I do have to say, we never saw enough of the show to figure out why, exactly, Casey was the superstar and Dan was the underdog.
Yeah. Actually, on rewatching, it struck me that the reverse seems to be true early on. The pilot has the network pressuring Dan to do the show without Casey, even though the entire rest of the series stresses that Casey's the more popular of the two. Granted, Casey was pretty awful during the divorce, so maybe not even his superstar status would've been enough to save him, but it stuck out to me. And then "The Apology" subplot is all about Casey being uncool, which doesn't exactly fit with him being the superstar.
I'm tempted to say that some of it is in Dan's head? He's looking for a reason to justify his self-loathing and "I'm not as good as Casey" works. From his depressed point of view, everyone loves Casey and no one loves him, and that's so hurtful for him because of his need to be liked by everyone. Obviously, the people who matter - Isaac, Dana, Natalie, Jeremy, and the rest - they all love Dan just as much.
But then again, there clearly IS some truth to it, since Casey's getting paid more and he made the top 100 list and Dan didn't, etc. (And can I just say, I adore that bit? It rang so true to me, these little things that shouldn't matter - because who cares about some bogus top 100 list? - but they do, oh they do, when you're clinging to external validation to salvage your self-worth.) So... idk. It is unclear to me whether Casey was actually cooler/more charismatic/a better sports anchor/whatever than Dan or if that's just the way Dan perceives it.
I don't think HE gets that it's unacceptable unless he has someone around to call him out.
Oh, definitely. Sorkin is clearly committed to this idea. Like that episode where Natalie sits Casey down and tells him that no matter what Dana says, he should keep pursuing her anyway. *headdesk*
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carisma_sensei
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Date: Aug. 2nd, 2011 02:12 pm (UTC)Yeah. Actually, on rewatching, it struck me that the reverse seems to be true early on. The pilot has the network pressuring Dan to do the show without Casey, even though the entire rest of the series stresses that Casey's the more popular of the two. Granted, Casey was pretty awful during the divorce, so maybe not even his superstar status would've been enough to save him, but it stuck out to me. And then "The Apology" subplot is all about Casey being uncool, which doesn't exactly fit with him being the superstar.
I'm tempted to say that some of it is in Dan's head? He's looking for a reason to justify his self-loathing and "I'm not as good as Casey" works. From his depressed point of view, everyone loves Casey and no one loves him, and that's so hurtful for him because of his need to be liked by everyone. Obviously, the people who matter - Isaac, Dana, Natalie, Jeremy, and the rest - they all love Dan just as much.
But then again, there clearly IS some truth to it, since Casey's getting paid more and he made the top 100 list and Dan didn't, etc. (And can I just say, I adore that bit? It rang so true to me, these little things that shouldn't matter - because who cares about some bogus top 100 list? - but they do, oh they do, when you're clinging to external validation to salvage your self-worth.) So... idk. It is unclear to me whether Casey was actually cooler/more charismatic/a better sports anchor/whatever than Dan or if that's just the way Dan perceives it.
I don't think HE gets that it's unacceptable unless he has someone around to call him out.
Oh, definitely. Sorkin is clearly committed to this idea. Like that episode where Natalie sits Casey down and tells him that no matter what Dana says, he should keep pursuing her anyway. *headdesk*