#sent on 20230811

[booasaur]

hi! hope you’re doing well :) wanted to share some thoughts on the latest episode of minx, so heads up for spoilers below!

okay so — as of 2x04, I was kind of hesitant with where they were going with Bambi and Shelly’s relationship but I’m intrigued so far. From what I can gather Shelly is scared/intimidated by her attraction to Bambi and the potential it has to upend her life, so she’s exploring other avenues to express her sexuality in a way that doesn’t negatively affect her marriage. For Bambi’s part she seems to genuinely like Shelly but also wants to respect her boundaries, so she isn’t pushing anything even if she gets her feelings hurt. Bambi’s actress one said something along the lines of she loves with all her heart and man it does seem like she fell hard in a short amount of time. It’s an interesting dynamic that isn’t like a straight-up affair, so even though I have some reservations I’m excited to see where they go with it. Also Bambi telling Shelly “I just want you to be happy” aww :( also peeped the fact that Richie apparently knows about their sexual relationship but presumably no one else does, his friendship with Bambi is nice.

I really really like Tina but it seems like she’s taken a backseat to the narrative, which is funny because that seems to be her conflict with Doug this season? She had a brief exchange this past episode with Ritchie about how unappreciated they are but not at a lot else. Not entirely sure what they’re doing with her but there is definitely room for that to change and I could be reading this wrong. Also the woman who is funding the magazine — Constance? — is fun to watch, her actress is doing great things on The Afterparty, which I recommend to watch, no spoilers but they also have some queer stuff going on this season :)

Hi! Thank you, doing all right, hope you are too!

Yeah, I've seen people who were looking forward to Shelly/Bambi this season be disappointed with how it's going, but I feel like this is the best case scenario at the moment? Bambi already emotionally invested, and she's actually the one I had some concern about, because she can be so easygoing and casual about things, it could have just as easily been a lovely night for her with no feelings, but there are feelings.

We knew Shelly was definitely gonna struggle and I'm actually pleased that whatever else is going on in her relationships, she's also very affected by Bambi, especially with apparently how free loving the rest of her life is. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed and a lot surprised not by the direction her storyline this season's taking, but that some really crucial stuff happened off screen. If season 1 was about her feeling stifled in her life and marriage, and Lenny being such a stick in the mud, how did the coming about of them being swingers not something valuable to see?? Who brought it up, the initial reaction of the other person? I get that they wanted it to be a surprise and for the comedy of it, but Shelly took an enormous step and we didn't see it. Like, were key parties such a huge thing in the '70s that it wasn't a big thing to have them...? I don't think so...

But on the other hand, it does establish, that Shelly's feelings for Bambi aren't just about an escape from her humdrum life, because she IS finding fulfillment at home and even at her job now, and still, she doesn't trust herself to be alone with Bambi. You summed it up really well, that what she feels for Bambi is something emotionally significant enough that it could affect her marriage, and doesn't fall within the sexual part of swinging.

So far, Tina has definitely not gotten much to work with. On a show like this, you get more screen time by having problems that you work through, and they've written her as the competent problem-solver. Even with Doug, it's all his issues, she's left to be frustrated with him, justifiably, but on screen it's pretty thankless. They've really boxed her in, there's no room for real personal growth because she's already kinda there, and they're not giving her an external issue to deal with big enough that the audience gets invested. Maybe she gets her turn soon.

Haha, Elizabeth Perkins, of course I'm a fan. I HAVE also been following The Afterparty and am quite hooked. [redacted]'s ep, it was so gorgeous! Except the end where [redacted] was like, yeah, it was a nothing fling. >_> I mean, that doesn't seem to be the end of things, but either one or both could still be the murderers, or it could still be fully one-sided.

Actually, I've been having the same issue with The Afterparty as for Minx and other shows like Warrior or Durian's Affair, where I want to gif but I'm not really sure if I'm giffing a pair that's already fully broken up forever or doesn't even love each other. I know that being together or even being canon isn't required to ship, but the way I've always approached giffing is if it's something that affects me and that I want to share. And it's slowly become more of a responsibility what I choose to share, I don't really want to get people watching something and then have it implode (jeez, Durian's Affair). That's 100% NOT how either I or people seeing my posts should approach things, but it's been hard to shake that mindset.

It's also gotten more complicated, in a good way, because by now we've gotten enough rep that just being canon isn't necessarily enough to be Worth Giffing, and there are more nuanced and messy storylines where you're no longer getting the 1 minute of fluff every ep that made for a good gifset but not much more of a storyline. Obviously the romantic stuff is still pretty easy, but otherwise, while before I'd find it notable if a show was actually Going There, or was a big project, or had a big actor, or was a big moment for primetime TV or for rep in whatever country, etc, now it's often this emotionally fraught stuff that doesn't make for a neat little contextless set of 10 gifs.