#Jamie's Metas

[dandelionjack]

antiGRAV? it’s antimav doctor, everyone knows this, you claim to be a tech whiz and yet

[thetarttfuldickhead]

One of the things I particularly like about Jamie’s redemption arc is that the explanation for his bad behavious comes after he makes reconcilatory overtures. In a lot of TV shows you’ll have a jerk and then you’ll have a flash to someone treating them badly as a way to demonstrate why they are are the way they are and to make them more sympathetic, and then you’ll get them – maybe – trying to do better – but with Jamie you don’t get any of his sad backstory until he’s already making moves towards decent: in season one he makes the good choice to show up to the bonfire sacrifice, to follow Keeley’s advice and show willing, and then he offers up some of his dad stuff as part of that, and as part of an (admittedly very, very understated) kinda, sorta apology and suggestion that he’ll try to be less of a prick going forward. In season two the big showdown with his dad and the stark truth of their relationship revealed doesn’t come until well after Jamie’s made good with the team. Rather than cheaply buying our sympathy the show has Jamie do the work to earn the audiences’ favour, just as he does the team’s, before suggesting that, hey, maybe assholes are often assholes for a reason – and I just think that’s neat.

[whenmemorydies]

Lessons of a mentor: every second counts

The Bear brainrot continues unabated and a character that has been sitting at the back of my mind since I first watched 2x07 Forks has been Chef Terry. Her influence is felt in a multitude of ways throughout season 2, most notably via the impact she's had on her former chefs, Carmen and Luca. What fascinates me more about Chef Terry though are the parallels between her and Syd and the home truths that both these powerhouse women keep dropping (and which many a loudmouth dude on this show keep missing...*womp*).

Lots more under the cut. This is a long post but this show is so bloody juicy I couldn't help myself!

Who is Chef Terry?

So quick recap: Chef Terry is the Executive Chef at Ever, a 3-Michelin starred restaurant in Chicago, loosely based on and shot on location at the actual Ever. In the show, the restaurant opened in 2012 and was awarded "the best restaurant in the world" that same year.

In 2x07 Forks as Richie walks past portraits of Ever's alumni, we learn that both Carmen and Chef Luca (now based in Copenhagen, Denmark) both worked at the restaurant together, under Chef Terry. This is previously hinted at in 2x04 Honeydew when Luca talks to Marcus about working with a chef who worked "harder and faster than [Luca] ever could," and who inadvertently pushed Luca to get "better than [Luca] possibly could be, just from trying to keep up with him."

Chefs Carmen and Luca at Ever.

In 2x07 Forks, we get Chef Terry's origin story as she recounts it to Richie, who Carmy has sent to Ever to stage for a week. We learn that:

Chef Terry, like Richie and Syd, is an only child. She likely had a tense relationship with her father (who we learn was a Corporal in the military) before he passed, but is incredibly close with her mother, her only living parent.

Carm getting Richie a spot to stage at Ever was not a favour because Chef Terry doesn't do favours:

Chef Terry is quick to praise folks who try to learn. Note when she asks Richie if he'd like to peel mushrooms with her and she tells him that his first attempt is great (despite the fact that process-wise, he peels them in the exact opposite direction she does):

She had previously tried to open "a giant place" years ago when she was younger, and by her own description, "was on fire [and was] arrogant." Chef Terry then says she moved too fast and couldn't keep the place open.

She later opened Ever after coming across the building's "For Lease" sign while walking.

Its clear from her conversation with Richie about Ever's beginnings that Chef Terry is a firm believer in it never being too late to try again:

But for me, the most important thing we learn about Chef Terry in the 5 minutes she's on screen with us, is her belief in time being well spent. When Richie first sees Chef Terry, she's quietly peeling mushrooms by herself in the kitchen. When Richie asks her why she's doing this work, instead of a stage, we get this lovely bit of dialogue:

Chef Terry then goes on to tell Richie about her father and how he kept pocket notebooks in which he made hundreds of entries about different experiences while he was on military tour.

While Chef Terry never tells Richie how her father signed off on each of his pocket notebook entries, its implied by the end of the episode, that The Bear's mantra of "every second counts" originates from those very notebooks.

This was revelatory to me. Up until Chef Terry and Richie's conversation in 2x07 Forks, "every second counts" in this show was synonymous with Carmy's "sense of urgency", taped to the pass in 1x02 Hands and tattooed across his knuckles in the form of "S O U".

