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homemade-ghosts · 2 years

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What do you think about the obstacles Tim mentioned in the interview? Something about Gina being upper class now, that surprised me and that people who watched the documentary will have opinions on them (I assume bad? cheating allegations? I don't know I never seen a plot like that tbh) For some weird reason and I'm a very negative worrier person I'm not worry

When Tim said Gina is an “upperclass person” now, I think he just meant that she’ll be a junior (in high school, typically, freshman & sophomores are considered lowerclassmen + juniors & seniors are upperclassmen) not in the socioeconomic sense.

Based on that hilariously awful/inflammatory doc trailer, if I had to guess, I’d say Channing made it look like 1. Ricky’s plan was to “steal” Gina from EJ (he was tasked with the ‘jilted ex’ role, after all) & 2. Gina cheated on EJ with Ricky. We know he has Ricky looking jealous & walking out after pw sang “Love is an Open Door”, nearly the entire “What Do You Know About Love?” performance, Ricky & Gina hugging at Color War and Ricky getting pissed off at him backstage mid-show (with Gina in the background) all on camera — so, it wouldn’t be hard for him to manipulate that footage and string together a narrative that Rina, potentially, had some kind of showmance-turned-romance behind the scenes.

I could see him editing it in a way that’s open to interpretation for the audience, though. Like, within the show, there are people who watched the doc and think Ricky pursued Gina and might blame him for EJ & Gina’s breakup & there are people who don’t. &/or maybe there are people who think that Gina cheated on EJ & they blame her. & there are some people who, maybe (hopefully?) see through all the bs, ship Rina & think (rightfully so) that EJ was responsible for the pw breakup + they just weren’t right for each other. I hope I’m making at least some sense here lol — basically, viewers within the show see the doc and have differing opinions, a parallel to how fans in real life react to hsmtmts itself.

It would be funny if they had the characters reading people’s tweets about the doc and being like, “This is the worst take I’ve ever seen.” / “I never said that!” / “Did they even watch the documentary?” I can just imagine someone calling Ricky a “homewrecker” in a tweet because, after seeing the doc, they think he came to camp to “get Gina back.” & him reading it like, “What?? C’mon, that’s not even remotely what happened!” & Carlos responding with something like, “That doesn’t even make sense. We all know EJ wrecked that home all by himself.” All of which would be a direct nod to how pws/rinis consistently invent non-existent plot points & misunderstand/misinterpret the show in real life.

We’re getting the OG HSM cast, playing a version of themselves playing their HSM characters in an HSM 4 movie that’s being filmed at East High, which the kids will all be featured extras in — all while they put on a production of HSM 3: Senior Year. Tim & Co. are clearly not afraid to go full meta, so they might as well take it one step further and include a representation of the actual show’s fanbase reacting to the doc the way some people react to hsmtmts irl. I’m not going to pretend I wouldn’t be laughing my ass off watching these characters put #them on blast for getting the show so completely & utterly wrong.

(Side note: did reading all that hurt your head? Because it hurt mine. There’s a lot of layers to the meta aspect of s4, I’m just hoping I explained them somewhat coherently.)

I know a lot of people wanted Ricky & Gina to be secretly dating in s4, even before s3 aired, and I think there’s a possibility we might get that. If the documentary becomes as huge as they’re setting it up to be, and part of the audience thinks Gina cheated on EJ &/or that Ricky “went after” Gina, then maybe neither of them wants to be seen dating in public because they know that, if someone caught them, it could potentially be used against them to confirm the “cheating” storyline/rumors. The upside of that, for us at least, is that it could lead to some cute private dates that Ricky plans at his apartment because they can’t go out.

& maybe school is the one place they can be a couple in public, post-doc release (no press allowed on school grounds) but then surprise! HSM 4 starts filming at East High soon, which means there will be cameras everywhere and they’ll have to navigate that. Do they keep trying to hide their relationship? Or do they just say “screw it, who cares what people that we don’t even know think about us.” (Hint: if they go this route, it’ll be the second one.)

I’m not sure that I particularly love this idea, but I can’t deny it could be entertaining to watch and it sets Rina up with an immediate obstacle in their relationship that’s relatively easy to overcome.

Apart from anything doc-related, I’m sure there will be some discussions about their future. Ricky’s graduating this year and Gina will still have one more year of high school left after that — but I feel like s4 will pick up close to where s3 left off, so they’ll still have nearly an entire school year to figure all of that stuff out.

Tim has been building Rina for three seasons and he talks about writing for them with so much excitement, that there’s “a world of opportunity for them to explore.” So I’m not worried either, anon. I think whatever conflict that’s presented to them will, in the end, just serve to prove how well they work as a couple.

#ricky x gina #rina #hsmtmts #hsmtmts s3 #hsm s4 speculation #asks #anon

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gracestone · 2 years

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HSMTMTS Rewatch Thoughts | 1x02

It took me a bit longer than I expected to properly write this post (for various reasons), but here it finally is! I wanna say thanks again to the people who messaged me about my rewatch posts. It still means a lot to me that you're so interested in reading my thoughts on this show ❤️

THE CASWELL COUSINS

I really love their scene at the beginning of the ep! It's a great introduction to their dynamic and tells us quite a bit about EJ and Ashlyn. While we already saw a bit of him feeling insecure about Nini and Ricky's relationship in 1x01, we delve a bit deeper into his insecurities in this episode. The show makes it very clear that he's not your stereotypical jock character: EJ is putting up a happy front to his online followers and most people around him to hide his own negative feelings and insecurities. But the one person he is open and honest with is Ashlyn. This scene is the first time we actually see EJ voice how he's feeling.

Ashlyn mostly plays a supporting role in this scene and tries to give EJ some advice. But even in her advisory role, we can still see that she's more in touch with her feelings and able to go along with the curveballs life throws at her than EJ. EJ is still in that mindset of feeling like he needs to achieve every goal he sets for himself, especially when he feels other people expect him to succeed. Which is why the following advice didn't resonate with him at this point in his arc:

However, that advice foreshadows the rest of his character arc. Because what he wanted at this point wasn't what he needed. He didn't want these things for the right reasons and these wants were making him really insecure, so it was ultimately for the best that he didn't get them. Because it taught him how to be the person he wanted to be, made him a lot happier, and ultimately led him to fall for Gina.

It's adorable how EJ immediately hyped up Ashlyn to his online followers, btw 🥺 He's so supportive of the women around him.

Ashlyn seems to think that people either don't really see or notice her, because when Nini runs into her at the piano, she assumes Nini won't remember her and is surprised when Nini does. It's a small detail but I think it does a good job of giving Ashlyn some depth this early on. And I think this also plays into why Big Red's compliment of her singing in 1x07 has such a big impact on her.

PORTWELL IN SYNC

Not only is this the first episode where we get a real Portwell scene, they're also in sync the entire episode, without even knowing it! They both spend this episode eavesdropping on others:

And they both end up coming up with the same plan to get what they want: steal Nini's phone. Without even knowing it, Gina helps EJ get what he wants by putting Nini's phone in his backpack. She tells EJ that they want the same thing, but it's gonna take a little teamwork. Little do they know that Team Wonderstudy will come to mean a lot to the both of the and be the foundation of their future relationship 🥰

EJNINI

One thing I found pretty interesting in this ep was that the writers had EJ get insecure about Nini in moments where it wasn't warranted (the texts that were later revealed to be from one of her moms and Miss Jenn adding a kiss to the show) while not seeing the moments where that insecurity would be warranted (Nini not being thrilled that EJ would be playing Troy, the way Nini looked at Ricky as she saw that he had practiced the dance, and her moment with Ricky during Wondering). I think it helps us see that this relationship doesn't work on both ends. Nini definitely isn't all in and still loves Ricky, while EJ is still struggling with his own insecurities and wants this relationship for the wrong reasons. He tells Ashlyn that Nini makes him better. Of course, this is right after he asks Ashlyn to steal Nini's phone for him. So it's clear that being with Nini doesn't actually make EJ better. In fact, right now it's making him worse. Because he's giving in to his worst tendencies out of insecurity.

