Class S1.5 Brave-ish Heart
As before, no spoilers beyond the episode.
Of Parents and Kings (cont.)
What surprised with this two-parter was bringing back the Shadow Kin already. I’d presumed they’d be wheeled out for the finale, so I wondered what they might do in the middle of the season… Quite a bit, as it turned out.
I always love it when TV shows tackle faith in an intelligent way - it’s so rare, and so refreshing.
The Shadow Kin’s belief is what drives them (they were born a mistake in a world of light), but Ram offers insights into a different take… And it’s interesting that it’s Ram who has that role:
RAM: Not all [religions are bleak]. Not mine.
APRIL: Says the Sikh boy with the short hair.
But despite the short hair, Ram is serious about his faith. The boy has layers - we see that although he claims to ‘shag around’, april is not off-base in her overall assessment. The particular brand of toxic masculinity we saw on display in Coach Dawson does not fit with Ram’s outlook - he seemingly has no problem with April being the great hero, fighting battles (except is worrying about her).
The running theme through a lot of this episode is ‘you don’t know me’:
APRIL: Can everybody just stop telling me what I'm like? You don't know me any more!
TANYA: Enough! God, do any of you even know your own children?
CHARLIE: You have no idea what kind of person I am, or what's at stake here.
And for a moment, contemplate these two images of April:
And the point is - they are both April. I’m sure everyone knew exactly who April was within the first five minutes - after all, that’s partly how a pilot works. Characters that feel familiar and easy to get along with immediately.
And yet, here we are. April, King of the Shadow Kin. The scimitars suit her.
The show has never been more Buffy than it is here. One girl in all the world…
It’s interesting that she is connected by heart heart not only to Corakinus, but also to her mother. The link to the Shadow Kin gives her strength and knowledge, but the link to her mother guides her home.
But she is surrounded by men - fighting Corakinus, protecting Ram even as he tries to support her, and having a somewhat unwelcome intervention from her father… And what I love about it is that there is no attempt at apologising for her father. He’s not suddenly transformed into someone wonderful - instead he takes the fact that he is ‘the worst dad in the world’ and uses that:
HUW: You lived. April, you took the terrible thing I did to you and you threw it back at the world and you said, not me. You said, I've got my own rules I want to live by. I mean, for God's sake, you've got all these, these superhero powers, and the first being you did was, was heal your mum. That's who you are. Even me, the worst dad in the world, can see that. So, please, please, please, be you right now. Don't be me. Even I don't want to be me any more.
He manages to tie the different parts together, and possibly for the first time in his life be a proper father. It’s interesting to compare him to Ram’s father, who jumps through the tear in reality without a second thought - whereas Huw needs to psych himself up.
But his big speech doesn’t magically heal everything; April (quite rightly) sends him on his way at the end. These kinds of hurts are not healed in day, or by a single action.
We also see the fallout from healing her mother’s legs:
JACKIE: It was a violent thing you did, April. I had accepted my life.
APRIL: I know.
JACKIE: It was full and happy and in no way less.
Yes, it’s overall a good thing, but it’s important for her mother to voice all of her emotions. And it’s something we see far too rarely - the people affected or magically healed being given a voice and an opinion.
Also worth mentioning that the actress playing April’s mum is actually disabled.
Staying with parents, we see Tanya tackling several, and managing to manage them all.
The teenagers have been scared and bewildered by what happened to them, and to their world, but by now they have learned to adapt. The adults are thrown in at the deep end and it takes Tanya’s guidance and sharp, practical intelligence to make them be useful and helpful, rather than just argue or refuse to accept what’s in from of them.
Now the big picture question (from a meta/arc POV) that comes to my mind is: Why make April King of the Shadow Kin? It’s an unexpected turn, and gives April huge power - about equal to Charlie…
Of Petals and Cabinets (cont.)
This two-parter gives us a nice glimpse into what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ at Coal Hill:
We learn many things:
- The group running the school (including installing their own board of governors) are a fairly new thing - from after Clara left (when the school became an Academy).
- They are called ‘EverUpwardReach’ which sounds like the sort of aspirational name that’s created by a PR firm for high paying clients, and which discloses exactly nothing.
- They are a much smaller group than UNIT, and like to do things their own way, to keep the school ‘safe, clear and ready’. She doesn’t say ready for what…
- They’re keen on keeping things private: ‘Besides, governments have a way of tripping over themselves, slightly too concerned with rights. It's terribly inefficient.’
