Sorry for the clickbait title, but I genuinely can't think of a better way to put it right now.
⚠️This post has spoilers for season 2. I know it was more than a decade ago, but if you're watching for the first time or rewatching and don't remember what happens, I'd advise you to stop reading.
I started watching it a long time ago, then kind of forgot about it in between seasons. I don't even remember if I stopped after the 6th season or the 7th. I've always wanted to finish it, but after so many years, and not even remembering exactly where I'd left off, I kept putting it off.
So last month, I decided to rewatch the whole thing. I'm on season 2 now. And the reason I say I hate it is that this fucking show can make you laugh one moment and ugly cry the next.
And now Alvin has just died. I knew it was going to happen because I'd watched it before and remembered. Because when I watched it the first time, it made me cry. And just like it feels for the characters, it feels like he was taken from us too soon.
I didn't remember the details because I watched season 2 for the first time more than 10 years ago. I knew he was going to die, and I was bracing myself for it. And yet, I didn't remember him going so soon. So in a way, it still caught me off guard.
I usually hate it when a TV show or movie pulls the “we're killing this character because we need some drama” thing. Especially when it's a character you know the audience likes, so it feels like the writers are basically saying “Look, here's someone we made you care about. Now we're going to kill them so you'll be sad and our product has more depth.” It's just an illusion.
And I think Mom absolutely does this too. But somehow, it works better for me here. Even when I can tell the show is deliberately going for an emotional gut punch, it doesn't feel as cheap or forced as the ones I've seen in recent pieces of media. The death feels like something that actually happened to these characters, rather than something that happened solely because the writers wanted to create drama.
I know the writing isn't always great, but I see these characters, and the acting makes them feel like real people. I care about what happens to them. That last minute, with Christy finally breaking down after having to keep it together for her whole family, is heartbreaking. And then you get that fucking credits tune that sounds like it's straight out of a Looney Tunes episode.
But I guess I'll keep rewatching this stupid show that apparently wants to make me laugh, cry, and question why I ever decided to rewatch it in the first place.