#rich dotcom - dedicated co-captain of the SS Jeller

[nachosncheeze]

3x13 Thoughts

For being such a good episode, this one is also surprisingly just. so. icky.

I like Nas as a character overall, but the subtext of the interactions/dynamic among her and Jeller in this episode always left me feeling gross. I feel bad-ish for Nas, because it's made pretty clear here that she really had feelings for Weller... but then, before she made a move, she had a whole radioactive lie detector to tell her unequivocally that Jane loved him, and his man-tantrum and everything he did thereafter to tell her that he wasn't over Jane, either.... Everybody makes mistakes, I guess. I have to believe that she didn't mean to come off quite so patronizing to Jane when she first walked into their flat, or at the end of the episode, but whatever her intentions were, it kind of came off that way, which just made everything else about the trio dynamic so much more uncomfortable. (kudos to Archie for playing the double-edge so well, though.)

Then there's Jane. She's in a bad spot; she's trying to mend her marriage and her daughter doesn't want to talk to her, and the woman who once dragged her back in fresh off the torture circuit, irradiated her, and threatened to send her back to the CIA - while sleeping with her husband in what is now her apartment and possibly even the same bed - has just turned up unannounced, seemingly on their day off. Then her idiot husband puts on nice clothes and wanders off with his ex at a party, leaving her - the person who, you know, not just his spouse here but has basically always been his field partner even when they actively kind of hated each other - by herself. That's all got to bring up a few things, and at the worst possible time, too. No wonder she's channeling Lady Dour of Dourton Abbey.

This episode feels like the final end of Fewer Fucks Jane from earlier in the season, too. Lady Dour feels very immediately-post-CIA Jane, and by the final scene in the coffee shop she's back to something much more like awkward season 1 Jane. It's a completely relatable shift for the character given the circumstances and although I'm not in love with seeing some of her spark go to bed for a bit, I love the progressive way Jaimie played it from around about the end of the Rossi mission/birth certificate reveal, chipping away at 'new Jane' bit by bit up to this moment. She's just less brusque now; she's reevaluating.

Speaking of characters returning to season 2 personalities, Weller. Ugh. He seems awfully at ease with Nas, falling immediately back into "leaders/equals" mode, side by side, leaving everyone else (*cough*Jane*cough*) trailing behind. There's Nas' pointed "Jane and you seem very happy", and the idiot confesses that "We're not, but we're getting there." (Note: I've seen several posts at the time heard the line as "We are; we're getting there" but that's not what I heard, and I checked the subs on both Netflix and iTunes. Please don't come for me :P) We find out that she ghosted him when he reached out for help while Jane was being hunted (although she's apparently over it and ready to be old pals now the minute she needs help, hmm...). His intuition and absolute faith that it was her that took the device, the affectionate way he chuckles when he tells Patterson and Rich that it was her. That flirty phone call at the end, while Jane was out elsewhere. He didn't blink at all on finding out that Nas had quietly acquired and was studying a whole new set of naked pictures of his wife (you'd think this might remind a person, at least a little, of that time she held back for like a whole year or whatever, secretly watching them while Mayfair got killed and Jane was violently dehumanized?? but I guess not *sips tea*). And he had nothing to say at all that her quote-unquote limited "I'm not NSA, my contacts wouldn't have been any help to you [to find Jane]" resources are suddenly good enough that she's able to dig up info on his stepdaughter's family that even Patterson hadn't found.

And WHY does he look so confused when Jane hits on him at the end of the mission?! You've been a bit rude all evening my dude and yet the hottest woman at the party is shamelessly looking you over and planning to take you home you should not need subtitles or flash cards or any further explanation to figure this out!!!

Anyway, not every past flame is as cool and supportive as Allie, and this whole thing would have been an awkward ex situation even without their fucked up history, but the fact that "their history" involved literal murder, torture, and blackmail really dials that up to 11. And here's Kurtis "boners to besties" Weller smiling through it all, leaving Rich to check in on his wife.

Speaking of which, I LOVE that Rich found a way and the earliest opportunity to separate Weller and Nas. xD It was an uncharacteristically subtle approach for him - noticing Jane was alone and approaching on the guise of dropping truth bombs, then failing to lighten the mood with a stupid self-preening joke, and then smooshing Jeller back together, all without specifically calling attention to the distance between the two of them. This is one of those moments I feel like there's an unspoken kinship and understanding between our Butterscotch Buddies. Good job, Rich, good job. :D

At the end of the day, I'm not sure if Weller was actually clueless about all the subtext (which would make him a pretty shit investigator tbh) or if he's just willfully pretending nothing was happening (which would REALLY be early season 2 Weller vibes). But whatever the case may be, the whole thing felt gross and crappy for everyone involved. Ew.