Prior to 2x07 Forks, "every second counts" was wrapped up in the frenetic pace of a restaurant's back of house, with Mikey dying well before his time and by his own hand, with the panicked need to fix the regret and broken-heartedness that accompanied years of estrangement, with Donna's litany of cooking timers going off every other minute in a kitchen covered in chaos and passata. It had to do with time slipping away and the persistent, but always losing battle to try and steal it back.

But in Chef Terry's conversation with Richie, it is made clear to the audience that the lesson in "every second counts" is not about speed or clawing anything back. Those notebook entries were not made for any other reason than to describe, remember, and step into a moment. Chef Terry peels mushrooms at first light in her restaurant because it attaches her to her work and connects her to those whose bellies she fills with her food. "Every second counts" is about savouring every second that we have, while we have it, and being present in each of those moments, as much as we can.

Its about realising that every second does count because every second has meaning.

Time spent informed by this knowledge, is time well spent.

Lessons and Parallels with Sydney

Like Chef Terry, Sydney also tried to run her own business, Sheridan Road, but it "got too big too fast", and she was unable to keep up with its demands. As she tells Carmy in 1x05 Sheridan,

My credit got destroyed. I mean, my whole shit got rocked.

The failures of both of their respective businesses pushed both women into the depths of existential crisis. Chef Terry tells Richie how she had been "unemployed, angry, depressed", and "blaming everybody else for all the time I'd lost."

While Sydney never makes an admission like this about the fallout of Sheridan Road, the depth of the impact of that failure on her is clearly apparent in the show, most notably in 2x09 Omelette. In this episode, Syd's father Emmanuel asks her why she is putting so much pressure on herself to be successful with The Bear. Syd responds, its because she doesn't know if she could start another business.

Later in the same episode, we hear Syd's even more vulnerable admission to Carm about her fear of failure, under that pretense for intimacy table.

Like Chef Terry, Sydney does not do favours. Recall when she fixed Tina's bouquet garni-infused cream in 1x04 Dogs after the latter kept ignoring Syd's advice on how to prep the mashed potatoes and ended up ruining her first batch of cream in the process:

Also, bonus Fak attack (lol) from the same episode:

But also like Chef Terry, Syd is generous with her praise when folks try - as opposed to only praising those who succeed. The praise is for the attempt in the moment to grow, not in the growth itself. Recall in 1x02 Hands as Syd calls out orders to Ebra, he falters and says back the wrong count. Syd gently corrects him and Ebra tries again, after which Syd says,

Gorgeous. Thank you, chef.

Its a small moment, but its one of the first times we hear the word "gorgeous" used inside The Beef. You can literally see Carmy's shock at the utterance, at the firm kindness of the exchange between Syd and Ebra. I personally like to think this might also be a moment of recognition for him, where he sees an echo of his mentor, Terry, in the woman he's about to hire as his sous chef.

And finally, of all the characters on this show, the one who seems to best understand that every second counts because every second has meaning, is Sydney. To me this is epitomised by her omnipresent notebooks in which she's always writing, clearly echoing Chef Terry's father and his will to remember the detail.

Sydney's question to her father in 2x09 Omelette is also indicative to me of a person who understands that each moment we have on this tiny blue dot is precious. When Emmanuel tells her that he doesn't think she needs to make everything "the thing" because she will always have his support, Sydney asks him,

Why can't we put everything that we have into everything that we can?

I've no doubt that Sydney's ethos, embodied by this question, is the result of the passing of her mother when she was a child. With that loss, Sydney would have learned from a young age that every second is important. She knows that you can't get more time, so you make the most of that which you have. Or in her words, you put everything you have, into everything that you can.

Its striking to me how differently Syd and Carm have interpreted the intention behind "every second counts" in the context of death and bereavement. Sydney moves through life with a drive borne out of knowing that our lives are finite and so every second contains the potential for possibility. Its why she had the guts to start her own business, had the optimism to apply to work at The Beef under a culinary hero, and had the hope to take a punt with The Bear.

In contrast to this, Carmy rails against time: at the time that he lost with Mikey, at the seconds that he might lose with each hiccup that delays a plate on the pass. For him, there's never enough time because it is constantly being snatched away.

He tells us in 2x03 Sundae that he struggles with being present in the moment and open to the world because he is always waiting for "the other shoe to drop",

I have to remind myself to breathe sometimes. I have to remind myself to be present, you know. Remind myself that the sky is not falling, that there is no other shoe. Which is incredibly difficult because there is always another shoe. I dunno, I think, you know maybe if I could provide more-more-more amusement or-or enjoyment for myself, it would be easier to provide for others, you know.

