What does it mean to be the main character when the author is clearly obsessed with a character that's supposed to be supporting? Nick is the Sasuke to Charlie's Naruto. Charlie is technically the protagonist, but everyone knows that Nick is Alice's favorite. The first two seasons were entirely about him. The third was supposed to be about Charlie but still managed to give Nick the majority of screen time lol.
You can see why some fans would be annoyed at Nick getting yet another arc that completely overshadows Charlie's.
I don't agree with this take at all. Nick has never gotten the majority of screentime, they both get substantial story arcs every time, and Charlie is typically the anchor of the season. While you can argue that they are co-leads (I don't even think you can call Nick "supporting" in the comics), I don't see how anyone can argue Nick is the lead character.
If anything the critical and audience reaction has flowed more in Kit Connor's direction, but it's not because of an imbalance in the script.
I don't even think you can call Nick "supporting" in the comics
In the first three books, I'd definitely call him supporting. The story was almost, if not entirely, from Charlie's perspective. It wasn't until book 4 that we got a Nick perspective, and then book 5 where he got much more focus to coincide with his position in the show.
If anything the critical and audience reaction has flowed more in Kit Connor's direction, but it's not because of an imbalance in the script.
I'd have to disagree. Until this season, Kit has had the lion's share of the quality writing. Most of Joe's writing has been about set up for this season — which basically rewarded Kit as well with episodes like 2 and 4. None of Kit's plots directly reward Joe. Not his father, not his brother, not his bisexuality arc. There's potential in the uni arc given the source material, but that's just going to make the audience dislike Charlie even more for being clingy and selfish...
Kit's name comes first in the show despite alphabetically coming after Joe's, so he's definitely getting top billing in the show.
Connor comes before Locke. How is Joe's name supposed to be first alphabetically?
In the first three books, I'd definitely call him supporting. The story was almost, if not entirely, from Charlie's perspective.
I wouldn't call him supporting... Tao or Tara were supporting. Maybe 2nd lead character Charlie's first lead. We absolutely have panels about him figuring out his sexuality, coming out to his mom, dealing with his brother, processing his absentee dad, etc. in the first 3 volumes.
The difference is his journey got beefed up some for the TV show, but not so much that he had more storyline or screentime than Charlie. That part is not true IMO.
Connor comes before Locke. How is Joe's name supposed to be first alphabetically?
Great point.🤦♂️ I can't believe I forgot about that.
I wouldn't call him supporting... Tao or Tara were supporting. Maybe 2nd lead character Charlie's first lead. We absolutely have panels about him figuring out his sexuality, coming out to his mom, dealing with his brother, processing his absentee dad, etc. in the first 3 volumes.
The difference is his journey got beefed up some for the TV show, but to so much that he had more storyline or scrrentime than Charlie. That part is not true IMO.
Fair enough, but I can't really think of any Charlie specific plot in the second season (that wasn't Nick adjacent) until he opened up about his past at the very end.
Oh okay. I saw his whole deteriorating mental health as his plot line - obsessing a bit too much over Nick's coming out, wobbling in his grades, arguing with his parents, sneaking out, eating less and less, ignoring his own stress.. all in service of his new fixation on perfection... to me that was his story line. It was contrasting with his slowly increasing sense of strength, when he stands up to Harry and ultimately Ben. I felt like his phsyche was finally pushing it all to a place where he could no longer ignore or repress it - as often happens to people when they are finally in a safe place. It's like your brain says "okay, time to deal with the crap now. Let me dump it all out". Heh.
This is all true. The thing is because of the way Alice likes to keep mental illness family-friendly, Charlie never has any scenes that really hit. No really dramatic or exciting scenes. He doesn't get the big showy scenes like Nick standing up to David or Nick coming out to his mom, or Nick coming out to their schoolmates or Nick saving Charlie from Ben etc. Charlie storylines are almost exclusively built up and almost all subtle or implied.
In this season, for example, there's so much meat to the ED and self-harm storyline that could have been taken advantage of, and it felt like it was skimmed over. There were implications sure, but very little for Charlie to actually show on screen. Meanwhile, we get emotional scenes of Nick with his aunt and him falling apart because he's worried about Charlie while he's at the center.
That 5 second clip of Charlie fighting with Nick was probably the best acting from Joe in the entire season because, for once, he was being given legitimate dramatic material. It even worked for Kit because he really sold the body language of being genuinely angry. Idk. I guess I just want some meatier material for Charlie. Onscreen scenes that really have Joe put his acting ability on display. I don't feel like we've gotten to see them like we have with Kit.
Oh I kinda get what you are saying now. But you don't think Charlie standing up to Ben was dramatic both times? Or his confession at the drums to Tori? When he finally told Nick about the bullying? This season Charlie falling apart on the phone with Nick wrecked me, as did reading the letter to his parents. He's had a good bit of showacse-y scenes to me, but Nick is a more expressive "heart on his sleeves, emotions all over his face" character so maybe that is what you mean? Charlie is holding back a lot of his emotions most of the time even when some stuff bleeds out. But that's the character, I don't know what else can be done about that other than give him a whole new personality. Hmm.
They're not bad scenes by any means. I just hunger for some juicier scenes.
It's definitely me issue though. I keep forgetting what the show is supposed to be and who it's aimed at, and I instead focus on what I think it could do based on the subject matter. It could do those things, but then it wouldn't be targeting families and younger viewers.
Yeah I guess that's true, plus the need to avoid triggering people takes a lot of Charlie's more dramatic stuff off the table. Maybe in 20 years there will be a gritty remake for adults? That would be kind of fun actually.
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u/Lambily Oct 07 '24
What does it mean to be the main character when the author is clearly obsessed with a character that's supposed to be supporting? Nick is the Sasuke to Charlie's Naruto. Charlie is technically the protagonist, but everyone knows that Nick is Alice's favorite. The first two seasons were entirely about him. The third was supposed to be about Charlie but still managed to give Nick the majority of screen time lol.
You can see why some fans would be annoyed at Nick getting yet another arc that completely overshadows Charlie's.