Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
Is it alarming that this is now the second group who are going to move apartments to accommodate somebody whose previous place of living burned down under unusual circumstances?
The overwhelming majority of the QC cast is defined by their generally inertia-based approach to life (Dora is the kinda-sorta exception). Characters with major life goals who embark on pursuing them tend to leave the cast. Exhibit A: Angus. Honestly, they kind of have to, the number of opportunities available in Northampton, MA to grow a business or advance a career are distinctly limited. So in order for the cast to stay together they have to remain stuck churning in place. This is actually a pretty common issue sitcom-y stories face, it's just that most sitcoms tend to be set in major cities so the options for up and downs without requiring geographic displacement are much greater.

As such, in order for significant events to happen to these people there has to be some kind of distinct stimulus forcing a change to occur. Since most of these characters lack any deep flaws beyond a sort of generalized 20-something malaise and underemployment, the author has to keep generating external events to force progression for anything not directly relationship-based. I mean, consider how long it took for Faye's alcoholism to finally reach the stage which it triggered actual changes in her life. It was like a 1500 strip process.

In terms of fires, specifically, well, a town like Northampton would have a lot of old buildings with old wiring and gas lines, so it would be more fire prone than most places, especially with everyone plugging in all these AIs now.