#i wore the grey beanie i maybe sorta bought because i liked luke's

[catty-words]

an exhaustive list of things i love about “edge of great” pt. 1:

- it’s the only song from the season that julie and luke wrote together without any additional influences; pure, undiluted THEM

- the way this makes luke suggesting they use it for the performance a parallel gesture of conciliation to julie picking a sunset curve song for their eats & beats gig

- flynn’s intro!!! (luke patterson who? flynn nolastnameyet is the only hypeman i know here)

- the way the studio’s decked out for the occasion, specifically the pom-pom ‘julie and the phantoms’ on the outside of the door and the purple thunderbolt-lookin cutouts revealed on the inside that give me julie’s “stand tall” outfit vibes ‘n’ feels

- that it’s the only group number without a lengthy piano intro and how that speaks to where julie’s at in her evolving relationship with music. the intro for “bright” is fumbled and has to build her into her confidence, “flying solo” is - in a lot of ways - a conversation between julie and flynn and the intro eases them into that, and the “finally free” performance starts off with an indifferent crowd, one that could have easily put julie off with nerves, so she gets a little riff to collect herself. but by the time we get here, to “edge of great”, she doesn’t need the moment to steady herself she’s ready to dive right in. i say that’s my baby and i’m proud!!

- bein’ on brand with my luke + book club feels, but the way the lyric tripping on the now anthropomorphizes time delights me to no end

- on a related note, and like a rubber ball / we come bouncing back in all its simile glory is like. once he gets started using literary devices he can’t stop and he learned THAT in book club

- not to linger too long in the first verse but i come fully unhinged over the way the story it’s telling applies perfectly to both luke and julie. they’re both trying to overcome a hurdle that kept them from music, running from the past if you will, and are both coming to find they’ve got a second act inside of themselves

- the way the boys come in with such style

- this smug lil moment and how he’s clearly thinking about how their onstage fire is about to send the already hot hot hot performance up in flames

- just really love their smiles here

- aaand of course the follow-up ‘wait, what just happened?’

- the way luke does a fairly good job of recovering after this first dismissal. we get a shot of his disappointment, but by the time we cut wide he’s smiling and working the audience. and a few seconds later, right before he starts his verse, we see him back on his smugness about how hard they’re rocking the number

- julie’s WHOOPS face when they do make eye contact for the first time and how her turn away is so panicked as to be cartoonish. girl really thought she could get away with not acknowledging him the whole number and she did not come up with a contingency plan and now she’s floundering fLYNN HELP

- the way thinking about how this song is pure, undiluted THEIR’S enhances my enjoyment of how pouty mcpouterson he’s getting over julie being unwilling to perform it with him

- the way reggie saunters over to luke just be like ‘nothing going on between you and julie, huh’? before immediately walking away again. iconic of him.

- and speaking of reggie being iconic, his spirited stomping makes me giggle