The State of TV Triangles
Note: Originally posted on Jater Couch #9, on October 21, 2006. I apologize for the repost for those who have already read it. I'm probably going to be reposting some even older posts of mine here on my LJ, mostly so I can archive some of the analysis I've done on Jack/Kate. I'd like to have it in one place, but don't feel obligated to re-read, please. Thanks! :)
Honestly, there's one thing I want to see, and I've never seen it on TV with a couple so I've not actually been shown that it can be proven to work, but I still have faith it can (although greatly diminished now that I've seen the outcome of the first six episodes of S3), and if LOST's Jack and Kate can't deliver, then truly I'm giving up. Put a triangle in intially; make it be about character development, that's ok, but don't go to the point of no return. Don't put your destined couple together too early so that in later seasons you're scrambling for material. Don't use contrived plots and the same recycled misunderstandings. Let them grow but eventually put them together without destroying them by putting them with someone else first, and don't ruin the characters in an effort to keep them from getting together too fast or from becoming stale after you've put them together by resorting to tired triangles.
The example I use is the WB's Gilmore Girls only because it is now in its 7th season, so, much further along than LOST, and I think it can serve as a good foreshadowing of what LOST could (and again, at this point, may have) become because, as others have said, the triangles in each are slightly similar. Now, let me preface with I have watched a lot of TV. And being the extremely embarrassing hopeless romantic that I am, most of the shows I've watched have a couple in them to whom I am obsessively attached. I thought GG had it down; I thought they were going to be the first show I'd seen to do the couple right. Previous favorites (probably my biggest) like Roswell ruined the couple I loved with said tired triangle. But with Luke and Lorelai on GG, they didn't put them together until the end of the 4th season. The show had an initial expected duration of 7 seasons, so I thought it was fantastic. They built them up so well and so carefully during those four seasons, and I was so excited. When they finally got together, honestly (unlike LOST, even), I really believe the majority of the audience wants Luke and Lorelai. Even the online community (which is where I note the difference with LOST), which is again something different, from everything I see wants Luke and Lorelai. And that's the established couple, obviously.
So they're together season 5 - first date, adorable; journey into coupledom, precious. Loving it. There was a small blip midway through S5, but nothing major. There was a couple of episodes where they kind of took a break, but nothing was destroyed; it was mostly just obvious how much they'd fallen for each other, how much they missed each other, and how intwined their lives had become. And they get back together. At the end of S5, Lorelai proposes. Beginning of S6, Luke accepts. They get engaged. It's all very sweet, but at this time Lorelai and [her daughter] Rory are on the outs and Lorelai doesn't want to move forward on the wedding until she and Rory have made up, which is understandable IMO, so they don't. Midway through season 6 she and Rory make up.
THEN comes the beginning of the horror. They come up with this truly ridiculous storyline of Luke having a long lost daughter that he never knew about appearing out of the woodworks. Luke hides the secret about his daughter from Lorelai for awhile, and even after she finds out about it, he wants to keep the two separate which really hurts Lorelai. He not only doesn't want his daughter and his fiancee to interact; he wants to postpone the wedding. It's tragic, really, because Lorelai has this fantastic monologue during the S6 finale about finally wanting to have a home, get married, have more kids (this from a woman who could never commit before), and it was just heartbreaking because it was Luke putting a halt to what everyone wanted - the characters, the audience, everybody. And not even a legitimate reason, but a plot device that was completely preposterous. So in the finale, Lorelai issued him an ultimatum, Luke floundered and didn't move on it, they hastily broke up, then Lorelai's character was as discredited as Luke's when she went and slept with [Rory's father, Lorelei's ex] Chris in last season's finale. And then here you are, up to speed for Season 7. Just last week Lorelai and Chris went on this cozy little date while Luke played daddy to his newfound daughter. I can't even recognize it anymore.
