#i feel like 5a will be about recovery arcs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lovecolibri · 1 year

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I hated 5a but it was saved by ep 6 and 8, then we got 5b and it was really good, then kr got scared of buddie and decided that for all 6a they shouldnt have scenes together anymore. I appreciate the effort of blog talking about the narrative but even without the romantically shipping them we went from 2 best friends to 2 people that just work together

I'm gonna be honest and say I didn't care for 5b for the most part either because the cheating, tay kay nonsense, and L of it all forcing Eddie and Madney/Chim's stuff into the background ruined a lot of it for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ (RIP to everyone who decided to follow me recently for Buddie stuff and missed the "salt gremlin" in my "about" section but this is a hate space for characters I Do Not Enjoy and that includes tay kay and L. Feel free to unfollow, or block the anti tags accordingly. I don't fuck with things that are a waste of time and take time, arcs, and storylines away from main characters, characters I actually want to see, and things that actually push the main character's stories along.)

When even the GA and people who very much state they do NOT ship Buddie are baffled at the choice to sideline their relationship entirely and are asking what the show is doing you know it's an issue. However, I will disagree and say that KR didn't get "scared" of Buddie suddenly after season 5, because she's never particularly liked or cared about Eddie as a character to begin with. We all saw 4x14 and how she sidelined the firefam from Eddie's shooting (they weren't even allowed at his welcome home party! You're telling me tay kay was in Eddie's Covid bubble and cleared to be unmasked around his kid but the firefam weren't?! Please), and sidelined Eddie himself from the whole thing, skipping his (and Bobby's) whole recovery and making the whole thing about Buck and forcing BT. In fact, had Tim not insisted on the scene of Buck telling Chris about Eddie being hurt, and The Will scene, we would have gotten barely any Chris OR Eddie even having LINES much less scenes in the whole episode! Girl has NEVER cared for Eddie or for Buddie and it shows. 6a was just her finding another excuse to not have them interact and because nothing was happening AT work, or in anyone's live OUTSIDE of work, there was no reason for them to have scenes. Like, 90% of 6a could have been an email and the big things that did happen with Henren and Athena haven't come up again or affected anything much outside of that one episode. Athena more so than Henren since I *think* Karen almost dying will come back up in the whole "bio-father" storyline, but Athena has had not a single mention of what happened in her big episode, or a talk with her BFF Hen about how it changed her perspective on things, or gave her closure, or anything.

It's just bad arc planning and episode pacing, and it's not exclusive to Buddie. Let's talk about Madney not even getting to go to couples therapy or talk about breaking up, or talk about getting back together, or have any kind of deep, hard-but-ultimately-healing conversation before moving back in together and buying a house. Boston was SUCH a good episode and everything after that has been off screen or a blink and you'll miss it moment. Regardless of any on set/film time limits for JLH, we could still have more Chim focus and make the time they DO have for JLH count for something.

#my sweet nonnie friends #911 #911 spoilers #buddie #madney #anti taylor kelly #anti lucy donato #clearing out my inbox #today in 'asks i got excited about at work but wasn't able to answer right then and then ran out of spoons to do when i got home'#this might be the last one today though because i have other plans #and i've probably been salty enough for one day

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buckaroosboogara · 3 years

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The 5.01 synopsis had me thinking...

first how can Maddie's ppd get worse?? I feel like she won't be able to calm Jee down so she will panic and call someone. Maybe Chim during a shift, or Anne Lee. I'm honestly worried about her and Jee-Yun. (but also Maddie recovery arc!)

Second, the literal definition of health scare is:

a situation characterized by alarm or anxiety about the risk of developing or being diagnosed with a particular illness or condition.

Which leads me to believe that Eddie will have a panic attack and think it's a heart attack. Or maybe he's anxious about developing PTSD while having it. (One of both will, hopefully, happen. Eddie recovery arc!)

Athena's attacker goes to trial... I'm not sure what this will unpack and I'm kinda nervous about it. What will happen to Athena? How will she handle this? Will she let Bobby know what's on her mind? (Athena recovery arc!)

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extasiswings · 3 years

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i am now manifesting 911 doing a s5a eddie arc in the vein of what tww did with josh lyman in “noel.” pls tim. pls.

No okay but I was literally speculating earlier today about 5A and what an Eddie recovery arc could look like and one of the things I thought about was him finally getting back to work only to freeze up because he's never *really* gotten a handle on his PTSD and being a mess, and now they're doing THIS????? They don't even have to actually shoot him to fuck him up (although...I wouldn't be surprised if they do that too). Obviously we shall see when the episode airs, but right now I am feeling very "I'm so used to giving and now I get to receive," Eddie honey we're gonna GET you to therapy I'll drink to THAT.

#chapel talks #please it would be so good please please please it's all I want #let us all manifest together #antismiles

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twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years

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Carol’s Circular Arc and How it Points to Beth’s Imminent Return

Okay, let’s talk about how Carol’s arc fits into all of this. Because she does, and in a big way. We’ve seen Beth/Carol parallels for years and known they were significant. They’re finally starting to come together for us in a way that makes tons of sense. (Yes, I’m aware that I say that sort of thing a lot, but when I say it, it IS generally true. ;D)

Okay, so I’m going to talk about how we’re seeing a replay of Carol’s S4/S5 mentality right now, and also the Tom Sawyer theme, and how all of that points to Beth’s imminent return.

