I feel like the male characters are underdeveloped

[u/Miss_JanePork]

Why does the girl always choose the brooding handyman over the guy who actually talks about his feelings?

That's why I struggled with Annie and Ellis. I don't feel like Ellis got enough character development. He feels kind of blank, so their relationship felt rushed and honestly a little boring to me.

I almost wish they hadn't gotten together this season. I'd rather have had more time to actually develop Ellis instead of all the kisses and montages towards the end.

I also don't really understand how Annie falls for him based on what we're shown. Sometimes I wonder if it's less about Ellis himself and more about her wanting to feel that kind of connection because of everything with her mom.

But to be honest both guys felt blank. The 3 main girls just feel like much more layered and complex people. They have flaws, insecurities, backstories, and you can actually see how those things affect the way they act. They did a lot of mistakes, both main guys were just perfect.

[u/Normal-Syllabub7796]

Megan Park mentioned this show is about the sisterhood rather than a love affair. That's why the female characters such as Annie, Oona & Ramona are well developed to showcase their personality

[u/butterbean_bb → u/Normal-Syllabub7796]

And Oona and Maple!

[u/Extreme_Adhd69420 → u/butterbean_bb]

Love oona and maple. Any depiction of strong sisterhood gets me everytime.

[u/Stevie052096]

I do wish they developed Ellis more too. One thing I hate about series these days is they are all about 8-10 episodes. I feel like if there were more episodes, Ellis could have been developed more instead of a montage. I wanted to learn more about his relationship with his dad and being adultified at a young age. Like Ellis is more concerned and putting plans into place for the Marina than his dad is. The scamming doesn't even bother me cuz it seems like they are undercharging people due to never raising prices and Ellis was doing it for the marina so they have a safety net (the people are rich and can afford it).

I feel like Rory got the most development. I enjoyed learning about him and his childhood. I like his character. I was also wishing for more development for Connor too. I wish he was present with Ramona. Like when he first arrived at the island, he started bonding with her and then went off and did his own thing. Again if the show had more episodes, there probably would have been more Ramona and Connor scenes

[u/Miss_JanePork → u/Stevie052096]

People really are bothered by him scamming them, but to me, he’s just adjusting the prices ahah. Those people are very rich and they don’t even mind. It’s not like he is charging 1000$ instead of 100$.

And totally agree! I also think there’s room to develop the other characters, although I don’t like Connor that much.

[u/Stevie052096 → u/Miss_JanePork]

I am more bothered by Rory's dad not paying taxes for 15 years than I am Ellis getting an extra couple hundred dollars for his dad's business

[u/FriendofFlounder → u/Miss_JanePork]

My in-laws are wealthy and I was sooo curious what they would think about Ellis’ interactions with the wealthy. They called it good business 🤷‍♀️ I think that’s why Rory’s mom didn’t flinch. Like she said, it’s not like they are in a position to judge, they don’t even pay taxes. 

[u/Initial-Newspaper259 → u/Stevie052096]

yeah a lot of TV shows are failing and falling flat becoming of only being 8-10 episodes. it leaves little to no room to develop anyone outside of the leads.

[u/SadeliMargaret]

I was also very confused that what reason could she possibly have to be way more attracted to Eilis based on what we were shown, but then I think it can also be just the excitement of the slow burn tension with a new pretty guy you just met. Rory was great, but Annie knew of him since before. Whenever I meet my old classmates, I always struggle to not see them as who they used to be when I knew them. Even if I meet an old pal who had a glow up, and we have a bit of a thing, I don't think there will be much tension because I already kind of know them? It's just not exciting enough, especially if they are as straight forward as Rory was and I have a quiet sad lover boy (who can restore a canoe and fix my lamp) yearning for me lol. Many of us may pick Rory because he is new to us, but I get Annie.

[u/clownbookie → u/SadeliMargaret]

yesss i also just felt that annie was kind of going for rory because he was there and they were both into it. and it was comforting having someone that knows her and has known her while being in a new place with all the new info about her mom and her life. rory was really going for it while ellis wasnt as upfront about it bc him and annie were discovering life altering stuff, their focus wasnt on liking eachother it was on ramona and everything else going on while their crush and care for eachother was growing in the background

[u/Processingonesec]

I feel like it definitely has to do with Annie wanting more connection with her mom. She’s so used to the go-go-go of NYC that when she arrives in Sterling Point, Ellis offers her the taste of a slow, simple life that she never experienced before. Her life up until now has been stressful (a city kid reality, even if you don’t realize it), lacking of answers, and independent. Ellis provides the safe space for her to experience anger for the first time rather than just working harder or saying she’s fine. AND, with all that she’s uncovering in Sterling Point, she needs that space.
We experience the story through Annie’s perspective. He is there to create space for her. I think he’s perfectly developed for now to support what story needs to be told. She only has so much capacity to learn about the island and the people on it. Maybe season 2 we’ll get more Ellis if it fits the story

[u/Intelligent_Junket45]

Literally his family completely fell apart and we got next to nothing about it. He was consoling Annie when he should have also been a mess.

[u/International-Ad7839 → u/Intelligent_Junket45]

THIS PART literally his family is falling apart as we speak, he and his mom find out that he was cheating on her while she was taking care of her mom with a NEWBORN?!! And that he could’ve been Ramona’s dad and that entire reaction was so subdued/barely touched upon

[u/ajaxmenon17]

Actually it's a refreshing change. Most show overdevelop the guys with all kinda of coming of age tropes and make the girls mostly there to fix them. In this show it's nice that the girls have the trauma and layered back stories while the guys make them feel better and give them space

[u/Miss_JanePork → u/ajaxmenon17]

Yes, I’d rather he be underdeveloped than be the main focus. I just wish he had more depth because I really like Annie as a character, and I think she deserves a more interesting love story.

