#high potential 1x01

[agenderdeddie]

Karadec + Chloe in 1x01

[high-potential]

High Potential Sneak Peek for tonight's episode

[renegadesstuff]

Nobody is better than the original 🤍

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Galadriel in Season 1-2 of “Rings of Power”: Valiant, Prideful and the Darkness Within

Galadriel was born during the Years of the Trees, on Valinor, the only daughter of High King of the Noldor, Finarfin, sister to three brothers. She was named “Artanis” by her father, and “Galadriel” (Sindarin for “Maiden crowned with gleaming hair”) is the name she took after marrying prince Celebron, in Doriath (Middle-earth).

In her youth, Galadriel was known for her proud, strong and self-willed temperament, and for the unmatched beauty of her hair. She had the golden hair of her kin, but hers was particularly striking, shot with silver, and beautiful. And so much so that Fëanor was inspired by how the light of the Two Trees of Valinor caught her hair to craft the Silmarils. Three times he asked her for a few strands of it, and three times Galadriel refuse him. Galadriel couldn’t stand Fëanor and saw the growing darkness in him; most likely because it was the same as within herself.

Tolkien describes Galadriel as “of Amazon disposition”, “strong of body, mind and will, a match for both the loremasters and the athletes of the Eldar in the days of their youth”, and she would “bound up her hair as a crown when taking part in athletic feats”. Her mother called her Nerwen, “man-maiden”.

Departure from Valinor

Galadriel is adventurous, ambitious “and like her brother Finrod, of all her kindred the nearest to her in heart, she had dreams of far lands and dominions that might be her own to order as she would without tutelage [from the Valar]”.

Galadriel, the only woman of the Noldor to stand that day tall and valiant among the contending princes, was eager to be gone [from Valinor]. No oaths she swore, but the words of Fëanor concerning Middle-earth had kindled her heart, and she yearned to see the wide untrodden lands and to rule there a realm at her own will. For the youngest of the House of Finwë she came into the world west of the Sea, and knew yet nought of the unguarded lands. Morgoth’s Ring

In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien tells us Galadriel wanted to leave Valinor and travel to Middle-earth to exercise her talents; being brilliant in mind and swift in action she had early absorbed all of what she was capable of the teaching which the Valar thought fit to give the Eldar’, and she felt confined in the tutelage of Aman. In Valinor, Galadriel had been a pupil of both Aulë and Yavanna, and felt the Valar had already taught her everything they were allowed to.

This can look like a level of arrogance of the likes of Fëanor, however, this is not how Tolkien sees it. Galadriel is presented like a character full of potential, spirit and talent. And even Manwë, the King of the Valar himself, has heard of her desire to leave for Middle-earth and didn’t oppose.

Refusing the Valar pardon

At the end of the First Age she [Galadriel] proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. Tolkien Letter 320

And this is the Galadriel we meet in the first episode of “Rings of Power”. The audience can immediately perceive she’s strong-willed, proud and rebellious, acting against orders of the High-king of the Noldor, Gil-galad, in her endless hunt for Sauron, Morgoth’s sucessor and the responsible for her brother’s death.

Galadriel is also the only Elf in Middle-earth who believes that Sauron is still out there, and means to find and destroy him, at any cost. “More and more of our kind began to believe that Sauron was but a memory. And the threat, at last, was ended. I wish I could be one of them.”

It was not your company who defied you out there, but rather you who defied the High King, by refusing to heed any limit placed upon you. In an act of magnanimity, he has chosen to honor your accomplishments… Rather than dwell upon your insolence. Test him again and you may find him less receptive than you might have hoped. Elrond warns Galadriel, 1x01

Gil-galad “honors” Galadriel by granting her passage to return to Valinor, and rest in glory. But she’s set on refusing, not because she’s certain Sauron will return, and wants to find him, but due to her belief she won’t find inner peace, until she accomplishes that, as she tells Elrond in the same episode:

Elrond: Do you truly believe seeking him out will satisfy you? That one more Orc upon the point of your blade will bring you peace? […] If you are wrong, will you lead more Elves to die in far-off lands? To convince yourself you have done enough, how many more statues would you add to this path? No one in history has ever refused the call. Do so now, it may never come again. Do so now, it may never come again. You will linger here, an outcast, poisoned in dark whispers and dreams. Galadriel: And in the West, do you think my fate would be better? Where song would mock the cries of battle in my ears? You say I have won victory over all the horrors of Middle-earth. Yet you would leave them alive in me? To take with me? Undying, unchanging, unbreaking, into the land of winter less spring? Elrond: Only in the Blessed Realm can that which is broken in you be healed. Go there. Go, and I promise you… If but a whisper of a rumor of the threat you perceive proves true, I will not rest until it is put right. You have fought long enough, Galadriel. Put up your sword.

I would also like to point out Elrond foreshadowing Galadriel’s banishment in this scene. And this is very much in line with what Tolkien wrote:

[Galadriel] had no peace within. Pride still moved her when, at the end of the Elder Days after the final overthrow of Morgoth, she refused the pardon of the Valar for all who had fought against him, and remained in Middle-earth. It was not until two long ages more had passed, when at last all she had desired in her youth came to her hand, the Ring of Power and the dominion of Middle-earth of which she had dreamed, that her wisdom was full grown and she rejected it, and passing the last test departed from Middle-earth forever. The Peoples of Middle-earth

The Darkness Within

“Rings of Power” presents some explanations to Galadriel refusing the Valar’s pardon and staying in Middle-earth. At the surface, it’s because she wants to hunt down Sauron, defeat him, and for Halbrand to be “The Lost King” who could ride [her] to victory, like Elrond says, in 2x02.

It’s because of her pride, or her desire for vengeance. However, in 1x05, and in a moment of vulnerability with Halbrand aka Repentant Mairon, she reveals the true reason behind her restless pursuit of Sauron:

Galadriel sees her endless pursue for Sauron as the means to earn her inner peace after everything she saw, did and endured on Middle-earth. It’s connected to her pride, yes, but also to her greatest and deepest desire of healing. And this is why she can’t stop her pursuit, even when we, the audience, watch Galadriel endanger her companions’ lives in 1x01. She believes only when she destroys Sauron, will she destroy the darkness within herself.

Indeed he does, because Sauron wants to heal Middle-earth from Morgoth’s corruption, at this point in his own character arc. But the “darkness within” has been present in Galadriel’s character ever since the prologue of “Rings of Power”, and this is also in line with Tolkien legendarium, as Galadriel recognizes the darkness in others as a mirror to her own, and how she refuses to talk about her time in Valinor with Melian.

And in Season 1, we see Galadriel employing some questionable tactics; in Númenor she acts behind Halbrand’s back with Queen regent Míriel to get herself an army (the army she claims to Adar Sauron promised her, in 2x06), and travel to the Southlands and defeat Sauron. There, she vows to genocide the Orcs and killing some of them in a gruesome manner (bringing them into the sunlight) just for Adar to reveal Sauron’s whereabouts, even though he already told her the truth (as he knows it): he killed Sauron.

