#atwied meta

[mahlikes]

#like i know we've had way more than enough in the way of hc but #just look at him

please let the englishman pass out just this once he’s deserved his little victorian swooning on the convenient couch. he looks like he’s about to fcking lose it he’s seen a lot of shit poor thing

[somethingjustsouthofbrilliance]

I posted this ATWI80D thread on twitter earlier and @thinking-with-quadrants suggested I should drop it on tumblr, so you all can suffer as well. Here we go:

You all know that moment in episode 4 of ATWI80D when what's happening with drugged Fogg stops being funny and starts to venture into the scary territory? Well, I rewatched the scene a few times, and I'm about to make it sadder, too.

So you know when Fogg refers to himself as "Alexander of Macedon"? Funny, right? I mean, first he thought Passepartout was Ghenghis Khan, now he thinks himself Alexander the Great. Only I don't think the reference in this instance was incidental. It is believed that Alexander was poisoned at a banquet in Babylon after a prolonged bout of drinking. And Fogg here seems to specifically refer to that historical tidbit because he follows it up with an accusatory, "Who gave me a mixed wine?". So even if he doesn't remember any of this come morning, here in this drugged stupor he seems to know, to understand that something's not right with him, that he's been drugged, poisoned somehow, and he challenges those with him to tell him the truth.

There is no humor in his voice at this point, no lightheartedness that was there before when he was conversing with "Boris" outside. There's anger now instead and a clear attempt to get away from those he suspects are responsible. And then comes fear. That soft whisper that I swear sounds like he's saying "bury me". That look of abject terror in his eyes as he stares out at the lightning that splits the night sky just before his convulsions begin &he is forced back in the hands of those he tried to escape.

The whole situation gets even worse when you realize that the moment he finds himself no longer restrained by them, the first thing he does is try to escape. Crawls away as far as he can manage until his body gives up on him again.

[atwi80d]

In-depth analysis of Phielas Fogg's touch aversion, with gifs

Part 1: View full thread on Twitter

Part 2: View full thread on Twitter

By @somethingjustsouthofbrilliance

[tsilvy]

SO. Reflection time. Bear with me because this is long and rambly and spoilery for episode 5 of Around the world in 80 days.

All under the cut.

I can't believe they did that. I really, really can't believe it. I'd have bet money they would do the heroic run trope and save Fogg from the lash at the last second. But they didn't, and that's as clear a choice as I can think of. But I'll talk about that later.

First, do we all agree that this is the worst thing that could ever have happened to Fogg?

Just to put things into perspective, notice how Fogg comments as soon as the police starts searching him. "I've never been more humiliated in my life," he says. This was already out of his league at the very suspicion of theft. This is a man who is never touched nor seen by anyone. This is a man who is uncomfortable with hugs. But most importantly, a man whose rights have never been violated in his life.

The reason I am iterating this is I want everyone to understand the significance of what we've seen.

Because the fact is, this is not the most life-threatening event happened to Fogg during the journey. He's been on the verge of dying twice and a half. But the brutality, it's unheard of. A brutality he's ill-equipped to come to terms with. What we're seeing here is a monstrous imbalance of power, with Fogg on the wrong side of a scale he's known for the entirety of his life.

I cannot overstate what kind of humiliation that is to the psyche and self-esteem of someone who is already as withdrawn as he is. And the fact that it comes right after another tremendous blow to his dignity, not even 24 hours later.

Granted, he's seen a lot of things and listened to alternative facts and unlearned some of his biases already, but now you know, you just know, he's not going to come back home the same person he was before. He's been on the other side now. He's lost every single shred of privilege, he's lost control, in the single most brutal and irreversible way there is.

This is a choice they did, a statement: sometimes things go a bit wrong actually. And some things you just can't undo. To make an omelette you need to break some eggs, after all. They made a choice to leave an impression on him (and us) of his time in Hong Kong. Like, from now on Hong Kong is going to be code for a complete mess. It's a point of no return, if I ever saw one.

But there's another choice, another statement, that put into context with the other elements of this show marks the significance, the wrongness, of what we've seen.

The fact is, this is the opposite of all the things he's feared could have hurt him. This is not some """inferior culture""" robbing or kidnapping or killing him. This is not adversity in a wild, hostile environment. This is not one of the dangers he was warned about. In fact, it's the one he wasn't. This man was never warned about the structures, the people he should trust, turning on him (Bellamy included, but that’s for another post).

This is his pals, the English, his very pals, the 'masters of their trade', as Fogg puts it, those who were supposed to bring civilization to the world. It's the English who are hurting him, who are abusing their power, who are acting out barbaric practices and human rights violations, who are reveling in cruel impulses because they're removed enough from England the empire can't see it, or doesn't bother to.

Look at Fogg in that cell listening to the screams of the man being flogged before him, with tears in his eyes. Even just witnessing something like that, is too much.

THIS is the worst betrayal. The whole episode is about betrayal, but this is by far the worst. And it's yet another step of Fogg realizing the lies he's been told, this time experiencing it on his own skin. Because no, this wasn't at any point about Abigail exposing him, or Passepartout doing something very stupid that ultimately put Fogg in danger. This is about tiranny, injustice, the disregard of precisely those rights that protect the people from incidents and errors of the law like this one. Coated in a veneer of respectability.

Now I understand, this whole bit felt insidious, the vibes felt rancid, precisely because they were among the English. They were among power like never before, and that's what power does, the moment it can: it oppresses, it hurts, it cripples. They stopped being safe the moment they went to that party. Ah, the irony.

And I'm incredibly impressed with this show for pulling all that, for daring to go there, for crafting the single most gut-wrenching sequence of both a failure and a victory. And there's no celebration, mind you. No obligatory toast, not even a patching-up scene. Because we can't even begin to imagine how Fogg is feeling, and we shouldn't have to.

[tsilvy]

ep 2 over. so it's daddy issues? the reason he's like that? what's for sure is he has these bouts of self-hatred and i daresay depression, and he's learned to live his life like that, not trusting himself with difficult choices, not trusting in capabilities he clearly has. that’s sad.

[tsilvy]

Oh yes. The parallels are impossible to miss. Just look at the way they hurry to cover him up. The whole sequence was conceived with vulnerability in mind.

SO. Reflection time. Bear with me because this is long and rambly and spoilery for episode 5 of Around the world in 80 days.

All under the cut.

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