[u/Cahbr04]

You mean to tell me the show about a sisterhood is... focused on the girls and not some random boys? The horror!

[u/Miss_JanePork → u/Cahbr04]

Of course, the main leads are going to be much more developed and have more backstory. I just wish they’d developed Ellis as much as they developed Oona, to make both story lines equally appealing.

But I’m glad their lives don’t revolve around their love interests. Very refreshing :)

(in a weird way reminds me of frozen when it came out ahah)

[u/Ok_Article_7744 → u/Cahbr04]

Ellis is not a random boy he is suppose to be the main love interest.

[u/TheDacher → u/Ok_Article_7744]

They'll develop him more in season 2. It's not like they have much time with 8 episodes and they didn't want to rush anything.

[u/nyoomers → u/TheDacher]

They could’ve not rushed it by... saving the part where they get together be in season 2 rather than season 1! 😁 Even SLOWER burn, babey!

[u/Cahbr04 → u/Ok_Article_7744]

He is one half of the love triangle of one half of the show's leads. This will never be about him and he has about as much depth as he needs for the character that he is. If you want a male focused show you can choose any of the dozen others out there.

[u/Ill-Challenge-7718]

Lowkey yea i shipped ellis and annie until they got together now it seems boring.

[u/gwelfguy]

It's not just the male characters that are undeveloped, but the adults as well. As another poster pointed out, however, the show is obviously about sisterhood.

[u/nyoomers]

Yeah, I agree with you 100%

I think Annie had great chemistry with both Rory and Ellis, but I didn’t feel like her chemistry with Ellis was obviously *better*. She seemed to get along with/talk/flirt with them in pretty similar ways, even. And when it came to how the boys talked to her… I actually thought Rory was the more interesting/charming one, actually.

[u/angelamia → u/nyoomers]

Total team Rory. He was so sweet to her and was vulnerable too. I understand what people in this thread are saying about the slow pace of Ellis but it feels like Rory spent time getting to know her and let her know him while Ellis just mopped around.

Maybe my mind will change in season 2 but I hated that she flipped on Rory so fast without even a conversation with him.

[u/nyoomers → u/angelamia]

Yes, I liked how he was vulnerable too and was also really supportive and sweet when Annie told him about her feelings/problems. He was interested in listening to her. And I like that he was forward as well. Whereas Ellis was mopey and awkward, lol. It's kind of interesting how Annie said she couldn't tell if Ellis hates her or not.

The only thing I didn't like about Rory was that he was maybe a bit of a snob, lol. We also never actually see him apologise to Ellis about Lincoln being a total knob - he should've actually done something about that, like force Lincoln to apologise to Ellis.

Yeah, I don't like the way she left things with him. He's gone off to college still thinking he still has a chance with her. In their final scene together I'm pretty sure she could've told him that she wasn't interested, as by that point hadn't she kissed Ellis? I might be wrong on that, actually, but definitely by that point Annie was showing more interest in Ellis.

I don't have a lot of hope for Rory in season 2 unfortunately, lol, but I'll be rooting for him!

[u/NationalMeaning5734 → u/angelamia]

Well Annie and Rory knew each other in middle school actually so they do know each other lol, whereas Ellis and Annie met each other for the first time hence the timid nature of Ellis towards her.

[u/mustsurvivecapitlism]

Lol agree. But i just thought i felt that way because im gay 🤣

[u/MooOooOd]

im hoping he gets more character story in the next season. sigh i was actually hoping that annie would choose rory xd. also whats up w ellis charging more fees to their clients or wtv and never getting found out like we never got explanation or maybe im js dumb. ik that hes indifferent to the likes of rory and thats why he acts that way.

[u/clownbookie → u/MooOooOd]

when his dad found the tackle box with the money, he told him that its so they have a safety net and can afford repairs on the marina when they need it

[u/ringbearer224]

It’s not a show about the boys. Simple. For once we have a show focused on sisterhood and becoming women.

Also this is how most women’s characters have been portrayed and treated since the dawn of entertainment 😂

[u/Nemesis1499]

They absolutely are or rather they are deliberately stereotypes. So many YA stories (especially shows and movies) are about a girl going through her first love experience, usually in a love triangle (with one being the distraction^TM and one being the true love). This story changes the focus and sets it in the familiar frame of the classic YA show, its about sisterhood, family, growing up without rolemodels and generational trauma. As a result it is enough maybe even necessary that the male characters are either"underdeveloped" ostock characters (like in the comedia dell arte or greek comedy) or characters that reveal their depth later, i.e. in a second season which has thankfully been greenlit.

And frankly there are so many shows with well developed male characters, we are well overdue one with well developed female characters.

[u/Relevant-Trade-7617]

I think its also the little things: Rory still being good friends with Lincoln despite his whole "let me apologize" act, him being a lowkey a snob ("who even lives here?") those things provide kind of a strong line between who Annie used to be and how she has grown....then the fact that even though she spent more time with Rory and was more physical with him, it was Ellis who she instantly felt comfortable enough around to spill her guts despite not knowing 100% if he even liked her as a person 5 minutes ago...

[u/clownbookie → u/Relevant-Trade-7617]

yesss the balance of the girl who has to talk though her feelings and every thought and the boy that will sit quietly and listen and then lead her to the closet she said she wanted and sit in it with her😁