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do-it-for-the-fandom · 1 year

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Pls ramble for hours about your thought about season 3 caskett!!

Okay, just remember… you asked for this 🤣 Just to keep it clear in my mind I’ll go through episode by episode (thanks to Wikipedia for their handy dandy episodes lists that I refer to almost daily at this point, I swear).

I’ve been going through season 2 and 3 with a very critical eye in regards to Castle/Beckett interactions while in relationships with other people for a fic I’m working on so you might think some of this is very nitpicking (and tbh it probably is) but this is all based on a conversation I had with a friend where we discussed “if our significant other did these things, would be be okay with that?” and - spoiler alert - I’d like my partners goo-goo eyes to be aimed at me not the pretty ladies he works with 🤣

Anyway, here it is: my rambling about the ‘blurred lines’ and slightly questionable behaviour (most of which would be fine if it weren’t for the “they’re madly in love with one another but deeply in denial” of it all, you know?)

I know I said season 3 Caskett but we need to take a quick journey back to season 2 just for some background information. There is an important scene in season 2 that set us up for season 3 (in my opinion). It was like a little sprinkling that softened the “bad behaviour” of our favourites.

In 2x22 Food to Die For, Cecily (the victim’s ‘friend’) says “You have no idea how hard it is to love someone knowing they’re gonna break your heart.” and there is a look of understanding on Beckett’s face as she processes these words, as if she does know how hard it is.

Later, Beckett and Castle have a conversation about Wolf (the victim) and Cecily. It goes a little like this:

Castle: You ask me... she should've followed her heart-- left David, gone with Wolf.

Beckett: You know, I can see the virtue in staying. I mean, guys like Wolf, they come in, they upset the apple cart. Of course he makes you feel alive, but eventually, you know he's just gonna let you down. So why risk it?

Castle: Because the heart wants what it wants.

We learn two things from this conversation.

1. Beckett obviously relates to Cecily’s situation and - given what we can see from her interactions with Castle throughout this season vs her interactions with Demming (her boyfriend at the time) - it’s safe to say Demming isn’t her Wolf, Castle is.

2. Castle is a ‘hopeless romantic’. He can (and will) justify anything if it is in the name of love.

In the season 2 finale, Beckett was willing to take the risk, though. She left her David, her safe option, to pursue what the heart wants and it backfired before she even got that far! Beckett is guarded; she won’t let herself make that mistake again.

Then we get to season 3 and the red flags start popping up left, right and centre.

Beckett is still upset at Castle - but mostly at herself because she’s the one that allowed herself to think Castle wouldn’t break her heart. Castle makes his way back onto the team under the promise that it’s just one case, then a bet is made that if he solves the case first he can come back more permanently. In the end we find out (or, at least, it’s heavily implied - I cant 100% recall) that Beckett purposely lets Castle win so that he can come back.

Mistake number 1. If she really intended on ‘moving on’, she never should have let Castle back. Obviously she’s under the impression that they can be friends but she’s already lying to herself 🚩and that is a slippery slope. It also doesn’t take her very long to fall back into the habit of teasing and flirting with him which I’m also torn about. It can’t really be classed as harmless flirting, right, when there’s underlying feelings? But given that this has always been their ‘thing’, I do tend to overlook that.

My first major issue comes with episode 3x03 Under The Gun when we are introduced to Royce. There’s history there, a lot of great memories, I get it: she’s happy to see her training officer again!

Then things get a little personal; she had a crush on him, maybe he had feelings for her back in the day too, they have a moment.

And then he betrays her.

I’m feeling sorry for her right now, like… girl, do you need a hug?

Anyways, my 🚩🚩🚩 is that Josh is introduced to us (and the team) in literally the next episode. And not just mentioned in passing - he comes to the precinct! That doesn’t seem very “we’ve only been dating for a week” of him.

Throwback to before Ryan introduced Jenny to the team, Beckett said “I wouldn’t bring my boyfriend here.” and although Josh’s visit wasn’t planned, she also didn’t seem too bothered by his presence there.

My theory is she met Josh over the summer (while Castle was away), probably introduced by a mutual friend and it may have been a slow start/super casual thing at first that became more once Castle was back at the precinct. Maybe Josh wanted more from the beginning, but Beckett held back? Maybe Royce’s betrayal was the push she needed?