And here's my problem. All through this show, I felt like it's incredibly clever (which it is, still is dialogue-wise, but I digress) because it set up this romance that everyone rooted for, it did the slow simmering thing and really made us wait for it. Then it was even good and incredibly fresh, up through the end of S5 with Luke's proposal; they're engaged in S6. What should have happened is that they should've gotten married at the end of S6, and then S7, the final season, should've been about them being married. Married life with Luke and Lorelai - hell, if you know the characters then you know that that could've been a show all on its own. It would've been brilliant. The material definitely could've been there; their writers have proven that they're intelligent. And we would've seen something rarely, if ever, done: their relationship, not torn apart by contrivances, but built up and ultimately still really fresh and unique after seven seasons, developed and married and facing new challenges. I absolutely believe it just would've been so engaging. Instead we're seeing regression and ridiculous plot and I'm just scratching my head.
The thing is (and here is where LOST really applies), I have no doubt whatsoever that Luke and Lorelai are the intended couple, much like Jack and Kate. And I do believe they'll get together at the end of the series, but at what cost? If this is the final season, I think they'll get back together or perhaps get married at the very end, but where is all the creative fun of that original last season of married life with Luke and Lorelai? I mean, there's such potential there for freshness and storylines that most shows don't get to because they go the traditional route of too many interferences and contrivances to keep couples apart right until the very, very end of a series. But in real life, the story doesn't end with the wedding. There's huge possibility for entertainment beyond the "I Do's" and the "happily ever afters." So it's not the fear that the couple we've chosen isn't the intended. It's just that for once I want to see something fresh, and I felt like finally with GG I'd found that, so I was so depressed and incredibly disappointed to see it sink to the bottom along with all the others.
I worry about this problem with TV couples and triangles in general because based on experience, it almost seems like producers don't really think about the long-term in things like relationships. That is, six or seven seasons worth of material to build up a relationship; it has to be careful and methodical. And I adore GG and Luke and Lorelai, but I am leaps and bounds more invested in Jack/Kate. I just didn't want them to become muddied or lose their way or forget for a second an ounce of clarity regarding their original vision for this couple. Now that I feel that they have taken the story to a point of no return, I honestly don't know how I'll feel about LOST trying to recover what I feel they've tarnished. Not to say that I am not still a Jack/Kate shipper. They're my favorite couple I've ever seen on TV, so I don't give up quite that easily. But I can say with some confidence that I fear they'll never be the same they once were, and I can only hope that by the time TPTB finally put them together I'm still invested enough to care.
For once I want a show to write something creative and fresh and that really isn't typical, pick the canon couple and stick to it, and please don't get them together and then mess them up afterward, either. Honestly, based on GG, that's even worse. In regards to Jack/Kate, don't go too far with Sawyer/Kate. Just don't. (Ha! Too late.) I was discussing the implications of hypothetically if Kate and Sawyer had to get together in some capacity, whether it would be better for Jack and Kate if it was now or later after they got together. Both obviously have their negatives, but the truth is, if it's down the road in some sort of horrid rebound thing, that's poor writing too because with Jack and Kate the potential will always be there for powerful, intelligent storytelling and a scenario where Kate ever regressing back to Sawyer isn't IMO. Jack and Kate aren't going to just get together and be perfect, obviously. They're going to struggle in putting together two such complicated, broken souls. So they will regress, but let them do so within themselves and their own issues. Just don't take them outside of their relationship to seek their regression or comfort. Kate does not need to turn to Sawyer after she and Jack hit a rough patch to revert back to her destructive habits anymore. IMO that's what S2 was about. That was the time for turning to another individual for a mutually destructive relationship, and it didn't happen. All the set-up was there, and really no one could've justifiably argued against it at the time because she and Jack were in such a bad place and not an established relationship themselves. But they didn't go there, and it passed. In the future, after the Jate relationship has progressed and when they reach an obstacle, Kate can lash out within herself, go back to believing she's not good enough, and work through her/their issues that way, and obviously vice versa for Jack. My point is if they have her regress back to Sawyer after she and Jack are together, like in GG, they won't be the writers I've been crediting as so intelligent all this time and I will once and for all lose faith in the intellect of television writing and its ability to craft believable and fresh characters, situations, and couples.
