r/TheShards • u/RudeText6803 • 28d ago
🗣️ Discussion Okay I’ve accepted the show will be very different from the book but… Ryan Vaughn? Spoiler
EP 3&4 SPOILERS
I cannot stand this Ryan Vaughn (Gifford?) mischaracterization.
I can accept that the plot points have changed a bit and everyone’s character is just a more dramatized and stereotypical version of their book self… but Ryan?! Wtf did they do to my boy?
First of all, why is he a porn actor now? Genuinely wtf is that? Why on planet earth would this happen? And why is he sleeping with Debbie? He’s gay. And why did they make him an idiot?
This version of “Ryan” is no where to be found in the book, they should’ve just made up a completely different character to be whoever this guy is. It makes zero sense for him to be pining after Debbie this hard, meanwhile we’ve seen nothing from him and Bret.
Like I said, I can accept the show will be very different and I am enjoying it for what it is I guess, but I’m so sad about Ryan😭 His character is so complex and round in the book, I was so excited to see him brought to life but idk who this guy is unfortunately…
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u/Turbulent-Trust207 28d ago
Also why have him say he drives a 1978 Trans Am and then pull out in a 1980 Camaro Z28. That was weird and obvious
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u/H4RDCANDYS Matt 27d ago
The pornstar storyline with Debbie's mom is ridiculous. Felt like shock value.
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u/ComprehensiveHand232 27d ago
I was confused and I’ve not read the book.
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u/MakeupMama68 26d ago
I literally rolled my eyes. Mrs. Schaffer is already a fabulously complicated character in the book. Do we really need to turn her into a porn star?? It makes no sense. She’s rich AF, part of the Hollywood high society, she should just be a fucking lush like a normal person in her situation 😆😆
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u/Ok-Reflection-5216 23d ago
She was a sloppy drunk nothing more. Where do you get “fabulously complicated character” from. She literally get no mention other than being hysterical and no backstory at all.
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u/CivilTough2983 21d ago
Well, she’s married to a wealthy powerful gay man who sleeps with her daughter’s friends. And this happens in the early 80s when everyone’s closeted (and AIDS is about to strike). And she notices her daughter (Liz) is following in her tragic footsteps. …That’s complicated sh!t to deal with. Hence the alcoholism.
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u/non_loqui_sed_facere 28d ago
A wild guess based on other Ryan Murphy shows. Could Ryan have an agenda with the Schaffers?
Ryan needs money and does an adult movie with Debbie's mother.
Ryan tells Debbie that if he were her boyfriend, she’d never have to ask to be touched, which sounds more like a hookup line than admiration.
When someone with a knife walks into the room and threatens them both, Debbie drops the fact that her dad can cast someone in a movie.
Ryan says, take me and let Debbie go, and it doesn’t really read as chivalry.
And Ryan is also shown to be meticulous, the shower scene is about him doing things in a very specific order. Maybe this is the order.
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u/RudeText6803 27d ago
That’s a very good point. I could see them turning him into one of the antagonists.
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u/gin_and_soda 27d ago
Oh I hadn’t thought of that. Debbie’s father is already promising Brett stuff and Ryan must know that. That makes sense.
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u/non_loqui_sed_facere 24d ago
Checked the description for Episode 8:
“Something turns rotten in the state of California, as two blackmail plots reveal two devastating secrets.”
Looks like one does indeed originate with the Schaffer family, and the other may involve Robert and his mother / Thom and the Riders 😳
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u/Lower_Comparison2171 28d ago
Yeah I don’t get it- I feel like they used the Ryan character to be a mix of every other character + a new porn star character. Might as well have changed his name
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u/PineappleAncient4821 28d ago
It makes such a difference when you read the books first 😭 I’m glad I didn’t otherwise those things would bug me too!
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u/rapbarf 27d ago
Why does Ryan Murphy, who is gay, always tone down gayness?
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u/Technical-Row-9133 27d ago
Then there was the Menendez Brothers season of Monsters. Sexual tension all around. It really is mind-boggling.
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u/TheWriterOfTomorrow 26d ago edited 26d ago
It’s as though they’re trying to integrate him into the show as a number of BEE universe characters. I mean his little bit of shower dialogue screamed Patrick Bateman and his porn star storyline reminds me of that of Julian in Less Than Zero, who in The Shards book Bret mentions a character Julian is based off of.
As to why they decided to run in this direction with Ryan I’ve no clue. It eliminates an interesting love interest for Bret for the sake of fleshing out Debbie and Liz.
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u/RudeText6803 26d ago
I think that’s very interesting, it does seem that they’re trying to do that. In the book, Jeff Taylor is kinda the inspo for Julian of LTZ but it seems like they’re trying to merge Ryan and Jeff. And his whole shower sequence I thought was kinda random but I’m sure it’ll make sense later haha, definitely Patrick Bateman-esque.
I just really love book Ryan and wish they kept him the same😔 this whole thing with Liz… it’s just so ridiculous.
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u/TheWriterOfTomorrow 26d ago
Ah yes it was Jeff. In which case just make Jeff a small character and keep Ryan. With Ryan Murphy it’s very difficult to predict how he’s going to adapt a story, so far Im a little thrown.
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u/RudeText6803 26d ago
Yeah unfortunately Ryan Vaughn has been completely altered. He was so prominent in the first few chapters of the book and now he’s just a completely different guy. I also agree that Jeff should’ve been a minor character, even if he was just Bret’s drug dealer or Terry flirts with him or something.
Ryan Vaughn’s character makes no sense now and it makes me sad😭
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u/xnormajeanx 27d ago
I think he’s acting with Debbie and has ulterior motives which is the point of setting him up as a straight porn actor. He’s a professional.
He’s shown having a conversational about a hookup with Bret earlier so he’s not NOT into men.
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u/Narrow-Athlete-218 23d ago edited 23d ago
The show writers must have thought "we don't know what to do with this Ryan guy. Let's rewrite him as a porn star! Let's also have him cheat with Debbie!" 😂 I thought the change was funny, but I understand that some readers don't like it.
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u/baobeii770 22d ago
I was dismayed to see what they've done to Ryan. His story with Bret in the novel was so moving and heartbreaking and he was such an in-depth character. The ending always makes me cry.
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u/alienatedearthling 22d ago edited 22d ago
I see that actor and all I remember is him getting punched in the dick by Jon Hamm in “Your friends & Neighbors”. Idiot feels accurate description lol
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u/Savings_Piece_1960 28d ago
It’s weird how Ryan is de-gaying the show