The Reset Button
Hi folks- I'm back. I'd like to take a moment and apologize to my readers (both of them!) for the sudden disappearing act. Short version: While the fog may creep in on little cat feet, real life often lurches into one with all the grace and subtlety of a blindfolded, drunken elephant.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILER
FOR
LATEST (APRIL 1, 2007)
DRESDEN FILES
EPISODE
The old standard for TV shows was syndication, making enough episodes to market them as time-fillers for affiliates during non-network hours. Not knowing what order the shows would be shown in, the unwritten rule was that everything returned to the status quo by the end. Sure, the heroes might learn something or another (not that they'd show any sign of it next week), but nothing important changed.
These days, the goal of a TV series is the DVD sales. The fans can be expected to watch the episodes in order (or to know enough about the overall story line to watch their favorites in any order). While the castaways could never escape Gilligan's Island, the survivors on Lost do change, find their world changed and turned around, find new castaways (who show up again next week), die (and remain dead next week!), and so on. Modern TV shows are far more realistic that way, instead of arbitrarily resetting our characters back on Square One.
This is why I was surprised watching the latest Dresden Files. As part of a plot from beyond his grave, Dresden's uncle came up with a scheme to give Bob (the ghost of an old wizard, cursed to stay in the world after death, bound to his skull) a new life. After seeing Bob trying to cope with his immaterial condition, I was sort of wondering how being alive again would change his character- particularly his relationship with Dresden.
And to show how far television has come, I was actually mildly surprised when the pulled the old Reset Button: By the end, Bob was back to his old immaterial ghostly "existence." No change in him, no redrawing of the format to let Bob go out into the world and see what it's like these days. Sure, they threw us a bone with Murphy starting to wonder just what is up with her favorite wizard, but in fact she's been suspecting ever since a psycho killer "borrowed" her body.
Don't get me wrong, I like Bob and his mentor/friend/boarder relationship with Dresden... I just wonder how that would change if Bob had actually been freed from his curse.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILER
FOR
LATEST (APRIL 1, 2007)
DRESDEN FILES
EPISODE
The old standard for TV shows was syndication, making enough episodes to market them as time-fillers for affiliates during non-network hours. Not knowing what order the shows would be shown in, the unwritten rule was that everything returned to the status quo by the end. Sure, the heroes might learn something or another (not that they'd show any sign of it next week), but nothing important changed.
These days, the goal of a TV series is the DVD sales. The fans can be expected to watch the episodes in order (or to know enough about the overall story line to watch their favorites in any order). While the castaways could never escape Gilligan's Island, the survivors on Lost do change, find their world changed and turned around, find new castaways (who show up again next week), die (and remain dead next week!), and so on. Modern TV shows are far more realistic that way, instead of arbitrarily resetting our characters back on Square One.
This is why I was surprised watching the latest Dresden Files. As part of a plot from beyond his grave, Dresden's uncle came up with a scheme to give Bob (the ghost of an old wizard, cursed to stay in the world after death, bound to his skull) a new life. After seeing Bob trying to cope with his immaterial condition, I was sort of wondering how being alive again would change his character- particularly his relationship with Dresden.
And to show how far television has come, I was actually mildly surprised when the pulled the old Reset Button: By the end, Bob was back to his old immaterial ghostly "existence." No change in him, no redrawing of the format to let Bob go out into the world and see what it's like these days. Sure, they threw us a bone with Murphy starting to wonder just what is up with her favorite wizard, but in fact she's been suspecting ever since a psycho killer "borrowed" her body.
Don't get me wrong, I like Bob and his mentor/friend/boarder relationship with Dresden... I just wonder how that would change if Bob had actually been freed from his curse.
