Codifying Characters’ ‘Will They or Won’t They?’ Status is a Bad Idea

[TMC]

https://popculturereferences.com/cod...is-a-bad-idea/

Brian explains why you never have "Will They or Won't They?" characters codify their status AS a "Will They or Won't They?" couple.



Today, I explain why you never have “Will They or Won’t They?” characters codify their status AS a “Will They or Won’t They?” couple.

This is the Cronin Theory of Pop Culture, a collection of positions I’ve collected over the years that I think hold pretty true.

As soon as Abbot Elementary began, it was clear that Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) were EVENTUALLY going to get together.

But we all get it, it’s TV, and TV showrunners foolishly believe that getting a “Will They or Won’t They?” couple together ruins the tension on the show. As I hinted with the use of the word “foolishly,” I disagree, but I get it. It’s a pretty universally agreed position.

But here’s the thing, if you’re going to drag out the “Will They or Won’t They?” situation, THEY CAN’T acknowledge it themselves. That’s not how people interact with each other. There are all sorts of reasons why two people who like each other don’t actually get together. But what they DON’T do is to acknowledge that they are both single, they both like each other and….don’t get together. That’s just basically putting it down in code that “That’s us, we’re a ‘Will they or won’t they?’ couple,” and people don’t DO that.

After Gregory and Janine kiss in the Season 2 finale, they have the following discussion:

That’s not how this works, that’s not how this works at all.

They absolutely did NOT have to get Janine and Gregory together at that point, but you have to come up with an actual excuse and not, “I want to be with you, but I can’t right now because….uhmmm….reasons.”

Abbott Elementary is far from the only show to do this, but Abbott Elementary is one of the BEST shows to still fall into this trap. Quinta Brunson is amazing, but I think she flopped this one. She said, at the time, “I like to take into account that we’ve seen versions of this trope before. I really like to look at TV as constantly reinventing the wheel. So, I thought we had the opportunity to reinvent by just moving that kiss up. People knew that something was going to happen. I think the fun of young 20-somethings is really that stuff like that happens all the time. People kiss each other, they have sex with each other. And then all of a sudden they’re cool again, or not cool again, or friends again and they have to be in the same social circle. Their life doesn’t just magically turn into something where they never see each other anymore.”

Yes, that’s obviously true in GENERAL, but not for two people like Gregory and Janine who are obviously perfect for each other, and WANT TO BE WITH EACH OTHER.

Again, you can come up with a number of reasons why they won’t be together (the easiest is to just have them date other people), but once you have acknowledged that they are both single and both into each other, you can’t just not have them date. It doesn’t make any sense. You can’t codify that “We’re in a ‘will they or won’t they’ situation,” as that’s not how people interact with each other.

And they ended up getting together 14 episodes later anyways.