Written by RantandRave

The empathy, sympathy and connection of the audience in relation to what seem to be star-crossed lovers at this point is phenomenal. I find it interesting how the opinions of the viewers are so varied. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, and certainly no one piece of dramatic art can be all things to all people. There will be critics and fans, always, and there will be as many different ways of describing what they see as there are members of an audience. Of course this is a matter of opinion, but they're good actors and appear to have been professional throughout. They both also appear to be very committed to the show. They both have done a great job, as has much of the ensemble.

The word 'evanescence' comes to mind as I watch clips from episode 9.. the slow and painful evanescence of the protagonists' relationship that began in the first episode of this season.. some would argue the first episode of the series. And yet, in this episode more than almost any other, here it is disintegrating so overtly.. the love affair that drew many of us into this world, kept us there, and now delivers a sucker punch in slow motion, so harsh and sad that I almost wish I had never come across the vision on screen of these two women in the pilot.. a vision that suckered me in so adeptly and subtly and decidedly that, despite its fictional basis, I was captivated almost helplessly.

This latest episode was painful, particularly hearing the chanting music and Bette talking on the phone, purportedly to her daughter.. ultimately, it's quite arguable she's really addressing her estranged lover. In any event, it was devastating. No, it didn't make me cry, but the angst was palpable. I think it was almost as poignant and painful as the moment when Tina came upon the adultery at the CAC that night.. I thought that moment was staggering. How awful, I thought back then, how just plain hurtful and careless to do that to the woman who loved her, whom she had loved so much, with whom she shared her life. And now, episode 9 of season 3.. this scene of Tina with her Henry.. a means to an end more than a man in her life.. and Bette, calling out, reaching out, grasping for dear life as she describes her loneliness, anguish, and longing for her Angelica and, ultimately, the once love of her life- “I want, I want, I want.. ” Anyway..

Here's a more whining part of this longwinded 'editorial'- I just don't understand what has transpired between Bette and Tina in season 3. I don't understand what happened. I don't understand the nasty decline of what was previously portrayed as such a powerful though fallible love. I've been reading the comments, I've been reading the fanfics.. the poor authors are hemoraging intense, dramatic, sad, as well as triumphant storylines. It's like we didn't know what to do with ourselves after being exposed to the destruction of our beloved couple, particularly after the ninth episode. The new fanfics and new chapters were posted with a vengeance, like a protest against the fall of Bette and Tina.. 'rage, rage against the dying of the light', someone famous once said. Well, I'll continue at some point with that protest by joining my fellow writers, but for now I'll belabor the point here, in this non-fanfic context.

I find it utterly frustrating, maybe even more than dramatically impacting.. this whole series of episodes and now this most recent one. I can't even begin to imagine what awaits us in episode 10 and beyond- I expect it may be worse than what we saw in this most recent calvacade of Bette's emotions. I saw a clip from episode 11 of Bette taking a 'family picture'.. ouch.. OUCH! It's frustrating because despite all the commentary and the interpretations and analyses expressed by my fellow viewers, writers and readers, I just don't get it and I have been racking my brain all this season. I'm known to be a little dense too, but let's just ignore that for a second. I can't understand.. I cannot fathom.. I simply cannot accept what has been happening in this plot to Bette and Tina. It's just a television show, it's not my television show, they're not my characters, and I don't see my life somehow represented on the screen. I guess if I did see it I'd be leading a far too interesting life to be sitting here sharing my disconnected thoughts with you. Nonetheless, I think I'm being reasonable and not alone in suggesting that the way in which this couple has been decimated has been just awful and, at times, nonsensical.

Now this is just my perspective. I'm far from being a writer or professional writer, and certainly I have witnessed some great scenes and dialogue on this show throughout the three seasons. Obviously, there are talented writers at work here. However, my particular preoccupation is the relationship of Bette and Tina. That's the relationship that happened to draw me in for the future episodes after I watched the pilot. So I guess I feel compelled to share my thoughts, my frustration as a member of the audience, and you poor people have to sit there and read this. With my luck you'll be lambasting me on the comments section, for those of you who will bother to do so.

