when the deleted scene of mike biking home crying after they found will’s body ends up being used in a montage in ST5, among all the other memories vecna stole from mike, truly, then. what.?????

INSPIRED BY

One of the tricky things about speculating from a thematic and symbolic basis is that it gives you a very good gist of what the pieces are and what to derive from, but of course is harder to predict when - and sometimes precisely what - is going to happen. 

For example: Callum has always been a character who has a tendency to get stuck in his head, hence why 2x08 has this happen literally. He also something in his possession related to Aaravos that he got in a situation that had good intentions but ultimately with sideways. From these two facts I deduced, 2-ish months post-S3, that Callum’s tendencies and behaviours would lead to him being more like Viren than he was comfortable with; that he’d have a part to play in Aaravos’ plans; and that his worst fear would be his mind being unsafe / his mind being invaded by Aaravos in some manner (dreams, nightmares, etc). I didn’t think it’d be quite so Literal and total as possession (although I did note Callum’s new S4 outfit with the circles around his wrist were rather like chains), but it was ultimately just a different take on the same thematic basis. I had all the right pieces and the right gist.

With all that said, here are the next set / ongoing set of pieces in approximate order of dissection:

Game Motif

Callum’s Associations with Freedom

Light and Dark Motif

Book 6: Star / Destiny

The Game Motif

The game motif is most interesting to me personally, as many people know. In S1-S3 it’s primarily carried through in Rayla’s comments regarding the Key of Aaravos, found in the game room (and pointed out) by her in 1x04. As of S4,  the game motif has a subset consisting of Ezran’s hide and seek motif (given that the key and Aaravos’ prison was hidden), the literal puzzle it takes to figure out the placement of the prison (S4), and four figures displayed as game pieces: Viren (S4 intro), Callum (S4 intro) with the cube as a bonus, Avizandum (flashbacks in 2x06 and 3x06; also literally turned to stone), and Rayla (elven toy in 1x04). 

The two theories regarding the Key of Aaravos that I’ve had are centred around the assumption that it is something Aaravos wants or needs back (as this could not be the case). The first, most likely if the Key’s use is revealed in S5, is that it’ll relate to his prison. The second, perhaps more likely if it the secret is only revealed post-S5, is that it is a Key related to Aaravos: his chest piece, a memory holder, or something else he needs to seemingly regain his full powers. 

The Game Motif, therefore, on a certain level works quite well with TDP’s tendency to be both more literal than expected (see: possession plot line) and simultaneously less literal than expected. If the Key is related to his prison, then it’s more literal, in which a captured chess piece can be exchanged for a pawn if the latter has reached the end of the board (hi, Aaravos getting out in S5). If it’s related to something else Aaravos adjacent and is involved in S6, then it’s still literal, but involved not in his escape but in his victory, or checkmate, if you will, key squares with pawns and kings and all. It would also make sense that Viren is the primary pawn in S5 and for Callum to be the primary pawn in S6 (as indicated in the Ziard-Viren-Callum game motif art forever ago).

But more on that later.

Callum’s Associations with Freedom

I’ve talked more about Callum’s associations in this meta about how TDP is inherently thematic, so I won’t repeat too much of it here. The core of it is that of course Callum is a Sky mage (“My breath for freedom”) being set both literally and thematically against a being from the Stars (“and destined to play right into my hands”) as the centrepiece of the story’s conflict. Aaravos’ associations and hand in creating/discovering dark magic and Callum being a human primal mage with an arcanum just extends this further.

What this means going into S5 / the coin / possession plot line threads (for future seasons) is that Callum and Aaravos are both seeking freedom, much like Claudia (for Aaravos and her father by extension) and Kim’Dael (for herself). Which is to say: in S5 Aaravos is seeking Callum’s thematic core, and that’s interesting to say the least. The symbolism of a Key and Breaking the Chains of History don’t help either.  

What this means, ultimately, is that there are roughly two main thematic paths (in line with the above) that this can take.

1) Callum is coerced into helping to free Aaravos (cube or otherwise) and that’s how his freedom is trampled upon, quasi-losing his own in exchange for Aaravos’ literal formation (+ possible bonus points if freeing Rayla or her parents’ plays a role as well). 

2) Callum’s role in Aaravos’ plans relates to Aaravos’ checkmate move. This would more away from the more literal manifestations of Callum’s role as like, Freedom, to his more lowkey motif of Breaking Things (Rayla’s binding, the primal stone, the seal of King Harrow’s letter, the chains in 2x07, Rayla’s pendant in 3x08, and probably the boat in S5). This again plays into Aaravos’ talk of shattering: “And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky” (TDP Reflections: Patience).

The key factor to each, I think, is putting Callum’s wrestling of freedom, and by extension narrative control and bodily autonomy, on full display. S5 and S6 are the Tragedy Seasons, and given that all signs point to him losing Aaravos’ game (at least at first). Whether it’s him doing something under possession (although more on that later) or him regaining his freedom by well, breaking free, only to play into Aaravos’ hands anyway... It’s clear the Startouch elf wants him for something, and it can’t be anything good, whether it’s a Path of Darkness or Light.

And, speaking of which...

Light and Dark Motif

Again, I’ve gone over this before (here’s how it manifests with Rayla and Callum, and here is why the ‘light’ isn’t the solidly good thing it can be easy to think of it is, in-show). General light and darkness motif tag here for anyone interested in tracking this motif further / it’s extensiveness going into S5. 

What matters though is that 4x02, 4x04, and 4x07 complicate the Game Motif and Callum’s dynamic with Aaravos further by tethering it explicitly to the Light and Dark motif. It’s not just that the cube is in Callum’s hands before Aaravos picks him up; it’s that the cube flashes a bright white light as well beforehand. It’s “In darkness, gaze upon a Fallen Star” and “the human mage, already tainted by darkness, and destined to play right into my hands” and “what if I’m on a path of darkness?” This duality also ties back into Viren’s statement in 2x06 (“We emerged into darkness and quickly got to work. [Xadia] held both the promise of our salvation and threat of our destruction”) as well as statements regarding Rayla (“So they might kill you or they might save you” from the book 1 novelization, explicitly about Rayla / “Now you’re back. That’s kind of good and kind of bad”). These both tie into the keys themselves being something that can lock and mutually unlock things. 

They’ll either come to fruition in book 5 (which, I could see Rayla breaking Callum out of brainwashing, and/or Callum doing something that leads him into being ‘in darkness’) or will be built upon mildly in order for S6 to deliver the true sucker punch. But it is still likely in the cards that Rayla will save Callum from brainwashing when the Light and Dark Motif finally, fully, comes to call.

And while the full resolution of the plot line would work nicely for Book 5: Ocean (the ocean is about navigation and inherently cyclical; Rayla is accordingly scared of water and of losing him) I do wonder about the well, irresistible temptation perhaps of it being in S6. Callum choosing Rayla over Aaravos’ brainwashing is him choosing agency and love (for however long) over fear and control. A chosen destiny over an enforced destiny. And well, doesn’t that sound like

Book 6: Star

It is known now that in S5 we’re going to get to go to a place that Rayla went to during her time away, meaning she gets to act a bit like a guide. We also know that however Rayla and Stella, and indeed why Stella is connected to the Star arcanum, is important and yet untold. And that Stella is our only non-Aaravos related being/object related to the Star arcanum that is also not a quasar diamond or tied to Aaravos (the key, the staff, Sir Sparklepuff, and the elf himself). 

And that the Key, the star arcanum, Stella, and Rayla’s reappearance into Callum’s life are all tied together with Light in 4x02.

Uncovering secrets and discovering the truth is also often associated with light, both in general and canonically in-universe with the show’s symbolism (i.e. Callum walking towards Rayla in the light out of the darkness once he discovers the truth about King Harrow). 

The fact of the matter is that until the Key comes into play in some way, the according foreshadowing attached to it ( “I hope it was worth it to you, putting everyone’s lives in danger” / “Are you practicing magic or losing to Bait at a game of rolly-cubes?” / “It’s the Key of Aaravos. No good can come of it”) is still floating up in the air. 

And thematically, Stars is all about Destiny, wishes, and vision. Stars are lights in the dark, both a sign of hope (hi Leola’s Wish and the South Star) and a manifestation of our main villain. S6 could also be dark magic, which would take the ‘dark and light’ associations to a new level. If S5 is about getting Callum be in or more inclined to the darkness, then S6 is when he will presumably be in it, whatever that means (possession or hopelessness/rage, probably).

I could see him becoming obsessive to figure out the Key, hoping that it’ll be a weapon or Aaravos’ downfall (as also posited pre-S4) only for it to lead to everything spiralling out of control, leading to possession or putting Ez and Rayla at risk in another manner. And of course, they/she save him, because they always will. But as I’ve said many times, S6 is also the Tragedy Arc. It has to bring everyone to their lowest moment. One of these Tragedy Seasons will also, I think, be the perfect place for Callum to do his Fucked Up Thing and bring his Viren (and Claudia) parallels full circle. “They aren’t games, they’re tests” and “tests of love” and all that. Cause if all those plot threads and parallels and consistent imagery doesn’t go somewhere in S5 (and S5 has already majorly added to it) it has to go somewhere, and S6 is it. 

After all, with Aaravos’ shattering in mind...

And when everything they have built lies shattered, I will savor their fall from the sky.

I laid out here how Rayla and Aaravos represent Callum’s two future paths (similarly to the way Rayla and primal magic vs Claudia and dark magic are Callum’s two paths in S2) and how well, choosing her over Aaravos may not be as mutually exclusive as he thinks.

It’s not a coincidence, either, that S4 ramps up the negative cube associations to a 10: showing Callum toying around with it while Zubeia explicitly states that mages are Aaravos’ favourite prey; the cube being in the 4x04 intro when it did not have to be, and the intro exists entirely for the audience’s benefit; Callum being unable to let it go / give it up in 4x07, even though he’s willing to give up his life to stop Aaravos from using him, etc.

Explaining/exploring Stella’s connection to the Star arcanum in the same season that will finally explain the Key of Aaravos in the same season Callum has to confront ‘his destiny’ in the same season that the kids are destined to lose more than ever? Sounds amazing, don’t you think?

Conclusion

One of the reasons it’s comparatively easy to speculate is because well, like any good tragedy, we know how S5 and S6 have to end: not well. It seems more likely than ever that Aaravos will indeed be released by the end of S5 / very beginning of S6, leading to destruction and upheaval. Either way, it leaves S6 to be Aaravos, in his mind, ending the story. Finishing the book. This is his checkmate, his victory. Callum and the rest of his pawns have lived out their usefulness. But just like how Aaravos outlived the end of his myth/story, so will they, and Callum (and Rayla, and Ezran) at the very least will return to successfully win in S7, come hell or high water.

As such, much of what is highlighted above is taken from these consistent puzzle pieces, if you will, and attempting to figure out the various options we have for their execution. And of course, TDP could always throw us some delightful curveballs, but it seems the gist and playing out of well, the game, has to fall somewhere along these patterns / routes, tethered together by the possession plot line and Callum being coerced to do Aaravos’ bidding. There’s not a lot of ways those things can go happily in a Tragedy.

