It seems like Annie was the star role in the first season and in later seasons she was just kind of there and didn't have as much scene time as she did before.
shareLook at the progression of placement of Annie on the DVD cases from season 1 to 5 for your answer.
I'm real when it's useful.
Shenae Grimes aka Annie was initially cast and written with the intent of her being the lead/protoganist, which she was in S1, but during the course of S1, Naomi's popularity increased, to the surprise of the producers and writers, so eventually Naomi was made into more the lead. But I think it ended up being a split lead between them, as Annie became a lot more likable and tolerable character from season 2 and on, but she didn't shine like Naomi did. I love them both
shareAnnie was always the lead. How was she "just there?"
Admittedly, she took a backseat in season 3 to Naomi's rape storyline and Teddy's gay storyline, but her fish out of water storyline in season 1, and hit-and-run storyline in season 2 were both main stories.
Season 4 and 5 were both more split in terms of focus, but everything came back to Annie in the end, with "We're Not Not in Kansas Anymore" being told totally from her perspective and how she changed the lives of her friends by being in them. That was not told from Naomi's perspective. If Naomi was the lead, that episode would have been told her point of view.
And everything led up to that final moment, which was about Annie finally landing the man she loves.
It would seem like she was since the show decided to push Liam with her instead of with Naomi.
shareIt is easy to say that she is the lead considering that one episode in Season 5 where she is in dream mode but after season 1, she had less and less scenes throughout the show unless it had something to do with her relationship with Liam. Silver and Naomi both became the main stars and Annie's character kind of took a back burner. Even during the Jasper story, she was still less important than Naomi and Silver's story lines that had less meat on them. Annie was heavily disliked in the beginning(there are tons of articles dedicated to this) and the show runner who took over the show late Season 1 probably picked up on that, therefore, giving Naomi the star role of the show. I hope this helps!
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