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selenakSpoilery for the show, in case you haven't seen it yet and are planning on seeing it.
- I have a lot more sympathy for Brenda during her s2 arc than upon first watch; partly because this time I'm watching with hindsight and all subsequent developments in mind, but also because this time it really connects for me with something her mother says early on (though she means it in a different way), that Brenda used to channel all or most of her issues via taking care of Billy, and once she's free of that, she has to face her demons alone
- this show really has most of its characters fearing to become or fall for their parents, if you think about it; Brenda has flashbacks to what she saw her parents do as a child at the same time she has her random sexual encounters, Keith admits to inheriting "anger issues" from his father and once compares David to his mother, Nate keeps associating Lisa with his mother (so does the show visually) and yells at Head!Nathaniel Sr. "I'm not you", Claire of course has Ruth's great hair and her bad taste in men, David makes his "...and I inherited doormat issues from Mom" joke , etc.
- one of the great achievements of SFU is that Claire really is that rarity on tv, a female teenager who credibly grows up - and just plain grows - during the show, and you realise by the time it ends that if there is a narrator in whose pov we were, it was Claire; I love how we see her relationships with her family - both her mother and her siblings - shift and change along with her growth
- the irony if you've seen s5 is that Nate actually wasn't any happier in his marriage with Brenda than he was in his marriage with Lisa (which isn't to say that the periods of happiness in either marriage weren't genuine as well), and ultimately, that wasn't because of either woman, it was because of Nate
- in retrospect, I should have seen the later Olivier/Margaret hook-up coming, because the show uses them in similar ways, as a mixture of very black comic relief (my favourite Margaret quote remains her attempt to cheer her daughter up: "Darling, don't you think I wanted to abort you and Billy both until your father convinced me otherwise?") and mind games experts
- I've said it before, I'll say it again: David and Keith have spoiled me for m/m relationships on tv and are one of the reasons why just the rare sight of two men kissing alone doesn't do it for me. It's not that their relationship is idealized, it's that it isn't; they go through miseries and character issues like the other couples on the show, and you want them to stay together and are glad they do not because "omg, a gay couple on tv" but because the show makes it credible that with all their flaws, they are really good for each other
- just as I had no trouble accepting Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan after knowing him as David Fisher first, I have no problem going back to David and not seeing Dexter when I see him; amazing actor.
- two details that somehow I noticed upon rewatch in a way I didn't during first watching, which have nothing to do with each other: in s2, when Nate figures out Brenda cheated on him with at least two strangers, his first immediate question isn't "how many?" or "who?", but "did you fuck your brother?" Which obviously is his biggest fear re: Brenda. In s3, in the night Lisa goes missing and Nate goes from being worried to starting to freak out, he rings up David because he needs someone despite the fact both Ruth and Claire are already in the house, which is a neat show, not tell about that particular relationship.
- in most other shows, Billy would have been the irredeemable villain considering his s1 role. But despite the fact Alan Ball in audio commentaries compares the Chenowiths to a Greek tragedy type of family (whereas he calls the Fishers Strindbergian), he actually sort of symbolizes the show's humane optimism that even if you're very screwed up indeed, you can make it through life without killing yourself or getting killed early on, and even can sort of repair some of your damaged relationships while you're at it. Unless you're the corpse of the week, that is.
- considering abortion is such a controversial issue in the US, was there much uproar over the fact Claire had one with the show presenting this as the right choice for her to make at this point?
- I have a lot more sympathy for Brenda during her s2 arc than upon first watch; partly because this time I'm watching with hindsight and all subsequent developments in mind, but also because this time it really connects for me with something her mother says early on (though she means it in a different way), that Brenda used to channel all or most of her issues via taking care of Billy, and once she's free of that, she has to face her demons alone
- this show really has most of its characters fearing to become or fall for their parents, if you think about it; Brenda has flashbacks to what she saw her parents do as a child at the same time she has her random sexual encounters, Keith admits to inheriting "anger issues" from his father and once compares David to his mother, Nate keeps associating Lisa with his mother (so does the show visually) and yells at Head!Nathaniel Sr. "I'm not you", Claire of course has Ruth's great hair and her bad taste in men, David makes his "...and I inherited doormat issues from Mom" joke , etc.
- one of the great achievements of SFU is that Claire really is that rarity on tv, a female teenager who credibly grows up - and just plain grows - during the show, and you realise by the time it ends that if there is a narrator in whose pov we were, it was Claire; I love how we see her relationships with her family - both her mother and her siblings - shift and change along with her growth
- the irony if you've seen s5 is that Nate actually wasn't any happier in his marriage with Brenda than he was in his marriage with Lisa (which isn't to say that the periods of happiness in either marriage weren't genuine as well), and ultimately, that wasn't because of either woman, it was because of Nate
- in retrospect, I should have seen the later Olivier/Margaret hook-up coming, because the show uses them in similar ways, as a mixture of very black comic relief (my favourite Margaret quote remains her attempt to cheer her daughter up: "Darling, don't you think I wanted to abort you and Billy both until your father convinced me otherwise?") and mind games experts
- I've said it before, I'll say it again: David and Keith have spoiled me for m/m relationships on tv and are one of the reasons why just the rare sight of two men kissing alone doesn't do it for me. It's not that their relationship is idealized, it's that it isn't; they go through miseries and character issues like the other couples on the show, and you want them to stay together and are glad they do not because "omg, a gay couple on tv" but because the show makes it credible that with all their flaws, they are really good for each other
- just as I had no trouble accepting Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan after knowing him as David Fisher first, I have no problem going back to David and not seeing Dexter when I see him; amazing actor.
- two details that somehow I noticed upon rewatch in a way I didn't during first watching, which have nothing to do with each other: in s2, when Nate figures out Brenda cheated on him with at least two strangers, his first immediate question isn't "how many?" or "who?", but "did you fuck your brother?" Which obviously is his biggest fear re: Brenda. In s3, in the night Lisa goes missing and Nate goes from being worried to starting to freak out, he rings up David because he needs someone despite the fact both Ruth and Claire are already in the house, which is a neat show, not tell about that particular relationship.
- in most other shows, Billy would have been the irredeemable villain considering his s1 role. But despite the fact Alan Ball in audio commentaries compares the Chenowiths to a Greek tragedy type of family (whereas he calls the Fishers Strindbergian), he actually sort of symbolizes the show's humane optimism that even if you're very screwed up indeed, you can make it through life without killing yourself or getting killed early on, and even can sort of repair some of your damaged relationships while you're at it. Unless you're the corpse of the week, that is.
- considering abortion is such a controversial issue in the US, was there much uproar over the fact Claire had one with the show presenting this as the right choice for her to make at this point?