And that is exactly why I am very happy and excited to see where it all goes, and I hope you are too. 

Here is the second thing that I had my reservations about this season- Miguel and Robby’s rematch in episode 5. This will be another long one.

First of all, the reason and motivation behind this fight seemed completely insane to me. The fact that Johnny sanctioned a no holds barred fight between them knowing what happened the last time Miguel and Robby fought under those circumstances is baffling to me, even by Johnny’s standards. The fact that Johnny forced them both to fight and put them in that position enrages me every time I think about it. In addition, I saw another post on here that said this fight begins on Johnny’s terms and ends on Miguel’s and that’s completely right. Poor Robby has no say in anything during this fight and since his arc consists of people-pleasing this season of course he would go along with it to win Johnny’s approval. Also I’m not sure I quite like the message here. What is the show trying to say ? That violence is the best method of conflict resolution ? I’m not buying it.

Then there’s the fight itself. I have always and will always view Miguel and Robby as equal fighters. I was hoping that this fight would end in a clear tie, similar to Johnny and Daniel’s Season 4 match. To me that would have been respectful to both characters. But even when it comes to fighting, the writers need to skew everything towards Miguel.

In S1 Robby was the true winner of the tournament but it’s Miguel who comes away with the trophy and never has his tarnished win questioned. In fact he’s celebrated for it by his friends, senseis and his fan base. He gets the title and reputation of ‘All-Valley champion’. In S2 Robby technically won by virtue of being the last man standing, however Miguel had him pinned and was the true winner beforehand, thus Miguel comes away from that looking like the better fighter. (I’m just purely looking at this in terms of fighting abilities and levels. Obviously the reality is there were no winners of the school fight. One kid ended up in a coma and the other on the run and eventually in juvie). The pool fight was very even until the last minute where Robby throws them into the pool. However neither Robby nor Miguel stans really count this as a proper fight and I understand that. If this was the writers’ attempt at giving Robby a win, it was pathetic.

Then we’re back to their S5 rematch where again, it’s pretty even but Miguel gets the CLEAR upper hand at the end. For me personally, I didn’t really see it as there being any true winner to this fight. Even if it was a dumb and dangerous idea, this fight was about getting their hate for each other out their systems- not about who was the better fighter. But nevertheless, even though the fight ended prematurely, the writers had to have the last moments with it looking like it was going Miguel’s way and that it would continue to do so. Now Miguel’s die hard stans are REVELLING.

If this fight really needed to take place (which it didn’t but never mind), I would liked to have actually seen is Robby getting the upper hand if anyone was going to. And that’s NOT because I’m desperate for him to beat Miguel. What I thought might happen is Robby getting Miguel into the position where he’s against the railing. It would then be Robby who holds back from repeating the same mistake he made at the school fight and he would then go on to apologise (and ideally, apologies would have been a two-way street). To me this would have been more full circle and would have presented far more growth for Robby who would now be able to hold back where he couldn’t before. The fact that they’ve had Miguel ‘sparing’ Robby in this fight and then later on saving him in the dojo fight- surely it would have been more poetic and again full circle of Robby was the one sparing and saving Miguel? This would really be a redemption arc where Robby is now saving and fighting for the person he once gravely injured. The writers can’t even let my man Robby redeem himself with a little dignity.

On to another thing I didn’t like the presentation of. I can understand Miguel asking “why didn’t you hold back ?”, but the circumstances of the two fights were different and this should have been addressed. The S5 fight was started by the two of them being forced by johnny to fight it out ( and more that yet again, Miguel strikes first). The S2 fight was started by Miguel attacking Robby unprovoked. Miguel is partly at fault for pushing Robby to a point where he was so enraged that he couldn’t hold back. (And I’m not trying to detract from Robby’s responsibility here, but as I said in my last post, Robby isn’t solely responsible. Miguel had a significant hand in it). So I didn’t like the way Miguel was asking this as if he were completely innocent and had the moral high ground.

Another thing I didn’t really like the presentation of were the flashbacks, because they were selective. The writers cherry picked a few moments in the fight from Miguel’s point of view. The moments shown of the fight in the lead up to Miguel getting kicked off the balcony, painted Robby as the aggressor. However we know the opposite is true. A whole lot of context was left out of those flashbacks. If we were going to get Miguel’s flashbacks at the top of the stairs at Johnny’s apartment block, we should have got Robby’s flashbacks at the bottom (especially of Miguel attacking and taunting him). This would have been far more balanced and showed why their anger at each other was mutual. People forget that Robby will also have trauma from the school fight as well as some justifiable anger at Miguel for his part in escalating things. But again, the writers never like to explore Robby’s POV, so as usual he comes out looking like the bad guy.

I would much rather have seen Miguel and Robby resolve things through conversation, as I said in my last post. The fact that they had Johnny force two kids with trauma from their last fight, to fight again really just doesn’t sit right with me. The writers could have still given them an exciting rematch under much safer circumstances ending in a draw, perhaps in a training exercise. I didn’t like the reasoning behind why the fight in Episode 5 happened. I believe there are healthier ways to resolve conflict and get things out your system than “hashing it out.”

I’m here to yell!!!!!!!!!!!! what r ur s5 theories

Yesss Ally love a good yell!!!

Honestly I haven’t Processed S4 enough to wrap my head around S5 theories, but the one thing that’s really been stuck in my brain is the whole time piece, specifically how we learned the UD is stuck on the day Will went missing. That, coupled with the fact that the Duffles have said S5 is going to be fairly Will-centric, or at least his arc will be addressed in a full-circle way (paraphrasing, but that’s what I took from it), has my head spinning with theories, which at this point are just questions kdsjs. Does it mean that Will actually holds the power to turn back the clock, to undo or weaken Vecna’s force? I imagine he’s going to have to enter the UD, whether physically or mentally, and face Vecna, and I wonder if he’s going to do so by retracing his S1 steps, and through that process we’ll get the reveal/explanation for the time thing. I’ve seen people theorize that the reason Will survived in the UD that long was intentional planning by Vecna, that that’s how he was given ‘powers’ or whatever psychic connection the two have, so to me it feels natural that he would have to dive back into the whole beginning of it. 

I’ve always thought the Will & El parallels are interesting, but I’ve personally viewed them as more of a metaphorical/stylistic thing rather than concrete evidence that the two are linked or mirrored or whatever, but given what I just said, I do think El will be a huge part of this too. I mean the UD was stuck on the day Will went missing and El escaped, after creating the tear that allowed the UD to bleed into Hawkins, so how could it not, right? Also with what we saw of El going into Max’s headspace to try and save her, I wonder if she’ll do the same for — or maybe in conjunction with — Will. That would be very full circle too; she had to do that in S1. Some have said that the Demo took Will when it was really searching for El, so the two of them having to fight together makes natural sense I think.

Basically all I can cobble together from that is I think the frozen-in-time aspect was a specific, intentional move by Vecna, and Will is linked to it. We know the UD existed before Vecna got there, so I think he’s responsible for whatever the time aspect means and its purpose. Sorry that was so chaotic lolll but it’s been a big jumble in my mind since watching! 

The DB have been very insistent on going full circle in S5 (something you had theorized before), so based on the other things they’ve said in their collider/Netflix interview, what do you think they have in mind? I wonder if this means all the OG characters are gonna try to remember the day Will disappeared and look for clues bc somehow it’s the key to defeat Vecna?

Hmmm well you know what I wish it meant—that the supernatural plot comes back to the Byers fam and Will’s disappearance, and we get proper arcs for Will, Joyce, and Jonathan after multiple seasons of not having them. Plus, yk, full circle to good writing and character moments across all characters and groups. So I was really happy when they said it would come full circle to s1, bc that seemed to make the most sense.

But the Byers being involved again in the supernatural plot is still more of a hope bc coming full circle could mean more returning to s1 groupings like the party + El, Jonathan and Nancy, Jopper. And then possibly it also means Will as a focus? But also Max getting out of her coma (and thus way from Vecna), Dustin and his grief, and Henry and Vecna’s backstory have also been mentioned as crucial. It could also be the army of monsters they have to fight instead of just the demogorgon in s1 could be one way it’s s1 but “grander.”

It does feel like so much converges through Will and points to him being important s5: that the UD froze the day he disappeared, that he survived the UD or was kept alive in it, that he was possessed in s2 (so targeted twice even if the first one could still have some element of wrong place wrong time or he was actually being targeted in s1), that the portals converge in the library where he was found, that he senses and knows Vecna is alive and is a clear target for Vecna.

But how this all works out logistically idk. I think your theory is great—that they somehow have to revisit some part of that day to figure out how it was frozen, or Will needs to revisit that day and what happened in the UD. Also it’s interesting that Hawkins crew only knows that crucial detail about the UD freezing when Will disappeared—I wonder how exactly Cali crew (esp Will, El, and Jonathan) and Joyce and Hopper will find out. Perhaps through Nancy, because she’s the one who really discovered it and figured it out?

It could also be of course that Will is Vecna’d at some point or is able to sense things and it happens somehow that way. Either way I feel like the two thing have to happen to restore Hawkins are: 1) they have to unfreeze the UD so what they do in the right side up can destroy it and 2) that Vecna and the MF’s point of weakness needs to be discovered and used against them to defeat them and sever their link.

I’m also curious if 1 and 2 above relate to each other. In any case, it seems like really crucial to this could be revisiting all the things we didn’t see when Will was taken and in the UD.

I saw that other anon's message. I wanted to clarify, I was referring to the S7 finale not the series finale. Like I said that itw was back in S7 and I felt like JP was referring to the S7 finale because I'm pretty sure at the time S8 hadn't been picked up yet so it wasn't a guarantee we were going to get another season. Also, with regards to the series finale. I'm just speculating but had it ended like it was originally planned with Damon dies Stefan lives (we can only guess how Defan would have been resolved) and Steroline leaving Mystic Falls to find gifted children to bring back to the school, I don't think there would have been a KC acknowledgement/fan baiting. Like you pointed out as well as JP in itw's, it was Kevin's decision to switch the death and kill off Stefan.

However, I think JP knew she could "bait" that fandom cuz they were one of the one's left she could. DE fans didn't have any incentive to watch TO's final season, she knew the SC fans were going to be pissed, the SE fans have been pissed off for years, the BE fans were pissed, BD fans were pissed, the Klayley fans have been pissed off for years, Klamille fans were pissed, the Haylijah fans were pissed, Marbekah and KC was about all she had left (besides the GA). And, at the end KC fans were pissed because Klaus died and KC never became a couple which was hilarious, it made my day!

Like kmze called it right from the get go, Candice's stint on TO was nothing but a rating's ploy so JP could get Legacies but what's so funny about that is TO's S5 avg ratings & total viewers dropped slightly from TO S4, TVD S8 had better avg rating's and more total viewers, Legacies S1 avg rating's was basically the same as TO and had more total viewers, so that ship being serviced one last time did nothing.

