#time for the narrative foils slash parallel character arcs

[circlique]

Also, several weeks ago the DM and I played out a future conversation between Maika and Kelsang offline (glad we did, because it took 40 minutes to stumble through that RP) and we planned to reenact it this session but didn’t quite get to it because of the whole…kidnapping plot asdffgkppjkl.

DND be like that. I really hope we get to it next session though because it’s gonna be soooo good.

[a-flickering-soul]

WELL @diningwiththeasquiths​ tripped and fell headfirst into my incredibly vague Kylux parallels trap-post so now I do see fit to inflict some literary analysis on the Kylux Tumblr community, a whole five years late. I’m not joking when I say this is Literary Analysis--it’s about 1000 words of solid conjecture, so buckle up.

I was rereading the The Force Awakens novelization (written by my nemesis Alan Dean Foster, 2015) after skimming through the novelizations of all three sequel trilogy movies (I own and have read the previous trilogies novelizations, sadly) with my Kylux Blinders™ on, as one does when they have brain rot, and stumbled upon an interesting little passage.

[Transcript, with bold for emphasis: “Turning to run in the other direction, she caught herself just in time as a shuttle touched down nearby. Without the slightest hesitation, the cloaked figure of Kylo Ren emerged and strode forward to join the battle. A stunned Rey could only track him with her eyes. She had seen this man before, in a daydream. In a nightmare.”]

Now I, with the aforementioned Kylux Blinders™ still very much in play, was immediately reminded of what else but the infamous ‘beautiful’ scene from the The Rise of Skywalker novelization (written by my best friend Rae Carson, 2020).

[Transcript, with bold for emphasis: “Hux refused to gratify that with a response, because true beauty came from discipline, from order. So it was almost against his will that he found himself mesmerized as Ren met a barbarian’s charge head-on, cloak flowing, mist swirling around him. The glow of his lightsaber occasionally snagged on his cheek scar, making it appear as though a crack of glowing lava slashed his face. It was like something out of a dream, or maybe a nightmare, as the Supreme Leader plunged his fiery crossguard into his attacker’s abdomen, lifted him from the ground, and sent him toppling onto his back. Kylo Ren did not spare his fallen foe a single glance, simply rushed forward into the woods seeking his next kill.”]

Aside from this being the Kylux equivalent of “In vain have I struggled. It will not do” (sorry, Ms. Austen) and just overall being incredibly, shockingly homoerotic, the parallels are clear. The dream/nightmare parallels could be explained away as an author’s quirk, were it not for the fact that the novelizations were written by two different authors. I’m not saying Carson purposefully echoed Foster’s words, but it’s without a doubt a compelling similarity.

Both of these scenes encapsulate and bookend Kylo Ren’s character in an astonishing way, in that both of them view Ren through his two literary foils’ views (granted, I personally think Ren can be foiled by pretty much all of the Resistance Trio, but for the sake of this argument we are, by necessity, focusing on Rey and Hux).

The similarities are there; that is, both quotes are from Ren’s literary foils, both of them refer to him as both a dreamlike and nightmarish figure, and both of them see him in his element on the battlefield wreaking havoc. The differences, however, perfectly display the differences between these two different character dynamics.

In the TFA excerpt from Rey’s point of view, she sees him as something monstrous, not entirely from this reality. She alludes to him mainly in terms of the Force vision she had grasping Luke’s saber, something nightmarish, to be terrified of. She can see the humanity in him, but right now that serves only to make his actions that much more monstrous.

This is the root of their dynamic--the centering around taming the beast, the narrative that one may find redemption at the hand of the other, that that redemption is the responsibility of the other if they truly care enough. Their dynamic is that of a monster becoming human through the work of another, and here Ren’s beauty comes from the act of becoming human rather than a nightmare.

Which is fine! Not yucking anyone’s yums! But I, personally, am tired of redemption arcs and do blame JKR, the rise of purity culture, and the quest for more and more sanitized, palatable media and simply do not think a murdering fascist being redeemed through a girl’s emotional work and love is is very sexy or poggers at all.

Let’s turn to the TROS excerpt from Hux’s point of view.

Like the excerpt from Rey’s point of view, Hux sees Ren in the middle of the battlefield, doing what he is best at and mowing down enemies like a loose cannon. If anything, it’s more terrifying than what Rey catches a glimpse of, i.e. Ren at the beginning of the battle, striding forward to engage. This is a man completely divested of humanity, cutting down people with no regard for who they are or were. And crucially--crucially--this is the one time where Hux, despite himself, in true romance novel fashion, finds him beautiful.