So right now, Carol’s mentality is a combination of what it was during 4a and 5a. 4a because she’s being homicidal, immoral, and taking things into her own hands in a way that’s hurtful to other people. Just as she did when she decided to kill Karen and David in order to protect people at the prison.

Of course, at that point, she hadn’t recently lost any children. Not since Sophia. In 5a, she still had that mentality, but she had also lost Lizzie and Mika and was dealing with immense guilt over that situation. Now, in S10, we’re seeing a combination of the two. She’s got that same mentality, and she’s dealing with the loss of Henry. Basically, she’s more messed up than she’s ever been.

In terms of parallels to S5, I’ve already said I saw similarities between this episode and Consumed. That comes mostly from her and Daryl’s interaction and the mood of the episode. In both episodes, Carol is being dark and broody and Daryl can tell she’s in pain. He wants and tries to help, but she’s not terribly receptive to him.

So there’s some evidence that this season can be paralleled to S5. (And I’ve already talked about how I think Carol and Daryl will leave together to go find Connie at some point, which would equate to them going to search for Beth in S5.)

But there’s more, Grasshopper. Much more.

Let’s return to the scene I talked about the other day from 5x07, when Beth went into Edwards’ office and we had the 10:40 clock in the background. Remember how I said that Beth went into Edwards’ office to ask him what medicine was necessary to save Carol. That line really rang in my head when I thought it.

What medicine is necessary to save Carol.

Interesting. Because there’s a lot going on with Carol at the moment in the show. You might even say she’s sick or injured. Not physically, but emotionally/psychologically. She’s certainly not in a super healthy positive place, right?

So we have two things that play into this in my mind:

The first is Carol crying and feeling super guilty after the explosion happens. When Daryl tries to walk away, she begs him to tell her that it’s all her fault, saying, “you cared about her, and she’s GONE, and it’s all my fault.” So it sounds like Carol’s guilt is less about herself or even about Connie (though they’ve shown us that she and Connie are friends) than it is about another woman Daryl cares about is gone from his life. And this time it’s very much her fault.

In Carol’s mind, she has to be equating this to him losing Beth. Probably yet another reason they had that convo early on where she encouraged him to pursue Connie.

What does that equate to? It’s hard to say, but I don’t think Carol had a lot of guilt about Beth being shot. From what we saw in Coda, it’s not terribly logical to say it was Carol’s fault in any way. However, there ARE those missing 17 days. And Father Gabriel yelled at Sasha about how the group had “sacrificed one of their own.” Plus he turned them in to Deanna, telling her they were evil and equating them with Satan. So it’s possible Carol has some guilt over SOMEthing that happened with Beth, but we don’t know/haven’t seen what it is, yet.

@frangipanilove has a whole theory—which I’m sure she’ll post eventually—about Rick and Carol lying to Daryl about something to do with Beth, and she has some good evidence for it.

Another aspect to point out. We have a precedent for Carol talking about one thing but meaning another, especially when it comes to her own guilt. I’ve pointed this out before in regards to The Grove. When talking about Lizzie, she says things like, “She’s too dangerous to be around other people. I should have seen it.” And while she IS referring to Lizzie as far as Tyrese is concerned, the fact that she keeps trying to leave the group after that shows she’s also referring to herself. She’s decided that she’s too toxic to be around other people, especially children, because they always die around her.

So the theory has been put forth that when Carol is begging Daryl to tell her it’s her fault, she’s talking about this incident in the mine with Connie, but she may also be referring to something having to do with Beth. Her guilt is SO strong here because this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

The second thing that plays into this has to do with the dynamite and how it explodes.

When Daryl asks Carol to abandon her plan come back with him, she reaches for the dynamite, and drops it. Whether she meant it to or not, it sort of went off by accident. I want to connect that “accident” to something in S5: Carol being hit by the car.

That may sound random, but think of it this way. Carol wasn’t being overly-vigilant and she was hit by the car and taken to Grady. By being there, she automatically gave Dawn a second (third, if you count Noah) victim to leverage against Rick. If it had only been Beth they were trading for the two officers would have been enough to offset her and Noah leaving, and Beth may not have been shot. So I’m really not criticizing Carol for being hit by the car (not her fault) but it did lead to Beth’s “death” and death fake out, due to carelessness.

A lot like her dynamite stunt led to Connie’s. (Though admittedly, she was much ore to blame this time.)

Now back to the clock scene where Beth needs to know what medicine to use to save Carol.

We (both TD and the GA) have talked a lot in the past about the unreality of Carol’s miraculous recovery at Grady, when she apparently had internal injuries. I’ve always believed that this wasn’t so much the writers screwing something medical up as it was done on purpose for symbolic reasons. I mean, think of what the emotional equivalent of “internal injuries” would be.

