RicOlie_2 said:
Mild spoilers ahead:
I'm onto season two of Downton Abbey (no making fun of me for watching it...), and while the show is often enjoyable, it's unfortunate that it's such a soap opera. Why can't at least one relationship be stable? But no, everyone's unfaithful in their marriage, or loves someone besides the person they're supposed to be marrying, or loves someone but not the person they're marrying, etc., etc. No one seems to be happy with their marriage, though the reality is that many, if not most, people are able to have a fairly happy marriage without cheating and ruining it. Maybe it's just because the show deals with the aristocracy and that's the norm, but when, for instance, Edith helps out a farmer, why does she have to end up kissing him and being overly familiar, straining the relationship between the farmer and his wife?
Much of what I'm complaining about seems to be shoehorned into the story and out of character for the characters involved. It seems that whoever wrote the episodes felt it necessary to add things like Lord Grantham kissing a maid just for shock value, since it serves little purpose in the story and doesn't jive with his established character. It was foreshadowed a bit, but still managed to feel forced.
Anyway, I realize it's just a show, but I think it would be far stronger and more enjoyable without the above-mentioned aspects of it.
Sadly that sort of drama for drama's saje stuff seems to be the norm on Tv shows these days. I don't watch the show in question but it seems like every show tries to pull this stuff just for cheap soap opera points even if it makes no sense in context of the story or you would think the characters would know better. Even Doctor who pulls this kind of stuff these days. I liked Amy up until the first episode of season seven where they started it off with her leaving Rory(The man who waited 2000 years for her)without telling him why and then we find out the reason is she can't have kids. So she left without talking to him about it,trying to get treatment,or remembering that there is such a thing as a adoption. It was just done as a cheap shock to add a soap opera plot to series seven.
This sort of having people act out of character and sabotage their relationships thing is why I gave up on Castle. A show that started out as a fun little mystery show with a some good actors but in the past couple of seasons turned into a soap opera with characters who never talk about their problems and act out of character if it leads to cheap drama.
Why do shows have to do this? Why when they already have stories and settings that lend themselves to drama and fun adventures do they have to add cheap soap opera elements on top of it?