My roommate and I are so fucking dumb sometimes. Yesterday we saw there was a new trailer and were super fucking excited (because Malcolm in an all white suit FUCK) and it wasn’t until after watching it that we realized that that was the trailer for episode 13, not a second one for 12. We forgot that another episode had come out and were both super confused yet happy that there was another trailer until I realized that it was Tuesday. We promptly watched episode 12.
You wanna know how quickly I hop fandoms? Since the break has started I have become re addicted to Chuck and now to Star Wars to the point where my calendar for the WHOLE YEAR is STAR WARS THEMED I have made a COMMITMENT to the FORCE
Sorry I’ve been so absent! It’s finals week and I’ve been trying to study as much as I can. I should be able to get back into the swing of things by the weekend.
Ooh! If you end up using this as a reference for a fic then please tell me! I would love to read it and this is sure to bring some lovely lovely angst.
Malcolm off his meds
If Malcolm does infact get kidnapped this episode then he’s going to be off his meds. This can be dangerous with any medication, but I feel like the specific highlight on his Benzos this past episode was intentional. He specifically said that he has a dependence on them.
We can assume that Malcolm is not exactly on a small dosage of benzodiazepines considering his past. Also, in case you don’t know what benzos do, a common type of them is Alprazolam AKA Xanax. A sedative used for anxiety and panic disorders. The dosage of them can vary depending on the person but knowing Malcolm lets just assume he’s taking a higher dosage than most. The lowest is generally .25 milligrams and the highest is 4 milligrams per day.
Depending on if Malcolm’s benzos are short-acting (like Xanax) or long-acting (like Valium) the withdrawals can start 1-2 days after the last dose or 2-7 days after. Short-acting will also have a shortened withdraw time, about 2-4 weeks. A long-acting benzo with have a longer withdraw time, about 2-8+ weeks. Though sometimes, benzodiazepine withdrawals can last months or even years. The symptoms start quick but they take a long time to end.
Symptoms can vary from user to user but some of them include anxiety, racing heart, nausea, aches, and insomnia, just to name some of the tamer ones. Other symptoms can be abnormal bodily sensations (like skin crawling), dimilirium, hallucinations, and grand mal seizures. Malcolm has a history of hallucinations even when he’s on his meds. Imagine how much worse they could be if he is forced off of them cold turkey because he was kidnapped and possibly tortured. And grand mal seizures? There are several types of seizures but grand mal seizures are the ones people generally imagine when they think of a seizure. Arched back, muscle convulsions, loss of breath. He’s already likely malnourished with several deficiencies, I could only imagine the effects of a grand mal seizures on Malcolm. Not to mention they can cause confusion, weakness of half the body, and amnesia.
What I’m getting at is, if Malcolm does get kidnapped in this episode, like many of us believe, then he will have to go through withdrawals if he is there for more than a few days. And Malcolm will be going through basically double the torture if Paul decides to punish him like he did his other victims.
I read this post to my mom after she watched the episode and the look on her face. Fucking Golden.
I just realized, what if Paul takes Malcolm but it becomes a cliffhanger until the new year because this is the winter finale? And the last time we are gonna see Malcolm is tied to a chair in a basement about to be tortured or currently being tortured by Paul. All the while Jessica and ainsley just think that he skipped out on dinner, and Gil and the PD just know that he isn’t picking up his phone. Like, one of the last things that happens in the episode after Paul evades them once again is him taking Malcolm so he will stop interrupting his work. OR Malcolm is his work and all that he’s done to some degree was to lure Malcolm in.