jane-newby

[jane-newby]

Why I love Caitlyn Kiramman (S1 & 2)

Decided to write this just because... and well I've seen a few "why I hate Arcane Cait" so I am writing why I think she's awesome.

1. I am a sucker for misfit characters. When Cait meets Jayce in the rain and solidifies their relationship by admitting she's a misfit too, my heart was sold. Of course, many of the Arcane characters are misfits, but Cait because of her birth into high society runs against many of the expectations and beliefs of her station. She gives off Sherlock vibes when it comes to social interactions and her skill of deductions/sleuthing.

2. She's an excellent shot. There is something about a girl with a great aim that I love (Hunger Games Katniss is the first that comes to mind). My favorite shooting scenes are from S2 in the Jinx/Sevika skirmish and the final battle when she takes on a sniper role.

3. Noxian training montage. After being kidnapped, knocked out and almost choked out, it was about time Cait learned hand to hand to combat. While I would have loved a longer scene it was nice to see 60 seconds of her Mulan-esque training session.

4. Badass Disney princess/prince vibes. She had a heart of gold and was in the pursuit of justice and truth ever since her Season 1 convo with Grayson ("What are you shooting for young Kiramman?") Cait spends most of Season 1 defending or attempting to save others (i.e. Jayce, Vi, the people of Zaun). She is willing to listen when she is in the wrong (aka conversation with Ekko and the Firelights) or understand the experiences of those she knows little about.

5. Cait and Vi’s Slow Burn Romance. ��Will they won’t they.” A Romeo & Juliet aka other side of the tracks romance. Opposites Attract. Again I am a complete sucker for this romance trope. Step Up. Mulan. The 100. She-Ra. Miles Morales and Gwen (Please never compare Jinx and Ekko just because the ethnics match. They are not the same.) You give me two unlikely characters who go through the ups and downs of life and then finally consummate that relationship. I am down HARD. I like the tension. The tennis match of love and hate until they finally figure out they are meant for each other. Cait and Vi could have made love in a tree and I still would have happily rewatched because their love was multiple little scenes of looks, nicknames, rescues, fights, a kiss, and “I am down bad,” shower scene. What’s not to like?

6. Cait’s Character Development. From the fires of tragedy, a naive, eager, idealistic, bright eyed Young Kiramman princess develops into an older, wiser, humble leader. 

To me, her arc is about the passage into adulthood. An examination of that age old question “What does it mean to be human?” As the years pass, Cait clung to Grayson’s words–essentially her why, her purpose. But what happens when that purpose is challenged or marred by reality, by pain, anger? 

Cait’s purpose is immediately challenged when she finds out the Enforcer sheriff is corrupt and almost kills her in order to hide his sins. While it’s clear, there is no love between the two, Marcus’s corruption and her confrontation with Ekko challenge her belief in a system she joined in her pursuit of justice. Immediately, after, she attempts to broker an agreement that will help Zaunites but the Council selfishly rejects her proposal. You know the rest of the story.

Hours later she is kidnapped, tortured by the sister of her crush. Then the same sister drops a bomb killing not only people she knew, but her mom. Then at the memorial, another attack occurs presumably from the same sister–Jinx. The Council is eager to annihilate Zaun, but Cait attempts to be a voice of reason while grieving. Then when she has a chance to kill Jinx she fails and pushes/hits her girlfriend away. She loses her brother, and the only council member who notices she’s struggling. Her father is MIA. A known genocidal general begins to manipulate her. 

In a matter of months, Cait’s purpose is crushed by tragedy and a need for revenge. In season 1, Silco states, “There’s a monster inside all of us.” Cait’s monster rears its ugly head as she dawns the evil cloak, broods in dark rooms (thank you ep 4 beginning montage) and embraces oppressive tactics to fulfill her new objective. Cait’s conflict is not just an external manifestation but an internal one. Will she let bitterness take over or will she stick to her values of justice, truth, and kindness? We know that she has not fully embraced Ambessa’s ideologies, as she is constantly questioning Ambessa directives. Her conversations with Singed and her decision to spy on Singed’s actions also show that internal war. Ultimately, it is the decision to help Vi and betray Ambessa that led back to Cait’s core. She didn’t need to make a Youtube apology video. She chose through her actions to get back to a new, healed version of her purpose. Her last words in S2  “Are you still in this fight?” are a reflection of Cait’s own journey��to rise from tragedy and her own mistakes to make a difference even when pain, challenges, evil can make the journey seem impossible. 