It would seem I'm not the only Elf alive who has been transformed by darkness. Perhaps your search for Morgoth's successor should have ended in your own mirror. Adar taunts Galadriel, 1x06

And Adar will not be the only character to mention the pull to the darkness in Galadriel, in “Rings of Power”:

The light of Valinor shone upon your very face, Galadriel, and you turned your back on it. Was it truly to fight the darkness or was the darkness calling to you? Elrond, 2x01

This is more noticeable with Repentant Mairon aka Halbrand, when she acts the “Morgoth” to his “Sauron”, by tempting him with power while he’s on a quest for redemption. By then, we already have some pieces of foreshadowing on this. We have Gil-galad’s prophecy in 1x01: “We foresaw that if it had, she [Galadriel] might have inadvertently kept alive the very evil she sought to defeat [Sauron]. For the same wind that seeks to blow out a fire may also cause its spread.”

And we also see Galadriel in connection with the Fall of Númenor visions, in Season 1:

And Mairon himself confirms this in 1x08. And that explains his “are they not the seeds you planted?” in Season 2. Because she’s the one who tempted him with power, and with the pouch of the King of the Southlands (Morgoth), when he wanted to remain in Númenor in servitude, and to prove his good faith to the Valar, and redeem himself from his crimes under Morgoth.

However, not only Galadriel established a connection with him, but also said “I’ve felt it too” when he expressed his wish to bind himself to her (“Fighting at your side, I... I felt... If I could just hold on to that feeling, keep it with me always, bind it to my very being, then I...”). She gave him the validation he wanted, and made him believe she would offer him forgiveness, and he would earn the redemption he so desperately wanted. But she didn’t, she cast him out. And he wouldn’t let it slide that easily, as we’ve been in Season 2.

Growing in Wisdom

In Season 2, we saw some glimpses of Galadriel letting go of her arrogance and “galloping”, and seeing the “bigger picture” in some occasions. This is foreshadowing for her future character arc, as the wise and compassionate, yet fierce and valiant, leader we know her to be on the Third Age. From Tolkien lore, we know that as she grows in wisdom and power (“elf magic” as Sam calls it), Galadriel will leave her pride behind.

Arondir. There is a dearth of Elven heroes this night. It would be a pity to lose another. Galadriel advises Arondir not to attack Adar, 2x07

But perhaps her last scene with Adar, in 2x08, was the most emblematic of this. She has been to the Orc camp, and witnessed the funeral rites, and how the Orcs live, and realized that, maybe, they aren’t the scourged slaves she believed them to be, back in Season 1. Each one of them has a personality. Like Adar told her, in 1x06: “We are creations of The One, Master of the Secret Fire, the same as you. As worthy of the breath of life, and just as worthy of a home.”

And Galadriel is becoming more attuned to every race in Middle-earth, and the Orcs were only the beginning. And she was willingly to make an alliance with Adar, at the end. They shared an agreement (until Sauron showed up and put an end to that). But more importantly, Adar forgives Galadriel for her hatred and her killing of the Orcs. And, as I’ve talked about on my post on Repentant Mairon (aka Halbrand), forgiveness is a major theme in Tolkien legendarium, and it’s not only earned, but given as well. And by forgiving Galadriel and returning Nenya to her, Adar redeems himself (just like Gollum; which is a theme I talked about here).

Banishment from Valinor

In Letter 353, Tolkien confirms that “Galadriel was 'unstained': she had committed no evil deeds”, concerning the Oath of Fëanor. She took no part in any of that; because “she was an enemy of Fëanor”. In the same letter, Tolkien tells us Galadriel reached Middle-earth independently, and not alongside the other Noldor. And her desires were legitimate, but “she became involved in the desperate measures of Manwë, and the ban on all emigrations”.

Many (Christopher Tolkien included) think this contradicts Galadriel’s banishment from returning to Valinor. But this is an idea (“the banishment of Galadriel”) Tolkien has in place in several sources of his work. And it wouldn’t be the first time Christopher Tolkien misinterpreted his father work, either, with the Dagor Dagorath being a prime example, when he thinks Tolkien abandoned the concept when he didn’t (Christopher later corrected this, though).

And it has been noticed by many Tolkien scholars how Christopher Tolkien has “tone down” his father’s female characters on his notes and editions, too. With Galadriel being a prime example of this. Tolkien tells us on several occasions that Galadriel had aspirations of power and dominion, she wanted a kingdom of her own, to rule as she saw fit, and that’s why she remained on Middle-earth, and refused the Valar’s pardon. However, Christopher decided to strip Galadriel of her agency, and even attempted to whitewash her character by claiming she wanted to stay on Middle-earth due to her love for Celeborn, when this has nothing to do with what Tolkien himself wrote. So, excuse me, for talking his interpretation with a grain of salt.

And, since Galadriel is married to Celeborn, of course, he’s included on her plans of having a kingdom of her own (to be otherwise wouldn’t make sense), with them both ruling it, but Galadriel wants to be the one “calling the shots”. And this dynamic is what will happen in Lothlórien: Celeborn is lord, but Galadriel is *the* Lady, without her husband overstep or overshining her. I’m not seeing any contradiction here. Maybe a case of “overthinking”, because Letter 353 appears to be about Galadriel not taking the Oath of Fëanor (and that’s not the reason for her banishment).

I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teachings and imagination of Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent, in her youth, a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the [One] Ring for herself. Tolkien Letter 320

I already theorized about Galadriel connection to the Virgin Mary (she’s not “the Virgin Mary”, but a “devotee of the Virgin Mary” in Tolkien lore) but I think Tolkien is being very clear with his words here. He considers Galadriel a “repentant sinner”, and he doesn’t contradict himself at all. Because a desire for power and dominion are not positive traits on his legendarium. And the confirmation that she was pardoned by the Valar when she resists the One Ring, clearly indicates there was something more at work, and is connected with her return to Valinor.

In “Fellowship of the Ring” book, this is also clear: “I pass the test,” she says, “I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.” Her “passing the test” and resisting the One Ring is connected with her returning to Valinor.

We know, from Tolkien lore, Galadriel develops “sea longing” on the Third Age, and has a deep desire to return to Valinor, to the point of depression (she sings laments about it). One can argue she stays out of duty, but then why is she “pardoned” by the Valar after rejecting the One Ring and can now go to Valinor? The only explanation is that Galadriel was, indeed, banished, and her resisting the One Ring is her final test. She passes the test, the Valar pardon her, her banishment is lifted, and she returns to Valinor at the end of “The Return of the King”. No contradictions there.

On Christopher’s defense, he probably thought Galadriel “desiring power and dominion” weren’t good enough reasons for her to be banished from Valinor, and that’s a plot hole “Rings of Power” is trying to answer, with her connection with Sauron, and the temptations he offers her. He is, after all, the one who introduces the “desire for power and dominion” to her character arc in the show; by offering her temptations and promises of endless power (his power). Which means, Galadriel’s desire for dominion and power from Tolkien lore is personified by Sauron in the show. And the reason for her banishment, will be, also, connected to him, somehow, for Sauron has already offered her the same temptation as the One ring, thousands of years into the future:

And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Fellowship of the Ring

In Tolkien legendarium, it’s not Galadriel adventurous or valiant nature that gets her into trouble with the Valar, but her rebellious spirit, and her pride, above of all, that lead her defy their authority, and wanting to claim a kingdom of her own where she can make her own rules. In “Rings of Power” the disapproval of the Valar are personified in the characters of Gil-galad and Elrond.

Indeed, her disregard for the Valar laws is visible on several occasions in lore. Not only she “proudly refused” their pardon to return to Valinor, at the dawn of the Second Age, but Tolkien tells us, in Unfinished Tales: Celeborn was the lover of Galadriel, who she later wedded. In Letter 43, Tolkien defines what he means by “a lover” (in general): “engaging and blending all his affections and powers of mind and body in a complex emotion powerfully coloured and energized by sex”.

