April7739

Yeah, overall I do still view Bellamy and Clarke as one of the healthiest relationships on the show.

destroyer of worlds

Same. You have to take the good with the bad, and I don't understand it when I see blind defending of characters' actions or bending over backwards just to make sense of their actions/decisions. You can be a fan but acknowledge that the character/relationship is toxic at times or that something was written poorly and/or doesn't make sense.

April7739

I think that was something that I had to learn with Bellamy in season 5. Now, I do still believe a lot of the fans’ criticisms of Bellamy in season 5 came from Becho, but upon reflecting on it, I’ve come to realize that I have to accept that some people may have other reasons for criticizing him, or that the Becho relationship might even be enough to garner him as an individual character some criticism. Some people might just say that we can view him separately from his relationship, whereas others will say that we, as viewers, shouldn’t have to do that, and both perspectives are valid, and I kind of regret being so dismissive of people throughout the season who were upset with him. I still think the whole “cancelling” him and “not my Bellamy” stuff was a little much, though. Like come on.

destroyer of worlds

I honestly didn't have an issue with Bellamy's characterisation in season 5. As annoying as it was to see him defending Echo in front of Octavia (who she tried to kill, twice), it was in line with his character so I got why he did that. I definitely feel like people were projecting their feelings for Becho onto Bellamy, which isn't fair but also understandable to some extent.

a little chaos

Completely agree with this.

Though I do think it was a lot easier for me as a viewer this season with Bellamy because I love Echo and enjoyed the Becho content. Not liking the character your fave is dating can be rough and in my experience enough of a reason be frustrated with your fave cause it’s exactly where I’m at with Archie and Betty’s relationships in Riverdale and how that affects their characterisation.

The thing that has annoyed me the most about the response of Bellamy’s character this season is the fact that it felt as though his character was being reduced which is exactly what Bob is most afraid of and why he has said multiple times in interviews he doesn’t like playing love interests. Bellamy is a stand-alone character, always has been and always will be.

April7739

Yeah, seeing your favorite character with your least favorite sucks. I hate it.

But I do agree that some viewers seemed to have reduced him to “boyfriend” this season, and that’s very upsetting to me because we know how adamantly against that Bob has been. But at the same time, in an episode like 5x06, I feel like that’s kind of the only role they had him in, which was frustrating.

destroyer of worlds

Within the context of 5X06 itself, I agree. But apart from that, I think that I'm mostly happy with his characterisation in season 5. Which is more than I can say for most of the other characters.

a little chaos

We're never going to be completely satisfied with everything that happens on the show, but I think Bellamy fans are lucky. Bellamy is by far the best written character on the show, especially these past 2 seasons, he's actually a character to be proud of, which can't be said for a lot of the other characters.

April7739

I think Bellamy would be one of the hardest characters to write, just because he is so complex and he does have so many connections to the other characters, and the audience’s perception of him will almost always be the most talked about thing (on Twitter, at least). But I do think his development has overall been the most well-written. Even season 3 . . . I see how it fits in with seasons 4 and 5.

Now Octavia has had some fantastic development, too, but it’s been just infuriating to me.

destroyer of worlds

He's definitely one of the most complex characters on the show, and that is scary because it could go south very easily. But thankfully, apart from 3A, he's been written really well, I agree.

April7739

And even 3A, if we just ironed out some pacing issues in a couple episodes, I think his storyline would be pretty smooth.

We’re totally not ranting right now. We’re discussing.

kiss the wind

I like discussion lol. But I have a rant for the rant thread even though it’s not specific to Bob or Bellamy:

People hating on Eliza and claiming they know how she is when they’ve never even met her and bashing her for having opinions and... doing her job. Que horrible!!!

April7739

I’ve never had anything but pleasant experiences meeting her.

destroyer of worlds

WTH. What happened?

a little chaos

I haven't seen any of that, Eliza is so unproblematic, I don't get how anyone could hate on her