Honestly, there's one thing I want to see, and I've never seen it on TV with a couple so I've not actually been shown that it can be proven to work, but I still have faith it can (although greatly diminished now that I've seen the outcome of the first six episodes of S3), and if LOST's Jack and Kate can't deliver, then truly I'm giving up. Put a triangle in intially; make it be about character development, that's ok, but don't go to the point of no return. Don't put your destined couple together too early so that in later seasons you're scrambling for material. Don't use contrived plots and the same recycled misunderstandings. Let them grow but eventually put them together without destroying them by putting them with someone else first, and don't ruin the characters in an effort to keep them from getting together too fast or from becoming stale after you've put them together by resorting to tired triangles.
The example I use is the WB's Gilmore Girls only because it is now in its 7th season, so, much further along than LOST, and I think it can serve as a good foreshadowing of what LOST could (and again, at this point, may have) become because, as others have said, the triangles in each are slightly similar. Now, let me preface with I have watched a lot of TV. And being the extremely embarrassing hopeless romantic that I am, most of the shows I've watched have a couple in them to whom I am obsessively attached. I thought GG had it down; I thought they were going to be the first show I'd seen to do the couple right. Previous favorites (probably my biggest) like Roswell ruined the couple I loved with said tired triangle. But with Luke and Lorelai on GG, they didn't put them together until the end of the 4th season. The show had an initial expected duration of 7 seasons, so I thought it was fantastic. They built them up so well and so carefully during those four seasons, and I was so excited. When they finally got together, honestly (unlike LOST, even), I really believe the majority of the audience wants Luke and Lorelai. Even the online community (which is where I note the difference with LOST), which is again something different, from everything I see wants Luke and Lorelai. And that's the established couple, obviously.
So they're together season 5 - first date, adorable; journey into coupledom, precious. Loving it. There was a small blip midway through S5, but nothing major. There was a couple of episodes where they kind of took a break, but nothing was destroyed; it was mostly just obvious how much they'd fallen for each other, how much they missed each other, and how intwined their lives had become. And they get back together. At the end of S5, Lorelai proposes. Beginning of S6, Luke accepts. They get engaged. It's all very sweet, but at this time Lorelai and [her daughter] Rory are on the outs and Lorelai doesn't want to move forward on the wedding until she and Rory have made up, which is understandable IMO, so they don't. Midway through season 6 she and Rory make up.
THEN comes the beginning of the horror. They come up with this truly ridiculous storyline of Luke having a long lost daughter that he never knew about appearing out of the woodworks. Luke hides the secret about his daughter from Lorelai for awhile, and even after she finds out about it, he wants to keep the two separate which really hurts Lorelai. He not only doesn't want his daughter and his fiancee to interact; he wants to postpone the wedding. It's tragic, really, because Lorelai has this fantastic monologue during the S6 finale about finally wanting to have a home, get married, have more kids (this from a woman who could never commit before), and it was just heartbreaking because it was Luke putting a halt to what everyone wanted - the characters, the audience, everybody. And not even a legitimate reason, but a plot device that was completely preposterous. So in the finale, Lorelai issued him an ultimatum, Luke floundered and didn't move on it, they hastily broke up, then Lorelai's character was as discredited as Luke's when she went and slept with [Rory's father, Lorelei's ex] Chris in last season's finale. And then here you are, up to speed for Season 7. Just last week Lorelai and Chris went on this cozy little date while Luke played daddy to his newfound daughter. I can't even recognize it anymore.
