Episode Discussion - "The Little Peas" (11/22/07)

[Ditchy McAbandonpants]

Hmmm... I gotta tell you, the whole "fanon" concept has always left me feeling a little uneasy. Naturally, I have no problem with fans isolating, separating and reinterpreting individual parts of a show to suit their personal tastes; that's all part and parcel of how to enjoy a creative work. What I've always been wary of is this perception (so rife amongst the hardcore fanfic-writing/"shipping" community) that the fans' interpretations and ideas are as important/more important than that of the creators themselves, and that it's up to them to influence the creators to produce work that better fits these interpretations. Not only does this suggest to me that said fans have lost track of what they were fans of in the first place, it's a dangerous form of power without responsibility, and it always saddens me when a creator does bow to this kind of pressure, because they always emerge with creative coherence and integrity diminished; the films Spider-Man 3, Star Wars Episode II and the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are three examples of projects that I feel ended up compromised by their attempts to "give fans what they want", rather than sticking to their own creative guns. Don't get me wrong, I'm not holding up "The Little Peas" as a bastion of artistic purity that must protected and cherished; more that I think it best that those who were dissatisfied with the episode deal with it in their own way, rather than starting a pressure movement to have it scrubbed from existence. Because that way lies madness.

As for the episode itself: I must say, I'm beginning to suspect that I'm something of a freak, because not only am I a Cheese-sceptic who thinks "The Big Cheese" was by far the best Cheese episode, but I'm also a Frankie fan who rather liked "The Little Peas". What can I say? I thought it was an original, fresh concept that was executed creditably. One thing I think everyone can agree on is that visually and design-wise, it was one of the most interesting episodes to date; reinterpreting everything in the house from the perspective of one so small completely changes its feel, and the episode had fun imaginatively transforming bits of scenery as familiar and innocuous as doorframes, elevators and carpets into terrifying chasms and lethal, intimidating deathtraps. As for Peas himself, I have to confess that I thought he worked. The central joke about the character - that he's a chipper, Mickey Mouse-esque do-gooder who imagines that he's inspiring those around him with his can-do attitude, but is in fact completely ignored - was sly enough to counterbalance his potential saccharinity, but without undermining him so much that his against-the-odds quest doesn't become actually a little inspiring.

My main problem with the episode, like most people, is that ending. Unlike a lot of others, I had no big problem with Peas's initial pep talk; it seemed out of character for Frankie to just give up like she did, but it was presented in an understandable way, and I read it as being sort of sweet that Peas should give this inspirational speech to the person who has clearly inspired him to do the things he did, and as quite an endorsement of Frankie as a person. The retcon of Peas whispering her entire TV address into her ear, on the other hand, just overplays that massively, changing Peas from plucky little helper to ridiculous deus ex machina and needlessly undermining Frankie's established character qualities of resourcefulness and intelligence, making her seem like a passive and hapless beneficiary of fortuitous circumstances. A major misstep, for sure, and one that leaves a slightly unpleasant taste in the mouth, but in a season that I felt cruised a little too much at times, the creative effort that clearly went into "Little Peas" still prevents me from judging it too harshly...