#ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE DONE A GRAHAM THEORY

[ghostnotoast]

Why Graham Folger will return in The Magnus Protocol summed up in 3 points:

1. He went to Oxford, you know what other characters also went to Oxford?? Georgie and Jon!!

My focus here is on Georgie because Celia mentions doing a favour for Georgie in tmagp 9 AND Georgie has links to The End and Oliver banks AND who do we know dated Oliver Banks?? Graham folger!!

I think it's possible that in tmagp Oliver and Graham could still be dating which I'll explain why that could be in my next point

2. If the institute was successfully burnt down in 1999 (possibly by Gertrude), does Dekker still end up binding the not-them into the web table? Is the not-them even a thing that roams around in tmagp universe?

If the web table doesn't contain the not-them, then maybe graham doesn't get replaced by the not-them!! Which then means that Oliver and Graham could still be together because in tma the reason why they end up breaking up is because Graham was acting 'off ' with Oliver (whether this is refrencing the notebook munching or 'not-graham' I don't know 😭 but the not-them is the reason for both of those things)

3. Gertrude and Gerry are alive and well in this universe. So it's possible that characters who were dead in tma could be alive in the tmagp universe! I think we're going to be hearing more familiar voices in tmagp and since Oliver is a person we've heard the voice of before I think it would be perfect to introduce him again as he's a voice people will recognise 👀 and if we hear Oliver then maybe we could possibly hear Graham as well? Guys I'm not crazy I promise

[aviewfromtheclouds25]

I've missed your Rebecca theories! Not that there's been anything to salivate over lately. Her sketchiness has died down a bit. I still think she's sketchy but that may be residual bias. But this rebooted Ross connection is suspicious. Did they really need her to be his unsuspecting drug dealer? I'm sure he can steal pills from other people who he didn't sleep with and possibly fathered a child with. Had no idea she even took painkillers.

I’m glad you sent me this, anon, because I have too many thoughts on all of this right now so was planning on making a post anyway haha!

I just want to note first though that I’m actually really enjoying everything with Ross and Rebecca these days - individually and together. I’d always liked them as a pairing (admittedly they were never on the scale of Ross and Donna, but they worked far better together than Dross ever did for me), but I’m genuinely loving this dynamic of these two lost souls supporting each other right now. It feels very natural and I feel invested in both storylines. I think Ross’s storyline has been really strong and moving, and Mike Parr’s been giving some really compelling and heart-wrenching performances. It’s nice to see him be given something proper to get his teeth into again.

And as for Rebecca - theories aside - I’m actually really enjoying / appreciating the direction they’re taking her character in nowadays. (I’m not saying I’m suddenly a Rebecca fan haha, but I’m appreciating her as a character nowadays.) Again I feel invested in her storyline and it’s actually really nice to see Emily get to do more, she’s having to highlight all these different sides to Rebecca’s personality right now and I think she’s doing a really good job. Because you know what they’ve done, anon? By actually taking Rebecca’s character in a direction, rather than just leaving her floating neither here nor there because they just never committed one way or the other, they’ve actually given the character some substance. And that’s why I’m now able to enjoy / appreciate her as a character. Because now she actually feels like one. To me at least. That substance, however, still doesn’t seem to extend to Seb and this brings me to the theories…

So this is where I currently stand on Theory Realm - I kept saying before that I’m not going there because personally I’m enjoying the narrative the way it is and have never wanted a twist for the sake of it. For me, a paternity twist and The Theory always went hand in hand as it was the decision to make Robert cheat in the first place (rather than the presence of the baby) which I found disappointing because I just didn’t feel like that was Robert at that stage (although a couple of days after The Incident, I wrote a mammoth post trying to get into the mindset of the storyliners/writers as they got into the mindset of Robert in order to make sense of why they felt like it was how Robert would handle the situation - yet another post which was never posted but I found it helpful at the time to understand the decision haha.). But I’ve also always maintained that the best way, for me, for The Theory to play out would have been as part of Robert’s breakdown and therefore by Christmas. So personally I’m quite happy for the narrative to continue the way it is now - saying that, I poured so much into the theories they’re always going to have a little piece of my heart and part of me can’t help but still want The Theory as @itwasjustmisplaced and I dedicated so much to it and of all the theories we discussed constantly, it’s the only one not to happen onscreen. So for the sake of myself and Taryn, and our sanity, it would still be quite nice and exciting haha! So that’s where my confliction on Theory Realm lies and why I’ve said I wasn’t going there, but it’s all still been going on in Theory Realm throughout and with each passing episode it feels like the show itself is literally trying to drag me back there… So, here we go, anon…

Rebecca’s relationship with Seb. I said her character feels like it has substance which it was lacking before - which is evident just in her interactions with other characters being far less about plot, but this doesn’t extend to Seb. Apart from her breaking down when she handed Seb over to Robert, we didn’t see any more of that time from her perspective - and we are actually seeing her perspective these days, so why not with Seb? Why not show her struggling without him, particularly as he was the one constant in her routine and structure which would surely be crucial and have a big impact on her symptoms? Instead we got Robert’s perspective and Aaron bonding with Seb, while Rebecca disappeared until she popped up in the pub (wearing that grey jumper) looking for a job (with Charity commenting on her lack of blinking, I hope you all picked up on that haha)… So is this because Seb is staying as a permanent fixture with Robert and Aaron, or because he’s going to be taken away from them and therefore it was necessary to build that bond as a family (which was always part of The Theory and one of the reasons the break-up parting didn’t make sense to me at the time.)..? (Or alternatively was it a simple matter of timing because look at Vanessa - she got suspended but we haven’t seen anything since of how she’s coping with being in a different role, how Paddy and Rhona are coping with the workload without her etc. Sometimes it is just down to screentime and other storylines taking precedence at that point.) Because what we are getting with Rebecca and Seb is Lachlan feeding her the line that Robert would still try to take Seb away from her. Are we due that custody battle that was prematurely speculated about after all..? And if so, will Joe Tate play a role as - sadly - he’s also been a poignant connecting factor in all of this…