This seems to imply, Galadriel didn’t wait to be “officially” married (ceremony, feast) to Celeborn before consummating their union. For the Eldar, “sex = marriage”, indeed, but the way Tolkien phrases this seems to indicate Galadriel doesn’t concern herself with the Eldar ways, and took Celeborn as her lover before any thought of actual marriage. Because language is extremely important in Tolkien, and we already know “sex = marriage” for the Eldar, so him writing this about Galadriel’s character means there’s something more to it.

Interestingly enough, these two themes are present in Tolkien last letter concerning Galadriel, in 1973 (the year of his passing). Without context, however, it’s unclear if the two are related or not, so read this with a whole saltshaker:

I meant right away to deal with Galadriel, and with the question of Elvish child-bearing.

[courtney-deserved-better]

Priya is starting at a new school, and all she wants is to be normal. Wawanakwa High turns out to be full of potential friends, enemies, and a dead body. Now Ms. McGrady is hounding her about her destiny, Damien’s in danger, and Millie’s caught on to Priya’s secret. Priya doesn’t want to be the Slayer—but is the only alternative death?

Or, a Total Drama AU of Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1x01 & 1x02. Written for the Total Drama Writers Mini Bang 2024 (and also Halloween!)

happy halloween! wrote this for the td writers minibang event and was honored to be paired with @caleb13frede, who drew this lovely art for my fic!

[lunadove]

My crack High Potential theory: Selena is also an HPI.

Morgan has issues sleeping bc she’s an HPI and her mind refuses to shut off. In 1x01, we’re introduced to Selena by her detectives asking if she’s gotten any sleep (the convo implies this is a frequent issue). In 1x04, Selena is the first person to clock that Morgan is on edge not just bc of the case, but bc she’s sleep deprived.

I believe that Selena’s an HPI that learned how to utilize her intelligence while coping with the downsides. (Maybe her intelligence also functions differently too.) She was a powerhouse detective, but since being promoted to lead Major Crimes, she doesn’t have the time to look over cases as she once did. That’s partly why she hired Morgan.

The other part is that however Selena learned she was an HPI and how to ulitize it (therapy, a more supportive home life as a kid, etc), she recognized that no one had helped or believed Morgan in the same way. So she stepped up and gave Morgan a chance.

[caricature-of-fic]

mini fic for btvs 1x01 Welcome to the Hellmouth/1x02 The Harvest

---

It wasn’t meant to be like this.

She couldn’t afford this kind of thought at the moment, couldn’t afford the distraction, but—it wasn’t meant to be like this.

She was meant to go to school, struggle a bit to catch up with her classes, make friends—or had she made friends already? In which case, make sure they stayed her friends, and wasn’t that a challenge and a half, with how things were going—anyway, make friends and go out and maybe see if she could join the cheerleaders or something soon, once she’d found her footing. Do the normal stuff, live the normal life, live the not-constantly-on-high-alert life. But no, it was her second day of school and already she’d received barely-veiled threats from her new principal, not-at-all-veiled hints about accepting the whole Slayer thing from the new “librarian”, lost one potential new friend, almost lost another, been grounded, consequently sneaked out of the house, gotten two of her maybe-new-friends-but-at-this-point-why-would-they-stick-around people and the librarian into danger with her, and, and… was she forgetting anything?

Oh yeah. Buffy straightened her stance and raised her hands, determined to give her opponent all she got. I’m also already fighting vampires under some dusty mausoleum. Go, me.

At least the Watcher-librarian had only himself to blame if he got himself killed. Why would anyone choose that job?

She just hoped he and the others could get everyone to safety. There were already too many discarded bodies strewn about—people she was meant to save, why had she dawdled so much—and she wasn’t keen on anyone adding to the numbers. Nor on joining them herself.

Squashing down the fear, she met the Vessel’s attack with her own. No way was she going to die before she’d even tried for the cheerleading team.

---

It wasn’t meant to be like this.

Willow knew how these things worked, how new girls arrived at Sunnydale High. What happened was, at best, they glanced at her and decided she was no threat nor of any other interest, and proceeded to ignore her. At worst, or maybe just worse because she was currently learning rapidly that her definitions of good, bad, worse, worst may be outdated, they decided she made an easy victim, unless they thought they’d better keep her on the back burner for study help.

She’d sort of expected Buffy to go with that option. Well, at first she’d assumed it would be the worse/worst one. Buffy had that, that look. That look that Willow sometimes yearned for but knew, deep down, would never be able to achieve, nor truly be comfortable with if she miraculously did achieve it. The Popular Girl look of one who knew how to do her hair and clothes to look her best, who would compete for prom queen and have a realistic chance at winning without any Carrie shenanigans happening. That, plus the fact that she’d been hanging out with Cordelia right away, hadn’t boded well in Willow’s mind.

Then Buffy had sought her out, and been nice, and mentioned studying, and Willow had been able to relax, because she didn’t need to be actual friends with the pretty new girl. Just studying and getting half-hearted attempts at pretending friendship would be fine.

Except, now that didn’t seem to be happening either, and Willow had no idea where she stood. Buffy had clearly not stayed in Cordelia’s good graces for long, and had instead decided to hang out with Willow and Xander in the library, and…

And of course also revealed the existence of vampires. And demons. And hell? Was that meant to be capital-H Hell, or just… something hell-ish and so might as well call it hell? Willow was so not willing to start researching Satan or anything like that. Bad enough that crucifixes were suddenly a relevant factor in her life and survival.

Anyway. The pretty, meant-to-be-popular new girl wasn’t meant to be revealing secrets to and hanging out with Willow. Also, those secrets weren’t meant to be things like “vampires exist and I fight them and Jesse has joined their ranks”, but she hadn’t really had time to process all that, and it was easier to just get hung up on the fact that Buffy seemed to be interested in her acquaintance.

Maybe it was just for the studying. Or because she’d had no choice but to involve Willow, and Xander for that matter, because things had just happened that way.

Or maybe it was something she should really think about once this whole situation was over, and she could be sure any of them would even be alive by the end of it.

[floripire]

SEASON 1 THROUGH THE EYES OF FLORIBETH DALISAY WITH MENTIONS OF: @fellvespers + @founderscouncil & @silencedrage + @shadowbrn

1x01: in this is the part where you run, there is a five foot three vampire named floribeth dalisay present during the scene where lizzie talks to rafael at the sports field. this vampire wears a necklace with tiny stars, a pastel colored sweater and a skirt and has headphones on. this vampire will be seen again at the end of the episode, during the party at the old mill, where she keeps to herself, drinks a blood bag and stares at the werewolves being rowdy; she stares at one werewolf in particular: jed tien.

1x02: during some people just want to watch the world burn, flori is present at the annual flag football game for wade and wade only. even if he doesn’t really have that big a role. he’s still her friend and she’s there to support him. she’s not really a big sports fan so it’s no skin off her nose whether the salvatore stallions win or lose.

(the dragon girl that hope kills in the woods, however, is the dragon princess from the night world, unbeknownst to anyone.)