At the end of the day, I do wish Steroline would have got their much deserved happy ending but at least we won and got our endgame! Stefan's death was a tragedy, not an end to their love. "I will love you forever", "I will love her forever too", "We will see him again", she changed her last name officially to Forbes-Salvatore, she runs a school in Stefan's honor, she still wore her engagement ring and wedding band around her neck. We got 2 proposals, them living together, a marriage, tons of great quotes over the years, they'll never have anything close to that. Not to mention, Legacies further solidified who was the ultimate winner of Caroline's heart, SC's marriage was mentioned, we got that musical tribute, KC's reference in Legacies "Just some guy who had a crush on Mom"

Last, in a few itw's post Legacies series finale Candice talked about the school being a nice full circle story arc for Caroline and how it was rooted in her love for Stefan and how it was the mark she wanted to leave on the world for the person she loved!

However, I think JP knew she could "bait" that fandom cuz they were one of the one's left she could. DE fans didn't have any incentive to watch TO's final season, she knew the SC fans were going to be pissed, the SE fans have been pissed off for years, the BE fans were pissed, BD fans were pissed, the Klayley fans have been pissed off for years, Klamille fans were pissed, the Haylijah fans were pissed, Marbekah and KC was about all she had left (besides the GA). And, at the end KC fans were pissed because Klaus died and KC never became a couple which was hilarious, it made my day!

And this is why it’s a bad idea to center the story around so many different love triangles.  It makes the fans divided, angry, and uninterested. When that happens, the writers are left baiting the audience into watching.

Like kmze called it right from the get go, Candice's stint on TO was nothing but a rating's ploy

Yeah, I think kmze is right on this point. Inserting Caroline into TO was fanservice/fanbait because (1) Caroline told Klaus she didn’t want to see him ever again and (2) their will-they-or-won’t-they conflict was resolved in 500 Years of Solitude.  Klaroline had closure. There wasn’t a story left to tell. Now, I’m not against fanservice (I quite enjoy it myself), but it can feel gratuitous or contrived when there isn’t a narrative reason. There wasn’t a narrative reason to bring Caroline into the originals when she hated Klaus and didn’t want anything to do with him.  

Compare Candince’s stint on TO to George Clooney’s return to E.R. Doug and Carol were the IT couple on E.R. and their romance abruptly ended when Clooney left the show in season 5 (Doug is forced to leave for a controversial/illegal medical decision). Doug invites Carol to leave with him, but she decides to stay because that’s her life is in Chicago. However, it was later revealed that season that Carol was pregnant with Doug’s twins. Doug and Carol were still in love and now share children. Their story wasn’t over. So, when Juliana Margulies decided to leave the show in season 6 Carol had an epiphany: Doug was the love of her life and she wanted to be with him. So, she gets on a plane and is reunited with Doug. Having Clooney return for that single episode had a purpose beyond just fanservice. Clooney returned so that Doug and Carol could reunite.

At the end of the day, I do wish Steroline would have got their much deserved happy ending but at least we won and got our endgame! Stefan's death was a tragedy, not an end to their love. [ ] Legacies further solidified who was the ultimate winner of Caroline's heart, SC's marriage was mentioned, we got that musical tribute,

For sure.  Stefan is the love of Caroline’s life.

KC's reference in Legacies "Just some guy who had a crush on Mom"

Last, in a few itw's post Legacies series finale Candice talked about the school being a nice full circle story arc for Caroline and how it was rooted in her love for Stefan and how it was the mark she wanted to leave on the world for the person she loved!

Awww! That’s sweet.

A Fitting Finale: Bringing Ian Full-Circle

Is everyone sick of my essays yet? Excellent. Here’s another anyway!

I’ve been trying to put my finger on what it is about Ian’s story in s11 that I love so much. It’s clear that he’s struggling on a number of levels, and he’s certainly spent the first third of the season under so much stress that it’s impacted his moods and marriage. In 11x04, we began to see hints of the tension breaking, and it made me realize that there’s a common trend in Ian’s behavior throughout the series coming to a head in his final act. It’s part of what has him so passionately advocating for Mickey to get a legal job, communicating their need to hammer out the specifics of what their marriage means, and upset at his own employment status.

From start to finish, Ian has been driven by two important motivators: love and fear.

Ian’s deep sense of love and compassion for others is well documented. We know that he will do anything for his family. I’ve mentioned before that Ian is at his best when he’s with them and his worst when he’s not. They’re his support system, and he’s a key part of theirs. They look after each other and rely on one another when the chips are down. They’re all grown up now, Liam being the exception, but those bonds are strong. They’ve matured and branched out to include Mickey, Tami, Franny, and Freddie. Ian’s heart belongs to his family, and he’s given as much of himself as he can to the people he’s been with over the years in whatever capacity they’ve needed him to.

Ian has also always been a fearful character, though not in the manner we typically visualize. He’s strong and motivated, ambitious and sensible, clever and insightful. When he decides that he wants something, he goes for it, from a South Side thug hovering in his orbit to pursuing the highest military accolades despite his small beginnings. Over and over again, we’ve seen him leap into serious and often strange situations in order to achieve his ends or something for the people he cares about. This man stole a water heater from a dead person’s house with his brother and tried to help his best friend hide a body. Certainly, he doesn’t fit the traditional stereotype. He’s not a coward.

But Ian is terrified—of everything:

·        Not amounting to anything

·        Not being worthy of love

·        Being the center of attention

·        Fading into the background and being forgotten

·        Not being able to help other people or those he loves

·        Not having a path

·        Not being in control of himself

·        Not being enough

He’s never said it. He’s never discussed these issues, except perhaps not having control. That isn’t who he is. That’s never been his way. Maybe we should add fear of communicating too, or fear of being seen as weak.

In s1, Ian makes a lot of brave choices. He comes out to three people, two of them family members, knowing how that is viewed in their neighborhood. When Mickey is after him, Ian takes the battle to his doorstep. He turns his back on an arguably easier life in a nice, middle-class neighborhood and a home with a father who would provide for him to live in the constant struggle to which he has grown accustomed. On the surface, he’s one put together kid. But then there’s Kash. There’s this man who preys on him, a middle child so responsible (and so male) that no one thinks he’d fall into any sort of trap—and Ian is desperate to keep him. He fights Lip over it and so painfully tries to make him understand his perspective, that he’s spending money he should probably be using for things he needs to buy Kash music and baseball tickets, to make him like what Ian does so that they can build their so-called relationship. That Kash is married with kids is unimportant to him; that he’s exploiting Ian’s fear of loneliness and not finding love outside his siblings, unthinkable. We know it. Lip sees it, powerless as he feels to do anything about it. Ian can’t. To date, he never will. He’s blinded by a culture that doesn’t believe such things can happen to males, and until Mickey comes along as a viable outlet for his affections and source of the ones he needs, he’s too afraid to be cautious.

Throughout s2 and s3, Ian makes difficult decisions. They’re not always smart, but it takes great strength to commit to the choices he makes: allowing Monica into his life, voicing even an ounce of his feelings to Mickey, pursuing West Point, and running away. All of them, however, are driven by love and fear alike. He’s vulnerable and needs his mother, the one who slaps Frank for shoving him and listens when he feels alone. She assuages his fears by telling him what he needs to hear: that he can do and be anything. We know there’s a danger in that, especially when she takes him to enlist when he’s nowhere near old enough, but it’s still validating for him. It feeds that need for attention but not too much attention, for understanding but not coddling, for love that originates from someone who isn’t his siblings. We see similar trends emerge: fear of losing Mickey on multiple occasions, fear that he’ll forever be in Lip’s shadow when he receives a letter of recommendation instead of Ian, and fear of never having Mickey’s full affections spiraling into fear of facing his own emotions in the aftermath of the wedding. We’ve seen that Ian runs from what he can’t process. He runs from what he can’t handle. He runs when he’s scared, especially of himself.

It continues repeatedly throughout the series. In s4, Ian is afraid of going backwards and once again losing his position in Mickey’s life. In s5, he’s afraid of being a burden on everyone around him, changing them, and losing control of his own mind. In s6, he’s afraid that this is it: his path and his goals have come to nothing, and he’s doomed to fall into the shadows where no one will ever see or love him. In s7, that fear of himself re-emerges when a patient is hurt on his watch and he has to come to terms with the fact that being better doesn’t mean he’s “cured.” In s8, he’s afraid of the void where Monica and Mickey used to be, and it sends him spiraling into a deeper one he doesn’t fear until it’s too late. In s9, he fears a lack of guidance, an indecisiveness born of having been able to rely on his hallucinations to tell him what to do. His path is gone, and he has no options. And that’s terrifying. Then Mickey is there, and he can put some of his fears to rest until they resurge with the idea of marriage in s10. All of a sudden, he’s back where he was in s5, fearing himself but also what he’ll do to someone he loves.

In s11, we’re seeing an Ian far more like he was in earlier seasons: rigidly devoted to having a plan, knowing what’s coming next, and ticking off certain boxes on the list of things you’re “supposed to do” as a married adult male. He’s spent a lot of this season seeking value in his employment and position in their marriage, and the stress has been dragging him down—quickly.

And it’s no wonder: he has every reason to be scared right now.

The thing about prison is that it is what’s known as a total institution. It is removed from society and, as such, operates under its own social beliefs, values, and norms. Like the military, another total institution, prison involves an initial period of sloughing off roles and identities from the greater society and subsequently being resocialized into a new role set. Upon release, a person undergoes the same process in reverse, and there’s an adjustment period to reintegrate into normal society. We can see that process begin when Ian gets in the car with Lip and shudders a bit, unsettled at the prospect of being outside these walls for the first time in months—going home far earlier than anticipated. For many people, it’s a difficult transformation, especially once they realize the full extent of how your life changes as an ex-convict in the U.S.

Ian doesn’t really get to adjust. From s8 to the start of s11, he undergoes a whirlwind of emotion and change. He literally loses touch with reality, starts a cult, commits a felony, is on the run from law enforcement, allows himself to be captured with one final display, goes to jail, remains unmedicated until he’s bailed out, panics at what his movement became, feels alone in the house as everyone deals with their own business and leaves him to his own devices, seeks guidance from above only to realize it wasn’t what he thought it was, can’t find answers, has warring factions telling him how to plead in court, ostensibly takes a plea deal that requires some amount of time behind bars, goes to prison, finds the love of his life there waiting for him, has to let his sister go, is released without Mickey, gets repeatedly screwed over by a corrupt PO, gets engaged, breaks up (sort of), gets engaged again, sees his wedding venue burned down, gets married, and hurtles straight into a pandemic. That’s… That’s a lot. Being a newlywed in a pandemic is a lot without all the rest of it, but this is what Ian is dealing with going into s11, and he hasn’t had the benefit of a stable readjustment and reintegration period.

He’s drowning.

He’s scared.

He has every reason to be. Marriage is scary, especially if you are so young and so in love with the person you’re marrying. Employment is scary, especially for them, because it could mean the difference between paying the utilities and running out of water. Change in general is scary, especially when it hasn’t done you any favors before.

