I have to give props to the actress that play Carina and Maya. Not only do they have natural chemistry that is apparent, they have all the nonverbal actions down as well. The way Maya’s eyes traveled down then back up Carina’s body and how you could see the second she lost all thoughts besides thirst she had and the little wiggle Carina does as she approaches to seal the deal. I’ve seen both F/F and M/F couples on tv in the same situations where small gestures like that are missed.
They do! Actually, when you say natural chemistry and nonverbal actions, I feel they’re both part of the same thing.
Last year, I was talking to a friend about what made Juliantina seem so natural and we decided that’s what “chemistry” actually is, the commitment from the actors to treating that relationship as real. For the actors to behave as it was real and convey it in every way, big and small, without that self-consciousness or distance you sometimes get, especially with same-sex couples. And then earlier this year, I saw this interesting post, where Celine Sciamma was praised for the chemistry between the characters in Portrait and how it was something you just couldn’t fake, and she was like, well, it’s literally our job to fake it, it’s our job to make you believe in this romance. And you know, exactly!
All this effort they put in, it’s part of it. And these two actresses do it well. I haven’t seen much of Stefania Spampinato before this, but she’s got the easy smiles and touches down, and well, we know Danielle Savre’s got that, well, that gay gaze, lol. They’re both totally selling it, and that’s exactly what you want from all your ships’ actors.
I like how Carina said she’s not in the habit of fixing broken people, but she’s very good at it. She’s handling everything Maya’s throwing at her very well. Not sure what her tipping point will be because Maya has a lot of legitimate issues. Curious to see how they continue to evolve because I really like them. I’d also like to see Maya be there for Carina. I reckon that would be on Grey’s since S19 is Maya’s show so Carina is the supportive GF for her. Unfortunately, Carina isn’t a main on GA.
Ohhh, that’s right! I totally forgot about that. I was so stuck on her knowing Maya’s “eyes forward” mantra, meaning she’s told her about that, but it slipped my mind that Carina said she wasn’t gonna do this. And has been doing this for a while, starting from the truck breakdown, lol.
She could have meant she won’t try if people don’t put in the effort themselves, or signaled she’d changed her mind by not leaving when Maya opened the door for her. Or maybe she just continued to want to have fun too, but each step deeper happened without her really noticing and now she’s going on a couple’s vacation a thousand miles away and knowing exactly how to bring back Maya from a panic attack.
And yes, I’d like to see Maya do the same for Carina. Maya does have a lot of issues, but most stem from the same source, and she does seem to be tackling them, now it’s Carina’s turn. You’re right, it’ll most likely be on Grey’s, not only because that’s Carina’s show, but it’ll probably be tied to her brother. Even though Meredith seems to be handling a lot of that, they can’t leave Carina out of it completely, right? Unfortunately, though DeLuca’s arc seemed to be building to something, isn’t Grey’s about to run out of eps soon and won’t be finishing the season proper? So it might have to wait till next season? I actually don’t know how it all works out, are they just going to air Station 19 eps that assumed Grey’s would still be shot? Or are they so independent in terms of story that it doesn’t really matter if a character pops up in S19, there’s no chance something important was happening to them in Grey’s?
Carina and Maya are stupidly adorable on S19. I watch all their 30 sec scenes with a giant grin on my face. I’m really curious to see how they play out. So far so good, but it’s been in small spurts. Next week should be interesting because I don’t think Maya knows how to relax but I’m looking forward to it. Thanks for the gifs you do of them.
Lol, anon, you’re not even exaggerating. They get this tiny cute little scene each ep. Even Maya’s going THROUGH it, by the time she has her scene with Carina, it’s mostly wrapped up. But at least that keeps them short and literally quite sweet. You know that as soon as they get more time, then starts the drama~
And yes! It’ll be interesting to see what they do now that they’re going to have that extra focus. From the promo it looks like Carina’ll try to get her to relax, even if that means she can’t let go of her competitiveness and gets into push up contests by the pool, but then the five alarm fire alert will force her to decide if she’ll stay with Carina or head back to work. And then I guess we’ll see if Carina’ll remain as incredibly good-natured as she’s been or start to resent it a bit. As cute as they’ve been, it’s mostly been pretty surface level, with Carina absorbing whatever particular issues Maya’s having, which, okay, it’s Station 19, Maya’s show, and she’s going through a tough time and they only get a minute at most, but you know. Carina’s struggling with her brother and I don’t think we’ve ever seen them discuss that. Give them more minutes! But still end in fluff, please.
Ultimately, they’ve passed the first hurdle I’d been fearing for them, the breakdown Maya was heading toward as an unpopular captain whose best friend felt betrayed by her. Hoping they pass these next ones, I don’t really know how long they’ll plan on these crossover couples (aside from Bailey and Ben).