The Kylux dynamic is not one that seeks redemption. It is not one that seeks to make itself palatable to a widespread audience--in fact, the sheer nature of it is abhorrent to most well-adjusted people. The Kylux dynamic is that of two people who do what they can to shed as much of their humanity as possible for utter monstrousness. Hux finds Ren beautiful at his most monstrous, not in spite of it. Kylux is, at its core, a mutual violent tenderness for that which makes the two of them terrible, awful people--it says, “Yes, I have seen the worst parts of you, and they are ugly and terrible and cruel, but I am like that too and yet I love you.” They are foils, opposites, in every single way but their mutual striving to lose all humanity. They are awful in a very similar way and that is what drives their pull towards each other. The ugliest parts of each other are what orchestrate their mutual respect.

How do two monsters love each other? Irredeemably, violently, tenderly, in a mockery of love, but I daresay it is love nonetheless.

This got away from me. I meant to just draw some parallels, but it ended up being a very loose draft of my own personal Kylux manifesto. Either way, to conclude, the clear parallels between the Rey/Kylo-centric excerpt from The Force Awakens and the Hux/Kylo-centric excerpt from The Rise of Skywalker paint an admirably clear image of the two interpretations a viewer could take of Kylo Ren’s character as a whole, as well as explain crucial parts of the dynamics between Kylo Ren and two of his character foils. 

The difference between a monster becoming human for love, and two monsters finding their own idea of tenderness, I leave to the reader’s discretion.

[wecantseeyou]

a word on color - how line of duty series 6 uses wardrobe color to frame narrative (pt 2)

Author’s note: this is part 2 for this essay on wardrobe color. For part one, read it here. This post covers episodes 2 and 3, which is the close of Act 1 of this series’ arc and the opening of Act 2. Here I discuss… things? Idk. Again, fair warning, I’m American and this is in no way, shape, or form edited and I won’t apologize for it.

ALSO: I’m feeling a bit like I’m losing my mind, and maybe this is just a COVID filming situation, but I think some of the scenes in series 6 are shown to us out of order. Now that I’m tracking every outfit, it’s surprising how frequently Kate and Jo wear the same outfits in scenes together when time (usually days) is meant to have passed in the interim. This is most clear in episode 3. Maybe I’m onto something, maybe I’m over-reading. Who knows!

Anyways, any words on wardrobe below the cut!

EPISODE 2

We open this episode with the team at AC-12, with Hastings, Steve, and gem of series 6 Chloe briefing the team on the inquiry into Operation Lighthouse, the investigation into the murder of Gail Vella. Steve is wearing his standard uniform of a navy three-piece suit, white shirt, and reddish-purple tie (more on this later). (note: the American in me wants to note the nods to nationalism and representing the ‘system’ in this color combination, but I’m actually not sure if that symbolism holds true for the UK). This scene establishes Steve’s position as Jo’s narrative foil - he is the crusader working to root out her corruption. His blue suit is his armor in the battle against bent coppers (unfortunately, not the Battle of Hastings).

Next, we return to MIT with another briefing. This time, Lomax is briefing Jo and Kate on the CHIS’s whereabouts before his murder. Jo implores him to find a witness in order to get a positive ID on ‘Ross Turner’ - is he really Terry Boyle, or Carl Banks? 

We see Jo in a black turtleneck under a grey suit, and Kate is in a light brown suit jacket with green undertones over a navy turtleneck. Again, Jo’s outfit is hinting at her corruption while Kate’s is both hinting at her philosophical allegiance with AC-12 and her relationship with Jo in the color of her jacket. During this scene, we see Farida watch Kate and Jo share a look before she stands abruptly and heads into Buckells’ office. Once Lomax leaves, Kate tries to discuss the possibility of a leak leading to Alistair Oldroyd’s murder, which Jo says is an obvious line of inquiry before sharing that she believes sometimes the fewer police that know, the better. 

Right after this scene, Jo learns from Buckells that Farida has requested a transfer, citing personal reasons right to the face of her personal reasons. Thought Jo was wearing black without participating in some bent shenanigans? Think again! She convinces Buckells that Jatri was a difficult person to work with and would be best elsewhere, offering to write her a recommendation for the transfer. It’s important to note that yes, Jo is getting rid of Jatri in order to remove an obstacle to her work for the OCG (which she later does to the extreme), but she also makes this choice because she genuinely cares for Farida and is attempting to get distance in order to protect her. Sure, she flips on that in a matter of days, but she does make an attempt.

In part, it’s actually Farida’s subsequent actions stalking Jo outside of her home that show Jo that her ex remains a threat to her ability to manipulate the Vella case in secrecy. You can see in the scene that Jo isn’t on her guard - she’s in her casual clothes outside of work, donning a blue sweatshirt over a grey turtleneck, all under a grey coat. In her personal space, the tone of Jo’s wardrobe is entirely cool, because despite her actions, she is at her heart someone who wants to find justice. Seeing Farida though? That makes her deeply nervous.

