I think, aside from the show going for max angst, she just got SUPER freaked about her dad and it was her first instinct, paranoia that even being seen with Sterling would confirm everything anybody was suspecting. Maybe her first reaction had even been to go to her and that would have scared her even more, especially when it seemed like her friends (”friends”) were kind of suspecting something too. She does tend to react first and then settle down, like with Luke, as she then did with Sterling, but it’s hard to shut down that first instinct.
I JUST finished watching TBH and omg that cliffhanger :0 I really wonder how Sterling’s story is going to go for next season? (Really hoping they get a season 2!!) April once said Sterling always got her way or at least that’s how it looked like to her but now things have been flipped and she’s probably at her lowest point so I wonder how that’s going to affect her in terms of not just her relationships but also her personality…
Haha, yes, that cliffhanger! They really did pile EVERYTHING on her in that finale and I do very much hope we get at least one more season to round off all these major revelations and storylines.
April’s not wrong, tbh, Sterling had been leading a CHARMED ass life until this point. When you compare them, Sterling’s got a twin sister she really gets along with, kind parents, a loving bf, everyone seems to like her no matter what, she does well academically, while April’s stuck there already being an intense and competitive kid and just made worse by the realization she’s gay and the wall she’d had to put up because of that. She has no real friends, just lackeys, and however close she was to her dad before, she still knew how homophobic he was and had to protect herself from that. And at the time, it was funny, but remember how when Sterling was straight up confessing that she and Luke had sex, EVEN THEN that somehow turned on April. I kind of loved that after the twins started the rumors and April caught on and zeroed in on Sterling, they put a freaking halo around her:
And April knows that on this one, she’s absolutely the one in the right. I can WELL understand her frustration and resentment and wonder if that wasn’t also a part of how much the rift grew.
But anyway, ouch, all that seems like it was setting up the harshest of falls. Now she’s lost everything, the only thing that didn’t happen was being outed. Getting dumped, then kidnapped, by the “aunt” your mom’s lied to you about for your whole life, at gunpoint, tied up, and then worst of all, no twin, wrong parents, charmed life gone. I don’t know, man, where’s she gonna go from there? Who’s she gonna live with–whose car is she going to get into to leave the junkyard, to start with? And you know, I mentioned April not really having friends, but Sterling doesn’t either, outside Blair. Is she gonna avoid her? But then she wouldn’t have anybody to talk to and the show kind of needs her to process this and show us her reactions. Maybe they’ll get her a therapist? She definitely needs one! With this show’s track record, she’ll probably vent by telling Ellen everything in the first minute of season 2.
I don’t know, she’s such a sweetheart, she may just go quiet but seemingly be okay with things only to explode later, instead of getting angry at her parents–at the Wesleys–right off the bat. She may visit Dana in prison, that’ll open up some storylines. I’m not sure if it’ll be made public, even if people know who Dana is, it doesn’t have to be revealed that she’s Sterling’s mom. But however it goes, however tough it all is, it’ll be a period of growth for her in the end, she’ll get through it and she and Blair will come out stronger, that’s just the show. But I don’t really know how those first eps will go, especially with juggling Luke and April and April’s dad and the bounty hunting.
But you know, this is one of the things I SUPER love about having central wlw characters, where that becomes part of the main arc. And in fact, for this show, with its strong religious themes, I mentioned this before too, but the show is literally better off for including this very relevant nuanced plot point for these particular characters and for providing this super organic reason for why Sterling would keep a secret from Blair and actually choose to hang out with someone else. This isn’t tokenism or trying to think of what to do with a character but built into the actual storyline. It’s something that’s a major part of her and will affect and be affected by all the other major storylines. It could be that April ends up being the confidante, although she may have even more reason to choose the “easy” safe option Luke is. We’ll see, I hope!
felt SO bad for sterling in episode 10 i mean jesus talk about having a bad day. also, blair’s “no” at the end when she held sterlings hand just about broke my heart
Seriously, whatever else everyone was going through, it wasn’t alllll this together.
There are a bunch of asks about the ending and I was gonna do them as a batch but I was just watching random scenes before bed and ended on the finale and man, the way it built up, with the mom going, I gave you everything you asked for but I wasn’t going to let you take my daughter and Dana smirking at that and you JUST HAD THAT INKLING WHERE IT WAS GOING, all the previous moments starting to come together, when she “knew” to pick up Sterling from the lock-in and was so oddly proud and was like I guess it’s mother’s intuition, and then asked for a hug.
AND THEN IT WENT INTO TWIN VISION, for characters other than Blair and Sterling and it was like, well, of course they’d have it too, and then their convo and the audience knowing what was coming, and Debbie and Anderson, and then heartbreakingly, BLAIR realized before Sterling and as you said, that “No” and reaching out for Sterling’s hand before Dana dropped the bomb. Aaah, it was so well done.
Aaaah that ending of TBH?? I really hope we get another season and that sterling and april can get it together, they have so much chemistry. Also hope they let april come out on her own terms (when she’s not living with shitty parents maybe..)