So, Beth saved Carol by bringing her medicine that healed her internal injuries. Now Carol will feel immense guilt about Connie. And especially if we’re right that Connie “disappears” (Carol does use the phrase “gone”) and is presumed dead, then we have a parallel to Beth. And how would we heal Carol from this particular guilt? Well, the most obvious way is to find Connie, so that Daryl’s friend isn’t dead yet again and he’s not alone. (Remember, Carol believes he has romantic feelings for Connie, even though he told her he didn’t.) And obviously, by extension, bringing Beth back to Daryl would go a long way toward assuaging Carol’s guilt.

But Beth’s return might also lead to some other form of healing for Carol. Such as killing Alpha, which might help her move on as well. And because of Connie bringing Dog back to Daryl in 10x01, I still strongly believe she’ll bring Beth back to him, which means by definition they’ll return together.

Meanwhile, we have that 10:40 (which I now thing points to episode 10x10 clock in 5x07). So if you follow this through in a literal way, Beth learned what medicine would heal Carol in that episode. Perhaps in 10x10, we’ll learn what Carol needs to be healed as well. As I’ve already suggested, it might be a matter of them finding out where Connie and Magna are in that episode.

Now let’s look at the Tom Sawyer template. I’ve done posts about this before, years ago, but if you go back and read them (X, X) they’re very tentative, and from 2016 no less. That’s because I really didn’t feel like I’d nailed down exactly what this is all about.

A recap: in 4x14, The Grove, Carol and the girls discuss that they’d been reading Tom Sawyer at the prison. They say that Carol is like the Widow Douglas. Then in Consumed (see why I’m including this here) we see her with a copy of Tom Sawyer in her bag. Now, that episode is very much about her dealing with Lizzie and Mika, so it makes sense, but it’s also a repeated symbol around Carol.

It hasn’t been mentioned—that we’ve noticed—since then, but @wdway remembered something about the story.

Full Disclosure: I’m much more familiar with Huck Finn than with Tom Sawyer, so I probably would never have made this connection. It’s all @wdway. But I’ll mention Huck Finn (as a character) here as well.

So @wdway remembered that in Tom Sawyer, Tom and his sort of girlfriend Beck get lost in a maze-like series of caves at one point. They’re actually presumed dead for a time. They do eventually find their way out and are *not* dead after all.

Given both the death fake out involved and that this symbol has been used around Carol multiple times, and she’s the one who caused Connie and Magna to become trapped…well, that’s quite a coincidence.

All those who believe in TWD coincidences, say I!

*crickets chirping*

Yeah, me neither. But there’s more.

Tom and Becky were in the cave for 3 days. Tom made marks as they tried to get out so they could find their way back. (Think the arrow Jerry found that the Whisperers made.) Tom and Becky are not only hungry but they're also thirsty (also true of our TWD characters). They find a small pool of water and so Tom leaves Becky to rest and goes on to explore a little more. Tom comes across Indian Joe hiding his treasure with a mark of the cross on the wall in order to find it later. Injun Joe is a very interesting character because he neither hears nor speak. (Connie, anyone?) Tom finally sees a bit of daylight down one of the tunnels goes back for Becky and then they claw their way out, meanwhile the townspeople had given them up for dead and so there was a lot of rejoicing when they realized they were alive.

Also, @frangipanilove did some research on Mark Twain:

“What I found when I did my research, and remember we don’t have the same relationship with the author over here as you guys do, but apparently Mark Twain was one of many pseudonyms used by that author, and apparently it comes from measuring the depths of the rivers, so as to know when it’s safe for the riverboats to go there. Mark Twain means mark numbers two:

"Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. In 1857, at the age of twenty-one, he became a "cub" steamboat pilot. It was something I thought was interesting because of the 22 necklace, or the 2x2/2x10/10x2/10x10 symbolism we’ve talked about. But other than it being another “2” reference I couldn’t really find any huge smoking gun.”

So the fact that the writers used this as a template ties into her 22 theories, and is also connected with water and boats.

So we have Carol’s arc, her mentality, and even the Tom Sawyer symbol coming back around here. And in both cases, a death fake out, with Connie’s mirroring Beth’s.

See why this is interesting? In the story, Injun Joe actually ends up dying in the caves. So it will be interesting to see how this plays out. But having this symbol, which involves caves, in S4 and S5 kind of proves that they had this season (10) and Carol’s role in it planned back then. And I know I’m a broken record on this, but if they had THAT planned back then, it sort of proves a lot of things about Beth, does it?

I want to add one more thing that isn’t particularly TD in nature, but it speaks to the Tom Sawyer symbol and Carol and Daryl’s relationship.

When we first heard Carol called the Widow Douglass, it was either Lizzie or Mika that said it. And Carol responded, “Yeah, I’m just like the Widow Douglas.” It was a somewhat sarcastic remark, and understandably. The Widow Douglas really was a kind old granny lady. And we all know Carol has a flawed, badass, often downright homicidal streak that makes her very UN-like the Widow Douglas. But Lizzie’s point (or Mika’s; can’t remember) is that Carol adopted them, just like the Widow adopted Huck Finn.

And that IS one way to see Carol’s arc. She adopts children. She often loses them tragically, but she’s adopted new kids again and again.