1x03: the next time flori appears is in we’re being punked, pedro which means that she, too, got in trouble. well, she got in trouble by proxy because some of the timberwolves taped the flag football game, questioning kaleb’s sudden agility. flori hacked their devices and deleted the video in question and now she’s joining mg, lizzie, hope and josie in the town square.

during this episode it becomes clear that she mostly hangs out with mia hirsch who is flori’s best friend, alongside loren bennett - flori's other best friend. together, they form the anti squad to the super squad.

there is an extra scene in which flori laments about getting in trouble for doing the right thing.

during this episode flori sees donovan lockwood for the first time but the two won’t interact at all until donovan triggers his wolf curse and transfers.

connor throws the milkshake on lizzie and acts as though it was an accident but the milkshake hits mia too. fortunately it’s strawberry and not chocolate, otherwise things would have ended up very ugly. donovan - a bystander to all of this - doesn’t say anything and flori leaves with mia, disappointed in his actions.

once they’re back at the school, lizzie refuses to go back to the square and goes to help out the tiny witch kids which includes everyone’s favorite kiddo pedro.

flori vanishes to her room after double checking and making sure that mia is okay, leaving her with loren; though she promised emma, dorian and alaric she would quit hacking, she intends to get into dana and connor’s devices, either scrambling it or extracting information to be used at a later date, for what they both put mia through.

flori is present in the assembly hall when alaric gives his speech, but she’s only half listening to what he’s saying, busying herself with thoughts of vengeance on certain timberwolves.

1x04: so of course she’d want to join the team during hope is not the goal. connor and dana hurt one of her best friends and this cannot go unpunished. emma tig, however, knows what makes flori tick and explicitly forbids alaric to send flori to mystic falls high. for once, he listens to her.

this means that she’s at the school and present during lunchtime when jed and rafael have their stand off in the mess hall, as she’d been sitting with josie who has been pouring over the curriculum.

later, when it turns out that dana and connor are both incapitated, flori feels bad. they were terrible people, yes, but they didn’t deserve to get hurt and potentially die for it.

flori abandons her short lived revenge plot, choosing instead to focus on researching whoever or whatever the new monster seems to be. because the humans of mystic falls high seem to be dropping like flies.

she doesn't think it's kaleb's fault, although he did feed on cheerleader beula hammond and she's glad when hope, josie and lizzie vanquish the real monster; she's never been a fan of creepy crawlies.

1x05: in malivore, flori wants nothing to do with the honor council. she’s got her own things going on and being on that council would only interfere. flori votes for kaleb over mg.

weirdness aside, landon seems like a nice enough person. flori’s gotten used to his presence and will miss seeing him around - he’s one of the people aside from wade and mg who speaks nerd fluently - but she also understands why he got voted out.

flori is warmer to donovan and is willing to be his friend, seeing in him a lot of what she sees in jed: someone who hides his good heart, someone with the potential to be more than what he is right now; someone who needs a person in their corner. flori is willing to be that person. provided donovan apologizes properly to mia first.

1x06: during mombie dearest, flori drops by the twins’ bedroom while they’re getting ready to drop off her presents for them, and to inform them that she's not coming to their birthday, mere minutes before penelope shows up to deliver the bad news about caroline.

jo and cassie aren’t the only ones brought back: the necromancer also brings back flori’s mom selena, citing that it’s easier to pull people back to life who have a connection to the supernatural. when asked why her dad isn’t here, the necromancer says that her dad already found peace and wouldn’t budge.

flori spends the rest of this episode with her mom, catching her up to speed, only for her to reveal that she knows most things already. selena had been at peace together with raul and they’d been watching her.

when they’re walking to the old mill, she apologizes for the fact that her actions led to their deaths. selena hugs her and says that she is forgiven and that her dad forgives her too.

flori tells her mom that she’s a vampire and her mom takes it in stride. says that she figured it was something like this. it reminded her of the poetry slam flori took her and her husband to before she came out as pansexual. instead of a poetry slam, it’s a zombie slam.

they briefly talk about her friends and about the guy she’s got a crush on. flori’s mom tells her that jed’s rough around the edges but that she likes him so much more than doug carson.

unfortunately they’re attacked by zombies again and both flori and her mom flee, finding refuge within the school.

while the twins siphon the magic keeping her alive from jo, selena crumbles to dust in flori’s arms.

(flori initially assumes that the connection that the necromancer talked about was her being a vampire. later, she’ll find out that selena harman is actually descended from a powerful witch bloodline and chose to erase her memories and bind her powers.)

1x07: rememberance day is never a good day for flori. but during death keeps knocking on my door, she writes two letters as she does every year: one to her parents and one to sue carson.

turns out that the latter also got revived due to having unfinished business.

while the necromancer is being held in a cell, mg and kaleb are snacking on humans and rafael and alaric are figuring out what happened to cassie, flori just wants to spend as much time with sue as she can and lays everything out in the open, apologizing for everything.

sue doesn’t believe her at first, thinking this is all an elaborate joke and expects doug to be in on it, so flori has to show sue her true face. then, sue goes from thinking it’s a joke to being understandably horrified. she backs away, saying she wants to go home; she wants nothing to do with flori, either. not even when she feels her end coming.

though it breaks her heart to do so, flori says her goodbyes and tries her best to honor that decision.

flori ends the episode with putting the letters in an old shoebox at the back of her closet in which she keeps them all. but not before taking a picture of them on her phone. for safe keeping.

1x08: in maybe i should start from the end, flori is still reeling from everything that happened prior.

not only is she still mourning her parents and sue all over again - her former roommate - a witch called druscilla isobel saitou, makes it clear that she’s gonna have loren in her coven - druscilla collects powerful witches, see. it sucks because druscilla had been nice at first. perfectly pleasant, if a bit dark. she also badgers flori about her very obvious crush on jed, reminding her that there’s a chance she’ll have to bury him - and everyone she’ll ever love - in the end.

landon’s brought back home and when flori overhears hope muttering something about triad industries to herself, she once again resumes digging into them again.

1x09: exam week rolls around soon afterwards and not even flori - who has always been a meticulous student and is known for her good grades - is immune to stress, nightmares and the trappings of the night hag slash oneiroi in what was hope doing in your dreams?

flori’s nightmares are mostly about sue and her parents but there are also flashes of the memory she’s repressed about the time she got turned into a vampire by derek machado (who is, indeed, related to ethan, maya and sherriff machado) and other deep seated fears like getting captured by triad industries and having her fangs pulled out of her mouth without anaesthesia.

she ends the episode in the library at first, talking to dorian. he suggests, gently, that she should go and see emma.

1x10: in there’s a world where your dreams came true, flori appears in each of lizzie’s quote-unquote ‘dream worlds’.

in the first reality, flori has arrived shortly before jed does and watches while he gets the tour. when asked why she stuck around in the first place, flori reveals that she has nowhere else to go.

in the second reality, flori is a transfer student from maple hollows high and a bit of a delinquent who uses her skills for favors or extra cash; she hides the fact that she’s a vampire but yearns for a place where she can openly flash her fangs. when the students of the mikaelson school roll up, flori is quick to leave with them.

in the third reality, flori is on her own while triad wages war against all supernatural creatures. flori’s attempts at exposing triad for being shady backfired: her parents died and sue died as well. wade died in front of her eyes too and she’s lost sight of loren and mia. after getting out of the triad industries detention facility, her plan is to wait it out in one of the bunkers she stumbled upon. but when jed accidentally breaks into said bunker, flori joins forces with him and, together with jed and kaleb, takes lizzie to find alaric and the resistance, where flori earns her keep by helping with communications.

1x11: flori is determined to once again stay out of the limelight in we’re gonna need a spotlight. she knows how to warble a tune and hold one too but has a severe case of stage fright. when pressed, flori says that just like landon, she doesn’t sing in front of people.

later, kaleb and mg rock the house down and flori sits in the front row, cheering loudly. she also cheers during the talent show redo when josie sings and when the vampires do a sit in protest during the second go around, flori slips out the door, intending to hang out with loren and mia, whose enrollment in the school is now finalized.

