The unreliable narrator has long been a common device in literature, but it’s only recently that it has reared its challenging heard in our wonderful world of TV writing. Here’s some advice about how to watch and interpret some of the medium’s hottest new shows.
Framing Device Betrayal: What to Fear From ‘WandaVision’ and ‘Young Rock’
by Leonardo Adrian Garcia and Libby Hill
Narratives have long used framing devices when it comes to telling stories. What is “Arabian Nights” if not Scheherazade introducing the concept of episodic storytelling under the guise of staying her own execution?
Television is no exception and while there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with choosing to communicate your story using such methods, recent circumstances have left some to wonder if it’s possible to use such devices as a cheat, sending audiences a certain message without doing the hard work of showing, rather than telling.
Perhaps the most misguided framing device betrayal came in the form of the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” which already stated its premise in the title, as well as buoying episodes with scenes from an undefined future where protagonist Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) was relaying tales of his past to his children — stories that purportedly explained the show’s title.
And while the show abided by that model for most of its nine seasons, the series finale pulled a massive betrayal, revealing that though the children’s mother was met and married along the way, the story really began and ended with their father’s love for his ex-girlfriend/ex-wife of a close friend/best friend Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). The reveal sparked outrage amongst fans and critics alike, many of whom found the reveal unconscionable given the series’ title and, in the years since, have seen the finale regularly listed amongst the worst in TV history.
Currently, there are two shows airing that seem as though they might be playing with fire with regards to framing devices, for two distinctly different, though equally concerning ways….