Nini also isn't fully herself with EJ. When EJ asks her who texted her, she says it's nothing. While she obviously doesn't have to tell EJ who texted her, I do find it interesting that she had no trouble sharing it with Ashlyn without any prompting. I can't help but wonder if we're meant to see this as Nini not fully being herself with boys she's romantically interested in. We know she's that way with Ricky, and I think this may be an indicator that she was that way with EJ too. She keeps seeing herself through their eyes, rather than simply seeing herself for who she is, and I think that affects how she behaves around them. As Kourtney tells Nini in 1x05, "ever since [she] discovered boys, [she's] spent way too much time trying to see [herself] through their eyes." This comes back in The Rose Song too, where Nini admits that "all [her] life [she's] seen [herself] through [Ricky's] eyes." It's one of the character flaws Nini needs to work on.

But her hiding that one of her moms was texting her could also be an indicator that she simply didn't feel as comfortable around EJ as she should've, because I do think she would've told Ricky this. They have a long history and know each other's families well, after all. Or maybe it's a combo of both of these things. Either way, it's a sign that EJ and Nini never would've lasted, even if EJ hadn't totally messed up.

THE THROB RUNNING JOKE

Initially, I was just gonna make a quick note about how this episode started my favourite running joke on the show, which is Ricky's obsession with Throb. But as I thought about it some more, I started thinking about how it symbolises some of Ricky's personal struggles in relation to romance.

Ricky says that he initially didn't want cologne to be sprayed on him, but he completely changed his mind about it once he found it Nini liked it. This kinda reminded me how Nini admitted in 2x06 that she always used to order the pizza Ricky liked best, even if that wasn't necessarily the pizza she wanted. This isn't a flaw in their relationship, necessarily, as it's more a character flaw that stems from their similar insecurities. While it's more true for Nini than Ricky, they tend to do things solely for the other, even if the other never asked them to do so, instead of compromising or even just voicing their own opinion. Which plays a part into why they both haven't really figured out who they are as individuals. They've always seen themselves as part of a duo, rather than two individuals together.

Then there's also Ricky using Throb to win Nini back. He's not thinking about why Nini broke up with him and what he did to break what they had. He would rather try and get Nini back by reminding her of something he thinks she used to like about him than do the hard work of reflecting on your own flaws and changing for the better. Which plays into my next topic.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NINI CHALLENGING RICKY

Nini calling out Ricky on his tendency to coast is SO IMPORTANT! Because Ricky, at this point, would rather fail because he never tried than try his very best and potentially still fail. No, he didn't sign up for the musical because he wanted to play Troy. But he got the role now, so he has a responsibility to the rest of the drama department to give it his all. And especially to Nini, the person he auditioned for in the first place. Ricky tends to joke around when he's feeling insecure, but that's something he has to unlearn, because as Nini rightfully points out, it gives the impression that he doesn't care. And we know that Ricky cares deeply about the things that matter to him, even if he has trouble voicing it.

To Nini, it seemed like Ricky only fought for her because she had met someone else. He would've kept coasting if she hadn't. But now, he's forced to try new things and change if he wants to show her that he does love her and wants to be with her. Wearing Throb won't do the trick.

Initially, Ricky defaults to his defense mechanism: he quits. He'd rather not try than try his best and fail. He thinks so highly of Nini that he would never want her to quit the musical. He knows how much this role means to her. And he doesn't think that he's cut out to be the leading man she deserves. This comes back in 1x09 and 1x10, when he gives up playing Troy after he freezes on stage.

But as Gina points out to Ricky: he has his own style. He shouldn't let himself be brought down by others telling him that he's doing it wrong. He should embrace his own style. That's a lesson I think Ricky still needs to learn. Because I don't think this scene really taught him that, even though I do think it was meaningful for Ricky to hear that from someone with a lot of theater experience. Instead, it just got the ball rolling in his head, and he realised he could prove to Nini that he's not a quitter on them by not quitting on the show. At this point, doing the show = fighting for Nini in his head.

So he goes home and practises the dance. Because no one can motivate him like Nini does. He calls it a test to Mike, which again reinforces that he sees it as a way to win Nini back and not something he himself is passionate about. It is cute, though, that he calls it the "most important one in [his] life", because that's how much Nini means to him 🥺

Note how while Ricky is taking babysteps here, they're still going in the right direction. Nini is making him better, just by motivating him to improve himself. Contrast that with EJ saying that Nini makes him better while being at his worst in his character arc.

Nini, on the other hand, is visibly upset about Ricky quitting. I think she secretly hoped that Ricky would prove her wrong and keep fighting for her and the show. She wants to do the show with Ricky and she wants to get back together with him, even if she can't admit that to herself yet. She just can't give him another chance if he's unwilling to change and put in the work on himself. And that's why she looks so happy when she sees him showing Carlos his improvement.

WONDERING

Ricky and Nini share a moment as he sees Nini sing with Ashlyn. As we know, he's loved Nini since she wrote her first song. Their love for music has always connected them, and it does so again here. It wasn't Nini's own song, but she could still relate very strongly to the lyrics. She and Ashlyn were both being vulnerable in that moment about how they were feeling, and of course Nini didn't expect Ricky to hear all of that from her.

I also just really like how they had Ricky come in during the lyrics "It feels like I might've broke the best thing that I had." There was no room left for doubt that Nini was thinking about him when singing these lyrics, and that he too could relate to them. Because if he had been a little braver than he had, he and Nini would still be together.

One thing that stood out to me is that Ricky is separated from Nini and Ashlyn by a lamp here, just like he is from EJ, Nini, and Gina during Second Chance. While he wasn't part of the performance in Wondering like he was during Second Chance, I think it still has similar symbolism: Ricky isn't ready yet in joining them in their character growth. He wasn't ready to explore himself by reflecting on his past like Nini and Ashlyn did during Wondering, and he's not ready to go for a second chance that will actually help him grow as a person in 2x12. But I will come back to that at the end of my rewatch.

SHORTER THOUGHTS/NOTES:

I still really want to know what inspired Ashlyn to write Wondering. What personal experience did she draw from?

While from Carlos' POV it's heartbreaking that he thought Ricky may want to harm him in the library, from an audience's perspective, it's hard to look at Ricky and imagine him being intimidating in any way sdlkjgfsdklj

Corbin signing EJ's HSM DVD when???

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rinisbowen · 2 years

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Ricky and Nini | Second Chance / Second Chances Meta

“here’s to second acts” - nini reading ricky’s card.

“and new beginnings” - ricky reading nini’s card.

the two don’t directly quote the song / episode title, but i think it’s obvious enough what’s going on here at the close of the card scene. she signs it “love nini” and we saw visually that his is signed “love ricky”, but this is them doubling down on their decision in the treehouse.

this is their chance at a new beginning, a second chance.

