Aahana Swrup
In ‘Relationship Goals,’ a news station becomes the backdrop for a serendipitous behind-the-scenes love story. Showrunner Dan of the daytime show Better Days USA is looking forward to retirement, opening the position up for grabs. Leah Caldwell, who has dedicated years to the team, is the ideal candidate for the promotion. However, at the last second, the higher-ups end up making an unexpected decision and add Jarrett Roy into the running for the title.
This ends up being particularly complicated for Leah due to her romantic past with the latter and the catastrophic end of their relationship. Therefore, when she’s forced to work alongside Jarrett on the upcoming Valentine’s Day segment, which focuses on a pastor’s self-help book about modern dating and faith, things end up taking an unexpected turn. The narrative also circles around secondary stories of other cast and crew members at the news show, including Brenda Phelps, who co-hosts the project with Ted Davies. These elements ultimately play a crucial role in informing the overarching worldbuilding of the film.
Better Days USA and Its Hosts Are Fictional Elements That Ground the Film in a Realistic Setting
‘Relationship Goals’ sports an intriguing basis in reality. The film is inspired by the eponymous 2020 non-fiction self-help book by Michael Todd. Although the film mines significant thematic relevance and identity from the source material, the narrative retains few direct storytelling similarities. As a result, most of the elements surrounding the central plot line, outside of the titular book and its author, both of which feature in the book, end up being works of fiction. This is also true for Better Days USA and its hosts, Brenda Phelps and Ted Davies. In real life, there’s no news channel, and subsequently no daytime hosts, that bear a resemblance to these on-screen elements. At most, fans may be able to find real-life businesses that share a name with the Better Days USA show.
Better Days Co., a commerce company centered around health supplements and other products, is a good example of the same. Nonetheless, such identically named businesses and organizations only share coincidental links with the on-screen news show and sports, no direct connection to it. As such, Better Days USA remains a fictitious addition that serves the purpose of creating a work-focused environment around Leah’s character. The protagonist of the story is a dedicated workaholic who is trying to replace any personal unfulfillments in her life with professional achievements and milestones. Therefore, when a workplace challenge offers the possibility of fixing both these issues for the aspiring showrunner, her work becomes all the more integral to her storyline. Therefore, Better Days USA remains a notable part of her narrative, grounding Leah’s character in a realistic background.
On the other hand, Brenda Phelps and Ted Davies mostly serve a narrative purpose in the story. Much like the daytime show they host, the anchors themselves don’t have real-life counterparts off-screen. Instead, their on-screen characterizations remain in service of the story. Their involvement in Better Days USA showcases the influential nature of hosts in the world of journalism. However, they also serve a more interpersonal role in the film. Brenda’s character, in particular, inhabits a significant role as she begins to reevaluate her own stunted relationship after the show decides to do a segment on Todd’s book. Therefore, her narrative ends up showcasing a realistic narrative about being stuck in relationships with partners who are too afraid to move forward in life. Ultimately, the hosts, much like the daytime show, become notable additions to the fictional film.
Read More: Do Leah and Jarrett End Up Together in Relationship Goals?