Cait said it best in Season 2’s final memorial, Our only consolation for every loss we found some good, some light, worth gaining, worth fighting for. And though we are doomed to revisit the error of our ways, spark ever more conflicts, our story isn’t over.

And this is why I love Cait because of what she represents. A strong female character with quirks. A sense of justice. Love. A closet full of demons. Transformation. Humanity. And Badass shooting skills.

[jane-newby]

Continuing The Cycle

**Spoilers For Arcane**

Let me say to begin with, that nothing in this post is to downplay or brush off Piltover's oppression of Zaun. There will be some who read that and still scream at me, that's okay. I just want to be clear.

Many people on here more insightful and intelligent than I have spoken on this already, but it has been sticking with me lately so I wanted to get my thoughts out.

I have been quite free with dismantling some of the inane attempts at criticism of Arcane in this space. But, I promise I do actually understand everyone is entitled to their opinion. After all, how we connect with and understand art on an individual level is one of the things that make it so special. I have never, and will never come for someone who is simply stating their honest opinion based on the actual content in a respectful manner.

Where my issues come in, have to do with these wide-spread critiques/takes/stances that so directly undermine the meaning of the narrative they are best ignorant and at worst malicious. And more often than not rely on omission of details that negates their stance, or fabrication of details to support them. To that end, what I am discussing today is the black and white thinking that has permeated the fandom, poisoning understanding and appreciation of all corners of that narrative.

LET'S JUST GET IT OUT OF THE WAY:

*Before we get into the Arcane content, we need to discuss where a lot of this is coming from. I am just gonna get this out here right now, and there are some people who are gonna keel over reading it but if you are one of those folks I might as well not waste your time*

Arcane is not the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

It could not be more clear that this is where a lot of this is coming from. Let me be explicitly clear, this is NOT a deep-dive or analysis of this conflict. This thing is immensely complicated . If you comment here with a "IT IS NOT COMPLICATED ITS" sort of comment I'm sorry to tell you but you are wrong. The modern phase of this has origins as far back as the late nineteenth century and there is more going back even further. I don't care if its a straight fucking line. Something going back that far has more to it than the average nerd like me is qualified to speak on. Now, that being said, I do understand to a degree why this is happening. Not like this conflict has ever really been settled but in the last few years especially things have really been active and generating a degree of media content I don't remember seeing this level of in my short 32 years. So in a world where everyone (myself included) is so plugged in and enveloped by social media, a lot of us are getting a more direct look at this than we really ever have. And we analyze and connect with art through the lens of the world around us to a point. But we CANNOT do so exclusively. Trying to force a narrative into a one-to-one comparison robs it of a tremendous amount of meaning. Because no matter how complex and intricate this story actually can be. IT IS NOT REALITY. I'm not getting into it here, that would be pages and pages of writing and I'm here to talk about Arcane. But I'm going to say this because it applies to real life and the show both and will take us into my actual point today.

The idea that anyone on one side must always be good and justified simply because they are the oppressed, while the other must always be evil, is juvenile, naïve, and fails to grasp even a fraction of the complexity of human nature

Some of you are going to have an absolute seizure reading me say that that statement applies to real life as well. I don't care. It takes time, maturity, and meeting people from all walks of life to understand things are not so simple.

BACK TO ARCANE:

But, that being said time to get back to business. How does this all apply to Arcane?

"The show should have ended with a civil war between Zaun and Piltover!"

"When Zaun arrived during the last battle Jinx should have unloaded on the Enforcers and the Noxians both!"

"They ruined Jinx's character! WTF do you mean she apologized for killing Caitlyn's mother? Her mom was part of the oppressive system that ruined Jinx's life and brought it on herself!"

"Silco did bad things but it was all to gain power to protect Zaun!"

"Poor little rich girl lost her mom and acts like it's a reason to punish an entire city with warcrimes. The people of Zaun have been suffering worse for their entire history"

"Rebel Vi I miss you! How dare they make you care about people in Piltover!"

"The coward show runners made Zaunites into boot-lickers fighting for Piltover wearing Enforcer armor at the end!"

