My response got super long, so I’ll put it below the cut, but I think it’s important to remember the context of what Brettseys went through as viewers in real time. It was actually a bit cathartic to write this 😭
They had such an incredible build up and an equally strong payoff in 9x16 when they got together, just for the life to be sucked out of them when Jesse left 5 episodes later. We obviously lost a lot of people then because it’s rare for actors to return and even more rare for a character that is still on a show to end up with a character that’s not.
Then, for 7 months, those of us that stayed watched warily hoping that they kept them together long distance for a reason. We finally let ourselves get excited again because we were going to see Brettsey together on screen at the Stellaride wedding, just for the show to give them less than 1 minute of screen time and a 30 second conversation that threw out their commitment from 10x05 and made it seem like Matt had decided he was never returning because he was so happy in Portland.
Another 4 month wait for the breakup that we knew was inevitable but tried to convince ourselves we might avoid because there’s no way they’d break up off screen when they just had Jesse there for an episode, but of course they did. Now we’re watching from a distance to see where things go, trying not to have any hope despite Sylvie saying “maybe someday” to Matt and Kara saying Sylvie felt like she had to end it “at least for now.”
We’d at least get to see Sylvie struggling and missing Matt so that we could properly mourn losing them, right, after all their build up and her saying things like “it’s always been you” and “when you know, you know” to him? Nope, she gets to be sad for one episode before Hawkins tries to set her up with blank wall (Dylan) and Derek writes her saying that she’s fine because she’s stronger now (I’m still mad about how terrible that writing was).
Then we get 4 of episodes of her being a glorified extra before they force a dating storyline on her less than two months after the breakup (it was supposed to be like 6 months show time, but they didn’t make that super clear), despite how obvious it was that she wasn’t ready. Two months later, after seeing no chemistry and no attempt to develop her and Dylan, we’re relieved because they end it because she wasn’t ready and wonder if they’re actually gonna show her realize that she can’t move on from the love of her life.
The show has a one month break and we let ourselves have a little hope, all for it to get crushed in 11x13 when they have Severide tell Sylvie she has to move on, and it felt like Andrea (who wrote the episode and is the showrunner) telling us it’s over and it’s time to move on. This was the point where I finally lost hope and was able to fully disengage from the show. I unfollowed Brettsey accounts on Twitter and deleted the tumblr app from my phone because it was just too painful.
About a month later, we randomly get news that Jesse would be returning for 11x18 and after a brief bit of excitement, most of us jumped to absolute terror after realizing that it was likely their final closure episode, like what Dawsey got in s8. If it wasn’t for Jesse basically giving us the plot in all his interviews the day before the episode aired, I think hardly any of us would have watched live (a fair amount of people still waited to watch the episode until hearing about how it went).
Despite the plot of 11x18 making it pretty obvious (IMO) that they were going to get back together eventually, we were all still pretty scared to get excited after everything that had happened and the fact that they said it was only for one episode. I thought maybe 11x18 just set the stage for a Doug and Carol (ER) type reunion whenever Kara decided to leave the show (or it ended).
I don’t think it was until we saw the 11x22 promo that was 100% focused on Brettsey and included what very much looked like a proposal that we let ourselves actually get excited. Then we actually get a proposal, but they made it a cliffhanger going into a writers strike and eventually a double strike also including the actors.
We ended up having to wait almost 8 months just to not get to see her say yes to the proposal. Of course we were elated that she said yes, but it was a huge let down to not get to see it.
We found out in 12x01 that the wedding was a month and a half away and were able to get excited because it was pretty clear we were gonna get to see it on screen. The episode comes and it was nearly perfect and we actually somehow got our happy ending.
After a 3 season build up, we only got to enjoy them being together for 5 episodes before having it all ripped away, and really only for like 2 episodes before we started to get his exit storyline and the anxiety that came with it. Then we were on an emotional rollercoaster for more than 2 years that finally resulted in a happy ending.
We love them and are ecstatic to have gotten a happy ending, but we’re emotionally exhausted and too tired to do much more than just enjoy it. I think for most of us, we also stopped watching the show, so it’s pretty similar to what happens when a show ends where you still see content for a while, but it fades away because there’s nothing new to talk about.
