4x15 Waiting

@thenightwolf I agree that the show has taken a turn towards becoming a sad, emotional drama. I miss the realism the show used to focus on.

@strykar @thenightwolf Don't you feel that it's reflective of the level of character growth necessary to make Shaun's character believable, and ultimately, relatable? I mean a lot of the humour in the earlier seasons was borne of Shaun having very little skill with his new life in San José and the calibre of the collaboration and communication that his job as a surgical resident demanded. We were incentivized to come along for the ride by the promise that this guy wasn't your average human being (admittedly, we're something of a dumpster fire as a species, on balance) or even your average guy with an autism spectrum disorder, but someone with remarkable potential, who was worth taking a chance on.

I think we've seen Shaun live up to that promise in some remarkably inspiring ways, while also suffering greatly as the price of that growth has to be, for any of us. The fact that this isn't at all the same show as it was in season one is precisely why it still captivates me: it does a great job of juxtaposing the uphill battle real life always amounts to in the long run, just with a better mix of very smart and very broken people than I've yet succeeded in filling my own life with so far, hehe.

As regards its trajectory towards becoming a sad, emotional drama, an assessment which I essentially concur with and am mostly ambivalent about, I feel like the writers are just making the best of the cast they've been given, and also most likely playing to their strengths as well. I feel like there have only been three actors so far on the show that made me feel like their character had that spark of natural comedy: those that portrayed Melendez, Jared Kalu, and Carly. Whatever their reasons, that's obviously not the vibe they want on the show. I do miss Melendez a lot still, but