Even now, when Doc and Jackson seem to be building toward something (whether it’s the arc of the season as a whole or something even more long-range), they’re still reaping the benefits of their old approach. I don’t think for one moment that they intended to ever use Captain Sunshine or Monstroso when they were each referenced back in the first season, for example. But when they showed up in Season Four, and their characters were consistent with the vague references we’d heard, it felt like a big moment. For me, that’s where a lot of the fun lies. Shore Leave became a major character this season, when his only previous contribution had been as a visual gag on Season Three. Whether that was planned from his first appearance, or whether they decided later on to turn a one-shot character into something important, I like going back and seeing where he came from. That’s why I want to recap from the beginning, so we can catch all the little bits of nothing that turned into major characters or plot points.
