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Right, we don’t need the literal therapy sessions over months, just show she’s trying and making changes.
I think they just don’t know how to write them getting to a better place, lol, how do you gloss over all that, there’s so much they’d need to go into and it feels like they’d rather just shift that to their current and future relationship. And definitely, a relationship isn’t just one person, it does a disservice to it and even Maya to have her partner be such a mystery.
Heh, I get exactly what you mean, that last moment is honestly why I giffed that scene. That particular clear eyed look Danielle has, it’s SO effective.
But also, that’s literally why I imagine it’s easy to forgive Maya, because she does look like she feels bad and doesn’t deserve better and carries this self-loathing and man, please let her get some therapy, S19.
Aw, thank you! Um, hmm. I’m actually so bad at these because, as I’ve said, after so many years of seeing subtext where it wasn’t written, I always underestimate when it canonically is there (and not wishful thinking) until it’s completely unavoidable. So normally I’d be like, oh, ep 7, but tbh, the way it was written…well, hmm.
First, it’s so different, right, from m/f crushes when your very approach to a dynamic is always knowing the possibility’s there (even when it turns out not to be, heh). So I think for Toni, an appreciation for Shelby’s objective hotness (because…come on) was completely drowned out by her dislike of what she saw Shelby as, as you said, a girl like that, and then that was just exacerbated by her jealousy over Martha. Anything more was never on the cards for her so she didn’t have to think deeper on it. And yeah, people can crush on their straight friends and popular kids and celebrities but that’s pretty different from a random stranger you’ve literally just met. I do think you’re not wrong, in that one of the things Toni resented Shelby for was that she found her so attractive, but at that point, that’d have been minor compared to her overall resentment.
For Shelby, despite her own conflicted feelings about sexuality and religion, the possibility was there from the start. She harbored no dislike of what Toni represented, and in fact, her resentment or jealousy would have been of Toni’s freedom and bravery, so she was freer to just…like her. She was of course irritated by Toni’s attitude once it manifested so aggressively against her but I think she was still curious and intrigued and the kind of person who, attraction or not, would have still wanted to win her over. A people-pleaser, compared to Toni’s very defensive hurt-people-before-they-hurt-you vibe.
And then as the days went on and Shelby kept on being so upbeat, I think Toni was impressed but it also made her angrier? As if it just confirmed everything she was thinking. But you know, it’s interesting, we all–me included–have talked and joked about the change in Toni’s attitude once the kiss happened, but rewatching, it was actually a little before, no? Like we were saying, Toni thought of Shelby more as an idea, the kind of person she seemed like, this privileged religious pretty Southern girl, who could afford to be positive about everything because why not, everything went her way. But when Leah publicly accused Shelby of being a mole, after days of Shelby silently sucking up not just Toni’s ire but everyone’s, because of the homophobia, Shelby pretty understandably snapped and then left with that parting remark directly at Toni, you could see the shock and shame and concern:
It’s like…you know how you could vent at parents or maybe other adults or people online because you thought it didn’t really affect them and then once they reacted, not in anger but in hurt, it was like, oh shit, they’re an actual person? I feel like this is that moment for Toni. Where she realizes that, fine, as justified as her reaction about the homophobia may have been, she’s been hating on Shelby for a while for a bunch of things that aren’t her fault.
And then you can see, when she goes off to collect wood, I’m not even entirely surely it’s a coincidence that she finds Shelby, but she’s a lot nicer then than at any point before, making her own overtures and small talk. Enough for Shelby to reach out about the homophobia which Toni of course still firmly shut down, but not nearly as angrily as she might have on any other day. Seeing Shelby like that probably made her easier for a person like Toni to actually like, it changed the perceived perfection, that she had it all put together and felt nothing negative about herself. Toni was just so angry at all the various injustices committed against her and people like her, that a bit childishly, she was like, if you’re not outwardly suffering, you must have none of your own and are thus are someone who perpetuates them. And that mindset started to fall apart, more so when Shelby kissed her and she realized even the homophobia issue was soooo much more complex than she’d been thinking.
And of course her relatively mellow mood made Shelby all that much more talkative, rush to explain and defend herself. I think the arcs they went through, the pacing and how much they individually grew, and their place in the the plot, it was pretty perfect, that it had to culminate in that argument and desperate kiss in ep 7. I really like how the show handled them for the whole season and for sure, if they can continue to write for the characters as they have, I’m pretty excited to see what they’ll do in s2.
I know! Like, sure, Ryan Philippe and all, but within the show he seemed kind of a mess. I absolutely did not expect the end but I was a whole lot more interested in the show after. The flashbacks they choose are so random and like, I mean, not to be judgy but so corny and dreamy. Maybe that’s the intention, that they were just a fantasy?