And here's my problem. All through this show, I felt like it's incredibly clever (which it is, still is dialogue-wise, but I digress) because it set up this romance that everyone rooted for, it did the slow simmering thing and really made us wait for it. Then it was even good and incredibly fresh, up through the end of S5 with Luke's proposal; they're engaged in S6. What should have happened is that they should've gotten married at the end of S6, and then S7, the final season, should've been about them being married. Married life with Luke and Lorelai - hell, if you know the characters then you know that that could've been a show all on its own. It would've been brilliant. The material definitely could've been there; their writers have proven that they're intelligent. And we would've seen something rarely, if ever, done: their relationship, not torn apart by contrivances, but built up and ultimately still really fresh and unique after seven seasons, developed and married and facing new challenges. I absolutely believe it just would've been so engaging. Instead we're seeing regression and ridiculous plot and I'm just scratching my head.
The thing is (and here is where LOST really applies), I have no doubt whatsoever that Luke and Lorelai are the intended couple, much like Jack and Kate. And I do believe they'll get together at the end of the series, but at what cost? If this is the final season, I think they'll get back together or perhaps get married at the very end, but where is all the creative fun of that original last season of married life with Luke and Lorelai? I mean, there's such potential there for freshness and storylines that most shows don't get to because they go the traditional route of too many interferences and contrivances to keep couples apart right until the very, very end of a series. But in real life, the story doesn't end with the wedding. There's huge possibility for entertainment beyond the "I Do's" and the "happily ever afters." So it's not the fear that the couple we've chosen isn't the intended. It's just that for once I want to see something fresh, and I felt like finally with GG I'd found that, so I was so depressed and incredibly disappointed to see it sink to the bottom along with all the others.
I worry about this problem with TV couples and triangles in general because based on experience, it almost seems like producers don't really think about the long-term in things like relationships. That is, six or seven seasons worth of material to build up a relationship; it has to be careful and methodical. And I adore GG and Luke and Lorelai, but I am leaps and bounds more invested in Jack/Kate. I just didn't want them to become muddied or lose their way or forget for a second an ounce of clarity regarding their original vision for this couple. Now that I feel that they have taken the story to a point of no return, I honestly don't know how I'll feel about LOST trying to recover what I feel they've tarnished. Not to say that I am not still a Jack/Kate shipper. They're my favorite couple I've ever seen on TV, so I don't give up quite that easily. But I can say with some confidence that I fear they'll never be the same they once were, and I can only hope that by the time TPTB finally put them together I'm still invested enough to care.
For once I want a show to write something creative and fresh and that really isn't typical, pick the canon couple and stick to it, and please don't get them together and then mess them up afterward, either. Honestly, based on GG, that's even worse. In regards to Jack/Kate, don't go too far with Sawyer/Kate. Just don't. (Ha! Too late.) I was discussing the implications of hypothetically if Kate and Sawyer had to get together in some capacity, whether it would be better for Jack and Kate if it was now or later after they got together. Both obviously have their negatives, but the truth is, if it's down the road in some sort of horrid rebound thing, that's poor writing too because with Jack and Kate the potential will always be there for powerful, intelligent storytelling and a scenario where Kate ever regressing back to Sawyer isn't IMO. Jack and Kate aren't going to just get together and be perfect, obviously. They're going to struggle in putting together two such complicated, broken souls. So they will regress, but let them do so within themselves and their own issues. Just don't take them outside of their relationship to seek their regression or comfort. Kate does not need to turn to Sawyer after she and Jack hit a rough patch to revert back to her destructive habits anymore. IMO that's what S2 was about. That was the time for turning to another individual for a mutually destructive relationship, and it didn't happen. All the set-up was there, and really no one could've justifiably argued against it at the time because she and Jack were in such a bad place and not an established relationship themselves. But they didn't go there, and it passed. In the future, after the Jate relationship has progressed and when they reach an obstacle, Kate can lash out within herself, go back to believing she's not good enough, and work through her/their issues that way, and obviously vice versa for Jack. My point is if they have her regress back to Sawyer after she and Jack are together, like in GG, they won't be the writers I've been crediting as so intelligent all this time and I will once and for all lose faith in the intellect of television writing and its ability to craft believable and fresh characters, situations, and couples.