Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24163511-20141205090758/@comment-7117024-20141213181119

If you look around throughout the forum, there's a lot of arguments for CJ as a character, and I'm not up to persuading right now. HallowedArcher didn't even mention CJ, as it's really just Margaret as a character that's being talked about and not Margaret in comparison to the other love interest. If you don't like CJ, that's a-ok.

As for Margaret, even before CJ came back with a significant role, I think quite a few people felt like she wasn't really a strong character in any way. Just to point out how underutilized she was, during her appearances in season 1 to 4, she never had an episode focused on herself. We've seen episodes in the more recent seasons focused on Eileen and CJ, so it's not like the writers couldn't pull of an episode character of a female. We learned about Eileen's tendency to let others take charge of a situation and CJ's frustration at her father for pushing her so hard.

Margaret? Honestly, just one episode with her as the main focus would've been helpful to cement her character. But nope; all we ever saw her as was Mordecai's love interest, not her own character with her own thoughts and her own life. What were her flaws? Maybe that she didn't trust Mordecai, but that's justified, not her own issue like jealousy or tempation. What were her interests? What was her friendship with Eileen like? How does she function when Mordecai isn't the most important thing on her mind? There were a few answers, but not enough strong ones to keep me invested in her.

For me personally, I don't feel like the writers really ever used her outside of a goal for Mordecai. Margaret did have some personality, and I do appreciate how her relationship with Mordecai helped him grow, but I don't think I have much appreciation for her for just being a character, more that she affected one of the main characters. If she's back to stay, she should at least be given one episode that shows her as a character and not a prop in Mordecai's ever complicated love life. It'd definitely be fun to see her have an episode that has something to do with her reporting, or an episode focused on her, Eileen, and maybe even CJ, depending on how this situation works out. Not many people are enthusiastic for the love situation that Margaret has inadvertantly caused, but I think many of us would agree an episode exploring Margaret and showing her strengths and weaknesses would be marvelous.