But let’s look at Huck Finn from the story. Who is REALLY Huck Finn in TWD world?

Huck Finn (do NOT transpose the first letters of his names ;D) was a wild child. He liked to live on his own in the woods. He knew how to survive. He had a heart of gold, even befriending Jim, which was taboo back then because Jim was a slave and it was still a very racist society. But Huck didn’t care about that. Jim was his best friend and he was loyal to him. And while Huck was kind to the Widow Douglas and often accepted her hospitality, he didn’t want to live with her long term. He didn’t want to be civilized. He’d rather be a wild child and live in the woods.

So, who is Huck Finn really?

It’s Daryl.

So, it’s interesting to me that we saw the Tom Sawyer book in Consumed because they definitely did some establishing of Daryl and Carol’s mother/son relationship in that episode (“Used to be a boy; now you’re a man.”). Carol kind of adopted Daryl, especially after Sophia. So that’s part of the Tom Sawyer template as well. Again, not a very TD thing. Just something I was thinking about.

Or is it? @wdway pointed out some things that actually might make Daryl being Huck Finn a TD thing.

Like Daryl, HF’s father was abusive and used to beat him as a kid (so, a tie in to Daryl’s scars). In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, HF and Jim spend a lot of time on a river raft. It’s a huge symbol and part of the story. And remember that in S9, when Carol and Henry went to find Daryl, he was living on a raft. (So, a water/boat reference.)

She also pointed out that if Daryl is Huck Finn, who is Tom Sawyer? Probably Rick. Tom Sawyer was the more civilized/less wild of the two, and they were BFFs. In the book, Tom got lost in the caves and was presumed dead. Now, obviously that isn’t true of Rick, but he is presumed dead right now. And it occurs to me that Connie might be a stand in for Rick. If her death fake out leads to Beth, well, we think Rick and Beth are in the same place. So it leads to Rick in a roundabout, 6-degrees-of-Rickyl sort of way.

So again, all of this just points to Beth’s imminent return. The circular arcs (wheel) coming back around again. And we think they’ll bring Beth with them.

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lena-in-a-red-dress · 5 years

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Reconnecting (the s5 continuation of Lena’s No Good Very Bad 4a arc)

Season Five opens with Lena being rushed into surgery. It’s a replay of James’ experience-- for everyone but James, who remembers nothing but the chest punch of the gunshot and then waking up on the operating table. He never fully appreciated the way the others closed ranks around him, even resented their hovering. For him it had been a blip on the radar, a few weeks of soreness and no lingering after effects. Now… he understands.

Lena survives. It’s hard won, without more of her cure helping things along, but Lena is nothing if not stubborn. The first episode ends with her waking in the medbay, surrounded by her friends. James holds her hand as though to let her go would let her drift away. Before she falls asleep again, she shares the name of her likely shooter-- Mercy Graves.

Mercy, they learn, is the only one wily enough to have escaped apprehension so far. It’s good, Lena mutters, as her eyes start to slam, that she’s gunning for Lena. Now they’ll know where she’ll be, and they can finally get her. All of them jump to protest, but Alex heads them off. “Later,” she insists. “Lectures can wait.”

After that, the first few episode show Lena’s slow recovery in the B-plot. It serves as a chance for her to reconnect, and more than a few people end up in her medbay in the weeks that follow, for a chance to reflect, and gain some insight into whatever their problem of the week is. And Lena remains true to her word-- even from her hospital bed, she helps however she can. As a sounding board, a strategist… they each go to her for something different, and none of them leave empty-handed.

But even as her personal relationships rekindle, it’s not all smooth sailing. James has to deal with the guilt of his quick recovery in the face of Lena’s slow one, and they still have to work through the fact that Lena abandoned them all for an entire year.

Tensions rise and snap, especially when Lena is finally released to go home. Her first episode home, she insists she doesn’t need help, and James can’t articulate his need to help, to be needed, and it sparks a fight that lasts the entire episode. By the end of it, Lena ends up stuck in her shirt on the bathroom floor, unable to lift her arms high enough to get it over her head.

Lena had been ready to give the help she’d denied them for the past year. She hadn’t anticipated needing to accept their help in return. But she needs it, and she trusts them. When James returns that night, ready to apologize, Lena finally asks for help. And she gets it.

And so it goes through 5a-- Lena’s slow return to L-Corp and the DEO, and even CatCo. She regains much of her function, but the pain lingers. Mercy sends goons after her, and Lena learns a new kind of vulnerability when her injury leaves her unable to defend herself. We might even get a side plot of helping Lena find new ways to protect herself that doesn’t involve brawling.

It all comes to a head at the midseason. Lena’s mostly recovered, and she and James end up at a public event that Mercy crashes. Lena instinctively moves in front of James to protect him, but James accepts absolutely zero percent of that nonsense and goes into Guardian mode. When Mercy starts firing on them, James’ shield protects them from most of it, but after Supergirl comes to intercept, Lena pats him down looking for injury and finds several bullet holes torn into his shirt-- with no corresponding injuries.

