How did you feel about Season 9?

[Belle]

(21-11-2010 03:19 PM)binkie Wrote:  The problem I am trying to resolve is not so much whether the writers served well the sub-theme of suitability, or whether this was done in a logical or rigorous way. I think we can all pretty much accept that it wasn’t. I understand that the writers believe they are trying to make us think about existential interpretations of identity. What I do not understand is what the writers expect us to do now with what seems to be the conclusion of the suitability sub-theme that there is no such thing as suitability? This is what I mean when I suggest the sub-theme invalidates itself. What does the conclusion mean for the narrative and emotional integrity of the show, both retrospectively and in future? Ignoring, for the moment, the fact that the character used by the writers to develop this sub-theme was John/Lucas, and ignoring the individual details of that storyline, my questions are: what are we to take from the suitability question? And what are we to do with this information now we have it?

About the narrative and emotional integrity of the show:
retrospectively: The former writers(S7&S8) couldn't know what the S9writers were up to, so I think the integrity of those two seasons remains untouched.

As for S9 and the future (depending on if there will be different writers or if it will be the same team): It seems like they started from scratch with the character of Lucas, S7 nor S8 appeared to be of any interest to them (they kept building on the Harry and Ruth story, however).
Because there were new writers, maybe they thought that they could have some 'artistic liberty' on the Lucas-theme, as in: they weren't obliged to follow what the previous seasons had given them. I have no idea how that can be reconciliated with contracts and so they surely must have signed in advance, but i'm not a lawyer.
So, I think we will have to wait and see what happens in S10 and then decide what to think of it in terms of integrity.

On what we have to take home from S9 in terms of suitability:
I do not know if it is ment that we even learn something from a series, maybe we could in the past, but with such dodgy storylines and character assassinations, i don't think they are people(the writers) we should learn from.
Maybe you are giving them too much credit when you say they are trying to make us think about identity, for they are the ones that came up with the no-sense-at-all-Lucas-John-thing.

Maybe there is a lesson in all of this, that people always will be people and never flawless, not the characters from this show, Harry, Ruth, Lucas, and not the writers.
I do believe that there is such a thing as suitability: one person would be good for a certain job and another person wouldn't be, but they still will be humans and no human is ever black and white, so one moment you will be 'more suitable' than the next moment, but to what extend you could find this rather heavy psychological debate back in a show like S9, i remain puzzled.

I also think that Byatil has a good view on this (see post above).

I hope that helps you somewhat, Binkie, if not tell me and I'll try again