#*chants and pounds fists on table* kill them Thony kill them Thony kill them Thony kill them Thony

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x09 thoughts

The main things:

Wanna feel sad? Just think about how much Arman would have loved to be at Luca’s basketball game in this ep. Because lbr, he absolutely would have dropped anything and everything to be right there in the front row with Thony, seeing Luca running around with his friends– finally out and happy and free, just like they’d hoped for for so long. Like seriously, I can just picture it: him buying one of the team shirts or like a cap or something; him giving Luca some tips at half time about how to deal with that kid that’s sticking to him and how to position himself for a pass; Fi shooting teasing looks at Thony that she ignores. Then at some point Thony grabs at his hand when something exciting happens, and only belatedly realises what she’s done and they look at each other wordlessly and then they just… keep holding on for a bit??? Ugh. And then after the game ends Luca runs straight to Arman for a huge double high-5 and chatters at him about ‘did you see my pass? Did you see this/that/etc??’ and Arman is so sweet and warm with him and Thony is absolutely melting but trying not to show it. And then they all head outside together and Luca begs Arman to come watch him again next week and Arman tells him that of course he’ll be there. And our Fi is a true wingwoman so she distracts Luca for a few moments so Thony and Arman can say their goodbyes, and it’s all warm looks and soft words. Maybe she reaches up to touch his new team cap and says "It suits you", then lets her fingers brush just lightly against his cheek and jaw before she drops her hand and just says “I’ll see you soon?”, and he only gets to nod before Luca is calling for her. Then he just stands there and watches as they walk away and wishes so much that he could be going with them, and as Thony gets in the car she looks back at him and smiles and uughhhhh someone help me I’m deep in my feelings rn 

Okay so I’m not sure how clear this was to the average non-medical viewer, but the medical stuff in this episode was legitimately hilarious. Like I cannot express enough that that is not how any of that works. I can’t even pick my favourite inaccuracy because there were just too many, but damn they were all funny as hell to watch haha. But overall I did really appreciate that the writers went in the poisoning direction with Ramona’s illness and that it wasn’t a cancer of some kind… though I guess I should have known that they wouldn’t do that to us or the cast or themselves after everything that happened with Adan.

But hooooo boyyy I was so delighted to finally see some clear glimpses of the Dark!Thony I’ve been hoping for!! First when she’s alone with an unconscious, apparently bleeding-out Ramona, and she has the exact kind of moment that I mentioned last week– that moment when something outside her control goes wrong, and she realises that if she does nothing, Ramona will die without anyone knowing she didn’t do everything possible to try to stop it. Like damn, our girl literally steps back and just stands there and watches Ramona bleed with an expression that almost borders on satisfaction, as if this– Ramona’s death– is what they both deserve, and I love that for her. As I’ve said previously, Thony’s saviour complex is a longstanding, central aspect to her character, so for her to actively choose not to help someone who desperately needs her is a huge marker of the way she is growing and changing in this new world, and also a clear demonstration of just how huge Ramona’s crime was in Thony’s eyes– in betraying Arman and causing his death, Ramona took the love of Thony’s life, and now Thony “I Swore An Oath To Do No Harm” De La Rosa is out to end hers. And hell yes I am so here for it. Too bad Jorge arrives right at the wrong time and so she’s forced to resume the rescue efforts… But dude. Just imagine the poetic justice if Thony later kills Ramona by shooting her… so Thony saves her life by taking out one bullet, then takes her life by putting another in??? Like c’mon writers please, we’ve suffered so much, just let me have my dream of seeing Thony commit revenge-murder for the man she loves. Please. 

And speaking of revenge, omg the moment when she finds out that Jeremy was the one who snuck into the house? And suddenly puts it all together about how he’s been using her and her family, and that he is the missing piece of how the FBI found out about Arman’s exchange– all because she gave him her trust when she was vulnerable, and he took advantage of it? Watching her face go from shocked disbelief to horrified understanding to just the tiniest hint of absolutely sickened fury was so fucking powerful, especially as One Way Or Another played in the background– a song which is about a dangerous stalker, and which now actually fits both of them. Before, Jeremy was the one stalking her, using her, wrecking her life without her knowledge– but now, the tables have turned. Now, she knows, and she’s going to make him pay for what he’s done not only to her, but to her family, and most of all, to Arman. She’s going to use his own advice against him, because she already knows his weakness (the fact that he thinks he’s pulling the strings, that he holds all the power and that she’s just his clueless little puppet) and she’s going to use it to her advantage. Honestly, the dream scenario is for her to maneouvre things so that Sin Cara is actually responsible for killing him, but she gets to be right there when it happens, so he can look at her in his final moments and realise that she did this, that his powerless prey was actually a predator after all, and that he made the biggest mistake of his life the day he abused her trust and cost her her future with someone she loved. And I legitimately do not care that this man is technically on the side of the ‘good guys’ and has just been ‘doing his job’, I want to see him fucking burn. And I want Thony to get to watch every moment of it and to feel Arman’s presence within her while she does, knowing that if he could see through her eyes, he'd be wearing his proudest, most vicious smile.

Watching Jorge and Thony interact vs watching Jorge and Nadia interact is honestly a bizarre juxtaposition, and I think it stems from the things that they connect over. He and Thony have connected over their kids and the challenges of being a single parent/having lost a partner, so with her he’s become more vulnerable and sincere, and seems almost bashful in the way he reaches out to her for that connection. Not to mention that the power balance between them had begun to level out even as early as 3x04, but now in the last couple of eps– first with her figuring out Dante’s betrayal and then here with the act of her saving Ramona– it has almost even started to shift in the other direction. At the beginning of the season, Jorge had all the power, and Thony was at his mercy. Then after 3x04 they moved to more even footing, with actual respect and regard forming between them. Now it has even gone slightly beyond that, to the point where Jorge looks to Thony for guidance, and doesn’t hesitate to follow her orders.

