My only hope with the Danny character this season has been that at some point the show would, uh, swerve (sorry!) and acknowledge Danny’s trajectory for what it is: a response to the fact that someone who was a surrogate parent for most of his life had sex with him when he was still a teenager, and then (at best) prolonged that trauma with a pattern of emotional closeness-then-rejection that has lasted for more than a decade.
On the one hand, this would feel like a possible pay-off for all of the “Who is Danny to me, really?” business that Ed has been experiencing, and a powerful kind of story to tell on a show that deals in a multi-generational time frame. On the other hand, the "kids" on this show still feel like they exist primarily as supports or antagonists to the "parents," and I'm not sure the show is ready or willing to give them equal standing. (Or, tbh, to acknowledge the darkness of Karen's actions.)
Making this swerve even less likely is the fact that, in their responses to the backlash against the Danny & Karen storyline, the show’s creators have never given any hint that they view what happened as anything more serious or concerning than a generic affair. (On the official podcast, someone—possibly a writer?—said that when they heard some viewers characterize the “affair” as abuse they were really surprised, because that interpretation had never come up as a possibility during writing or filming.) It's an oversight that has dimmed some of my appreciation for their otherwise impressive character work, even as I keep hoping that maybe, at some point, they'll see things differently.
Completely agree with everything you wrote, Myles! And I really liked the car crash analogy and the distinctions you make between the two interesting kinds of stories that can be told with it.
Interestingly, in episode 8, Jimmy tells Karen that she "used" Danny (which might come from the comments about how their affair was really her abusing him) and I think that you argue here that, in a way, the writers "used" the Danny character. They did not let him be someone with his own motivations and drives but just a story tool to wreak havoc in the show.
I'm probably as big of a RDM fan as you'll find, but it feels like his comments on the Danny character going into this season were essentially, "Oh, we noticed how much you didn't like what we did with him last year. So we're doubling down this season." And the results align with that.
I'm willing to give shows I like a really long leash ... hell I'm probably the only person on the planet that doesn't hate THAT FNL Season Two arc ... but I still don't really grok why this has gone so wrong.
I find wrestling documentaries, even self-serving hagiographic ones, really fascinating. I think that's because wrestling is a medium (like soap operas) that is so short-term focused in its storytelling much of the time that choosing which story threads from a long period of time to tie together — and which to just leave hanging our leave out — is a real editorial challenge. That was less evident in the Goldberg documentary where each of his "moments" in the spotlight was so short, but definitely felt that way for the Undertaker. Aside from his origin, Kane and "the streak," so much of the character ultimately didn't make the cut in any significant fashion (the two Undertakers, most of the pre-Kane face era, the Ministry of Darkness, American Bad Ass). I appreciate the performers aren't always responsible for the storylines but it's the part of the journey I always want to hear more about.
That metaphor of slow vs fast car crashes was careening towards confusion, but just before that you expertly swerved back onto the road of comprehensibility.
That was very well put. This show has had a fingertip feeling for how to pace drama, but this really failed us with the Danny storyline. And I say this as one of the minority that actually didn't mind Danny in Season 2, so I was actually predisposed to like him this season.
My only hope with the Danny character this season has been that at some point the show would, uh, swerve (sorry!) and acknowledge Danny’s trajectory for what it is: a response to the fact that someone who was a surrogate parent for most of his life had sex with him when he was still a teenager, and then (at best) prolonged that trauma with a pattern of emotional closeness-then-rejection that has lasted for more than a decade.
On the one hand, this would feel like a possible pay-off for all of the “Who is Danny to me, really?” business that Ed has been experiencing, and a powerful kind of story to tell on a show that deals in a multi-generational time frame. On the other hand, the "kids" on this show still feel like they exist primarily as supports or antagonists to the "parents," and I'm not sure the show is ready or willing to give them equal standing. (Or, tbh, to acknowledge the darkness of Karen's actions.)
Making this swerve even less likely is the fact that, in their responses to the backlash against the Danny & Karen storyline, the show’s creators have never given any hint that they view what happened as anything more serious or concerning than a generic affair. (On the official podcast, someone—possibly a writer?—said that when they heard some viewers characterize the “affair” as abuse they were really surprised, because that interpretation had never come up as a possibility during writing or filming.) It's an oversight that has dimmed some of my appreciation for their otherwise impressive character work, even as I keep hoping that maybe, at some point, they'll see things differently.
Chrisjen Avasarala is such a great character (and so indelibly played by Shohreh Aghdashloo). I hope you're enjoying her so far.
Completely agree with everything you wrote, Myles! And I really liked the car crash analogy and the distinctions you make between the two interesting kinds of stories that can be told with it.
Interestingly, in episode 8, Jimmy tells Karen that she "used" Danny (which might come from the comments about how their affair was really her abusing him) and I think that you argue here that, in a way, the writers "used" the Danny character. They did not let him be someone with his own motivations and drives but just a story tool to wreak havoc in the show.
Anyway: Ugh, Danny...
I'm probably as big of a RDM fan as you'll find, but it feels like his comments on the Danny character going into this season were essentially, "Oh, we noticed how much you didn't like what we did with him last year. So we're doubling down this season." And the results align with that.
I'm willing to give shows I like a really long leash ... hell I'm probably the only person on the planet that doesn't hate THAT FNL Season Two arc ... but I still don't really grok why this has gone so wrong.
I find wrestling documentaries, even self-serving hagiographic ones, really fascinating. I think that's because wrestling is a medium (like soap operas) that is so short-term focused in its storytelling much of the time that choosing which story threads from a long period of time to tie together — and which to just leave hanging our leave out — is a real editorial challenge. That was less evident in the Goldberg documentary where each of his "moments" in the spotlight was so short, but definitely felt that way for the Undertaker. Aside from his origin, Kane and "the streak," so much of the character ultimately didn't make the cut in any significant fashion (the two Undertakers, most of the pre-Kane face era, the Ministry of Darkness, American Bad Ass). I appreciate the performers aren't always responsible for the storylines but it's the part of the journey I always want to hear more about.
Danny : For All Mankind :: Oliver : The OC
That metaphor of slow vs fast car crashes was careening towards confusion, but just before that you expertly swerved back onto the road of comprehensibility.
That was very well put. This show has had a fingertip feeling for how to pace drama, but this really failed us with the Danny storyline. And I say this as one of the minority that actually didn't mind Danny in Season 2, so I was actually predisposed to like him this season.