- They are very efficient (in seemingly no time they test a wide variety of ways to get rid of the petals), and also very aware of what’s happening. We can see this clearly in the robot they sent to investigate Quill.
- They look at things mathematically and practically, rather than strictly ethically or morally. It’s all percentage points, as to how likely certain outcomes are.
- They have no qualms about attempting to use force:
MS AMES: The Cabinet of Souls is the closest weapon of mass destruction we have to hand.
QUILL: And you want me to convince Charles to use it?
MS AMES: Convince? No, my dear Miss Quill, there is no time for convincing. I want you to force him.
We see that this is no idle threat - Ms Ames literally pulls a gun on Charlie.
The question that needs asking regarding all this is - why? Why are they so interested in the Cabinet? And considering what Ms Ames says later, it would seem that part of the plan to push Charlie as far as possible, was quite simply to see what he would do, what sort of pressure was needed. (If she'd said from the start that he would only need to use one soul, the whole situation could probably have been resolved a lot simpler. But she didn't.) Which is almost more worrying than being desperate to save the world. It reminds me of this quote from Firefly:
"Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."
Ms Ames was very keen to meet the man Charlie really is...
Added to which - why are they offering to help Quill? What exactly are their motives? Clearly they want to keep Earth safe, but setting Quill free has obviously nothing to do with the moral arguments Tanya was talking about - and a freed Quill would undoubtedly make the world less safe… (Objectively speaking.) She would be happy to see Earth burn, if only the Shadow Kin burned too...
It’s all very curious. But I like it. Having ‘morally grey’ characters makes things a lot more interesting. When those characters are middle aged women, all the better. :)
But where April’s story is about people trying to convince her to hold back (‘Don’t be like me!’ her father begs), Charlie’s is about others trying to force him to use his power - and Charlie refusing (with only Matteusz worrying what it’ll do to him):
MS AMES: You obviously have a good heart. You care what happens. Charlie. Prince, we need you to save this planet.
CHARLIE: No.
There is a three (four) way tug of war here. Ms Ames wants him to use the Cabinet to kill the petals. Quill wants to kill the Shadow Kin. Matteusz argues against any killing. And they all have good arguments, and they all come from different places:
CHARLIE: You have no idea what kind of person I am, or what's at stake here. If I use it, I will have nothing. The souls of my people -
MS AMES: Will have saved the souls of another people.
QUILL: But not destroy the right people.
MATTEUSZ: Which would make you as bad as the Shadow Kin. The Shadow Kin, who kill whole species.
I love all the complexities of it. Love Ms Ames cold-bloodedness, Quill’s fury and grief, Matteusz’ steadfastness, Charlie’s quiet despair at being held hostage in such a way:
CHARLIE: If I use it, I really am lost. I lose all hope. I lose all of Rhodia's past and even the faintest chance for its future. If I use it, I lose you.
Now what’s extra interesting is how Ms Ames and Quill frame their arguments. Ms Ames uses blunt force, in the form of the gun she uses to threaten Matteusz with, and her arguments are not dissimilar:
MS AMES: But if you don't use it, you lose him, too. It's really less of a pickle than you seem to think.
CHARLIE: I'm lost and alone
[...]
MATTEUSZ: If you are ever lost, I will find you. I will be your help.
MS AMES: God, young love. So beautiful.
There is an eyeroll there, not dissimilar to Corakinus’:
APRIL: Ram, you know I think you're pretty cool. Apart from that remark. Can we just go from there?
(They kiss.)
CORAKINUS: Teenagers.
Quill, unable to use weapons, only has words, but - having a much, much deeper knowledge of Charlie - her arguments are in a whole other league:
QUILL: There's never been any going back for us, Prince. You are the last Rhodian and I am the last Quill. Punish them who made us so.
CHARLIE: More would die. This planet, the souls, every Rhodian who ever lived.
QUILL: By leaving the Shadow Kin alive, you guarantee that billions more will die on countless worlds. Would you really sacrifice your entire people just for the love of a few? I don't doubt you love him. I was in love once, I know what it looks like. But you are a prince, and you've said it yourself, you have duties beyond what is personal.
MS AMES: Don't listen to her, Charlie. You have to do it now!
QUILL: Be glorious. All war is sacrifice, but you can end the one they wage on the universe forever, and to what better purpose can a life and a death be put? Be a hero.
They are enemies, and yet in their grief and anger they are united. Quill does not dismiss Charlie's love - indeed she (almost surprisingly) affirms it (with no caveats about youth) - but she puts it in a wider context, reminding him of his duty as Prince. She changes the argument from one where he is forced to do something against his will, to one where he is the proactive one, the prince, the hero; sacrificing his love for something noble and bigger than himself.
