revisitedgrunt

[revisitedgrunt]

It has been one hell of a journey. As Monty said "All good romance is earned."

[revisitedgrunt]

Wednesday: What I'd like to see in S2 and the inevitable Wenclair disappointment.

With the announcement that Wednesday has been renewed, I thought about what I'd like to see in season two.

Prior to season two, get Jenna Ortega into the writers room. From everything I've seen and read, Jenna understands Wednesday much more than the writers do. She needs to be in the room so stupid situations like the love triangle, or Wednesday gushing over a dress will never happen again.

During season two, both Enid and Wednesday should come out. We all know Netflix loves to cancel shows that have sapphic girls as the main characters. However, if there's one show that can subvert the trend, it's this one. This show is insanely popular. Maybe it would lose some viewers if they came out, but surely not enough to have much of an impact. I'd also like to believe the majority of people would be fine with it. (Or maybe I give humanity to much credit).

In fact, given the times we live in, having Wednesday and Enid come out would be such a positive message for gay people, and may, in some small way, help other people become more tolerant. The whole point of the show is about being an outcast and how that's not a bad thing, so actually reflect this by making Wednesday and Enid gay, because we are actually treated like outcasts. Just imagine, for one second, a struggling queer kid finding the confidence to be themselves, because the iconic Wednesday Addams is gay.

Now, if the show runners, writers and executives absolutely refuse to have a queer Wednesday and/or Enid, at least have some significant queer representation. I'm sorry, but having minor characters be your only rep doesn't cut it nowadays. We deserve characters that actually matter. Eugene's moms being in two scenes isn't enough.

No romance for Wednesday, at least for season two. I think we should have a season where it's not on Wednesday's radar. Lets have one teenage character that isn't interested in romance, or being pursed by a love interest. I think that for season two, the focus should be on Wednesday's growing friendships with Bianca, Xavier, Ajax, Yoko and Divina. I would also love to see Eugene become even more of a surrogate Pugsley.

However, season two also needs to start pushing forward the romance that makes the most sense, Wenclair. I don't actually want, or expect, romantic Wenclair in season two, but season one established that these two girls are very important to each other, much more important than their male love interests (whether the writers intended it or not). So, season two should be about them growing closer. Have them spend more time together, have the bond they established in season one grow deeper. Have Wednesday become increasing more comfortable around Enid (which still maintaining her Wednesdayness). Have them end season two closer than ever. Then season three can be about them realising their feelings are changing and we can have fun, messy situations/interactions where they're both dealing with their newfound crushes.

Give Tyler and Xavier some much needed character development. Tyler got a tiny bit at the end of season one. However, for most of the season, 90% of their personality revolved around Wednesday. The other 10% was daddy issues. These are not interesting characters and given how prominent they are, they should not be this one dimensional. Have them interact with characters other than Wednesday. Give them some motivation that isn't wanting to date Wednesday Addams. Do something, anything, with them. Give poor Hunter and Percy something to do.

While proofreading this, I've been hit with the certainty that this is going to be one of those situations where two girls would be absolutely perfect for each other, but the writers decide they're just going to be friends. They could have all the chemistry in the world, all this unbridled electricity, obvious sapphic undertones to their relationship, have 90% of the fanbase (and the stars of the show) desperately wanting it, but it's all ignored because the writers have their own story and aren't good enough at their jobs to adapt, change and write the better, more obvious, clearly superior story.

It's especially crazy to me considering these aren't real people. Yes, Wednesday is an established character, but I'm pretty sure she's been too young in previous iterations to have a clearly defined sexuality. So, the writers could make them whatever they wanted. Wednesday is psychic now, Enid is a werewolf! But the two of them being gay is somehow a step too far.

This has the potential to be the best, most popular, sapphic ship I've ever seen. With a show this big, this kind of representation could literally be life changing for people. But I'm now starting to feel that this will be the biggest disappointment and missed opportunity. I really, really hope I'm wrong.

[revisitedgrunt]

Wednesday: Tyler and Enid, and are the writers good at their job?

