#4.09

[dailytxf]

Well, we’ve gotten off to a real fine start here. I’m going to recess now until this new matter can be explained. So that we might then begin to move in a forward direction.

[eddiemunsonsource]

#proud dad energy

STRANGER THINGS 4.09: The Piggyback

[nadjasnandor]

[deancasforcutie]

you're my angel, come and save me tonight

[strangerthingsedits]

Are you real? Did I make you?

Max Mayfield and El Hopper Stranger Things 4 Chapter Nine: The Piggyback | 4.09

[gvaine]

4.09 — Lancelot du Lac

[spikedaily]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 4.09 “Something Blue”

[mickeygifs]

[scoobydoodean]

Sam trying to parallel his 4 months of angst with 40 years in hell really is insane is the thing.

[saulguzman]

[buffy-verse]

4.09 | Something Blue

[mr-giles]

every btvs episode ↳ 4.09: “Something Blue”

[eddiemunsonsource]

Are you ready for the most metal concert in the history of the world? That a rhetorical question?

STRANGER THINGS 4 (2022) 4x09, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”

[nadjasnandor]

wwdits + text posts

[theflyindutchwoman]

The Tim Tests -- those don't make me like him. I know. You're nothing like him. I… Come here. You're nothing like him.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 4.09 - Breakdown

The symbolism of Lucy helping Tim remove walls in his childhood home, of all places, is incredibly poetic. When she met him, he had built so many - metaphorical - walls around him, they were practically a fortress… But that didn't stop her from seeing through them and find a way in. And since then, she has been by his side, helping him lower them. So it's only natural that she would be there for him, when his last walls are tumbling down. When he confronts the person who made those walls necessary in the first place.

The level of vulnerability and honesty he displays here is astonishing. He doesn't try to downplay what he's feeling, and considering how painful this chapter of his life is, it says a lot on how much he trusts Lucy to be here and see him like this. This may seem inconsequential but this is huge for someone who had to learn to hide his emotions very young to avoid setting off his abusive father or to shield his younger sister from what was truly happening. Only here, he can't hide behind a mask. Not after talking to his father. It's the confirmation that the latter protected his mistress all along, even on his death bed, when he never did any of that for his own family, when he was the monster they needed protection from, that breaks Tim. His feelings of disappointment, betrayal and anger are so raw. So visceral. And this ultimately explains why he's always amazed when Lucy fiercely defends and protects him.

Which is also why her previous comment about the Tim Tests struck a chord. To be fair, I don't think she ever meant to imply he was anything like his father. It rather sounded like she had found the final pieces of a puzzle, the answer as to where these tests came from since Tim was the only TO doing them. I'm not even sure she realised she was saying it aloud until it was too late. Nevertheless, her remark dug deep… even more so since it piled up with his sister's who at times sounded almost dismissive towards his feelings and his own boundaries on the topic. It was important for Tim to address this. He needed the reassurance that he wasn't anything like his father. But most of all, he needed to hear it from Lucy specifically, and not just because of that remark. Her opinion matters to him a lot. She knows him the best, met him at one of his lowest point, saw his demons, has never been afraid to call him out… and she's also someone who sees the best in everyone. Just the thought that she - of all people - could think that he might be like his dad is too much already. There's a moment where he instinctively steps back, as if he's bracing himself for the worst. Tim looks so much like a lost kid in that moment, all teary-eyed. But Lucy is right there to reassure and comfort him. She wasn't going to let him entertain the thought any longer. The way he sinks into her embrace, the big breath he takes when she repeats adamantly that he's nothing like his father, the swaying… This is exactly why he wanted her by his side in the first place, why he invited her. She is the person with whom he can drop his mask and not be self-conscious about it because he feels safe with her. She is his safe space. And the hug is the perfect embodiment of this.

[strangerthingsedits]

Stranger Things 4 Chapter Nine: The Piggyback | 4.09