[ SECRET POST #3829 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3829 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 21 secrets from Secret Submission Post #548.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

That's disappointing to hear. Mostly self contained plotlines and minimal soap opera romances are two of the things I liked about ST. Mult-ep story arcs can get so messy, and cast romances just seems like something a show does when it doesn't have anything else to fall back on.

[(Anonymous)]

I think there is a lot of arc fatigue in the viewing audience right now too. The 100 has been catching heat for too much padding and filler in its arcs, with a lot of people doing dumb things they later reverse course in without a thought just to fill episodes. I've also seen a lot of criticism of American Gods in that its arc only really felt like it was taking off in the last episode and then it ended the season, and that it wasted too much time on the Mad Sweeney/Laura Moon roadshow when their scenes could have been fitted into the regular episodes.

I'm not sure that going for an arc right now is the right thing. It kinda feels like the audiences might be looking for something different again.

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't mind it in American Gods because the book was pretty rambling, but I can see why it'd bother people. There was no way the TV series was going to finish in one season, so the best they could hope for was to reach a good stopping point. But that's not very satisfying to most viewers.

In general, I think the problem I have with multi episode arcs is that they're often poorly planned. The suspense is stretched out for as long as possible, maybe with a surprise twist or two. But the longer you stretch out a plot arc, the harder it is to write a satisfying ending that provides closure and so many shows really drop the ball. What's worse is that so few story arcs even feel worth the time they're taking. I wouldn't mind it so much if they saved it for a really substantial story that NEEDED the extra time to develop the plot and characters, but that's almost never the case.

[(Anonymous)]

So to put it another way, if I'm understanding you right: the problem with plot arcs is that television shows - at least the ones that are actually broadcast on television - still have to be written on an episodic level, and do the work of building suspense and having different stories in different episodes and all of that. At the same time, people pay more and more attention to the show as a whole, and there's a tension between those two things that's really hard to balance.

[(Anonymous)]

It is they don't put anything in the episodes as an A-plot for the times when the episode is a giant b-plot/spacer episode for the arc. Each episode should tell a story complete intself and then have the stuff moving the arc plot along in the background until you get to the season finale when the arc can be put in the A-plot and be resolved for that season. No episode should leave a viewer thinking they just wasted an hour while the characters ran around filling time until they could get to the next episode.

[(Anonymous)]

For me I just really like being able to go in and watch an episode or two without needing to watch the entire show to appreciate what's going on. If I want to sit down and watch The Trouble with Tribbles I can! And if an episode sucks, I can go to another episode.

I rewatched House somewhat recently, and honestly the season arcs were my very least favorite part of the whole show. I didn't want multiple episodes with a teenie bit of Will He Won't He Bone His Ex?! Will He Won't He Get Fired?! Will He Won't He Go To Jail?! I mean I guess I understand the realism of something taking weeks of in-show time to resolve, but it feels like taking a plotline that could be focused on for one episode and dribbling it out a few drops at a time over a dozen.