(no subject)

[meganbmoore]

Today and yesterday, I rewatched a couple eps of season 3 of Farscape (specifically, the ones with Xhalax) and I...had basically forgotten that it was possible for shows to write an interesting and believable Villain Redemption Arc* where I'm actually interested in the redemption plot, and have some investment in seeing what happens with the character.

Other shows have made me forget this was possible!

(I mean, this one is even framed through wanting a woman's attention/respect, though in an almost entirely non-sexual way, and he's more following her path than anything else at times.)

Note that I am not stating which of several villains in the series it is (though you may in comments, should you be so inclined) just in case there's someone on my list that is watching/plans to watch and isn't familiar with this plotline yet.

*And by "Villain," here, I mean someone who has done many many bad things even beyond the notm for the characters place in society, as opposed to someone who has simply followed the path declared by birth/class/society, but who later changes paths once s/he encounters more options.

Comments

[havocthecat]

I love that arc so much. And they made it really, really believable, which stunned me, given said character's history in the show.

[meganbmoore]

Yes! Like, up until the end of the first season, you'd fully expect him to be the permanent big bad, or to get killed to make room for the new big bad. And I think a lot of it is specifically that (1) what he does to Aeryn is done to him, (2) Aeryn specifically reinforces that parallel, and (3) he is then left with attempting to follow her path as his best option (barring death) but his actions have seen to it that he would not be able to cohabitate (yet) with the people who would otherwise be the only ones who would put up with him.

As a result of that and how he chooses to strike out, his redemption arc is framed through (1) fatherhood, but instead of a cute and hopeful child who wants him to be good, it's a child whose nature is something he peviously would have encouraged, but now has to direct them both away from, and (2) Aeryn, but never in a romantic or sexual nature, which is a very important distinction from most of these. (I mean, I'm pretty sure that he's aware of the possibility and would like it, but it would be more companionship of the only person who would really understand instead of romantic combined with the cultural expectations of mating/breeding that they both come from, but he accepts and respects her choice, even if he thinks she's majorly slumming.)

[salinea]

I'm a sucker for redemption; and I do emphasize that; it's one of my favourite kind of story ever; and I tend to adore anti-villains... and despite all that; I, too, am starting to get fucking annoyed with those sort of story where it's about a guy getting a pass on past evilness because he's sexy and the love of a good woman (or man in some slash fandom) makes it okay and it's all lazy storytelling -_-.

[meganbmoore]

Yeah, I like redemption stories when done well, but so often, they...aren't. And sometimes they start well and then end up making me pretend the last two seasons of the series don't exist. And I really think that a part of it is how the redemption stories are now so wrapped up in romance/sex appeal. Used to, these redemption stories were more...framed through encountering or attaching oneself to a more traditional hero or :good" person, but now they're more framed as love interests, and it's frequently that if a guy goes far enough down the redemption trail, then he gets the reward, the reward being a woman, who often gets turned into an object, at least in that aspect, because they end up being completely through his POV. (Vampire Diaries, for example, does have Elena's POV and the default POV, but when it comes to Damon/Elena, not only is it entirely Damon's POV, but Elena's is actively discarded because we're supposed to see his as the most important when it comes to that aspect. Though I still don't think we're meant to want her to reciprocate so much as the writers want us to feel sorry she doesn't.)