Add all that to what Ian’s behavior has indicated that he’s been afraid of since the start, and you have a recipe for disaster.

To a great extent, that’s what I think his arc is all about this season: learning how to live again. It’s about not being so afraid of himself that he desperately grasps for any stereotypical structure for married life that he can. It’s about regaining the confidence that has always left him clawing his way to the top instead of letting life beat him down. It’s about finding the happy medium where he and Mickey aren’t doing anything illegal but aren’t stuck in a valueless spiral, scrambling and struggling to pay the bills like when they were kids.

It’s about learning not to be so afraid anymore, and I think that’s a beautiful goodbye for a beautiful character.

Guzmán absolutely was supposed to the the Ted on Elite so wtf happened like seriously... as soon as they sunk his robin, he went all sucky and murdery....

honestly I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough to give a real explanation (s/o to candyumbrella I know she would have been able to explain it well) but I've been thinking about it and I recently read this tweet which makes me think it might be a lot simpler than I originally thought. But I’d love to hear what everyone’s theories are on the sitch

The tweet basically said that murder mysteries only work until the original plot is finished, that elite started with marina’s death and should have ended with polo’s death (her murderer). And I think they’re right that the original cast should have all left together at the end of s3, that way the audience would have been sad but would have just had to suck it up and the people who were really interested would have still watched s4 and the new characters would have been given an actual chance versus the constant comparisons they get right now.

Anyways I’m thinking that’s Guzman's "hold" over the show, as a (weak)Ted, is based on the original cast and since Polo died, Nadia his robin was leaving, Marina's been dead for a year now, most of the original cast had left, his power had been severely diminished by the time s4 comes around. He was already a weak Ted from the start, to the point that in s1 I was questioning whether Nano might be/become the Ted with the way he was embarrassing him lol. But by s3, it really felt like he was losing a lot of his Ted energy, possibly from the combination of already being a weak Ted and the fact that it was the last season for a lot of the cast and they wanted to wrap all of their storylines up. Which btw is why Lu got the storyline she did in s3 because if he was still a strong Ted there was no way in hell she would have been able to reject him like she did lmao.

Ultimately I think the writers knew that since Miguel wasn't going to continue past s4, and that elite is popular and is gunna be around for more seasons, that they naturally needed a new Ted - who I'm thinking might be the s5 blonde guy who got called Miguel's mentee lol. The most interesting part to me is why they turned on him the way they did in s4 and I really think it's because they had a new cast and they write and film two seasons at once. So I'm guessing that as they were writing or brainstorming for s4 and 5 together, they were already not that convinced with Ted!Guzman (the tide was already turning), and they were writing s5 possible new Ted at the same time, so Guzman ended up reverting back to season 1 Guzman (the first half at that!) because the writers I guess  just lost interest in him. I think that’s also why the short story ended up like it did, a very transitional moment for Guzman where he still retains some Ted features but ultimately the big ending reconciliation scene gets cut because I’m assuming they edited all of them after writing s4 and 5 and at the point the writers were over him (vs when they wrote/shot it and let them have that big kiss scene at the end).

It is interesting that it manifested itself the way it did though, and maybe s5 will shed some light on the situation if the new blonde guy really is the new Ted, because it seemed like they really hated Guzman in s4. But maybe this is just what happens when you stop being a Ted and maybe it feels so intense because when you go from getting everything to getting nothing it feels like a very stark difference because his ending wasn't the worst thing in the world, at least he didn't go to jail - maybe that's what would have happened if they really did hate him because that would have been quite the full circle lmao. But it's like if you compare what he got in s3: a promise to get back together with his Robin essentially, at peace with the death of his sister and his friend who was her murderer, and reconciled with Samuel and Ander, versus s4 where he lost his Robin, he's getting cheated on (with Samu of all people), he murders a man randomly for a girl he's just met who doesn't even love him enough to choose him when he asks her to (!!! Guzman??? murdering someone ??? for a rando at that !!!), and ends up leaving in the middle of the school year without even getting any qualifications, it's just very .......... very unTed like behaviour lol.

Women in SPN—Is it Really That Bad?

TL;DR: Somewhat, yeah, it kinda is.

This is going to be a series of long ones, people.

Before I jump head first into this giant vat of weird toxic shit, let me say something:

The thing about most of the female characters is that on their own? They’re perfectly fine, ranging from serviceable to the occasional flash of thematic brilliance. Barely any of them qualify as “this is hateful on its face and incompetent regardless of context and the writers should feel bad for ever conceiving of it”, i.e. the normie benchmark for justified criticism. It’s only when you put these characters next to each other that a worrying pattern emerges;

Although discussions about sexism in the media were very much a thing in the mid-2000s, as well as shows with characters whose primary role wasn’t to serve a man’s needs, I can’t honestly claim that the flaws of SPN are out of the norm for its time; and

The first few seasons could really do with a PSA at the start of each episode, something along the lines of “A part of the reason why female characters are killed off or written out with such regularity is rabid superfans who couldn’t abide anything with tits brushing against J2, srsly, the writing team and the 2000s’ fan base were a match made in hell, except it wasn’t the writers who couldn’t do with bitching on their LiveJournals about the gall of women to exist in the show, choosing instead to harass the creators and actresses and wives and call them every sexist insult under the sun AND I MEAN WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CESSPIT AS DISGUSTING AND NUKEWORTHY AS THE SPN FANDO—“

Anyway.

SPN has a legacy (as a posterchild for not knowing when to bow out gracefully, but legacy nonetheless) and isn’t watched in 2005 but in the year of our Lord Today. Meaning that as time goes by, the issues surrounding the show’s production retreat into the background and only what’s on the screen remains, to be judged on its own merits.

So let’s run down a list of the more noteworthy and relevant female characters of the first arc, focusing on their characterization, role in the narrative, and end. In the conclusion to this series of posts, the sum of characters will be analyzed as a whole to see if there are any unique tendencies in the show’s handling of women as opposed to that of men. I’ll do this for the original five seasons as the recent finale went out of its way to say that nothing after season 5 was strictly speaking necessary so why bother.

(Also because I died of frustration in season 8 and vowed not to subject myself to any more of the post-apocalypse fanfic era)

Angels, while strictly speaking genderless clouds of energy, will be classified as men or women depending on the apparent gender of the vessel they spend most of the time riding. The same goes for demons where I also take into account their stated gender while they were alive. That’s because although beings like Meg, Ruby, Anna, or Lilith can’t technically be considered women in the show’s present day, their consistent preference for conventionally attractive and/or female vessels throughout the original arc makes claims of genderlessness essentially meaningless. For all intents and purposes, we’re watching girls and women on screen.

Baby—the only true NB of the first run

All right, time to jump.

Say hi to our ladies!

Mary Winchester

Killed in the very first scene to give the story a reason to exist, she remains an active presence throughout the first arc where she has a wide-reaching influence on the plot and characters, driving the conflict on several levels. Fleshed-out more and more with each appearance to be more than just “the dead mom”, she’s portrayed as protective, pro-active, capable, and assertive, mirroring the duo’s desire for normal life and their inability to have it. Her story comes full-circle in season 5 when the personal tragedy of her fate is embedded in the wider tragedy of the Winchester family curse and the overall theme of destiny.

Status: Dead as of s5

Importance: Major

On her own: Textbook example of fridging… and that tropes aren’t bad in and of themselves.

Jessica Moore

Comparatively, if anyone doubts fridging can evolve into something meaningful, Jess drives the point home by having no personality and no point but to prop up her boyfriend before she ends up pinned to the ceiling, the reveal of which is the most interesting thing about her entire existence. At best she’s a symbol of Sam’s civilian life, at worst an obstacle to be removed for the story to happen.

Status: Dead as of s5

Importance: Major in terms of manpain, non-existent otherwise

On her own: A cardboard cut-out, barely qualifies as a character

Missouri Moseley

A psychic and the primary reason why John Winchester even knows to wipe his ass. Appears once over the course of the first arc yet everyone wants her to come back years later—that’s how awesome she is. Has this fantastic trait of being compassionate and empathetic while not taking a single speck of shit from anyone, especially when it comes from the two main dumbos who might just as well have been raised in a barn. Is very particular about the pristine state of her coffee table.

Status: Alive as of s5, killed in s13 (wait, what?)

Importance: Major…ly wasted potential

On her own: As strong a character as Bobby Singer, and as worthy of being elevated to the main cast.

Lori Sorensen

The writers can’t figure out why anyone in the universe would care about Jess either so they insert an intentionally awkward romance subplot to convince people the time’s not yet ripe for Sam to stop grieving and start slaying. The result’s… erm… well, awkward. Lori’s naïve, sheltered, devout though accepting of her non-repressed friend, and sort of on a religious crossroads because of her hypocritical preacher father. I guess the virginal power of her virginal virginity does… something in the plot? Primarily a vehicle for Sam to mark the stages of his moving on.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: A bit done. Like a bit lot. Like a “could be a trope namer” bit lot.

Meg

Boom, baby!

Arguably the chief antagonist of season 1 and one of the best things about it. The first one to point out the pervasive toxicity of the Winchester family business, so props for perceptiveness. Possesses the standard qualities of a lower-level henchman—manipulative, no-nonsense, and quietly sinister which, while not exactly groundbreaking, sets her apart from the other bad guys in the season as they tend to have no distinguishing characteristics at all. Plus Nicki Aycox makes the role seem more unique and “lived-in” by projecting a sense of understated amusement at the two main chucklefucks. Is one of S1’s turning points in blurring the lines between monsters and humanity. Has a face transplant twice—once to have revenge (good on her) and the other time to pursue someone else’s goals again before getting stomped into the ground like a mook.

Status: Alive as of s5 (?), killed in s8

Importance: Major

On her own: The actresses do most of the heavy lifting. Which doesn’t mean I don’t love watching the character burst onto the scene and announcing the end of the Winchester brand of bullshit.

Layla Rourke

A terminal cancer patient in a religious cult, she’s a more mature take on a Lori-type character and the themes of faith and doubt. Serves as a conduit for Dean’s budding survivor guilt, self-loathing, and sense of worthlessness. Is kind and cheerful, with strong hints that she’s relying on forced optimism to get through the days; also understanding of the circumstances of others while realistically freaked about the possibility of death. Weirdly, she enters the episode already in a state of acceptance and leaves it just as accepting when it’s confirmed that yeah, she’ll die soon. All expressions of anger at the injustice and senselessness are left to her mother which somewhat undermines the “struggling” portion of Layla’s character and renders the final scene where she makes peace with her fate a bit hollow.

Status: Implied dead

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and Dean’s development

On her own: I want to like her, I really do, just… if only she were allowed to get pissed, once.

Cassie Robinson

Dean’s ex and that’s pretty much all there is to her. I struggle to pinpoint a single personality trait of hers—the 2000s idea of a “strong woman” and “not like other girls”, perhaps? Undermined as a love interest because TPTB don’t show the happy or any parts of her relationship with Dean so really, why should anyone care if two sniping assholes with little to no chemistry get back together? Memorable for being in a horribly scored softcore scene which YouTube tries to convince me lasts for shy over a minute, not the week I remember it to. Involved in the show’s first and last attempt at incorporating the issue of anti-black racism.

