What's Your Favorite DQ "Era"?

[Dr. Slicker]

Originally Posted by Ella

You can see a clear continuity for every season , but season six is an exception in this respect. Maybe that's what I missed there.

I´m not sure about that, although I think I caught what you mean. The whole series for me shows - in every season - the development of the main and secondary characters, for sure emphasizing more on Sully and Michaela than on the other parts of the cast. The sixth season totally lacks the presence of Sully and letting him stay away is a deep break for me. The show gets hurt anyway, if one of the main or prominent secondary characters diminishes for a longer time. This was the case IMO with Myra and applies for Sully in the 6th season too.

Originally Posted by Sophy

Then as time goes by, they move into a phase which is not new and they learn to live a life together that both know, and they become comfortable. They find their place in time... sort of, and then there's not so much more to tell, unless they don't break the pattern in some way.

"Little House on the Prairie" is the counter-draft for me. Maybe DQMW lost some parts of the audience, when the love of Michaela and Sully was fulfilled and the tension got resolved somehow. But there would have been a big chance to fascinate other parts, which are captivated by every storyline regarding the challenges of a growing family. Isn´t DQMW a family-show too?

Originally Posted by lrsmith11

The isolation of CS in the beginning gives us (or me at least) the feeling that anything is fair game, the town can be shaped in any way we want it to be. I think to me the old homestead symbolizes the feelings when I watch the first 3 seasons. It's rugged, basic, void many luxuries and seperate from what we (and Michaela ) would define as civilization.

Awesome point. For me it´s a kind of decreasing innocence, which follows through the first season up to Washita, which is a sobering and frightening break altogether.

Originally Posted by lrsmith11

To me she looses some of the wonderful "I can do this" drive that brought her to CS in the first place, although I try and remind myself it isn't lost within the character (it does appear sometimes) but is no longer needed because of the security that she has found.

Originally Posted by lrsmith11

I love the scene in Happy Birthday when Michaela locks Jake in the room and SUlly is in the hallway watching her, there is this beautiful idea that Michaela is someone very special in his life and yet, there she is, doing her own thing. I find that independence fascinating.

I second deeply. The first seasons are dominated by the charisma of Michaela and this charisma diminishes unexplainable in the last (two) seasons. For me it´s not only the safety and the new grounding after the wedding, but the "downfall" of Michaela´s magnetism and inconveniency, which puts the last season(s) into a twilight.

Originally Posted by SadieCass

I always thought that most of the point of the show was to show Mike and her strength.

Perfectly stated!

I´m very disappointed, that the show finished with many loose endings. The capability for many awesome further storylines was there.
So it´s very difficult for me to pick a favourite era. But if I am forced to do this, I choose the time between the Pilot and Washita.