O Brother Where Art Thou

[sheelock]

Been extremely busy helping my youngest decide on a college (and figuring out how we're going to pay for it).  But I have been writing whenever I can so here is another installment of O Brother.

Ryan had to endure a few days of ribbing about his drunken escapade at work but finally the remarks died down.  Janie was still flirting with him but

Comments

[beachtree]

I didn't see this coming. It's good to see that fratricidal!Trey seems to have left the building and been replaced by a brother who is worried and who cares. This is a side of Trey I would have liked to have seen- even if only briefly. I recognize the temper and the brashness with the hospital personnel, but this time it isn't because of his own pride or volatility; it's fear.

For insurance purposes alone, the Cohens would have to be notified and they would also be Ryan's emergency contacts- if he has his wallet. For practical reasons anyway, Trey will have to call them, or the hospital will to get further information.

I'm glad you incorporated a sense of what we saw in early S4 in terms of Ryan just trying to function, and barely focusing on each task at hand, before TPTB magically made it disappear without ever having someone like Sandy consistently spend time with him addressing it over time. That would be a gradual and painful process that wouldn't be solved solely from dating someone. But I digress! You give a good sense of the despair and listlessness that competes with the guilt and pain for Ryan's attention.

No matter how Ryan might have felt about distancing himself from the Cohens before self-destructing or damaging them, there's something about physical peril that changes everyone's perspective. Just the way he suddenly reverts to needing to have Trey there- to having someone there, even if it means relying and trusting the person who betrayed him, hurt him and even tried to kill him, demonstrates that Ryan would be far more receptive to human contact, to not being alone, and maybe reconnecting not just with Trey, but with the Cohens now that he's in such a compromised state. Not that he wasn't emotionally in a very bad place before, but this makes everything more precarious- and precious.

As for the Cohens, they might be all the more willing to consider Ryan's perspective more than they have in the past now that he needs them in another way and they are reminded even more of how fleeting and fragile their ties to him have been. They could learn from their own mistakes too and they could all try to find a better way to communicate and build a better foundation. Emergencies make for new priorities and a show of support and some unconditional comfort go a long way.

Thanks for this!

[sheelock]

I figured the only way to get everyone together was to have an extreme crisis in Ryan's life - accident, illness, etc. Nothing like a medical emergency to bring a family together.

[beachtree]

That's so true. It's sad that it takes something so frightening and potentially harmful- or lethal, to put it in perspective, but sometimes real fear and shock have the greatest impact and remind everyone of what's really important. It's so much easier to value someone and show emotion when nothing and no one is taken for granted.