We then see Steve and #1 DC Chloe Bishop meeting with Gail Vella’s producer, who shares that Gail had been working on a story about police corruption for a podcast. Steve is wearing his backup uniform, a grey suit with a light blue shirt and red tie. Again, he is seeking out the truth in pursuit of justice. Here we find out the motive for Gail’s murder - she was about to expose the Central Police for what they were. Again, this is Steve acting as Jo’s foil - while she worked on behalf of the OCG to obfuscate the motives for Gail’s murder, Steve wants to seek the truth. Reporting back to Hastings, the gaffer makes Steve a DI in response to Steve hoping to use Kate as an informant on the Hill.

Enter: a right shit hole. Steve organizes a surreptitious meeting with Kate in a graffitied underground walkway (note: y’all we don’t have many of these on the east coast, is this a regular thing in the UK??). Steve is wearing the same outfit as before, but with a navy coat. This navy coat is very similar to a navy trench coat we see Kate wear on multiple occasions, including later in this very episode. This shows both his pursuit of justice, motivating his reveal to Kate about the investigation into Davidson’s team, and also their shared allegiance and connection with one another.  Kate, meanwhile, shows up in a green coat. As noted before, green can be used to demonstrate the space Kate occupies between AC-12 and Jo. It is a cool tone, showing her dedication to anti-corruption, but a cool tone that exists because of the influence of a warm tone.

Steve asks Kate to again act as an informant, which she says she’ll think about, and tells her that an official inquiry into Operation Lighthouse has begun. Interestingly, Kate is actually upset that Steve shares this information with her because it puts her in a difficult position between her allegiance to Jo and her belief in rooting out corruption. She expresses this displeasure, all the way through her parting words when she insults Steve’s choice in meeting location. 

Kate’s rather dramatic stomp off transitions immediately to the murder scene of Carl Banks. 

Quick car interlude here! Now, I cannot for the life of me tell you the make of car that Jo drives because it doesn’t exist in the US, but I would be remiss not to note the very dark, almost red tone of the paint color. Meanwhile, Kate drives a bright blue Audi, and Steve drives a slate grey Volvo (hello Mr. Cullen). The color choices between these characters literally persist through their vehicles, which is a level of attention to detail very few shows can hope to reach.

Back to Carl Banks’ slashed up body - Lomax, per usual, gives Kate and Jo the low down on the crime scene. We then meet Farida’s replacement - PC Ryan ‘the bent bastard’ Pilkington, who conveniently finds the murder weapon. Kate, dressed in the navy coat I previously noted as a parallel to Steve’s, has a moment of recognition, but can’t place him directly. Jo, in her classic grey coat, acts cool as a cucumber at his introduction. Kate is wearing that navy coat to show her critical eye - it’s awfully convenient that they found the murder weapon so close to the body, and her spidey-senses are set off by Pilkington’s presence. 

Back at MIT, Lomax continues to be the only detective at MIT to do any work, and gives Kate and Jo the low down on the forensics at the scene. Ryan quickly interrupts, and Kate asks how she knows him, but he brushes her off. The outfits for the next few scenes are very, very interesting. Kate, for one of the only times in the whole season, is wearing a black suit with a white shirt buttoned all the way to the throat. Jo looks fantastic in a dark blue suit over an orangish brown turtleneck. I’ll break down the symbolism in a moment, because our boy Arnott has gotten approval for a raid on Operation Lighthouse.

And boy does he storm into this raid in full AC-12 style! Navy overcoat, blue suit, light blue shirt, purple tie, moral high horse. But wait, Jo is there to stop the raid in its tracks after getting permission from the Deputy Chief Constable to withhold Operation Lighthouse files for fear of leaks. Steve stands there momentarily aghast, egg on his face, while Kate looks on with resolve on her face. Now, Steve’s outfit here is clear - the cool tones of his suit represent his desire to find the corruption in the Vella murder case. On its face, Jo’s outfit is also pretty clear - the warm tones of her sweater align with the way she stonewalls the AC-12 investigation.

However, it’s Kate’s outfit that I think is the most revealing. Even when the colors are neutral, Kate is almost always dressed in color and is rarely depicted in strict black and white outfits. This is a certain visual irony, as in past seasons we have seen that Kate has the most obviously black and white sense of morality. The show does make it a point to have Kate in a clear black and white outfit here, and her shirt is notably buttoned all the way to the top. This actually highlights the space Kate finds herself in that is not black and white - she is stuck between her desire to help Steve and her loyalty to Jo. This position makes her uncomfortable, and also strips her of any visual allegiance to both Steve and Jo. 

But Kate has made a decision - she chose to warn Jo about the investigation, which gives Jo time to prepare. Unbeknownst to Kate at the time (we assume), this actually allows Jo some time to put others in the frame for her interference in the Vella investigation. Steve calls Kate and is rightfully furious, but she tries to implore him to think of her position, where, as the former anti-corruption officer in the unit, she has to prove her loyalty to Jo and the MIT. 