Because she’s been burned twice in such a short time; and here is this man - a young, handsome doctor who keeps just busy enough to not demand too much of her in her vulnerable state - that is into her and she’s into him. He’s interesting, he’s ambitious and passionate and there is definite potential for this to be love so, why not? He can be her safe option.

But, I don’t know, Josh’s “Kate hasn’t told you about me, has she?” just makes me feel like the relationship isn’t all that new, you know? So the Josh/Royce timeline does make me wonder.

Also, Castle went home that night and even Alexis said he was ‘distracted’ and seemed down. Like, you’re with Gina dude, why does Beckett having a boyfriend bother you? 🚩

In 3x05 Anatomy of a Murder, things seem to be fine again. Josh apparently is an effective distraction, Castle has his little fight with Gina but they make up and everything is all fairly neutral until Beckett and Castle are going through the love letters and Castle reads out the “I love you” line. They both have a very guilty kind of reaction to that. Why? Because they both obviously feel something, otherwise it would be a laughable moment.

And then Castle is all goo-goo eyes when Beckett says she’d get him out of prison, because his mother said that’s a sign of true love? Tell me you’re not in love with the person you’re dating without telling me you’re not in love with the person you’re dating. #poorGina. Now, I’m not saying you have to be in love right away… but when you’re going for shot #2 with your ex-wife you’d think after several months (or however long it’s been at this point) you’d be a little more committed. Idk, maybe that’s just me.

They have that moment after Jerry Tyson gets away but I really think that’s just a genuine moment of comfort and friendship. I think it’s really sweet.

I think that while Beckett’s relationship with Josh is going well, everything stays fairly neutral. Nothing else really flags for me until 3x11 Nikki Heat. Beckett really struggles with her jealousy but I think that’s just her realising that those feelings are still there, which she obviously has to process and deal with. Also I don’t think we can deny that watching someone ‘become you’ would be hella weird.

Castle, however, doesn’t even try to hide how much he is enjoying Nikki Heat coming to life and the more Natalie tries to be Kate, the more Castle likes her. It’s a little… odd.

And when Natalie kisses him, it’s not rushed. He has plenty of time to stop it but he doesn’t. His little “Natalie, I…” isn’t good enough in my opinion. Like, poor Gina… again.

Even the next morning when Beckett is pissed because she thinks that Castle slept with Natalie, no one is thinking about HIS GIRLFRIEND in all of this. Beckett even asks him why he didn’t sleep with her and was the answer “because I’m in a relationship”? No. No it was not. *sigh*

3x12 Poof! You’re Dead is where the cracks really show between Castle and Gina; the fight, the ignored calls and eventually the break up. Good riddance, I say. Anyways… I just wanted to mention one little moment that sticks with me: when Beckett pickpockets Castle’s phone and is holding it up, then Gina calls and Castle hangs up - you can see that she’s like ‘wtf was that about’ but she doesn’t ask. Now either this is absolutely killing her but she’s setting boundaries OR she’s genuinely starting to move on (not as likely). Even when Lanie brings up Gina, Beckett is playful but as soon as the fight is mentioned she looks super uncomfortable. Kind of like she knows this might be the end for Castle and Gina, and she isn’t sure how to feel about that.

Side note: getting Edmund to dress up as dead Zalman is completely unhinged like who thought that was okay? Effective, yes. But so unhinged. Surely that had to be traumatising haha.

I won’t rehash my thoughts on the 3x13 kiss; if you need refreshing on my take here’s the post.

I will say that Castle in this episode - specifically during Vulcan Simmons’ interrogation - was so 😍😍. The way he was so fiercely protective of Beckett omg. And then admitting to Martha that “this isn’t about the books anymore” I squee like a 12-year-old girl.

every. damn. time.

In Beckett’s apartment when she asks “so why do you keep coming back, Rick?” like omg 😱 the tension, the hesitation, THE USE OF HIS FIRST NAME, the intensity in their eye contact.

He 100% should have told her then and there that he loved her.

She was practically begging him to, right?