(quick note/warning: this is image heavy, and long, lots of paragraphs. there should be more second chance related meta analysis coming soon!)

for ricky and nini, this here is opportunity to try to live for themselves and not one another, for what’s probably one of the first times in their lives. and like, that’s a big deal.

the difference will be who’s ready to step into that part of their journey, and the answer is very clearly, not ricky. he knows he can’t live for nini at this point, but as we’ve seen with ricky’s arc, he thinks love is the answer. so he’s probably going to try living for someone else, see where that gets him. (spoiler alert, it won’t end well. and then ricky can have his self worth / personal growth era)

i know nini’s gotten this arc before, of living for herself, and this is another chance for her at truly doing it, but ricky hasn’t quite been able to do it at all yet. hopefully the latter portion of season 3 he will, but he’s clearly still not ready yet. it’s a complicated balancing act because ricky needs both to learn to open up to other people more and to live for himself as an individual more.

nini’s good with her connection to others more or less, she’s at her best when she’s supporting other people and sharing nice moments with them. what she’s in pursuit of is her own voice. and while she’s been walking this road to different extents in both previous seasons, i think this time it’s going to have to stick, particularly given her reduced screentime as she potentially gets written off the show. like i know they’ve tried the ‘nini seeing herself through the eyes of boys’ thing, but i think she’s very clearly past that. ricky doesn’t really even do that to her at this point either, but regardless, it’s time for her to set out for herself. be her own person. not depend on others, because she doesn’t want to. she doesn’t want to be safe, and familiarity is safety.

nini’s ahead in her journey, and its why she’s able to sort of let go faster in 2.08, though it’s obvious from later scenes she’s not like- done with him necessarily... just- taking steps. she gets her feelings out immediately as she cries in ricky’s arms, then looks at something she’s made for herself (as superficial as it is to see her scrolling through instagram comments after the breakup as ricky sobs in big red’s basement, it’s something that’s about her, and that’s nini’s journey, finding what’s hers), and then sets on forward. maybe one day ricky can be part of what’s hers, but right now, what’s hers has to be different from him, and she can’t be projecting from him, as he projects from her. the big thing with nini’s framing in second chance is that nini has hope. nini’s music is her big opportunity this season, and after trying to find a way to embrace her individuality, this may just fit the bill.

and that’s kind of where ricky falls short. he holds himself together for nini, like he did at the start of the season when she went to yac, which- shows what progress he’s made. like... we hear him say “i’ve got you” to her. and while we see the pain in his face, in his eyes especially, i truly love joshua bassett’s acting, ricky doesn’t let himself start to cry until he gets to big red. he’s holding nini up. and she doesn’t want to be sheltered anymore, as she says about yac. but then, there, in this place that’s theirs, she takes that comfort from him, that safety, for what’s at least for the moment, their last time. ricky doesn’t have the same hope of something that’s his own. the only thing that he really feels he can rely on in his moment of grief is big red. and we love ashlyn, but even big red isn’t his alone right now. ricky interrupts their movie night. (which obviously this whole situation isn’t an issue in any way, but it’s something worth pointing out imo bc it plays a role in what i think is ricky’s potential isolation for the future season).

ricky still doesn’t see himself as a theatre kid in 2.12, he’s really a lost soul in a lot of ways, and without nini as his tether to theater (and honestly to the broader friend group too), it’s not a surprise to me that he’s clinging to lily, a person who also represents this theater interest, but also largely represents someone who goes after what she wants, whether that be him or her other ambitions. my hope is that she can help him find something that’s his. whether it be theatre or not, i think it could go either way, because maybe it’s just a ricky struggling to accept himself in general thing, but i think it would make a lot of sense if theatre just isn’t his thing and music is.

when nini’s in a place where she can be comfortable and firm in her own individuality, which she’s gained a lot of strength in, and ricky gets to that same place, they’d likely be very apt to be good for one another.

this couple works best reuniting when they no longer need one another (nini’s pretty much there, ricky less so), but they still do want one another.

ricky and nini make a lot of sense to be each other’s long game down the road, but they don’t make sense right now. they have to wait until they are truly ready for one another before they do get back together. because they will move in the same direction. they both are people who need to leave the comfort and safety of home, grow and explore, live for themselves, and additionally they share a common passion for music, which nini’s allowed herself to embrace and i hope ricky will too. their paths should by all means intertwine again one day, when they’re prepared for it.

what’s kind of cool about the way ricky and nini are framed in 2.12 is that both in their second chance entrances (when he walks in down the stairs and when she walks in through the door, please enjoy my photoshop skills), and when they make their respective phone calls for their second chances, lily / second chance at love & jamie (music) / second chance at finding her passion with a new opportunity, they’re crossing each other. the two of them are heading in different directions, and while they visibly cross already in their second chance entrance, they’re just angled oppositely when they make their phone calls. they’re going different ways, but maybe one day their paths can still intersect. i think i’ve mentioned before that ricky and nini’s overall stories can be read in parallel, but that he’s fallen behind... and i do believe that. they’re eventually going to sail their ships in the same direction again, but right now they’re going on different journeys as he sidesteps himself as an individual and chooses romantic relationships as a source of satisfaction.

when the characters make their entrances into the auditorium portion with the ghost light, nini’s the very first onto the stage, so confident compared to where she stood in the pilot, but it’s cool to see that this time she’s daring to dream of her own accord. and how fitting that once she’s said her “i’ve got a second chance to fly”, the person coming in after her, is none other than ej, the person who let her know she could in the pilot, but sort of ended up ripping her confidence from her later. this time she has to go it alone, and that’s why she’s first, stepping on the stage by herself. she crosses up to be front and center, and ej comes after, no longer so confident, they’ve practically traded from 1.01 as he relents that he’s “got a second chance to fall”.

nini’s coming in for her second chance to fly- it’s not YAC, and it’s not gabriella, like she was auditioning for in 1.01 in this same outfit, wearing her lucky sweatshirt no less, but it’s still resonant of that moment. maybe in 1.01, nini was hiding behind the hoodie, especially when you consider nini doesn’t exactly wear just like- a sweatshirt like that typically, and when you consider ej’s bold suggestion she show up in costume. the lucky sweatshirt is safe and familiar. she pushes that relative familiarity or safety off both at the audition in 1.01, and here in the back portion of season 2 (though to a much greater extent as she progresses). she folds her hands nervously in front of her, while ej’s are behind his back here, presenting himself chest forward. and yet she’s singing about flying, and he falling. oh how the tables have turned...

nini’s the person in this scene with the most hope and optimism, her refrain is “i’m finding who i wanna be”. she’s looking for something, but she’s sure she’s got something good coming for her. her entrance verse is “i know that every time a door is shut, a window opens up for me... it’s all wide open down this road i’m on, i’m finding who i want to be.” nini’s even looking up as she enters, not looking to the camera for answers.

ricky’s the last one on stage, and unlike the three others, who cross the stage to take their places, ricky merely steps up into frame, staying on the edge, on the opposite side of the ghost light. (the ghost light is a thing in theaters, there’s a superstition to go with.) it fits that he’s 1) last, given he’s run in behind the time for both his auditions in the show, and 2) that he doesn’t cross the stage, because he’s not quite ready to set out on his journey. he’s not even all the way lit up like the rest of them are. maybe nini was his light, the way he was hers at that audition, then she was his at the hsm performance, but regardless, he’s in the dark now that it’s over.

and it’s neat because his entrance line is “what can make the fire burn?” and i think we can take a second to get into what that means. i personally see two possible ways this can be taken, but honestly maybe it’s a bit of both? because one is something ricky needs to work towards, the other is something ricky is looking to in the present moment. he’s a very one day at a time type of person it seems like.

so the first “fire burn” thing that i could interpret this as is burning in terms of like- passion in the sense of motivation, drive. for example, if you’ve ever heard of lighting a fire under someone? one of the biggest things ricky seems to lack is a will to go forward, that driving force is something he struggles with. ricky lacks ambition. like nini told him in 2.02, he has to do it for himself. and she did convince him to audition, but it wasn’t really for himself yet. ricky’s main motivation when he does act to actually do stuff, even stuff he does care a lot about, is typically nini. love usually drives him, even beyond nini and beyond romance. so his asking “what can make the fire burn?” could be him asking, what can give me the will to go on?” which sounds dark- and maybe it is... but i don’t think this is the /whole/ situation.

the second “fire burn” interpretation is less what ricky’s overall story arc goes towards, but more where ricky sits right now as we conclude season 2. “i burn for you”- bridgerton anyone? (lowkey i haven’t actually seen this show in any real capacity). fire and burning, passion, can be also associated with love and probably even more strongly with lust. but this is obviously a disney show, so we’re talking today about love. fire is hot, passionate, overwhelming, etc. love can be the same, and if you’re not careful, you can get burned. i’m not going to get into it about the self sacrificial, i’d light myself on fire to keep you warm type of thing, since that’s not where we’re at obviously, but i just want to extend the metaphor to explain what i’m taking about. considering ricky starts the song singing about love being bittersweet when it ends, i don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s thinking about the potential next love. (to make a massive overstatement for the sake of the metaphor) what/who can make his heart burn with desire? he wants to love and be loved. “what does it take”- for him to feel that way about someone else that he has for nini?