It's so very difficult for fans besotted with this on-screen couple, through almost 3 seasons now, to understand and/or willingly accept where the writers are taking them, because the way that they have been written and portrayed until the end of season 2, whether it was intentional or otherwise, depicted a relationship of 'love', very troubled though it was from the start. Certainly, most people were openly noticing that trouble was looming given the precarious reunion at the end of season 2. However, it's not easy to ask viewers to give up on a powerful love once it has been made believable as successfully as it was in this case; not without some creative guidance, character exposition, and conspicuous logic in what is transpiring on screen. In the plot, at times it was one step forward and two steps back.. but there was always the one step forward, and this supported a notion of hope in the bond between the two women. The writers created something that has poignant meaning for thousands of people. It's extremely difficult to see them being torn almost mysteriously asunder in the face of so many conflicting emotional messages from their history together.

Of course, if it were easy for the viewers or so much controversy and interest had not arisen, then perhaps it would have meant that the dramatic creation/portrayal was unsuccessful or simplistic. But I suspect that the likely problem some viewers are struggling with is that what is happening to the couple, in the way it has been happening, was not foreseeable.. at all. Yes, everyone knew they were in trouble from the beginning, at the end of season 2, given that it was so obvious they were coming back together for seemingly the wrong reasons. But the 'trouble', in the way it reared its ugly head in season 3, is about as alien to a comprehensible development in this relationship storyline as it was seeing Helena be a sudden 'good guy' or suddenly seeing Alice and Lara together without a prelude. Actually, it was much weirder than either of those developments. Things are occurring this season that beg the question of what on earth transpired during the first six months of Angelica's life. Those now infamous six months- it's become a joke among readers and authors alike- the mystery six months. It's not that all we need do is read between the lines.. there's nothing there no matter how hard you look. The foundation was not carefully or conspicuously laid for what is happening between Bette and Tina now, and some would say this is also a problem in other areas of the show, such as Helena's conversion. It's good on its own, but you're not supposed to be sitting there wondering where the hec that curveball came from. Similarly, the 'backstory' or prelude of what Tina is going through is similarly almost non-existent in the storytelling.

The way that Bette and Tina have been dismantled has seemed so bizarre. The awful, hurtful communication or lack of communication altogether at times between the two of them in the first several episodes has been harsh and almost painful to watch. It's hard to believe they would survive it. So the fact that they may very well break up (well, at least until sometime next or last season) is not unrealistic. It's how they got there that's troubling and that doesn't make sense. I think the audience is supposed to be enlightened about things that remain a mystery to the characters, which keeps the suspense and the intensity levels up, and is what inserts the tragic elements, not the other way around. In other words, certain things about characters and plots are kept from the audience, which is understandable in terms of keeping it interesting and suspenseful, but the extreme lack of exposition, in particular with respect to the character of Tina, is excruciating to audience members who had grown accustomed to empathizing with Bette and Tina and their trials and tribulations.

It's not so much that it's odd to see lovers be hurtful to one another.. the problem is it came out of no where, we don't really know why, don't know the motivation, don't understand the nature of the lashing out, the indifference, the frigidity, the distancing.. these things aren't unfamiliar, but they are foreign if delivered without a hint of explanation or a background.. and the suddenness of it all. It wasn't even until the third, fourth or fifth episode that suddenly we see alpha Tina has a thing for men. And what an odd thing it was.. Internet? Ok.. Bette gives her hives and she's dying to sleep with a man.. wha? And somebody give the emasculated Bette her cufflinks back - somebody please give 'em back! My goodness the hurt that we see in those orbs as it's so expertly portrayed on screen!

Maybe I just shouldn't be overanalyzing the development of a fictional relationship. It's just a show. Perhaps I'm just another fan who found a connection to two characters and is saddened that they are being torn apart, and saddened in not seeing their love triumph. Basically, I'm just a sentimental viewer caught up in a fictional episodic tale, with too much time on her hands. As a result, I'm being dragged kicking and screaming to this couple's bitter if temporary end. If nothing else, it's been thought and emotion provoking. Now I just wish it would make sense. Perhaps the theme is simple enough and explains everything, at least what the theme seems to be- that love isn't enough. OR.. maybe we're just being prepared for one hell of a reunion, though 'prepared' ain't quite the right word.

Throughout this season, as I have read the comments on the Internet, the fanfics, and one thought has persisted- what are Ms. Chaiken, Ms. Beals, and Ms. Holloman thinking about all of this? Well, wherever they all are, I wish them well, I'm happy to have come to see more of their work and that of the entire ensemble through this show, and I hope that their respective careers take them wherever it is they wish to go.

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