1x12: during there’s a mummy on main street, it is revealed that flori is actually the one who told josie about the biggest ball of yarn in the country. it is also revealed that flori hails from maple hollows.

extra episode: there would be an extra episode detailing flori’s backstory pre enrolling as a year-round student at the salvatore boarding school, including the way in which she got turned.

it is set before the boy who still has a lot of good to do and after there’s a mummy on main street in season 1 called the girl who does not remember where she came from will never reach her destination. which is a mouthful but it’s chosen for a reason.

this is actually a filipino  proverb that not only ties into flori’s culture - i feel like her dad, especially, would be fond of proverbs like this - but also introduces her as a character because the way flori got turned by derek was so traumatic that she repressed the memory until she worked on it and through it with emma.

(personally i also feel like that episode title nods to finch, who is also filipina, too because finch repressed the memory of her turning into a werewolf as well due to it also being traumatic.)

it also ties her to her mom selena harman-dalisay who drank from the cup of lethe, becoming a lost witch after she thought she lost not only her younger sisters but their kids as well.

(fortunately, the kids survived, but that’s for later seasons.)

this episode title deliberately mirrors mg’s, tying their triad stories together.

1x13: in the boy who still has a lot of good to do, flori joins the impromptu roadtrip to visit mg’s parents but never comes back. most of the events play out as they do on the show, except veronica recognizes and remembers flori and remembers her hacking into the triad industries database.

veronica knocks her out with vervain and holds in the basement of the greasley house where veronica intends to question her, making it clear that she is not above using extreme methods, if necessary.

said extreme methods come in the form of ying liu, who injects flori with a self made chemical compound, serving as a truth serum. unfortunately, it's a powerful compound and flori ends up telling ying everything. there's a burn wound on her left elbow where ying dipped the syringe into a vervain solution before injecting it directly into her bloodstream.

at some point after the interrogation, flori blacks out.

1x14: during let’s just finish the dance, flori’s not present and wade gets more and more pissed off with the fact that people are having a fucking pageant instead of looking for floribeth! like, hello?! priorities, people!

when it becomes clear that neither the super squad nor the adults give a fuck, he takes matters in his own hands and informs his crush brock - who sees it fit to inform rafael and jed, just in case wade calls upon brock to help out - as well as mia and loren.

wade leaves a note for donovan, too.

throughout the episode, it becomes clear that wade only pretends to be a bumbling fool; he’s actually rather shrewd and cuts deals left and right. he knows what’s going on in and around the school at all times.

1x15: in i’ll tell you a story, flori awakens at triad industries, next to landon.

veronica tells flori that she’s the one who ordered the hit on her parents after she caught flori hacking into the database; she actually wanted flori dead for her transgressions but when it turned out she wasn’t home, she ordered her firing squad to take out flori’s parents instead, to send a message. out of the goodness of her heart, she told them to make it look like an accident, too. veronica didn’t have to do that, but she did. because she’s no monster. and really, if flori hadn’t been snooping, none of this would have happened in the first place.

she tells clarke to prep flori for transport to the triad industries detention facility. she also tells clarke to tie up loose ends and throw landon into the pit.

then, she leaves. clarke unties landon, who in turn unties flori. clarke beseeches landon to help him, but he refuses at first. flori, on the other hand, is more willing to cooperate. even if everything about triad is shady as hell.

clarke escapes with landon and wade rescues flori. they hug and wade mutters wetly that they’re even now because flori got him out of the zetes institute.

1x16: triad storms the school in there’s always a loophole and flori runs into kaleb while he’s trying to get the kids out and to the bus. she, wade and the others help with that.

after the siege, flori is one of the many students sitting in the assembly hall. alaric comes clean about everything and gets voted out.

the episode ends with loren and flori laying on the floor of loren’s bedroom; flori reads a text aloud, it’s from mia telling them she’s on her way from the kitchen with snacks. loren tells flori that bonnie will come back to teach at the salvatore boarding school in the fall now that alaric’s booted out.

[raayllum]

Plot, Theme, and Pacing :: 4x01 Re-Birthday

So a little over two weeks out past S4′s release date and a few days before S3′s three year anniversary, I was reflecting on the mixed reactions to S4′s pacing, why it feels unique in some ways to previous seasons as well as what it borrows from structural and pacing standpoints, as well as a potential thesis statement for the season, or at least, episode one.

Which is to say my guided research question is: What is the Point of each episode? and my current thesis statement is S4 Writes to Establish Theme Instead of Plot, specifically, and we’re just gonna see how it goes.

None of this means the pacing has to / did work for you, not saying this writing approach is flawless, or that I’m even right in positing this theory but as always, I’m interested in figuring out what canon gives us and why and what I can yield / analyze from it by engaging with, rather than critiquing the material by focusing on what’s not there, so this is undoubtedly going to be the former rather than the later.

So without further ado, let’s get into the season premiere, 4x01: Re-Birthday. 

Now, in actuality, this is one of the most jam packed episodes of the show in terms of the amount of information given, outside 1x01, and definitely one of the most jam packed premieres. 2x01 was heavily predicated on Ezran teaching Zym how to fly and more than that, establishing a deeper basis for how primal magic works in order to set up Callum’s season long arc. 3x01 is intensely plot > worldbuilding or theme focused, even if again, only about three happens (Amaya getting captured, Rayllum making it past Sol Regem, and Ezran showing up in Katolis in the last few seconds), similarly to how Claudia and Soren do at the Moon Nexus at the very end of 2x01

In contrast, 4x01 establishes

Ezran’s fortified council and plans to bring Zubeia to Katolis, as well as Opeli’s reservations

Callum’s paranoia, his research, and lingering discomfort around being High Mage

The secret plot

That Viren’s resurrection is temporary and Claudia’s means to make it permanent

Janai and Amaya’s relationship and proposal

For casual audiences, that Rayla has left and her status / state of her well-being is currently unknown

So 4x01 is mostly about catch up as well as showcasing change, centralizing on two main characters. So let’s talk about it

It’s All About Claudia and Callum (+ Viren)

Claudia and Callum are by far the most developed characters in the first episode, as they have in a lot of ways been through the biggest changes and most explicit trauma (Rayla might be a contender later, but she’s not here yet). They are also the characters most notably tied to stakes.

Both are aware of the passage of time in a way that is absolutely painful. Both have lived and were forced to live for two years with someone they desperately love (in fact, because of the same person and same trait, of Rayla’s sacrificial nature and willingness to die for a cause). Callum has been in limbo with no direction other than magic as a crutch, while Claudia has been also relentlessly using magic to try to revive her father, concentrating on very little else.

Furthermore, through dark magic, Claudia is able to achieve the one thing Callum cannot: bringing the person she loves back to her. 

This establishes Claudia as being Active on a narrative level with Callum being comparatively more Passive, as well as being an inversion of their original S1 roles in some ways. While Claudia’s early S1-S2 arc was dominated by chasing after the princes to stop them from returning Zym and trying to make up for losing the egg, we will see the trio’s mid S4 and onwards arc be about trying to stop her from unleashing Aaravos. 

