4d ago

What TV series essentially became unwatchable to you after one decision by the writers?

You're viewing a single thread.

100 comments

Battlestar Galactica. I didn't even really like the show because of the tone anyways... but in the last episode of the first season they throw the female lead in the bed of the male lead who was a "bad guy" for some reason.
I realized they didn't actually care about plot at that point, and were just going for shock value.
- Are you referring to when ::: spoiler spoiler Starbuck slept with Gaius? :::
  
  Yah. I assume they had some trick or something to do with it, but i didn't really care, cause... again, all about shock value.
  
  Well ::: spoiler spoiler I wouldn't really describe Gaius as a villain as such overall - at least not a traditional villain, but it wasn't meant to be shocking. If I recall she said "Lee" during her hook-up with him - it was to indicate she wasn't over Lee. :::
  
  I didn't describe him as a villain, he wasn't a mustache twirling megalomaniac... he was a self-involved douchebag who assisted in the downfall of humanity not of some malevolent plan... but because he wanted to get his dick wet.
  I'd say that makes him pretty bad guy.
  And they started the episode with it. No build up or plotting, just "Hey you know this strong independent women youre supposed to empathize with? We threw her in bed with the worst possible person we could create." That has all the subtlety of those screamy jump scare videos from the late 90s. Cheap and incredibly lazy, meant to invoke a strong reaction... not a meaningful one.
  
  Why do you have to put it on women to make "good" decisions? They don't have to keep themselves pure, they can do what they want, just like men. You say he just wants to get his dick wet? Sometimes a "strong independent woman" just wants to get her pussy stuffed and she knows the fuc boi is easy.
  Maybe what is was meant to invoke wasn't a strong reaction, but a realization that this is different society where women don't have to conform to the same sexuality repressing gender norms, and going forward we shouldn't assume the characters have the same puritanical hangups we're used to
  
  Yeah, it's not the "My god, she had sex!" that was the shocking part. You seem to be inferring something that wasn't in any way implied.
  It's also about the story as much as it is about the characters, if all they wanted to show as that she wanted physical comfort or some carnal release... they could have used any other number of people, or even a wholesale created character for the purpose. Instead they used a character that they've made easily reviled and morally dubious.
  That is the part I have a problem with. Not her, not even directly him, but the people who put them together for no other reason then "Hey look! What possible circumstance could have pushed these two completely disparate personalities together! It must be exciting, you should keep watching!" It was lazy writing, and sealed my already low opinion of the show.
  
  I never reviled Gaius. I don't think the audience did either. He was a complete mess and intruiging from day one.
  As for Starbuck? Well whilst she may be more of a "goodie", her personal life was also a complete mess.
  
  I'd say that says more about you and the audience for the show than it does anything.
  
  Gaius is an interesting and well-written character.
  
  "What possible circumstance?"
  He was good looking (or good enough for her that night), easy, available, and in her line of sight when she decided she wanted some. Their lack of any future relationship shows she just hit it and quit it.
  Male "heroes" bang treacherous ass all the time and no one says shit. Why can't a "good guy" who's a woman decide she wants some shady pipe laid?
  This was completely in character for her.
  
  I feel like you're way overthinking that scene. There were a few hint that Gaius wanted to hook up with Starbuck before that scene in the episodes preceding (if I recall) - remember, the fleet at this point think he's weird and charming. They don't know his backstory.
  Then they hook up and that's it. It's over. They never hook up again. The purpose really wasn't meant to shock the audience at all.
  
  I like to think about stories, and not just assume they're bland emotionless scenes that exist for no reason except to show that one character was fuckin'.
  If that's the only reason the scene exists, it was pointless and had no reason to exist anyways. Which makes it bad for other reasons.
  
  I'm just telling you that it wasn't designed to be some major shock scene, or plot point. You'll forgive me if I don't recall the overarching details to the wider plot that derive from that scene (I do think Gaius makes a snarky comment about what Kara said later on in public) but it's hardly some unbelievable twist that Gaius would want to hook up with Starbuck (he is a literal sex addict) and he was charming and popular amongst the crew (at that point).
  
  Yes, you can make excuses for why such a situation might exist... but why does the scene exist? What story elements does it provide? What character motivations does it provide? If, as you say, there is no follow up and no plot elements linked to it specifically being Gaius and Starbuck... then why was it Gaius and Starbuck? Either for no reason, and it's bad storytelling, or it's shock value, and it's bad storytelling.
  
  You could say that about a lot of scenes in general across so many different shows. It doesn't need to exist except probably to show that Gaius and Kara (for different reasons) aren't especially interested or capable of long-term relationships currently (and that Kara has deep feelings for Lee).
  I don't see why it shouldn't be Gaius or Starbuck.

100 comments