You get the idea. I have seen variations of these and many more time and time again. Zaun should have let Piltover fall or even attacked themselves. Caitlyn deserved everything done to her because she's of the Piltovan elite. Every terrible thing Jinx or Silco did was totally and completely justified because of Piltovan oppression.

Now there are many angles I could come at this from. My usual one is simply addressing the astounding lack of logic in most of these sorts of arguments. For example, I can rope all of the people saying Zaun should have let Piltover fall into one category. People who forgot about this guy:

Like he was just gonna "evolve" Piltover than call it a day and zoot off into space with his new buddies. Obviously not and the idea that he wouldn't immediately take Zaun as well then keep moving is completely laughable. But this sort of thing isn't my issue today. My issue is that those so zealously insisting the the show should have continued on a path of hate, death and destruction are completely missing the point.

I titled this continuing the cycle for a reason. So much of this show, revolves around this concept of the cycle of violence. Those who keep it going, those who suffer from it, and those who break it. And the issue I'm finding is that a tremendous amount of people have seemingly decided that anything people from Zaun do is justified, and anything people from Piltover do is not. When in fact, where they are born is irrelevant in this context. Because each and everyone of them has the choice to further the cycle, or to walk away.

Silco & Vander:

Vander continued the cycle when instead of forgiving Silco for his part (whatever it may have been, we never really get the whole story) in Felicia's death he tried to kill him. And Silco did the same when he took his revenge instead of walking away ending not only the life of the man who wronged him, but causing the deaths of two teenage boys, trying to have Vi killed and causing her imprisonment altering her life forever, and taking Powder as his own after obliterating her second family altering her life and the lives of all those she would hurt through her actions as well.

Caitlyn:

In Caitlyn we see all three. She was an admittedly naïve but well-meaning young woman who was victimized terribly by cycle of violence around all for thinking she could help. We then watch her heart-breaking transformation into being a part of it allowing her hate and pain to warp her into someone dark and vengeful. Then finally we see her laying down the hate for her mothers killer in favor of her love for the woman who means everything to her. Stepping outside of it and turning her back on that violence.

There are of course other examples. Jinx walking away, Ambessa choosing to continue the bloodshed even with her last child begging her to stop. the list goes on. My point in discussing this is that it doesn't matter where they come from. Characters from all over this story play a part both good and bad in the events that occur. And to properly appreciate and understand this tale and what it is saying we MUST recognize that.

Yes Silco was a Zaunite. No Silco was not justified in unleashing Shimmer on his own people. He was a revolutionary once, but he lost his way. In the end he died a violent drug lord who exploited his people for his own gain. He was not a hero.

Yes Jinx is a Zaunite. No, Jinx attacking the council was not a noble strike for her people against oppression. She was a terrified, mentally ill, grieving and angry young woman who lashed out in a moment of awful pain. And in doing guaranteed Piltovan oppression against her people. .

Yes, Heimerdinger was the father of Piltover and his neglect caused terrible problems for everyone. He also gave his life for a Zaunite rebel commander to help get him home. (I understand in the lore he's probably alive but we haven't seen that yet and they have for sure diverged so it isn't a guarantee)

Yes, Caitlyn Kiramman is the daughter of one of the high houses of Piltover, and played a part of the people of Zaun suffering under Ambessa's manipulations and cruelty. She also gave the leader of the Firelights the gemstone she was so determined to return, stood side-by-side with Vi and told the council to their faces they failed Zaun, and put her own body on the line to make things right against Ambessa.

And that isn't to say that any of those characters were all good or all bad. It's to say that they all are capable of both. Just like every character. To slap a Zaun sticker on Silco and a Piltover (or cop as so many of you are fond of) sticker on Caitlyn and give them a pass or not for everything they do based on that is simplistic and ignorant. These characters have so much to them that to reduce them to these easily digestible bite-sized pieces is to deprive yourself of that true weight of this story.

