MistyMountainHop

So true.

Yet so many T7S fans don't get that.

Donna was a complex character (during S1-4, at least). And yet so many fans just see her as a bitch who wasn't good enough for Eric. Oy.

But she was very supportive of Eric when Red was too much of a hardass. She helped him (as much as he'd let her) after his grandma died. She comforted him after he'd seen his parents having sex. She sang Eric's praises to their friends and to Eric himself. She was very playful with him, and they always laughed together.

But -- back when the show was written well -- conflict arose out of her and Eric's characterizations. She wanted to explore her independence in season 3 -- particularly by working at the radio station, etc. And as she did more things without him, Eric grew increasingly insecure until their conflict culminated in a breakup.

But it totally works. It wasn't a random breakup. It had been carefully (and organically) built up to during S3. I sooo wish the show could've continued writing on that level post S5.

msstock87

Their breakup wasn't random at all, I agree. I think Donna needed to find herself and be happy with herself first before she could truly be happy with Eric.

MistyMountainHop

And yet, Donna didn't find herself. She found out that she had it really great with Eric. If she truly wanted to find herself, she wouldn't have jumped into that relationship with Casey.

Californian

The promise ring was a big commitment and they were still in high school at the time. I was surprised that Donna accepted Eric's marriage proposal after the promise ring fiasco. I mean by the end of season 5, they are out of high school. Jumping into marriage and moving in together while balancing college right after high school is a BIG step. Neither of them were ready.

msstock87

Lisa, I agree, Donna didn't find herself which was something that always annoyed me a little bit.

I was a bit surprised by the marriage proposal too since neither of them was ready for that. I still think they had issues they had to work out.

MistyMountainHop

Show-wise, the marriage proposal was from the writers needing to have a storyline for Eric and Donna. Did it make real character sense? No.

Season 5 should've been spent on them working out the crap that led them to breaking up in the first place. Then maybe season 6 could've been about them being engaged.

msstock87

Those are my thoughts exactly, they should have used season 5 to work out all the issues they had leading them to break up, so they could have a stronger, healthier relationship.

MistyMountainHop

Unfortunately, unless the show is as well-written and planned out as Castle, something like that ain't gonna happen. They needed BIG storylines to hook viewers.

Though you'd think Hyde and Jackie getting together was big enough.

msstock87

Yeah, sadly they would need the big story lines. A lot of sitcoms are like that.

Jackie and Hyde was big enough, ( For me of course).

MistyMountainHop

Colleen, I could totally quote your above post with some editing for something a li'l dirty.

I would've liked to see Donna have a storyline about her journalism that somehow created conflict with Eric. Not a repeat of S3 where she wasn't spending enough time with him, but maybe something where they were on different sides of an issue...

Of course, that basically happened in "Who Wants It More?" when they withheld sex from each other.

msstock87

Haha, I totally didn't even realize what I said until now.

I would have liked to see Donna have a storyline with journalism too. I always liked the idea of her being a journalist and interviewing musicians, that seemed to be something she was passionate about.

"Who wants it more", was such a great episode.

MistyMountainHop

I wonder, though, if Donna would've been strictly a music journalist. She had a good start by working at the radio station and getting access to some bands.

The show, of course, forgot about the fact she was a writer. They made her concentrating on DJ'ing instead.

msstock87

My personal opinion is Donna would do something with music. She seemed to have a lot of passion for it with whatever it was she was doing.

MistyMountainHop

I think she would've made a great rock journalist -- which would've meant she'd be on the road a lot. If Eric was insecure in season 3... hoo-boy, wait until her career really starts.

msstock87

That is where I think their relationship would have problems as they were older. If she actually did become a journalist and was on the road, how secure would Eric be in it?