Question: I am writing in response to the fervor over Shonda Rhimes’ comments about her show. I can definitely understand the frustration of the fans, and can see why they feel lied to (I myself do not watch Grey’s Anatomy, so I was unaffected by the hubbub). However, it appears that fans have really lost faith in the people who run their shows. I have noticed in the past few years that more and more fans feel they should have a say in how the narratives of their favorite shows progress. The first time I noticed was when Vaughn was supposed to die on Alias, and since then, fan outrage appears more and more influential in how the show runners structure a storyline. I’m sure it must be a result of mass rant sessions on the Internet, but I fear that it has a detrimental effect on the quality of the shows. Thinking back to several of my faves, I was devastated when Fred died on Angel, but that led to the extraordinary Illyria story arc. I would have been opposed to killing Tara on Buffy, but then Willow would not have gone dark. I was emotionally disturbed and against the Dexter/Lila relationship, which turned out to be entirely necessary for wrapping up the Doakes storyline and leading Dexter to his new "calling." I should note, I don’t mean to say that show runners never make poor decisions on their own, just that an increasing number of poor decisions appear to be driven by a fear of upsetting the audience, which I believe is a mistake, because we don’t always know what is best for us or what will result in the most interesting storytelling. What are your thoughts? Does the audience hold more pull on television than previously, and if so, do you see this as a positive or negative change? — Katelyn

Matt Roush: The creator-fan relationship is a very complicated issue and I don’t pretend to understand how show runners truly regard the fan feedback they get on the Web or otherwise — and that extends to the critical community as well, I suppose. But I have to hope that they can put it all in perspective, the fawning as well as the sniping, and focus on telling the stories they want to tell without losing sleep over the knee-jerk responses that come with the territory. I appreciate your well-chosen examples of how arcs that at first appear to be very risky or damaging to a show can ultimately result in some of their most memorable moments. I would hate to think that Internet "flaming" would have a chilling effect on show-runners, inhibiting them from taking the leaps of faith necessary to take their shows to that proverbial next level, even at the risk of occasional failure.