#not really a hill i will die on... not trying to stir beef with anyone

[kitsunesakii]

You have piqued my interest so…

Heh…

If you ever wanna write that rant at some point you have at least one person who is thoroughly interested 😋

(Picture me laying at the edge of your bed twirling my hair and kicking my feet like a teenage girl in a 1980s movie looking for hot gossip)

Ok bet

Firstly I want it noted that this is personal opinion so I don't wanna be killed over this.

✨Character development✨

I'll be honest I was a little surprised at how little we got when it came to our two main peeps for character development- more on the actual relationship wise.

Let me explain- with Sasha we learn that she has a firey spirit and isn't afraid to tiptoe around Jon (something we see in season one, whereas Tim definitely tries to not start fires [again season one and season two Tim]) She isn't afraid to speak her mind and she was the only other one that knew Gertrude, even if just a little. We know she's got computer skills and is pretty brave, (we know this since she had that showdown with the stranger and held her ground) although it's hard to talk about character development over a character that dies season one, so let's look at Tim

We know 'development' wise he goes from docile and eager to avenge his brother to angry and desperate to avenge his bother. He goes into a self destructive route and over all we lose him as an ally to Jon relatively quickly.

Honestly in my opinion I always thought Jon seemed more at ease with Sasha, way more than anyone else. The fact that she challenged him in a way no one else did kinda adds to this but whatever - she ended up as the blonde in every slasher film (Jonny must have known that if she would have lived she would have become too powerful, ahh, I digress)

(Note I'm only gonna analyze the original crew because my main argument is the weak link in the 'love' story)

Now we really don't see a lot of Martin... Ever? We know he's under qualifed (at least in Jon's opinion) we don't get a lot of him until season three and season four... Which is fine, but we don't really ever find out a lot about him besides the fact that he likes Jon (and the fact that we learn that through a conversation between two OTHER characters- like they were worried we wouldn't put it together- is kinda a red flag but again I digress)

Now let's talk about Jon, he definitely goes through character development... We watch him from going from unsociable will say whatever without a filter to absolute mental collapse to realizing without relying on others he's gonna die to finally allowing people to care for him.... Kind of.

In actually we watch him realize that he took for granted the people that -tolerated him at best and ignored him at worse- to -being surrounded by people who hate him (Melony, Bassira, Daisy, Tim, need I go on?) And having to journey mostly alone.

I was always a bit confused on why it seemed like fan art and fanfiction depicted Martin and Jon's relationship more "loving" than the actual story

In my eyes it always seemed like Jon clung to Martin in a toxic way since Martin was the only one who gave him positive attention. And character wise it makes sense, into season four Jon is completely alone and missing the one person that ever seemed to like him. In his eyes he's killed everyone that seemed to give a damn and now Martin is all that's left. This is ok character wise! This makes sense! But here's where the plot lost me

Into season 5 I was so genuinely confused because I couldn't understand how we went from "ah the one person that cared doesn't care any more and I miss them dearly" straight into "I love him with my whole heart."

Now if this had been the whole point- like a toxic yaoi - "they only cling to each other because they are emotionally damaged and somehow make each other better kinda but can't love each other in a real way" - but it wasn't- at least I never got that idea from the fandom

Instead it went into full love story which just... Didn't do it for me

Let me try and break it down

Season one and two Jon barely notices Martin, hating him at worse and irritated by him at best

Season three every one is too busy with the murder mystery to even think about those two relationship wise. And while Martin helps Jon every way he can it still seems like Jon just takes him for granted, now into season four Jon is alone and desperate for human connection and misses Martin -(FOR THAT REASON)- it makes sense that when he finally gets him out of the lonely that he'd cling to the other (again back with that toxic emotional co dependency) but relationship development wise it just seemed too fast

We get into season 5 and Jon's saying things like "I love you" and "yes Martin, you're my reason" and I just don't think he'd be at that point yet. I'm not saying they can't get to that point, I'm not saying that they couldn't work because of personality reasons.

I'm saying that the pacing of the story's narrative goes against the immediate switch from season 4 to season 5

In my opinion it would have been way more satisfying of an ending if during season 5 we got a more gradual relationship building that crescendos at the final episode. I think it would have fit character wise- Jon would have had to explore his more vulnerable emotions whilst trecking through the horrors he basically created (it's not his fault but we all know he blames himself) and Martin would get to shine as a character who pushes emotional vulnerability while finally sticking up for himself and pushing against Jon's stubbornness. By the end of season 5 Jon would come to grips with the fact that he actually does love Martin and the final sacrifice + kiss would end up being so much more emotionally satisfying. I think it would also do the characters justice more since it seemed like by the end it really was "the Antichrist and the Antichrist's plus one"

But who am I to talk? I am a mere moral with human opinions that don't have to dictate how you feel about the characters! I still absolutely loved the podcast and would recommend it to anyone!

BUT THANKS FOR LISTENING TO MY TEDTALK