I have mentioned, I believe, my fondness for April Kepner on Grey’s Anatomy? And then along came episode 8.21, in which she is a hysterical sobbing mess (a little too hysterical for someone with her capabilities), gets into a drunken brawl (okay, that part is sort of awesome), sleeps with Jackson (a sort of oh-no-you-guys-are-friends-yet-really-there-are-no-friendships-in-Grey’s-without-sexual-tension-so-go-for-it mishmash), and then freaks out (bad). Because Jesus will be mad at her that she’s had sex.
As this piece discusses, it is a prime example of Retconning, in which a series rewrites its own history, and not terribly effectively. There’s a difference between a shock reveal and something that makes you go “uh… what? That doesn’t even make sense.”
So for everything up to that moment, there was never any mention of April having particular religious beliefs. Not even when she had to face down a psychotic gun-man. The ‘adult virgin’ status was about wanting to wait for it to be ‘special’, then waiting too long and finding it awkward and a big deal. Then suddenly: angst! But not angst that would have made sense and fitted with the consequences of drunkenly sleeping with your best friend the night before the biggest exams of your life and it being your first time and oh-what-does-it-all-mean and where-do-we-go-from-here. Oh no. Jesus-angst. Sudden Jesus-angst.
What the hell?
Even Christian fans are going “Jesus wouldn’t hate her!”, incidentally. Which is sort of missing the point – that what we learn about April here isn’t just an articulation of misguided beliefs (although…), but something that flat-out doesn’t fit with everything we’ve learned about her before.
And on a storytelling level, honestly, it’s far less interesting. Super-Christian girl ‘saves herself’? Yawn. Woman with sexual desires but uncertain about what to do or how to get what she wants because society deems there’s an acceptable window for ‘first times’ and struggling with all that? And searching for meaningful connections in the oversexed hospital which realistically is going to be where she meets most potential love interests? That’s interesting.
Sometimes retcons can be fun, if they’re done knowingly. (The Simpsons episode ‘That 90s Show’ is one of my favourite episodes of TV ever.) But this one feels… a little ick. A little not-really-thought-out. A little let’s-amp-up-the-drama-by-surprising-everyone-without-considering-whether-the-surprise-makes-sense.
Plot twists and shock reveals are supposed to surprise and, well, shock. But when they come out of nowhere, it’s not clever plotting. It’s cheating, and it’s unsatisfying for readers, or viewers, or whoever.
Sigh. Back to my Cristina-worship and Arizona-adoration I go…
That sounds rather bizarre. I don’t know the character, but I would have thought that if she was that religious, it would have come up at other points.
It also seems to me to be sort of buying into the whole idea of there being a particular “window” during which you should lose your virginity and anybody who doesn’t obviously has some really serious reason or some kind of hang-up, rather than just not having met the right person or being nervous or not being ready or whatever. Especially since it sounds as if it’s being portrayed as a result of her being afraid Jesus will hate her, rather than her having made a conscious decision to wait for religious reasons and being disappointed in herself that she couldn’t live up to the standard she had set for herself. Sounds as if that wouldn’t have been in character for her either, but at least it would portray delaying sex as something she chose rather than just as she’s afraid to do it because of her religious beliefs. Which strikes me as sort of buying into the idea that there is a “right” time to have sex and that if somebody hasn’t done so by then, they need an excuse.
And I agree that it’s less interesting. It makes it seem like they just chose the stereotypical reason rather than developing one that worked for the character. I do like the idea of somebody waiting for the right time and/or the right person so it will be special and then worrying that they’ve left it too long.
It is completely bizarre! My theory is that she’ll leave the show at the end of the season, about three episodes away I think, meaning that really it won’t need to be handled at all, it’s just a way of creating extra angst as the season hurtles towards its end.
I think with characters we need to know why they’ve made their choices – there’s some room for holding back, but it needs to be done skilfully. I do not count this among the skilful examples of this.
And yes, it was an interesting look at what happens past an acceptable ‘window’… and I think it would have been way more interesting to see how a ‘first time’ played out between someone inexperienced and very experienced but yet both of them being professionals (because it’s a storyline that tends to be limited to younger characters, mostly teens), rather than… well, sudden Jesus-angst. Sigh.
I don’t know the character either (I couldn’t watch Greys anymore after the disastrous George/Izzy debacle) BUT as someone who suffers with recurring Jesus-angst most generally after a heavy night on the gin, I actually think this does sound kind of plausible. Individuals saying and doing certain things while sober, telling themselves the “type” of person they are, and then that point – and it doesn’t have to be an epiphany moment because really, we all only have one or two of those per lifetime – just that one night where you go out and get too drunk and this other part of your personality (not necessarily the “real” part) just emerges and you do stupid things that your sober self would be ashamed of but in the moment or recklessness, you don’t care.
I may have to watch a few Greys episodes and come back here for follow up observations!
I think the key word there for you is ‘recurring’, though. It’s the fact that there was never *any* indication that this was remotely an issue – that there was a lot of evidence to the contrary – that makes it feel a badly-thought-out plot twist as opposed to looking at the consequences of people doing things in certain circumstances that they then seriously freak out over. Would love to get your thoughts on this if you do ever catch up on Grey’s, though!
Don’t talk to me about badly-thought-out plots… I am a fan of The Vampire Diaries unfortunately :\
Now that I have yet to see. I suspect it may drive me a little crazy, though.