By now I’m a broken record about this show: Cast chemistry good, AnnaSophia Robb delightful, overall teeming with potential, but plots inconsistent and strangely paced. The season finale had great moments, but I don’t understand a) taking your best character, Walt, and rushing through a MASSIVE, meaty reveal about him as if suddenly it’s no big thing; and b) deciding mid-stream who Maggie is, forgetting to keep that thread going, and then having that bite you in the ass because you NEED that thread to be emotionally involved in her part of a massive friend betrayal.

But, I bang my head because I care. The CW is rerunning Carrie Diaries on Fridays now so it may stand a chance at coming back (and if you’ve been considering picking it up, that would be a good time to give it a try). Obviously my first priority is SAVE HART OF DIXIE EVERYBODY PLEASE WATCH YAY, but I hope BlueBell living another day does not exclude Carrie Diaries from returning, because I’d love to see what it could do with twenty-two episodes. Thirteen felt like they had to speed through the year, and therefore did a lot of telling and not showing (Maggie), took too much time figuring out who the best characters were (Walt), struggled to balance high school and Manhattan, and ultimately had so far to go in a short time — and without being able to get everyone in every episode — that it blew straight past a lot of plots that needed more nuanced treatment (hi again, Walt). Also, it’s like they totally gave up figuring out what to do with Donna LaDonna, which is a shame, because Chloe Bridges had the best facial expressions and comic timing of the bunch, and her with Walt should’ve been an awesome friendship. Maybe next season?