I've been asking myself this a lot recently. There are some things I've seen and heard that would indicate no, but there are other things that seem to have been written very deliberately. Specifically, the similarities and differences between Enid and Tyler.

For most of the season, Tyler and Enid have a similar relationship arc with Wednesday. At the start they are both trying to crack Wednesday's tough exterior. We see Wednesday start to do things with, and for them, like the Poe Cup and the dance. This gives us the impression that Wednesday is starting to warm up to them.

However, the end of the arcs are very different. It is revealed that Tyler's words and deeds were all lies, while Enid's were all genuine. Tyler ends up almost killing Wednesday, while Enid saves her. At the very end, Tyler is all but forgotten. Whereas Enid and Wednesday share an emotional hug.

We also see differences between Tyler and Enid's monster forms. Tyler starts the season already able to transform, and he seems to do so very easily. Enid cannot turn and spends the season struggling with this. Tyler uses his Hyde form to hurt and kill. Enid uses her werewolf form to protect.

This seems intentional because it's crazy how diametrically opposed Tyler and Enid are. Were their character arcs deliberately written to parallel each other like this?

It's unusual for a love interest and a best friend to have these aligned character arcs. In most stories a good writer would use these diverging arcs to contrast the “wrong” love interest and the “right” love interest.

You'd expect Tyler and Xavier, Wednesday's love interests, to have these opposed arcs, but they don't. Why is Tyler's opposing character Enid?

So, I'm left to wonder. Did the writers do this deliberately? Is the reason to compare Wednesday's fake love interest with her proper love interest. Is this proof that Wenclair is being set up for a future romance?

Or is this all completely unintentional, and I have put much more thought into this than the writers did?

[revisitedgrunt]

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but every time I see someone say “Making them a couple will ruin the friendship” or “Why can't two girls just be friends any more” I can't help but think I'm listening to a homophobe.

I've seen this happen with pretty much every sapphic ship I've ever been interested in. If this was also said about heterosexual relationships, that would be fine, but it never, ever is. It's always directed at gay relationships.

I'm seeing it once again with Wenclair. It's such a stupid argument because it doesn't have to be one or the other. It doesn't have to be friendship or romance. The two can, and absolutely should, coexist. You can be friends and a couple. In fact, that's pretty much how every healthy relationship works. Every scene the writers write that requires Wenclair to be friends, can be exactly the same scene if they were dating.

So, as far as I'm concerned, this justification is absolutely pathetic. It's not a legitimate reason to dislike Wenclair. It's a desperate attempt by homophobes to discount any sapphic relationship.

I also think these people are very, very pissed that Wenclair is easily the most popular ship. I'm sorry, but it's not our fault Wenclair is the emotional heart of the show. It's not our fault that Jenna and Emma have such obvious chemistry with each other. It's not our fault that pretty much everything about the two, their clothing, their personalities, their families, compare and contrast perfectly with each other.

And we all know that if Enid were a guy, everyone that is currently complaining about Wenclair would be shipping it.

[revisitedgrunt]

Jenna Ortega and Wenclair

Jenna Ortega is really out there doing absolutely everything she can to make Wenclair canon.

Let's look at the way she played Wednesday.

Deliberately (because she's a good enough actor to fake it) has no romantic chemistry with her love interests throughout the entire season. Plays it like Wednesday could not care less about their emotions and isn't upset it the slightest when her “boyfriend” is revealed to be the Hyde.

When Enid moves out she stares sadly at Enid's side of the room, before curling herself up into a ball. Dramatically declares that for the first time in her life, being alone no longer feels good. Such a profound difference between Tyler/Xavier being mad at her (doesn't care), and Enid being mad at her (becomes a dramatic ho).

Gets legitimately, and visibly, angry/jealous when Enid tells her Yoko has begged Enid to be her new room-mate. Looks really alarmed when Ms Thornhill tells her Enid has put in a request to switch rooms. (Showing Wednesday actually cares about Enid and genuinely wants her around). Also stares longingly at Enid's silver moon nail polish, while telling Thing that she absolutely doesn't miss Enid, not one bit.