Steve, not at all understanding of Kate’s position, reports this to Hastings who goes straight to the Deputy Chief Constable and gets permission for AC-12 to raid MIT again. He’s obviously not the focus of this analysis but Ted really has some iconic lines in the scene with the DCC and then after with Steve, and I love our vaguely corrupt gaffer (if he’s the fourth man, I’ll fly to the UK to confront Jed myself).

Armed with new permission from the DCC fashion icon Chloe again raids AC-12, and serves Jo with a Reg-15, which in LoD-speak is a formal request to report to AC-12 for questioning. Cue some lovely eye contact between Kate and Jo.

Speaking of lovely eye contact, here we get the first interaction between Kate and Jo where they’re outside of work. Kate and Jo debrief the AC-12 raid and Jo's Reg-15 notice while at dinner with some wine. The men at the table next to them offer to buy them another round of drinks, but Jo flashes her badge and shuts them down. She then ruefully apologizes to Kate for ruining her chances, to which Kate replies that they weren't her type and they share a smile and lots of eye contact. (Note: two of my exes have said that to me about men in the past, so the accuracy in this flirtation is remarkable.) They’re dressed in the same clothes as they were at the office, with a notable exception - Kate’s shirt is unbuttoned. Sure, is this her just relaxing after a long, stressful work day? Yes, of course. But it is also notable that this relaxation happens with Jo specifically, and she’s the one comforting Jo about the Reg-15. 

Later, as the two are walking to their cars, they’re again wearing their outer layers, a navy coat for Kate and grey coat for Jo. Again, they’re both wearing cool tones, with the expectation of the glimpse of Jo’s sweater, which is a hint of her hidden corruption. They thank each other for a nice time. They do the awkward goodbye-but-no-one-wants-to-leave thing, which did in fact send me straight back to a few awkward nights after the bat. Then Kate invites Jo out for the weekend, which she's initially tentative about. They hug, which inspires Jo to tell Kate she's free since she just got out of a long term relationship, and she'd love to see her at the weekend. 

Unfortunately, sapphic trysts must give way to Jo’s interview with AC-12. For the first time, we see her dressed in an all blue outfit, a dark blue suit over a lighter blue shirt, buttoned all the way to the top, which hints at her discomfort. Steve (along with Chloe in a blue shirt), is dressed yet again in his away game kit, a grey suit with a white shirt and red tie. Now, I won’t go into the details of everything because there’s still a decent amount to cover, but the long and short of it is that Jo denies all corruption, she lies about Buckells, Farida, the armed robbery, basically everything. They're about to arrest her when she says they should search Farida, Lomax, and Buckells as well if they’re investigating her, since they had access to the same information. All the while she knows they’ll find the burner phones at Farida’s and paints her as a scorned lover looking for revenge. Farida wouldn’t walk away cleanly, which makes Jo feel like she needs to more permanently remove her from the situation while protecting herself. She also sets up Buckells, having already planted evidence on him and manipulating the wrong surveillance authority on Carl Banks’ flat. 

Because of this, Farida is arrested and Steve serves Buckells with a search warrant.

At first, this seems like the first time Jo has been dressed with the ‘justice’ color scheme while acting in an evidently corrupt way. It could also be read as AC-12 having ‘trapped’ her, also shown through the framing of the shot above. But as is often with this show, not all is as it appears. More on her outfit later.

We close the episode back with Jo in the all blue outfit. She is released from custody, and Ryan Pilkington, who asks her if she heard about Farida’s arrest. Here, Jo offers a rather chilling response. “That’s what happens to a rat.” Upon first watch, there’s perhaps no better sign of a bent cop. But we later learn that Ryan was sent by the OCG to keep an eye on Jo after AC-12 began snooping around the Vella investigation. What appears at first to be Jo confirming that leaks from the MIT will not be tolerated. The revelation about Ryan’s role as intimidation changes this interaction entirely. It’s not confirmation from Jo, it’s a threat from Ryan - ‘did you hear what happened to Farida? That’s what will happen to you.’ and he doesn’t move the car until she confirms that she’s heard him and understood.

The final scene takes Jo to an abandoned lot, where she meets a man who gives her a new burner phone. She picks it up, gets back in her car, and has a complete breakdown. 

Now, the outfit. It’s interesting that Jo is dressed in the same color scheme as the group that ostensibly opposes her, especially as we see her lie through her teeth and manipulate the law and truth to her advantage repeatedly throughout her interview. It isn’t until we see the scenes with Pilkington and Jo crying in her car that we see her actions and her true personhood do not align. While the audience is not yet aware Jo has been manipulated not just throughout her career, but starting in her teen years, the creative team is telling us the plain truth: the visuals associated Jo with AC-12 exist because she is ultimately good.

