Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Sweet Magnolias season 4.
Sweet Magnoliasseason 4 included a number of thrilling updates for thecharacters ofSweet Magnolias, one of the best being Cal and Maddie’s wedding, but one missing scene in particular would have made it so much better. Of all the seasons of the show thus far, season 4 isthe best season ofSweet Magnolias, in part because it was so full of shocking plot twists and major moments. Among those twists wereMaddie’s decision to leave Serenityand move to New York for a publishing job and the tragic news that Bill had died.
The season wasted no time in revealing that it would be full of surprises. In the very first episode, Maddie and Cal surprised the guests of their Halloween party with the revelation that it was actually their wedding.Although this was a fun and exciting twist for the first episode of the new season, the absence of one key scene detracted from the moment.
Maddie & Cal’s Wedding Scene Feels More Abrupt After Skipping Over Their Engagement
This Beloved Couple Arguably Deserved An On-Screen Engagement
Although it was fairly clear that the couple was heading in this direction, it was nevertheless surprising thatMaddie and Cal’s engagement happened entirely off screen. There was a one-year jump betweentheSweet Magnoliasseason 3 endingand the beginning of season 4, during which Maddie and Cal evidently got engaged. It’s odd that such a major moment (that audiences had long been waiting to see) wouldn’t be shown on screen, and the absence of the engagement—or at least the proposal—unfortunately made the wedding a bit less exciting.
The absence of the engagement—or at least the proposal—unfortunately made the wedding a bit less exciting.
It also felt a bit like a disservice to the characters. Maddie and Cal are perhaps the strongest couple inSweet Magnolias, and they are among the most popular characters. Surely, such a pivotal point in their relationship warranted screen time. More than just depicting this event, though,without the proposal or the engagement being shown, the wedding lacked the proper buildup or anticipation to make the wedding feel as momentous as it should have been. The wedding being a surprise only added to that.
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Why Sweet Magnolias Season 4 Didn’t Show Maddie & Cal’s Engagement
Audiences, Like The People Of Serenity, Were Meant To Be Surprised
PerDeadline,Sweet Magnoliasshowrunner Sheryl J. Anderson wanted audiences, like the Serenity townspeople, to be surprisedwhen Maddie and Cal revealed that their party was really their wedding and didn’t think that choice deprived viewers of anything. Anderson explained:
“We didn’t feel that we were taking anything away from the viewers because they were pretty much toeing the starting line, they were almost engaged at the end of Season 3, and so we didn’t feel like we were taking anything away by acknowledging, yes they got engaged. And we wanted to surprise our viewers, just like we surprised everybody else in Serenity by having them get married.”
Although the logic makes sense, especially paired with the time jump that allowed so much to happen in season 4, some viewers may very well feel as though they missed out on something by having this jump forward.
The question remains, was having the wedding be a surprise for audiences as well as the people of Serenity enough of a payoff for missing Cal proposing and the two being engaged? That answer is likely to vary from viewer to viewer. As it stands, the wedding scene between Cal and Maddie inSweet Magnoliasdoes feel as though it was diminished somewhat by the absence of Cal and Maddie’s engagement.
