Dating, Entertainment, Film & TV, Relationships

Unrequited Love and Television

patrick-offspring

patrick nina offspring channel ten death character

Last week saw an outpouring of grief as the makers of Offspring decided to kill off Patrick, love interest, father to be, and hottie.

Recently I’ve been watching Fringe, I know, late to the party, and as I’ve just finished Season 3 I was annoyed. I was annoyed for the same reason people cried out about Patrick’s untimely death, for the same reason people got annoyed watching The Nanny: Unrequited Love.

I hate unrequited love as a storyline in television series. Why can’t people just get together and break up like normal people do? Why does there have to be unrequited sexual tension from the first episode in a tangled web of lies that just might turn out to be true love. It doesn’t bother me so much when it’s Scully & Moulder first few seasons flirty kind of unrequited, but when it becomes Dark Angel–style finally-get-together-but-are-torn-apart-by-some-stupid-story it just pisses me off.

When the writers finally manage to satisfy us by bringing the two together, only to tear them apart with a car crash, an alternate version of themselves, or some other stupid obstacle clearly invented to bring the tension back.

I actually find it distracting to the overall story arc. Particularly when something completely ridiculous happens to tear them apart, and yes Dark Angel I’m looking at you with your targeted to DNA virus.

Then there’s the constant unacknowledged sexual tension between main characters where they don’t get together due to simply not saying something, due to some stupid belief the other person doesn’t feel the same way they do, due to some lie or ridiculous misunderstanding. Romcoms are the worst offenders in this category, but I’ve rarely seen a TV series where this isn’t at least attempted, even if it doesn’t work. And when it doesn’t, well, it’s a bit like watching a car crash. Only Patrick’s not part of it this time.

Do you understand unrequited love in television? Does it piss you off? 

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  • http://johnanthonyjames.com/ John James

    I actually stopped watching Offspring this year (a show I used to really love) because I felt they were starting to “jump the shark” a bit… so, the news that Patrick got the chop kind of backs this up…

    Mind you, the finale to Downtown Abbey this year was possibly the WORST literal and metaphorical car -crash I’ve ever seen in TV history…

    The problem with the whole unrequited love stuff on TV shows is that it’s just so cliched now – it’s been done so often – too often – that it just doesn’t have the emotional impact it used to…

    I’m with you T… I’d like to see more realistic depictions of relationships on TV… I actually thought the relationship between Billy and Mick on the first couple of series of Offspring was one of the most genuine relationships I’d seen on TV – but I stopped watching when it lost that genuineness… it just became a bit silly really…

    • Monique Fischle

      I’m in complete agreement with you about Downton Abbey. The car crash was barely believable and REALLY! They couldn’t have just let them be happy?

      • iamevilcupcake

        Blame Dan Stevens. He didn’t want to get typecast as Matthew Crawley.

        • Monique Fischle

          I know :( and that makes me sad too. It’s the same reason Patrick was killed as well, he wasn’t meant to be on Offspring long term.

  • Monique Fischle

    Unrequited love on TV seriously irritates me. I get that they do it to build the drama and suspense but once they get together, I really wish the writers would just let them be.

  • iamevilcupcake

    The whole unrequited thing pisses me off too, mainly because it’s way too close to home. I don’t need to be reminded by some tv show about my ineptitude with men.

    That’s why I love Star Trek. It’s aliens and creatures and the Prime Directive, and if Commander Riker wants a woman he gets her. End of story.

    *sigh* I love Star Trek.

    • Melissa Savage

      But the writers keep trying to make Riker/Troi happen but there’s no chemistry because she’s a terrible actress. And don’t forget the Picard/Crusher thing. Thank goodness for Keiko & O’Brien. Of course, Star Trek was good at not making too much of any relationships, but seeing them as background to the normal pace of life.

      • iamevilcupcake

        The difference was that Riker/Troi and Picard/Crusher both knew how the other person felt but circumstances kept them apart. Well I know that Picard/Crusher didn’t want to ruin the friendship or whatever. But neither couple really played the does he/doesn’t he game.

