#also i have a tankhun agenda that is quite personal to me so episode 3 was just perfect in all ways

[heyninja]

Initial shrieking about Porsche

(I expect I will actually be Making Content here so I 'll tag appropriately as I go, but this one is going up through episode 3, so if you don't want spoilers now you know.)

Porsche, babygirl, you are a trip and a half and you make it work. Part of this is writing and part of it is Apo, but it is a stunner. Note: This is not a comprehensive post, just like the surface of Things on My Brain.

One of the first things we learn about him is that he is very good at being whatever other people want when it benefits him the way he wants, and just as quickly we find out he is a stubborn asshole if he doesn't see the benefit (or the benefit is Amusement). He's generous with his friends but disregards his own body, in turns vain and neglectful depending on what he needs it for.

This is a pretty classic build up for a stock macho character, and it's pretty much immediately knocked over in some wonderful ways. He is physically affectionate, gentle and vulnerable with his brother and uncle. There's a core sweetness that's still capable of being crushed by his uncle's behavior, that is allowed to surface and indulge in love and tears with his brother.

Even the image of the slick, street-smart guy who can take out a team of hitmen gets its own pulverization. Not only does Porsche shriek and Kermit-arm his way to yeeting himself into a river—at gunpoint—but he's an awful bodyguard, and for every badass moment there's an opposing moment of Porsche having an emotional reaction he cannot keep off his face.

You don't expect one of your sex symbol, badass protagonists to get an apple shot off his head while he barely even blinks—look me in the (post) eyes and tell me that scene didn't do Something to you—and then immediately turn around and Bambi-legs around in a kitchen cubby. I love it.

There's a lot of room for growth and for backstory reveals for Porsche, and this is a really, really great foundation for it. Porsche doesn't care much for the intricacies of mafia family life, to his detriment, but when properly motivated he will push himself to be head of the class out of vanity and pride (and a little boredom). In fact, boredom is a strong lever for him in general, though I think he is a little fond in his own way of Tankhun to have taken him to his bar and with his friends and been so gentle about it. He's clearly an opportunist in a variety of ways, because he's had to be to survive, but he's also just as clearly invested in loyalty.

I'm interested in watching the equations balance and rebalance over the course of the show. You can already see some recalibration from the initial transaction of “rich kid idiot” and taking the watch in episode 1 to where we are in episode 3. The conversation about Porsche's past, and specifically taking the time to thank Kinn for saving his life, he's extending a bit of vulnerability to Kinn. He's treating him a little more like a friend than a boss, but considering how irreverent Porsche is in general that's pretty high praise honestly. It's a return to the sweet and open side of him, and although I think he's sitting with heavy emotions still, sometimes you just have several feelings at once.

The Kiss: I'm going to have to write a whole post about the kiss itself. But now I'm going to have to write a whole post about Kinn first, because this post is already too long, but clearly I have a lot of Thoughts and apparently we're all going to suffer them.