Dear TGD Season 5: A Wish List
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Dear TGD Season 5…
First of all, hey! You’re here! There were plenty of times in the past year when it felt impossible to make it to the end of one episode, let alone all 20, and it was incredibly challenging to think ahead to the future. But I made it, and now it’s your turn.
In some ways, you’re bound to have it easier than I did thanks to the vaccines that didn’t exist a year ago and the vaccine mandates for TGD cast and crew. But then again… you’re season five. And the longer a TV series stays alive, the higher the likelihood that it can slide off the rails and straight into some pocket of Crazytown that no viewer wants to see. Remember when Fonzie did the thing on water skis, jumping over a shark on Happy Days? (Which is where the term “jump the shark” originated, for any readers unfamiliar with the ABC sitcom Happy Days)
Well, fun fact-- that happened in season 5 of that show. Not meaning to scare the demographics out of you, TGD S5… I just want you to proceed with a bit of caution, OK?
(So do some dear viewers of TGD that have taken time to offer up “wish lists”; I’ll be referencing some of those wishes as we move along.)
For instance, I hear there’s a new “nemesis” coming to shake things up at good ol’ St. Bonaventure this season! How intriguing! Sounds like there’s potential for every regular on the show to be involved and show what they’re made of. I’d just want to be sure that said nemesis doesn’t hijack the show with an unappealing personality or off-putting plot twists … know what I mean? But I’m sure Mr. Shore and all the other producers, writers, and directors will keep a watchful eye on the situation. After all, they did get rid of half of “my” Newbies fairly quickly last year…not complaining, mind you! I had enough on my plate!
Without further adieu, here are thoughts on what lies ahead for you, S5...
5th-year residency
It’s true-- I, Season 4, didn’t do much to advance the whole permanent-position-at-St. B race other than write off one of the key residents at the very end of my reign. In fact, with Dr. Reznik still unable to do surgery (despite her best offscreen PT efforts), Dr. Park and Dr. Murphy are the last two standing.
Should you, Season 5, direct a lot of attention to this? Here’s some of that viewer input I mentioned:
(I’m looking for) some serious competition among the residents for a position at the hospital… and Glassman’s involvement in it. (From Daniela)
With Claire gone, the competition is between Shaun and Park. Park is a good doctor and he's good at communicating with patients, but he tends to be somewhat unimaginative. He goes by the book and usually defers to authority. Shaun of course is a gifted surgeon but has trouble communicating with patients and with staff. He showed some growth supervising the newbies; in the end they seemed to like him. I see Lim advocating for Shaun and Andrews for Park... Unless they opt to bring in someone new, which seems unfair! (From Juliana)
It seems that the initial drama/conflict we’ll see at St.B this season will stem from a) whatever the “shake up” is, and b) whatever difficulties are borne of Dr. Osma adjusting to a new country, new (probably fewer) responsibilities, and a romantic entanglement with the chief of surgery. Perhaps the Shaun vs. Park angle will be explored once the dust has settled on one or both of those things. (Kelli)
Three relationships!
Wow, am I reading that right? I mean, Shaun and Lea= #Shea… we all knew that last season. But you get #ParNick (Park and Reznick)! You get #MatLim (Mateo Osma/Audrey Lim)! I hope I’ve got those hashtags right; you’d better research it because YOU, Season 5, will be juggling three times as many “real” relationships as I did! And, admittedly, I don’t envy you. I mean, I teed up most of the #ParNick relationship (which was fun but never easy), while you’re the one who has develop it. As for #MatLim-- let’s face it, that one has pretty much written itself thus far. But it’s so new, and therefore so vulnerable… with one carrying plenty of relationship baggage we know about, and the other carrying a questionable quantity of the same… I suspect Osma’s legal difficulties are but a minor representation of daunting challenges which lie ahead for these two.
Back to those viewer wish lists…
I’m looking for the development of the other relationships (Park/Morgan, Mateo/Lim) as mirrors (more or less) of Shaun and Lea. (Daniela)
I want to learn more about Alex’s (Park’s) past. Why did he quit being a cop and choose to become a doctor? It's been four seasons. Why don't we know about that stuff yet? (Tina)
We’ve talked about double-date options for a while… mostly involving #Shea and the Glassmans, which isn’t likely now… will this be the season for two of the three couples to hit the town together? If so, which two? My vote is for #Shea and #Parnick. (Kelli)
AND…
With newly-single Glassman and Andrews, I hope to witness them dealing with at least some of the fallout in their own unique ways. (Kelli)
I’d like some believable and fair resolution about Glassy/Debbie. I’d also like to hear Shaun’s thoughts about the situation. (Daniela)
Shaun may be disappointed with Glassy/Debbie; after all he was instrumental in bringing them together. But when he asked Andrews for relationship advice, he was matter of fact about the possibility that Glassman's marriage may fail and therefore Andrews was better (at this! LOL). However, he may be rocked at the failure of Andrews' marriage; he went to him for advise specifically because that marriage was long-lived and seemingly stable. I hope he doesn't extrapolate to his own upcoming marriage; he's getting (sometimes distressingly) good at extrapolating! (Julianna)
AND...
While I don’t want 2nd-year residents Dr. Asher Wolke and Dr. Jordan Allen to dominate any more than I want the new “nemesis” in that role, it is time for their lives to expand a little from what we’ve seen at St. B. Jordan has referenced past loves and is clearly not afraid to give relationship advice-- what happens when she’s on the hot seat? Wolke, on the other hand, hasn’t yet moved past the light dating stage since coming out but WE haven’t even seen the light dating yet. Start there. (Kelli)
Asher needs more love. Can we please give him a sweet and loving boyfriend? And can we somehow get Shaun involved in that? He loves being asked for advice or being able to give advice. That would be a great dynamic. (Tina)
A WORD ABOUT LAST YEAR’S CASES...