I knowww, they really set up so many open threads. Definitely hoping we get another season to at least wrap them up. Including April and Sterling, definitely, and yes, I don’t really expect the writers to let her stay closeted the whole season but I hope she’s not like, outed against her will or something.
And another anon:
Teenage Bounty Hunters re: “wildly different interpretations” about the junior high incident reminds me of a passage from a book I’m reading. “Do you think it’s possible to ever see the past as it actually was?….I see the past as it actually was.” “But we overlay the present onto the past. We look back through the lens of what we know now, so we’re not seeing it as the people we were, we’re seeing it as the people we are, and that means the past has been radically altered.”
Whoa, anon, getting so deep! But you’re probably not wrong, each is looking back with all these other interpretations and layers since, April continuing to process and learn things about herself, Sterling thinking of herself as the victim of April’s supposedly irrational attacks. Neither is probably fully right or fully wrong.
And another anon:
(1 of 2) Ok, finally finished the season, and I think the next ep, when April says when she crushes, she crushes hard lends credence to the different interpretations of the situation. I think April took the “she’s in your group now” way too personally, and compared it to the situation like the one she had with her friend in 2nd grade, that she did something that freaked Sterling out and now Sterling was pushing her away. I really want this to be renewed now to see this further play out. (cont’d)
(2 of 2) Like I’d love to read an angsty fic showing what was going on in Sterling’s head during the lock-in when she saw April with Luke. I mean, maybe she was thinking April was scared and trying too hard to look straight, but given their enemy status before, she could also be thinking, was this all one big cruel joke? It was actually only a couple days that passed, so was she wondering if April had played some sort of twisted mind game on her until they talked it out later?
Oh, that’s possible, Sterling being one of her Adeles, and thus putting a whole different and very personal spin on what seemed like a rejection. And for real, it’s interesting how something they both seem to now have gotten over still has blown up to these mythological proportions in the fandom and we want a s2 followup. Who’s right, what happened? It’s a mystery they set up and then were like, oh well!
Oooof, I didn’t even think about THAT. That would be the CRUELEST joke and I think given their convo outside that’s not where she landed on, but it’s possible, it’s certainly possible, she was confused as hell and that could have been one of the options that flew through her mind. She’s SO new to this, she has no idea how to handle any of it, or what’s normal or at least common.
And another anon:
I took the 5th grade moment differently. I think Sterling repressed what she did because maybe she did have feeling for April even then. It’s the same year that she began to date Luke, who made her feel “normal”. April obviously couldn’t control her crushes even as far back as 2nd grade. Maybe Spencer felt that. I’m hoping this comes up again in season 2. Love your analysis.
Hmmmmmm, interesting, that’s also possible. I think they’re gonna land on Sterling being bi but they’ve also pretty explicitly highlighted how much it is April and just April that, at least for right now, gets to her in a certain, uh, way. Possibly this crush DID exist earlier and she tamped it down, maybe. It’s hard to say any which way but I’m not sure if they will continue it if they get a s2, we seem to be making more of it than they did.
And thanks!
When April turns around in Spanish class and Sterling gets giddy and has to control herself was adorable lmao
It really was! It’s absolutely on my list to gif to do the whole little scene and April, JUST as aware of Sterling behind her and worked up but dryly being like, I’ve sat here all year.
Screams about the music choice when Sterling steps down from the fellowship
Lol, I was like, I don’t get what you mean and then ohhh, Kacey Musgraves’s Rainbow. And this was in ep 2! The foreshadowing… Obviously the assumption at that point was oh, it’s just to like, reflect her general struggles or whatever but now we knowwww. I’m glad that they honestly didn’t give ANYTHING away that it was gonna be this requited ship until that lock turn in ep 7, not even a hint in the trailer or the promo I saw (which wasn’t much, tbh). I appreciate that.
Omg, so you noticed it too! (I thought I was going crazy) But April did get hotter once Sterling became interested in her and their conflict got resolved lol Oh! and speaking of the Dorito moment I kinda saw that as Sterling being attracted to April even when she was going through her lowest point (e.x Sad cause or her dad, Dorito in hair, etc) and as you mentioned her styling kinda changed. It’s sad they didn’t stay together I think Sterling could’ve been a big support for April
She did look different! More ponytails, the school polos and button-ups seemed gayer, lol, the casual woodworking and painting outfits.
And aww, you’re right! April entered the room looking messy as hell and they literally did the choral clouds parting music for when Sterling saw her and sighed dreamily:
And then had Sterling proceed to be SO mesmerized while April sat next to her acting like a wounded badger. April in any form for her, I guess.
