. 

I know this all sounds really negative. I do appreciate how the show has decided to tell a story of coming back after having dealt with terrible grief and I don’t want to fully judge how good a job it’s done until the end of the season, and even without quite the same spark as the start it’s a fantastic show. I’ve tried to be as objective as possible with this and look at the show without thinking about personal opinions of characters etc (though I am incredibly bitter and sad about Michael’s death for non-storytelling reasons), and I think that the heightened and balanced nature of the show at the start has made a bit of a fall inevitable. But it’s done a damn good job of trying to keep as close to that place as possible, even if that has included missteps or repeated storylines. I’ve still loved every episode so far, not all as much as each other, but there is yet to be an episode I dislike. And so yes, it has lost a bit of its charm and it’s made decisions I’m disappointed in, but as a whole I still think it’s a clever and important show that I love. And long may that last.