Season 5, I hope you’ve done your research on past seasons when it comes to the 35-40 medical cases you’re bound to highlight. Back in my season, I took particular pride in the way we showcased the pandemic… of course… but most of our time was devoted to the emotionally fraught cases, the intriguing cases, and the socially relevant cases. The latter two types-- in my experience-- can become maddeningly unsatisfying in a hurry if the writing isn’t up to par, and/or they don’t get that extra minute or two within the show to “breathe.” So I urge you to take your time, and choose both your causes and your battles wisely when it comes to Cases of the Week. Less is more-- except when dealing with the characters and their own development. Go ahead and plan just ONE case per week here and there. The core viewers might just thank you for it.
AND, A WORD ABOUT THE CASE LAST YEAR…
Lea’s miscarriage broke a lot of hearts, and I’m sorry it had to happen during my season. You won’t be subject to the viewer anguish and vows to quit watching TGD that I was, and thank goodness for that. But there’s something important that gets overlooked in that discussion-- something that goes beyond the highly valid point of Shaun and Lea’s tragedy strengthening their bond tenfold.
In dealing with losing an unborn child together, they faced a test to their relationship that wasn’t about betrayal, or neglect, or potential incompatibility, or mistakes that one or both of them made. All those things are incredibly common, and could already be in your S5 Bag-of-tricks regarding any of the relationships already mentioned. But giving Shaun and Lea the challenge of a miscarriage and its aftermath created a space where neither one of them was at fault for hurting the other, either deliberately or otherwise. Even when Lea confessed to Shaun that she was still galvanized by her grief (at the end of the “Venga” episode), she wasn’t angry that Shaun was “thriving”-- in fact, she apologized for feeling as she did!
What I mean to say is that I can’t help but take some pride in the pregnancy/miscarriage arc happening on my watch. And I hope you get a similar opportunity, Season 5.
(Just not THAT particular opportunity. One miscarriage was enough.)
Speaking of #Shea-- the viewers and I (but mostly the viewers) have a number of wishes for these two, and only some of them involve their wedding.
For Lea:
A Glassman/Lea hug. Come on. Those two need to have more meaningful interaction. She's his daughter-in-law now, pretty much. (Tina)
And to expand on the above, overall more Lea and Glassman bonding. It looks like season 5 will be tough on Glassman, so it would be awesome if Lea could somehow be there for him, both facilitating his father/son relationship with Shaun and forging her own relationship with him, perhaps help him heal a bit more from losing Maddie. (Tina)
Shaun witnessing the positive change in the relationship between Lea and Glassy, and reacting to it (I think he would most definitely love that). (Daniela)
Lea having a confidant (or more than one), maybe Lea bonding more with the other women on the show. They laid the foundation to this in Dr. Ted, please expand on it. (Tina)
Also, there's Lea's family. Pam was initially against this relationship, but she seemed to accept that Shawn was the father of Lea's baby (sob). She'll have to accept it once they take their vows. Will she be the annoying, controlling, mother-in-law? (Yes). Will Mike bond with Shaun? He seemed to like him at the dinner; his issue with the relationship seemed to be with Lea, not Shaun. (Juliana)
We discussed Lea’s brother Donnie a lot on the “wedding wish list” because of our hopes that they will get to resolve their differences at long last… but I have to admit that I remain curious about Lea’s ex-husband. Not with a concern for him disrupting #Shea, but if the show will find anything to explore there, even in a one-off episode. We’ve all heard Lea mention her previous marriage in the S5 promos, so we know it hasn’t been forgotten (or that they hope WE forget about it).
And finally, a few select wishes for the titular character:
I want to see Shaun doing complex surgeries, choosing a specialty, and becoming a good mentor – not without struggling at first. (Daniela)
Maybe a bachelor party with Shaun having fun with his colleagues and friends? Not sure what that would look like, and please don't let it be tropey and stereotypical. Something that Shaun will actually enjoy. (Tina)
Shaun publicly thanking Dr. Glassman for believing in him and basically being the father his biological one never was. It's long overdue. Make it happen. (Tina)
The angst monster in me wants a Shaun meltdown. Maybe not a big, disastrous one, because he has a good support system now and Lea has been instrumental in his emotional stability. But I think it would be great to see him struggle a bit more emotionally. (Tina)
Marcie Murphy may not make the wedding, or even be invited, but Shaun has unresolved issues. Lea hates her, but I think Shaun is ambivalent. He wistfully asked Steve if she would be coming for them; Steve assured him that she loved them but knew it was "better this way". He finally allowed her to hug him, but also asked her why she chose his dad over her children. I'd like to see this explored. (Julianna)
And oh, all right! If I’ve learned anything it’s that those who make up #Shea Nation will not be denied their dreams… especially the simple ones:
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I want a laid-back Saturday morning Shea pancake scene without drama. Because Domestic! Shea and Happy! Shaun is our jam. (Tina)
Shea going on an uninterrupted, undisastrous date that's sweet and has a happy ending. We never saw that. We want it. (Tina)
I want the Shea wedding day being a happy celebration for everyone. No drama involved. (Daniela)
Another karaoke scene. Shaun loves it so. As do we. Always want more Happy! Shaun. (Tina)
For licensing reasons I’m sure they couldn’t do it outright… but I’d love the “cold open” of an episode to be Shaun and Lea on their sofa, watching Jeopardy… and every time one of them answers something correctly (which is OFTEN, of course), the other feeds them from a big bowl of popcorn. And it would get increasingly animated/fun/affectionate until-- of course-- someone’s phone (probably Shaun’s) chimes incessantly, breaking the mood. I just think it’d be an adorable way to show off not just their chemistry, but the intelligence both characters possess. (Kelli)
