Oh, because of my gifsets? I’m flattered! But this is why I never actually straight up recommend the shows I gif, you just never know!
Actually, in the case of In the Dark, it feels rather not like a typical CW show? Not that that helps, in this case, that might actually be worse. But in terms of what’s on brand for the CW, the worst their f/f rep has suffered since 2016 (when they learned a LESSON) is poor screentime and lack of focus. No death and none of the especially offensive tropes. We can never be sure that might not change, maybe they (like other shows recently) will decide three years was enough of a moratorium, but I don’t fear a f/f death on the CW any more than any other network. And the ship here is so background, I don’t really see them getting much drama.
Proven Innocent is a very weird case. Like you, I am bewildered by how oddly central the f/f is. But at the same time, they do seem to minimize Wren herself. It’s almost as if Maddie having a gf is more important than the gf herself. But then other times they do focus on them together and her relationship with Wren kinda needs Wren to be present. It’s ominous, I think, because it’s such an earnest show that tries to cover such difficult topics and for them to matter, the stakes have to be high, so there’s no happy ending waiting.
But I don’t regret starting or watching them. I didn’t actually know there was going to be f/f in either when I started, which helps loads, watching a show for its own sake and not f/f, but also, I didn’t do anything wrong by expecting the shows to behave decently. If they mess up that’s on them.
Like, your question made me think about The Purge and Star, from which I giffed f/f that later went south. And looking back now, it’s easy to say, how did I expect them to be better, but I’ve really come to dislike how we put the blame on ourselves, “Why’d, I get into this? I should have known better, it’s my fault really”. As the stories were happening, they really did sell these pining, romantic ships. Not perfect, there was cheating and angst, but it was The Purge and Star, that’s just everything was. And then what went wrong wasn’t because of the cheating or angst, they just abruptly and with terrible writing, ended them. That’s on them.
I can’t just not watch everything in case it goes bad, then I’d watch nothing. And right after The Purge and Star, I got into a pretty goshdarn great ship, and I’d have missed a lot of the fun of watching a story unfold live if I’d waited to make sure it was “safe”. And even when I’m tentative about things, like I was with Will & Grace (and both these shows you mentioned, tbh), I’d still rather watch live and get at least some enjoyment before there’s nothing left to enjoy.
That’s me, anyway. I fully get that other people have other approaches and maybe for you, the comfort of knowing the fault is on the writers isn’t enough. I’ll keep giffing, in that case, and will let you know if a season ended in a good place. 😛