[ If you are interested in learning more about narrative passivity, I’d suggest checking out this meta I wrote contrasting and comparing Claudia and Ezran as foils in S2-S3. I also have one planned examining Rayla and Viren’s parallel passivity in S4 ] 

Then, of course, you have the more overt parallels drawn between Callum and Viren in a few key ways. Examining the mirror with parallel framing, meeting Soren on the battlements, waving to kids as they walk on by, their shared position as High Mage.

Callum can’t say Viren’s name either, which feels purposeful precisely because the man is Callum’s political and narrative predecessor, but also because of the emphasis the series puts on routinely calling things what they are. It also sets up how unstable Callum’s identity as a mage will, in some ways, become later this season when Aaravos is brought directly into the fray. 

Of course, while Viren and Callum have always had a plethora of parallels, the biggest one in some ways is that now, they share a birthday — or re-birthday. Callum is attempting to move on in some capacity (which given the Rayla drawing in his study, he’s not trying that hard to let go — yet, anyway) while Viren is playing catchup. 

I’ve talked about Callum’s mental / emotional state in S4 and the way he, to a degree, acts like he’s already dead because Rayla leaving metaphorically killed him, in a way. We can see parts of this already in 4x01; whenever Callum isn’t with or doing things for his brother, he is alone (unless he’s trying to get answers out of Soren because he hates secrets now, or Corvus and Soren are stumbling through stalling him) and typically in his study with the mirror and maybe Bait as company. 

But we see Callum carry this weight with him, stuck in the same kind of grief Rayla was in TTM.

E: Why aren’t you celebrating? C: It’s not really my birthday anymore. Not to me. It’ll never be the same.

His birthday has been permanently changed, even if everyone else has tried to breathe new life into the day. He has been permanently changed; he’ll never be the same, either. We also see a similar sentiment for Viren. He’s not particularly joyful at being back alive, even if his stance on it swings between happiness to reluctance even over this first episode and the rest of the season.

Claudia will never be the same because of what she’s done to bring her father back, shown by her hair. Viren will never be the same because of the trauma of death, shown by his battered garments and changed attitude. Callum will never be the same because he’s had spent two years mourning and missing Rayla, and like Claudia and Rayla’s TTM cloak, is decidedly split down the middle. 

Claudia has a second chance to save Viren. Rayla took a second chance to kill Viren. Viren now has a second chance at life. What does Callum have a second chance at? It’s certainly not the mirror and it’s not magic. So, she’ll show up in an episode or two, but we’ll get to that when we get there.

The main point is that for Callum, a lot of his characterization and framing this episode is to get us caught up to who he is after two years, the way he’s been hurt, and how tethered he is to Claudia in terms of motivation and Viren in terms of theme. Just as Viren is going through a kind of rebirth, Callum is gearing up for one too, even as the episode goes on, we see just how different a place he is in, narratively, as well.

Secret Keeping and Subversion 

Now onto what tethers our arguable A and C Plot together most obviously, which is to say: Amaya and Callum both have secrets kept from them that turn out to be happy, celebration occasions. While both believe for most of the episode that the secret can’t be anything good, both are proven wrong. Amaya is overjoyed by Janai’s proposal even if it initially went awry, and Callum is touched by Ezran’s attempts to give him a happy birthday, even if it doesn’t work. 

So Amaya and Callum are drawn together into disliking secrets being kept from them. There’s the obvious layer here, of course, of Janai paralleling Rayla and her secret-keeping in TTM, leading to Callum’s behaviour and responses in this episode. Amaya states, “You shouldn’t keep a secret from me,” even if Janai posits, “It’s safer for you to not know yet,” Amaya still doesn’t like it.

However, there is perhaps the less obvious parallel between Amaya and Rayla, and an inability to believe you are safe even when your partner assures you otherwise. Amaya never entirely lets her guard down until Janai re-emerges and Rayla was unable to let her guard down in TTM, torn between angrily holding on and questioning if anyone was right to try to move on, let alone her. 

This also speaks to how Rayla’s paranoia has, in some ways, gravitated to Callum instead, too. Now he’s the one who fears the worst. Now he’s the one who can’t believe that everything is fine. It’s an awful way to live. 

However, where Amaya and Janai end their plot line happily, the ending scenes of the episode all emphasize what other characters have that Callum does not, which is

Partnership 

Callum’s lack of partnership shows up in many ways throughout the episode, both big and small. The person he always used to discuss magic with is gone, and he notes that nobody else really entertains him. He has his drawing of Rayla from 2x07, also from when he was worried about losing her, up in his study. He demands answers from Soren and doesn’t ask for reassurance; in fact, despite spending most of the episode worried, he doesn’t get any reassurance until the very end. He’s so focused on magic that even when he thinks Ezran may be in active danger, it’s enough to distract him. And of course, there’s the way he tries to pretend to be fine when his brother asks.

As I’ve noted before, Callum actually confides very little in anyone in season four, at least not without prompting. This is a big change from prior seasons for numerous reasons, which I’ll expand on more in the next and final section of the meta. For now, I’m just going to let the screencaps of each plotline’s final scene (or close to) in the episode speak for itself.

As previously discussed, Claudia has been able to do what Callum could not, and brings her loved one back to her. She’s reunited with her father after two long years of worrying. She then also joyfully introduces her boyfriend, Terry, to her father, who in spite of Viren’s lukewarm to cold reception, the two are happily unfazed by: “I think that went well.” Janai and Amaya’s engagement is reaffirmed by Janai stating Amaya’s fierce battle prowess is one of the things she “loves about her.” 

(Meanwhile Viren is without his partner in his ex-wife, Lissa, likewise leaving him.)

Callum ends his birthday on the balcony initially alone, then with his brother, crying under the light of the moon, and unable to even admit he loves Rayla out loud anymore because it hurts too much. He worries and mourns his best friend and girlfriend, Ezran able to provide only minimal (if any) comfort by the time the episode closes out. Again, we see Love tethered to this idea of Death per Viren and Claudia, as Ezran’s “She’s alive. And wherever she is, she love you too” makes Rayla loving Callum synonymous with her being alive. 

All of this compounds the fact, though, that Callum is fundamentally without his partner or one of the two people he loves the most in contrast to the rest of the main cast, even the ‘villains.’ Even with Ezran, who can understand this heart break the most, Callum is alienated in his grief. To Ezran and everyone else, his birthday is still a day worth celebrating. To Callum, it’s not. It never will be.

In his own words, it will always just be the anniversary of the day she left. Of the day he lost her, while he lay sleeping. And, speaking of isolation, let’s talk about

When Does Callum Self Isolate?

Callum doesn’t self isolate often in previous seasons. He definitely does so sometimes, and will often catch a quiet moment for himself just to draw on purpose. Callum doesn’t mind being alone (and indeed I think he’s more introverted than extraverted at his core) but he typically isn’t alone when dealing with his emotions, except for a few exceptions.

In 1x01 when hearing about Harrow, Callum doesn’t want to worry his little brother, so he goes to Soren and insists on helping. We can see parallels to this in 4x01 as well, with Callum believing there’s another plot to kill the king that Soren has accidentally ‘spilled the beans’ over. (The king and high mage standing on the same balcony talking about Moonshadow assassins. The same cycle that just keeps on restarting, but again, more on that next episode.) 

The main times Callum isolates for emotional reasons in S1-S3 is

1) He can’t sleep (2x07 before Rayla joins him and he was still chatting with Bait, so he wasn’t wholly alone and this one probably makes the most sense)

2) Lingering out in the storm in 2x04, using magic to help take his mind off Soren and Claudia’s betrayal. Again, until Rayla joins him, and even when he goes into the storm, he happily takes Zym with him

3) Perhaps the one true time in 2x05, where he goes below deck on the Ruthless to try to read Harrow’s letter and bursts, angrily, when he thinks he’s being interrupted/intruded upon (even if he softens and asks Bait to stay). 