“We need to go,” she urges quietly. James is all too happy to oblige, if it means getting Lena away from the action (addressing his new protective streak for Lena is it’s own episode). And the mid-season cliffhanger is the realization that James is invulnerable.

When the season resumes, it opens with Lena and James working together to determine how far his new abilities go. They both know it’s the harun’el treatment that caused it, and Lena runs every test known to man trying to figure out what else it might have caused. They test for speed, strength, how deep his invulnerability goes, whether it includes rapid healing. It’s just invulnerability-- no regeneration, no flight, no speed or strength.

“No one can know,” Lena warns him. “Not until we know more.”

James wants to tell Kara and Alex. Lena refuses, adamant that the DEO will hunt James down and cut him open to find out how to replicate the serum. Alex can’t protect him from this government, so desperate to level the playing field. They have to wait until they know more. It’s possible Lena can reverse it. James clearly does not want to reverse it.

So the back end of the season is them working together on this, keeping his secret together to middling effect. The Superfriends find out, as they do, and they agree to help keep it secret as well. James struggles with staying out of the fight, desperate to help but the others unwilling to risk exposing his secret.

It causes quite a bit of tension between them, as James gets more and more restless. But it’s still them against the world, and he isn’t about to let it split him from Lena. In the end, it’s Kara who helps Lena understand where James is coming from. She should know after all-- she’s Supergirl.

The reveal sits about as well as you think it would. Lena’s hurt, and humiliated for being the only one to not know for so long. Their friendship nearly splinters, but they come to a tenuous agreement to work through it-- together.

It all comes to a head in the season finale. The baddie this year would be something only Kara could battle. It comes down to her and her kryptonian knowledge-- there’s no special gadget to help her, no last minute save from her cousin. It’s just her and her villain… and her friends willing to run interference.

James shows up in full Guardian gear, and the others in their uniforms and disguises. Brainy, Nia, even J’onn. The biggest surprise though, is Lena.

“This might be your fight,” Lena tells her, decked out in her modified Lexosuit. “But running interference for my best friend is the least I can do.”

And it works. The Superfriends buy Kara enough time to do whatever she needs to do, and they all emerge from the other side victorious-- and in tact.

In the triumph that follows, Kara gets a chance to apologize to Lena again, and to thank her. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Lena rolls her eyes, even as she smiles self-deprecatingly. “Well, you have until now, so…”

“No, Lena… I’ve always had your help. Your trust. It was you who didn’t have mine. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” Kara reaches for Lena’s hand, and finds herself swept up into a hug instead. She melts in the warmth of Lena’s forgiveness. “I’m really lucky to have you as my friend.”

After Kara moves on, Lena turns to James. “I understand now,” she says in a quiet moment of their victory party, “why Guardian is so important to you. I’m sorry I tried to keep you from it.”

James smiles, and hugs her close. He understands her concern now-- there’d been a moment in that fight, when Lena had almost gone down, that James’ heart had almost stopped. He’d almost dropped everything to spirit her away from the fight. Almost.

“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?” he asks.

Lena grins. “We sure do.”

When Kara raises her glass in a toast later, she looks at the people around her, and feels as though her heart might burst.

“All my life, I’ve heard the words of el mayarah. There was a time I thought I’d never find it again.” Her eyes burn with tears, and she hiccups when she sees Alex’s eyes swimming with their own. “But I have. In fact, I’m not sure I ever understood their true meaning before I met all of you. You’ve become my family, when I thought I’d lost mine all over again. And all I can say is… Thank you.”

Kara meets Lena’s gaze, and James’. J’onn and Brainy and Nia. Kelly and Alex, watching with pride and love. She was home.

“El mayarah,” she says finally, lifting her glass.

“El mayarah.”

#i wrote dis #sg conjecture #has absolutely zero support in canon #my version of s5 #I'm not really wanting to discuss the likelihood of any of this happening in canon #no spoilers rule still applies #so no speculation or rumors please #lena luthor #kara danvers #james olsen #quick and dirty overview #you should know that all my angst fuels meaningful character development #this wasn't as tidy as the first one #but hopefully you get the gist

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pilferingapples · 5 years

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Episode 5a: Green Finch and Cosette Bird

Not gonna try to Chronology this bc despite my best efforts I have NO idea what time span this is all supposed to be covering, like if it’s weeks or months or, as it appears to be, all happening in one Really Busy Week

Before I get into it: As always , major props for the Props people, and the set design team on this show. Whatever my other issues about the series, I’ve loved the look of the places, and there’s some real nice touches in every scene. They make rewatching it all worth it just for the visuals.

...More mixed feelings under the cut, but I did enjoy some things besides the setting!:

HELLO HELLFONT MY OLD FRIEND , what can I say, it’s becoming a familiar (type)face , any friend in a storm

-I really enjoy this opening-- setting up that the people in Paris really ARE at about ready to riot and everyone really is angry, it’s not just Those Kids in A Bar Somewhere. It feels very A Few Pages of History, (4.1 , for those wondering!) and I’m glad it’s being given some time.