ricky’s the most lost of the four in this whole mess, i mean his part of the four part harmony is “begin again, begin again, begin again.” he repeats it three times each time, so it’s this cycle for him. he’s LOST. and he’s trying to latch onto the fact that he can try again this time.

i think there’s something to be said for why ricky starts singing before he enters the dream, and the fact he doesn’t like- sing... his first line. ricky’s face is blank but josh is singing in the background. “Who knew that love could be so bittersweet, oh when it finally meets- the end”

ricky right now is coming to terms with the fact that this is, for all intents and purposes, the end. he’s letting nini go because he loves her and knows he’s not right for her right now. as with his song, let you go, ricky’s cherishing their shared memories, it’s not like these two are suddenly on bad terms, but they’re cutting the cord before they can wreck things between them. their relationship was years of memories in the making.

and then to go with the second chance theming with lily, what does ricky sing about in his entrance? the line that we hear when we actually shift into the dreamlike sequence of the hallway with the 1.01 outfits is “But there is something in the summer wind, a moment to begin again...” and season 3 is a summer season, following the ricky calling lily cliffhanger. so ricky talks about love- and then summer as beginning again. lily is his “something in the summer wind”.

when he comes down the stairs and walks past the door nini walks through, he looks downtrodden, but more than that he just looks empty. conscious ricky tries to bury that, but subconscious ricky just can’t anymore.

ricky and nini in the final locker shots are in focus, in contrast to gina and ej who are blurred out. nini’s the first one we see, gazing up as she takes a breath, admittedly with some trepidation, contemplating the future, looking to the sky. nini has an answer for what she wants to do with her new beginning, she’s pursuing music, taking her songwriting, something that’s hers, to the next level. she’s pursuing what she wants, and she knows that if this isn’t what she wants, she can find a new opportunity from there ala “every time a door is shut, a window opens up, for me”. she doesn’t have to be afraid to chase a dream.

then we get ricky who’s staring out with a sad and almost empty gaze. ricky is the character that spends the most time looking into the camera like he’s on the office, and while i don’t think that this is that... he’s definitely looking for validation. he’s searching for something but he doesn’t quite have an answer as to what. ricky’s- working on that. he wants to know if he’s doing the right thing, and unfortunately no one can tell him that but himself. ricky doesn’t quite have a dream right now, he’s more just reeling at the moment.

the side view:

when we see the group from the side, they’re singing their individual refrains, creating the beautiful four part harmony.

i’ve already mentioned ricky and nini’s individual refrains, but i’ll cover them here again for the sake of completionism.

nini sings “i’m finding who i wanna be”. she’s looking up some of the time, but it’s more just the way she looks out, and there’s such a passion in her face, her voice, as she sings her part. nini’s passionate and driven and now she’s using that instead of letting fear keep her down. she has a voice, and she’s finding it, stepping into her power. there’s a reason nini’s voice carries through the others refrains, we pretty much always hear her. she’s finally decided to be heard, it is no longer inaccessible to her the way her lola brings up in early season 1.

ricky sings “begin again, begin again, begin again”. and this group of three distinct vocalizations of the phrase is repeated each time. ricky’s more searching, and while he seems more hopeful than ej does for sure in this whole number, he’s not quite convinced as to how he goes about going on from here. the second to last set of ricky’s singing his refrain at the end of the number has him finally looking determined. he’s trying to build himself up and say yes, i can go on. i will. i must.

background vocals:

ricky sings in the background: “what does it take” when the group sings “what can make the tide turn, what can make the fire burn?” lined up on the stage in the front facing shot. this is his pondering moment, he wants to know what he’s meant to do.

something kind of interesting about this is that ricky and nini actually sing solely with one another when they take their turn singing at the lockers before ej and gina enter. “i’ve got a second chance to fly, i’ve got a second chance to fall. what can make the tide turn, what can make the fire burn? a second chance is all”. they create their harmony together, without anyone else backing them up. all they need is one another, and then there’s the aspect of going it alone, even if they are technically singing together.

but, when it’s gina and ej’s turn, ricky and nini sing together behind ej and gina’s exchange of “i’ve got a second chance to fly, i’ve got a second chance to fall. what can make the tide turn, what can make the fire burn? a second chance is all”. their lyrics go “a second chance to fly, a second chance to fall”, and they together, support ej and gina’s portion of the song. i’ll get into ej and gina in the song in another post.

to be fair- this whole thing could very well mean nothing story-wise, and just be because of the fact that olivia and joshua are much stronger singers than sofia and matt (and i say this with love), so they can carry their own section, and support matt and sofia’s to make up for that. but regardless, i thought i’d touch on it for a second.

now for some fun color / costume stuff:

ricky and nini wearing blue and red respectively in 2.12, and blue and like- pink for 1.01 / the second chance hallway portion, is a consistent color story thing for them. they usually wear red or blue, each of them, or some variation on that color story. i love when shows play with that kind of thing with couples. they can compliment one another with their own individual parts, shared and contrasting. and then sometimes the different colors aspect shows how far apart they are too... so like when ricky and nini wear red together in the season 1 finale, we see that they’re in the same place.

also you know what’s kind of cool that you can’t see in this image? they’re both wearing green, under their main outer layer. you can see nini’s green romper, but not ricky’s green t-shirt. so you can’t see that they’re the same at their core. under the shell of the different choices they make. when ricky calls lily, we don’t see his core, his flannel is tucked around him, but nini’s jacket is open when she calls jamie. she’s going towards her own core purpose. finding herself. as he should also be doing, but isn’t yet. he’s protecting himself instead.

it’s kind of interesting because like- nini tends to wear a LOT of layers. in this case she has the red jacket, the green romper, some colorful top under the romper, and then what i’m going to just go ahead and say i think is the tie from 2.07 in hopes it’s not an additional shirt. plus the tights, but those aren’t really part of what i’m talking about, so it’s not super relevant. but- i’ll say this, nini’s not so guarded at this point, even with her three (possibly four) top layers. and considering there’s only a hint at the colored shirt, and i do think that’s her tie, i’m willing to consider the green romper her core layer. her jacket is open, i don’t even know if she could close it if she wanted to, but the open button sort of makes it such that nini isn’t clutching her armor tight. she’s open, using her core value in pursuing her core purpose.

you know when we do see ricky’s shirt- in the card scene, when he’s talking to lily in the entryway, and when he’s the only one besides howie (interesting to consider that for a second, ricky being separate from the others) who doesn’t jeer at antoine and lily when they walk into slices. he’s not like- inviting them to stick around, he walks them out remarking that it’s a private party, but he’s being friendly compared to his own friends’ behavior. he looks to almost feel sorry for them...

because ricky, at his core, cares a lot about people. this isn’t to say the others don’t, they really do, the love the wildcats share is a vastly important part of this show. it’s the love for each other that has them shunning north high in the first place. but when it comes to ricky, he’s keen on people, but especially people who put themselves forward. he admires that nini does this, even when it takes her away from him, even though it hurts him that it takes her away from him. he lets her go. and right now, he sees that lily was vulnerable with him, telling him about her family, as well as being so bold as to ask him to hang out some time, in 2.11, and even though he shut her down, he feels a bit bad that his friends aren’t being kind to her.

when he calls lily, his green shirt is covered by the flannel, but here, talking to her, we see it. he tries to shut lily down in the nicest way he can, “... lily, look”, looking back at his friends, presumably at nini who he’s still hung up on, a bit unsure of himself. he’s loyal to east high, it’s part of why he rejects her essentially twice in these last two episodes, before finally making the call at the end. he uses that core value of loyalty. and his core- his shirt under the flannel, is exposed.

that felt like a very unsatisfying place to end the post, but i figured putting the costuming pieces at the end would make the most sense, now i’m less sure about that but i don’t think i have anything else for this post, so- it’s just going to have to stay this way i think haha.

i’m getting into the significance of the ricky and lily stuff regarding 2.12 / second chance in a separate post, that i’ll probably link here when i finish it, because honestly i don’t need it all clogging this post. i had a good many revelations though, so i want to post them. trust me, it’s not as frustrating to see him call lily when you see just how much went into setting that moment up as basically the only rational decision for his character.

additionally, i’ll be doing a similar post to this one for ej and gina at some point. i don’t know when it’ll come, but hopefully a lot faster than this one was given now i have a plan of action on how to tackle the stuff.