Suddenly blurting out “Thing said he missed you.” meaning, obviously, that she missed Enid. Looking confused when Enid says “Except maybe someone to share it with. Thing may have blabbed about your date with Tyler, so how did it go?” Like she thought Enid was talking about them with the “to share it with” part, and isn't sure why Enid is suddenly talking about Tyler.

The hug. Yes, this absolutely does have more emotional weight than the kiss. The reason being that Jenna (once again) plays this as being Wednesday's most important, new, relationship.

On set, joked with Emma that Enid and Wednesday “were room-mates”.

In interviews, says she didn't like the love triangle whenever she's asked about it (and sometimes when she isn't). Goes onto say that Wednesday was interested in the monster and the mystery and not the boys. States that she wants Wednesday to be friends with Xavier and nothing more.

Declares that Wednesday and Enid “have a sweet, little relationship.” Throwing out “Maybe Enid is just in love with Wednesday”, while smiling and looking directly at the camera.

I personally love it when actors support, and advocate for, same sex relationships in their shows. Both Jenna and Emma seem to want a Wenclair relationship, almost everyone on social media wants it. At this point I'm not sure why the show couldn't explore the possibility in Season two.

[revisitedgrunt]

Wednesday - TV Guide interview

Just read the TV Guide interview with Gough and Millar and Miles Millar gives an interesting response when he's asked about Wednesday dating. He says that Wednesday isn't looking for romance and that “she's not boy crazy, girl crazy. She's sort of amused like a scientist is amused, or fascinated by people's attraction.”

If he's being honest here, he's basically confirmed a queer Wednesday Addams. If he's not, that response seems really baity.

[revisitedgrunt]

If Enid isn't queer...

I've come to terms with the fact that the Wednesday show I wanted isn't the show that Millar and Gough wanted to make.

However, if Enid isn't queer, some very poorly thought out choices were made.

The first is directly equating Enid's experiences, with those of a queer person. What more needs to be said here. The threat to send Enid to a conversion camp if she doesn't wolf out (conform to what her Mom wants her to be). This isn't even sub-textually queer, it's so overt we all know what the writers meant here. If Enid is straight, I'm going to be so angry that a worry unique to gay people has been used to engender sympathy for a straight character. That's just not cool.

The second is the hug. The lead up to this honestly baffles me. Ajax half-heartedly jogs up to Enid. Enid doesn't move towards him. Ajax walks forward and pulls Enid into an awkward side hug. Let's remember, earlier in the episode these two were making out, apparently really into each other. Nothing in their interaction here confirms they're a couple. It's amazing how half-assed that hug is. It barely conveys any care, affection or passion and, at best, implies a small level of familiarity. If you showed that sequence to someone who hasn't seen the show, I can't imagine anyone would guess they're meant to be a couple.

Contrast this with the Wenclair hug. Enid runs towards Wednesday and pretty much throws herself into Wednesday's arms. After a moment of hesitation, Wednesday reacts and pulls Enid into this incredibly tight hug while closing her eyes. And this scene lingers. It is given the time needed for us to understand just how much these two girls care about each other. If you showed this scene to the same person you showed the Ajax/Enid scene, and asked them who Enid cares about more, I can't imagine anyone would choose Ajax.

I understand that the writers might not have thought through the “conversion camp” scene. I understand that maybe Jenna and Emma played their hug a bit more emotionally than it was written. If that's the case, there's still time for the writers to course correct. It would be so easy for Enid to come out in season two. Just have her say she did some thinking/soul searching during the break and she realised she's into girls. Most of the fandom already thinks this, so no one's gonna be annoyed. Well, OK, homophobes will be, but they don't count.    

Hopefully, this was all intentional, and the writers always planned this. If not, I really hope they're wise enough not to stick to thier guns. Characters should be allowed to grow organically and I think Enid has grown beyond being straight.