This isn't to say that Carmy isn't trying. Throughout the show, we've seen glimpses of him stopping to sit within a moment: his making time to talk to Richie about purpose in 2x01 Beef, his constant beckoning to Sydney to "say more" in both seasons 1 and 2, his return to art and drawing in season 2 - an act that physically forces you to slow down and observe detail, his repeated attempts to check in with Natalie about how she's doing despite his discomfort at the question, and most obviously, taking the time to softly, intentionally and unhurriedly comfort a worried Sydney with less than 25 minutes to open on the opening night of their restaurant.

To me, there are a number of reasons why its no surprise that Carmy is drawn to Sydney. I've mentioned a few here in this reply to @mod-doodles. Chief among them though are her consistency, her stability, and her integrity, all informed by Sydney's ethos of putting everything she has into everything she can; into making every second count, just like Carm would have seen his mentor Chef Terry do while he was at Ever.

I reckon Carmy's ultimate challenge in The Bear is going to be getting to the realisation that Chefs Terry, Sydney and even Luca (recall his chat about "openness" with Marcus in 2x04 Honeydew) have already reached: that because every second counts, happiness and peace - indeed amusement and enjoyment - are to be found in the doing, in the process, in the getting there, together. I'm sure by the end of our journey with these lovingly crafted characters, Carm will get there too.

Author's note:

Incidental to the above is this show's God-tier level casting. Storer and Calo have made it a point to cast famous and immensely talented actors in some of the smallest parts on this show...why? I'm thinking specifically of the casting of Jamie Lee Curtis as matriarch/walking emotional vortex Donna Berzatto and Olivia Colman as Capo/Chef Terry. Jamie Lee Curtis appears in The Bear throughout one full episode (2x06 Fishes) and in one scene (with everyone's favourite unproblematic king, Pete) in 2x10 The Bear. Olivia Colman appears in the show for just under 5 minutes, at the end of 2x07 Forks.

I reckon that, while the speaking parts for these characters are relatively small compared to other roles in The Bear, the casting choices here are reflective of the impact of these two characters on Carmen (in particular) and others on the show. The showrunners needed to cast folks whose reputations would precede them in order to instil in us, the audience, the same gravity of their presence as would be felt by the characters in the world of The Bear.

Donna Berzatto:

Donna's impact on the psyches of her children is huge. For evidence of this, watch the faces of Carmen, Natalie and Mikey whenever they're in proximity to their mother in 2x06 Fishes. They are constantly watching her, gauging her reactions and her levels. This is most clearly the case for Natalie who spends most of Fishes in a state of panicked fear, anticipating her mother's every move. Who better to cast as the anxiety-inducing-word-slurring-flirtatious-alcoholic Berzatto matriarch than scream queen, 80s/90s sex symbol and survivor of intergenerational substance abuse, Jamie Lee Curtis?

Chef Terry:

In contrast to Donna, Terry is a stable, consistent force of nature who has mentored successive waves of chefs that have walked through Ever's halls. She's overcome setbacks and had to relaunch herself, doing so with great success, while remaining grounded. While Olivia Colman's been plugging at acting on screen for over twenty years, she didn't reach the height of fame that she's currently enjoying until much later in her career and her life. By many public accounts, she's an incredibly talented, kind and down to earth A-lister. Also this interview with her is so Chef Terry coded I wouldn't be surprised if Calo and Storer read it and offered her the role the next day:

“There’s some amazing actors who don’t get asked back because they don’t behave very nicely,” she said. “Learn your lines, try and know everyone’s name, be on time … There’s a million people who would have your job in a second and more … who are better than you. Take your job seriously and not yourself.”

Without naming names, Colman said: “We all have actor stories of people who were unpleasant, unkind, ungenerous – and it goes around.”

Nor should actors ever become too grand to take on even a short film, she suggested: “Some people might think: ‘I don’t do that any more.’ I think that’s exciting to do. You’re going to meet new people or a new writer who might remember you later on … [Do] not get too up yourself, too grand. Work is work. If I now decided: ‘Oh, I will only do feature films,’ I might not work again.

“If you get accolades for something, enjoy it for a bit, but put it aside and pretend that hasn’t happened a week later. You still need to work and no one else will remember it either after a week. So crack on.”

Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis and Olivia Colman are fantastic actresses who could have acted the pants off their respective roles without their own personal backstories and filmographies doing any lifting...but given the limited time that they're on screen, having actresses who can bring all of that history and shorthand to the role is GOLD for quickly creating meaning and depth for the audience.

As soon as Donna first turned that corner in the kitchen in 2x06 Fishes chaotically balancing a tray of branzino in one hand and a cigarette in the other, yammering about spilling shit everywhere, I knew I was in for a ride. Likewise, as soon as Chef Terry gently suggested where Richie might find the polish he was looking for (instead of biting his head off because he was a mere stage and she was Capo), I knew I needed to be seated for the lesson that 2x07 Forks had been building up to all episode (and indeed that Richie's entire character arc had been building up to for almost two seasons). And phew...did these two brilliant women absolutely deliver.

K that's the end. If you made it this far, DM me because you are probably incredibly patient, kind and like to read and I need more of that energy in my life LOL. Thanks for spending some of your precious time with me <3.

[maidenvault]

I can’t even be that mad that Jamie’s still mad at John. The more I think about it, the more it’s clear it’s not just about what happened with him and Claire or the deliberately indelicate way John said it was all about him. Some big upheaval between them has always felt inevitable because of their differences, and they need to start over on better terms tbh. Their connection’s always had kind of an uneven power dynamic going both ways - John is a lord and Jamie was his prisoner, but Jamie’s a big weakness for him, someone he’ll compromise his principles for and love no matter what. So seeing John actually shout at Jamie, Jamie demanding to know all the details while beating the shit out of him and John saying “No,” John understanding his anger but nonetheless refusing to apologize for loving and grieving for him…After fearing John might end up under-served in the long run and never get a real arc, this is beyond my wildest dreams lol. It feels like John’s starting to grow more of a spine while Jamie’s finally fed up for now with that redcoat asshole and it’s kind of beautiful to see.

And I’m never disappointed to get a reminder that at the end of the day, Jamie’s still a man of his time. As a rule he’s not a judgmental person. He’s always respected and cared for John deeply, knowing the feelings he has for him. But some things he still doesn’t have the framework to properly understand.

This and his trauma over Randall don’t excuse the traces of homophobia this brings out of him, but they make it believable. Obviously he’s not naive about these things and knows Claire isn’t, but in this world she’s still a “respectable” if unconventional woman. From a 1700s perspective, knowing that John let her into that world of his he usually keeps entirely private in such a way makes it seem that John basically used her like a whore. He says as much in his uglier comments about it to Claire. Even from a modern perspective, John and Claire of all people sleeping together is very strange and speaks to how desperate they were for any kind of momentary comfort. To him it sounds depraved.

And without a doubt it must be vaguely triggering, too. It’s meaningful that the morning after their hellish long dark night of the soul, John tells Claire that accepting Jamie’s offer of himself all those years ago would have ruined everything between them so he doesn’t regret it. To Jamie it has to feel like John finally crossed a boundary with him he thought he was too honorable to cross, which in a way was the foundation of them having such a strong friendship.

And truly John did. Going up to Claire’s room that night to let them console each other as if his pain compared to hers was crossing a boundary. But Jamie will never know the horrible wailing screams John heard coming from her room because he was gone, how losing him was so hard for John because it came with the impossible task of having to be there for Claire, who he also cares for. The truth is in every other moment he was forced to put his own grief aside because Claire’s loss was so much greater and she was literally suicidal, but as Claire says actually sharing the grief was the only thing that saved them.

So yeah, of course he’s not sorry. After Jamie comes back and acts like everything’s fine now, John’s feelings that he couldn’t keep private in his grief can’t just neatly be put right back into the same compartment as always. When he’s just had the added stress of William learning the truth and he unloads on Jamie for asking “Why?” it’s like he just can’t keep suffering in silence for everyone else’s comfort, not after fucking everything he’s now done for this man and his family.

And it rankles a lot that Jamie can seemingly forget all that now, and he’s being kind of a huge fucking baby about marking his territory for a man in his fifties who knows perfectly well this will hurt his marriage 0%. But then John can’t be normal about this and about Jamie either. He knows he fucked this up, he betrayed the person who’s everything to him even if he didn’t mean to, and he expects nothing less than Jamie’s violent reaction. To him he “had a right to touch him” and almost permanently damage his eye. :/

And because John’s character, as I understand, has been softened a lot in his show portrayal, it’s easy to forget their friendship has always been kind of unhealthy on both ends. John is immensely privileged and wasn’t sensitive to the power imbalance in their early relationship, which has always partly remained a factor until now. He kept and cherished the sapphire Jamie “gave” him as his prisoner; Jamie obviously doesn’t remember that time so fondly even if John was sometimes a great comfort to him. Jamie relied on maintaining a friendship with him to have any connection to William, and now that the truth’s out it doesn’t matter. Jamie’s anger at him is explosive because he’s never felt free to show it before. When he later calls him “that bloody Englishman” it shows his sense of betrayal but also some long-pent-up frustration.