Josh was in Africa, she was emotionally vulnerable, her life in danger… she wasn’t thinking straight. Not sure if she was testing herself or Castle, but his answer (aka his avoidance of confessing his feelings and instead just insisting that he is there for her) obviously passed the test.

Which is probably for the best. Because even if he had confessed his feelings, even if something had happened between them; it would have been too messy of a beginning for it to end well. It more than likely would have ruined everything so…

Anyways, I’m getting sidetracked.

The next case in 3x14 Lucky Stiff gives us yet another undercover side mission - aka, this iconic Caskett moment:

Like, girl 🥵 I can’t breathe why are you doing this? She is looking at him with pure lust in her eyes. It is sooooo unnecessary.

But I don’t mind this little flirty dance too much, I just brought it up because I wanted to use the GIFs 🤭

3x16 Setup and 3x17 Countdown Beckett is distracted and she is struggling, very obviously. Josh is leaving again, she doesn’t want him to go; it’s obvious that she sees this might be the beginning of the end for them. But it’s not because she doesn’t love him (I do believe that by this point she has very real feelings for him) but because I think she’s starting to recognise the same problems she has had in previous relationships - *cough* Sorensen *cough* - she doesn’t feel like a priority; once again she’s taken a back seat to the guys career.

Which does confuse me a little bit. I mean, Beckett wouldn’t put a man ahead of her career (and she doesn’t, we see that later on in the series) so I really don’t see her expecting someone to put her ahead of their career. Which makes me think that this wasn’t the real issue. My question is: does Beckett know that this wasn’t the real issue?

Maybe she just senses that something isn’t right and assumes that it is his leaving again? Or maybe she knows exactly why she is feeling this way - *cough* Castle *cough* - but doesn’t want to admit that to herself so she finds another excuse? Like, this is obviously an issue but is it the issue?

But omg was Beckett going to say “I love you” to Castle? I do find this totally plausible. Her relationship is on the rocks and she thinks that she is just moments from certain death; what has she got to lose?

Anyways, Josh chooses to stay and apparently that’s all Beckett needs to be reassured 🚩🚩🚩

Like, surely if she had gotten that close to saying those three words to Castle (which, I guess we don’t actually know if that’s what she was going to say, right?) she would see that her relationship with Josh wasn’t going to work.

Now, my friend and I actually disagreed on Beckett and Castle going to see a movie together at the end of 3x19 Law and Murder. I figured it was harmless enough, but he reminded me of my original point: can any of this be harmless when there’s underlying feelings? Where is the line between innocent and careless? Idk, I’m not sold either way on this one. Beckett is a nerd and was excited to let that inner nerd free; she probably didn’t tear her eyes away from the screen the entire time. Or, conversely, maybe she watched Castle the whole time, waiting to see if he shared her appreciation of the movie, heart filling with joy as she realised he loved the movie as much as she did.

Most importantly, I wonder; when Josh asked her how her night was, how much did she tell him?

Next, we have the Alex Conrad situation of 3x21 The Dead Pool. Castle was so mean to him and I felt bad for the poor guy; he was just trying to be like his favourite author! 😂 But we see Castle being quite possessive over Beckett which probably should be a red flag 🚩 but I loved it, I won’t lie.

The “I’m a one-writer girl” spiel started out fine, too but the long, yearning looks just really take the innocence out of it like just admit that you’re in love already, seriously.

And then we have LA…

Like, Beckett is distraught, right? She puts up a good front but she is reeling from Royce’s death. I don’t even want to think about how Royce being left to die in an alley would bring up so many memories of her mother’s murder, too! Montgomery gets it, he does what he needs to do.

And I fully understand that Castle - as a friend - wants to be there for her. He wants her to know that she’s not alone, that she has support. I’m not saying that he did anything wrong!

However… you could clearly see that he was all for crossing lines that night! He sat there waiting, hoping that she would change her mind!

She was vulnerable, he forced his way into her ‘vacation’ (that wasn’t fooling anyone) and insisted she stay with him. I just… idk. I believe that he should have been the one putting a stop to things here, you know? Like, now is not the time to make a move.

And our girl spent entirely too long standing on the other side of that door contemplating “do I or don’t I?”. And even if “think of Josh”, “you love Josh” or any sort of consideration for her boyfriend had crossed her mind - SHE OPENED THE DAMN DOOR!