And yes, definitely, more Cassie and Jenny teaming up.
And another anon:
the big sky women getting together would complete the love triangle they have going on. wait does it count as a love triangle if [spoiler] is dead? either way they should find the girls and find each other along the way.
sidenote, am i the only one who’s like kids sick of the kidnapping plot now? i feel like they should have let Grace get away and then instead of finding the fisher guy and getting shot we have like an episode of her finding her way to town before collapsing on like cassies doorstep and they have to wait for her to recover before they can figure out where the other girls are.
Lol, indeed, I dunno if it’s a true Korrasaming when the uh, [redacted] is dead but it should count!
Um, well, while I very much want the kidnapped girls to be safe and was upset Grace was caught again, it is the whole premise of the season, right, once that’s over what’s left? Your suggestion isn’t bad, though, where she still manages to escape…but I guess they want the sisters together for now.
I AM curious, though, I heard that they’d received an additional back order for some more eps for this season, so then…what are the existing eps up to? Surely if there’s a plot that needs to fully be decided and planned out, it’s this one? Were they originally just half rescued and it was going to end on a cliffhanger? Were they rescued and the additional eps handle the aftermath? Cassie and Jenny aren’t gonna start a new case in just six eps, right, so I dunno.
And another anon:
i’m really enjoying big sky thank you for giffing it!!!!
Ah, thanks, no problem!
Aww, both Toni and Shelby. Their particular dynamic really is this clash of opposites so extreme they come around and meet on the other side. Is it better to have effectively no parents or ones that are so present they become controlling and scary? Trick question, neither is better, both suck. Which they’re now realizing, people who have what you thought you wanted can still be suffering. They have a lot more common than they might have expected.
Thanks for sharing these! They’re interesting and enlightening.
I don’t think anybody’s expecting them to fully throw away the girls, the hypothetical is that the focus will shift.
Now that the bulk of the island story and their individual background eps are over, with the post-shark, rescue, and whatever resulted in Shelby as she is now parts not enough to be a full show, especially one that satisfies the premise (stuck on a deserted island), they may shift over to the boys and perhaps contrast how they handle specific obstacles to how the girls did, while also focusing on continuing the girls’ story, both wrapping up what happened on the island and what happens now in the bunker.
Or, they may simply…oof, they may escape the bunker and realize they now have to get off a different remote island. I would prefer that, screw the boys, lol.
Ugh, I know, TBH is still the one cancellation I’m mourning hardest from this year. I’m not sure of the chances for s2 for this one, I feel like Prime has more money to play with than other networks at the moment and it’s gotten good reviews but maybe not that buzz~? It’s their first YA so they may decide to stick with it for now, instead of trying with another, Netflix’s approach.
What, you didn’t think you’d like–well, remembering Fatin in the very first ep, on the plane…okay, she did put across a certain aggressively clueless vibe, but I adored her soon enough. And yeah, the unfairness of her backstory rankled, but that’s desi culture for you. >_> Well, really, any image-first culture.
I had heard about it insomuch as a non-anon told me a few hours ago, heh. I mean, I’m very vaguely aware of the Skams but this wasn’t on my radar, no. I will keep an eye on it, for sure, but so far the Skams and I have not exactly gotten along like a house afire. Thanks for the extremely polite heads up!
Haha, she’s so hot, honestly, I know Ruta Gedmintas was the literally Frankie in Lip Service but Serafina Pekkala’s really doing it for me, all mysterious and quiet-voiced and cool and good and devoted and loyal and hot. Also, the dark hair and costuming is a good look for her, lol.
Oh, hmm, a failed experiment…well, heh. I dunno, I feel like what they wanted to prove…but did they get enough data. Actually, until the control group finishes, they can’t really verify anything.
The thing about the boys is that I do absolutely think they can deliver a group of relatable, likable boys with their own issues, some similar, some diametrically opposite (e.g., how the patriarchy handles prom), but the issue with that is they’re always going to be considered replacements for the girls. It won’t be an entirely new show with this setting, which, that’s it’s own thing, but at least you’d know what you’re getting into with that, in this case it’ll be a deliberate choice to shift focus and priority away from the girls on this female-centric show.
Especially because I don’t think the boys will fail, I think the point of the show is that, maybe they’ll get into more physical fights, but overall they’ll ultimately end up similarly. So…I dunno, will we start on the boys and then slowly integrate what’s going on with the girls, have them be rescued and them meeting? Once the groups mix, that changes the dynamic of the show completely.