Now Jamie is part of the occupying force in Philadelphia, on the winning side of a war this time, and John ends up his prisoner. Jamie seems mostly annoyed to be in this position and doesn’t treat him with cruelty or contempt. Their short exchange about being in chains says everything. As much as he adores John, Jamie’s never forgotten what that felt like. But he also remembers what it meant that John treated him kindly when he had power over him. It’s fucking complicated.

Jamie’s never one to let go of his anger easily, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t still love and respect John. He calls William “our son” when he doesn’t have to, and he looks so conflicted hearing Claire say John saved her life, but he can’t see these two people who mean so much to him together without thinking about what happened and all the ways their friendship has been a little fucked up for both of them all along. They can’t go back to the way things were and that’s a good thing.

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

I know it was meant to be a joke, but it kind of breaks my heart that S2 Jamie thinks the best way to make friends is to buy all his teammates PS5s. The way his logoc

Like he really thinks his likeability is tied to his talent, money and looks. The way he says what better thing to spend money on than love just screams to me low self value.

I really think he struggled to make friends his whole life and most of the people who came in his life like him for his talent, star potential and what he could do for them.

Which means when Zava comes along in season 3 he probably legit thought he was going to lose all his friends. Now, they didn't need him on the pitch. So now I just want to give him a great big hug.

His S3 storyline really helps him learn what true friendship is.

[sylvies-chen]

my mother said something really interesting about this episode (yes, she also watches the show and is a huge fan of dani rojas just like me) and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. she said: “it seems to me like this whole episode was about intimacy”

and like… yeah! that’s exactly it! the amsterdam trip set the perfect scene for it too, because people are normally a little more lax on vacation, a little more adventurous, a little more lenient and able to put themselves out there.

you have the pretty obvious contenders for this point: rebecca having her little fling with that nameless bald man and learning to open herself up to real connection and intimacy again, to be able to envision for herself a life and a love that is unmoored to her past with rupert and is able to exist in its own little intimate pocket. you’ve got jamie and roy learning to trust in each other, to be intimate and vulnerable about their pasts and about their present situations too (especially for roy, who is still right now a man who would rather break up with the woman he loves that admit, that he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her). and you also have, of course, the true soul of the episode, which was colin and trent’s discussion, and how colin feels that ache to be able to show the more intimate parts of him to the world the way heterosexual couples do, to be able to merge his intimate personal life with his fun if not a little reserved professional life. how to achieve a balance between intimacy and privacy.

and then you have the less obvious ones maybe, like higgins and will going to the jazz club— which isn’t really that hard to decipher when you think about it. it is, after all, where higgins opens up about an intimate detail of his love for jazz, and then gets to share his previously very intimate and private activity of playing the bass with the crowd. he even starts the night complaining of how exposed their seats feel, and ends up standing on the stage by the end of it. and, of course, will potentially had a threesome. so there’s a kind of intimacy for you. the one that truly isn’t obvious is the team pillow fight which honestly, I think is just a way of showing that sometimes a more intimate, fun yet indoor activity makes for better memories than something like a sex show or a club, which are both very grand and exciting yet impersonal and detached kinds of activities.

then of course you have ted, who is sort of lacking what my mother called an intimacy with himself. he’s been feeling a little lost, a little “stuck” as he put it. and I don’t think he understood why until this episode, until this adventure he went on with the museum and the american themed restaurant. it was a way for him to spend quality time with himself, to be alone with his thoughts while still not totally unable to absorb his surroundings and learn something. and in exploring his more intimate thoughts he was able to think of something really good! something that will make him a better coach!

and yeah, when it’s framed in this way I think this episode was sooooo killer. I love seeing people open up a little bit, to show these deep and intimate parts of their being. it’s so so so good.