All that said, lets take another look at a few items from that list from earlier:

"The show should have ended with a civil war between Zaun and Piltover!"// At the moment where all of humanity was at stake, people came together and fought side by side to quite literally save the world

"They ruined Jinx's character! WTF do you mean she apologized for killing Caitlyn's mother? Her mom was part of the oppressive system that ruined Jinx's life and brought it on herself!"// In a moment of pain and clarity Jinx found herself speaking to someone she realized she horribly wronged. Someone who had been twisted into something dark and violent by pain and grief, a feeling Jinx knew all too well. So she said the most she could, it isn't a direct apology. But her remorse is clear. "

"When Zaun arrived during the last battle Jinx should have unloaded on the Enforcers and the Noxians both!"// Jinx went from someone hated and feared, who felt like she had nothing to offer anyone, who felt like she had failed or killed everyone who loved her, to riding into battle leading her people and bearing symbols of her loved ones into the war for all mankind. And although I and most agree she's alive, the last act we know she for sure that she took was to save the life of the older sister who loved her so much in her most dire moment. If she did die, Jinx died a hero.

CLOSING WORDS:

Arcane is many things. But it's humanity is its heart. I've said it many times and many ways, but good stories... in this case great stories matter. They stick with us. Because long after the giant battles, the wolf monsters, and shiny blue magic rocks have faded, its the humanity you remember. The sisters fighting desperately to hold on to each-other in a world determined to rip them apart. The lovers from different worlds finding hope in each-others arms. Brothers betraying one another, a daughter having to take her mothers life, the list goes on. But when we rob these characters and this story of all of that, when the flash is gone, what's left?

I haven't done a long one in a bit and I feel like this is a bit rambling so I apologize. To those who take time out of their day to read anything I have to say I appreciate you more than you know. Feel free to share your thoughts! I love discussing this show. And in closing will leave you with one of my favorite quotes.

“It's like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn't want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for"

- JRR Tolkien

[jane-newby]

Jinx bombing the council, for her own self righteous reasons, and not as an act of rebellion, it's not justified just because zaun has been under the boot of piltover.

Jinx bombing the council is just another example of cycles in this show.

Silco and Sevika think the right thing to do is kill Vander for their self righteous gain and the people of zaun think that'll make it better? Only to end up with a far worse tyrant rule.

Silco plummeted zaun into so much more troubling times and despair. He become his people's number one oppressor. With jinx by his side.

Bombing the council didn't uplift zaun. Because that's not how these things work. If anything it was on the verge of making things worse, salo wanted a full on strike invasion on all of zaun and they would've had it of it weren't for caitlyn stepping into her role and stepping into her name.

People need to stop isolating caitlyn's actions. Her actions should be applied within the circumstances that they occur. Should be applied within the mental headspace that they occur. For the situation of full scale attack vs small target tactical team. Ambessa was going to get her way no matter what.

[jane-newby]

I just finished reading a well written fanfic but with a "Caitlyn deserves to be punished" plot line and usually I roll my eyes and stop reading, but this fanfic had an interesting POV on the Council which ironically revealed the problem with the "Caitlyn deserves consequences" hype train.

Because if Caitlyn is the ONLY city leader who suffers the consequences from the war while the rest of the Council and Piltover leaders essentially gets away free, it screams corruption and making Cait a Scapegoat for their own cowardice and self motivated actions. They have been on the council for YEARS seemingly allowing gangs and Shimmer to run Zaun. It is disingenuous for them to let Cait suffer while they get to keep their money and titles. It also gives "getting rid of the competition" aka a powerful house like the Kiramman's.

It's what Cait wants. In the show Cait says "No amount of good deeds can undo our crimes," as she's racked by guilt and contemplating Jinx's own crimes. However Cait spends the last episode fighting tooth and nail to defeat Ambessa. There are many ways to interpret her actions, but one things for sure--Cait is not hiding in a underground bunker or on a ship to Ionia. Based on previous actions and dialogue Cait is very much the person who would throw herself into the riskiest situation to help. Even before Maddie's betrayal, Cait lead the Enforcers into a battle by her own example. If the consequence was execution I believe Cait would have accepted it as she seeks atonement for her mistakes. The fact that she would be eager to take on punishment feels like a bit of Martyr complex especially since...

There would definitely be Piltover citizens and Enforcers who would worship her. Some fans seem to conviently ignore the fact that she was doing this to capture Jinx, a known terrorist in Piltover, and she heroically fought along side other Enforcers and defeated Ambessa (the silent looks between her and Steb convey a level of trust that I am sure is a sentiment that has spread since her commander role) . Word would get around. And I find it hard to believe that their would not be a few who view her as a hero. How do you contend with that? I could even imagine she gain a few Zaun/Ekko followers/ who mention at least she tried to help.