The Ross connection. (They had already planted the painkillers seed by the way - when she left Seb on his own it’s because she’d run out of painkillers for her headaches so went to get some from the shop, but forgot when she was there and came home with only a magazine and some chocolate.) Now, on the surface, it kind of looks like they’ve just re-established the connection between Ross and Rebecca but actually their storylines have been connected throughout. Even as far back as January, when Robert was planning on taking Seb, Ross was there (with Moses) buying into the situation with his quips about Adam not being able to run forever… Also note, Ross has actually only been onscreen with Seb once - helping Robert with the pram and his stuff outside the café. That’s it. But actually, the biggest connection is that they’re both going through health storylines right now and these have been intricately linked from the start…

Ross hanging around making jibes shortly before the crash;

The day of Ross’s attack, Rebecca had a turn and fainted;

Which brings me to the first point of the Joe factor - obviously it was Joe who was supposed to be in Ross’s shoes, but instead it was he and Graham who found and helped Ross;

The day Robron reunited - alternatively known as that time Robert left the front door open for a whole night - Ross was alone at home, unable to open his front door and afraid when the pizza delivery guy came knocking, while two (I think) doors down we also had a shot of Robert closing the door, not wanting to open the front door on which Aaron was knocking - except eventually he did, and he left that door wide open (intentionally or not haha)… The door to Rebecca and Seb’s home…;

Point two of the Joe factor - Rebecca went and attacked Joe - who was the one supposed to be on the receiving end of the attack on Ross - and when he discovers the cctv footage of Graham with Simon (aka clues to Ross’s attack) we think this is the footage he’s about to show Graham but instead he plays Rebecca’s attack on himself;

Point three of the Joe factor - Joe had Rebecca arrested to get one over on Robert. Note, Rebecca was wearing her blouse from The Incident night for the first time in a long time and obviously there was quite a big focus on it at the police station… Now, Robert went after Joe for this, as predicted, so does that make the speculated custody battle seem more likely..? Personally I don’t think Joseph Tate is above manipulating an ill and vulnerable Rebecca (with the help of Lachlan’s whisperings of course) to try to take Seb away from Robert and maybe due to the legality side that’s how the paternity test finally comes about to prove Robert’s rights - imagine Joe’s delight if it turned out Seb wasn’t Robert’s son at all…

And then of course Rebecca and Ross finally started sharing scenes together again…

Rebecca and Charity defending Ross against those awful girls - two exes: one, the mother of his son who was revealed to be his as a “Who’s the daddy?” twist and who has proven to be Ross’s anchor and purpose to get him through all of this right now (there’s been such a heavy focus on his relationship with Moses and lines of dialogue like “Am I still your daddy?” which could be read into if you want to go there, but personally I don’t want to detract from the actual story they’re showing with Ross as I’ve found it all heartbreaking.); the other, the mother of a son who could have been his except the question of “Who’s the daddy?” never came…

Their bonding and hanging out together, so supportive of each other, but Ross alluding to something more happening and saying “It’s not like you’d remember it anyway.” Which on its own doesn’t seem like anything more than a Ross quip, but this was while Rebecca was wearing The Incident blouse…

Now, add all of this to the fact that Lachlan used the line the other night about “all of our secrets” - plural, not just the truth of how the crash happened… And remember Rebecca said, “The thing about secrets is you have to be comfortable keeping them.” Well Rebecca isn’t comfortable with that anymore, she no longer has that level of control over the information she reveals… And on that front, isn’t it cruelly ironic that we, the audience, are being treated to a trip down memory lane for Rebecca while she herself is struggling to remember anything? Not just with Ross, but with Debbie (responsible for Ross’s attack and discussing Joe - connections) and also bringing up Vic’s “obsession” with having a baby… If there was to be a twist, they’ve set it up perfectly to allow themselves to be a bit creative with it… Maybe we will get that Memento style flashback we all asked for after all. :P But if that were to happen, why not go a little further and give us an extra big twist? Maybe Rebecca’s initial injuries were sustained much earlier and the crash exacerbated them - perhaps that bonfire night when she was knocked out and Chrissie left her for dead was the start of it all, maybe this is why there has been inconsistencies with her character, maybe this is why she regularly told people different stories, maybe she never slept with Robert at all but like him she just assumed because she couldn’t remember..? And maybe this is why she keeps wearing that black and white coat again which she wore that bonfire night but hadn’t actually been around much last year… I mean, this is just a wild bit of theorising for fun, but with the situation they’ve put her into almost anything is possible haha.

So yeah, I still don’t know how I feel about the prospect of anything happening, anon. Literally all the signs are still there, it’s just how we choose to interpret them. And I’m just not sure at this stage because I’ve moved on with the narrative, but still there’s a niggle. Alas.