EPISODE 3

Note: Y’all, at this point I stopped tracking Steve super closely because I think they only gave Martin two suits this season?? And honestly I’m only vaguely tracking on the Steph Corbett stuff. The long and short of it is that he’s wearing cool tones all the time because he’s the symbol of AC-12, etc, etc.

Episode 3 opens with Lomax learning about a witness to the altercation between Alistair Oldroyd and ‘Ross Turner,’ where the man identifying as Ross Turner boasted of killing Gail Vella. He quickly gathers Jo and Kate to tell them the news. Kate is wearing a simple grey sweater, while Jo is wearing a grey suit with a blue sweater and blue shirt. 

We then immediately see Jo and Kate watching Lomax’s interview with this witness. She identifies the man going by Ross Turner as a man matching the description of Terry Boyle. This piques Kate’s interest, and Jo tells her to get a positive ID on Terry while they get him in for another interview. These outfits don’t necessarily relate directly to the scenes they’re worn in, but set the stage for both women’s actions throughout the rest of the episode. That’s not to say the outfits don’t relate at all, of course, but they repeat similar themes that I’ve already discussed. 

Cue another interview of Terry Boyle, this time with Kate and Jo. Kate is wearing a green mockneck sweater, and Jo is wearing a navy suit with an orangish brown sweater, an outfit we’ve seen her in before. As Jo and Kate interview Terry, he grows increasingly agitated, not dissimilar to his first interview, which Jo notes to his representation. Kate keeps pushing him, trying to get a clear answer, but Jo repeatedly tries to get her to back off before eventually stopping the interview right as Terry talks about the man who ‘did it.’ The two women then get into a disagreement as Jo tears into Kate for potentially intimidating a vulnerable witness, while Kate thinks they could’ve pushed him harder. This is the first time we see the two of them disagree, which puts them at odds. 

The clothing here serves dual narrative purposes. The first, with the contrasting brown and green of Jo and Kate’s clothing, we see a visual representation of their disagreement. The second purpose is actually a red herring. Kate’s green sweater does its standard job of showing both her allegiance to Jo (yellow) and her pursuit of justice (blue). Jo’s outfit, on the other hand, again ties her actions to the OCG. She stops the interview right as Terry is about to divulge more information, knowing that this will give away the real killer. We think this is because of her work with the OCG, but that’s not true at all.

After the disagreement between the two women, we see Jo watching a recording of the Terry Boyle interview, wearing a grey turtleneck. In contrast to her behavior in the interview and afterward with Kate, Jo actually seems oddly pleased by Terry’s clear statement of the other man having killed Gail Vella. Because that’s the thing about Jo, she knows how to play the game. She played the part of the perfectly manipulative bent cop by ending the interview when it seemed like some vital information was about to leak. This small moment that the show decided to include tells us everything we need to know because Jo wants the truth to come out, she just doesn’t want anyone else to know. Terry said just enough in that interview to raise alarm bells, but her actions look like someone trying to prevent that information from being revealed. That’s why Jo is wearing a grey sweater here, not the orangish brown from the interview - the cool tone shows her true desire for the truth.

I also believe this is why Kate was in the interview instead of Lomax, who we’ve seen in most past interviews. Lomax is far more laid back and passive than Kate, who mostly listens until she sees a line of questioning that she can crack open further. Jo knows her team, and she knows Kate. Getting told off by her boss when she thinks she’s on to something is not enough to dissuade Kate. Jo trusts that about Kate, and uses it to her advantage. It ties back to something we don’t learn until episode 6 - Jo sought Kate out as her new DI specifically because of Kate’s anti-corruption background. This is that reasoning in action. A former AC-12 might just be the person needed to find justice despite Jo’s personal interference.

After this, we see DI Kate “loves a car chase” Fleming tailing the escort taking Terry home, which includes Ryan Pilkington and another PC, Lisa Patel. She immediately notes that they have gone off the planned route, and lo and behold, the bent bastard drives the patrol car directly into a reservoir, drowning Lisa and attempting to drown Terry. Kate is quick to the scene and immediately gets involved, preventing Ryan from carrying out the murder of Terry. She rushes out of her (blue) car wearing a blue coat and blue scarf - she is justice incarnate. 

Lomax and Jo quickly arrive at the scene, and Jo shows concern for Kate. Jo is in the same suit and sweater combination she was wearing during the Boyle interview with the addition of a grey jacket, while Kate is wrapped in a blue blanket. Jo, stuck between the OCG and justice; Kate, wrapped in a symbol of truth. Jo specifically notes that it’s lucky Kate was passing by, to which Kate agrees, not correcting her. I’ll admit, at first I didn’t really understand what Jo is playing at here. Anyone can tell that Kate wasn’t just passing by - the reservoir was well off the main road. What is she talking about?

