For some reason, I didn't mind the quadrangle of death while watching. I zoomed through S3 on DVD and so never really stopped long enough to get upset. I never really hated anyone while watching the show, to be honest; it's more in thinking about it that certain characters stand out to me and make me angry.
One thought I've returned to on a number of shows with a number of characters in a number of fandoms is that motivation isn't justification. Just because I can understand why a character does something doesn't make that characters actions okay Something can be comprehensible and reprehesible at the exact same time. If you can pull that off and still have likability, you've done a really neat trick. If you can't, then deal with then recognize the fact that not everyone is going to cheer that character on in every situation.
I agree with this to an extent. The "to an extent" is, I think, partly that I tend to empathize with characters more than, perhaps, I should: I can still like characters who are in some respects awful people. When characters don't really own up to badness they're involved in, I do make note of it, and if I think the narrative is explicitly condoning them then I get angry. But if I don't think a character is being privileged as being "right" or "admirable" then I really don't mind. I am full of sympathy for pretty much everyone in season six of BtVS, for example, even though I understand why others aren't. BSG as an example did a good job sometimes of making it clear that these were just people, and that we shouldn't take their position as the right one. Other times, it seemed to side a little too much with the characters. It's a delicate science.
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For some reason, I didn't mind the quadrangle of death while watching. I zoomed through S3 on DVD and so never really stopped long enough to get upset. I never really hated anyone while watching the show, to be honest; it's more in thinking about it that certain characters stand out to me and make me angry.
One thought I've returned to on a number of shows with a number of characters in a number of fandoms is that motivation isn't justification. Just because I can understand why a character does something doesn't make that characters actions okay Something can be comprehensible and reprehesible at the exact same time. If you can pull that off and still have likability, you've done a really neat trick. If you can't, then deal with then recognize the fact that not everyone is going to cheer that character on in every situation.
I agree with this to an extent. The "to an extent" is, I think, partly that I tend to empathize with characters more than, perhaps, I should: I can still like characters who are in some respects awful people. When characters don't really own up to badness they're involved in, I do make note of it, and if I think the narrative is explicitly condoning them then I get angry. But if I don't think a character is being privileged as being "right" or "admirable" then I really don't mind. I am full of sympathy for pretty much everyone in season six of BtVS, for example, even though I understand why others aren't. BSG as an example did a good job sometimes of making it clear that these were just people, and that we shouldn't take their position as the right one. Other times, it seemed to side a little too much with the characters. It's a delicate science.