#tv adaptation

Love the books. I can't wait to see who gets cast as Luc and Oliver. 😆

Ps I've always been a Logan and Grace Girlie I CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 2

I get both sides. I really do. The people who are mad? valid. The people defending it? also valid.

I've read 'When He Was Wicked', and I know exactly why this is hitting people the way it is. Michael was so effin hot it’s not even funny. Hands down THE hottest Bridgerton male lead. Like… the standard. the blueprint. the man.

So yeah, imagine replacing THAT with a woman. Of course, readers who have built entire frachael scenes in their heads for years are gonna feel a little… robbed. That’s not homophobia, that’s attachment. There’s a difference.

And John. Oh John. Book Frannie loved that man. She kept calling him her first love. She truly, wholeheartedly loved him. Their marriage wasn’t boring. It was soft. Steady. Safe. Beautiful in its own quiet way. And the show making it seem like she was never really into him? That kinda hurts. He’s such a sweetheart. He deserved that epic love too. (and no, it’s not Francesca’s fault, but still.)

BUT.

I thought s1 was surprisingly decent; it was well cast, reasonably paced, it looked visually wonderful and I had a fun time. Did it really justify its existence? No. The original was still miles better. The writing was… not great. The direction for some of the line delivery was… also not great. But I would give it 7.5/10 and it held up fine on the rewatch.

S2 has massively improved! Much better writing overall, better direction and acting, some really interesting handling of character arcs and relationships, and while I’m overdue to rewatch the original show, it felt like it measured up pretty well. Maybe even… dare I say it… improved some things?? I enjoyed it hugely from start to finish and there’s only minor gripes I have with any of it, so it’s a 9/10 from me.

Some of my favourite changes it’s made:

- just generally having a full poc cast including indigenous actors for the water tribe… god knows it’s a low bar but they cleared it

- Katara !!! My girl !!! I love Katara but the writing for her in the og show fell into some unfortunate tropes, like parentifying her and having her ‘mother’ the boys despite one of them being her OLDER brother. And the show did address those tropes and her frustration, kinda, but honestly it’s better without having it be a thing in the first place imo. In the new show she still came up against misogyny in the northern water tribe… but she didn’t need to be constantly battling it from her closest family and friends too, especially when in the og show it was too often either ignored or played for laughs. The og show also compounded this by pitting Katara against basically every other female character instead of giving her connection and solidarity with other girls and women. I loved that in the new version, she and toph are actual friends who can be there for each other.

- closely related to the previous point: kataang. Full disclosure, I am a staunch Zutara shipper, and that’s largely because I think they work so well together both narratively and as individuals… but also I just really dislike kataang in the og show. It doesn’t work for me on any level. Aang seems so young compared to her; he’s quite rightfully trying to hang onto the few chances he has to still be a kid, but Katara is already playing the role of an adult and this only continues in the gaang (see the previous point about misogynistic parentification). Plus, aang is entitled and pushy about his crush on her. In the new show, both aang and Katara seem more like similarly aged teens trying to figure themselves out alongside each other. Aang is less of a manic pixie dream child and Katara doesn’t play a pseudo mother role in the group. They’re on much more equal footing and while aang clearly has feelings for her, he seems able to separate this from how he sees her as a person and a friend. I still prefer zutara, but if live action kataang is endgame, I’m not mad about it like I was in the animation! They could be cute tbh.