How in the world does this help Zaun? Sure she could have all her wealth offered up to the common good of Zaun but how does jailing, banishing, executing, a young person who is pro-Zaun and in a relationship with a Zaunite help in a corrupt government system? The decision to get rid of her is what a corrupt or incompetent system would do. No reform just performative actions. Of course some would fall for it, but others would be distrustful. You punish one person to cover up your crimes? A better solution would include a statement from Cait and her heavily using the Kiramman name to push reform and invest in Zaunite Community initiatives and people.

If Jinx had lived, would she get the same treatment by fans? Realistically the Piltover and Council would want her head. Damn restoration or Cait's forgiveness. Honestly if Jinx were known to be alive you can bet it would be a sticky situation between Zaun and Piltover.

In conclusion, the who "Cait deserves Consequences" is a merely that--an almost sadistic fantasy that doesn't bear real world application beyond the continued corruption of a system. In punishing Cait, you're putting a tiny bandaid on a gushing wound.

End of rant. If you can't tell, I just finished teaching Malcolm X vs MLK, hence a lot of talk of oppresses systems and ways of protesting.

[jane-newby]

Really really good story that happens to be about CaitVi and Arcane in hockey. I wish we had more female driven sport stories. I like sports and love a good sports drama, so I can vouch for this one. Honestly could be published. The sports world in all concepts were amazing!

And lastly, the CaitVi relationship was beautiful and the ending.

If you’re gay, don't hate sports, and ship caitvi, you should go read Run at the Cup by TheHomelyBadger on ao3!

[jane-newby]

Wishlist of future Projects with Arcane show Characters

Noxus TV show with Mel as the main mc with guest appearance from Caitvi (1-2 episode appearance)

Caitvi movie or graphic novel(s) about their adventures in Piltover/Zaun; personally want to see their relationship; fighting battles/training together; and recovering from S1 & S2 events/trauma

5-6 episode middle school/high school miniseries with the main Arcane characters (Attack on Titans had a version of this and it would be a perfect filler as fans wait for more League shows)

Short movie or graphic novels about Jayce and Victor at university and/or focusing on developing Hextech

Graphic novels or book about Ekko post-war expansion of the Fire-lights OR how Ekko built the Fire-Lights and the tree community during the 7 year S1 gap.

Not really interested in this idea since it doesn't include Cait or Vi, but a graphic novel/book about the alternate reality with Jinx-Ekko-Vi friend's group for Timebomb fans.

[jane-newby]

All I see are facts.

On a very serious note, the jokes or takes about Caitlyn being a fascist or a dictator definitely have to stop. She is neither one of those things. Caitlyn’s whole mission was to dismantle shimmer, get rid of the chembarons and remaining partners of Silco, and locate Jinx. Not dictate over Zaun and further the oppression against the Zaunites (she literally asks Ambessa why peace is the justification for violence), instead taking measures that would benefit them in the long run with more opportunities for growth (hence getting rid of shimmer and chembarons).

Using the definition of fascism—“a populist politicial philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition,”—Ambessa is the one people should be looking to when using that term. She is a colonizer, a warlord that has made it known that any person or nation that is weak or shows significant fragility should be dealt with. She even exiles her own daughter for such, insulting her as well as Topsiders. She believes it to be her right to position herself in the battles between two cities, singling out the one she deems a “problem” and using her own forces to basically put them in their place before she chooses to eradicate them. Ambessa would have no qualms about invading and emptying out all of Zaun if she was able to without interference. We’re literally shown that she has been pulling the strings from the get-go in order to further the hatred and disgust Piltover has for Zaun. Orchestrating the memorial attack to force the hands of the council, and Caitlyn, to take action because of the fear that this is an impending uprising so she could get what she wants out of the blood of Zaunites being spilled.

Labeling Caitlyn as a fascist or dictator, ignoring that her issue was not with Zaun or Zaunites all together but Jinx herself as a single individual, is quite irresponsible considering the fact that it is watering down the severity and gravity of what those terms mean and the history behind them. It is also very sad and frustrating to see people act very performative or morally righteous in their portrayals of Caitlyn as such even more when we are watching literal gen-cides (don’t know if this’ll be censored) happen to many different communities of people. It overall just feels like people care more about virtue signaling than actually being good people that have the capacity to understand what’s fictional, while also acknowledging the importance of understanding politics in fiction, still treating it with the respect and attentiveness necessary.