[lunar-years]

So I know people have talked about how Roy's anger and ways of dealing with that anger might trigger some stuff with Jamie given his history with abuse which is so very true, BUT I also think there's something worth exploring in the idea that the way Jamie deals with his father and processes his abuse might trigger Roy. We don't know exactly what happened with Roy's sister and her husband and Phoebe, but we certainly know how angry Roy is about it in canon. And I also think it's not an unfair assumption to think Roy carries around quite a lot of guilt over that too, guilt that he didn't see it sooner and guilt because he thinks he maybe wasn't there for his sister enough, or in the right ways, when it mattered. Guilt that he didn't help her get out of the situation sooner, even though much of that is wrapped up in the way abuse victims often conceal what they're going through from the people who care about them. Undoubtedly there were probably things his sister was keeping from him about the situation when it was happening, but knowing Roy I can also see him reflecting back and placing the blame entirely on himself for not being involved enough in her life to have seen it coming.

So I think like, the idea that Jamie would not only invite his father back into his life but also not tell anyone (not tell Roy) anything about it might genuinely be so triggering for Roy in that sense. It's not only that he's concerned about Jamie's wellbeing (though obviously that always takes priority) it's also that he feels like he's missed something again, something critical, and that a situation he's always feared happening with Phoebe & his sister and her ex is now playing out with this other person he loves. At Wembley he could handle it because it was James intruding where he didn't belong, and Roy had something to do immediately, a place to step in and a role to play. it would be sooooo much harder for him, I think, to comprehend Jamie being the one to reach out to James and blocking Roy out from helping him. Because then it's not only Jamie's wellbeing that scares him but also the fact that he feels completely helpless to do a anything about it, like there's no purpose for him and no way to make the situation any better or easier. ahhhhh.

[expectopatronum-spell]

How is no one talking about Jamie’s dad right now??

In a show that’s ostensibly about forgiveness, there were two notable exceptions until s03s10: Rupert (aka The Devil) and James Tartt Sr. (aka that abusive piece of shit). And we were OK with those exceptions, because their actions really do seem unforgivable.

But then the show takes “everyone deserves a second chance” to an extreme, because they really mean EVERYONE.

Not just the woman who hired to as an elaborate scheme and set up up for failure.

Not just the man who wrote an article outing your mental health issues to the world.

Not just the man who shared said mental health issues with a journalist in the first place.

Not just the man who stole your car after you took him in.

But also the serial cheater who bought a whole ass football club just to antagonize his ex wife. If he is willing to apologize and work on himself, he deserves forgiveness. Doesn’t mean Rebecca has to take him back, but they both get to live their lives without hatred weighing them down.

And also the abusive father who was still hurting his son as recently as last year. Now, let me be clear on this, Jamie doesn’t EVER have to repair his relationship with his dad. Even if his dad is clearly getting the help he needs and comes out of that facility a changed man. But he can let go over his hatred and they can both move on.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean taking back the person who hurt you (although it does allow that). It means setting you both free of that hurt.

[fanficfanattic]

It only just occurred to me. But Jamie knew the cursing rule without us seeing it established during Uncle’s Day. So now I’m imagining how that exchange went.

I could see Roy’s sister initiating the call. Explaining who she is but that Phoebe can explain it best. And then that proper little dweeb gets on to explain Uncle’s Day; that they have tea and then themed presents* and it ends in a two-person play.

But then also about the fine system, that they don’t offer milk with their tea because of Uncle Roy being lactose intolerant. Like she gets to talk to someone N E W who also loves her Uncle Roy. She gets over/excited and just info dumps about her uncle.

And of course Jamie is charmed. He’s an excited about things info dumper too. And a Roy Kent stan. And a just-some-bloke-named-roy fan too.

So he puts some change in his pocket and shows up for Phoebe. It being about Roy is just icing on the cake.

* “This year we’re making shirts!”

Jamie *pen leaking ink into his mouth thinking “does it count if I come up with the idea but someone else does the actual work?”

Phoebe *tapping her capped pen against her Uncle’s Day 2023 plan* “I suppose so…”

[narniangirl1994]

I did not like Jamie and Roy being weirdly sexist about Keeley and physically fighting one another over her, only to have no real conclusion to that storyline. First of all, they handled their jealousy over Keeley better in previous seasons when the two of them were rivals and had a lot of growing to do... which makes it seem like they randomly regressed in this episode after they've both matured and become friends. Which is just stupid.

