Did anyone root for Brian Krakow in the My so-called life?

[Anonymous]

Yup I always root for the nice guys over the f*bois. Just like I rooted for Noel over Ben in Felicity.

[Anonymous]

This is an interesting watch. Devon Gummersall goes into how Brian felt left behind by Angela, is judgmental as a defense mechanism, and is threatened by things that are different or that he doesn’t understand. So I maintain he was very often a jerk but clearly would have a nice character arc over several seasons.

https://youtu.be/0OfPr49ofhc

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. I was a sucker for Jordan. What can I say…

Same. I don’t buy them “longing for each other” if that was the direction the show was headed. Maybe if he had a glow up?

How do you not buy it? The season finale followed the plot from Cyrano de Bergerac. The creator said so, and it was obvious anyway. Nobody roots for hot dumb guy there.

Because Brian was an immature jerk. Angela is immature and sweet. I don’t like him as a person in season one. He has his moments, you can see how he can have lots of character growth over several seasons, and obviously this is where they were taking it. But I don’t have to like it. Jordan was never going to be end game, at least not realistically. But Brian and Angela in high school isn’t doing it for me either.

What are you talking about? You don't need to like him, but he absolutely was not portrayed as "immature jerk". I mean, he was not perfect, but he is smart and generous. Angela is portrayed as callous and a user towards Brian, and she is literally called on it in the show. She is often sweet, yes, but can also be cruel.

Brian was definitely immature, and when he was being a bit of a jerk it’s because he’s jealous and hurt by Angela’s intoxication with Jordan. But they were in different places. Angela was growing up and pining for the hot bad boy and Brian was still riding his bike and working on extra credit assignments.

No, they were pretty much at the exact same place. Brian, too, was growing up and pining for Angela. Like Angela, he, too, was highly introspective and conflicted about his "extra credit assignments" and the life he was living. His parents were psychiatrist/psychologist, not engineers. You are basically embracing Rayanne's perspective on Brian, but that perspective is very incomplete and the show is very clear about this.

Disagree. He was happy to do the extra credit and he kept asking Angela over and over why she’d changed, why she wasn’t into the extra credit and other stuff they used to have in common, why is she so different now. She’d started to mature and move past that stuff, going to parties, making different friends. He hadn’t gotten there yet.

Nope, he was not happy to do "the extra credits" and he called Angela on some of the fake stuff she did to fit in with the cool crowd, not on cutting classes. He spent a lot of time thinking about girls (we know all this because there was a whole episode narrated from his perspective) and was really in a very similar stage as Angela (very much obsessed with the other sex but not sexually active, very self-aware and insecure). He never complained that Angela was different now because she didn't care about extra credit. That would just be stupid and I don't know why are you inventing this.

Brian occasionally complained when she was egregiously using him (taking his bike and leaving it at Jordan's place without even thinking about that, etc) and when she pretended to be or know something she didn't. He listened and supported her whenever she needed it, and literally helped Jordan woo her back. This is a complex character that the show spent a lot of time flashing out, and not some generic stand-in for a nerd.

I agree he’s a complex character and never said he was a stand in nerd. I also agree w a PP that he could’ve had a nice character arc and been a great guy. What I’m saying is this: imagine there was a prequel and we saw them two years years prior. Would they have the same contentious relationship? No. They said over and over that they had been close but she had started to change and move into other interests and friends not on the same block. He wasn’t there yet.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. I was a sucker for Jordan. What can I say…

Same. I don’t buy them “longing for each other” if that was the direction the show was headed. Maybe if he had a glow up?

How do you not buy it? The season finale followed the plot from Cyrano de Bergerac. The creator said so, and it was obvious anyway. Nobody roots for hot dumb guy there.

Because Brian was an immature jerk. Angela is immature and sweet. I don’t like him as a person in season one. He has his moments, you can see how he can have lots of character growth over several seasons, and obviously this is where they were taking it. But I don’t have to like it. Jordan was never going to be end game, at least not realistically. But Brian and Angela in high school isn’t doing it for me either.

What are you talking about? You don't need to like him, but he absolutely was not portrayed as "immature jerk". I mean, he was not perfect, but he is smart and generous. Angela is portrayed as callous and a user towards Brian, and she is literally called on it in the show. She is often sweet, yes, but can also be cruel.

Brian was definitely immature, and when he was being a bit of a jerk it’s because he’s jealous and hurt by Angela’s intoxication with Jordan. But they were in different places. Angela was growing up and pining for the hot bad boy and Brian was still riding his bike and working on extra credit assignments.

No, they were pretty much at the exact same place. Brian, too, was growing up and pining for Angela. Like Angela, he, too, was highly introspective and conflicted about his "extra credit assignments" and the life he was living. His parents were psychiatrist/psychologist, not engineers. You are basically embracing Rayanne's perspective on Brian, but that perspective is very incomplete and the show is very clear about this.

Disagree. He was happy to do the extra credit and he kept asking Angela over and over why she’d changed, why she wasn’t into the extra credit and other stuff they used to have in common, why is she so different now. She’d started to mature and move past that stuff, going to parties, making different friends. He hadn’t gotten there yet.