Status: Alive as of s5

Importance: Minor

On her own: She’s in the racist truck episode. ‘Nuff said.

Sarah Blake

A sophisticated people-person conversationalist with a love of high art and a deep sense of introspection. Ascends to the state of godhood by being able to pull off pigtails while adult. Bonds with Sam over responding to loss by crawling into a shell but deciding to move on. Doesn’t care for your fancy schmancy fine dining, Romeo. Isn’t ashamed to openly talk feelings which includes her explicitly asking Sam if they have a thing going on (honestly, this is such a breath of fresh air for a normcore romance). Despite being scared out of her wits, she refuses to be shoved into the helpless civilian box after learning about the existence of the supernatural; Dean creates a Pinterest wedding board in response.

Status: Alive as of s5, pointlessly dragged back to be murdered in s8

Importance: Minor in the overall narrative, major in the episode and Sam’s development

On her own: A great love interest that has enough writing behind her to fool you into thinking she’s something more.

Up next, whenever I feel like it, seasons 2 and 3!

Jamie Johnson 5x10 Review

Tonight was a surprisingly busy ep that did a good job balancing angst and levity. Let’s dig in!

Dillon finally went home tonight after what was probably a couple of weeks. The show continues to do great work with Dillon’s sexuality. Graham begins to make amends by coming of his own accord to the Walker-Cotton house and apologizing to Dillon but he hasn’t magically become a good person. He wants Dillon to keep his sexuality a secret which Dillon pushes back against but as loathsome as Graham can be he does have a point that being openly gay could very well derail Dillon’s football career; after all it’s the same conclusion that all the gay professional players in Britain have reached. This whole story line has been surprisingly nuanced especially for a kids show. Shaun Duggan mentioned that Graham would have a journey of his own and I would assume we see more of it in the final eps 

One thing I do think the show has failed to do is include Dillon’s mom. Presumably they don’t have the actress this season but we really needed to see her support Dillon on screen when his dad and brother are homophobes. Hopefully they bring her back in S6 (and bring back Elliot)

It’s a minor detail but I really liked that when Alba comes into the living room to share her news that through the window we can see Graham walking towards the front door; it shows a real attention to detail on the part of the production team. Also the ‘’We Are Family’’ poster with the rainbow on the kitchen wall while Dillon and Graham talked was an inspired touch

The small moment when Dillon asked Becky and Dawn what he should do was really cool; seeing adult lgbtq people give advice to kids dealing with their sexualities is rare on tv in general, on kids tv it’s virtually unheard of; Cami and her gf trying to help Bobby on Doafp being the only example that comes to mind. The show did a great job normalizing lgbtq parents and families and there was an excellent implicit contrast drawn between the loving and supportive ‘non-traditional’  Walker-Cotton family and the cold and strained ‘traditional nuclear’ Simmonds family

I’m so glad that Ruby and Alba have finally been adopted and the photo album Becky and Dawn made was very sweet. I wonder if they stick with Osborne as their surnames or start using Walker-Cotton

Dillon being second in the credits? We love to see it folks

Zoe gets a recruitment montage for a heist soccer game so her and Kat can have one last chance to impress Geri Seddon who apparently doesn’t work very hard at her scouting job if she’s missed all these players. In the first good deed Jamie has done in weeks he calls up Jack and she gets Archfield to play against Zoe’s ragtag team. To the show’s credit Archfield pretty easily wins the day at Goodfield as they realistically should. Zoe and Kat get into Hawkstone though and Alba gets flagged as a future talent so all’s well that ends well

Zoe vaguely apologized for being an ass to Jack and she finally did the right thing with Kat and returned the pendant which which Kat promptly lost again. Zoe treating other girls as the enemy has been a core part of her story since she joined the show back in S3 and it looks like that’s behind now as her and Kat are real friends

I think Mike calling for girl power was the funniest line of the night

This Eric/Aisha/Freddie love triangle is a right mess but I’m finding myself invested regardless. Freddie and Aisha have good chemistry and their commentating was cute. Freddie not knowing Kat’s last name was funny as was Aisha’s observation about Mike’s yelling. Aisha was also right about peanut butter and honey being a delicious combo

We got a refresher on Eric’s sad backstory, brutal that he hasn’t seen his mom in 2 years.  Well I’m sure that Eric’s issues with abandonment won’t come into play as Aisha and Freddie grow closer! Imagine tuning into a livestream for a football match only to hear two 13 year olds get into a pissing contest over a girl they both fancy

Also nice to see the kids be kids and go to the cinema

This show has really done a good job with diversity especially since the series isn’t set in or around London (S1 was filmed in Nottingham and recent seasons have been filmed in Wales). In particular, JJ has avoided having their two black male characters, Eric and Freddie, fall into stereotypes. As much as I can’t fathom why the show needs this love triangle, it is refreshing to see two black kids shown as the closest thing this show has to romantic leads. American kids shows have done a great job with female black characters but when it comes to black male characters things are much worse. Zay on GMW largely fell into the sassy black friend stereotype. As for Walker on Andi Mack, the less said the better about how he was romantically involved with two girls of colour only to lose out to two white boys before being written off as a shoe gifting player in a way that played into harmful stereotypes about black men being promiscuous 

Another ep where Jamie basically just makes a cameo but because the show has such a wide bench it doesn’t hurt the ep at all. Boggy is basically Jamie’s housewife at this point and it’s sad as hell to watch

I think this is the first time Jack has been back where she hasn’t had a scene with Jamie. The official insta account reposted someone asking the show to make Jamie and Jack a couple, we’ll one day learn if that was straight baiting

Interesting to think about how different the show would be if Jack was still a main, would Dillon’s story be getting nearly so much focus? 

Looking Ahead:

Liam thinks Aisha is Eric’s soulmate? I wouldn’t have pegged him for a romantic at heart. I love that he keeps bouncing around the friend trio trying his chances with a new member every week, at the beach he tried with Freddie and now he’s trying with Eric

It seems likely that Eric is denying that he likes Aisha because of his abandonment issues and it looks like he skirmishes with Freddie on the field. I wonder if he’ll be honest with anyone about his feelings

Boggy’s breakdown is upcoming, I really don’t think he’s Jetpac11. Looks like 5x12 is the video game tournament with the Jetpac11 reveal, I still think it’s Archie Royle, but Jethro Stevenson would be a great twist

I lean more and more towards Dillon signing with the Northport Rovers as a way to forge his own path and because he trusts our problematic fave Duncan Jones to stand firm against homophobia. It would also bring Duncan’s S5 story full circle, he was so focused on trying to bamboozle Jamie into signing for Northport that he overlooked the other very talented player he had right in front of him. It seems like Dillon’s story line is trending towards him wrestling with coming out publicly as a professional player in S6 and proving to himself, his father, and the world that an out gay man can be a professional footballer

Until next week Jamie Johnsoners

Aisha/Layla’s Wack Love Life (spoilers for S3+)

I’m on a Winx Club roll right now, but I do plan on making a post about Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. ANYWAYS. I just finished rewatching S6 and I can’t really remember if people thought S6 was good or bad but that’s not what I wanted to talk about for this post (although if people are interested I can discuss some of the things I liked and disliked about it) I’m here to talk about Aisha/Layla’s love life that I wish the show took better care of. (NOTE: I will probably be using both Aisha and Layla’s name interchangeably, please realize they are the same person and I am only switching them based on the season I am talking about. For reference, I am using Layla for S3-4 and Aisha for S5+)

I’m going to split this analysis into four parts, the first three will be about the boys they introduced throughout the show to be Aisha’s love interest and my personal opinions about them. The final part will just be final thoughts about what was appropriate for the show plot-wise and their compatibility with Aisha. So yes, warning, this is a long-ass analysis.

NABU: Introduced in S3 as the mysterious Ophir who was stalking Layla for like three (3) episodes before actually talking to the girl. He was arranged to marry Layla and was initially upset over the idea, thus stalking to figure out who the heck this girl was. He lasted for technically a full season before dying in S4, sacrificing himself to stop the Wizards of the Black Circle. I personally really liked the development that Nabu and Layla have throughout the season. From being completely upset over the idea of spying to apologizing and realizing that they had real chemistry. I learned to really love this couple in S4 because as the season goes on and there was the ridiculous drama between Andy + his band vs the specialist, there were small clips that showed that Nabu and Layla still loved each other very much. In one episode after the girls have a fight with the specialists, they walked away from each other, but Nabu and Layla looked back as they split off in (I’m sorry, I can’t think of the episode atm but if I find it, I’ll add it in). Between all the couples, I found Nabu x Layla (and Helia x Flora) to be the least problematic and understanding couple, even going out of their way to help Riven fix his relationship with Musa. He supports Layla in her passion of dancing, and he doesn’t get jealous. Like the man lets his girl go and dance with another guy because he doesn’t dance but he loves seeing Layla dance. He straight up says “Oh, I don’t dance, but Layla would love to.” (again I can’t give you the exact episode but when I rewatch it - since it’s my favorite season - I’ll update this post) I can’t tell you how sad I was when he died. I understood Layla’s pain when he died and the fact that the girls didn’t really sympathize as much as when Tecna “died” to get her enchantix in Ep16 was so annoying. I will even go as far as to say they killed off the most competent man out of the main love interests. He was by far the most impressive between all the men; his magic clearly made him superior but he wasn’t arrogant nor had a leadership complex. Nabu was really out here just trying to support his girl and I was here for it. If there was a boyfriend I would want from Winx, it would be Nabu. His sacrifice is the first hero-death and I’m pretty sure the only hero-death in the show (this may be wrong, I haven’t watched S8). Now, I know there’s a lot of hope for this man in the sense that the direct translation when Morgana says she’ll watch over him until he wakes. I don’t think this will happen and I’ll explain why later on.

ROY: Introduced in S5 as a protector?? of Andros, where he helped the Winx club navigate around the ocean in a yacht. I don’t really have much to say except he was very kind and sympathetic. He was constantly praising Aisha and was capable of supporting the club when necessary. I appreciated him in S6 despite his competition with Nex for allowing Aisha to enjoy herself. Although it was apparent that there was a rivalry between the two, I really liked how he backed down to let Aisha have fun and not be so pissed off of Nex which was common earlier in the season. This was also annoyingly one of those “nice guys finish last” though since he ends up literally vanishing after Nex and Aisha are “confirmed” a couple. This was frustrating because I really liked Roy as a character, he was supportive like Nabu and there was so much development the show could have introduced to him. There was a lack of personality which I think is why they moved away from Roy and more towards Nex. To add, “the nice guys finish last” is such a poor message to send out to kids; having a jerk as your boyfriend who only softens to you, is such a gross depiction of how men should behave and removing Roy solidified the show’s preference to “bad boys” being better boyfriends. 