And second of all, the dialogue was so sexist and uncomfortable at times, like Jamie using the video Keeley previously made for him as proof they were meant to be together, when that video is irrelevant to the topic at hand and led to her getting hurt earlier this season (which Jamie is well aware of). It's a gross thing to brag about. Or how Roy thought he had any right to tell Jamie to back off and acted like a one night stand was proof he and Keeley would definitely get back together.

Or how the two guys said they would 'let her' decide which of them she wanted to be with, without an ounce of self awareness about how sexist and presumptuous that was until she kicked them out of her house. But then, that was the end of it. No other conversations or conclusions to that conflict other than some vague background moments with no dialogue that may or may not have been a dream sequence.

What was the point of all the buildup of their intertwined relationships throughout the entire show if the payoff was going to be so... empty and unconcluded?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think any of them should have gotten together this soon, since Roy really needs to work on himself emotionally and Keeley needs to have some time to herself and focus on other areas of her life right now. Jamie is arguably in the best place for a relationship, but wouldn't have a partner ready for him in either (or both) of them right now. And I'm glad at least the stupid fight seemed to spark a realization in Roy that he had more growing to do.

But while I didn't need the three of them to declare their love for each other in the finale, I'm disappointed with the weirdly possessive, jealous behavior from Roy and Jamie as well as the lack of any real resolution, and think all of these characters deserved better after everything they've been through together and the growing they've all done.

[chefbuck]

roy is grumpy bc he is like suppressing his inner weird girl and he doesnt know why its so difficult to be normal and jamie is like omg i love weird girls my first love is a weird girl and that makes roy mad bc he doesnt know if hes horny or pissed off (both hes pissed off that jamie makes him horny) and if u just lock them in a room together they basically neutralize each other

[dandelionjack]

missy doesn’t understand that she’s in the wrong genre. she believes she’s in a darkly alluring gothic romance instead of an optimistic sci-fi show. in her genre, gifting your estranged ex/enemy/lover/best friend/twin flame an indestructible undead army to prove to him that your will to power is identical is the most romantic gesture imaginable. it’s victory via surrender, it’s control through abdication. all her scheming to “corrupt” him, to demonstrate that they’re the same deep down, that his sanctimonious morality is nothing but a method of keeping his own conscience clean, that’s the hannibal gene, the lestat gene (*obviously the dynamics aren’t 1-to-1 similar, but… close enough) and missy’s tragedy in death in heaven is in that, within the narrative format she’s trapped in, she can never succeed

[thetarttfuldickhead]

Everything about Jamie getting Roy his gift is fucking me up.

I mean, the fact that he did it at all? From failing to bring a Secret Santa gift because he didn’t know that he had to, to putting all this time and effort into finding the perfect present for Roy, all because some random girl invited him to a made-up holiday and oh, you have to bring him a gift as well?

The black on black on black wrapping. Not what Jamie would go for personally, but this isn’t for Jamie, is it, this is for Roy, and so he wraps it accordingly.

How he starts to explain the gift before Roy has even finished opening it. He is just so fucking nervous that Roy won’t get it.

And then, finally and fucking heartbreakingly, there’s the way his face starts to fall as Roy just stares at him without saying anything after Jamie explains how he got them to change the ‘e’ for an ‘u’, because Jamie certainly didn’t mean this as an insult; it is a joke but the joke’s not on Roy, it’s between them but what if Roy doesn’t like it? What if he’s actually offended? (Sublime acting there from Phil Dunster, but what else is new.)

Only Roy does like it. Loves it. And Jamie’s smile is relieved is pleased is shy is yeah fucking nailed it.

[highlyillogicalandroid]

Jamie antagonizing Ted and Ted almost snapping but then Henry runs in and Jamie freezes because he doesn’t know how to process a father putting AWAY his anger for the sake of a son and then Jamie looks to Ted before he signs Henry’s shirt like he’s asking permission because a child is asking him to be kind and how can he be when no man was ever kind to him just kill me honestly

[maidenvault]

I’m still only about halfway through the show but it continues to make me insane how John Grey and Jack Randall, as the two most important gay characters in Outlander, serve as foils for each other in all these fascinating ways that largely cancel out my initial reservations about the writing of queer characters on this show.

Randall hates that his brother, the only person in the world he seems to love, forces him with his dying wish to take Mary as his wife. It doesn’t matter that he’s not attracted to women, Randall is such a sick sadist he can’t trust himself to have that kind of power over a person so dear to Alex. And it seems to prove his fears right, and that it’s lucky he probably dies without the marriage even consummated, that he’s so anguished by going through with it he starts beating Alex’s corpse in front of her the moment he’s died.