Meanwhile, with Nadia he absolutely has his bad-boy persona on (aside from the couple of moments of softness at the wake, and when he tells her he won’t let her go back to jail), because their connection is much more transactional, and is also based in their love of the business world they move in, and the power and thrill they feel when they bend people to their will. I think it’s why his scenes with Nadia have an undercurrent to them that is almost like sexual tension, yet not quite? I think it’s more a mutual ‘god we’re so hot and powerful and I want more of this feeling, and working with you will give me that’ rather than a ‘god you’re so hot and I want you’ thing (whereas obviously, with Arman, Nadia had both of those things plus more). I actually love the bluntness between them– she outright tells Jorge she wishes his sister had died lol, and he tells her he’s only working with her for her money– and honestly, that kind of openness between them about the foundation of this alliance is actually kinda refreshing haha. Ngl I do think there probably actually is a small amount of genuine regard between them that neither is admitting to– on Jorge’s part because I think he’s actually fairly kindhearted, and because she was so important to his sobrino; and on her part because he was the only one that actually comforted her at the wake and helped her since, and because he loved Arman. But still, their alliance only goes so far, and they both know the situation could change at any moment, which no doubt it will. Tbh I’m really enjoying seeing the two different dynamics of these duos and I reaaaaally want to see an ongoing team-up between all three of them, though based on the promo I think we’re out of time there :(

Loved seeing Fi using a bit of Spanish– no doubt she picked some up in the Philippines and then over so many years of working with hispanic immigrants, but it would be cute if she’s been trying to learn more lately to be able to connect with Gisele and Camila. But omg her getting into the van was such a terrible idea, yet honestly I kinda loved it bc it was such a Thony kind of move. Despite all Fi’s begging for Thony to get out of the shady world of crime, the truth is that both she and Thony are kind of suited to it, and I’m still hoping that S4 will bring us Thony and Fi and Jorge (ideally plus Nadia, but that’s sadly seeming unlikely) all working together to keep bringing people across the border for better lives, but in a much safer and more humane way than Sin Cara currently does it. It would be such a cool story to watch, given both Thony and Fi’s experiences with being undocumented/crossing the border, and it could allow for us to still get to watch Thony finding her place in the Vegas underworld; still going to-to-toe with criminals and playing cat-and-mouse with the FBI, but without her having to become unrealistically dark and engage in the actually harmful kind of crimes that would be OOC for her. Ugh I want my badass Mob Queens so bad. But anyway, tbh it was such a genuine surprise that that guy just let Fi leave the immigrant worker house without any issues?? Like not even any threats not to go to the cops? No trying to force her to stay as another trapped worker? Obviously I’m not complaining at all that she got out safely but it was just an unexpected relief given this show’s history lol

Some other stuff:

Given that Jeremy supposedly heard Thony and Fi mentioning Jorge on his cameras a lot, he should have also heard them talking about Ramona at some point, and so should have made the Ramona/Sin Cara connection a lot quicker. But tbh, him making the jump from Thony doing medical research for a woman to Ramona being Sin Cara was very presumptuous anyway; like it was just as possible that Thony was helping some random loved one for Sin Cara, rather than Sin Cara themselves. But whatever, I’m glad he got there quickly bc the less of Jeremy I have to watch, the better lol. Absolutely loved how annoyed Thony was getting with his questions and how clearly she just wanted him to go away haha. You and me both, girl.

Okay Jorge really should have known better than to basically imply to Ramona that Nadia was going to be his new business partner. He knows that she’s possessive and terrified of abandonment (tbh I still absolutely believe in that fan theory that she’s responsible for his wife’s death bc she was scared his wife would take him from her), and he knows that she has been behaving irrationally and impulsively as a result of her illness– and yet he still talks about Nadia like that? May as well have painted a bullseye on her back, the idiot. And speaking of Jorge being an idiot…. like, buddy, I like you and all, but maybe you should ask Thony for some more parenting tips because leaving your distressed five year old to cry alone in her room for hours is not really ideal parenting!

Can't believe we got another villain making Thony (semi) undress in front of them?? At least this time was far less gross than with Kamdar, but still. Dude.

Lol at the fact that every time we’ve seen Ramona or Jorge drink from a water bottle this season (and it’s been a few, especially for Jorge– they clearly like to show that he’s an active guy lol) it’s always been the typical unlabelled thin plastic bottles used in filming… until suddenly we need some kind of clue for where Gisele and Camila could be working, so we get this very pointed shot of the fancy labelled water haha. I love television. (Also damn, an additional nice touch-- there's actually a big banner advertising Bandera water up in the basketball stadium where Luca plays! Sneaky work, set decs!)

Ngl Thony’s conspiracy-theorist neighbour was actually kinda sweet… I like that he made her a cup of tea/coffee and was actually helpful and supportive even if a little bit wacky haha. And I enjoyed the writer’s clever little play with his line “Some aren’t even who they say they are. You better watch your back, you never know who’s watching” right as Thony’s seeing Jeremy on the monitor… neighbour guy might be a bit of a crackpot but he's onto something here...

So basically overall, this ep had some technical elements which were completely ridiculous and unbelievable, but who cares? It was a cool ep and it added to the story in an engaging and meaningful way, which is all that matters. Plus it's setting up for the Dark!Thony I so desperately want to see, so I loved it haha