NEX: Introduced in S6 with Thorin. I don’t really know the plot-reason for bringing the “red boys” into the show aside from finalizing Daphne and Aisha’s love interest, which is probably why I disliked the two so much from the start. This guy was just as bad, or worse, than Riven in S1. I absolutely despised how he treated the girls, how competitive he was, and the fact that Aisha called him out on his BS only “turned him on.” This being the only thing going for him, he was obnoxious and wanted to show off around Aisha thinking it would make him look better compared to Roy. The only soft thing I noticed throughout the entire show was in S6Ep24 when Aisha went into the Legendarium and he was “scared.” Like, dude, if that was the only time you were concerned about her safety, your character was very poorly written. I know that maybe in S7 there would be more development in his character, but I honestly don’t recall much about the boys in that season at all. So I’ll stick with his behavior in S6 for this analysis.

FINAL THOUGHTS---

I think removing Nabu was a really dumb choice. I also believe that the show thought that Roy was too similar to Nabu, so they nerfed him and introduced Nex. Nabu was too competent and had too little drama for the show’s liking and therefore removed him. I do think that plot-wise Nabu’s sacrifice was a nice touch, however after realizing that the show just wanted a hard reset on Aisha’s love life, I believe there were better ways to do so. Nabu brought out Layla’s soft side, and lead her to live a happy life with an arranged marriage (which in irl, I know of many couples who live happy lives with their arranged spouse). I personally believe that Nabu and Layla were the best couple because they lived like a regular couple irl, they grew to love each so much more organically than Nex. They considered their future together on Earth and were ready to settle down. But with the other boys, I could not see Aisha ever talking about settling down or considering a future together. I didn’t mind Roy being the next potential boyfriend seeing as he wasn’t forceful with his approach to getting to know Aisha. He was gentle with her, and even though he didn’t know her past with Nabu, he was taking it slow with her and giving her space. They had chemistry and although it didn’t last very long, it disappointed me that the show really made Aisha shallow and only noticed Nex for being better athletic-wise and not personality-wise. That being said, I will never ship Aisha and Nex. Aisha clearly disliked him in S6 and yet she tolerated him as he laughed at Roy (S6Ep15) when he messed up and hardly did anything for her. So not only did they make Nex a jerk, but also Aisha so one-dimensional that she let all of the things that she initially called him out for, to slide. I think, the show did a poor job of showing Aisha mourning for Nabu with the exception of S5′s Ep1, Ep7, and Ep8 which is only 3/26 of the episodes, and some of the girls (*cough* Stella in S5Ep8 *cough*) hardly mourned for him at all. Compatibility-wise, Nabu, for me, is and always will be the best choice. Nex, can like, go do more pushups or something. Plot-wise, there was no plot. Nabu’s death moved the storyline to make Nebula a better queen, but aside from that, this whole romance thing was just to make sure all the girls had a partner that “worked” in the show’s favor. Nex will really need to step up in S7+ if he is to ever be like Nabu in that he was supportive, kind, and let Layla be herself around him; because all I see is that Nex is solely attracted to Aisha’s badass side - the side where she’s sporty and athletic, whereas when she was with Nabu she was able to dance - which was her secret passion - and considered settling. Please treat my girl well in S8 nwn

If you guys have any inputs feel free to have a discussion down below! I do sound a bit biased in this, but I hope my analysis explains why. As always this was just a fun post, so please don’t judge me based on this! Thanks~

I am not sure how to respond to your answer because a lot of the things you have said were kinda... irrelevant?

My main point was that I think there's more stuff to be addressed with Will's character. That is why I think he's going to be targeted first. I never said he'd be the sole main character of S5. I just think there's more stuff that is to be addressed with his character. Especially because we do not know a lot of mysteries about him. We still do not know why he got targeted in S1, his S1 and S2 supernatural stuff have yet to be addressed. We do not know if he has powers or not and if that's the reason why he got targeted. We do not know why he is connected to Vecna and that has to be addressed. We do not know why the Upside Down is stuck on the time he went missing. His parallels to Vecna are not addressed and if that plays a role in him being targeted back in S1 are not yet addressed. We do not know why Will is connected to UD and how to break off his connection to Vecna and UD, etc.

I've never even said that Noah would receive more cash or would have his name appear as the first name on the show. I do not even have any idea where that came from. I am just pointing out that there are more stuff to be addressed with Will's character, thus why it makes sense for him to get targeted first to address those questions and plot points. That's my main point... I have no idea what to answer to your other points because a lot of things you said were irrelevant. Thanks for the answer anyway!

I'm sorry if I rambled! I got the impression that you thought because Will was said to be central in s5 by the Duffer's, then that means he automatically is at the center related to the overall story, and I sort of attributed that to Vecna as well. And so I felt the need to get logistical and let you down easy bc I notice there are a lot of bylers taking that Duffer snippet and are using it to like blast milkvans and say Will is the main now and El isn't anymore, which... just isn't the case. And this is coming from a will has powers and byler endgame truther. If that's not you at all then I apologize for making that assumption and will drop that whole side of the argument entirely!

As I replied to another ask just previous, I do think that if Mike is targeted, the endgame goal would be for it to somehow be a step in the right direction for Vecna to get to Will.

I think s5 is going to involve Will at the forefront when it comes to a lot of these questions being answered related to him going missing. And I do think, assuming that the whole Mike being late thing was intentional, it's very likely the opening for s5 could again somehow involve Mike being late yet again. Seeing that trend come full circle in a way that is shocking and satisfying. It just so happens that Vecna is the big bad this time around, and Mike is long overdue for some self-reflection, and so I was speculating with a few others about that possibility, because it's there.

S5 has like 10 hours of running time to account for. And Will confronting Vecna is probably going to take up a good chunk of it. And even still, as Vecna has done in past seasons, he's going to continue to be calculated.

S5 is likely not going to start with Will and Vecna simply facing off with all their cards on the table, because that would be too easy? And a little boring?

It could very likely happen where we see Vecna target Will right from the jump at the start of s5, but it's also more likely something would go wrong, leading to a delay of sorts. And I think it's going to lead to another confrontation later on, followed by several others until the final battle. But there is definitely more to it than just Vecna targeting Will, because after all that is presumably the end goal. And so it's a matter of what it takes to get to that point.

And I think just like in previous seasons, Vecna is going to use all of his moves possible if it means getting what he wants, and as far as we know, he likes tormenting people over their guilt and shame, often what he himself played a role in causing them in the first place. And he's done it with the most random of characters, even if it seemed insignificant at the time, it played it's part in his plan.

Tormenting the love of Will's life, who also happens to be the kid who has been thwarting his plans for a while now, seems like enough to at least not rule out Vecna targeting Mike, for calculated reasons.

I'm honestly not even as obsessed with the prospects of Vecna vs. Mike as I used to be post-s4. Like it was just such a concept back then bc there was so much unknown about Mike. I do think it's going to happen in s5, though I'm not as excited about it as I probably was back then, I think I'm more so just defensive at the argument that it's super unlikely and people are reaching for speculating, bc all any of us are doing is speculating based on what's been shown to us. For all we know we're all wrong.

But now with the whole twelvegate theory and Will has powers in general being a commonplace fan theory on here, I've come across so many unknowns about Will after rewatching over the last month doing my own research, and that has honestly been interesting me more than anything else as of late. It's even gotten to the point now where a lot of byler evidence appears to also be either/or willel wonder twin evidence... and so I am very excited to see how that could pan out!

Though this has also made me realize that 4 seasons of building up Will's sexuality out in the open, and with him being swamped with powers obligations next season, even more so confirms this concept of Mike being vecna'd bc... what else does he have going on? His best friend and ex gf are busy dealing with family drama, he's gonna need to get his own head together bc that doesn't really have anything to do with him. His arc is more so connected to his guilt and shame and him resolving that is going to be necessary for both Will and El to feel secure in their relationship with him in the end. I do think they all deserve that closure. Will and El will definitely get closure with one another, but I know that Will is going to be the hardest nut to crack. He is NOT going to believe Mike, unless it's clear to him what Mike has went through and is currently going through, and vice versa.

All of their arcs overlap, though I know everyone has favorites and yes some actors are billed more than others like i rambled about, but all the pieces matter in the grand scheme of things, even if it doesn't directly impact the endgame goal in the moment, otherwise there would be no story to sit here and obsess over until we get to the end.

I hope that cleared up some of my nonsense and hopefully I made a little more sense this time! Thanks for coming back to clarify!

Hey Rosy! Have you heard Marie’s comments about s7 at Dutch Comicon? She said Octavia “finds her peace in a place you’ve never seen her before.” And “you guys are going to see a bunch of different planets.” She also said “I can’t tell you who’s where or what’s what or where’s where, but it’s ugly and it’s crazy because it’s the 100 and no one ever smiles. There’s challenges and there’s wars and there’s stuff. Different circumstances this year.” What do you think is going to happen in s7’s plot?

It’s hard to guess what will happen in the plot because they like their plot twists, so the only thing I can do is think about the storylines that are still open, the narratives that are already being told and need to be finished, and the clues they’ve been dropping.

Becuse, this is, like, the LAST season, so they need to wrap up the storylines they’ve left open. It’s kind of a big challenge because they’ve been working on a LOT of long term storylines, so if they manage to get them all wrapped up next season I will be VERY impressed. I don’t think most tv shows DO manage to tie up all the loose ends. Most shows just kind of drop them over the years? Or don’t present them at all. So let’s see. I think they’re going to do it because they’ve started to resolve things I thought they had dropped.

Bellarke is going to get together romantically. It’s a big narrative, and has been relentlessly getting closer and closer. I know people call me delusional or a clown for still seeing it, but if they weren’t still moving it forward, I’d say they weren’t. They ARE. Season 6 leaves it clear without a doubt. No they don’t go quickly. That’s the way they’re telling it. And that is okay, even if it frustrates the impatient. BUT one of the requirements, every season of The 100, is that Clarke and Bellamy come together in order to reach victory, and every season, what brings them together is a deepening level of love. Actually it’s the most easily predicted outcome for any long term narrative. The others are less certain. 

For Clarke herself, she’s been through the ringer. She started out the golden girl, the heroine who was idealistic and determined and full of love for humanity and her people, and as time went on, we found out she was ruthless, sneaky, and determined, and you really wanted her on your side. HOWEVER her heart was broken many times over, she was terribly betrayed, she bore the burden of terrible acts, she lost her belief in humanity and in herself and that there even WAS a right choice or a good guy. But in the last season, she’s recovered some of her belief in humanity, mostly through Bellamy, actually, and has come to learn that love is a strength, not a weakness, so I expect to see her fully coming into her heroic powers as she saves and redeems humanity in season 7. 