[revisitedgrunt]

Wednesday

I binged Wednesday a few days ago and I'm still having thoughts about it. Thought I'd write them down in an attempt to move on.

Spoilers follow.

For the most part, I really enjoyed it. Loved almost all the characters, loved the setting, loved the mystery and loved the acting. Jenna Ortega was fantastic, as she always is and everyone else did a great job with what they had to work with.

Honestly, my only issue with it was the love triangle. I'm one of those people that felt that Wednesday shouldn't have had a love interest, let alone two. The writers could have done the correct, smart thing and not included one, but they felt the need to include two. I can only guess it's because the characters are teenagers, but with Wednesday it just felt unneeded, cliché and poorly written.  

Throughout the entire season I didn't once get the impression that Wednesday was into either boy, so I was confused when she kept agreeing to do things with Tyler, like the dance and the date. Wednesday gave off absolutely zero romantic vibes, so why not just shut it down and tell him she wasn't interested. After seeing an interview with Jenna, I think I now have an idea of what happened.

Jenna didn't want a love triangle, she was against it. Jenna said that Wednesday's primary interest was the monster and the mystery and her interest in the boys wasn't genuine but just amusement and that boys are the last thing on Wednesday's mind.

Seems to me that Jenna had a much better idea of her character than the writers did. So going to the dance and on the date were just an amusing distraction, not because Wednesday was actually into it. This at least makes sense with Wednesday's absolute non-romantic interest in the boys. I'd love to see the script. Did Jenna play it how it was written, or was Wednesday meant to actually care and Jenna decided not to play it like that?

So, the love interests. Xavier was obviously the secondary one. I found it funny that they'd met as kids and Wednesday didn't remember him. He had to tell that very specific story to get her to remember. Given that for most of the season, Wednesday thought he was the Hyde, there really wasn't any romance here. Xavier as a person seems kinda terrible. Broke up with Bianca, basically accusing her of using her powers on him when there was no evidence she did. Also asked Bianca, who still seemed into him, at the dance they went to together, to take his memories of Wednesday away. Imagine you're Bianca and how bad that would make you feel.

Looks like he's being set up as the future love interest. Jenna also has an issue with this. In another interview (she also mentions being against the love triage here) she said she'd like them to become good friends as safe, platonic friendships between men and women aren't shown often enough.

I love Jenna for having the courage to speak out like this. I feel like a lot of actors wouldn't criticise the writers, but Jenna obviously knows her worth.

Now, Tyler. For the most part, I found him to be inoffensive. Apart from the “mixed signals” scene, which was a red flag as Wednesday had given him no signals, he wasn't too bad. There also wasn't really much there, he was just a generic “nice” guy. It was funny after finding out he's the Hyde, Wednesday wasn't upset. Her only response was a one liner about the first boy she kissed being a monster. This goes back to the fact that Wednesday gave off no romantic vibes and Jenna played it as Wednesday not genuinely being into him.

I would hope he's off the board as far as love interests go. We learnt in episode 8 that he did remember what he did as the Hyde, and he enjoyed it. Given that he almost killed Eugene, one of two people Wednesday forms an actual emotional bond with, I don't see her forgiving him.

Now it's time to talk about Enid, who's the only other person Wednesday seems to actually care about at Nevermore. Their relationship also doesn't come across as romantic. However, I feel that if the writers continue to force romance onto Wednesday, this one would at least make sense.

Unlike with Tyler and Xavier, Wednesday does seem to care about Enid's thoughts and feelings. All we need to do is look at the scenes where Enid moves out and the climatic hug to confirm this. Wednesday is genuinely upset when Enid moves out, we can contrast this with scenes of Tyler and Xavier being mad and her, and her not giving a damn.

The hug is also the emotional highlight of the show and the culmination of their relationship. Wednesday has backed away from hugs in the past, but here she hugs Enid back. It's not just a pity hug either, or because Wednesday thinks Enid deserves it. She hugs Enid tightly, emotionally, while closing her eyes. This is probably the most emotional we see Wednesday all season and, unlike the Tyler kiss, this doesn’t end badly.

