#harmonelson

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Casting parts and writing characters requires effort and a certain degree of finesse, and, especially in its later seasons, Glee ran short on both of those things. 

Each time you add a new character to a script, it means that, metaphorically speaking, the writers have more pins to juggle, and, honestly, the Glee writers were never great jugglers. They were already struggling just with handling Santana’s mother and grandmother and with negotiating Santana’s onscreen coming out, never mind anything to do with Santana’s enigmatic father.

While it would have been relatively easy for skilled writers to insert Dr. Lopez into Santana’s storyline, particularly in a solely supporting role to Maribel, the Glee writers couldn’t quite get a handle on the situation, and they allowed opportunities to develop Santana’s home life to slip through their fingers time and time again.

Their failure to develop Santana’s home life is most obvious where it concerns Santana’s father, but, frankly, their whole approach to dealing with Santana’s family on the show was kind of a disaster from start to finish.

I mean, for the love of god, they made her a Lopez on both sides of her family (see here). The sheer laziness and racism apparent in that particular production decision alone is just staggering.

And that’s to say nothing of all the seeming inconsistencies in Santana’s backstory: For example, if her father is a rich doctor, how is she from “the wrong side of the tracks” (see here)? Was Alma ever truly mean to her prior to her outing, or was that just something she told Finn to scare him? Why is the narrative telling us that her parents are supportive and loving at the same time that it often implies that they’re distant and possibly even abusive (see episodes 3x22 and 4x20, for instance)?

Not only was her family background pockmarked with plot holes, but, on a production level, the incorporation of her family members into the show was bungled at every step along the way from Seasons Three to Six. 

The showrunners at Glee first hired Gloria Estefan to play Maribel Lopez waaaaaaaaay back in November 2011 (see here). Originally, they told her she would be both singing and dancing when she appeared on the show, and they made a huge deal in the press about how she was going to stick it to Santana’s homophobic abuelita.

But then that didn’t happen.

Ivonne Coll appeared in episode 3x07 “I Kissed a Girl” and then wasn’t asked to reprise her role until Season Six.

In the meanwhile, after hiring Mrs. Estefan in November 2011, the Glee showrunners failed to make prompt use of her. Santana’s coming out storyline was put on the backburner following episode 3x07 “I Kissed a Girl,” and it only received fleeting development during the latter episodes of the season. While Mrs. Estefan was originally slated to appear in episode 3x12 “The Spanish Teacher,” somehow that didn’t end up happening (see here). 

Mrs. Estefan expressed some confusion as to what was going on with her guest appearances on the show in interviews and on Twitter, but nothing was resolved until the end of Season Three, when the Glee writers finally managed to squeeze her in for a quick and almost forgettable appearance in episode 3x22 “Goodbye,” which aired on May 22nd, 2012, nearly six months after her original hiring date. 

In that episode, Mrs. Estefan neither sings nor dances, and she certainly doesn’t stick anything to Santana’s homophobic abuelita, who isn’t even present.

For the record: Mrs. Estefan is not the only guest star to have a poor experience while working with Glee. Demi Lovato openly complained about the way the powers that be at Glee disrespected her and underutilized her talent during her brief stint on the show in Season Five (see here). 

Mrs. Estefan did not appear again on the show until February 2015, when she resurfaced in time for Santana and Brittany’s wedding. At this point, she appeared on screen with Ivonne Coll for the first time, though they didn’t share any dialogue.

Frankly, had Glee really wanted to include Dr. Lopez as a character on the show, it would have made sense for them to cast him around the same time that they cast Gloria Estefan as Maribel. It would have been natural to see him playing a part in Santana’s graduation drama, particularly as he is name-dropped several times during the episode. He also could have easily played a role in the Brittana wedding proceedings, if not to the degree that Brittany’s father does, then at least to say or do something to make his presence known.

I mean, Blaine’s mother inexplicably attends the wedding and has a speaking part, so why not Santana’s father?

Honestly, I think the Glee showrunners believed that it would be enough to imply the existence of Santana’s father and his participation in her life. They seemed to think that Maribel’s presence was sufficient to flesh out Santana’s home and family situation. They also seemed feel that they needn’t go through the trouble of writing a part for Santana’s father when they had already cast a big name star as her mother. They dropped hints about him here and there, but they weren’t really committed to the idea of developing Santana’s relationship with the man to any meaningful degree.

As stated, better writers (and showrunners) could have, would have, and should have written Santana’s father into her story, or at least provided a plausible explanation for his noticeable absence from it. As is, his absence from many of her major life events unnecessarily complicates our understanding of her character.

If the Glee writers had known who Santana’s father really was and how he fit into Santana’s life, it would have been relatively easy for them to incorporate him into the story and fun for us to see how they did so. Instead, they left us with more questions than answers about him, and Santana’s storyline bears a conspicuous Dr. Lopez-shaped hole.

Unfortunately for us, since the show ended without answering questions about Dr. Lopez, the best we can do is speculate about him—and, of course, write fic. Thankfully, I’ve seen lots of good takes on the good doctor from our fandom’s very capable authors.

To each fangirl her own headcanon, then.