This show is as old as I am! So realistic & great! But not enough Jordan
I've recently become a hardcore fan of Jared Leto and I wanted to watch his entire filmography. I was born in 1994, when this show first aired on tv, so I obviously did not know anything about it until now. After watching the first episode, I was hooked, and I also kinda anticipated the whole Jordan Catalano 'drama' according to nowadays' standards and overused clichés - that Angela was going to chase this guy until the end of the season until they would finally be together. Boy was I wrong! Not only did this show really surprise me due to its still relevant (painful) accuracy, but also the whole geeky-girl-chases-bad-boy situation was NOT the way I expected! It was so much better!!
First, it was such a relief to see such young, natural actors play teens, as opposed to nowadays' 20-something (even 30-something) actors who look like fitness models playing teens (The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars etc.). I also appreciated the lack of unrealistic plot twists present in almost every show nowadays: characters dying in every episode or vampires or incest etc. (they're completely ridiculous btw). I never thought such an old show would be so great and so refreshing to watch! From the very first episode, I could relate to Angela in almost all respects! In fact, I never found a show or a movie that reminded me of my teenage years so accurately! I too, was always crushing on attractive introverted guys that barely talked to me and I had zero chances with, and I would turn crushes into obsessions (before there was Facebook, you know) and I would try to cross paths with them and followed them around the school in a seemingly accidental (but definitely creepy) way. The way Angela was immersed in her thoughts and all her thoughts being about Jordan all the time, this is exactly how I spent my teenage-hood, living inside my head and constantly thinking about plans to get closer to my friends and crushes. I, too, had a former best friend (like Sharon) who was in the same class as me, had a crush who was in the same class as me (like Jordan), and a new happy-go-lucky friend who helped through some bad times when I started high-school (like Rayanne). So basically I was Angela!
About Jordan Catalano now. His somewhat unexpected character development really impressed me, but I also thought it was underdeveloped! In the first half of the season, Jordan appears and talks so little he could pass as an extra (him sleeping in class, passing by on the corridors etc.) It felt like Angela's obsession with him was completely abandoned and forgotten about in some episodes, and the shift of focus (due to presenting social issues and stuff) was done too abruptly, and then picked up again in the next episode but with a huge gap, like some scenes were missing. Some of the scenes with Angela and Jordan were superb, while others screamed of awkwardness (but this is how real life is).
In my opinion, the season and the show should have ended with episode 13: 'Pressure', because after that, the episodes seem dragged and pointless, and the 'event' in episode 17 (Jordan sleeping with R.) felt out of place, like there was nothing else they could talk about on the show so they introduced that to start a feud so they could have a second and final resolution at the end of the season in episode 19.
Overall, I loved the show in ways I never thought I would love a 22-year-old show! I can totally see why the characters in the show had become icons and reference material. Although I have watched over thirty other tv shows thus far, I think My So-Called Life may be my favourite tv show to date!