What if Castle was still there? What would have happened? This was 120% too close a call.

Yes, I was there with literally every other Caskett fan when we were crying, screaming, pleading with our TV sets; “just do it!”. I can still hear the collective “noooooo!” when Castle’s door clicked shut, the millions of hearts that broke in the very moment.

But that doesn’t make their behaviour any less sketchy, just saying.

And then we have Beckett reading (for possibly the hundredth time) Royce’s letter. Refresher: in the letter, Royce comments on Beckett’s relationship with Castle and how it’s ‘real’ and she shouldn’t run from it (or fight it, I don’t remember exactly what he says). And you can see that she is taking these words to heart, really giving them a lot of consideration. And this is the letter that she read at the crime scene, so this ‘revelation’ (that she’s actually known for close to a year now) has been in the back of her mind this whole trip. Like, she’s so conflicted!

Call me crazy but I feel like that’s a pretty good sign that you should stop stringing along your boyfriend. I don’t know, just a thought. Anyways…

3x24 Knockout. The fight. The fight. Finally, they’re addressing the elephant in the room. Or, at least, they aren’t completely ignoring its existence.

“And what about you, Rick?”

“Is that what we are?”

“I don’t know what we are. We kiss, and then we never talk about it. We nearly die frozen in each other’s arms but we never talk about it. So, no, I got no clue what we are!”

“We’ve been madly in love but so deeply in denial that neither one of us knows what’s real anymore.”

Okay, so that last one wasn’t actually said but it’s still the truth.

At this point, I think Beckett realises that she can’t ‘have her cake and eat it too’. As long as Castle is in her life, she’s not going to be able to get past her feelings for him.

But she’s still not ready to take that risk again. She’s determined that her ‘safe choice’ is the only choice. That’s why she pushes him away. In the heat of the moment, she tells him they are done. But even once she cools down… she tells Montgomery she wants him gone, she ignores TWENTY THREE of Castle’s calls.

She’s finally made the decision she should have made months ago.

And if Montgomery didn’t bring Castle to the hangar, maybe she would have stuck to it. But, she also would have died either that night or at his funeral.

Anyways, this has accidentally turned into me convincing myself that their love for one another and their questionable decisions ultimately saved her. Every decision they made, every blurry line and questionable moment led them to that moment standing together at Montgomery’s funeral.

If that isn’t fate…

Anywho… for anyone who actually read this; let me know your thoughts! I’d love to hear other opinions.

Thank you to all the wonderful GIF makers for all the great GIFs. Appreciate your work!

#rant and ramble #castle season 3 #kate beckett #richard castle #my rambles

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pinktintedmonocle · 1 year

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For the prompt 'No Be There' - @allvalley100

Set during 3x03

“Hey”, Bobby murmurs reassuringly, reaching out to gently touch Robby’s arm. “Just give him a little more time, OK?”

With a slight shake of his head, the hope fades from Robby’s eyes, replaced by a hard, steely look that no kid his age should ever have to wear. “He’s not coming. I knew it.”

As Robby walks away, shoulders hunched, Bobby sees the whole ugly cycle repeating itself; a lost boy without a father, using his isolation and anger to justify brash acts of cruel violence.

Bobby just prays that, this time, John Kreese doesn’t get his claws into Robby.

#allvalley100 #robby keene #bobby brown karate kid #cobra kai #the karate kid #cobrakaifanfiction #cobrakaifanfic

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princeescaluswords · 1 year

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I’m unsure how to say this but a lot (not always or even a majority) of the time when I see people complain about people liking black/white morality in characters it’s tied to them being upset that people aren’t whitewashing the actions of villains. There’s an intense need for others in the audience to treat the actions of the antagonist as understandable and redeemable no matter how unrepentant the character is about horrific actions. It seems more often they want to simplify the nuances down to the point that the character isn’t help responsible at all.

I am in complete agreement that too often people who employ "black-and-white morality" as a criticism against a fictional character are simply trying to recast a villain's actions as somehow justified. I find there are very few black-and-white protagonists portrayed in media anymore, especially since the turn of the millennium, United States audiences simply don't have the taste for them.

