Hello everyone and welcome to another WRT! Another eventful week is behind us and some of your favorite STV writers will tackle tell you their take on it. This week joining the Round Table besides myself (MK) are Shal (KG), Kolin (KL), Milo (MI), Beth (BW), Bex (), Winston (WM), Katherine (KM), Nick (NM), Jamie (JC), Rachel (RW), Joey (JH), Angela (AN) and Claire (CS). As always sit back and enjoy the read and don`t forget to stop by the comment section and share your thought`s on the topics ahead.
1. This is Us delivered a more grounded season finale but left us hanging with some big cliffhangers ahead of season 3. What do you think about flashforwards and do you have some predictions about what is going to happen?
KG: I love the flashforwards and I'm especially excited about the Kevin/Zoe storyline. Beth's not going to be happy that he's dating her cousin, so this should be fun. And hopefully, we'll get a Beth and Kevin storyline that should be interesting. And the Tess and Randall flash forward is a misdirect about something but not sure what yet.
KL: In general, I think Flashforwards are a cheap way of storytelling, one of the reasons why I never liked Lost. It may work for This Is Us, don't watch it, so can't make any predictions.
JC: I'm really glad they're going with flash forwards because it's still in the same style of the show, but they could only do the flashbacks for so long. So I'm glad they found another way to keep messing with our emotions I'm a little scared of the Toby flash forward. But I do like that the show seems to be tackling mental illness. The Kevin flash forward has me excited. He seems in such a good place. The Randall flash forward is a bit more into the future but we might be getting hints already as to who they were referring to.
JD: I’m loving the flashforwards. As amazing as the show is, I don’t expect it to be on for another ten years, so it’s nice to have the long jumps to help eventually give us resolutions for the numerous people we’ve grown to love. The one-year jumps were great to give us plots to look forward to next season, but I hope they don’t continue to use mini flashforwards as plot devices, rather than just jumping us forward and picking up the story from there with a quick flashback or two to explain anything we may have missed. It would feel unnecessary to keep showing us forward momentum stories happening at a time we’d easily get to by the end of a season. As for a prediction, I'm terrified that the "she" they are talking about is Beth and they're talking about visiting her grave. #SaveOurBeth
CS: Just a casual TIU viewer, but I’ve always felt that Beth had one foot out the door. I don’t see a happy ending for her and Randall. She puts up with a lot as do all of the people who marry into the Pearson family. Love the flash forwards, too. But I always read the last page of a book first.
2. Two months away from the upfronts. Which show do you expect to be the "shocker" cancellation during early May?
MK: Any long-running show ending is a shocker at this point, cause it can go either way. AoS and Gotham are certainly on the brick, B99 was on the edge till it improved last night. Seems very safe now.
KG: I think Agents of SHIELD will be the surprise cancellation, honestly. But I fully expect for there to be another bloodbath, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the networks shock us.
KL: This is probably too bold of a prediction that will most likely not happen, but a shocker cancellation? Gotham, anyone? It's drawing just enough of an audience for a Season 5, but it also isn't doing that great either. We shall see.
MI: My money's on Agents of SHIELD too here, I think - if I remember correctly one of the main reasons why it survived for Season Five was due to the involvement of Marvel, and ABC might not be too keen to keep it around for a sixth season, especially as (again, going off memory here), the fifth season finale is being written like a series finale anyway. I hope I'm wrong, but if I turn out to be right, at least that will give the show a chance to have a satisfying resolution and there has been more than enough quality content for the show already. I don't reckon I'll be as lucky as I was last year with shows that I like surviving, and I could possibly see iZombie ending too, but that's a longshot as the CW are super generous with their renewals and they'll need the more shows given that they're expanding to an extra night.
BW: Honestly Dynasty. I know the ratings are abysmal but we've all been thinking it is safe because of the Netflix deal.