It feels almost strange writing this, so calm, so reflective. I still remember the tension upon watching this episode the first time. I am far too aware of all the tricks they use to build tension, but it didn’t matter one bit - I was still on the edge of my seat.
And I learned something.
Up until that moment I’d have said that I loved all the characters, every one of them in their special way, but there’s nothing like the threat of possible death to make you focus and give you insight into your own priorities.
Which I realised were: DO NOT KILL MATTEUSZ!
The others would be… very sad, but DO. NOT. TOUCH. THAT. BOY.
It’s very awkward when this happens. I tend to go for immortal characters (possibly partly out of self-preservation), but sometimes a mortal one slips under my radar and it’s massively unhelpful to my state of mind. (Ianto… Oh god, my beautiful tea boy.)
Mind you, it gave me an excellent insight into Charlie’s state of mind.
Also, of course, the episode is shamelessly shippy:
CHARLIE: I'm lost and alone
MATTEUSZ: You are not alone.
CHARLIE: I lost everything once before, and now I'm going to lose it all over again.
MATTEUSZ: If you are ever lost, I will find you. I will be your help.
(Lovely gifset here btw)
But shippiness apart, here we see one of the most painful difference with Quill:
CHARLIE: If I use the weapon on the Shadow Kin, then this world dies. Everyone on it. Including you.
QUILL: The life I'm currently living doesn't make me weep at the prospect.
She has nothing to live for, except revenge.
(Sidebar: Speaking of Buffy - Quill, hitting Charlie, relishing it despite the pain, was peak Spike-parallel I think.)
Charlie, however, still has the souls of his people. And he has found love; something to tether him to to life and the future… And that might make all the difference.
MATTEUSZ: Go on, then. What would you have done?
CHARLIE: Would you believe me if I said I didn't know? I think I'm lost, Matteusz.
MATTEUSZ: Then I will find you.
It’s a beautiful scene in every way. Especially how the glass fragments them, the images mirroring Charlie’s inner turmoil. Followed by Matteusz’s quiet promise. They have come a long way from that morning, when Matteusz curiously wondered about the Cabinet and the truth of Charlie’s life…
(x)
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.
Of Parents and Kings (cont.)
What surprised with this two-parter was bringing back the Shadow Kin already. I’d presumed they’d be wheeled out for the finale, so I wondered what they might do in the middle of the season… Quite a bit, as it turned out.
I always love it when TV shows tackle faith in an intelligent way - it’s so rare, and so refreshing.
The Shadow Kin’s belief is what drives them (they were born a mistake in a world of light), but Ram offers insights into a different take… And it’s interesting that it’s Ram who has that role:
RAM: Not all [religions are bleak]. Not mine.
APRIL: Says the Sikh boy with the short hair.
But despite the short hair, Ram is serious about his faith. The boy has layers - we see that although he claims to ‘shag around’, april is not off-base in her overall assessment. The particular brand of toxic masculinity we saw on display in Coach Dawson does not fit with Ram’s outlook - he seemingly has no problem with April being the great hero, fighting battles (except is worrying about her).
The running theme through a lot of this episode is ‘you don’t know me’:
APRIL: Can everybody just stop telling me what I'm like? You don't know me any more!
TANYA: Enough! God, do any of you even know your own children?
CHARLIE: You have no idea what kind of person I am, or what's at stake here.
And for a moment, contemplate these two images of April:
And the point is - they are both April. I’m sure everyone knew exactly who April was within the first five minutes - after all, that’s partly how a pilot works. Characters that feel familiar and easy to get along with immediately.
And yet, here we are. April, King of the Shadow Kin. The scimitars suit her.
The show has never been more Buffy than it is here. One girl in all the world…
It’s interesting that she is connected by heart heart not only to Corakinus, but also to her mother. The link to the Shadow Kin gives her strength and knowledge, but the link to her mother guides her home.
But she is surrounded by men - fighting Corakinus, protecting Ram even as he tries to support her, and having a somewhat unwelcome intervention from her father… And what I love about it is that there is no attempt at apologising for her father. He’s not suddenly transformed into someone wonderful - instead he takes the fact that he is ‘the worst dad in the world’ and uses that:
HUW: You lived. April, you took the terrible thing I did to you and you threw it back at the world and you said, not me. You said, I've got my own rules I want to live by. I mean, for God's sake, you've got all these, these superhero powers, and the first being you did was, was heal your mum. That's who you are. Even me, the worst dad in the world, can see that. So, please, please, please, be you right now. Don't be me. Even I don't want to be me any more.
