#the fact that carpenter did not go willingly into her death if she did die is what really gets me

[boneles-ss]

I loved the ending of the silt verses for so many reasons: because I’m a sucker for the smoking Chekov’s gun, a thematically rich tragedy, and the sickly sweet stench of a narrative that is ultimately and above all else, hopeful.

We were shown the dangers of hope, in the (in retrospect) most seemingly “out of place” episode in the entire series—the hope motel one with the doomed gay people. It was an amazing episode, do not get me wrong, but listening to it for me was like “okay, so based on this, when is hope going to, once again, bite us in the ass. Or literally bite us idk we had somewhat similar foreshadowing used with the sleep god thing from season 1.”

And of course it would be the finale. Of course it would be reading through the transcript, knowing that there’s a shadow of a chance that Carpenter lived to do all the things she was so ready to do, that she wasn’t giving up, or that she died in the water, on her feet, brought to a prophesied end in the god who could not seem to let her go, but that ultimately, she did NOT GO WILLINGLY.

Of course it would be the unknown of Paige and her caravan, trekking through the polluted lands in search of something kinder, something new, knowing that Paige would leave them behind one day—but that day is not today—and she would see them on. It’s hoping beyond hope that they all escape, that they can make something better out there, and that there are ways for people to follow out of this old world, if they choose to read the signs.

That’s what I think that episode was “for.” Obviously episodes like that don’t NEED to tie into the plot directly, and they’re sometimes narratively more satisfying if they’re left self-contained (the power plant ep was also brilliant in a very similar way (and I’m realizing now that that ep also mirrors Paige’s journey….that should be it’s own post)), but its about the theming, the framing of the tragedy, and the foreshadowing of it all. The motel was tragic and awful because it toyed with our hope—rending it functionally untrustworthy. But we choose to hope anyway (I’ve seen the polls lmao) and we make a good story on our own, in our own minds, out of that ambiguity. The ending to me is so good because WE can choose how it ends. We are given that agency, and I think it’s so satisfying either way! We KNOW the god in the motel was fucking with our hope and eating those who dared to try and we still said BUT WHAT IF-

so what’s the harm in hoping for the best for those whose stories continue after we stop consuming them? Hhhhhh this show and this ending are going to stick with me forever

[eyesteeth]

thoughts on carpenter’s likely death this season?

as always, i can endure any torment as long as it's narratively fulfilling. would fuck me up but i'd be cool with it.

rambles below

in the "this is how mallory can still win" corner of my brain i'm holding the concept that she can always be useful and therefore may loophole out of dying in one hand and the fact that in her dream she was looking at the tree and therefore it might be someone else who's dead in the other. given her whole dog arc it'd be nice if she managed to make it out, but it just may not happen.

i may need to elaborate on dog arc actually. i don't know if i've gone into depth about it here just but i tend to compare her and hayward to dogs in that their fulfillment comes from an external source. the difference between the two of them is that carpenter got the out she wanted from the faith, spent time doing work she enjoyed, and now she's "put the collar back on" in season three, willingly choosing to go for this plan with the inherent dogness of "let me die useful" - because isn't that the dog's way? the desire to be good?

meanwhile hayward's dogness comes from the fact that he ceases to function without a higher authority. he's suicidal in the second season because he feels purposeless, and when he makes the god with paige, he's overjoyed. he's the only member of the main four who hasn't outright condemned his god yet and it's so goddamn funny to me. he is content with the state of things. the only man who has ever wholly benefited from a god. bless his heart.

so uh. steering away from that tangent. given that carpenter has willingly put herself in this position of wanting to be of use to someone and die that way, it'd make sense if she did get to die useful and do a treesplosion at the end, but i think it'd also be fun if someone was like "you can still be useful. die useful later"

or yknow if she was gearing to die and faulkner was like "I NEED HELP" and she was like "well i guess this counts as being useful" and Ceased so she could go help him but i think that's too aligned to my personal interests to happen but I Think It Would Be N[i am grabbed by a comedically long stick and pulled offstage]