I'm not saying there shouldn't be differences, just saying that they could make things a little different.
You don't have to make everything as it was before, right? So, it doesn't have to be SW who's arguing with Mac but with someone else. They've got a new character, use it as new.
Making her have differences with Mac and making her empathetic doesn't exactly make her "new", in my opinion.
Of course, it'll all depend on what they do with her but it's already a similar approach. It can turn out different, it can turn out the same but from what I've seen so far how replacements have been handled...
Guess we'll see how she's written as well as what she gets to do, and also what SW does with it. I also doubt you get someone like SW to sign on with the promise of an unappealing and bland character. Anyways.
Other characters on the show are also empathetic. They've all had cases and victims etc. that were more personal for them for various reasons. (But no, it's not generally touted as a defining characteristic). I think there are certain traits that cross over with various characters in general.
Other characters have also argued with Mac in the past, besides Stella. Sheldon and Flack come first to mind. The fact that Jo might have a different approach that enables a friendly rivalry, that she does have her own mind, and is not simply going to bow to whatever Mac says, still sounds promising to me. (I'd be far less hopeful had they indicated that Jo was a catering sort of personality. Even if that made her somehow "different.") A rivalry with Mac and poking Adam is also probably among the fastest ways to establish what sort of interaction she'll have as a colleague on equal footing, and as a supervisor within the labs. It's also possible that she will have differences with others, or they with her. Part of the fun to see how the new team dynamics shake out. Whatever they are.
I do agree that things could and should be fresh, and we'll see what they come up with. One of the first things I said on hearing the initial description of Jo was that a) they hadn't expanded in terms of diversity, and b) it didn't look as if the overall dynamic of how character roles would be used within episodes would alter much. That characters will fill certain functions doesn't mean it's impossible to be individuals within that. I do still think all the characters could be sharpened up though, I think they're all falling victim to overly formulaic and predictable use. I hope cases and material is generally more challenging to them and to viewers.
I'm not gonna dump on Jo as being completely and utterly unoriginal especially without seeing how she's played. SW is more than talented enough to put her own spin on whatever is written. I hope she's still given some solid material though :lol:.
I stubbornly remain optimistic, about Jo as a character at least
.
You're stating one possibility, I'm stating the other.
Fair enough and dandyo.
However, I don't think you can deny that a) Stella was empathetic, b) she was flirtatious with Adam and teasing him (at least until the beginning of season 6...) and c) she had arguments with Mac and disagreed on him how to handle cases.
They gave all of that to SW while there are many characters they could have given it to instead. (not the empathy, certainly, but that could have been done without, too)
I don't think other characters will suffer for material "they could have been given." I'm rather hoping that how they all play off each other will further let us get to know Jo, and also let us see our regular crew thru the eyes of a new character as she gets to know them. I think a new character can be a great lens to look at more established ones all over again. I hope good material results for all.
It's not about "denying" who Stella was :lol:. I don't deny that Stella was empathetic. And, again, they've all been empathetic. At other times she came off rather brittle; other times guarded, sometimes tough. She wasn't one thing to me all the time. She was also hotheaded and impetuous in temperment. I don't immediately equate Jo's being "empathetic" as meaning she's going to be similarly hotheaded and impetuous and default to being Stella in all but name.
As for Adam. I perhaps saw things a little differently. I think Adam seemed to crush on Stella for a long time. I personally didn't read much of their interaction as flirting, rather, that Adam may have been, but it was not necessarily reciprocated, at least not until the S6 premier. The fact the show put Adam and Stella together still managed to surprise the hell outta me :lol:. I don't think "Jo teases Adam" equates with "she's flirting with him and wants to take him home and comfort him about the perpetually plaguing possibility of losing his job" :lol:.
I've never "denied" Stella and Mac disagreed on cases :lol:. And to repeat, she's also not the only one to have done so. What Stella had that others didn't was seniority in her position within the labs, the same one which Jo will presumably be stepping into. That there somehow shouldn't be some overlap in function between the two characters would seem odd to me.
Can I also say that I'm not certain I saw Mac and Stella as having an ongoing rivalry. I think they did on certain cases, but it didn't seem to be something played as part of their day to day general dynamic. That's one I'll hafta mull more.
Tomato tomahto. Dandyo. I'm gonna wait and see. I also expect it will take half a dozen eps or so for the show to find a rhythm with the new character. We'll see how the show does. I'm still finding Jo to be the most interesting of all spoiler snippets we've been given. Perhaps precisely because we still don't know much about her :lol:
