OH WOW. really great ask. thank you. weirdly enough i think it has a lot to do with this era of unpredictability that the state of tv is currently in. not really in terms of stories themselves (though i guess when it comes down to the point i’m about to bring up, it is) but in terms of whether the show is allowed to go on at all. it used to be about syndication. it used to be about longevity. now, it’s about tax write-offs. it’s about streaming services. every show is constantly fighting for more time to still exist. lower episode count? budget cut back? work through it. i’m interested in how people have learned to continue creating good television even given those restrictions. it’s about episodes. it’s about seasons. it’s about not caring if you could’ve watched a movie with the time it took you to steamroll through a huge chunk of a situational comedy or a small sliver of a prestige drama. it’s about comfort. it’s about continuity. it’s about coming back to these characters you’ve grown to know so well again and again and again and watching them either stay stagnant or force themselves to change. it’s about beginnings. it’s about endings. it’s about screaming at a cliffhanger but knowing you’ve only started the show and there’s so many seasons left to either pick up the pieces or break down even more. it’s about crying at a cliffhanger and knowing you’re never getting another episode after that because it got cancelled or it had its renewal reversed. tv is a lot more temporary than it used to be. i’m interested in making it last again.

GET READY FOR A LINEUP!!!!! 1. poppy li (mythic quest) because i have never seen more accurate representation for filipino girlfailures in my life. also sarian is such a personal episode to me as someone who can understand tagalog but never really makes it known so sometimes i overhear conversations i wasn’t meant to hear and it’s my little secret. 2. mae borowski (night in the woods) because that video game fucking wrecked me the very first time i played it with how real it was. also i live by a railroad track now so every train whistle and brake screech reminds me of her. 3. casey (columbus) because she is me and i am her. no seriously similar reason to mae her whole thing about not wanting to leave a place she desperately needs to get out of in order to truly live her life is. yeah. real.

OMFG WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN? well grace (the afterparty) ofc, adam and jane (if you were the last), rachel (imagine me and you), jenna hunterson (waitress), isobel song (strangers), shauna shipman (yellowjackets), prudence aberdeen (miracle workers) now that i’ve watched all of oregon trail, della street (perry mason) but the HBO version where she’s a lesbian, does dawn solano (girls5eva) count even though she hasn’t technically cheated on her husband in the literal sense of the word? too many things have happened to her that are so close to the actual act that i think she should. oh also sandra voyter (anatomy of a fall). lmfao she was so real.