Recent TV Shows Are not Cases of Confusion

本文主要讲述的是一篇关于近期的电视节目在情节和结构上不是特别的混乱的essay范文。文章主要借住一些舆论调查的结果和自身的分析得出结论，进一步从中得出近期电视节目对于观众产生的影响。

   In Chapter three of Watching TV Makes You Smarter, Steven Johnson states that recent TV shows are more likely to cause confusion because of the complexity of mutltiple threads or flashing arrows. “when it comes to stroytelling, they possess a quality that can only be described as subtlety and discretion” (Johnson, 177). However, the truth is quite the opposite one. Because many popular shows such as sitcoms don’t have complex narrative structures or don’t even have any plots, which make the case of confusion impossible, and the stories are not mysterious at all even if the shows are characteristic of multiple threading or flashing arrows since the audience are capable of an omiscient point of view. In addition, the development of the stories always end up with nothing creative so that the viewers can easily predict the end or figure out the pattern of the story even though the shows may first appear as confusing ones.
    Numerous shows are narrated with simple structure, which is far from being claimed as “confusing”. “Narrative structure, a literary element, is generally described as the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer. The narrative text structures are the plot and the setting” (“Narrative structure”). In another word, those TV shows with simple narrative structures have very clear plots and settings. In the seas of various TV series, sitcoms occupy a generous part of the viewers’ time. Popular sitcoms such as “Friends”, “2 Broke Girls” or “”The Big Bang Theory” literally have no linear plots. What the viewers have to do is merely following the show and laugh at whatever suggests of humor. Unlike in other TV series, there is often no inevitable connection between the episodes. Thus the audience don’t have to abide by a strict time order, which enables them to pick up whichever episode they want. Since the plot and setting is not a problem, let alone the confusion of a story.
    Even if the story is multiple-threaded in narration or with more than one plots, recent TV shows are still clear and bright to the audience. In the past, TV shows mainly center on just one or two leading characters while recent TV dramas normally focus on several characters’ lives or several incidents simultaneously, which is usually adopted as a reason to cause confusion. Although these TV dramas are multiple threaded in telling the stroies, which is more demanding of the viewer’ attention, the whole plots are not confusing in that the audience have the priviledge of an omniscient point of view. It is “ an overarching point of view, seeing and knowing everything that happens within the world of the story, including what each of the characters is thinking and feeling” (“Third-person narrative”). 
Mark Cherry’s “Devious Maids”, a television comedy-drama series showed by Lifetime, is one of the latest popular dramas with thrilling plots. It’s favored by the audience mostly because of it’s suspense. Despite that the drama dwells on five characters’ lives, the show always focuses on one leading point. Either in season 1 or season 2, the main plot is to solve one mysterious murder case in spite of other parallel plots. The main purpose of season 2 is for Marisol to uncover her fiancé, Nick’s murder along with other sub-plots. There are indeed more than one plots in the show, but the other mysteries are not secrets to the viewers. At the beginning of season 2, it seems that Alejandro’s death lays a veil on the story from episode 2, but just after Alejandro is shot, one of the gang, later appears as Spence’s nephew pulls off his mask and has a little conversation with another member, from which the audience get the idea that Alejandro’s death is an accident rather than a mysterious murder as in other characters’ or the police’ eyes. Here the viewers can easily deduce who the culprits are in Alejandro’s case for their complete information of the previous episode. Then in episode 9, after watching the scene between Ethan and Ty, the plot is more than obvious to the viewers. Just a bunch of kids who want to play Robin Hood, but made a fatal mistake. Despite all the sub-plots, the secret of Nick is yet to be unveiled, which is also the only thread asking for the viewers’ concern.
Many people may counterclaim that it’s undeniable that a bunch of TV shows with more than one unsolved mysteries do exist on screen. Indeed, many shows are congested with ambiguous plots or obscure knowledge such as high-tech information or uncommon terms. Nevertheless, all the dramas are likely to end up with cliché even if they do have complex narrative structures or subject matters. “Take “Nikita” as an illustration, it’s an action-adventure TV series, aired on The CW, which tells the story how the female warrior conquers the evil one by one with the aid of high-technology and her shrewdness. High technology which is sometimes beyond common people’s knowledge can be spotted everywhere in the show. Advanced management of the agents’ behavior or even their brain and suspensful plots caused by double-agents all add the confusion of the show. However, the confusion will disappear soon after the previous seasons or the first episodes are released. With the time of watching the show, the audience can always figure out the same pattern, thus predict the end. Every episode of “Nikita” begins with a challenge to make, then with throat-cut enduring processes and always end with Nikita’s success. 
To conclude, cases of confusion are not the trend in recent TV programs. A dominant part of TV shows have very simple narration, which is out of the question to make the audience perplexed. Moreover, the viewers are still able to follow the development of a story despite of its sub-pots or multiple threading because of their omniscient point of view. In the end, even if a show manifests itself as sort of confusing in the first place, the viewers would soon find an established pattern of the program, which makes the seemingly confusing story distinct enough.  
Works Cited
Johnson, Steven. Watching TV Make You Smarter. 出版城市: 出版社名称, 年份.
“Narrative stucture”. The Free Dictionary by Farlex. July 16th, 2014.
< http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/narrative+structure>
“Third-person narrative”. Phan, Richard. The Free Dictionary by Farlex. July 16th, 2014. <http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Omniscient+point+of+view>