TV Gripe: No Pain, No Gain

TV writer Jane Espenson had a nice blog entry recently discussing the pitfalls of writing a story where in the end the characters wind up right back where they started. There are few things that annoy me more than when a show winds up doing a plot for weeks or months, only to have the characters in the exact same place where they started. (See: House, Season 3, Tritter plotline.)

Not to anger any DVD spoilerphobes, but when House initiated the Detective Tritter storyline, it started with Dr. House's actions and lifestyle coming under investigation. He was sent to rehab, ordered to change. He went to rehab, but didn't change. How they pulled that off was clever, but, did nothing for character development. (It did millions for character reinforcement, yes.) When the plot ultimately ended, House returned to be being the exact same character he was before, without reforming anything or cutting down on substance abuse. Those episodes became the "never-mind" that Espenson talked about.

There are times when a character may go to a darker place then return to what the character is supposed to be. That's fine, as long as he or she has some scars to show for it. Did they do something bad? Did that certain something result in consequences that will now haunt them? When something like that happens, then you can get some character development. Otherwise, it's just tottering along the "see-saw" that Espenson warned us about.