#hsmtmts #rini #ricky x nini #nini x ricky #ricky bowen #nini salazar-roberts #nini salazar roberts #hsmtmts analysis #hsmtmts meta #rini analysis #second chance #HSMTMTS: nini salazar roberts #hsmtmts: ricky bowen #ship: ricky x nini ( hsmtmts )#hsmtmts: meta #hsmtmts: analysis #//ngl i don't know if i actually finished all my thoughts on this post or not but i think it's good enough haha #//lowkey this is very much a rini post but i'm exploring it as fairly as i can #hsmtmts: wardrobe

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goginaporter · 3 years

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ok but I saw this rina edit, I don't know which one, where it cuts from nini spinning to ricky in his ily speech scene to when gina turns around to talk to ricky at homecoming. it made me think of how important framing is in this show like how are you gonna have almost parallel scenes. but anyways, examining the content of this scenes, for ricky and nini, it's obviously supposed to be a remake of the scene from ep1 with nini's failed love confession. however, where itikyk focuses solely on the year they'd been dating, ricky's speech is mostly childhood memories. I can say without a doubt that nini was in love with ricky, and valued their romantic relationship. however, I would argue that ricky loves nini, yes, but isn't in love with her. she's his crutch, the safe option. literally ten minutes earlier, ricky is complaining to his mom bc she has moved on, and he references her and his dad being happy together (which is weird, bc he had been encouraging his dad to date miss jenn in the Thanksgiving episode; regression anyone?), and that he wants things to be how they were before. that's why he's only able to talk about ricky and nini as kids, not them as they are now. with the scene with Gina, on the other hand, he rushes to apologize for being rude, opens up about his home life, and offers to drive her home. these are all steps of growth, where with his speech to nini is him rushing to salvage the last tie he has with his past. I think ricky got back with nini bc of the nostalgia and panic he felt with all the change going on, especially since the show, which was where he had found a new family, was ending as well. tl;dr, ricky is confusing his feelings with the truth (hsm reference hehe) and thinks he can solve it by returning to how things were, as opposed to trying to move forward

#hsmtmts meta #ricky bowen #nini salazar roberts #rini #gina porter #rina hsmtmts #gina x ricky #ricky x gina #does this make sense I feel like it does #ive been having a rina breakdown all day #sofia wylie

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rickybowxn · 4 years

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let’s talk about ricky bowen

so i did a post on ricky’s perception of himself based off of the carlos-ricky conversation in episode 2, but oh boy have they taken that arc to another level this last episode. let’s take a look at these two scenes in his interaction with nini (before and after the almost kiss):

the first gif is when nini talks about how things have become weird between them after the breakup (for obvious reasons), can we just take a look at ricky’s face when she says that?

he fully blames himself for everything that has happened and i know that objectively it can be deduced that because he called a break between them, he is at fault. but if you think about their breakup, we know as an audience that the concept of love to him is more painful than it is fulfilling/wholesome/supportive, and that’s perfectly mirrored by the fact that he has a call from his mom in chicago come in as he leaves after calling it off with nini.

the only concept of love that he grew up with, his parents - he witnessed them be in, and slowly fall out of love. his only understanding of love is that it is temporary and painful, and can definitely be defined as one of the motivating factors to the break he called. now pair that with the fact that he obviously lacks the ability to communicate with the person he cares about, which is completely understandable because he is teenager, who is still growing and learning a skill that takes lifelong effort to be good at, the break is what he thought was right. he was overwhelmed and utterly devastated that things were changing.

now add the harsh reality of ricky having to face and live out the consequences of his actions, him not having nini to depend on anymore, ej etc, the boy’s having such a hard time. we know all of this as an audience, and again because of ricky’s age and mindset, we know that he doesn't really have the emotional skillset to be introspective about it, and he blames himself something he couldn't entirely control.

now the shit hits home after their almost kiss in the second gif. through his lens, nini pulling away confirms that she doesn’t want him in her life like that, that he struck a final chord with her, that she can’t be with him. he realises that he can’t truly be with the girl he loves and it crushes him, what’s happened to his parents has happened to him. she’s moved on, fallen out of love with him. and boy does that fucking sting oof.

(and my boy respects the fuck outta her decision and leaves so that she gets her space,,,,,, *insert sniffles here*)

and now ladies and gentlemen the final kick to the gut, he comes back home and braves himself for dealing with it all on his own. i know disney+ is too vanilla to do a mental health storyline, but he’s clearly developed a sense of anxiety and overwhelming depression to the situation he’s in due to circumstances he can not control.

he’s in love with a girl he thinks doesn’t care about him that way anymore, he doesn’t know how to communicate his emotions, he’s struggling with this overwhelming and crushing sense of change and he has no one in his life right now to talk to about it.

also jushua fucking bassett’s acting, my god.

someone needs to give him a hug please, ok this was a long one, thanks bye

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kaminobiwan · 4 years

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2/2 But with that, since he knows exactly what he said and w what intent, he knows when to apologize as well.

oh, very much so. I think this would tie more into those moments that were purely passionate and emotional when logic fails him, maybe where he unfairly said the wrong thing or was wrong in the initial place anyways. he possesses that maturity where many others don’t!

#angry obi #now this makes me wanna do a deep dive into this i stg #meta? discourse? ramblings??#either way i love it all thank you for contributing again :-)#rini responds #aty-cgca7

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multimetaverse · 3 years

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HSMTMTS 2x12 Review

Second Chances was a lacklustre finale for an uneven season. Let’s dig in!

Earlier this week I re-watched S1 in preparation for the S2 finale and the contrast between the two seasons is jarring. In almost every way S2 has been worse and after seeing this finale I’m less optimistic that Tim will be able to fix the long list of things that have gone wrong. Tim has said in some of his interviews today that pretty much all of S2 was written before the pandemic and that they didn’t have to do as much re-writing as people might think due to the stringent safety measures Disney put in place. Of course, that removes an excuse for the bad writing we’ve seen so much of this season as according to Tim what we saw of S2 is largely what he envisioned minus big crowds and background dancers.

Across his many interviews today, the one consistent point is that Tim does not have any real plans for future seasons; things like Ricky’s endgame he hasn’t decided on and he can’t even guarantee the summer season the finale sets up due to the weather in Salt Lake. I do think a S3 is an almost certainty given the show’s popularity but I’ll take Tim at his word that he truly doesn’t know if they’ll be renewed since it seems to be a new Disney tradition to wait until seasons are done airing before making a renewal decision (the same thing happened for the popular and well received Mighty Ducks: Game Changers which got a silent renewal only after all of S1 aired). That being said as poor of a season finale as Second Chances is it is also a terrible potential series finale. In large part it goes back to his lack of planning, he wants to keep all options open but in doing so Tim is crippling the show’s ability to deliver any pay offs or tie up loose ends.

The one mostly well done plot line this season was Portwell which got a happy ending tonight as they canoned. The only good thing about the big brother angst was that it was so insane that it had to be addressed and sure enough it was and Gina got her first kiss with a guy she really liked. If Tim is to be believed the reason we didn’t get an on screen Portwell kiss was not because of their age difference or covid concerns but because he felt that everyone’s first kiss was different so he wanted it off screen so viewers could fill in the blanks themselves. Tim’s line of reasoning is profoundly stupid. Imagine if they had Jamie show up and he and Gina talked off screen and Tim tried to claim that because everyone has a different relationship with their own siblings that he wanted the audience to fill in the blanks as to how their conversation went!

