My Two Cents – How and How Not To Introduce New Characters

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Brittany Frederick – Staff Writer
brittanyfrederick@thetwocentscorp.com

We’ve all heard the saying that only two things are inevitable – death and taxes. Change is a part of life, and it’s also part of a TV series. Rare is the ensemble where the entire original cast is still there by the end of a show’s run if the show goes more than a year or two. I know Third Watch had most of its regulars at the end of its six-year run, but they still lost a handful of characters, and that was a rarity; conversely, on Spooks, there was one character billed as a regular who died in the second episode. When someone leaves, there’s that hotly contested happening: a new character. Some are great, some are horrible – and can the fans figure out the difference?

I’m not talking about whether the audience likes them or hates them (more on that later), but whether or not they’re actually well-developed characters that add something to the series. Some of my favorite additions, in no particular order, were 24’s Larry Moss and Curtis Manning, Burn Notice’s Jesse Porter, Homicide’s Mike Kellerman and Meldrick Lewis, Law & Order’s Lennie Briscoe and Michael Cutter, Spooks’ Adam and Fiona Carter, and The X-Files’ John Doggett. Let us not forget that even Babylon 5’s Captain John Sheridan didn’t enter the show until the second season! Yet for every good character, there have been some really bad ones, too. Misfires in my memory include 24’s Kate Warner and Audrey Raines, Homicide’s Rene Sheppard, The Unit’s Bridget Sullivan, The X-Files’ Monica Reyes, and most recently, White Collar’s Sara Ellis (although technically she’s a recurring character).

So what makes the difference between a good addition and a bad one? The most important thing is whether or not the new characters are actually good. In the case of the first group, each of the characters added something to the show, while also being compelling characters on their own merits. If you stripped away the rest of the show, they’d still be complete, interesting people. Lennie Briscoe is now, without a doubt, the face of the Law & Order franchise and rightfully so after all the years Jerry Orbach made him the soul of the show. When people think of the captain of Babylon 5, they probably think of John Sheridan. Clark Johnson was a breath of fresh air when he first appeared on Homicide – not only because he’s a good actor, but he also soon moved behind the camera and has gone on to work on both The Wire and The Shield. Ratings actually went up when Robert Patrick joined The X-Files in its eighth season. Burn Notice has taken on a whole new dynamic with the character of Jesse there to push Michael into seeing things from the other side of being “burned”. All the above were not only interesting characters themselves, but furthered the shows they were on.

Conversely, I never saw where any of the latter added anything, if not outright made things worse. Kate and Audrey both came off wrong; Kate spent a lot of time whining and panicking, and Audrey thought it was a good idea to call Jack in the middle of a crisis to talk about their relationship. Sheppard was described as a “former beauty queen turned homicide detective,” which just didn’t make any sense. Reyes was just downright annoying, and both Bridget and Sara came off as know-it-alls who took over their respective shows. An important fact to recall is that when introducing a new character, the show is not all about them. They’re adding to an established ensemble and narrative. If the show loses sight of its existing purpose or main characters, then what’s the point?

This leads to the second part, which is that new characters are usually – not always – introduced at a point when a show may be floundering creatively. Some of the opinion may therefore be made up because the show itself is declining, such as the completely forgettable last seasons of Homicide (remember when they painted the squad room blue?) and The X-Files (did anyone really completely understand that finale?). Characters won’t come off as well when the writing and production on the show is bad already.

Yet there’s an important other dimension to new characters, and that’s the fans. Obviously, there will always be fans who will love some characters and hate other characters. We all have our favorites and least favorites, especially on ensemble series with heavy cast rotation, such as an ER or Law & Order. Having an opinion is perfectly fine. I have friends of mine who swear The X-Files just wasn’t the same for them after season 7, and we agree to disagree. Most fans will all have different favorites, unless it’s a show like 24 where everyone pretty much embraced Jack Bauer. Yet there’s a difference between having an honest, unbiased opinion based on experience, and making a snap judgment. If there’s anything I’ve learned this TV season, it’s that more and more fans are making snap judgments when it comes to new characters, rather than giving them a fair chance. They just like their show the way they like their show, and anything that deviates from that formula is wrong. Yet from experience, I’ve found that most of those people either haven’t bothered to watch, or are watching with their minds already made up.

I’ve gotten quite tired of Burn Notice fans saying that the addition of Jesse ruined the show and that the show was better when it was just Michael, Fiona and Sam. Most of the ones I’ve talked to admit they haven’t even watched whole parts of the season. Of course, most of the people who level that statement don’t even realize they’ve overlooked Madeline, too. In contrast, the more pro-Jesse fans, and even the ones who are indifferent to him, are more likely to have watched most if not all of the fourth season. It seems most of the outright haters are the ones who already came in wanting to hate him. I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t happy at first either, but I came in with an open mind and was willing to have that mind changed. The same went for The X-Files, Homicide and The Unit. With the exception of the former, I’d been watching the shows from pretty much the beginning and came in skeptical, but I let my mind be made up by what was on the screen, and not my predispositions.

I’m about to get tested again this season, as the uniformly excellent Human Target adds two female characters who seem poised to take over the series, or at the very least put a crimp in the dynamic. On paper, I’m not thrilled with them, and I’ve certainly said so. However, that’s my opinion before I’ve seen an episode. Who knows? I could watch the next season and be pleasantly surprised, like I was with Burn Notice. Or my fears could be right and it could end up looking like The Unit. The point is that I don’t know until we see how the quality of the show is, and until we see a few episodes to get a grip on who these new characters are. It’s too soon and we don’t have enough evidence to pass any sort of judgment. I just wish that all fans would be willing to be more open-minded before they do the same.

What about you? What are some of your favorite characters that have been added to a show? Which ones do you think backfired? Tell me who, and more importantly, tell me why below. Let’s see what you think.

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