For Bellamy, he started out at the bottom of the hero pile, being an actual villain in season 1a, and rising, expanding the circle of who he would protect out from Octavia, to his delinquents, to arkers to all of humanity. I believe Bellamy actually completed his hero’s journey in season 5, when he came back from space and did the right thing, saving everyone, spacekru, wonkru, eligius, and thus restoring Clarke’s faith in humanity because HE was good. Right? So that meant for him s6 and 7 need to have a different story, and I speculate that Bellamy has moved on to fulfill his archetypal character trait of “The Heart.” I think the end of the 100 for Bellamy is going to be a romance. He needs to search out that good life lived in love. And we saw it in season 6, as his goal, what/who he needed to save was his soulmate. And it was a dedicated mission that had ONLY Bellamy doing the saving and he used HIS HEART to save her. No guns. No diplomacy. No wars. No distractions. No make it go boom. No delinquents. JUST bellamy, and his hands and heart, because he needed her and couldn’t lose her. See? Bellamy was already the epic hero, now he’s the romantic hero. So that brings me back to Bellarke, because that means getting CLARKE is his goal now for s7. That’s his story. Because in romance stories, the goal is the romance. Clarke’s story may still be to save humanity, but I’m guessing that this is part of the overall story. Clarke saves humanity, Bellamy saves Clarke. Just like Bellamy inspires the masses but Clarke inspires Bellamy. See they trade off who supports whom, and that’s why they are the best.

Octavia will be redeemed. She has to be, because she’s symbolic of humanity itself. That she became evil for a while also fits because humanity is what destroyed the earth. I do not think that JR is writing a grimdark show that says humanity is evil at its root though, because the redemption of Octavia is happening. That was in doubt for me for a while. I thought they’d switched the humanity symbolism to Madi maybe? Or were cheaping out on a martyr sacrifice instead of real redemption. Not after they took away her martyrdom, though. ALSO a slow narrative. It seems like a war is brewing with whoever is in the anomaly, and she may use her warrior skills...BUT it might be important that she DOESN’T??? not sure. She might actually need to use them to better the world. This story DOESN’T say that violence is always the wrong choice, so being peaceful MIGHT not be the answer. Being peaceful has sometimes been the wrong choice in this show. But also, just because you HAVE the power to kill people doesn’t mean you should. So I’m not sure HOW she’s going to manage saving people. But she’s going to care about THEM, not her own power. 

Raven will find a way to save everyone with technology. We’ve been talking a bit about her roll on my blog, and it’s highly likely that she might redeem BECCA, as a mirror of Becca’s tech destroying the world and leading to all of this, Raven has learned that it’s not jus getting to the goal that matters, but also HOW you get there. She’s learned ethics and morals. So if Octavia serves as a kind of symbolic salvation of humanity, Raven might be the redemption of technology, cleverness and advancement, as we see her no longer making it go boom, but rather unlocking secrets or creating tools or defense or who knows what? Not sure how this is going to work out. I also think that Raven and Clarke will reconcile, again, not sure how it’s going to work out because I thought it was going to happen through a spacekru story but Raven’s reckoning came through Abby instead, and therefore a kind of symbolic siblinghood with Clarke. I don’t think spacekru will be against Clarke anylonger though, because she was the last holdout and a lot of it was personal issues which she worked through with Abby.

Murphy... now Murphy is a question. We were talking and thinking that maybe HIS growth might be SPIRITUAL in direction. Which would be quite a twist for that s1 villain. But it might be true that he always wanted to be a part of something bigger, he always wanted to belong, to be loved, he also, until s6, was actually able to understand morality the most clearly of anyone, even if he chose to be bad sometimes. Then he had his spiritual reckoning when he died and thought he was going to hell... so we’ve got these questions coming up for him. Now he’s “immortal” and I hear tell that in s7 he’ll be living in the castle and that some of the sanctumites might still worship him. So that’s interesting. If his journey on the show has been a spiritual one, and now he’s being worshipped... he might decide to scam them be, well, leading them as “a god.” Of a type. Which might actually help to settle everything in the village. Oh, yeah. This is an interesting concept. I’ve actually had a long term theory that the 100 is actually a kind of origin story of the “gods” who redeemed humanity. And if we consider that Murphy is (for now) immortal, and he’s such a scammer, and he’s been a witness to Clarke and Bellamy from the beginning...oh holy heck, what if MURPHY is really the narrator of this tale? Oh holy heck. Murphy has taken part in all the storylines except for Mount Weather and Pike. AND he played the role of fleimkepa for a while. Holy Heck. Murphy as religious leader. Possibly god. Religion founder? s1 no god. s2. searching for god (literally on a quest for the city of light.) s3. fake(?) prophet/priest. s4. clarke’s morality (while you were saving them I was saving you,) and his own. s5. needs to be a hero/to be good/sacrifices himself. s6. dies/goes to hell/becomes immortal.  s7. holy heck murphy’s found god??? is god??? leads the people to god???

Echo. Echo is Ash. This is important. She also needs to be her own person, who she is. She can’t be the good spy anymore. This is a plot point, not my wishful bellarke thinking. Echo’s story is about independence and identity and finding herself again. This is not a romance story. This is a feminist story of breaking free of the dictates of the past and choosing her own path. She needs to stand on her own two feet and not follow her leader anymore, who is now Bellamy, her boyfriend. Having your boyfriend be your king is already a suspicious dynamic. Ditch him, Echo. First off, you can make your own decisions. Secondly, you need someone you can share your soul with and for some reason it’s not him. (oh right because he’s already given it away and she’s standing right there.) Thirdly, you need to figure out who you are.  I think Echo needs to make a choice for herself and it might not be the choice that Bellamy makes. Last season I said she’d choose to stand with the slaves of sanctum over her own people. This might be how it works out in the end, but it would look different because they’ll integrate at least some of the sanctumites into their people. IDK we’ll see.

Madi. IDK. I think that’s part of her story. What is her role now that she’s no longer heda? Child? She’s not just a simple child either.

Emori. Mostly Murphy’s storyline. She steadies him and gives him love. His early redemption started with “I don’t want to die alone.” and she gives him that. (Oh no. What if that means they are going to die... but not alone, together. a possibility.)

Jordan. Not actually my favorite character, but he’s a main, so that says his role will be bigger next season. He’s been brainwashed. So we’ll either have to get him out of it, or he’ll end up being kind of a villain. :(

Biggest mystery. The anomaly, Hope, Diyoza. 

The anomaly is a gateway. It leads us to multiple planets. We already knew about those planets, so that makes sense. There are five, I think, of which Alpha is the first. There’s a guy there who made Hope bring Octavia back? Hope is a grown up now but Octavia is still her own age. The anomaly not only messes with space but also with time. I have not given up on our heroes going back in time and back to earth (they have been filming in and around a yellow farmhouse which I have speculated might be Diyoza’s father’s farmhouse where she went to hide from being captured but eventually WAS found in.) 

We also know there will be upheaval in Sanctum, not all of the sancumites accepting what happened, Jordan being brainwashed and Murphy and Emori being worshipped as gods. lol. Wonkru is awake unless they put them back to bed and we have some Eligius prisoners awake because we saw the casting. Why wake them? Marie said a war. Are they going to war against whoever stole Octavia? They need them for a war. 

I still think it’s about the redemption and salvation of humanity and maybe making up for destroying the earth, either by fixing what they did on earth, or creating a new, non toxic society in the colonies. I am not keen on colonies being the answer, because I think that’s not the answer to redeeming humanity for what they did to earth, but I also wonder if our delinquents might separate and choose different paths. Maybe some go back to earth. 200 years later it might be habitable again. I could see most of the delinquents going to different planets but Clarke and Bellamy going back to earth to see if they can fix it and living in peace, their own adam and eve. It’s a theme we’ve seen used before so it could happen. Also it would give them a The 100 style happy ending like Marper got. idk. I predicted marper’s ending as a possible bellarke ending a while ago... in other words, got the right story but the wrong couple. but marper is a mirror of bellarke so it could still happen.

I have a hard time saying what the plot of s7 will be. They’ve given us less than they ever have before. I got quite a bit from s5 hiatus, and I’m actually still going on things we found out then. I feel like it’s all one story, not two separate stories each season.

How long do you think the time jump between seasons is gonna be? What's your prediction to when will season five take place?

Just going based off what the Duffle Bags have said, I think the time jump will be short, I’m guessing 3 months at most. They said S5 will ‘hit the ground running’ and the action will start right away as opposed to having a slow intro to everyone’s ‘normal’ life before the danger kicks in. Even though the threat wasn’t technically imminent at the end of S4, Hawkins was left in shambles and the UD was lurking on the horizon… imo it wouldn’t make sense to start the season pretending everything cleared up and went back to normal for a bit — that would probably feel like a faulty retread, if anything.

So I guess a 3-month jump would put us at late summer, which is fine, but selfishly I would LOVE for S5 to take place in late fall, like S1 & 2. That would bring things full circle in the best way, and spiritually ST is just a fall show all around. 

Kadena Season 4 Predictions

People have been asking for my kadena predictions pretty much since s3 ended, and I said that I needed to give it some thought. Well now I have and I’ve also obviously been aware of Nikohl’s absence in Montreal for s4 filming so far. A couple weeks ago, I came up with a theory that I still find pretty compelling, and I’m now thinking may be valid since Wendy has confirmed Nikohl will be on set very soon. So, some background to set the stage for why I’m predicting what I’m predicting:

The two most common sentiments that I’ve seen shared with TBT staff and on twitter are “I just want kadena to be happy again” and “I want more Adena.” People are tired of the angst and the ways kadena was never really given a real chance, and people are tired of missing Adena screen time. So, already from the get-go, the season 4 team was faced with a choice-- bring back Adena ASAP, but have more angst, or bring back Adena a little later, and launch the next chapter of kadena from a less angsty place. I think they’ve chosen the latter, and I think it’s a good decision. 

So, some structural stuff. Season 4 is going to have 18 episodes, likely with a mid-season cliffhanger and mini-hiatus. The writing staff has joked that TBT’s flexibility and inconsistency with their timeline is going to be obvious this season. I think s4a (eps 1-9) is going to take place over a more condensed period of time than s4b (eps 10-18). We already know that s4 picks up immediately where s3 left off, dealing with the aftermath of Scarlet’s controversial fall issue. They may very well take two whole episodes just to deal with the Scarlet situation. My prediction is that the entirety of 4a will take place in less than two months. 

Now, consider where kadena left off in s3. Kat has been in a major season of growth and developing an inner sense of confidence; she knows she’s getting close to an important milestone of development but she’s not quite there, and she knows that trying to go back to Adena right now will undo the progress. Adena has been living in Paris, and was visiting NYC for 2-3 weeks. While there, she has been offered a job as Scarlet’s new in-house photographer. They are both in tears over the predicament this leaves them in. The sooner they see each other again, the more their s4 story will be starting from a place of more angst. 

It is not uncommon in the US for onboarding at a professional job to take 1-2 months; i.e. sometimes it can be 1-2 months between when they say you’re hired and when you actually show up for your first day of work. Adena’s stuff is still all in Paris. She probably has to file new work visa paperwork demonstrating her new employment. And that’s not even including the huge shake-ups at Scarlet that are probably going to delay the onboarding process of any new hires. Basically, it is totally plausible for Adena to be gone the first several episodes of s4, especially since with how kadena left things, they are not going to intentionally see each other any time soon. kat is not going to see adena until she shows up for work at scarlet.  

