Sisters in Arms: Prison Break, Supernatural, Numb3rs, and Firefly

[butterfly]

So, three of the returning shows that I'm watching this year feature pairs of brothers working together (Numb3rs, Prison Break, and Supernatural). A large part of why I'm watching the shows are because they're about strong, interesting sibling relationships.

Which brings me to a point -- where are the women? Where are the really good brother-sister or sister-sister shows? Joss Whedon should not be the only person in television capable of creating an interesting brother-sister relationship that drives the narrative forward (if you do know of any shows with strong, interesting b-s or s-s relationships, I would be thrilled to know about them).

The interesting thing (to me) is how Simon-River actually follows the 'format' of all three cited brother-brother dramatic relationships -- the younger sibling is the smarter of the two, the older starts out as/tries to be the physical protector of the two. The most straight-up example of this dynamic is Numb3rs, where Charlie and Don are pretty much set in their roles -- I doubt that we'll ever see Charlie shoot a bad guy to save Don, instead, he always uses his brain to help save his big brother (I admit to the possibility of being wrong). Supernatural also tends more toward this side of the scale -- Sam is the victim more often than not, the researcher more often than not, the one who went to college (each of the younger siblings is spot-lit in their series for 'having gone away to an important school' -- Charlie to Princeton at thirteen, Sam to Stanford, River to the Academy at a young age, Michael to Princeton).

Prison Break and Firefly each take a slightly different approach. While it's implied in Prison Break that Lincoln took care of the younger Michael, in the series itself, Michael is the rescuer of his older brother (who does still try to protect Michael, though Michael has, so far, always had it enough under control not to need Lincoln's help). In Firefly, we start out with an older brother-protector/younger sibling-protected dynamic but, by the end of the series (and into the movie), the roles have pretty much equalized, with River being the more proactive fighter.

Apart from that, there are the other women in each series. Prison Break, by necessity, can only have a minimal number of female roles (this is also the only show where the format demands that the siblings share a gender, as the younger sibling needed to end up in the same prison as the older sibling). Even so, they do have an important woman in each of the individual plotlines, though it must be noted that the two women on the 'good' side also serve double-time as love interests. Despite that, the show does give both Veronica and Doctor Tancredi lives beyond the brothers -- Veronica is a lawyer who grew up with the boys, had a potential future completely separate from them before she started trying to save Lincoln's life, and has gotten to have many scenes where she is the primary mover. Tancredi also has a back-story that got highlighted in the big flashback episode and has her own demons that drive her -- demons that aren't guy-related at all. Though love interests, the show is careful to make them more than that.

And you can't forget the other two important female characters -- Brinker and the Vice President. Both strong antagonistic characters who have their own agendas. All in all, considering how PB is limited by its setting, it does quite well with the portrayal of women, I think. It's also had a few strong minor female characters (Nika and Leticia come to mind).

Numb3rs has two female characters in the main cast -- Megan and Amita. Amita tends to fall more into the 'traditional love interest' area. Megan and Larry share an interest in each other, but Megan is not written as if she were invented to be Larry's love interest. It feels a lot more natural with their characters. In the first season, the character of Terry felt much more like a 'love interest' character than Megan does, so I'm pleased with that change in the show.

All in all, though, Numb3rs is neither remarkable nor remarkably distressing in its portrayal of female characters.

Supernatural, on the other hand... I really love the show. It makes me jump, I adore the brothers, and they've had a few good, strong moments with their women. But the vast majority of women on the show exist to be rescued or to die as victims. There are no strong, reoccurring female characters (the one that did exist, Meg, died at the end of the first season). I... hope for better from them in their sophomore year.

Firefly, of course, had a main cast that was almost perfectly split down the middle in regards to gender, with a wide variety of 'types', as well as several strong 'one-shot' female characters and one strong character that was shaping up to be reoccurring.

Have I mentioned recently that I miss having Joss Whedon do television?

Comments

[calicokat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I never read spoilers, and I was like... "It can't possibly be that bad." Then I, uh, wrote the studio. But really! The newer scripts are looking much better. I don't know if it was us getting in their business or not, and I don't frankly care as long as my show remains good. XP Anyway! I think it's water under the bridge. Knock on wood. I am anticipating the season premire optimistically. :D