Likewise John is horrified by the idea when Brianna tries to blackmail him into marrying her for her convenience, because even if he doesn’t like women she’s Jamie’s full-grown daughter and he can’t help but feel drawn to her. He knows there’s a very weak part of him that is not above sleeping with her to feel close to the man he wants more than anything. John would never actually touch her, just as he wouldn’t have Jamie on the wrong terms, but I think threatening her by saying he’s been married before and is perfectly capable of consummating it is the only way he can make her understand why he can’t possibly marry her. It wouldn’t be a danger to her but it would probably kind of destroy him.

Randall’s story always feels like it’s entangled with Jamie’s and Claire’s by destiny. Claire was always connected to her soul mate from 200 years ago through her marriage to a Randall, and Jack is the first person she encounters in the past. The two of them have this fascinating chemistry because she has what he can’t have, because she and Jamie are the only people he’s fully shown himself to as a total monster, and he’s even strangely vulnerable with her in their last conversation. He resents what’s between them because he can’t understand the power Claire has over him. In his own completely fucked up way he’s in love with Jamie, but Randall only gets off on power over people and is incapable of understanding the power that can come from willingly submitting to the person you love, that that’s part of what makes Jamie this incredibly strong and impressive man he loved breaking but seemingly goes to his grave still wanting he-doesn’t-know-what from.

John Grey’s destiny seems even more meaningfully entangled with theirs. What John impulsively swears after the first encounter between the three of them, by total mishap and coincidence, ends up saving Jamie’s life down the road. John is the only reason he’s eventually able to reunite with Claire after twenty years, and he’s so often conveniently placed where he can help them.

John also has this unique chemistry and even strange intimacy with Claire because they love the same man, but John accepts that what he wants with Jamie is impossible. He’s so above him in class that it’s never appropriate for them to even hug each other (GOD), yet John’s devotion to him is like that of chaste courtly love and he’d probably do literally anything for him (Jamie probably bristles so much at Murtagh asking him to get redcoat intel out of John because it would be taking advantage of more than their friendship). They’ll be connected forever because he’s raising Willie as his own, the real love of his life, and whether it’s totally healthy or not he’ll take it.

And of course unlike Randall, John isn’t possessive of Jamie. He can’t exactly be besties with Claire but I think in his own way he loves her for seeing him, and he knows she’s special and worthy of Jamie. He would never dream of reducing Jamie to less than he is to have him. He fell in love with this man seeing how he naturally commanded respect and loyalty even in the walls of a prison, and honestly even if Jamie could have loved him back, I don’t think John could stand to see him be a groom in his service or something forever so they could discreetly have a relationship. He’s younger than Jamie, and though he’s a lord with a naturally imperious air and a shrewd leader and impressive soldier, it’s uh…not hard to imagine the dynamic we’ve seen when we first see John with a sexual partner is a different picture from his fantasies involving Jamie.

Maybe to a lot of people it’s still disappointing that John is fundamentally a tragic character in a world he can’t be himself in. I feel guilty myself because I honestly can’t decide at this point if I want John to find his own true love or just end up dramatically dying in Jamie’s arms like Eponine, lol (pls don’t spoil me!) But I know it’s not cool to like Outlander because Diana Gabaldon can be kind of annoying and tumblr thinks all het romance is cringe, and it’s too bad because specificity is what actually makes minority representation valuable and interesting and there is some pretty fucking wild shit like nothing I’ve ever seen in other shows wrt the relationships with and portrayals of queer characters on this show. It blew my head open thinking of all the different ways this is weird when Brianna fucking proposed to John, just like it must have hers when he was like “Oh sweetie, you think your dad doesn’t know?” 😂 That is just good television.

[marvelling-at-marvel-blog]

I like to imagine that after he retires from football, Dani becomes a match day commentator. Just imagine the pure energy and joy he would bring. I dont think he would be the most insightful, tactiful presenter of the boys from the team who could go on to do this, but he would be the most joyous

It would be the best and most frustrating thing ever. Like the team you loce is down 0-2 and his still so positive. Your lead goal scorer missed the easy goal, but Rojas commentated that his new shoes look amazing and he thinks they bring happiness to the field. He also likes to throw in random facts that he thinks will bring happiness or that someone has told him.

I mean, he chooses this carer because he wants to bring joy and foot all is life.

But there is a rule after the first time that he should not do mexico matches because that brings out a different Dani Rojas and the audiences ears still haven't recovered from the first time.