Empoword

Part One: Description, Narration, and Reflection 118 End-of-Episode Voice-Overs: Reflection in Television Shows In addition to written rhetoric, reflection is also a tool used to provide closure in many television shows: writers use voiceovers in these shows in an attempt to neatly tie up separate narrative threads for the audience, or to provide reflective insight on what the audience just watched for added gravity or relevance for their lives. Often a show will use a voiceover toward the end of the episode to provide (or try to provide) a satisfying dénouement. To unpack this trope, watch an episode of one of the following TV shows (available on Netflix or Hulu at the time of this writing) and write a paragraph in response to the questions below: o Scrubs 48 o Grey’s Anatomy o The Wonder Years o How I Met Your Mother o Ally McBeal o Jane the Virgin o Sex and the City What individual stories were told in the episode? How was each story related to the others? • Is there a common lesson at all the characters learned? • At what point(s) does the voiceover use the gesture of reflection? Does it seem genuine? Forced? Satisfying? Frustrating? Dr. Cox : “ Grey's Anatomy always wraps up every episode with some cheesy voice-over that ties together all of the storylines, which, incidentally, is my least favorite device on television.” … Elliot : “I happen to like the voice-overs on Grey’s Anatomy , except for when they’re really vague and generic.” Voice-over (J.D.) : And so, in the end, I knew what Elliot said about the way things were has forever changed the way we all thought about them. – Scrubs