Well, your honor, she’s leading the witness. She’s telling Kate what she wants to hear before the DI has a chance to speak the truth. Plausible deniability. We also see Jo spend an awful lot of time watching Kate as she traverses the scene, and the framing is set up to make it seem like Jo is wary of Kate. Reality, however, is a little different. This is actually the moment that tells Jo she needs to create distance between herself and Kate, not because she’s worried that Kate will look too closely at her, but because her actions nearly got an innocent man killed and she doesn’t want Kate to be at risk.

Later, we see Kate visit AC-12 in a grey sweatshirt and jeans, willing to work with the navy-clad Steve to find the leak at MIT because of the attempted murder of Terry Boyle. We then immediately see the two former partners doing research on Pilkington’s background - he has clearly caught Kate’s attention. The two trained investigators are clearly paralleled in color, both dressed in cool tones as they work to seek out justice. 

Back at MIT, Jo watches Kate arrive at work from a window, wearing a red shirt under a navy suit. It’s clearly meant to be a menacing cue, especially with the red shirt, but later scenes show that all may not be as it appears. Meanwhile, Kate continues her pursuit of Pilkington by interviewing him about the crash. He seems to have all the answers, and remains polite throughout, but it’s clear that Kate doesn’t trust him. She’s wearing the same orange and blue striped turtleneck from the first episode under a navy suit. Throughout their conversation, Jo is watching from her office, again, something that appears on its face to be menacing, but may not be. 

Kate’s outfit is much the same as the first time she wore it - her combined associations with Jo and AC-12 as she works to catch Ryan. Jo is wearing the same outfit as she did while watching Kate through the window, a subtle red herring from the production team. More on Jo’s seemingly big bad evil behaviour later.

After Kate’s conversation with Ryan, our resident anti-corruption officer comes storming into AC-12 headed straight to Jo’s office, where she sits wearing a grey suit, orange sweater, and white shirt. Steve is wearing his blue suit, with a light blue shirt and green tie. He shows up at MIT to ask Jo about a possible burglary in the Vella case. She doesn't know anything but tells him to ask the team, and he asks her if she hid or removed any files, which she denies. He also asks if she knows if anyone who would benefit from Farida not testifying. Cue guilty look and further denial. She tells him "You should investigate," and he confirms he’s planning to. Throughout this scene, Kate is looking on wearing a green shirt. 

Jo’s outfit is obvious - she’s lying through her teeth to Steve and feels guilty for what she did to Farida. Steve has his classic AC-12 action suit on, with the change of a green tie, visually tying him to Kate, wearing a green top. Kate’s outfit obviously ties her to Steve, but as with other instances of Kate wearing green, it also shows her connection to Jo.

But wait, dear viewer, it’s been so long since our last Lomax low-down! Have no fear, because Kate and Chris are discussing the witness at the pub, and seems dissatisfied with his lack of attention to detail when he admits that he hasn’t done his due diligence to vet her. Kate is wearing a more casual blue zip-up jumper with a white t-shirt, again on her pursuit of justice. Jo watches from her office wearing a green turtleneck and grey suit.

For those counting at home, this is the fourth very obvious shot of Jo watching Kate so far this episode. And that makes sense, because this color change in Jo actually shows how her thoughts and actions are in conflict. She continues to interfere with the investigation, but she doesn’t want to be. She’s nervous about the consequences for those around her, Kate in particular.

It seems only right that this leads to date night part 2, where we get more insight into Jo while Kate grows more confused. They’re at the same restaurant as before, but they’re sitting on opposite sides of the table. Kate is wearing a light grey sweater, and Jo is wearing a grey suit, grey sweater and light blue shirt. The way their wardrobe coloring is coordinated in this moment is done for two reasons: to show that these characters have a connection, and to show that Jo’s actions in this scene are something she believes to be right. 

Jo notes that it's nice to get out of the station and that it's easier to talk there. About Terry. Talk about Terry Boyle they do, and AC-12's interest in interviewing him. Kate asks about the rumors between Jo and Farida, and Jo denies it all, including her sexuality in all. When she leaves to go to the restroom, Kate has a look of confusion on her face. At first glance, this seems to be Jo separating herself from Farida for fear of discovery, but her clothes give us a hint at her real motivation. Jo is trying to discourage Kate from their burgeoning relationship by implying that she wouldn’t be interested. This clearly makes Jo uncomfortable, but it’s the first clear step she takes to distance herself from Kate once she realizes how her association with the other woman puts Kate in danger. This is also a self-preservation tactic - if she and Kate aren’t as close, it might not hurt as much if the OCG get to her.

This is also the last time we see the two of them out of work together until the fateful lorry park.

