MistyMountainHop

Season 5, the writing was very good in many respects -- but it fell short in others. Season 6 ... *cough*

Jackie using up all the hot water to wash her Barbies' hair is just ... I can't see it. Not season-5, in-a-relationship-with-Hyde, having-dealt-with-losing-both-her-parents Jackie.

Season-1 Jackie? Yeah, she might do that.

msstock87

I can't see Jackie doing that by season 6 either. That seemed like an easy cheap joke.

MistyMountainHop

The poor characters, manipulated to serve plot or punchlines.

Oh, well. At least we know what's in-character.

msstock87

That is very true. We know how they should have acted.

MistyMountainHop

And then we write or read fanfic with them acting that way.

msstock87

I do that all the time!

MistyMountainHop

It's one of the best ways to get over the show's bad writing in the later seasons.

How do you think Jackie and Donna would handle switching lives for a week? Not in a body-swap sort of thing -- but where they had to experience what the other person experiences on a day-to-day basis (save anything sexual with the other person's boyfriend).

msstock87

I think they might be freaked out naturally, but I would hope they would learn something about each other that they never knew before. They might even come out of it with a little more respect for each other.

MistyMountainHop

That would be cool.

Imagine Jackie wearing Donna's wardrobe and Donna wearing Jackie's (well, a version; she'd need Jackie!clothes in her own size).

msstock87

That would be quite the picture! Jackie would hate wearing lumberjack clothes.

MistyMountainHop

After a day of it, she'd probably alter them to fit her style as much as possible, and Donna would say she's cheating.

Kyrene

You know what I always found interesting and therefore really liked? Most girls in Jackie's situation (in this kind of show with this kind of character) would hate Donna. She's the only girl in a group of guys, other girls may feel threatened.

Jackie doesn't seem to. Jackie looks at Donna, this girl who apparently picked on her the first time she met her, whose completely different from Jackie, whose close friends to all the guys, including Jackie's boyfriend....and she sees friend.

I just imagine her jumping right into things, expecting Donna to be a friend and ally, Donna all "who does she think she is?!" but unable to resist. Ugh. I wish we got more of them.

MistyMountainHop

Jackie is much more complex than the S8 showrunners and certain characters on the show gave her credit for.

She is so happy and excited when Donna starts considering her a friend (see "The Pill"). Jackie's surrounded by a bunch of superficial, gossipy, popularity-seeking girls in high school, so Donna is a breath of fresh air (for the most part). Jackie also doesn't feel threatened by her because Donna doesn't share the same values (e.g., popularity) or romantic interest in the same guys (e.g., Kelso, Hyde, etc.) And, maybe, because Donna expresses her femininity differently way than Jackie does, so they're not competitors in that way, either.

When they're written correctly and in-character, they're supportive of each other and safe places for each other when the rest of the world seems to be going to hell. It would've been nice to see them get a good character arc in season 6 -- and for their bond to start strengthening in season 5 instead of all the meh, inconsequential conflict we got.

Grazzhopper

MistyMountainHop

Ah, when Jackie and Donna had officially become friends.

(Whoa, Donna really shakes Jackie there, huh? )