#hsmtmts: 301 (happy campers)

[rinisbowen]

okay but like- idk if the show is just not going to address this but- can you imagine being big red right… and you let your best friend borrow your car one day so he can go finish packing and hang out with his girlfriend before they leave to go on vacation with her family. y’know, because you’re a good friend that way.

and then- HOURS after he was supposed to tell you he was leaving and you can go grab your car… you get a phone call that he’s in CALIFORNIA- WITH YOUR CAR… at summer camp for TWO WEEKS…

[rinisbowen]

i just wanted to say quickly that there’s def a reason they keep bringing lily up. they should’ve sent her to camp for the sake of ricky’s arc, but that may have easily been a scheduling issue as well.

they broke up like- 4 days ago... ricky’s story arc involves him PRETENDING to be happy and ignoring all his deeper stuff that’s going on. a bandaid over a tank of gas. i’m not saying this in the sense of him having these intensely deep feelings for lily (though it’s clear he must’ve genuinely had something real with her to a certain extent given context of time and the situation we have them in in 301. argue with the wall.)

i’m just saying- whenever he’s forced to reckon with things and the other shoe does drop... she’s a part of what he’s going to have to reckon with. they could’ve just fully dropped the subject after ricky came the camp, or at least after carlos mentions her in 302. it would’ve been easy to do so. but she came up TWICE in the last episode. that’s continuity, sure, but if they really just wanted to ignore that it happened after the first time, they could’ve. they’ve done that sort of thing before. 

[rinisbowen]

planning on making some kind of bigger post at some point about the finally free and you never know parallels because… y’all- there are SO MANY.

[rinisbowen]

ricky x nini x book metaphors for their journeys in their songs

a chapter begins the pages turn in the wind, the story’s so unpredictable (you never know)

give me empty pages, just give me something new (finally free)

close the book before it turns to tragedy… (let you go)

[rinisbowen]

thoughts on that last scene in 3x01?

ej saying anything vs gina saying anybody. ej saying he’s the guy that shows up, but the show’s emphasis on gina telling jack that the right guy has to show up and stay around

so… thanks for the ask anon. this is an interesting one to break down.

so for starters, unless this is another “just for a moment” thing, which i doubt… this seems to indicate gina probably told ej she’d been looking for someone to show up for her. it’s sweet that he values being able to do that for her, however, as you point out… gina also wants someone to stick around for her.

and the unfortunate thing is- a) ej’s probably going to have a hard time consistently showing up for gina this season, based on the interviews we’ve seen. and b) ej is going to leave. and there’s just not that much time between now and ej leaving for college for gina to get over her need for physical closeness in order to maintain stability in her relationships. it’s too much of a big thing for her to get over in the next two weeks.

ej cannot stay around. he can be there for her, the internet is a thing, but there’s going to be distance. idk that gina’s going to be ready to move past that at this point.

i’ve also said this before, but the reason it’s less an issue that ricky graduates before gina too is bc she’d have time… to reconcile that question for herself or whether she can handle the physical distance with someone for the sake of the emotional closeness they could potentially maintain.

—

the anything vs. anybody is less… crucial as a distinction to me- but they are sorta on two separate pages in terms of what the issue could be. to gina the threat is other people, to ej it’s distractions. which is fair enough considering he just found out he’s going to direct the musical and gina doesn’t know that yet. but also gina’s pretty new to having this kind of emotional intimacy with other people. someone else being closer… to ej than she is is probably a pretty meaningful threat for her given she watches him call this camp his second home… and have these nicknames with maddox that she doesn’t understand, etc.

[rinisbowen]

y’all i watched the episode and it was… fun and interesting… i’m probably going to watch it again when i wake up at a normal hour lol 😭

also i am sad the panda jacket clip was in this episode but that’s okay- we’re just going to have to wait and see… what happens there with her screentime…

lily is cute and ridiculous as usual and also so stupid to have kept this harness in the several months she and ricky have been- hanging out or whatever this is… they’re doing where her parents are taking him with them jet skiing for a three week trip… and now we’re probably never going to see her again which is kinda sad to me but whatever. ricky’s just fully DONE when he sees that harness gosh. like- he wants OUT. that said her being a tiktoker makes so much sense from that part last season and i’ve said before like that sounds like her… also the fact ej says they don’t say lily’s name 😭😭😭

also the fact nini wanted to go to camp- is so wholesome actually. the fact she can’t write a single song… is interesting, but without her muse i guess it’s harder. she has to find a new muse- a muse within herself…

i was a little caught off guard by the fact that mike bowen is taking miss jenn on a multi week CRUISE- like where is he getting cruise money… obviously it doesn’t sound like she’s going to GO. but interesting nonetheless.

maddox is an icon and i’m sad there was no val this episode. i adore maddox so much truly. her little interaction with ashlyn… yeah i think redlyn are verging on codependent a bit like julia said in that interview. she’s going to write him EVERY SINGLE DAY.

also howie’s going off to college… i know they didn’t say but maybe he got the menkies scholarship- his beast was supposedly extraordinary…

FINALLY FREE >>>

also ej just- he seems to be living his best life right up until the moment dewey makes him the director… i’m happy for you to enjoy camp ej but- this does not sound like it’s going to go well. especially with ricky’s little “room for one more” instead of “group hug” 😭

[rinisbowen]

did you see the carlos ej and jet sneak peak? they’re really hammering in ej not being a kid anymore. they’ve always shown ej talk about or being referred to older than the rest but with s3 interviews from tim and matt and val apparently giving him advice about his future and seeing him as grown and now with this sneak peak they’re talking a lot about it him not being a kid and being in a completely different direction than the rest of the characters (besides val). even talking away rina i’d be very surprised if portwell lasts to the end of this season just going by where they’re taking his character.

ah yes hi anon i did see it, it’s so exciting how close we are to the premiere!!!

—

from a story standpoint, i’m excited to see them highlighting that this is indeed a huge turning point for ej. he calls it his last chance to be a kid… things are shifting in his life and i’m pleased that the show isn’t just brushing over that aspect of this summer and what it means for him.

he’s going off into the future with his summer if lasts, while gina’s enjoying a summer of firsts- and you’re right to say it doesn’t exactly seem to bode well for them how different their experiences are about to be.

[rinisbowen]

i just need several moments for joshua bassett’s song he wrote for ricky for episode one- finally free

https://twitter.com/teamjbassett/status/1550117285695610885?s=21

[rinisbowen]

i still need to rewatch bc i haven’t yet but i wanted to say that i called ricky being in lily’s bedroom the second i saw the teal wall in the background of the recap 😭😭😭

[rinisbowen]

so interested to see if they just decide to go with lily’s a terrible person or if they let the situation have nuance tonight… we’ll see. i’d like the latter but i’m not getting my hopes up given we’re probably never seeing the character again so they don’t care how we feel about her going forward.

[rinisbowen]

i’m probably going to be posting spoilers after i watch the episode tonight… but of course everything will be appropriately tagged for y’all so just make sure to mute one of these tags and you should be good.

everything will be tagged with:

#hsmtmts spoilers

#hsmtmts: 301 (happy campers)

#hsmtmts season 3