The greatest irony to me is that the parts of the fandom who rail against a heroic protagonist's "black-and-white thinking" eventually become guilty of it themselves. They choose to scorn evaluating individuals and actions through the lens of a rigid and unbending moral system only to replace it with evaluating individuals and actions through the lends of a rigid and unbending emotional partisanship. In other words, every engagement they have with a character to whom they have an emotional or physical attraction must, in the end, be positive. To use the common parlance, their "poor little meow-meow" must be defended against any negative evaluation, even if blood drips from their hands. In the world of politics, this is called partisanship or a cult of personality, and it can be quite dangerous; in the world of fandom, it can lead to similar, if far less serious, behavior.

Before I give an illustrative example, I want to remind people of the difference between protagonist, antagonist, hero and villain. The protagonist is the primary actor in the story; their decisions are the focus and they are changed by the plot. Antagonists are obstacles in that story with which they must grapple. There is not necessarily a moral component to the relationship between protagonist and antagonist. When there is a moral component to that relationship, they are called a hero and a villain.

My personal fandom, Teen Wolf, has a heroic protagonist in Scott McCall. In a stroke of misfortune that has had repercussions for years, the villain of Seasons 1 and 4, Peter Hale, once criticized Scott for "black-and-white thinking" and the villain-stans ran with it, even though this idea literally can not hold up to any close inspection. Here's the quote that started it from the episode Fireflies (3x03):

Peter: Oh, come on. How much damage can they do? So they off a few homeless people, a drunk stumbling out of a bar too late. So what? Let Scott deal with it. Let him be the hero of his morally black and white world. The real survivors, you and I, we live in shades of gray. Then again, even if you did kill them, you're still an Alpha. You can always make more werewolves.

I can guarantee you that no one in the production wanted the audience to think that this was a legitimate criticism. Peter was arguing that Derek, his nephew, allow his sister and one of the teenagers for which he is responsible to run moon-mad and kill innocents rather than risk injury to them or him, because this was all part of Deucalion's (one of the villains of Season 3) plans.

Peter's position isn't shades of gray. There's no moral trade-off happening here. It's selfishness. Letting Cora and Boyd murder innocents isn't going to stop Deucalion's plans. It's going to undermine Derek by driving a wedge between the alpha and his other remaining family member, one of his two remaining betas, and with Scott, who is -- and parts of the fandom are extraordinarily content to forget this -- Derek's consistent and reliable ally throughout the season. If Derek accepts this advice, it will increase Peter's influence by convincing the alpha that he is more like Peter; that they're the same. They're not.

But, in the unending labor of villain defense, the true context of this scene is purposefully discarded in order to paint Scott as the true danger because of a "black and white world" he doesn't actually live in. Scott's refusal to kill victims or allow innocent people to be killed is oversimplified to a No-Killing Rule he never had. His suspicions about Peter and Derek -- vastly overstated by parts of the fandom -- are transformed from not unreasonable cautions about people who tried to murder him and his friends and lied to him repeatedly about it but into moral rigidity that causes him to judge others unfairly. One BNF has argued that Scott sorts people into Villain and Victim as a function of his black-and-white morality and can't comprehend that people can be both, even as Scott canonically argues that there is hope for Peter, comes to Peter's and Derek's aid, and speaks not one word of criticism to the sheriff.

The whole enterprise is illegitimate because there are plenty of scenes where Scott acknowledges that his attempts to save innocents might end up in other people dying. In Party Guessed (2x09), Visionary (3x08), Lunar Ellipse (3x12), and The Beast of Beacon Hills (5x19), Scott acknowledges that they might have to kill. The key of course is the word reluctant; the truth is that Scott's morality isn't so inflexible that he can't conceive of killing, but it is strong enough that he's never going to make it his first choice. Yet he doesn't cast Peter or Derek into the outer dark for their eagerness to kill. He works with both of them, especially Derek. Several times he does go to Peter for help and advice. He's so non-judgmental of Peter the serial killer that Stiles, his best friend, scolds him twice about it. And when that very same Stiles accidentally kills someone in self-defense and in a panic hides the fact, Scott is shaken, but he doesn't end his friendship with Stiles or even make a moral judgement -- he doesn't throw Stiles out of the pack or call him a monster, no matter what deranged anti anons might think -- a disappointed Scott tells Stiles to go talk to his Dad, the sheriff, which I think is an appropriate response when your friend accidentally kills someone.