Now, TBT could have swept all this aside, expected the audience to suspend disbelief about the process and have Adena start right after Scarlet’s issues are resolved. Say, in episode 3. But if they did that, kadena would start with angst again. And the writers would have to show a progression from active angst, to light discomfort, to awkward friendliness, to shy flirting, to dating again-- with convincing pacing. And it drags out Kat’s growth arc because it’s way harder with Adena still around. 

Or, they could follow the natural logic of Adena not starting her job for a few weeks, and not have her show up again until episode 7 or so. It’s totally plausible, especially with how TBT moves, that Kat will have reached some internal resolution during this time. Which creates space for a different dynamic when Adena returns. Instead of “fuck, Adena’s here and I want to cry”, it can be “fuck, Adena’s here and after everything I still want her.”

In theory, the last third of 4a could be this charged flirty re-connection of kadena, with the mid-season finale being them kissing again, or one asking the other out, or anything else that sets up a new relationship arc for 4b. Overall, kadena would still have a significant s4 story with screentime, because they’d have the tail end of 4a, and then all of 4b. This also makes sense for balancing the romance arcs of each of the trio. Jane and Sutton have more immediate storylines to resolve that will likely dominate the front end of 4a and then clear out a bit and make room for more kadena later. (Jane and Ryan resolving or not the aftermath of the cheating situation, and then Richard potentially moving to SF and them starting a long-distance relationship.)

What I’m less sure about is 4b. There’s two different ways it could go. Either way I think it’s going to involve happy kadena together and interesting storylines. 

Route 1: A time jump occurs after 4a. And/or the end of 4a is “I’m ready again, I’m in this with you.” AKA this route involves 4b picking up with kadena as girlfriends and fully in a relationship again. 4b will have various storylines related to them being in a relationship. 

Route 2: Less time passes, and/or the kadena connection at the end of 4a is more tentative. In this route, 4b involves a slow-burn of them dating, taking things slowly this time, and eventually becoming girlfriends again some time in to 4b. This would have more of a storyline of a new (but for them second chance) romance and what it looks like for them to date. 

Most shows would go with route 1, and it’s happened time and again for wlw pairings. They kiss, then when they resume they’re settled in a relationship. We never really get to see a wlw pairing in its early stages with the dating. TBT could go in either direction. Personally, I would way prefer route 2. I think it makes more sense for kadena. And it would be this gorgeous parallel of all the slowness and exploration they didn’t get the first time. I could see them, especially Kat, wanting to ease into things and take it more slow this time. And I think Adena would recognize how that’s healthier for them in the long run. It would also leave some room, if there were to be a season 5 of this show, for s5 to explore more established relationship storylines and not have to contrive drama since they’ve already been in a relationship in s4. Or, if they don’t get renewed again, it still leaves kadena in a good place and in a relationship at the season’s end. Narratively, it’s a way more compelling full-circle sort of parallel to their s1 journey that way. But you never know, they may go route 1 to appease fans or for other storytelling reasons. 

But my prediction is this for 4a, and one of these two routes for 4b.  

Nopelander...revisting an old post

I still see sooo much Outlander stuff on my dash so I thought I’d share my thoughts on Season 4. I don’t have high hopes for S5 and even though I said I was done, I am still curious. Hanging around to see how it turns out is different than being a die hard fan, which I was. Its amazing to me that the built-in fan base and super hot chemistry between the 2 leads could fizzle out to a boring, flat, emotionless promotion. The Fiery Cross is very focused on Roger and Brianna (with Jamie and Claire always watching an guiding which is a gift for those who crave a stable family life...and is too subtle and nuanced for these OL writers to grasp) so the magic of the show that was Jamie and Claire is no more.  Here is what I had to say about the S4 finale.  tl:dr OL used to be great, and instead of writing it as the romance-fantasy that it is, they subscribed to the theory that drama and plot are more interesting than nuanced intimacy and in doing so drained it of its charm and energy while at the same time bashed fans for not being happy about it.

Production ruined the magic that was Outlander in such a stumbling, amateurish, way. First off, they do not understand Jamie and Claire, who are soul mates, as well as best friends. They love making each other laugh and share many inside jokes. They know life is hard but as long as they can connect with each other, they’ll get through anything. In the show their relationship is tenuous and they never realistically comfort one another. Touching each other’s jaw line in lieu of good dialogue is just irritating. 2nd, the wigs take you out of the story, immediately. Why did that not concern anyone? Sam Heughan is a gorgeous man but I snort every time we see that alpaca hair. The only time I can take him seriously is when he is wearing a tri-corn. Claire’s hair looks passable from far away but up close it’s like, holy hairline! It really bothers me that this was not important to production. Jamie had shaggy hair in S1 because he was growing out a buzz cut he got at the Abbey, not because he liked having fringe. If they are trying to recreate S1 hair they have failed spectacularly.

Season Finale: Rescuing Dog Face. I want to care, but I don’t. Roger and Bree do not have an established or believable relationship. He showed up with his Paul McCartney hair in Boston and the writers decided he loved her and that’s all it’s based on. There is no chemistry between them but there isn’t any conversation, either. She is apathetic. We’ll never know how Sophie would deliver well written dialogue but with her somnolent, emotionless, delivery my guess is it wouldn’t have helped. Maybe they limited her dialogue because she couldn’t manage more than a few words at a time. Imagine the stirring ‘He’s real…I know’ or the riveting ‘You’re here’ with a modicum of energy. I know, it’s just as bad. She was miscast, obviously. They couldn’t have found a tall, American actress with dual UK/USA citizenship with an Equity card? Hey Bree: In the show, Roger humiliated then abandoned you at the Clan gathering because you didn’t want to marry him. He then had a relationship with you --in his mind--, while you were living on your own and trying to keep your eyes from closing while you talked.  Why do you love him? Back to Roger. A group of people are going against their own tribe to rescue Dog Face and risk alienation from said tribe just to get a stone they could have just taken from Claire? Come on. The tribe had sentries posted when Jamie and Claire were approaching but everyone had the night off to gather around for the drumming circle? The one guy watching the idiot tent gets clubbed (is he dead? We don’t know) by Jamie and no one notices? Finally the jig is up and the resulting scramble to “reach the river” is so laughably amateurish that I imagined the camera guy laughing like you do when you’re filming your friends in the backyard trying to recreate the Aragorn/Nazgul fight scene from the LOTR. Thankfully, Claire was there to bring a sensible end to it all with a very effective “Its ovah”. Even the Mohawk warriors were impressed. So did they all sleep in the idiot tent that night, or what? And Roger isn’t totally amazed looking at Claire and Jamie, together? No? He just cowers in her clutches. At least he’s not wearing those absolutely ridiculous but completely historically accurate culottes anymore. The Birth: Everyone complaining about this is correct. Claire would never have allowed her daughter to go through child birth in the 18th century without her. I don’t understand why the writers made this decision. That whole birthing chair thing was cringe worthy. Jocasta and her hand-made silk dress isn’t going to be assisting at a freaking birth. (I just kept seeing a thought bubble above Sophie that said “I should have stuck to dance”. I don’t think she’s enjoying Outlander that much.) In the book, while Bree is asking Jamie to stay for the birth, he pleadingly looks to Claire like ‘what do I do’ because, while he’s heard a lot of birthing going on, he’s never been asked to assist. It shows their complete unison as a team, their trust in each other, and it’s cute to see Jamie out of his element a little. More importantly, Jamie got to experience his grandchild with his heart burst wide open and he reveled in it. The dialogue in the book is touching and funny and it resonates because its tied to emotions that have long been been building. Jemmy is the catalyst for healing many of Jamie’s wounds regarding his children. He is the balm for his soul. In the show, Jamie barely acknowledges the baby. But here, blind Auntie --who in the show uses a cane-- you take the baby. Don’t hurt him with the giant brooch thing you are wearing. And don’t walk anywhere. Just stand there. Don’t you go dyin’ on me! Here’s the other thing: Bree loves her baby from the start. She makes that decision early on. When Jemmy is born she is completely devoted to him and his care. She wouldn’t be sitting in a room by herself while her baby is hanging with a bunch of people who seem to be just standing around in a circle.

Back to the book for a second: When Roger finally shows up, Bree is not broken. She’s besotted with her son and enjoying the loving embrace of her family. She’s whole. I like that Bree. She’s got a good heart. As much as I miss the humor between Jamie and Claire, I didn’t want to hear Sam call Claire “Granny” unless it was with a twinkle in his eye after he comes to the realization that this is the first time she’ll be called that, and it’s the first time he gets to say it. I hate book dialogue spoken with no depth or understanding of the moment. Intimacy is what DG gets so right in the books and I don’t like hearing actual lines unless it carries some weight, I’m looking at you “Turtle Soup” (cringe). Murtagh: When he jumped off that wagon I was like…Duncan LaCroix is just loving the shit out of this. I don’t like the Regulator plot because they are shit stirrers who like to argue and ruin gatherings. Murtagh should be sticking to his vow, which was to protect Jamie. These are 18th century people, they took that shit seriously. The fight with Jocasta was hilarious but when she said ‘let’s get breakfast’ and they pan over to Murtagh and he’s all laid out on the bed like ‘here’s your freakin’ breakfast, with sausage’ I laughed so hard I had to pause it, drink some water and pull myself together. I was dying. It wasn’t as funny the second time because I knew it was coming but the first time it was like I could see Duncan turning up that sexy vibe to 11 and it was both funny and ridiculous, and he knew it. Rogers Choice: They should have made Roger a man of worth by having him immediately want to go to Bree. If you freaking love her so much it wouldn’t be an issue. What is she going to do, choose Bonnet over you? It should have been with no hesitation. It would have redeemed him, gave the search and rescue a satisfying conclusion, and saved us from yet another use of the two lovers running toward each other imagery.  The music was so cliché I have to wonder if Bear is just picking stuff off a spotify muzak playlist. It’s clear that the show has lapsed into soap opera territory. Sam’s face when he said he had to –takes off glasses-- kill Murtagh wasn’t full on Drake Ramoray, but it was teetering close to it. Poor Outlander. You had the rare combination of chemistry, beauty, and talent combined with an eager and knowledgeable fan base and you reduced it to a strange wooden version of itself. Dedicated fans are leaving. I’m done. These writers are not smart or creative enough to chisel down The Fiery Cross. So much times passes during the gathering that surely Jamie will have outgrown his bangs, but of course he won’t. He just keeps hacking at them and I don’t want to stick around to watch.

Post Scriptum: Drinking game idea: Anytime anyone says Fraser’s Ridge. I mean, who talks like that? You’d say, ‘lets go home’. No one spouts the address when they reference home. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘123 State Street, where I live’. 

Post, post Scriptum: You could also have a drinking game for every time Claire crosses her arms but you’d better have plenty of libations on hand. post post post scriptum: Sam and Cait are tired of Outlander and can’t wait for it to be over.