For sure, I wish they had ended the season together, but I don’t at all think their story is over, not least because her dad will play a part. And yes, it’d have been nice to see April’s support through the family drama but I don’t think they were really in a place where April would just be there as a partner and offer support, where Sterling’d vent and April’d just be like oh wow, that’s wild. That’s not good TV drama, right, conversations work better when people are bouncing info or arguments off each other, especially these two, so I think maybe the family messiness will be more effective if it gives them a reason to reconnect, like Sterling’s acting out or feeling especially abandoned/alone, something that gives them an actual arc. I dunno, I can tolerate a lot more on TV shows as far as drama and TEMPORARILY unhappy ships go, as long as there’s some kind of journey and movement and preferably pining and thinking about the other.
I always check your blog when I need something to new watch and now I’ve updated my Netflix list with some cool shows
Aww, that’s great to hear. 🙂 Pretty grateful Netflix is still putting out new shows, everything else seems to have stalled (for understandable reasons).
(1/2)Teenage Bounty Hunters spoiler* I saw your gifs April was talking about “he lied” omg I started to watch and the whole time expected it was April that is in a relationship and in that scene she was talking about her bf. Who knows it turned out that it was her dad, and Sterling is the one that in a relationship!! Also even though during the enemy phase, their relationship aren’t that all bitter to each other! (They both agree on violent against womans are bad regardless their jobs,
(2/2) Sterling couldnt go along to let April take the fall about the condom, April talks about her dad/family situational home to Sterling) Also what do you think about how their memories were different in 5th grade (April remembers it that Sterling gave her away to another friend, that heartbreak in her voice!! “and you walked away”, but Sterling clearly didn’t remember the part she gave April away and only remember that they just stopped hang out. Thanks
Oh, haha, I was afraid people might think she was referring to a bf, but didn’t really want to spend the time or gifs to clarify that. It wouldn’t really make a difference either way in the story.
Hmm, I don’t know that I would necessarily say the relationship wasn’t bitter just because they both individually agreed on certain things. Although, yeah, I don’t think Sterling particularly hated April, she didn’t think much about her except when April was bothering her, but April clearly did resent her, because of that 5th grade incident (and also envy at seeing everything always seemingly coming so easily for her). I think I already addressed my confusion at their wildly different interpretations of it but actually, this anon as a pretty solid theory:
And another anon:
(Pt 1 of 2I had to rewatch the scene, and I don’t think its that Sterling remembered it incorrectly, I think they put it in totally different contexts. Sterling, Blair, and their friends were playing soccer, and April decided to sit by the swings to do some studying by herself. I think Sterling felt bad that April was all alone while the rest of them were playing, so she took her to Jessica’s group so she wouldn’t be by herself. She probably thought she was helping April out- like when (cont’d)
(pt 2 of 2) she and Blair made up an excuse to bow out of working to try and get Bowser and Yolanda together. And then she just thought they grew apart because April had more in common with Jessica. Meanwhile, as we see, April totally thought Sterling was ditching her and they weren’t friends anymore. I don’t think Sterling ever intended for them to stop being friends, so I think she was shocked that April accidentally thought that.
That’s…a really interesting and possible interpretation. I was going to say at first that she didn’t need to tell April that she was now part of Jessica’s group, but bringing up the excuses they made for Bowser and Yolanda…could be, could be. I’m not entirely convinced but it’s the best theory we have (until we find out Sterling has her own identical twin who was the one who actually did that :P).
Hmm, just rewatched it because I thought Sterling said something harsher but “April’s in your group now.” I can see what you’re saying! STERLING could have been thinking she was adding more friends to April’s group, but APRIL thought she was being moved from one group to another. I kind of hope we get more on this next season, but I suppose as far as the characters are concerned it no longer matters.
I’ve watched through the 7th ep so far and I just really like how its been playing out, particularly the reveal of the root of April’s animosity. She was obviously deeply hurt that Sterling “gave” her away, because she’s still holding on to it this whole time, describing it like it was yesterday. And Sterling had no idea she hurt April like that, and was so mortified. And then Sterling caught feelings and is just immediately super dorky about it and its pretty cute.
Right, though! I loved how slowly it unfolded and you really got to see how much dislike there was and then it’s revealed why.
The whole arc was honestly like one of those fics in which we queer characters with Type A personalities, e.g., Paris Gellar or Quinn Fabray, where it’s like, there’s something underneath driving that perfectionism and unhappiness and adding all these extra layers and tension to the supposed rivalry and it’s canon here! With the added trope of the former childhood best friend who was done wrong by (although I still don’t understand how Sterling remembered it so incorrectly, is that supposed to be another reveal at some point or?) to add that extra history with a Betrayal. Although of course the Sterling we know is a super nice person and, as you said, a huge dork about her crush so you still want her to get the girl.
It’s kind of neat that we would naturally sympathize with those characters, any girl that behaved in a way that was Too Much, and write in these extra reasons and motivations for them and here this show’s done just that. And it’s especially fun to see, because usually we just have to do it in fanworks, but once Sterling started seeing her in a romantic light, she becomes a more romantically rootable figure? Styled different (barring the Dorito moment, lol), behaving differently. Like, this is how it is when the source material itself goes there, huh. Childhood friend to rival to person you have a same-sex crush on and she returns those feelings…amazing.