He manages to tie the different parts together, and possibly for the first time in his life be a proper father. It’s interesting to compare him to Ram’s father, who jumps through the tear in reality without a second thought - whereas Huw needs to psych himself up.
But his big speech doesn’t magically heal everything; April (quite rightly) sends him on his way at the end. These kinds of hurts are not healed in day, or by a single action.
We also see the fallout from healing her mother’s legs:
JACKIE: It was a violent thing you did, April. I had accepted my life.
APRIL: I know.
JACKIE: It was full and happy and in no way less.
Yes, it’s overall a good thing, but it’s important for her mother to voice all of her emotions. And it’s something we see far too rarely - the people affected or magically healed being given a voice and an opinion.
Also worth mentioning that the actress playing April’s mum is actually disabled.
Staying with parents, we see Tanya tackling several, and managing to manage them all.
The teenagers have been scared and bewildered by what happened to them, and to their world, but by now they have learned to adapt. The adults are thrown in at the deep end and it takes Tanya’s guidance and sharp, practical intelligence to make them be useful and helpful, rather than just argue or refuse to accept what’s in from of them.
Now the big picture question (from a meta/arc POV) that comes to my mind is: Why make April King of the Shadow Kin? It’s an unexpected turn, and gives April huge power - about equal to Charlie…
Of Petals and Cabinets (cont.)
This two-parter gives us a nice glimpse into what’s going on ‘behind the scenes’ at Coal Hill:
We learn many things:
- The group running the school (including installing their own board of governors) are a fairly new thing - from after Clara left (when the school became an Academy).
- They are called ‘EverUpwardReach’ which sounds like the sort of aspirational name that’s created by a PR firm for high paying clients, and which discloses exactly nothing.
- They are a much smaller group than UNIT, and like to do things their own way, to keep the school ‘safe, clear and ready’. She doesn’t say ready for what…
- They’re keen on keeping things private: ‘Besides, governments have a way of tripping over themselves, slightly too concerned with rights. It's terribly inefficient.’
- They are very efficient (in seemingly no time they test a wide variety of ways to get rid of the petals), and also very aware of what’s happening. We can see this clearly in the robot they sent to investigate Quill.
- They look at things mathematically and practically, rather than strictly ethically or morally. It’s all percentage points, as to how likely certain outcomes are.
- They have no qualms about attempting to use force:
MS AMES: The Cabinet of Souls is the closest weapon of mass destruction we have to hand.
QUILL: And you want me to convince Charles to use it?
MS AMES: Convince? No, my dear Miss Quill, there is no time for convincing. I want you to force him.
We see that this is no idle threat - Ms Ames literally pulls a gun on Charlie.
The question that needs asking regarding all this is - why? Why are they so interested in the Cabinet? And considering what Ms Ames says later, it would seem that part of the plan to push Charlie as far as possible, was quite simply to see what he would do, what sort of pressure was needed. (If she'd said from the start that he would only need to use one soul, the whole situation could probably have been resolved a lot simpler. But she didn't.) Which is almost more worrying than being desperate to save the world. It reminds me of this quote from Firefly:
"Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."
Ms Ames was very keen to meet the man Charlie really is...
Added to which - why are they offering to help Quill? What exactly are their motives? Clearly they want to keep Earth safe, but setting Quill free has obviously nothing to do with the moral arguments Tanya was talking about - and a freed Quill would undoubtedly make the world less safe… (Objectively speaking.) She would be happy to see Earth burn, if only the Shadow Kin burned too...
It’s all very curious. But I like it. Having ‘morally grey’ characters makes things a lot more interesting. When those characters are middle aged women, all the better. :)
But where April’s story is about people trying to convince her to hold back (‘Don’t be like me!’ her father begs), Charlie’s is about others trying to force him to use his power - and Charlie refusing (with only Matteusz worrying what it’ll do to him):
MS AMES: You obviously have a good heart. You care what happens. Charlie. Prince, we need you to save this planet.
CHARLIE: No.
There is a three (four) way tug of war here. Ms Ames wants him to use the Cabinet to kill the petals. Quill wants to kill the Shadow Kin. Matteusz argues against any killing. And they all have good arguments, and they all come from different places:
CHARLIE: You have no idea what kind of person I am, or what's at stake here. If I use it, I will have nothing. The souls of my people -
MS AMES: Will have saved the souls of another people.
QUILL: But not destroy the right people.