The last one is notable since we know that Callum’s instinct with grief is to isolate and then seek out companionship. After Claudia tells him the truth about Harrow, he walks back to the dwelling alone and in tears in 2x02 before Rayla finds him. When he brushes her off, it’s with the intent of telling Ezran the truth, before he spends the night sitting up alone (while Rayla does the same outside the garden). Then, after he tries and fails to tell Ezran, he seeks out Rayla and fully lets himself start grieving. 

By S4, we see this has radically changed, as again, 90% of his scenes where he’s around people centres back to doing something for Ezran (the council meeting) or worrying about his brother. The one main exception is Callum seeking the Crowmaster out to ask about the Tome of Translation, and that was more of a happenstance passing in the halls than Callum going to the rookery, perhaps. The one main exception is him finding Soren on the battlements and even that is related to him dealing with leftover trauma from Rayla’s departure. In spite of being the king’s brother, Callum actually sits farthest away from Ezran and indeed from any other council member as he can possibly get.

We also see that how Callum grieves has changed, or at least, the way he grieves Rayla is notably different. He’s still actively grieving, yet shuts himself from everyone else, including his own party. He has been outside for “a while” (as Ez says) completely on his own before Ezran notices and then goes after him. There’s no attempt to get him back to the party, either. 

His temper is fast and loose, he’s more paranoid, patient, worried, slightly more of a workaholic and prone to spending a lot more time by himself. He doesn’t have his confidant. He doesn’t have his counter-balance. And it goes a long way to making him feel off-kilter, even before the season really kicks off. 

Conclusion

To wrap things up, 4x01 introduces some of its primary themes of the season: stagnated grief, separation and reunion, partnership (or lack thereof), and life-death symbolism being brought heavily to the forefront. 

A lot of the characterization and parallels between Callum, Viren, and Claudia are subtext that provide a picture, meaning that while the episode’s primary job is to catch us up, it’s also laying the ground work for the bigger thematic questions the season interrogates later (largely beginning in episode two and three), as well as leaving room for future seasons. 

If you enjoyed this post, I hope to make one like it for every episode in season four in order to chart out the thematic waters I can see and understand at this time. All posts in this little mini theme series will be specifically filed under my “Establish Theme Series” tag as well as my more general “analysis series” tag. I do have some metas I plan to upload concurrently with this mini series

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! I’ll see you in the next one!

[purpleplaid17]

Jess Watches // Sun 31 Dec // Day 100 Synopses & Favourite Scenes & Poll

Orphan Black (rw with mum) 5x05 Ease for Idle Millionaires

While Sarah and Kira spend time at home bonding, Cosima unlocks the island's biggest secret, discovering a link between the village's so-called creature and the science around Kira.

“The privacy we got to have in that scene, where the camera is swirling around us… it just felt so right. It was internal, it was private, and it was felt as opposed to looked at. Felt very empowering to explore the love of these two women this way.” - Tatiana Maslany

“It was really just Tatiana and I connecting, and every take was different, but it was the- the fiction making reality. The scene, it- it felt… real. There was something- our connection as actors and as characters just sort of… [pause] yeah, just, on fire. And so, that was one of the most beautiful, and intense, and magical moments of my career.” - Evelyne Brochu

"A marvelous moment happened early on, maybe the second take… Evelyne lifted Tatiana up so that she was holding her, which made Tatiana taller than her. That sort of shift in the physical dynamic is so evocative for the viewer — to go from Cosima looking up to Delphine, to being level and finally above. If we had cut to a wide shot you would have seen Cosima’s legs wrapped around Evelyne’s waist. Evelyne literally lifted Tatiana up, and it was just a breathtaking moment. And while I let each scene evolve in its own way, I said, ‘Make sure you lift her up because that’s fantastic. " - Helen Shaver

Unprisoned (with mum) 1x03 Are You My Mother Wound?

With Edwin back in her life, Paige must confront her "mother wound" - leading to a housewarming dinner that turns into a competition for her love.

Little Paige stealing every scene she's in. She is so talented. And her actually interacting with Adult Paige was a fun addition to their dynamic. Paige's family is dysfunctional af but they really do seem to love her which is really nice. I also noticed Shiri Appleby directed this ep and last 👀.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (rw) 3x10 Amends

As the Christmas holiday approaches, Angel is tormented by evil apparitions who want him to eliminate Buffy.

The 5-episode hot streak had to end some time I guess. An episode of Angel moping about pathetically. Bored now. When Buffy and Faith making peace and potentially having a genuine connection was right there. It was literally written like she invited her girlfriend home for the holidays, and we barely go to see any of it.

Heartbreak High 1x01 Renaissance Titties

Amerie, the new outcast, receives a party invitation that gives her butterflies. But when she manages to show up, a bitter surprise awaits.

Why was the photo of her and Harper nearly kissing the one Amerie zoomed in on? And to help Quinni get Sasha's attention why was Amerie's solution to try and kiss Quinni? And why did Harper not play a love song outside Amerie's window to try and win her back?

[agenderdeddie]

[sun-undone]

OBX details that make me feral (1/?)

The Pogues’ differing opinions on what to do with the money from the motel room in 1x01

This conversation goes by pretty quickly, but I absolutely adore it because it very clearly cements each of the Pogues’ unique worldviews. I just think it’s such a cool way to introduce the audience to their dynamic as a friend group and all the potential sub-dynamics within it. You can very easily start to map out these characters in terms of a moral hierarchy:

Kiara votes to give the money to Lana because it’s “bad karma” otherwise, which reflects her more idealistic outlook on life. She believes that bad things happen to people who do bad things. Since she is in a much less precarious financial place than the other Pogues, she has the luxury of thinking about the situation from a higher moral standpoint than them.

Pope also doesn’t want them to keep the money, but not because he has some deep, internal sense of right and wrong. He just doesn’t want to get caught and get in trouble. In terms of his morals about the situation, they only matter insofar as they matter to the police or other authority figures that could jeopardize his future.

JJ is the least morally conscious of the bunch, as he thinks they should just keep the money and “deny, deny, deny”. Probably due to a combo of Luke’s influence and his status as the lowest income Pogue, he doesn’t have the luxury to worry about the karmic consequences of his actions. He also isn’t concerned with his future being ruined if they get caught because he is fully prepared to not have a future anyway. 

The fact that he butts heads with Kiara here because of her privileged outlook introduces the potential for a very cool dynamic between the two characters. Kie’s “bad karma” approach vs JJ’s “eat or be eaten” approach is something that often comes up in small, comedic moments throughout the series (their very first lines in 1x01 about fancy towel warmers; JJ talking about how he loves plastic in 2x02), but I’d love to see it come up again in a more high-stakes situation. My fellow Jiara bitches, how do we feel about this??

And then finally, we get to John B, who isn’t concerned about karma or getting caught or finally having some money in his pockets. He looks beyond the question of whether to take the money and discovers the more important question of how did Scooter get the money in the first place. In my opinion, this not only cements John B as the leader of the Pogues, but it also introduces his more fantastical outlook on life. He’s more likely than the other Pogues to see a deeper conspiracy going on because he’s been holding onto hope for his dad for almost a year at this point, despite literally everyone telling him to give up and move on. We’ll see this outlook continue to rear its head as he gets more and more frantic about the treasure hunt, especially in the back half of the season. It seems so tame now, but I really think that this moment plants the seeds for how obsessive he gets about finishing his dad’s mission and finding the gold.

next post

[starbuck]

I’m certain this point has been made before but it’s truly WILD to think about how different the entire plot of Black Sails would be if Silver didn’t exist.