Still we saw great character development on Gina and EJ’s part as both really grew from the people they were in S1. As Tim noted, EJ bringing Gina back in 1x10 was kind of the set up for this story line. The only thing missing was a brief Portwell scene sometime in eps 2x01-2x04 to set them up. The consistent development they got from 2x05-2x12 is unlike any other ship on the show; only Rini exceeds their development.

Unfortunately I don’t think that will last in S3 because Tim will always favour Ricky over EJ and if he wants to do Rina he’ll dispose of Portwell before doing so. I was surprised that they never bothered to have Ricky and Gina have a conversation about Gina’s S1 confession. It was a huge mistake to have Gina pine over Ricky for half the season and it was no surprise that Gina’s story line got instantly better once she stopped interacting with Ricky. Tim has made clear in interviews that he’s still interested in the possibility of Rina which makes his poor writing of them even more bizarre. What conclusions are the audience supposed to draw from the Rina story line this season? That Ricky never cared that much about Gina? That it’s totally fine for the show if they don’t interact for 6 eps in a row? That Gina has moved on? I’ve said before that a wiser man than Tim would recognize that doing both Portwell and Rina will do tremendous damage to the show and he should pick one and not do the other. Of course he’s not that smart but it is wild how he’s accidentally written their story line to make for a perfect end to Rina.

Second Chances was great and is the only part of the finale that would have been well suited to being part of a potential series finale.

The Rini closure was a sad inverse of their S1 opening night confession. They’ve fallen so far from being the it couple of the series and I fear Tim doesn’t actually know what to do with them now. He really needs to decide if he’s tearing down that treehouse for real.

The less said about the Valentine’s chocolates the better but at least Gina and Nini are cool again and Nini can explore her budding music career with Jamie’s help. Tim repeatedly said in interviews that the scripts about Nini’s music career were all written before Driver’s License came out and I think he understands that the audience is just going to see the show as copying from Olivia’s life.

The wildcats just deciding to drop out of the Menkies was a lame cop out. Tim has said he always meant for that to happen though they were originally going to compete at the Menkies then drop out (presumably that’s where we would have heard Lily singing Home). Somebody should have mentioned the $50 000 prize money which the East High theatre department could surely use after Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara burned it down (remember that story line that had no consequences?). And that NYU scholarship could have been life changing for one of them and yet no one even brought it up once this season.

I did like the twist that it was EJ and his dad who got Mazzara into Caltech. He’d be a fool not to take it but I’m glad he confessed to Miss Jenn. She’s had a really rough season and I hope she redeems herself in S3.

Howie was acting so weird tonight and last ep that I have a hard time believing he was really so awed by Kourtney’s talent rather than feeling guilty for helping to steal the harness. The harness is another useless plot device; there are no consequences for Lily stealing it, she’s not caught, East High pulls off another version of the transformation off screen, and then East High withdraws from the Menkies anyways. Doubtless the harness will eventually come up to serve Rily angst.

At least Lily was straightforward, I’ll give her that. She has such an odd way of speaking, almost child like. As awful as it is there is potential for a forbidden/secret romance story line with Rily. It really does not speak well to Ricky’s character that he’s so easily fallen for Lily’s act when he has no reason to trust her and she never apologized for making fun of Big Red during the auditions or making Ashlyn feel insecure during the dance off.

The one way in which S2 was drastically better to S1 was in regards to the Seblos story line. Clearly Joe being bumped up to regular made a big difference. We got the first same-sex kiss between two boys and the first love song sung by one boy to another in Disney history and that is a legacy to be proud of. Of course, there was still some Disney censorship such as Carlos and Seblos being unable to use the word gay in the same ep that focused on Carlos singing In a Heartbeat to Seb.

S1 of HSMTMTS had a clear direction, the wildcats would have to try and come together to stage High School Musical and Ricky and Nini would have to decide if they still had a future together while Gina and EJ had to work on being better versions of themselves. It was simple sure but it worked very well. There was a lot of heart but also a lot of humor and the show never took itself too seriously. What has S2 had? Beauty and the Beast was hardly the main focus of the cast or the writers and the central couple that S1 was built around is now broken up either for a long time or for good. There was a lot less of the meta moments that jokes that made S1 such a hit, for far too many eps this season the show took itself way too seriously. Hell even the lighting this season was darker than in S1.

Olivia Rodrigo’s team had complained in a recent article that Olivia wouldn’t be able to potentially tour until fall 2022 due to her contractual commitments which is a sign that they think a S3 is very likely though I wonder how late S3 filming would have to start to keep her occupied until late 2022. There’s no confirmation of this but I thought it might be worth keeping an eye on; a post on r/hsmtmts by someone who claims to have a source working on production says that the plan is for S3 to be a summer theatre camp possibly with Camp Rock renditions and the plan for S4 is to jump 6 months ahead to the final semester of senior year and end with Ricky, Nini, Big Red, and Kourtney graduating from East High. They also say that part of the delay in the S3 announcement is a conflict between Tim and Disney executives. Tim wants to move production to LA and film on sets as it’s easier and cheaper while the Disney execs still want some on location shooting in Salt Lake. Again this is all unconfirmed but if it pans out it will represent a major shift in the series.

Regardless if Tim wants the show to remain successful he needs start planning out what he wants to happen. He should not assume he’s getting more than 4 seasons. If the series gets a S3 but then is suddenly cancelled then how would he want all the main story lines to wrap up? And if they make it to S4 where does he see it ending? The graduation of the current juniors is a logical series ending point but if Tim wants to do something different he needs to start thinking of that now. I can’t say I’m excited anymore for S3 but I do really hope that Tim and his writers can turn things around and that will only happen if they recognize what they did wrong and learn from their mistakes.

Until next season Wildcats

#HSMTMTS #Portwell #Rini #Gina Porter #EJ Caswell #Ricky Bowen #Nini Salazar-Roberts #Kourtney Greene #lily #HSMTMTS Reviews

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insomniactalks · 2 years

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I've been thinking about/meaning to write this meta for several months, even before making a Tumblr LOL. 😅 I finally found the time this week, so here we go, folks! The main point of this meta: Portwells, I think we should prepare for a possible love confession for EJ and Gina by the S3 finale. Why? Keep reading! 😚 (I'll be analyzing episodes 1.10-2.12 and a bit of S3 bts for this meta. This is deff super long. Read at your own risk! 😓🤣 Sidenote: I think I’m getting the hang of this gif-making haha😁)

1.10: "Breaking Free"

Here’s the stanza that Ricky and Nini are singing when we see EJ and Gina talking about the plane ticket in the S1 finale:

More than hope, more than faith

This is truth, this is fate

And together we see it comin'

More than you, more than me

Not a want, but a need

Both of us, breakin' free

I’ve bolded certain lines and phrases I wanna focus on. While Rini are singing these lines, Portwell are further solidifying the fact that they are a unit, a team, a fact established as early as 1.02. They are “team Wonderstudies” (2.06) after all, and while they both contentedly watch what they’ve done (meaning Gina got Ricky back in the show and EJ stepped aside for Nini to choose her Troy), they stand as a team. I believe at some point in 1.09 and 1.10, both EJ and Gina knew deep down that Nini and Ricky were always gonna choose each other. So they had to let them go. Doing the right thing was about “more than you, more than me” for EJ and Gina b/c they ultimately put their selfish goals aside for the ppl they care about. As Gina thanks EJ for “buying her the plane ticket,” the last three lines are being sung in the background. Bringing her back for opening night was more than just EJ wanting to look good in the public eye (which is what he was tryna do with his Instagram confessionals LOL). It’s a private conversation b/t the two of them where Gina quietly thanks EJ for his kindness and he simply says it wasn’t “fair for her to miss all this.” The “both of them” are finally “breaking free” by that point, together, whether they know it or not. They even look at each other at the exact same time while Nini sings “together” in the background!

2.01: "Something in the Air" and Happy Ever After

Here’s the exact stanza EJ and Gina sing in the video/song:

The end and the beginning of another year

Takin' in the memories that we've made right here

The tree is goin' up

And my roots are goin' down

All around I'm feelin' it

Are you feelin' it?

