No, but I don't think that this is "I empathize despite this" - I think that it's supposed to be "I empathize BECAUSE of this". Or to put it a better way, I think that THEY think that these characters are complex and well-rounded, capable of inspiring many different emotions. When really, they're just mostly assholes,…

You go up or down by a grade or so, but yeah, generally you tend to hand them out toward the high end of the scale.

To quote what I said a couple of weeks ago, you're not meant to like these characters - except when you are. The show wants to have its cake and eat it too - it hammers home that its characters are solipsistic monsters, then expects you to unabashedly FEEL for them anyways.

Just like (almost) every episode!

Kirk's gonna sue your ass!

The Day AFTER The Day The Clown Cried.

Early into The Last Unicorn - Beagle seems to have an unfortunate love for adverbs and water-based imagery (none of which is bad, per se - just overused), but that's being made up for so far.

Signing his name. A big responsibility for him.

TIE-DYE
PATCHOULI
UNSHOWERED
BURNOUT
WANKERY
WEEDILY-WEEDILY-WOO

Hmm. Fair point on the "wisecracking spinster" archetype, but I'm not sure about the rest. Still, food for thought.

*sigh*

I hate responses like this. Yes, it's a TV show. And…? How does that make it immune to basic questions of artistic intent/merit - especially in this so-called "Golden Age of Television"?

Yeah, see my comment above about the self-awareness issue.

Pretty much. And HuffPo's not so good either (did I really even need to say that)?

Where were these comments? Because if they were largely on Reddit or any news site, I think that you might be safe in ignoring them.

I don't know what they're making, and I suspect that they have only the fuzziest idea themselves. But don't be surprised if that fuzzy idea collides with what YOU think that they're making in the not-too-distant future.

It's whatever Dunham (and to a lesser extent Konner and Apatow) feels like doing that week - which is the real reason for the intense disjointedness that Todd and some other people mention, then brush aside.

As it turns out, the only thing worse than not being self-aware is BEING self-aware and using that as an excuse to not change a thing. "It was meant to be like this all along! You're not meant to like these characters, except when you are!"

HEY THERE MIGHTY BRONTASAURAUS
DON'T YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR US?

Whatever. *dons beret, smokes clove cigarette, gives the Black Power salute halfheartedly*