-I am ALSO Highly Entertained that all this deep rooted and widespread social unrest is juxtaposed with flyers of THAT DASTARDLY VALJEAN. I’m sure to this Javert they’re exactly the same thing-- and I mean I am SURE because Javert tells us so directly:

Rivet or Rivette or whatever: Uh boss we have intel on an attempt at overthrowing the government and I mean Parisians actually do that not infrequently of late so IDK but I think we have bigger issues than your Nemeship

Javert, Verbatim: THERE IS NO. LARGER. ISSUE. MAN, Mark My Words, Where Ever You Find Unrest, HE Will Be At The Very Heart Of It

THIS IS THE BEST THING THIS JAVERT HAS EVER SAID but it’s just gonna get better and I am SO here for Hilariously Overinvested In One Rando Thief Javert, he’s got basically nothing to do with Javerts Past and I do not CARE, this is hilarious

- Cutting over to Valjean and Cosette, with Cosette nursing his really oozy arm wound! I am NOT satisfied with Valjean’s “well I had to go back to the Thenardiers for Reasons” line at ALL, especially not when Cosette was so clearly retraumatized. I would accept a Scheme on his end, a moral argument, ANYTHING, but she’s just like “so this is awful” and he’s all “but Cosette, REASONS” . Also not satisfied with Cosette denouncing people as Evil! or Valjean signing off on it! I understand why she’s saying it from a Watsonian perspective but the show has chosen to set this up, to have the characters most associated with redemption and recovery ready to directly condemn. This Cosette is infinitely more judgemental, and I can see why, because holy smokes this Valjean. And this is a fairly brief moment in the show but it’s just off for what this story and these characters represent.

- Meanwhile, in Some Cafe I Guess, Enjolras has some terrible lines about the upcoming revolution that make it seem like this has been a pickup game planned since all of last week and I have horrible foreshadowing of Fandom Arguments to Come.

Also: this is not the fandom I think we are if we can’t just Nominate some Remaining Amis out of this mess of extras! I’ll go first; I nominate the bearded guy in the corner during Enjolras’ speech about Lamarque (at ~~4:43) for Bahorel, and the dark-haired guy in front of him for Joly.

-I love how grim the women’s prison is; also, Mme T trying to be as good a mother as she knows how to be even here. (Also I know they probably should NOT be in the same prison together, but this is one of those condensations that I Get)

- I’m sure a lot of people are gonna hate it, but I actually really appreciate that this Marius is rather cold and unpleasant to Eponine post-Gorbeau, when she’s taking him to see Cosette. That is canon! He’s quite rude and even physically rough with her when he sees her again! It’s an important aspect of his character; he gets caught up with his current Only Thing In The World and treats other people around him badly, it’s a running thing! Heck, this Marius is still kinder to Eponine post-Gorbeau than his book counterpart. I feel awful for Eponine, of course, but then I absolutely should. This is a Good Bit.

-Thenardier escapes from prison by pretending to have Died of Dysentery--er, cholera! If they’re not gonna have Gav and the whole Escape By Night scene, this is actually a pretty clever, quick way to get Thenardier out, and build in the info about the cholera epidemic. I can never be exactly glad to lose Gavroche Scenes, but this was a pretty good way to abridge that!

- Valjean’s arm is better! So it’s been Some Vague Time! So he’s leaving for Mysterious Valjean Purposes (money), with a blithe “Cosette stay here, it’s safe but also don’t leave the house until I get back, also you can’t come with me because it’s dangerous, but don’t worry it’s TOTALLY safe.” If this Valjean were more the warm, loving character he should be, this might just seem awkward and badly phrased; with all that’s happened between them already and all that comes next, this just seems manipulative and cruel.

-Vajlean goes out into the streets and sees ...a drawing that doesn’t really look like him! On a wanted poster! So he tears it down. Javert’s Valjeany Sense Activates and his eyes open in his office when Valjean tears down the poster Who Knows Where. This delights me. DELIGHTS. This Javert is a hilarious parody of all Javerts and I officially love it.

-I also like Thenardier and...Montparnasse?-- and someone else..?why is this scene so dark -- in the sewers, and the cut from that to Cosette. Nice way to stress the actual real danger that Valjean’s left her in, also: good Cat Scare before Marius happens. (yeah and also Thenardier seems to be Leader of the Patron Minette, which is never my Fave Choice for an adaptation to make, but it makes sense, especially as breakneck as things are moving

-Toussaint’s Cheerful Doomy Dooms of Doom while Valjean leaves her and Cosette to do his Secret Valjean Thing; since Enjolras has banned romantics from the barricade, guess we gotta take our cheerful death talk where we can! (also, totally canon!)

-okay, you know what, I really like Cosette’s scenes in the garden. This Cosette is doing a great job of selling me on her Extremely Young-ness. She seems young enough and unworldly enough that a Magic Boyfriend sneaking in without her noticing is Cool and Exciting and Magical instead of super unnerving. She’s adorable. And there is really excellent framing here with the flowers and the lighting and all. It does feel like a fairy tale, which, it really should; this is Cosette’s fairy tale romance and I’m happy for her.

...Unfortunately this Valjean is rather too much the part of the Ogre Parent and I wish Marius would just take her away. Uhg. (also I haaaate this bgm. HAAAATE. I am not talking about it much and I know it’s probably just me but it is so obtrusive to me!)

