#hera holding onto a grudge about 'calm collected and levelheaded' so she can throw it back at minkowski a few episodes later

[commsroom]

let's kill hilbert is a great hera and minkowski episode in how well it displays some of the best and worst of their dynamic (and highlights the source of their ongoing miscommunication.)

"i'm doing the best i can here, so just, please, try to sound a little less patronizing?" / "i'm not being patronizing, i'm being critical." sums up the disconnect: that what minkowski sees as professional criticism and an attempt to combat future problems, hera takes as a personal attack. ultimately, minkowski's suggestions to lighten her burden are well-meaning and closer to what hera needs than any faith in her ability to do her job (there are things she can't do, and things she shouldn't have to), but she's been made to believe her worth as a person - and her continued survival - hangs in the balance. and so, the scene that leads to that one, where minkowski takes the navigation controls from hera: "no, it's fine! i can -" / "i don't care what you can, give me the controls right now." stands out for the wording used, the different things that are meant by it, and what it reinforces for hera: i can't do this. i'm not good enough.

it makes sense that the resolution, where minkowski tells hera, "you are the smartest person i've ever met, hera; focus that intelligence [...]" is one of the moments she thinks of at the end of memoria. because it's a turning point for their relationship, because it's a show of trust ("i trust you" coming very shortly after "i need to know that i can trust you."), because it's a show of respect and the only moment in the entire show where someone refers to hera by rank, but also...

i think there's something to be said for how minkowski's voice at the end of memoria is a direct expression of belief in hera's abilities, while eiffel's "use the force, luke" shows that what hera values about eiffel is... well, eiffel, but i think it's also true that both of these things show something about communication. they show hera's understanding of eiffel and minkowski's unique communication styles, what they say and what they mean by it, and that shows what they mean to her.

"you are the smartest person i know, hera" (a slight alteration from the original line that has a ton of implications re: context and memory) isn't really about her intelligence, or even her ability. contextually, it's a direct counterstatement to "i don't care what you can" and, by association, and through their connection - minkowski's voice becomes, quite literally, like eiffel's, another voice in her head counteracting what pryce has made hera believe about herself.

#wolf 359 #w359 #hera wolf 359 #renee minkowski #i think this is a turning point in the sense of... i don't think it was necessarily an epiphany at the time. #because they definitely have. other conflicts. for similar stuff #but it is... i think a crucial step towards understanding each other. it's a process. and that process involves #hera holding onto a grudge about 'calm collected and levelheaded' so she can throw it back at minkowski a few episodes later #she's soo petty. anyway. #i really do think minkowski is the second most important person to hera and i think memoria highlights that very clearly. #their relationship does not get enough focus.