Nope, he was not happy to do "the extra credits" and he called Angela on some of the fake stuff she did to fit in with the cool crowd, not on cutting classes. He spent a lot of time thinking about girls (we know all this because there was a whole episode narrated from his perspective) and was really in a very similar stage as Angela (very much obsessed with the other sex but not sexually active, very self-aware and insecure). He never complained that Angela was different now because she didn't care about extra credit. That would just be stupid and I don't know why are you inventing this.

Brian occasionally complained when she was egregiously using him (taking his bike and leaving it at Jordan's place without even thinking about that, etc) and when she pretended to be or know something she didn't. He listened and supported her whenever she needed it, and literally helped Jordan woo her back. This is a complex character that the show spent a lot of time flashing out, and not some generic stand-in for a nerd.

I agree he’s a complex character and never said he was a stand in nerd. I also agree w a PP that he could’ve had a nice character arc and been a great guy. What I’m saying is this: imagine there was a prequel and we saw them two years years prior. Would they have the same contentious relationship? No. They said over and over that they had been close but she had started to change and move into other interests and friends not on the same block. He wasn’t there yet.

Ok, the series starts with the fact that Angela has a new friend group. She leaves Sharon (her best friend previously) and Brian behind. This leads to a lot contention with Sharon and some (actually less so - but they were not that close to begin with) with Brian.

But that doesn't mean Angela is maturing more quickly than these two, or in a different way. Nobody here is a child anymore. The two ex-friends are also maturing, and we can see - even if Angela doesn't see it yet - that their obsessions and fears are in fact pretty close to Angela's. Angela's obsessive yet kind of passionless interest in Jordan is more similar to Brian's and Ritchie's in others than Rayanne's "3 second sex" with guys she barely remembers. And as series progresses, Angela rebuilds her relationships with Sharon and cuts Rayanne out. I mean, in the last two episodes Sharon is Angela's best friend while she barely speaks to Ryanne. And at the end, she starts to see that Brian too, has this depth that she hasn't paid attention to. So she recognizes that these old friends have mature and kids starts to circle back there.

That is why this series is so brilliant. Completely unpredictable, yet very realistic. The relationships are very fluid (Rayanne and Sharon are friends at the end, and so are Brian and Ricchie), and everyone keeps learning about themselves and others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who posted about all the Patty and Graham stuff. I just read that linked interview and AUGHH! I can't believe they would get divorced, except it does sort of fit. That show. We were all robbed!

I think I will do a rewatch. Would anyone be here up for rewatching and doing a thread together, like 1-2 episodes a week or something like that?

I would! I would!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who posted about all the Patty and Graham stuff. I just read that linked interview and AUGHH! I can't believe they would get divorced, except it does sort of fit. That show. We were all robbed!

I think I will do a rewatch. Would anyone be here up for rewatching and doing a thread together, like 1-2 episodes a week or something like that?

I thought it was separated not divorced. I was surprised that Graham would not have had a physical affair with Hallie Lowenthal though.

I really am so angry we never got a season two. I know that Claire Danes basically had movie interest and might not have returned anyway but this will forever rankle me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the one who posted about all the Patty and Graham stuff. I just read that linked interview and AUGHH! I can't believe they would get divorced, except it does sort of fit. That show. We were all robbed!

I think I will do a rewatch. Would anyone be here up for rewatching and doing a thread together, like 1-2 episodes a week or something like that?

I would! I would!

I would too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was rooting for Brian as a person, but not for a relationship with Angela. I think overall Angela is a good example of a girl learning boundaries and not giving into pressure- either to do things she's not ready for physically, and also not giving into pressure to date a guy just because he likes her even if she's not interested.

I was more invested/interested in her friendships.

This was me too, I was much more interested in her friends than the whole Jordan/Brian thing. I still clearly remember sobbing during the Rickie Christmas episode while watching it live and I was obsessed with Rayanne. Thanks OP for bringing this up as I will rewatch...I have the DVDs (lol) but never got around to watching again.

[Anonymous]

Love this thread. Keep it going!

[Anonymous]

Who else wore Rayanne braids in high school?

[Anonymous]

I’m rewatching. And oddly I find Rayanne so drawn to Angela because she’s everything she’s not. Do we think there’s any truth to what Sharon said? That Rayanne is using Angela?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m rewatching. And oddly I find Rayanne so drawn to Angela because she’s everything she’s not. Do we think there’s any truth to what Sharon said? That Rayanne is using Angela?

Nah. Sharon is just angry and jealous. I think Rayanne is intrigued by Angela, who is pretty and kind but also cool and inscrutable. I think Angela is attracted to Rayanne because of her energy and unconventionality, but also, because she hangs out close to Jordan Catalano.

[Anonymous]

I have a different opinion. Agree with the PP who said they needed to cast a cuter guy. Ben and Noel were perfect because Noel was actually super cute too. you need a nerdy appealing guy.

Speaking of Felicity, Brian Krakow date raped Julie in that show, so he's sorta ruined for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a different opinion. Agree with the PP who said they needed to cast a cuter guy. Ben and Noel were perfect because Noel was actually super cute too. you need a nerdy appealing guy.

Speaking of Felicity, Brian Krakow date raped Julie in that show, so he's sorta ruined for me.

I forgot about him on Felicity!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love this thread. Keep it going!

Neat to find so many fellow fans on DCUM! #teamcatalano