But that's where the true black-and-white thinking comes in for the fandom. Scott believes that killing, however necessary or unplanned, is a bad thing, though he clearly doesn't believe that the person who kills is unsalvageable or even unworthy of his love or affection. But parts of the fandom do not share this ability with Scott. In a strange twist, in order to 'stan' a character, they must treat the character as justified no matter what they choose to do, so a villain's crimes -- in Peter's case manipulation, treachery, and serial murder -- must be justified, and any who oppose it in the slightest must be wrong at their core. No matter how much they protest otherwise, they can't acknowledge that the heroic protagonist should be able to react to what a villain does. Thus the very act of a heroic protagonist rejecting the crimes that anyone in their right mind would reject becomes the actual crime.

So suddenly, the heroic protagonist becomes their enemy. If the heroic protagonist has made mistakes as well, they're a hypocrite for even suggesting that the villain's crimes are actual crimes. Stans of a villain draw a bright line around their favorite. Anything within that line is justified, and anything outside of that line is hypocrisy or moral vacuity. This is a black-and-white dichotomy.

#scott mccall #anti peter hale #fandom problems

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losdosdewaystar · 2 years

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"My hunch is that you're going to get fucked, because I've seen you get fucked a lot and i have never seen Logan get fucked once." Succession 3x06: What it takes.

"How fast do you think those bullets will be when they are headed back at you?." Justified 3x03: Harlan Roulette.

#totally different situations but i'm sharing it. why not.#succession #justified #succession hbo #justified fx

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kiss-my-freckle · 5 months

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Besides Klaus trying to manipulate Caroline into sex by pretending to be Tyler, there's so much that he gets away with in the fandom. Like he compelled Camille to date Marcel and other things and went on to get involved with her, there was also a scene in season 5 of TO where I believe there were compelled women in his bed that weren't dressed and it's implied that he took advantage of them, and he had a creepy obsession with Rebekah's love life. There was a close up of Klaus's jealous face in 3x03 while she was dancing with Stefan, he frequently targeted her suitors in general, and she had to tell him he wasn't her boyfriend. He wasn't like that with his other sister. I feel that because the show was on the CW they didn't feel comfortable directly addressing it. Tristian and Aurora gave similar vibes. Klaroline and Klamille are so romanticized by Delena antis even though they're more toxic than Delena. Recently I came across multiple Delena antis/KC shippers who said Klaus stabbing Caroline with a lamp was justified because his brother was killed, he was being talked down to, etc and labelled it as angst. I've seen similar logic being excused for Stefan's abusive behavior, particularly towards Elena, saying he's not abusive to her because abuse is a pattern and labelled incidents like Wickery Bridge as just crossing a line.

Shippers will excuse anything just to justify their ship.

Klaus' anger is justified, but not the way in which he expressed it. They wanted to show his impulsivity, which is something he and Damon have in common. Difference is, Damon accepts his impulsivity and tries to rectify it. That's why he's only throwing one punch at Stefan in 4x12 and again in 5x20. An impulsive punch that doesn't go any further. Damon would never stab Elena with a lamp. Even when he had all of his feelings of Katherine pouring through in their 2x1 Delena scene, he went after Jeremy instead of Elena.

Stefan and Klaus are abusive. They can call it crossing the line all they want to, but it's still abuse. Stefan is extremely emotionally abusive to Elena. In 3x11, both physically and emotionally abusive.

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andyjohnsonstuff · 9 months

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I just watched Justified 3x03 "Harlan Roulette"

#Justified #trakt

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preacherboyd · 2 years

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I just want to know which Boyd Crowder I'm being asked to follow. Justified | 3x03 Harlan Roulette

#boyd crowder #justified #justified 3x03 #justified fx #justifiededit #tor gifs #my beloved

