#thomas you unhealthy infp disaster

[chaoticstemporaryname]

Some thoughts about s4 ep2

(Someone might have said these things already, so apologies if they have, because I still have all the tags blacklisted to avoid spoilers)

S4 Thomas not only gaining enough self-awareness to realise that he needs to get over Alison, but willingly making a serious attempt to do so??? Love to see it. My skin is cleared and my crops are flourishing etc.

Not sure how I feel about how the whole ‘recovery from addiction’ joke. Not saying it upset me necessarily, but I’d be interested to see (when I eventually un-blacklist the tags) what other people think about how that was handled. It felt kinda jarring for me for a show that’s usually fairly sensitive with its humour to bring up such a dark topic purely for laughs.

But it does raise some very interesting questions about how difficult it is for the ghosts to intentionally move on from the state of mind that they died in.

I do think Thomas was partly being overdramatic (shocking, I know), as well as getting too caught up in his ‘Alison is a drug’ metaphor and perhaps accidentally bringing up some past trauma as a result. But it’s still clear that breaking out of that moment-of-death mindset is far from easy. Despite putting in considerable effort (coming up with the cold turkey idea in the first place; actually staying in the room when, even with Pat there, he could have just snuck out via a different wall to find Alison; presumably practicing the word-association thing) he still ends up back where he started mentally and emotionally.

Okay, so the sheer level of drama involved in getting over Alison might just be a Thomas thing. But, as an interesting parallel, this episode also addressed Cap’s obsession with rules and order and how, with some help from Kitty, he is able to find a more relaxed side of himself - one that he maybe lost access to after his death. I really hope this series continues to show us the ghosts managing to  escape their dying states of mind, even if only temporarily, and becoming more like their whole, living selves as a result.

(Also, many thoughts about how Humphrey - who spent years married to a woman who didn’t love him and had to come to terms with that - was the one who was able to help Thomas the most...)