#tumblr chomped the quality so bad lol

[unbloodiedmartyr]

JEFF: You're asking our candidate to put their head in a noose. It's a PR disaster waiting to happen-

SHRUE: No. No, I like it.

I am not going to be able to voice this in a manner that is at all comprehensible, but this moment in s2 where Shrue volunteers to put their head in a noose is just so narratively rich. Firstly, we get such a good idea of where their head is at at the beginning of their arc. We know they have moral values and want to do what's right but they're only willing to take symbolic action, something that they don't truly believe can put them in harms way. Through the symbol of the noose, we also see how they are willing to strangle themselves, masking their true beliefs, in order to appeal to the majority. However, this moment also really encapsulates their naivety and blind faith in the system. They think they are protected and genuinely believe that they can make a change. They are willing to put their head in the noose because they trust that it will not be tightened and, of course, they pay the ultimate price for this loyalty!! Shrue backs themselves into a corner again and again, making so many concessions in the hope that the small reforms they do get through will be able to shift the narrative. They delude themselves into thinking that they are being taken seriously, that the summit will be productive, that what they have been doing actually matters. Of course, all this is doing is setting them up as a scapegoat for when things go awry. They have quite literally stuck their neck in the noose and don't even realise it!! Ultimately, by the time they work up the courage to pull to wool from their eyes, it is too late. They are fated to be strung up as a scapegoat, the worst of all of us, anathema to everything that their people (the people they loved and had such faith in) stand for.