MATTEUSZ: Which would make you as bad as the Shadow Kin. The Shadow Kin, who kill whole species.
I love all the complexities of it. Love Ms Ames cold-bloodedness, Quill’s fury and grief, Matteusz’ steadfastness, Charlie’s quiet despair at being held hostage in such a way:
CHARLIE: If I use it, I really am lost. I lose all hope. I lose all of Rhodia's past and even the faintest chance for its future. If I use it, I lose you.
Now what’s extra interesting is how Ms Ames and Quill frame their arguments. Ms Ames uses blunt force, in the form of the gun she uses to threaten Matteusz with, and her arguments are not dissimilar:
MS AMES: But if you don't use it, you lose him, too. It's really less of a pickle than you seem to think.
CHARLIE: I'm lost and alone
[...]
MATTEUSZ: If you are ever lost, I will find you. I will be your help.
MS AMES: God, young love. So beautiful.
There is an eyeroll there, not dissimilar to Corakinus’:
APRIL: Ram, you know I think you're pretty cool. Apart from that remark. Can we just go from there?
(They kiss.)
CORAKINUS: Teenagers.
Quill, unable to use weapons, only has words, but - having a much, much deeper knowledge of Charlie - her arguments are in a whole other league:
QUILL: There's never been any going back for us, Prince. You are the last Rhodian and I am the last Quill. Punish them who made us so.
CHARLIE: More would die. This planet, the souls, every Rhodian who ever lived.
QUILL: By leaving the Shadow Kin alive, you guarantee that billions more will die on countless worlds. Would you really sacrifice your entire people just for the love of a few? I don't doubt you love him. I was in love once, I know what it looks like. But you are a prince, and you've said it yourself, you have duties beyond what is personal.
MS AMES: Don't listen to her, Charlie. You have to do it now!
QUILL: Be glorious. All war is sacrifice, but you can end the one they wage on the universe forever, and to what better purpose can a life and a death be put? Be a hero.
They are enemies, and yet in their grief and anger they are united. Quill does not dismiss Charlie's love - indeed she (almost surprisingly) affirms it (with no caveats about youth) - but she puts it in a wider context, reminding him of his duty as Prince. She changes the argument from one where he is forced to do something against his will, to one where he is the proactive one, the prince, the hero; sacrificing his love for something noble and bigger than himself.
It feels almost strange writing this, so calm, so reflective. I still remember the tension upon watching this episode the first time. I am far too aware of all the tricks they use to build tension, but it didn’t matter one bit - I was still on the edge of my seat.
And I learned something.
Up until that moment I’d have said that I loved all the characters, every one of them in their special way, but there’s nothing like the threat of possible death to make you focus and give you insight into your own priorities.
Which I realised were: DO NOT KILL MATTEUSZ!
The others would be… very sad, but DO. NOT. TOUCH. THAT. BOY.
It’s very awkward when this happens. I tend to go for immortal characters (possibly partly out of self-preservation), but sometimes a mortal one slips under my radar and it’s massively unhelpful to my state of mind. (Ianto… Oh god, my beautiful tea boy.)
Mind you, it gave me an excellent insight into Charlie’s state of mind.
Also, of course, the episode is shamelessly shippy:
CHARLIE: I'm lost and alone
MATTEUSZ: You are not alone.
CHARLIE: I lost everything once before, and now I'm going to lose it all over again.
MATTEUSZ: If you are ever lost, I will find you. I will be your help.
(Lovely gifset here btw)
But shippiness apart, here we see one of the most painful difference with Quill:
CHARLIE: If I use the weapon on the Shadow Kin, then this world dies. Everyone on it. Including you.
QUILL: The life I'm currently living doesn't make me weep at the prospect.
She has nothing to live for, except revenge.
(Sidebar: Speaking of Buffy - Quill, hitting Charlie, relishing it despite the pain, was peak Spike-parallel I think.)
Charlie, however, still has the souls of his people. And he has found love; something to tether him to to life and the future… And that might make all the difference.
MATTEUSZ: Go on, then. What would you have done?
CHARLIE: Would you believe me if I said I didn't know? I think I'm lost, Matteusz.
MATTEUSZ: Then I will find you.
It’s a beautiful scene in every way. Especially how the glass fragments them, the images mirroring Charlie’s inner turmoil. Followed by Matteusz’s quiet promise. They have come a long way from that morning, when Matteusz curiously wondered about the Cabinet and the truth of Charlie’s life…
(x)
Post has been cloned from dreamwidth. Comments welcome everywhere.