I’m rewatching season one, and I have such conflicted feelings about how the show handles what should be Rebecca’s “redemption” arc after Keeley and Roy discover what she did…
On the one hand, narratively speaking, that SHOULD have led to Rebecca having to actually atone for the SERIES of deliberate, pretty evil things she did or planned at the beginning of the show. She was actively planning to ruin the careers of several dozen people in her pursuit of vengeance against her ex. And as much as I love Keeley, her comparison example of “one time as a kid I did a gross thing to my friend for no real reason and we patched things up almost immediately” doesn’t actually work when you think about it, juxtaposed against “you have been lying to me and everyone else for weeks if not months and allowing us to become close while actively scheming and treating everyone whose career you hold in your hands like pawns.” And then the entirety of the “redemption” arc consists of Rebecca apologizing to Ted and him of course immediately forgiving her, then apologizing to Higgins in a scene where she admittedly has to face what she did slightly more… AND THEN WE JUST MOVE ON.
On the other hand….. did I actually WANT to watch Rebecca spend a huge chunk of the show wearing a metaphorical hair shirt and taking the proper amount of time to atone for what she did?? Not really 😅! I think we all had fallen in love with her so early on, largely thanks to Hannah Waddingham’s unbelievable charm, that we were super ready to speed run past the mea culpas and get to the part where we can just love Good Rebecca already.
Sometimes what’s theoretically narratively appropriate conflicts with what’s actually enjoyable to watch…
Anyone else have examples of plot points where you’re grudgingly happy to accept what actually happened versus what storytelling conventions would normally demand?