I’ve once again bolded the lines I wanna focus on. While Gina and EJ 1.0 is in the past, the first half of S2 (and the new year) sees the two of them struggling with old habits. Thankfully, by 2.05 and 2.06, EJ and Gina are embracing and loving the support around them from the other Wildcats and are slowly but surely opening up to them. They no longer operate as strong-minded independent individuals, interested in their own selfish desires, they are now real team-players, having the Wildcats’ backs. The “feeling it” lines could refer to the “it” as the love and support from their friends, or the holiday spirit, etc. In my opinion, for the purposes of this meta, I think the “feeling it” lines are referring to future love between Portwell, esp b/c they sing the last two lines together. Besides Seblos, Gina and EJ are the only ones to walk down the stairs in the video. Gina is a little ahead of EJ (just like in their character arcs hehe) but EJ eventually catches up and they meet at the landing, together. Also, Gina crosses her hands over her chest (heart?) as she sings those lines (“I’m feeling it”):

Gina also sings about “finding happy ever after” right besides EJ in the “HSM 2 Medley”:

Maybe she finds her happy ever after by the S3 finale (*hint hint clue clue* LOVE CONFESSION!!!)? She even looks in EJ’s direction as she says it.

2.05: EJ Opens His Eyes to Love

After dropping by the AV Club for a few weeks, EJ is tasked by Mazzara to “figure out his story” and “try to find more interesting ppl to learn from,” which is an assignment he takes seriously. EJ never stands in front of the camera or even have his phone out this episode. His focus is entirely on the ppl around him, even when the camera’s not on (like his tender moment with Gina)! What’s important about the progress of Portwell’s relationship in this episode is EJ’s moment of realization. He starts to fall for Gina b/c of what he learns about her. She, along with Seb, just spent the last few days planning out the quinceañero Carlos always wanted. EJ also learns more about Gina’s life during her speech on stage, where she admits she “keeps on dancing” to “escape” from whatever is going on in her life. Not only that, she recreates one of Carlos’ dances to honor him as her friend and fellow dancer. Whether they know it or not, Gina and EJ work as a team once again to show Carlos how much they care about him:

I think there’s something to be said about the fact EJ starts to realize his feelings for Gina when she does something really kind and selfless for someone they both love.

2.06: Learning to Love Again / 2.08: Lessons Learned

A while ago, I sent an anon ask to @gracestone about EJ asking his future self if he could ever “learn to love anyone after Belle” and how that connects to the lyrics of “If I Can’t Love Her” that are playing during the montage. Anouk even made an absolutely beautiful gifset about this. Check it out if you haven’t already!😍 I’m not gonna go into more detail about the foreshadowing of EJ and Gina falling in love in 2.06 and 2.08 b/c it seems obvious enough. Lmaooo. I think Anouk perfectly captured the moments I was talking about and it seems self-explanatory. In 2.06, EJ asks his future self if he can “learn to love anyone after Belle” before taking a seat next to his future girlfriend, Gina, who shows her sign of approval by patting him on the back:

In 2.08, after spending several hours together having heartfelt convos and watching TV on the couch, Gina eventually falls asleep while EJ takes care of her before he leaves. Howie sings, “no lesson could teach me how I could have loved her and make her love me too” during Portwell’s part of the montage. I mean, all signs point to EJ and Gina falling in love in S3 (with 2.06 and 2.08 being the most obvious!).

2.09: Gina Opens Her Eyes to Love

Besides deciding her first kiss has to be "the right guy" who "shows up and stays around" (all things which apply to EJ), I wanna note what made Gina realize her feelings for EJ. After a really long, tho insightful day, he shows up with a granola bar in hand, the very thing she's been craving. Not only does he anticipate her wants and needs, he shows up with a plan to drive her back for her flight in the morning. Beyond that tho, it's the fact Gina realizes her feelings for EJ while wearing his sweatshirt, even before they start dating. She's waiting for her flight to Louisiana so that she can visit her mom over spring break, so the very fact that she's wearing his third-generation Caswell family Duke sweatshirt is very telling. Gina leaves Salt Lake and the Wildcats for the week, but she takes a piece of home with her in the form of EJ's gifted sweater. That Duke sweatshirt provides a feeling of home, comfort, safety, etc for Gina while she visits her mom in a place she's "never been" (2.06). Gina briefly takes the sweater off for the "Ain't Seen Nothing" video, but promptly puts it back on when she's heading back to Ashlyn's house. I'm not claiming EJ's the only one to make SLC feel like home to Gina because all the Wildcats have played a part. However, she's wearing his clothes even tho she admits she's not sure where they stand. And then she puts the sweater back on even though she has two suitcases full of clothes. She makes a conscious decision to have something of EJ's close to her. Also, the very thing that makes Gina realize her feelings for EJ is the fact that he shows up without having to be asked. The granola bar is just a small, sweet gesture and reminder of how much he cares. He pays attention to her. And he shows up. Plus, she looks down at the granola bar EJ just handed to her twice b/c that's the simple sign the universe was sending her and gave her her moment of realization:

I also think the "right guy has just gotta show up and stay around" line is foreshadowing EJ will stay local after S3. By S2 finale, Gina decides EJ has met the requirements for who she wants to be her first kiss. In her own words, EJ is the "right guy." I feel like the "staying around" part could be interpreted as foreshadowing for PW's relationship by the end of S3.

2.10: Romance in the Cards

Miss Gina Porter literally spoke the words "he kinda saved me" in this episode. Gina 1.0 would never admit she wants or needs anyone's help. She does not see herself as "a damsel in distress" (2.09) so for her to admit EJ "saved" her over the break is major. Unlike Nini, who never wanted to be the "kinda girl who needs to be saved," Gina appreciates EJ looking out for her and taking care of her. He finally gets "the chance to be a hero" (1.04), but this time for the right girl. By the end of the episode, EJ decides Gina is worth the risk of getting rejected again, while Gina decides EJ is worth the risk of misreading the signs again. They both take a second chance on each other.

2.11: "Something There" and Family Affairs

Gina looks over at EJ three times while "Something There" is playing, a literal love song, mind you!

The "something" Belle and Beast are singing about is love. This seems to be clear foreshadowing of Gina and EJ falling in love with each other some day. The lyrics of this song are perfect for them because neither one ever expected to fall for the other, they just happened to bend unexpectedly over the course of the year. The lyrics "who'd have ever thought this could be," which plays over PW glancing at e/o thru the curtains, perfectly describes their situation. A similar line comes up again in "Second Chance." Before getting into that, I wanna note the sequence of events before, during, and after "Something There." Gina talks with Jamie (where you can tell they love e/o but the sibling relationship is strained), then we follow her into the "S/t There" performance (with EJ and Gina constantly smiling/glancing at e/o), to Jamie's convo with EJ. The whole point of those sequence of events is to show how absent Jamie has really been in his sister's life. Jamie so badly wants to assuage his guilt for not being there for Gina that he tries to put off his responsibilities on to EJ. We obviously know Gina has romantic feelings for EJ by this point b/c she calls their risotto plans "a date." Regardless, the show made a point to have EJ and Jamie meet and have the audience hear from Terri on what she thinks about him (all good things btw!).

One last thing I wanna talk about before getting to the next episode is the first pic of Gina looking at EJ in “S/t There.” As much as I was rooting for PW as S2 progressed, I wasn’t quite prepared to call Gina and EJ 'soulmates.' However, the moment of EJ and Gina looking at e/o thru the curtains made me change my mind. It’s the very fact that they cannot physically see e/o, yet EJ and Gina can just feel the other’s presence and that’s enough for them. Ashlyn sings “who'd have ever thought this could be" and PW immediately stare in the other’s direction? I mean, come on! 😫That’s exactly it! If you told EJ and Gina they’d be falling for e/o someday at the start of S1, they’d have laughed in your face. They’re even in the same side of the wings as they were in 1.01 when EJ grabbed the basketball off the floor behind Gina right before Nini’s audition. In that scene, they’re glaring at each other LOL.😂 Fast forward to about 7 months later, and in nearly the exact same spot, EJ and Gina are sending e/o heart-eyes without even knowing it! (I can’t add pics of this parallel b/c I’m pretty sure I’ve reached Tumblr’s pic/gif limit. So, just take my word for it hehe.😅)

2.12: "Second Chance"

Both EJ and Gina are completely devastated when they think the other doesn't return their feelings (thanks to the miscommunication brought on by Jamie):

Before they even go on their first official date, the above scenes show us just how much EJ and Gina already like e/o. Then, we get to hear their inner thoughts thru song in the episode's namesake.

