Things that Annoy me...
I get really bothered when people say things like 'I miss the Characters X&Y from [insert earlier season here]. Do you expect people to remain stagnant over a span of time that is presumably YEARS? Really? Because I know personally I've changed several things about my personality in the past 10, 7, even 5 years.
My Point is: PEOPLE CHANGE!!! Just because they are fictional people doesn't mean they can't grow emotionally/spiritually. Because you know those same people would be complaining left/right/center if Characters X&Y were the exact same people with the same stance on [insert common topic of conversation in show 'verse here], in say Season 4 as they had been in Season 1.
Take Dr. Daniel Jackson (from Stargate: SG-1) for a PERFECT example. In the beginning of the show he was your classic geeky social sciences 'Can't we all just get along' type. But by the end of the 10 year run of the show he was as comfortable with the concept of 'peace doesn't come without a cost' as any of the 'hardened' military personnel on the base. There would have been no pay-off for me if he was still standing in the back of the group adjusting his glasses saying 'I really think we need to stop and talk this to death before we go in shooting'. I mean, don't get me wrong, he still did his fair share of wanting to talk before shooting. But it wasn't so much from the 'back of the group cowering behind all the people with the really big guns'.
Or Dean and Sam Winchester: In the 4 and 1/2 years we've known them they've been through some pretty heavy shit. And yes they've changed. Mind you maybe not for the best in some cases, but none the less. In Season 1 Sam was the talk first shoot later type, but by Season 4 he'd had to take the opposite approach. That's character growth, people.
If there is no emotional growth in the character what has been accomplished in the intervening years since the start of the show? What was the point of watching the characters go through the experiences they went through if Not to see them change their opinion on something fundamental? I personally would be bored to death if the characters I met in the pilot episode were the Exact Same characters that were saying goodbye to each other in the series finale. If you have more than one Main character dealing with issues over a series of years their opinion on those issues is going to be changed/colored by the other characters. End of story. If you have a group of 4 or 5 people that you see/talk to/spend a decent amount of time with Day In and Day Out, and your thoughts on certain subjects vary all over the spectrum by the time 3 or 4 years (hell in some cases even months) have gone by you're going to be able to see a little bit from their point of view, and (hopefully) they from yours.
As the aforementioned Dr. Jackson would say: That's just how I feel about it. What do you think?
Thus ends the ranting. Wow, I really needed to get that off my chest. Please to be letting me know if you agree/disagree with anything I've stated above. I'd love to have some kind of conversation about this.