One of the greatest injustices in Power Rangers is the "Dear John letter" which for me was more of a F*CK YOU AMY JO JOHNSON than an actual plot mover. I was wondering, was Catherine Sutherland lacking popularity over Amy Jo Johnson, they wanted her back but couldn't get her back? Probably. But let me tell you what is downright wrong with the Dear John Letter!
One must admit that one of the running plots that go with Power Rangers is Tommy and Kimberly as a couple. It made me think it's very OUT OF CHARACTER for Kimberly to just dump Tommy like that. If they had to break up... it could have been done back then but it's still a bad idea. Again, it's nothing more than an attempt to replace her with Kat and it's a pretty forced thing to do.
What I thought is that, this was character derailment to an otherwise really popular character. They could have just kept the relationship a distant one, where Kimberly writes to Tommy every now and then... rather than write that stupid Dear John letter. For one, Kat may be Kimberly's replacement slot-wise but she is NOT fit for replacement for replacement's sake. Writing Kat as her OWN character would be better. Doesn't mean she replaced Kimberly doesn't mean she has to be dating Tommy too.
So what's the logic behind it? Now we can understand why Kat was coming in. Amy Jo Johnson wanted to leave so she applied for it. There was no choice really. Now if Kat is not as popular as Kim then they should at least write better reasons to make her better. For example, what they could have done was to make her, her own character. She could have dated any of the other guys. For example, she can be dating Adam or Rocky. It doesn't have to be Tommy. Kat is Kat, Kimberly is Kimberly.
Entering into Zeo, they do not need to write that Dear John letter. Tommy could STILL continue to be in a relationship with Kimberly off-screen. Like in Zeo, she could write to Tommy she misses him but understands that he still has to fight. They could have at least, one way or another create a strong impression of the relationship. Amy Jo not returning to the set is NOT a reason to write a Dear John letter. She could at least send some more letters to Tommy every now and then, at least that shouldn't derail her character into the position of OOC.
And those writers? Well, at this point I think even Shoji Yonemura from Toei no matter how lousy he is... or a burnt out Toshiki Inoue still has better writing to offer than Douglas Sloan. Again, executives are probably spiting her for leaving the set which is very, VERY unprofessional.
Updated on: November 25, 2014
Spoken like a true Amy Jo Johnson fan. I felt that dear Tommy arc as i call it was a direct F**k you to her which was stright up disrespectful to both the actress and the character. They didn't need to break them up just so they can push for a Tommy/Kat romance. I have nothing against Kat or Catherne Sutherne but the way it was set up felt so odd to me kinda.
ReplyDeleteIt was out of character of her to write Tommy a dear John letter. She would never do that to Tommy or anyone else, Even at 13 i wasn't upset with Kim or Amy Jo, but i knew better already my disliking went towards the producers and writers of this dear Tommy arc as i keep calling it because lets just face it since its centered around Tommy why not.
At least Toei is respectful to there actors no matter what the reasons of them leaving i am sure there not given dear John letter episodes as a direct F**k you to them or any disrespectful nonsense.
Thanks Saban you really know how to treat your actors. Not!
They should be ashame of themselves for even thinking about that wasted episode of Dear Tommy which was a dear bad episode arc.
I agree with you there. It's all a real dirty finger on her. Sheesh, if an actress wants to leave already, please let her be! Besides I don't think they treated her well either.
DeleteDear Tommy :)
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one - apparently Catherine Sutherland disliked being written as Tommy's GF.
ReplyDelete