24 Comments »I know I’m a bit behind the times with this, but it’s taken me a while to gather my thoughts and get a grip on my feelings, which range from mild frustration to incoherent rage, in regard to the “Season Seven, Time for a Wedding” episode.
Honestly, even after all this time, I’m not sure where to begin. I think I have three main areas of complaint, and to be clear, none of this is about the acting or actors involved. These items are purely related to the writing of the show and the choices the writers are making. (And hey, who am I to judge? I’ve never written for television, so I don’t know what it’s like. I’m reacting to this purely as a viewer.)
First, Becky. Here’s the thing. Becky is an easy target. She’s a joke, a caricature instead of a character. They’ve made her that way, and they just keep going back to that same well, making her crazier every time. It’s weak. I’ll be honest, the first time Becky made an appearance, I thought it was clever, fun. A way of letting us know they’re aware how devoted and passionate (and occasionally a little over the top) the fanbase for the show can be. It was like an inside joke. The second time Becky appeared, I liked her a little less because she was edging closer to crazy (stealing Chuck’s phone to text the boys, taking them away from actual life-saving activities) and completely oblivious to Sam’s lack of interest in her. The first time I can attribute her behavior to being starstruck (presumably she admires Sam as well as finds him attractive). The second time, it comes off more as creepy and manipulative.
And now…now, she’s just ridiculous and, on a certain level, insulting. HELLO. She’s a stand-in for us, the devoted viewers. (Well, those of us who remain devoted…I know that number is shrinking. I’m not even sure if I count myself among them anymore.) The writers have gone to great lengths to make sure that connection between Becky and the audience is made, whether it’s referencing her use of the message boards or, in previous eps, attending an SPN con. If you follow that logic, THEY ARE MAKING FUN OF US EVERY TIME SHE APPEARS. And then with the way Becky is treated on the show…well, if you extend that metaphor to the end, they’re saying: we can treat them (Becky) like shit and they are (Becky is) just crazy enough to keep coming back for more. They (she) will take any scrap of attention we give and be grateful for it.
You know what would have impressed me more? If they’d humanized Becky. Made her a real person with strong feelings toward these people she sees as heroes (and okay, as characters, too.) I mean, isn’t it pretty basic logic that if you’re going to make the AUDIENCE a CHARACTER on your show it should be a character that the audience can like or admire or at least not be embarrassed by?
The writers could have done that. They could have given Becky a nice two or three ep arc where she was helping the boys out, to their shock and perhaps dismay. Because here’s the thing, Becky knows her sh*t and she wasn’t afraid to step in and save Sam when he needed it. They could USE more people like that in their lives. More allies (even crazy ones) would be welcome. Now, granted, a scenario like that would put Sam in a difficult position because he knows Becky’s feelings for him are motivating her willingness to risk her life and he also knows he doesn’t feel the same way toward her, but if they really needed her help…man, that’s juicy conflict. Wish it would have played out like that.
(Hence, the title of my blog post. I mean, take away some of the writer-induced crazy, and here you have a girl who knows what the Winchester life is like, admires what they’re doing, could actually help out from time to time with her comprehensive knowledge about their world, and she’s cute. As I said, Sam Winchester should be so damn lucky.)
Second, Sam and Dean’s attitude toward Becky, both individually (such as Dean’s reaction to them getting married) and together (the “whew, dodged that bullet” attitude at the end.) All right. I admit, I might be a little sensitive about this. But occasionally, I get a little tired of shows hauling out a pretty girl and tagging her as lesser because she doesn’t meet some theoretical higher beauty standard held by the genuine love interests (however few and far between they’ve been) that have appeared on the show. I mean, if we’re going to do this Becky = crazy, defy expectations. Make her gorgeous, make her nuts about Supernatural, and make Dean conflicted about wanting to sleep with her but also afraid of increasing her infatuation AKA craziness.
Also, back to the whole audience relatablity thing…so our stand-in is a lonely girl deemed unattractive (not that the actress actually IS unattractive, but we’re apparently supposed to think she is, hence Crowley’s crack about her having good personality) with no social life, no prospects and the only way she/we can get a date to the reunion is by drugging him? Um, thanks? (Also, she had to MARRY him to get him to go the reunion? She couldn’t just drug him for a night or two? Once again, they’re pointing out the levels of her desperation and asking us to laugh. Yuck.)
One could make the argument that the SPN writers are doing in the Becky episodes what The Big Bang Theory folks do every week–making fun of the very people who like their show. But BBT is a show in praise of nerds and geeks. We laugh because we identify WITH their idiosyncrasies. In this case, with Becky, we’re supposed to be laughing AT her. And quite frankly, I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.
Third, details, details, DETAILS! Willing suspension of disbelief is all in the details. If you’re going to go to all this trouble of establishing the precept that Sam and Dean must hide–they can’t use the Impala, they have to change their phones on a irregular-regular basis (or whatever Deveraux says), they can’t use any of their regular aliases, they can’t run their credit card scams, etc.– then please tell me how a scene in which Sam is signing his REAL NAME on the annulment papers (and presumably the marriage certificate before it) makes sense? As far as I know, a marriage certificate is a public document, as in one filed at the County Clerk’s Office. I assume that the annulment papers would be the same. If the Leviathans have people in the credit bureaus, I’m assuming they’ve got someone running the occasional Google search as well.
Speaking of which, SAM, way to let Becky tweet about what’s going on so the Leviathans can track her and/or you down. Twitter is public and searchable. Sheesh. The love potion, presumably, doesn’t impact his brain function in any other way other than making him think he’s in love, right?
And this is the first time we’ve heard of Vegas Week, right? In other words, something that is supposed to be so part of the canon that Chuck would write about it…and there’s been no mention of it? To be clear, I don’t have a problem with them filling in the gaps. We don’t know everything about Sam and Dean’s lives and certainly stuff has to happen outside the confines of what we see on the show. But if this is an annual trip, and presumably an important enough one for Chuck to have bothered writing about it, then it feels weird and made up that we’re JUST hearing about it now.
All this being said, I really enjoyed last Friday’s “How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters” so I’m not giving up yet. But…grrrr. The inconsistency is very frustrating.
Note: I’m totally up for a discussion on any of this–love hearing from other SPN fans–but hey, if it gets all name-call-y and nasty–as I’ve witnessed on other sites–I will use my delete powers with impunity. 