#//someday i might talk about how much fandoms like the idea of violent reactions to stuff and i think it's so romanticized and shouldn't be

[rinisbowen]

I have a theory based on that behind the scene picture of Gina, Kourtney, Carlos and Ashlyn all riding in EJ’s car to camp. I think the reason why Ricky isn’t with the rest of the gang is because it looks like EJ’s car only fits five people so Ricky might be driving by himself to camp or he goes to camp last minute with Big Red who was able to take some time off work to go to camp last minute.

hi! thanks for the ask anon, i love thinking about the possibilities based on our limited bts content haha. we're all gathering as much as possible :)

i agree that ej's car only fits five people, so it makes sense ricky wouldn't be in it for that reason, however i do think it goes beyond just that. also lowkey ej's car from season 1 when we see it is so different to the new one which amuses me. i know it's just a continuity thing that won't likely be addressed but- still funny. like ej's big black minivan/suv type thing vs. this little blue deal... can you tell i don't know how to describe cars? that is so entirely not my forte.

i think that chances are ricky will go by himself, or with his dad, or even his dad and miss jenn like i said if they want to make it extra complicated for him...

in theory he could also drive with nini and drop her in la on his way to camp. i doubt this is what they'll do, because logistically i don't know geography of where camp is but i feel like camp would be more north than la so it makes sense for ricky to get out first (and lbr to show he's not as far along his path it would sorta make sense for him to get out first, but i also think the scenes following him to camp would be a great way to like- really start camp in full swing. bc the others will def arrive first. but realisticness of the idea aside, i think it would be a perfect opportunity for them to have their last talk... potentially ever- and would be a great way to like- end it as it began- but with ricky going to theatre camp like nini did, and nini doing something she wants to do like when she'd gone to theatre camp before. they're going on their journeys separately now, and to have them go together follows from their childhood friendship, the paths they've taken up until now together, and then they go their separate ways. and maybe someday they'll see each other again. to quote the lovely hsm2- "we might find our place in this world someday, but at least for now... i've gotta go my own way".

they could also just do a scene very similar to the flashback in 2.02 with ricky and nini in her bedroom getting ready to say goodbye before she goes to yac. but this time it would be for her to go to la to work on her music and him to camp and without the kissing this time... but i think the driving is a great way to use the metaphor most effectively lol... like i say- i think the best extension of the metaphor is nini driving on past camp like- driving off into the sunset type of thing... but idk. bc for one thing in my head ricky's def the driver of the two and also i think it makes more sense to see him arrive at camp and that be like- the arrival moment. also him having to drive on without her... is a powerful visual just as much as her driving on without him is. because she's more ready for it, so if that's actually her last scene that's a great last scene for her, that confident moment as she goes to her bright future, but if we're going to see some of her in la (i think we will at least a little bit), then we can watch ricky drive on without her and then we can see his fractures too, so idk which is more impactful really. it just depends on how they want to play it.

another person he could go with, beyond nini or his dad or going alone, which i think him going alone and him going with nini but then making the end of the trip alone are the most powerfully symbolic narrative-wise (for the latter, like up to this point he's always had her but now- that's gone and he's all by himself sort of thing...), is that he could go with lily. i know no one in the fandom probably wants to see this, but it could be interesting anyway. i don't know if i buy this as super realistic either- but it's not something i see as out of the question. it's weird because to start i was like there's no way lily's not at camp. it doesn't make a ton of sense to me for them not to like- use her for all she can do drama-wise. she brings a lot to the table, both in terms of ricky and in terms of general conflict options. like they had ricky call her... at the end of season 2, and had her steal the harness and they're just going to do almost all of that over facetime or something? idk it just feels silly to me. feels like it could be handled more dramatically in person. but anyway- now i'm feeling more on the side of lily's probably not going to camp. so in that sense, it doesn't make sense for her and ricky to drive to camp together. but- if we put her and ricky in the car together and say she is going to camp- it really will add to the way she contrasts with nini in pulling him towards theatre and stuff, and the ways they handle that. also just contrasts between them and then like- ej and gina as a couple and that whole car full of likely jolly people vs. ricky and lily who are probably quieter / less upbeat.

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but to say that he's alone solely because ej's car only has five seats isn't quite enough explanation for the situation. the ehs kids KNOW there's only five seats in that particular car. and unless ricky only decides to actually go to camp last minute, they know there's six of them (or more for those who still think seb and big red might be coming as campers). and that would be incredibly on brand for him to be fair, considering he keeps being late to his auditions, and i don't want to rule it out as a possibility... despite the fact that logically, you have to be registered for a sleepaway camp pretty darn far in advance... plus his dad cannot possibly afford to pay for a summer camp and then ricky not go.

so like if they know there's more than five of them, and the plan is carpooling as a group since they're all going to the same place, the best move would be to either a) take a car that seats at least six people, or b) take two cars and split up the group.

i've seen people say well no one in that car really cares at all about ricky or doesn't like ricky- so why on earth would they want to ride with him? i've seen ashlyn and carlos as like- somewhat exceptions in some of the things that make this point, but yeah. i've also seen some comments along the lines of 'it's what he deserves for hurting gina' but that's another conversation i really do not care to get into. what we 'deserve' is... complicated imo. but i guess a lot of people in this fandom also do like the idea of ej committing physical vio.lence against him over it so- i suppose i shouldn't be surprised. i'm largely anti- physical fights of any kind.

to the first point though- carlos and kourtney aren't really all that close with ej / ashlyn, aka the car owner and his cousin who would be going with him by default either. ej and kourtney bonded a bit in season 1 presumably while he was with nini. kourtney's probably a bit closer to ashlyn due to their whole tercet thing, but that also lasted all of one episode, then kourtney was mostly back to just being friends with nini more or less. carlos probably connects back to this the most through gina... not ashlyn or ej. gina's kind of by default going with them for two reasons, a) she lives with ashlyn so duh, and b) she's potentially ej's girlfriend by this point, or they're at least like on their way to that. for carlos and kourtney- there's no like reason they had to go with them. it was just a fun group bonding roadtrip type of ordeal. i don't think they intended to exclude ricky, i don't think it was originally planned for it to be all five of them together either, i think it was more of an oh we're so excited to go together and carlos was sorta like ooh i'd love to go with you / similar for kourtney and yeahhhh.

to close, i absolutely do think this is an entirely intentional move by the writers / production to make it clear just how alone ricky is or at least feels going into this season. it honestly doesn't matter if he is being intentionally iced out so much as if he feels isolated or appears isolated. the point is that ricky is not in a good place mentally / emotionally at the moment. the point is he's not set up for the awesome summer with an awesome group of friends the way the others are. it's a clear visual contrast. there's a reason they're having this fun group roadtrip moment and he's not a part of it. because literally- if they wanted to, the people responsible for this stuff could've used a bigger car. ej's original car probably seated 7 or 8 just based on what it looked like. i'm not saying the characters are doing it intentionally, i'm saying that it's an intentional production decision.