I also found it interesting that Enid is the one who saves Wednesday from Tyler. In a lot of stories it's the love interest who saves the main character, but here it's Enid. It's even more interesting when a bit later we see Xavier try to save Wednesday from Joseph, which fails spectacularly and results in Wednesday getting hurt.

It would be very easy to turn this from a friendship to a romance. A lot easier than establishing something with Xavier, or someone new. I also don't think they'll do this. Gough and Millar have written for shows with wlw rep, The Shannara Chronicles and Into the Badlands, but I get the impression they are pushing the Wenclair friendship and want to keep them straight. This is also stupid because the whole point of the show is about being an outcast. They even equate this with being queer with Enid's subplot about conversion camp and her parents accepting her for who she is. Many queer people still fell like outcasts and this show could do so much good in having their main character, who has so much name recognition, be actually queer.

That was a lot. If you liked the romances I'm happy for you. I do hope there's a season two as the good greatly outweighed the bad.

I see Wenclair is already a popular tag :)

[revisitedgrunt]

I'd like to consume some media, a book, comic, or TV show, about 2 girls, preferably into each other, who deal with the supernatural.

Does something like this exist? I should say that I've already seen Carmillia. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

[revisitedgrunt]

This post contains spoilers for The Last Of Us Part 2.

I’ve just got to what I thought was the ending, only to find out I’m only halfway through the game.

The problem is, I now have no interest in finishing it.

I was emotionally invested in Ellie's story. I wanted to find out what she was going to do, was she going to give up her revenge, or keep going to the bitter end.

I have no such investment in Abby. I understand her motives and why she did what she did, but I have zero interest in playing as her for 15 hours.

I get what Naughty Dog were doing here, and in a why I kinda admire it, it's a very bold move, but in my opinion, a mistake.

I just can't bring myself to care about Abby enough, certainly not enough to play as her for as long as I played as Ellie.

I think at this point I'll just YouTube the ending.

[revisitedgrunt]

Hello,

If you get a second, could you please vote for episode 5, “Bellweather Season”, of Motherland: Fort Salem on SpolierTV. I know it’s just an internet award, but anything that could help raise the profile of the show is a good thing.

Thanks.

https://www.spoilertv.com/2020/06/2020-episode-competition-day-3-motherland-fort-salem-rookie-she-ra-htgawm-zoeys-extraordinary-playlist-ozark-criminal-minds-good-doctor.html

[revisitedgrunt]

I loved the first season of Motherland: Fort Salem, but I can’t help but feel that the first half of it was a lot better than the second half.

I think that when Scylla was revealed it took some of the immediate threat away. She was a very visible antagonist, but she was suddenly replaced by an organisation I had no idea about and no vested interest in.

I also think she needs to be better integrated into the cast next season. I'm a huge Raylla fan, but they had Scylla interact almost exclusively with Raelle. I would have loved to see Scylla debate the military with Abigail and deal with Tally's excessive friendliness.

Despite these complaints, I loved the show and look forward to the next season.

[revisitedgrunt]

We’ve officially got a second season of Motherland: Fort Salem!

I'm just really happy right now. I don't have the words to express just what this means to me.

[revisitedgrunt]

My thoughts on episode 1x09 of Motherland: Fort Salem in two images.

[revisitedgrunt]

I can never thank Taylor and Amalia enough for the little touches they add to their Raylla scenes. The chin cupping, leaning in for another kiss, the bridal carry. They could just play the scene as written, but they care enough to add these things and it really helps sell the relationship.

[revisitedgrunt]

I'm sure a lot of important stuff will happen tonight, but all I can focus on is the Raylla scene. I hope Scylla gets a chance to tell Raelle her story, but at this point Raelle is so angry and feels so betrayed, I'm not sure she'll even care. I'm ready for Taylor and Amalia to kill me.

[revisitedgrunt]

PSA: Don't break Raelle Collar's heart. She gets a bit murdery.