god this show is so good. i watched it when it was on but i haven't seen any of the episodes in years and it was even better than i remembered. each season is better than the last, which is saying something because season one is phenomenal.
the depth of the characters is really what draws me in. sure the fact that it's about computers in the early 80s (the first two seasons anyway) is what drew me in when amc advertised it initially, but the characters is what made me keep watching. everyone seems like a real person, everyone has flaws and strengths. no one is perfect and no one is pure evil, there's always nuance.
as a woman i think i feel most drawn to donna and cameron, which is saying something because boy in the first two seasons, cameron is not easy to like, she's so immature with a huge complex of needing to be seen as a genius. but then as she lets people in and we discover her backstory, it suddenly makes sense why she's like this. plus it's great to see her grow and mature. season four cameron is such an amazing woman who's accomplished so much and has the maturity to admit fault when it's needed and not always be so defensive.
donna has almost a reverse arc, as she gets a taste of being in charge in mutiny and, for the first time in her life, has a job where other people stop and listen to what she has to say (as opposed to her job at ti where she's just a cog, helping her boss look good but getting no credit) and it understandably goes to her head. then in the time skip we find her and gordon are divorced and as she climbs the ladder to become partner, she becomes drunk with power and just drunk in general.
i liked the juxtaposition between the first episode where she picks up gordon, who got arrested for a dui, with one of the last episodes where gordon has to pick her up. one quote from that first episode that stands in my mind was when gordon said she didn't have to bring their daughters, donna replies, "i think i did." to me it has two meanings: she probably couldn't find a sitter so late at night to not bring them (she probably understandably wouldn't have wanted to ask her parents), but also she likely hoped gordon would feel ashamed of having their children see this and not do it again.
however, when gordon picks her up, he's alone. obviously at this point their daughters are old enough to be by themselves, but it's still interesting because up until this point, gordon had mainly been driven around due to his condition. i think it showed how he still really loved donna (not romantically but just in the sense that she was the mother of his children) and wanted to be discreet. but he still took a risk driving by himself, especially at night, because what if he got confused or something?
i could go on and on about all the little touches throughout the series that just made me go "wow" but i've rambled on enough. this is easily one of my favourite shows, i hate how underrated it is. i wish it had gone on longer of course but i can truly say in my opinion, it's a perfect show. no flanderized characters, everything and everyone has a purpose in the moment and nothing drags on for too long.