- Gavroche shows up, robbin’ all the randos and giving bread to a couple of genuinely unrelated street kids! I...am having such mixed feelings! I love this actor; this actor has Gavroche absolutely DOWN and I am accepting him into my heart entirely but...like...why is this part of the story here, why is there so much emphasis on him being a thief, why does he just leave the momes instead of trying to take them in, why is this show trying to make it visually clear that these aren’t his brothers? this is just..it’s the thing that keeps happening where there are a bunch of changes for no apparent reason and they don’t add up to anything new but they also aren’t the Original Thing and I can’t figure out what the point of those alterations really are (though this scene, with the extra thieving and reduced generosity, grand-total steals some of Gavroche’s heroism). The actor is amazing but GIVE HIM HIS FULL BIT.

- back to Definitely Some Cafe (it’s really well done, I just have no idea what cafe it is ? It’s full of workers, maybe this is supposed to be the Corinth?) and a brief, foolish moment on my part of hoping there’ll be more discussion of why the rebellion is happening is Destroyed and turned to “you rich students can go back to your families in the country but--” THIS IS THE GHOST OF MY ASKBOX FUTURE AND I HATE IT , OH SPIRITS; WHAT MAY I DO TO TURN THIS NIGHTMARE ASIDE

-...why isn’t this worker just...Feuilly...why are none of the workers Feuilly...

-P.sure my Joly HC is here

either that or he’s BBC’s Merlin which might explain some things

- Awkwardness of Lost Historical Context aside, this Enjolras is growing on me (like a scruffy beard!) . He’s intense and physically affectionate and I like that in an Enjolras; I just think it’s weird that he’s hanging out with what are apparently random students who haven’t committed to the revolution frigging yet , but you know! Whatever!

- ...I am currently kind of on the fence about this but...if they’re not gonna give the whole arc with Grantaire As Symbol of the Apathetic Bourgeois being Converted the time it needs, I ...think? ..what they’re doing here might be a serviceable substitute? He’s very obviously Not Got The Revolution Fever and is Doing It For His Friends, and he’s obviously super uncomfortable about it. I like this take on that so far better than some versions I’ve seen.

ATM, gotta say, the Amis Scene is bugging me the least. If it weren’t for the absolutely bizarre nonsense last week, I would be Pretty Okay with the Amis stuff?? WEIRD BUT TRUE. Or maybe just a sign of how some adaptations have totally destroyed my expectations here to the point where “Enjolras isn’t actually Dracula” is Okay With Me. ANYWAY I’LL TAKE IT, A MOMENT OF LIKABLE CHARACTERIZATION.

-The Revolutionary conversation segues with a cut to the Royalist Salon and Gillenormand, who is NOT likeable and I’m not sure why we get this scene Here In Particular? A contrast to the revolutionaries, I guess? But this Gillenormand continues to be very very accurate.

- At The House In The Garden, Valjean is back! Cosette comes to hug him! He apparently WAS worried that she wouldn’t be safe so what was with the reassurances earlier like she was being a stupid child! And most important

WHY DOES VALJEAN HAVE A BACK LACING WAISTCOAT WHY DID HE WEAR THAT ON HIS TRIP AWAY WHO LACED HIM UP WHILE HE WAS GONE AAAAAAAAH

okay I’m okay

- wait NO I’m NOT because now it’s time for the Patron Minette to come in and not-rob this place and the show completely destroys Eponine’s moment as the guardian of Marius and Cosette’s happiness! Instead of her getting to intimidate a bunch of grown armed men into retreat, she’s attacked, threatened, and ultimately rendered passive, her moment of heroism rendered null when no one comes to her scream, and her role in saving the Valjean house and all in the garden replaced by an actual dog. I am really pretty furious about this! But the Character Destruction Of Eponine deserves its own post so Moving On FOR NOW...

- ...also are you telling me THIS hyper paranoid, aggressive JVJ doesn’t notice or react to screams and barking dogs

- holy moly even kneeling Marius is almost as tall as Cosette, that’s not relevant to anything but it’s entertaining to me; it’s also Very Cute to have him comforting her by making himself smaller than her, when they’re both freaking out about her imminent maybe-move.

- Valjean having a conversation with Eponine instead of just getting her note to move is not inherently The Worst! But the way he treats her just reinforces how cold and uncaring he is. There’s no compassion in him for a poor abused girl who could almost have been his daughter, no concern for how she might be faring, not even an awkward “hey be careful”. Is it understandable? Yeah, sure. A lot of selfish focus is Understandable and human. But it’s not admirable, it’s not kind, it’s not the actions or attitude of a man who’s learned kindness towards the world through love, or who tries to put others first to the point that it would kill him. It makes sense, for some characters-- but it’s just not Valjean.

-NICOLETTE IS THE HERO THIS ADAPTATION NEEDS and she’s SO happy to announce that Marius is back to talk to his awful awful Grandpa!