WM: I'm so excited that upfronts are almost here, but I don't know if there's going to be a shocker cancellation this year. AoS ratings are more than enough reason for it to be canned and I always thought the show was meant to reach 100 and done, so while it would hurt, I wouldn't be shocked. I honestly think if you sit back and look at the full scope of each network you can get a pretty good idea of what will be canceled or renewed. Now, what would be shocking would be if iZombie and the 100 were canceled. The network could be justified in canceling both, but if they did, I'd be floored. Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that.
KM: I think a real surprise would be canceling "How to Get Away With Murder", at least from a fan perspective. The writers seem to have written this season's finale as a series finale; the characters' stories are wrapped up in such a way that you could easily see it as the end. I enjoy the show but am more than happy if there aren't any more new episodes. It also had a limited episode run, which I think it a pretty strong hint. I also think it would be a surprise if Supernatural was FINALLY canceled since it seems to have an eternal television life. I could also see it being a lead-in to the spinoff show if it's picked up.
JC: Nothing really shocks me anymore where cancellations are concerned. What would be shocking if a show got uncancelled again, like last year with Timeless? I fear for the future of Agents of SHIELD. It's been in danger of cancellation before and I fear that this might be the year. Though perhaps they'll tie into Infinity War somehow and get a rating boost, hopefully.
JD: For me, I don’t think anything that will be canceled would necessarily be shocking. Right now, my big worries are HTGAWM, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but I wouldn’t be shocked by any of them. Really, really sad, but not shocked.
CS: I think Speechless or American Housewife would be surprising cancellations. Good shows, but still lagging in the ratings.
3. Love stories! They are beautiful to watch but what happens when the writers drag them out too much example Sue and Sean The Middle? How long is too long and how fast is too fast in the heart business?
KG: I love Sue and Sean but they're definitely going to drag this out until the series finale and it's annoying me. It'd be really nice and sweet if they were already together and had talked like adults but the writers clearly don't want that yet. The slow-burn is fun and I'm loving it but sometimes it's a little too slow. We don't always have to wait until the series finale for our favorite ship to get together! Hopefully, the show will surprise us, and Sue and Sean will admit their feelings in the next few episodes.
KL: Love stories after a while wear out their welcome and dominate too much of the screen time. They're good in doses and when done subtly, but when the show starts to become nothing but the love even though the show is not a romance, that's when it is time to take a step back and change things.
MI: I don't mind romance as long as it doesn't become too overbearing. Arrow is good - or should I say bad? - I should say bad - an example of this, when the show brings the focus to Oliver and Felicity's romance, the show suffers as a result with seasons three and four being the weakest of the show. It was no surprise that season five improved when Felicity's role was reduced, she's much better in a smaller role (I really liked her character back in season one before the romance started) that I wish the show would have stuck to. Well-written romances can improve the show a lot though, I liked the way Black Sails handled Jack and Anne's for example, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation are both excellent examples of central pairings developing over the show in a way that improves all parties involved and doesn't lead to a decrease in quality in the show as a result. More shows should look at Jake and Amy and Leslie and Ben as examples of what makes good relationships on TV work.
BW: I think if it takes more than two seasons, it becomes tedious and annoying. There is only so much patience people can have.
BX: I love a good slow burn, but it's when the natural course is disrupted too much and it's dragged out that it becomes too long. It differs with every show, differs with the skills of every writing team. I don't think any show has nailed a naturally evolving relationship like Farscape did with Aeryn and Crichton. Castle was right in having Caskett hook up at the end of Season 4 - because there was no way to drag that one out any longer and keep viewers interested. Chris Carter has made an absolute mess of Mulder and Scully with his need to keep them platonic when the characters have shifted into a relationship beyond what he'd originally intended. As for too fast, I think Lucifer made that mistake with Chloe and Lucifer in season 2. That's not a relationship that can move forward - and have any kind of success - until she sees his reveal.