Back at work, however, the bent bastard is getting a commendation from Buckells for his heroic actions, which disgusts Kate in her grey turtleneck. She goes to leave the room but stops when she meets Jo, wearing a navy suit and red shirt. Kate uses the opportunity to fish for information about Pilkington, and is met with a surprise: Jo didn’t put Ryan on the team, Buckells did. Kate in her grey is still seeking answers about Ryan, while Jo in her red is trying to shift attention away from her bent activities (though she was honest about not looking to put Ryan on the team - she was lucky enough to have that thrust upon her). 

Jo then takes this chance to swing by Farida’s apartment, and finds out that AC-12 is doing another search of the property, which clearly makes her afraid of what they’ll discover, aka her DNA all over the house. 

After visiting Farida’s, we see an utterly distraught and scared Jo return to her apartment, the blue haven.

Despite Jo’s fears after visiting Farida’s, her prayers are somewhat answered in the form of one DI Kate Fleming. Both are wearing the same outfits from Jo’s cross-office staredown of Kate’s meeting with Lomax, and Kate is bearing the fruits of that conversation. She didn’t trust the witness’ statement, and had Chris do some further digging, only to discover the witness and Buckells had a previous connection. Jo, being given a hail mary, uses this to her advantage and makes Buckells her scapegoat, but not before telling Kate the absolute truth: “I needed someone on my team I could trust completely. Someone with no chance of being bent. Who better than an anti-corruption officer?” We learn later that this is exactly why Jo hired Kate in the first place, but in reality she was trusting Kate to stop her, not Buckells. 

The two arrest Buckells and take him to AC-12, and we get an interesting shot of Kate leaving in the elevator, a blue cityscape behind her with the noticeable view of yellow construction scaffolding standing out against the cool colors, visually telling the audience about her bent actions. 

Jo then returns to her all blue apartment in the grey suit and green turtleneck, sending a message to an unknown user at the OCG saying it's "All under control now." The green turtleneck highlights both Jo’s feelings of being trapped with the high neckline, and her occupation of the space between justice and corruption. Like with Kate before, she’s wearing a cool color, where her heart lies, and its infection by a warm color, the iron fist of the OCG on her throat. 

We close this episode with Jo staring off into the middle distance, a look somewhere between relief and desperation on her face.

[twilightofthe]

@nerdgatehobbit Hey! Thanks for the question! Ik you asked this to my main but imma respond on my SW blog if that’s okay?

So whew that’s a big question. Do I honestly think that Dave kept Obi Wan and Padmé and then Anakin and Satine from interacting in the TCW show because they didn’t want shipping wars?

(Remember, these are all just my personal opinions. I do me and you do you!)

Short version? Yes and no. Long version? Under the cut because I can never shut up.

Firstly, I don’t wanna say this was all Dave’s decision. He was one of the top guys in charge of TCW, yes, but he was far from the only one, there was an entire creative team working on the project, and during the time of TCW’s original six seasons Lucasfilms was not owned by Disney yet and George Lucas himself had a very large amount of creative control over the entire show. So I don’t really think it’s fair at all to point fingers at any choices the show made and go “yep that’s completely 100% Dave’s fault alone”.

I also don’t quite think they were concerned about shipping wars in the way ATLA had them. Avatar’s shipping wars were so absolutely toxically rancid that they legit drove me right out of that fandom. I’m still hesitant to come back during the current renaissance because of them. Star Wars, prior to the Sequel Trilogy, never had shipping wars close to that calibre of pure nastiness. The fandom was a godawful cesspool that fought to the death on most aspects of the franchise, this has always been true, but shipping, if I’ve read right, was somehow never really one of those hot button issues within fandom. I don’t think Lucasfilms kept the Clone Wars four apart because they were afraid of fans fighting over ships.

That being said, Lucasfilms HAS always been Very Strict on how they want their characters to be seen, romantic-wise, way back to when they would terrorize Original Trilogy slash shippers back in the 80’s and 90’s with threats of legal action. It’s part of why they were Very Firm in their insistence that they had absolutely nothing to do with all the Luke/Mara Jade EU stuff. You either abided by LF’s canonical romances or not at all in their world. So yes, in the case of Obi Wan and Padmé, I absolutely think the writing team’s decision to keep the pair of them apart was almost entirely so fans didn’t ship them together.

Why do I think this? Because there is no other rational reason why Obi Wan and Padmé haven’t had a single second of screentime in TCW that hasn’t had either Anakin or Satine also in the room as a buffer. Not when Revenge of the Sith EXPLICITLY portrays their relationship as relatively close friends who care about each other. So nope, I genuinely think the show just doesn’t want the fans to consider any other relationship for Padmé besides Anakin.