        And Keiko and O’Brien were lovely :)

        For some reason that scene from Encounter at Farpoint popped into my head where Riker and Troi see each other for the first time in forever. *shudder*

  • Maryann

    It is interesting that writers for commercial TV appear trapped in fairytale mode. I think it would be more interesting to watch something closer to the way relationship realy work, or not!

    • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

      Agree!! Although I am watching Sci-Fi so I guess I can’t expect it to be too realistic 😉

  • Happymum

    That’s why The X Files was so awesome. They never threw Mulder and Scully together until the movie, but they had that chemistry that made you feel as though it was a possibility every episode.
    Game of Thrones is a bit different with their suspense building. You don’t know who the hell is going to die each episode (if you aren’t a book reader).

    I always thought the whole sitcom unrequited love was a bit lame. I mean Ross and Rachel, come on – they dragged that one out forever. Just dumbed it down a bit more.

    • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

      Eurgh! Ross and Rachel!

      Game of Thrones is just epic. I LOVE it. Not a will they/won’t they in sight.

  • Hayley Ashman

    I kinda get this. When the reasons for keeping characters apart are absurd and if they break-up and make-up every week it can be really frustrating. But I do understand why these relationships are written like this. When I was studying fiction writing our teachers would always ask ‘where is the conflict?’ There has to be conflict to keep the story interesting. We cannot give our characters everything they want! But there needs to be balance. No one wants a character to be miserable all the time either.

    • Maree Talidu

      YES! When I teach creative writing to my students some of the basics are conflict and resolution. Without them, most narratives fail.

    • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

      I know… Still pisses me off!

  • Maree Talidu

    My issue with killing off Patrick has nothing to do with ‘unrequited love’. It’s a DRAMA and while it’s also comedic, it’s classified as drama and for that to work you need conflict. I AM a loyal Offspring Fan, haven’t missed an episode in 4 seasons. I don’t give up on shows when they deviate from what I have come to expect: it can’t ALL be Nina’s goofy dream sequences and jokes with the nurses.

    Real shit happens to people and although the timing is awful, they’ve made Nina ‘real’.
    Matt Le Nevez knew he was on a limited contract. While I didn’t expect him to be killed off, I thought they’d split or he’d leave the show. It’s the timing I have an issue with. It would have been awesome for Nina to have a smooth pregnancy and be able to share parenthood with Patrick. In some ways it was an extremely clever marketing ploy, their ratings went through the roof.

    It worked, it sucked people in who don’t watch on a regular basis. I give tv permission to mess with my emotions because I know it’s fiction that I choose to view. When YOU invite a show and it’s characters into your home and you get to ‘know’ them, they do feel real. And seeing Nina lose Patrick did hurt. But as frustrated as I was by the whole thing, I was more frustrated by the absolute ‘boycotting’ hysteria that ensued. It’s fiction! It’s dramatic! If you want unicorns and rainbows then don’t watch drama: it’s never gonna be straight forward. I think people who say they are never watching Offspring again (and there have been plenty, “but I’ll watch the funeral episode and then NEVER again”) are quite fickle. The show was successful pre-Patrick. It will continue to be an excellent hour of entertainment once a week. Was I a mess on Wednesday night? Hells yeah! Will I be a mess again THIS Wednesday night? Yeah probably. But am I outraged? Hardly. Indignant? Not even. Interested? Absolutely. I choose to reserve my actual anger/outrage/indignation for non fictional events, usually the nightly news.

    • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

      Don’t even get me started on the nightly news!

  • Lisa Warren

    Oh yes! The unrequited love thing really annoys me, but so does the fact that they can’t just have a couple live happily ever after. Yes, tragedy happens in real life, but so does being together until a ripe old age. It seems to me that script writers are forever throwing affairs, and untimely deaths, and babies never knowing their parents in our face. Sometimes you want to watch a show and just feel good.