JC: While I love slow burn relationships (I hate instalove), I do feel like there's a limit to how much anticipation a fandom can take. Often for me, it has had the opposite effect. My love for both Castle&Beckett and Damon&Elena (though this last one may have had other reasons) diminished when they finally got together probably because I'd gotten so used to the angst and anticipation that often the writers are a bit lost on what to do afterward. I say a season is plenty of time. Two seasons if there are only 13 episodes.
JD: I think it really all depends on the show and the chemistry between the characters in question. I don’t watch The Middle, so I can’t speak towards that, but I think Scrubs is a great example of handling the Relationship Tango (spoiler if you sadly haven’t watched Scrubs yet). In the beginning, it was clear JD and Elliot had something the show wanted to focus on. Throughout the seasons, they moved in and out of each other’s lives, and the show put each of them in a few relationships we actually would have been ok with until they found their way back to each other in the end. It was something you wanted, but the possibility wasn’t needlessly rubbed in your face week after week.
AN: Sometimes I think shippers today would've gone nuts watching older shows because it could take MANY seasons for characters to get together on some of them. Ultimately, though, I do believe it's wise to not drag out a will they/won't they for very long. If a show plans on making a relationship between two characters serious, three seasons at most seems about right to me-just enough amount of time for the characters to be at a point where they've gotten to know each other well and have built up and developed some kind of bond, but not so long that it feels dragged out and tiring. Though sometimes a quick hookup early on can lead to something more, too, so... I also think sometimes the issue isn't so much how quickly the characters get together as it is whether or not the writers know what to do with them once they are together. If they can write them just as well after they get together as they do before, then the amount of wait time shouldn't really matter, I don't think. But if they keep pulling back and forth relationship drama, then, yeah, that's obviously going to frustrate fans and viewers in general.
CS: Shipping ruins tv for me. Ross/Rachel ruined Friends and Sue/Sean ruined the Middle as did the abysmal writing in its final season. It started as a beautiful story arc. It is no longer a slow burn, it is burnt out! Probably wouldn’t have minded if it wasn’t the last season. They were just cruel to their loyal viewers.
4. American Horror Story season 8 title is Radioactive! What do you expect the season to be about?
KL: I don't watch American Horror Story, even though I tell myself I'll get on it. Radioactive sounds interesting. I'll go with the theory that it'll be set in a post-apocalyptic world in the same vein of the video game, Fallout, but with more horror of course.
BW: I don't watch the show but have seen the themes every season. I am thinking it has to do with the immediate impact of a nuclear attack.
BX: If it's the actual title and not a fakeout, then I'm expecting some kind of post-apocalyptic world, after a nuclear attack, possibly with people mutating due to the radiation.
NM: I hear this will be the first season set in the future? In which case things could be interesting but it would also be treading Black Mirror territory and I'm apprehensive. I would be interested in a gritty Ryan Murphy interpretation of a nuclear holocaust world with Jessica Lange leading a tribe of future humans, but who knows what we will get. I don't expect it will be about radiation-induced deformities or mutants, I feel like Freakshow said all it could about "mutilated" outcasts of society.
JD: There’s so many possibilities here! They get outlandish at times so I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to cash in on the superhero craze and have radioactive super villains terrorizing people. It could also be deformed mutants somewhere along the lines of The Chernobyl Diaries. Or possibly our cell phones are all subjecting our brains with a radioactive mind-altering substance meant to control us as a whole. It really could be anything knowing this shows a knack for playing off of their titles.
CS: Big AHS fan. Loved them all, some more than others. The titles don’t always tell us much, but I liked the suggestion of a Chernobyl setting. I do hope it’s not a super hero type show. We have enough of those. Maybe something akin to the China Syndrome or the 3 Mile Island incident in Harrisburg, Pa. I was 10 when that happened. We lived 2 hours away, completely terrifying. We had to seal all points of entry and be prepared to evacuate.
Hope you've enjoyed this edition and join the discussion in the comment section. Till next week. . .