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yiangchen · 6 years

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#ok im sorry but e.cho didnt save bellamy out of the good of her own heart in 3x03 #she saw him and realized this was an opportunity for her to manipulate him in order to carry out her mission #she didnt take him out of mount weather for him #she did that because it logically made sense #she used his trust in her and manipulated him and knowingly got his gf killed #it was a smart move and thats why she was an excellent antagonist #so stop spinning it to make it out like she saved bellamy and she didnt have to #she didnt save him #she used him #also her apology in 4x01 about gina was not a fucking apology #/ im sorry about the girl but i was following orders /#its not a real apology if you say sorry and immediately after justify it!!#she was essentially saying / im sorry but i'd do it again /#IN WHAT WORLD IS THAT AN APOLOGY #e.cho was an antagonist in s3 and 4 you guys!!!#a very interesting one imo #but thats what she was #AN ANTAGONIST #stop trying to excuse her behavior just because shes a good guy now in s5 who loves bellamy and some of our other mains #especially since she still feels no remorse for that behavior #hasnt changed at all #and it so self righteous that its really starting to grate on me

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dr-lizortecho · 3 years

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so on the topic of Max’s journey this season I want to get this one out really fast. THE LETTERS! Look I get it, they wanted him to move on and show him going forward, however they have to pick one way to do so and stay consistent throughout the show. For example, Liz had to come to peace with her past this season in order to move forward and save Max. She had to look her ugly past and strive for perfection in the face and swallow that nasty pill.

While Max’s character for the sake of moving on burns the very thing that would help him to do so. Creating another barrier in his mental health. But this could just be me upset, cause I wanted a cute pod squad moment where he gave them the letters.

His character focus seemed to be on his phobia of science as well as his expression of longing to be just a regular guy from Roswell. Another journey straight from season one, as he told Liz he was just a guy from Roswell in the pilot. This journey for him felt more stilted then Liz’s, as they tried to bandaid his fear of science at the end.

His character felt sidelined this season, even with the idea that labor issues were involved as well as all the editing for have him and Jones to share scenes. But, he felt less prevalent than Elena in TVD. Which could be just due to the 13 vs 23 episode seasons.

My personal issues with his character this season was the fact he was sidelined inside his own family. Michael’s line to Alex in the couch ‘you helped me find my real family’ made my blood actually boil. Because Alex might have helped them find Dallas but Michael’s real family will always be Max, Isobel, and Sanders. Dallas might grow into being part of his family eventually, but he in no way replaces Max or should boot Max out.

Max was completely excluded by the writers from the entire alien family. Which was speaking directly to his worst fears, and they barely even used it as a plot device. He had one throw away line to Alex about them building a new family without him. One in which he was immediately guilt tripped into feeling bad for thinking that way. When the appropriate response would be acknowledging how he felt and then presenting how that was just his fear.

So the writers screwed him over in the family department which was totally unfair, as Max’s defining traits are that he is in love with Liz and that his family matters the most. Like he told Liz back in season one, his family trumps everything else even her. So this season was brutal for his character, even baring the entire trauma induced by his body being stolen and facing the fact he isn’t an original person.

Furthermore, the show attempted at least once to unwrite the traumas dealt to him as a child. As if they could forgive the people who traumatized him easily. Trying to justify their actions and claim any distrust or hate he felt towards them would be unjustified.

The best focus they writer’s gave his character this season was his single mindedness on getting Liz back. His only faltering step being when he wrote his second letter to her between 3x02 and 3x03.

His fear of science seems to be the other focus they took this season, which I also enjoyed. They used it at first as another hindrance to Echo, before presenting his love for Liz to actually being the solution to his fear. In 3x13 they showed how focusing on her let the science melt into the background. Which was beautiful symbolism and a great start for their journey as a couple next season.

Lastly, I am very certain that Jones hitched a ride in his body at the end. His hands were all over him as he ‘died’. Which will continue to build on Max’s unfocused trauma, pushing him further and further towards the breaking point. Which could be the emphasis on him burning his letters instead of addressing them. It could be symbolism on how he keeps trying to push forward, instead of looking his trauma in the face. Which he mentioned he was going to try and stop doing to Michael at the diner? and it never came back up after he confronted Jones?

So I’m hoping he gets better treatment next season, and that his twin can remind him he is part of their family triad or no (because it’s like the show forgot Isobel and him are twins whether or not by DNA)

#roswell new mexico #rnm #max evans #liz ortecho #roswell nm #rnm spoilers #rnm season 3 #rants #long post #mr Jones

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