Oh, THAT ep. Oof, yep, they have a few eps that are extra shippy and that was the final one. And probably the most explicitly so.
For real, it was getting to be on the verge of genuinely promising something. Obviously many shows have gone farther and then ultimately done less, but I guess they were just like, why not? I might be misremembering, but I think I read that Aneela was always planned (it was Delle Seyah who stayed longer than intended by being that watchable), so they just decided to take advantage of their chemistry and put them together in at least this form?
Which was super weird because Aneela is SO MUCH not Dutch. Dutch has a sense of humor, warmth, she’s savvy. Aneela…might have a sense of humor and be savvy, heh, but not like Dutch. I joked with my friend that Aneela is Helena to Duch’s Sarah Manning but she’s also…Rachel? Though maybe their massive differences made it easier to accept the substitution?
I just deleted a bunch of stuff that was probably unnecessarily spoilery, even though I assume you know the gist of the following seasons. Let me know how the watching goes!
Lowkey?? I was heavily shipping them, anon! Didn’t really think it’d happen, obviously, but it was so overt! It wasn’t the same as most other f/f subtext ships. As you said, it was a lot like Root’s interest in Shaw, flirting so heavily any time they met while Shaw/Dutch would roll their eyes but not be TOTALLY averse and then we know what happened there.
And, and, I liked them as people together, it wasn’t just shipping any ole two hot ladies who interacted, Delle Seyah seemed genuinely intrigued by Dutch’s different sides, they matched so well against each other, actually being on each other’s level.
When Aneela/Delle Seyah started, I was NOT a fan! I was like, who is this usurper? They think they can just throw in some lookalike and we’ll forget about Delle Seyah/Dutch? That’s not gonna happen! But man, Aneela is NOT a replacement? I don’t know what she is, how you could define her or that archetype, she’s just so much her own person and interesting in her way. And the way she and Delle Seyah connected was so fitting.
But yeah, I have thought about that, how weird it must be for you all to know to not get attached to Delle Seyah/Dutch as you start. I think it’s better that way? But the alternative was still pretty fun. :>
Wow, 84 minutes of content in a 10 ep season. God, it just reminds me, season 3 really was so good with everything, the music, the epic scale of everything, tying things into religion and politics, balancing so many elements, weaving that dreamy, fairytale thread through everything. It really leveled up. If you want, you can watch just this, Aneela’s tied into so much you’ll get a lot of the background and worldbuilding just from her story.
Yep! I think somebody had told me she was in it, but at the time, I liked Delle Seyah but I didn’t love Delle Seyah, you know? I think what people don’t get about f/f ships is that, yeah, we do develop this loyalty and dedication toward them because of scarcity, but those characters genuinely get to be fleshed out and get emotional arcs that appeal to us, like any well done romance, and that’s a huge character development avenue they just blocked for us for so long. S3 and especially s4 hadn’t happened yet so I just never really did anything with the knowledge that she was in this movie.
But now! God, I went through so much of her IMDB page and just downloaded it. She’s been in a LOT of things! But I genuinely don’t know if she really wants a lot of TV success. If you listened to this podcast from earlier this year, she talks about how theater is actually her real love, TV almost seems to be there to pay the bills. And of course, it is just going to be harder for her to hit it big as a WOC and on the wrong side of 30.
Currently, she’s on that police procedural Hudson and Rex. When I first found out about it, I screeched to my friend, she’s third billed to a dog? But obviously she is actually the second lead and there is the will they/won’t they with the main guy, so I guess I hope it does well.
Hi, anon! I’m so glad you came back, it gives me an excuse to keep talking about it.
Gah, wasn’t it, though? I’m still riding the high from it. Every day I think of it and smile and gush about it with my friend. And omg, I literally said the EXACT same thing to her!
Their first scene is set up as Aneela the queen granting Delle Seyah an audience. Delle Seyah is literally forced to kneel while Aneela is casually bathing in such an abundance of the green, something so precious it’s being killed for, a show of force and power and highlighting their different stations.
And then their final scene is Aneela GIVING DELLE SEYAH HER OWN GREEN. They even made sure to add that, to indicate what a serious gesture this is from her, that small a detail to add to its significance. This isn’t just Aneela using her pools of green to add to her army, this is risking herself so Delle Seyah can stay with her. And as opposed to Delle Seyah kneeling to her, surrounded by Aneela’s guards and handmaidens, they’re holding hands alone in THEIR bedroom.
I’m going to remember this for such a long time. Like, i don’t know if you watched Harlots? One of the other shows that I loved and talked so much about for being both good but also making compassionate decisions? We praised it so much after season 2, we were like, these writers GET IT, they get what they should and shouldn’t do, this is a story about hope, it’s about victims triumphing, this is women writing women. And then it turned out that WAS just coincidence, these writers had no such deeper intentions.
But KJ is the opposite! To have it confirmed that these are deliberate choices, with Michelle Lovretta going out in interview after interview and being asked by so many different entertainment journalists, why not a death? Everyone gets a happy ending? And she’s like yes! Giving a properly articulated philosophy, describing the effort and work that went into doing that, bringing back even Pip and how that wasn’t about Zeph needing him anymore but as a bonus, discussing ways to even bring Pawter back. I really needed to have that kind of faith in at least some professional creator.
Another thing I loved was that she said she specifically wanted to end it with some things left open, to show that these were their ongoing adventures and it all continued even after the camera stopped rolling. Just so much thought into making this the best experience for the characters and thus fans! And it worked. 🙂
