I've written about THE HAPPIEST SEASON before. I think it's a script with a lot of potential, but it struggles with some choices made early that end up becoming more and more problematic. (There's that principle again--when you're wondering why in the third act you are so desperate for the lead to break up with her girlfriend (while the writing thinks otherwise), consider the fact that you began the movie by having the girlfriend kind of gaslight her.
But there is this one thing about HAPPIEST SEASON that works really well, and that is Aubrey Plaza's character. In a nutshell: our lead Abby (Kristin Stewart) gets invited home for the holidays by her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis), who then immediately says no, you don't have to come, I didn't really mean it, and oh by the way no one in my family knows I'm queer so you have to hide it, too. (Ugh.)
But then, while dealing with that nonsense, Abby meets Harper's high school ex Riley (Plaza). And as soon as she does the movie just completely unclenches. Riley is this wonderfully Zen-like being who knows Harper's drama intimately and has learned from it and moved on. She's meant to offer a little bit of exposition and a lot of friendship/wisdom/for Abby.
But she's such a great character (and Harper is just such a mess of one), once we meet Riley we just want more. The energy of the film absolutely shifts to she and Abby. You can see how the writers Clea DuVall and Mary Holland might say, Yeah, we get that, but that's not the story we wanted to tell.
I want to suggest, while that makes sense, as writers we have to pay attention to what's actually happening on the page. If you're writing a script and a character you didn't anticipate having a big role is just coming to life, either you need to consider what is missing in your other characters that is creating this kind of need in the story, OR, you need to consider allowing the story to go in a different direction.
One of the things I most love about writing is discovering the treasure I left for myself without knowing it. You're writing that first draft or early episodes and you're inevitably including some moments that are sort of background, or just for that instant. Then you get to that point later in the script or the season where you're thinking wow, I really need something here, I'm not sure where this goes. And you look back on what you have and realize, oh shit, I set up a great payoff way back in that other scene that I didn't even think about. The unconscious...it's crazy.
So here's the note, as I see it--and because I love her let's call this an Aubrey: When you see some treasure partially buried along the side of the road, don't drive on by. Pull over! Dig that shit out! There's something there you need, whether you planned for it or not.