Like. Say the original cook had been the one to present himself to Gates. 1) there’s a high probability that, by stealing the schedule, he intended to bargain for his life and a share of the profits and, in that case Flint and co. would have gotten it immediately or, alternatively 2) if he did try to lie, we saw from his interactions with Silver that he’s a terrible liar so, in that case, it’s likely that Gates would have smelled something fishy and remembered to search him, finding the schedule regardless.

And, if the Walrus crew already had the schedule in the beginning of 1x01, there would have been no need for Flint to go see Richard Guthrie, meaning that he likely would have been arrested by Hume without incident. Following this, Richard wouldn’t have been there to interfere with Eleanor’s negotiations with Bryson, who would have said no and then been detained by Eleanor’s men, forcing him to give over his guns immediately - meaning no battle with the Andromache, no letter from Miranda, no Billy falling over the side, no rift between Flint and Gates. After that, they could have sailed for the Urca gold without incident.

It’s likely that Vane and the Ranger would have acted as consort bc obviously Jack would’ve still tried to broker that deal if he got wind of what Flint was sailing for and, with no Silver or missing schedule to get Max involved, the whole Max-Eleanor fallout and subsequent Eleanor-Vane fallout would never have happened, Vane’s crew would never have been banned, Jack and Anne would never have come into ownership of the brothel or gotten close to Max, who also likely would not have risen to power as quickly as she did.

This all being the case, Max either would not have been in a position to or would have had no motive to sell Eleanor’s lead about the Good Fortune to Ned Low which means it’s likely that Abigail would never have been kidnapped and ransomed and, even if she were to be, it would have been a moot point because Flint and Vane would have already captured the Urca gold by that point. So no drama over the fort, no Vane-Eleanor breakup, no Eleanor getting arrested, and no Charles Town plot which, of course, means that Miranda, like Gates in s1, would have survived.

From there, you can imagine all sorts of potential ways the plot could have moved forward… It’s likely that an arrested and condemned Richard Guthrie would have taken the same deal Eleanor did in assisting Rogers in exchange for his life, which then would have put him in direct conflict with Eleanor herself, so how would that have played out? Would Jack still have become a captain (either by usurping Vane or by striking out on his own under different circumstances)? How would Flint and Miranda’s relationship have progressed if he actually got his “war” for Nassau’s independence in precisely the way he’d always hoped and she feared? How would the Maroons have ultimately factored into all of this?

I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but the more I think about it the more awestruck I am by the degree of impact that John “Just Some Guy” Silver has on the show that removing him affects the plot This drastically.

[mischas]

You should def do a top 20 or top 10 or top 5 episodes of the OC one day 👀 I said three different amounts because I don't know what you'd be willing or even have the time to do, but I would take whatever we can get while also not being able to deny that I would love to hear your 20 favs if you'd be down, but I know that's a lot. They don't necessarily have to be ranked, I'm fine either way! Some people hate ranking stuff which I understand, I don't mind it though. I'm assuming the Mall Episode and all of a few of the Chrismukkahs would be up there? A lot of season 1 eps? There's that one where Seth and Summer paint/reorganize Marissa's room and the core 4 end up cuddling on the bed together. I'm so curious! And full disclosure I only recently watched the OC for the first time this summer, and had never really heard of it before a friend recommended it to me after I had binged the original Gossip Girl. I was born in 96 and just completely missed its place in pop culture 😭 haven't seen OTH either, but maybe one day. We'll see lol. There's so much content these days and while I am in the mood for teen drama sometimes it's not my favorite genre. While I was watching the Mischa pieces dropped so that was interesting. Hate what they did to Marissa as a character. 100% team Mischa/Marissa. Getting through season 4 was ROUGH. Followed your blog right after I finished watching I think because I really wanted to know what other people thought of the show. Love hearing your thoughts. Sorry for rambling a bit x

Thanks for sending this in!

Haha, I can probably do a quick top 5 for ya:

1x27 The Ties That Bind

2x15 The Mallpisode

1x01 Pilot

1x07 The Escape

3x01 The Aftermath

And no I love ranking!! It's fun and helps me organize my thoughts! Tbh, I'm not a huge fan of any Chrismukkah ep, but 2x06 The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't is my fave. I feel like the Chrismukkah eps never position Marissa in a favorable light so they make me cringe but I love the drama of 2x06. I don't really get when people say they hate Lindsay since she's boring when her father is literally Caleb Nichol and Marissa's stepsister. I mean the show only touched on the awkwardness of Marissa/Lindsay in 2x09 but the potential is SO there for good tension. Maybe it's me living in those possibilities more than anything else.

1x24 The Proposal is a fave for sure. Definitely a top 10er! Aww it's okay! I was born in '95 and weirdly got into it in high school when it wasn't streaming anywhere and I had to watch on DVDs and SoapNet when I was sick. Oh, SoapNet. Those were the days. Eh, I could live without OTH. It's not as great as The OC even at its height, but s2 of their show is fantastic. I made the mistake of witnessing the Leyton vs. Brucas ship wars and they scarred me for life. No joke, if you got into that show during that era, you will never get over it.

I love some teen dramas but I'm not a huge afficiado or anything. If you're looking for some 90s/00s teen drama and a relationship that has you shook and subverts narrative expectations, Dawson's Creek is your fix. Their first two seasons are contentious IMO but oh my god in s3 you'll have an otp for life. But that show also struggles with female characterization.

Anyway, congrats on getting through s4 of this show! That's honestly an achievement. Actually, getting through s3 of this show is also an undertaking. That shit gets so tired but does pick up toward the end. Here on this blog I don't really acknowledge what happens in 3x25 because I firmly believe that Marissa sailed away to Greece and lived her best goddamn life. Thank you so much for stopping by on this blog! It's nice to feel like I'm not alone in my thoughts for this sort of niche show that ended so long ago. You're always welcome here for a chat and a read. And I'll get on those top 10 and 20 lists!

Right now we have these in the top 10 (out of order):

1x12 The Secret

1x22 The LA

1x24 The Proposal

2x24 The Dearly Beloved

And top 20:

1x02 The Model Home

1x11 The Homecoming

1x14 The Countdown

1x23 The Nana

2x09 The Ex-Factor

2x16 The Blaze of Glory

2x18 The Risky Business

3x03 The End of Innocence

3x25 The Graduates

Often I struggle with remembering if I love an episode or if I love it for a significant scene that happens in an otherwise unremarkable or just plain fine/good episode such as:

1x04 The Debut

1x08 The Rescue

1x10 The Perfect Couple

2x03 The New Kids on the Block

2x14 The Rainy Day Women

2x23 The O.Sea

3x02 The Shape of Things to Come

3x08 The Game Plan

Like, do I actually like these episodes enough to put them in a top anything list? Or do the episodes stand out because I adore one or more scenes in them? The s1 ones I do actually love more than the others since s1 is the bomb. Also 2x14 is an overrated episode I said what I said. The only really iconic thing is the final (incredible) Champagne Supernova coda which is the prime example of me thinking I love an ep while only remembering it for one thing. Anyway!!