macdennis never working because Mac keeps getting placed in femalenormative roles, then tggr establishing that he's actually supposed to be the "leading man" (which in romcoms is usually a man's role) and dennis is therefore his "romantic lead" (which is usually the woman's role)

and finally placing them in these respective positions, not just in TGGR, but consistently since, especially in Chokes with Mac being encouraged to take action and be dependable (which are lead/dominant traits), and in Texts with the whole "I'm just gonna speak from the heart".

basically just making a point of how macdennis could've never worked as long as dennis was desperately holding onto his need to be in control/in charge at all times, by reinforcing this sort of admittedly stereotypical view of their relationship through a heteronormative lense.

as soon as Dennis can accept Mac being in control (which to be honest, kind of already happened in Chokes), he can fill his romantic lead role, therefore allowing Mac to... basically court him, I guess.

It's interesting because they are exploring their power dynamics using the romcom framing which still fits into the other way they have tried to show their power dynamics, which is through heteronormative roles.

it all comes together to say that they have been accidentally been filling each other's "roles" in their relationship which is what has caused all the trouble and conflict. dennis trying to keep the power by all means necessary, pushing mac into a submissive position.

and by doing so, stifling any opportunity for Mac to properly court Dennis and subsequentially break his shell, which is what would allow them to become an actual couple.

through the stereotypical lense rcg has been using from time to time, mac was always relegated to the submissive role ("the girl") and dennis the dominant one ("the man"), causing tension and conflict and ultimately driving Dennis to take action, in an attempt to shake things up.

As dennis is placed in the leading position, he is driven to act. This is where Mac stopping him becomes crucial. This shifts the event from Dennis taking action to Mac doing so, solidifying his lead/dominant role in the relationship, and finally proving that he's dependable.

where am I going with this? nowhere in particular, I'm just musing about the way RCG has chosen to portray them, which I find very fascinating... and which does make me hopeful for the future, as s14 seems to be the first half of something bigger coming together.

by which I mean, Mac learning to fill his lead role, and Dennis becoming comfortable with letting him. TGGR ending with Mac placed as the lead, and continuing to exist as such, which means naturally Dennis is going to shift into his romantic lead position to adjust in the dynamic

actually, writing this thread made me think about mortgage crisis and ddl macdennis fighting for the dominant role (dennis taking it from mac in mortgage crisis, and mac giving it to him in ddl... and arguably in escapes as well) VS dennis willingly handing it to mac in chokes