EJ's lines:

Was I a fool to read between the lines?

Did I misread the signs that much?

Who would've thought we'd come this far as friends?

Maybe that should've been enough

During "Something There," Ashlyn sings the line "who'd have ever thought this could be?" while EJ and Gina looked at e/o thru the curtains. That's exactly it! No one expected Belle and the Beast to ever actually fall for e/o. Just like Gina and EJ never expected to agree to go on a date t/g and eventually start to have feelings. These are the same characters who angrily walked away from e/o in 1.04 during their Wonderstudies schemes. Several months later, in what looks like the other side of the hallways in East High, EJ and Gina unknowingly break each other's hearts in 2.12. So much has changed b/t them and they truly have come so far as friends.

Gina's lines:

Maybe I'm safer when I'm on the run

No time to open up my heart

Maybe I'll hide behind my walls again

Instead of tearing them apart

Before talking about Gina feeling "safe when she's on the run," I wanna talk about the second line. We know Gina will be at Camp Shallow Lake over the summer, so she certainly has time to "open up her heart" now! I think a part of opening up her heart in regard to her relationship with EJ next season will be Gina falling in love. In terms of Gina feeling "safe when she's on the run," perhaps it can directly relate to her running towards EJ in the S2 finale to have her first kiss. He makes her feel safe by that logic.

Once they're on stage, the first transition we see is from EJ to Gina singing the following:

In my opinion, with Gina finishing EJ's sentence, it makes me believe they both found another chance to "fall" in love. The "falling" next season for Portwell will be falling in love (in my mind at least LOL😅). And the fact Gina is "wondering" what it'll take to "make the tide turn" tells me her searching for answers shows how much she likes EJ. They both also sing "what can make the fire burn" which implies the burning passion of love b/t them some day...maybe in S3?

S3: Behind the Scenes

I took a screenshot of one of Sofia's TikToks while they were still filming S3 b/c I noticed something. Here's the pic:

It's totally possible this is Sofia's own style and she may not be in costume yet. However, given she has her makeup done, and she's wearing a jacket over her clothes while inside her trailer, I'm gonna take this look as Gina's wardrobe. That being said, you notice the headband? Its got hearts on it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Gina Porter has only ever worn hearts on this show one other time in 2.03- the Valentine's Day episode. That makes sense given the occasion, but hearts aren't typical of Gina's fashion. Nini's and Ashlyn's sense of style have plenty of colors and patterns, including hearts. But heart-patterned clothes are rarely worn by Gina. Given the S3 sneak peek, it's fair to assume Gina and EJ have been dating for some time (a few weeks, maybe a month. Depends how long after S2 the next season picks up.) So the fact Gina has now incorporated hearts into her wardrobe I think is indicative of how EJ makes her feel. If she's in a lovey-dovey mood b/c EJ continues to show her how much he cares, perhaps that's reflected in the clothes she chooses to wear. The only time she wears hearts in S2 is in the Valentine's Day episode, which I'm just going to chalk up to the occasion. Now that she's dating EJ, and they're actually boyfriend and girlfriend, Gina wearing heart-patterned clothing items seems intentional. If EJ makes her feel cared for, taken care of, loved...maybe she'll present how she feels thru her clothes? Hearts usually only mean one thing...LOVE! I suspect (and am manifesting!!🕯🕯🕯) a Portwell love confession by S3 finale.

Further proof of a possible Portwell love confession are the kind of characters EJ and Gina are. EJ tells Nini he "was trying to hold onto what we had over the summer" (1.04). Gina tells Ricky she "wouldn't quit on us if I wasn't moving away" (2.06). In both scenarios, we learn more about the type of people EJ and Gina are. Once they have a good thing going with someone they like, they're willing to put in the work to keep it going. After just a few months of getting to know and falling for Nini and Ricky, EJ and Gina admit to wanting to continue to fight for the relationship. Both are hard workers who, once are sure of what they want, they are willing to put in the work to get it. They just keep going. They don't quit. Given the "leaks" for S3, the majority of which came from unreliable sources, I've seen some predict Gina may step out on her relationship with EJ b/c she has feelings for Ricky. I've also seen some ppl say EJ would cheat on Gina before she would cheat on him. If you truly believe either EJ or Gina would ever actually cheat on each other, you've mischaracterized the core of who they are. Plus, that just seems so disrespectful of their characters. 🤦🏽‍♀️

At their core, EJ and Gina are extremely loyal and protective of their loved ones. Once they've gained one's trust, and more importantly, once one has gained EJ's and Gina's trust, you can bet they've got your back. After experiencing and actively working thru their previous heartbreaks, EJ and Gina took a chance on e/o. They know how hard it is to gain their trust and to open up their hearts to one another. Why would EJ and Gina, after all the growth they've had, hurt each other by breaking e/o's trust? Now that they're finally dating, why would EJ or Gina ever hurt e/o by catching feelings for Val or Ricky, etc.? It took 2 whole seasons for them to agree to go on a date together. You expect me to believe they’ll be ruined in 8 episodes, in the first season they’re actually dating? 🤨

Besides sharing similarities to Troy and Gabriella, EJ and Gina are also a lot like Sharpay. By the end of summer in HSM2, Sharpay finally realizes how much the Wildcats really mean to her after almost losing everything. Tho EJ and Gina aren’t the one-dimensional kinda of antagonists Sharpay was in the HSM movies, they share similar character traits to her, such as being hardworking, ambitious, and talented. By the end of HSM3, Sharpay stays local by going to a state college b/c she’s willing to help Ms. Darbus with the Drama Department. She’s not ready to give up being a Wildcat just yet b/c it means too much to her. Both EJ and Gina learn over the course of S2 that true happiness is with the ppl they surround themselves with. Now that they both know that, wouldn’t it make sense for EJ and Gina to fight for what makes them happy (i.e. staying in SLC and wanting to continue their relationship b/c S2 has deff showed us they seem their happiest when they’re together [2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 2.09, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12])?

I'm not saying Portwell won't be faced with tons of drama in S3. I'm sure they will simply b/c they're a main ship (plus they're the only couple at camp t/g). But that doesn't necessarily mean PW's relationship is completely and utterly doomed next season. Just like Troy and Gabriella, and Shane and Mitchie, EJ and Gina just might end their summer stronger and better, together. 🥰

(Last thing, I do think it’s only fair for Redlyn and Seblos to have their love confessions first b/c they’ve been dating longer. However, Ash, Big Red, Carlos, and Seb might be too scared or nervous to actually admit it out loud. In 2.08 and 2.10, both couples seemed to have trouble communicating (which is perfectly normal for teenagers!), but were able to resolve their issues soon enough. Gina and EJ had only one instance of miscommunication in 2.11 (which was entirely Jamie’s fault, btw. But they resolved it in just a few hours anyway). Portwell don’t seem to have any issues communicating. In fact, they’ve been shown to have really healthy, open communication skills. Because of that, I think once EJ and Gina are sure of their feelings, they’ll have no problem admitting to loving e/o. Seblos and Redlyn might let their fears take over and get a bit “tongue-tied” (2.10) when trying to admit they’re in love. But I deff think we can expect a Seblos and Redlyn love confession soon! Maybe even in S3 (thru phone call/facetime or night of the musical if Seb and Big Red come to visit! Could even happen really casually, as if they've been saying it. 🤔)).😊

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