Thread:Greenhatdigital/@comment-1141831-20140801171143/@comment-1037137-20140814023426

For most of that time Mike was not even competing, and it was becoming way too obvious far too early on that he was intended to make it to the finish, but he was not a favorite to get that far. And absolutely nothing in the season justifies his advancement to the finals. And as Mal, he's more an unwanted sideliner than a true villain who we can take seriously, since he's hardly used at all in a meaningful way.

And what really is bad is that even though his entire arc in TDROTI was about him trying to control his alter-egos and protecting his friends, primarily Zoey.........In TDAS it's the exact same arc played all over again. And the differences in how its played each time are superficial at best. And all that time, he barely develops as Mike, and he and Zoey are too focused on each other to lend them the depth they need to be three-dimensional characters.

That's some major character derailment right there, abandoning all their opportunities at genuine development just to keep the same arc going in a virtual rewind.