To add: calling Caitlyn, KKKiramman is pretty disgusting considering that she is not actively trying to achieve supremacy against the Zaunites with Topsiders. I don’t understand why Black people are the butt of jokes like this when we are still facing such oppression and violence from white supremacists. And to also ruffle a couple more feather, Caitlyn is the minority being targeted time and time again here by a white person, yet I don’t see people talking about that aspect.

[jane-newby]

Why incorrectly using a supremacist label for humor/characterization is problematic

The incorrect usage of Ku Klux Klan to hate on Caitlyn Kiramman could be considered a small problem considering that she is ONLY a character. The phrased used as mockery is also ironic because there is ZERO racism presented in the show and the KKK is a white supremacist terrorist group bent on hate crimes toward black Americans, Jews, and Catholics.

Nevertheless, referencing the KKK says more about the person who uses the phrase.

They are ignorant of the dark history of the KKK, segregation, brutality (i.e murdering, torturing, lynching) used specifically against black Americans. As a person who enjoys a bit of dark humor and satire, I think it's okay to use as a humorous reference in the correct pretense. But the incorrect usage, reduces the KKK to evil boogie men in white sheets, myths, long ago horrors, fictionalized villains like Darth Vader, Joker, the Terminator. When the KKK is very much alive in the US South as a small angry faction and/or funneling into other hate groups.

If you know this already, I will be side eying you because what do you mean...either you are a troll or something else. Opinions, barbs are not always harmless. During WII, America decided to throw successful Japanese Americans into concentration camps because Japan was the enemy and therefore it meant Japanese Americans were the enemy too? A nonsensical idea steeped in racism and fear.

Continue to use the phrase if you must, but it reveals a lot about you.

[jane-newby]

If Cait were a guy, people would be in an uproar about his actions. No.

I read and replied reasonably to someone about this and I guess, my reply was removed...but no. As someone who has watched many complex male characters across genres, I have hardly seen any gigantic outcries against their character or actions. Usually they are seen as men with tortured souls, complex men who make mistakes, groundbreaking, dark heroes of justice. If Cait were a man, some people would give her the Silco adoration treatment and others would praise him for avenging his mom. Sure he was cop and used martial law but he did it because a terrorist took his mother, the woman that nurtured him into the man he is today. He is also protecting his city from the terrorist. How honorable! Thousands of male dominant stories like this. I was just watching a show about a cop who used police brutality in an investigation linked to his wife's murderer. But I bet if I did a casual search of this show, I will not find anyone saying he's inherently evil, because he is not. He is a complex morally gray character that needed to change.

If Cait's name was Charles, viewers would continue to recognize his wrong doing, but they would readily embrace his arc as redemptive.

[jane-newby]

Cait's Obsessive Personality hinted at in S1

To those who are shocked by "the sudden change in Cait's character."

This persistent need to pursue something to the bitter end has always been Cait. When Vi sees Cait's map of Zaun with all her notes for the first time, she makes a comment about how Cait might be more obsessive than Powder. In season 1, Cait's drive is a positive. But it's also implied that Cait lives under her mother's thumb, restrained from fully pursuing her goals because of her mother's power and disapproval. When the Piltover council rejects her proposal for Zaun (S1) and Vi storms off, Cassandra nods her head, a rare acknowledgement that she approves of Cait's actions.

After her own kidnapping by Jinx, Cassandra's death and the bombing of the memorial, Cait slips into her obsessive tendencies, but this time it is a way of coping with her grief, guilt, anger and vengeance. I seen some people say "I would never do what Cait did if a loved one died at the hands of a killer." Good for you. Not everyone reacts the same way to trauma or has the same circumstances to pursue vengeance.

Unfortunately, Cait doesn't have her mother's guidance or restrictions to stop her. Mel and Jayce are gone. She pushed Vi away. Her father is depressed, and so there's no one to stop Cait and say "Hey, I am on your own side and this is a bad idea." To make matters worse, Maddie and Ambessa are stroking her obsession for their own purposes. Cait probably knows she's being manipulated, but it is clear she is isolated and doesn't know who to trust, until Vi comes along and calls her an "angry mongoose" and "cupcake." For the first time in months Cait has someone who is honest with her and she can trust. Cait is then immediately on a path to make up for her "wrongs."

This point has probably already been made, but I thought I'd put it out there for those who haven't seen it.