10 Bad Things About Season 4

I did say some nice things about season 4, but now I want to be critical.

1) The lack of chemistry between romantic hookups. I think they only got it mostly right with Tasha and Alice. At first, Jodi seemed right for Bette, but then Jodi became an arrogant whore who turned Bette into a pathetic puppy. Phyllis and Alice was...awkward. Kristanna Loken is attractive, but she's significantly bigger than Shane; while her face matches with Shane, her body doesn't. Papi and Kit? Ew. And while Helena and Catherine are hot looks-wise, their whole storyline was ridiculous and weird. All of this has me feeling apathetic about what happens.

2) I seriously hated Jenny this season. More so than in season 2. I can see why people find her interesting and amusing, but she's a selfish, cunt-faced bitch. I will probably write another entire post articulating my specific hatred for her. But, for now, I'll say that I hate what she did to Lindsay, and I hate the fact that she claimed to be writing fiction when she really has no creativity whatsoever.

3) There was no Carmen, Lara, Peggy Peabody, or, what was that girl's name?..., oh yeah, DANA. Granted we didn't really get to know Carmen or Lara very well, but we could have gotten to know them better instead of having the show get congested with Papi, Jodi, and Phyllis. And this season could have used some of Peggy Peabody's sass.

4) There were too many PSA's. The older lesbian storyline (as exemplified by Phyllis). Gays in the military. FTM's at the workplace and in relationships. Teaching children about homosexuality. It's too fucking much. Ilene needs to get off the soapbox. The irony is that, while they depicted issues that are real and can have serious ramifications, they didn't do an adequate job of addressing them because...

5) There were way too many storylines and characters! They tried to cram in so much that very little was explored with any depth. While Papi brought some humor (with the basketball game, for example), she's pretty much a waste of airtime. And Catherine is hot, but, again, her character is so superficial and over the top.

6) Max's storyline. It was good that he got a "personality transplant" as Elka said; he was nice this season. But last season, his catch phrase was, "Can't you understand?!" This season it was, "You know?" "I have an ear condition, you know?" "I'm intrinsically a man, you know?" "It [getting top surgery] is an irreversible decision, you know?" No, Max, we don't know. And thanks to the lack of quality writing and depth, we probably won't know. You've been reduced to a victim in an after-school special storyline.


7) They hardly mentioned Dana. I think Alice was a bit too together at the beginning of the season. At the end of season 3, she had just decided to start to bring herself together; I would have liked to have seen a more gradual and realistic recovery for her. She did crack a bit in "Long Time Coming" when she talks to the ghost of Dana, but that was at the end of the season. I think Dana should have been mentioned more. In a podcast with Jennifer Beals, Ilene said she thinks the characters probably do talk about Dana a lot, but she just didn't want to spend too much screen time on that. Since Ilene did such a good job of using screen time this season.

8) Season 4 was too fluffy. I'm definitely glad they lightened it up since season 3 was so depressing. But I think they took it to another extreme. I mean, Papi? C'mon. Like I said before, she's boring and superficial, and even if she shows more depth in the future, I doubt I'll care (not to mention she's NOWHERE near being as hot as Shane). They also wasted time with Helena and Catherine fucking. It was hot at first, but then it got overdone and lame. Season 3 may have been a major downer, but at least I cared about the characters when I watched it.

9) Marina's appearances were unsatisfying. I think Marina and Jenny really had a clearly established connection in season 1. We got to see them first meet and bond over their love for reading and writing. I'm not necessarily saying that I wanted them to get back together, but their interaction could have had (again) more depth and sincerity than a threesome.

10) Some of the fashion was a bit off. I wanted to see Bette wear more power suits instead of outfits like this. Shane's hair left something to be desired. And Alice had a few days where she looked strange.