- The whole scene with Marius asking Gillenormand for permission to marry is very satisfyingly awful and I have no complaints. It’s a bit abbreviated, and I wonder if people who don’t know the era will totally get that this is a question of needing adult legal approval? but it’s not shortened beyond the amount that Adaptational Space might suggest. I’d take this little scene as a good illustration of the Gillenormand/Marius dynamic for anyone. Also: is that the Yellow Prisoner-Crafted Wallpaper??? BBC Set Design People, you’re the BEST

- I know I’ve already given kudos to the props and set people but I LOVE this little bachelor apartment that Marius and Courfeyrac are sharing, this is so great?? I’ve seen sketches from the era that look so much like this! Give me a moment to squeak happily about this place-- the low roof! The clothesline! The clutter! I love it! (@ about 30:00)

- I HATE EVERYTHING ENJOLRAS SAYS HERE THOUGH, even if I intend to meme out No Romantic Daydreamers to the FULLEST

-Cutting back to Valjean and Cosette’s house, I also hate that Cosette defense-flinches when she wakes up! It’s been eight years! That should not still be her auto-reflex if she’s come to feel safe and loved! My heart!

Valjean tells her they have to move today. Valjean does NOT tell her where they’re going. Valjean gives her an hour to pack--and Cosette has to run out and ask Toussaint what the address will be and has to LIE TO TOUSSAINT about why she needs it. Valjean, there are secrets you might feel a need to keep from your daughter. WHERE SHE LIVES should not be one of them. “I’m taking you to an address no one knows and also you can’t have it ahead of time” is what kidnappers do! Watching Cosette write her note and move (terrible bgm and all) is breaking my heart--she is so alone in this house--no one is on her side, no one is there to listen to her, no one is really considering her feelings or giving her any explanations, she’s being moved around like a pet. The abuse is less florid than with the Thenardiers, but it’s still there, and I want to cry.

The scene goes from soldiers marching outside the window of the new apartment to the funeral. Aaaand that seems like a good place to break this giant review in two.

Randoming Fandoming:

-I’m pretty sure that at around 6:14 a woman and kid in modern clothes just wander in the background behind Marius! This is not a Complaint, these things happen to any production, but it’s fun to have spotted?

#Oh Red Hellfont I'll Miss You Most of All #Beeble Mis #Beeble Mis 5: Who Gave You A Gun #Beeble Mis recaps #long post #holy smokes long post #abuse mention

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sxmethingbreaking-a · 7 years

Text

//somehow I’ve created a bit of a timeline, in the past three years of writing this bitch, that chronicles Cora’s slow recovery from the moment she gets her heart back.

5B influenced this a lot tbh, because before that I pretty much always wrote heart returned Cora as lowkey depressed. But 5B gave me a set of events that seem capable of unlocking that final stage of healing. So.......from the top:

Immediately post 2x16: a total wreck. Emotions every which direction and no capacity to deal with them. Hypersensitive to every feeling, cries a lot, gets angry, shuts down. Not pleasant.

End of 2B/3A: calming down a bit. Still prone to crying when bad memories are triggered. Does not like to think about the past. Symptoms of mild depression have settled in. Still easily angered by small things.

3B: Still depressed. Zelena’s appearance triggers a bit of a downswing in her functioning. prone to mood swings of anger and sadness. more likely to brood on the past and “what might have been” due to Zelena’s presence. Does not know how to handle things with the girls so just kinda doesn’t.

4A/4B: More used to feelings now, capable of expressing self a little better. Zelena’s ‘death’ and reappearance shakes her a bit. Generally more capable of having conversations about the past. Tries harder with the girls but still prone to taking Regina’s side over Zelena’s.

5A/5B: pretending for a moment that she isn’t dead. Similar to season four up until the end of 5B’s arc. If we’re assuming that Cora is still alive, but the rest of the stories played out similarly, then she likely would have still had the opportunity to return the girls’ memories during this arc. (let’s just say there was never an opportunity during the earlier arcs/she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it for reasons related to emotional constipation). Earning Zelena’s forgiveness and finally fixing one of the things she broke seemed to be the thing that unlocked Cora’s final acceptance and inner peace in canon- I see no reason to believe it wouldn’t be the same had she been alive.

6A/6B: Cora is finally at peace with herself and her past. She’s reached a stage of realizing her mistakes but being able to look at herself with a little less loathing. The depression is lifting, and she’s moving forward, finding actual healing and happiness. Will still feel sad sometimes, but more able to move past it.

Reflective of where she is in canon, this seems the most likely trajectory of Cora’s development, based on what I’ve written and what 5B gave me. I think what often gets forgotten to viewers of canon is that, while her arc in that season seemed rushed, she had been dead for about two years (maybe more?) by the time 5x12 rolls around. Meaning that’s two years of adjusting, changing, and coping.

But if she were alive, that’s 2+ years of adjusting, changing, coping, and healing that we would see. And that’s what I write, ultimately. So I suppose we’re at a point now where her arc has some sense of completion to it. Where she goes past this is going to be less focused on her journey of redemption/healing, but on what’s happening around her.

And those possibilities are just endless.

#( how it feels to be the miller’s daughter | headcanons )#//cora has been such a dynamic character to write #//because she just keeps developing over time #//and I love her so much for it

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