In their articles discussing genre and melodrama, both Kackman and McPherson discus the idea of “complex narratives” in television shows. “Mittell is interested in what he terms complex narratives, those that blend episodic and serial narrative techniques, build upon extended back stories of both plot and character, are often self-consciously aesthetically experimental, and which promote a particular kind of spectatorial pleasure in the mechanisms of narration itself” (Kackman). Shows like 24 or Lost use this concept of complex narratives to essentially play with both long form and short form of storytelling. There is the story across the season, as well as the story within the episode. And each week the story within the episode may be resolved, but the story across the season continues.
While reading both of these articles, I began to realize that the majority of television I watch today in some way involves this contemporary visual form. TV shows like Greys Anatomy and Station 19, A Million Little Things, White Lotus, and The Last of Us rely heavily on the story throughlines that carry the show throughout the season. Even shows like Criminal Minds which initially started out strictly episodic began to develop some of these narrative changes. Their first attempt at this may have been season 5 with the unsub “The Reaper” who last for a few episodes, only to disappear and return in the 100th episode to (SPOILER ALERT) kill Agent Hotchner’s wife. A better example from the show came later in season 6 and into season 7 when beloved character Agent Emily Prentiss was caught up with an enemy from her past who came in and out of episodes through the latter half of the season before (SPOILER ALERT) killing her towards the end of the season (don’t worry she actually faked her death and returned only a few months later).
But the show that really kept coming back into my mind was This is Us, the NBC drama starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, and many others. This is Us is the epitome of the idea of the complex narrative discussed by Kackman and McPherson. The show depicts the life of a family of 5 by intercutting storylines from various points in time throughout the Pearson family’s lives. Most often each episode depicts 3 different time points. 1. The present, where the Pearson kids are in their late 30s/early 40s, have their own children, and their mom is now a grandmother. This is the anchor of the story; we see the present in just about every episode. 2. The past, where the Pearson kids are either babies, toddlers, kids, teenagers, or in college depending on the episode. 3. The future where the Pearson kids are in their 50s/60s and their mother is implied to be very sick or no longer alive. Almost fully serial in nature (only the tiny “B” storylines get resolved in each episode), This Is Us requires audience members to have seen almost all previous episodes in order to truly understand what’s going on and get the full emotional impact of what they’re watching.
In his article, Kackman goes on to describe the concept of “the operational aesthetic, which [Neil Harris] describes as moments that call ‘attention to the constructed nature of the narration and ask us to marvel at how the writers pulled it off; often these instances forego realism in exchange for a formally aware baroque quality in which we watch the process of narration as a machine rather than engage in its diegesis’ ” (Kackman). And when it comes to the “future” storylines of this is us, the full awareness of the constructed narration is more prevalent than ever. The future is always rather vague, until the writers magically reveal something about it that makes every audience member think “OOOOOHHHH that makes sense!” Or “Wow I knew it!” And many times it’s largely based on planting and pay off, to the point that after watching many episodes, I find myself going back to old episodes to look for the thing they planted. Then, when I watch future episode I find myself searching for anything that might be a plant, so I can find myself victorious when I “predict the future” of the show.
This idea of the complex narrative in television shows is fascinating to me. In many ways I love it because it adds a new layer of story, one that keeps me wanting more from the show. And I imagine producers love it too because the hook for the audience and a cliffhanger at the end will keep people coming back for more. It’s easy to skip an episode or two of a purely episodic show. But I can’t miss an episode of This Is Us or I will be utterly confused for the rest of the season. In some ways it’s a genius way of chaining an audience to a show.
But it also has its downfalls, too. Shows like This Is Us that have these complex narratives are incredibly time consuming. Up until streaming services and DVR were readily available, it would have been difficult to really get hooked to a show that required you to watch every single week for an hour so as not to be confused. And while these shows will always thrive on streaming services where people can binge watch them for days, they have no place on cable TV in the form of re-runs. Have you ever turned on the TV and seen a channel showing re-runs of This Is Us? I highly doubt it. Only the dedicated fans would be able to enjoy watching random episodes of This Is Us, and even then, they might not enjoy it. Reruns are for the episodic storylines, not the serial storylines.
Fortunately for many of these complex narrative television episodes, I think much of TV has moved further away from cable and streaming services have become a central medium for consumption of stories. Thus, many of these serial shows can flourish in places where they can be watched from start to finish again and again by audiences at their own pace with their own time.
As a side note, I found Tara’s discussion of the high-tech aesthetics in 24 to be incredibly compelling. I could go on and on about the evolution of technology as seen in film and television throughout the years. If you dedicate an entire year of your life to watch all 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy you would see the insane upgrades that the OR’s got each year as they “updated their equipment.” And I love to track cell phones to see when tv shows made the change from the flip phone to the Blackberry to the iPhone. But Tara’s article really got me thinking about the 24 clock. There are certain sound effects from film and television shows that have been cemented into my brain so much so that I think I will remember them for the rest of my life. I haven’t watched an episode of 24 since I was in the fifth grade (15 years ago or more?), and yet the minute I saw the font of Tara’s article, I could hear the beeping of the “24 count-up clock” in my head. Now it’s stuck in my head, so I had to look it up and post a link to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqRtUwi3kv8. I know many will think it's just a clock sound, but it is so much more. And the fact that I remember it perfectly all these years later is a testament to the sound designers of the show. In my mind it really is an incredible feat.
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