But why would they do this just to her and Obes? Obi Wan and Padmé both have other friends of different genders, why don’t they worry about us shipping THEM? Well for Obi Wan’s case, it can be excused that he flirts with everyone, so we’re conditioned to think that it’s never anything serious, and none of the other characters are married to the main character of the series. This is entirely because of Padmé’s position. Yes, she has other male friends, but either they’re nonhuman and not conventionally attractive so the series doesn’t see them as a threat, they’re Clovis, who they actively show Anakin going into a jealous fit over, or they’re Bail, who can be excused by the fact that he’s already married and also because he’s never actively shown as in competition with Anakin for anything, so he’s not threatening either.

Obi Wan, on the other hand, is a major threat to Anidala in the show’s eyes. They already constantly make a point to compare him and Anakin in almost every opportunity. Which is strange, the show’s decision to force them into the role of narrative foils to each other when in the movies that isn’t the case at all— Obi Wan is much more of a foil to Sidious and Anakin’s foil is Luke —but yeah, the show very often has Obes and Ani going through similar situations with competing viewpoints— ESPECIALLY their canon romances, and I won’t rant about how the show’s attempted Anidala and Obitine parallels fall apart under scrutiny right now but if yinz want the rant sometime let me know.

Obi Wan also has the canonical ability to charm the pants off of literally everyone he meets. Nearly everyone in canon is in love with him, 80% of the fandom at least is in love with him, and I KNOW most of the crew was in love with him too. Anakin, on the other hand, has a very abrasive personality and is much easier to dislike. The show was ALREADY terrified of the fans not liking or wanting to root for Anakin to the point that they reworked his entire personality to make him more palatable to his critics from the movies. Plus, Obidala fans already existed! Since the first and second PT movies, a big group of people already shipped these two because they already thought Obi Wan was a preferable match to Padmé than Anakin. The studio did not want to encourage this.

So yes, I think it was a combination of the show’s tendency to already try and get the fans to compare Obi Wan to Anakin for everything else plus their insecurity in Anakin’s image and likeability as it was, that they did Not want the handsome charming not-future-evil guy around the leading lady and threatening her canon romance by existing as a possibly better option. So Obi Wan and Padmé got no stories together, just kinda throwing the opening ROTS left them in the garbage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The worst part is, there is so many potential places in TCW where Obi Wan and Padmé could talk to each other, like during her investigation into her friend’s murder, during the Clovis arc, bits during the Malevolence arc, the earlier Naboo crisis arcs, even the one time where she’s just hosting a damn party and wants to invite her friends gahhhhhhhh

Anakin and Satine, I also think yes, but this is also a case of half and half because Satine isn’t nearly as major a character as the other three are, and out of the nine episodes she appears in, she only has more than a singular line in seven of them, and out of those seven, only two of them aren’t revolves entirely around building her relationship with Obi Wan. So really, there is a defence for the writers here in noting that there’s not as much room to explore Satine’s character as it is, let alone trying to shoehorn in a scene with Anakin.

Except no, I’m not gonna give them that defence because in the two episodes where she only has a speaking line or less— Obi Wan’s funeral and the Ahsoka and Lux meet Death Watch ep —I can already easily think of ways she and Anakin could have really meaningful interactions in them both. Y’all have already heard my bit on how they could have a real important conversation at the funeral, but y’all HAVEN’T seen my idea for a rewrite of the Carlac ep where it’s a two-parter, Anakin comes with Ahsoka and Padmé to the negotiations on Mandalore, and it ends up with a subplot of Anidala chasing after Ahsoka and Lux with Satine as the put-upon third wheel and we get foreshadowing to Satine being Bo Katan’s sister, so when the reveal happens the next season it actually means something.

So yeah, it was partially because of timing constraints, but it was also DEFINITELY in part because they didn’t want Satine being shipped with Anakin— which ppffffft, if they were brave enough to actually try writing these two in a conversation in-character, they’d understand how much of a not-worry this would be xD —because the show is set on the fact that despite maybe there being other flings at some point, Obi Wan and Satine are each other’s one true tragic love (Or, at least Obi Wan is Satine’s. He’s always had more freedom and decision than she has in this narrative, and that’s always kinda bugged me). So, that means Satine can’t interact with any men unless they’re gonna betray her trust and try to kill her by the end of the episode, because the show needs Obi Wan to have a loyal, steady, good girlfriend because he is a good man.

(And yes, before anyone says it, I have heard the more unpleasant rumors behind why exactly Obi Wan was given a girlfriend in the show, but as I’ve yet to see any official proof of them besides fandom salt, I’m not gonna spread them because those are hefty accusations to throw around).

So yeah, Satine can’t talk to Anakin partially because time constraints, but also because she isn’t allowed to talk to any other nice men besides Obi Wan and her son (no I don’t particularly like the Korkie Kenobi thing, but it is blatantly obvious that that is what the show was implying and I’m not gonna pretend otherwise), and Obi Wan and Padmé can’t talk to each other entirely because the show saw Obidala as a threat to Anidala.

Again, just my opinions and things I noticed, y’all are more than free to disagree and discuss with me.