MonkeyDude wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am
But yeah I also noticed the 'sidekick' thing! Emily has so much subtle character development you'll miss if you're not looking. I really, really appreciate that detail even if it wasn't intentional by the writers. Really good observation!
There are so many subtle details that are easy to miss and are often overlooked by fans. Emily is such a great, nuanced character. At face value, she's just another one of those determined, clever characters, but she has a lot of layers.
MonkeyDude wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am
Dang, go off Monica! As much as I really want to see Emily's dynamic with the Rydells, they doused that bridge in gasoline, sent the flames up to the heavens, danced among the charred reamains and left it completely decimated. I honestly have a hard time processing just
how much manipulation has occured at the hand of Morrie and Suzu these past couple albums. The thing is, I really want to justify it. I've fallen in love with Morrie and Suzu's characters. But it can't be justified. There are productive ways to bring out the good in people and, I don't believe pretending to suffocate them is one of those ways.
Dude, you're spot on with your metaphor lol. The extreme manipulation was hard for me to process when the show veered away from portrayed Morrie as a super-villain (as he seemed to be in "A Sacrificial Escape") to a broken but still really manipulative kid. Before "The Rydell Revelations", I expected Morrie to be faced with criminal charges and spend some jailtime. It was easier to swallow thinking that his actions would be punished by law. Now the show has to deal with and develop Morrie & Suzu's intricate characters episode by episode. None of this "the bad guys get locked away and the good characters lived happily ever after until something entirely unrelated arises" stuff that Odyssey usually does. From a writing standpoint, the writers took the harder road.
I love Morrie, Suzu, and Emily. All three of them. But there is a delicate balance that must be maintained between dealing with the repercussions of Morrie & Suzu's actions & starting to move past their past actions. You can't pretend that they didn't hurt anyone, but you also can't stay stuck on it forever.
MonkeyDude wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am
Like you mentioned, from what we know, Morrie and Suzu aren't even remorsful about the way they carried things out yet.
Morrie is canonically unremorseful because he doesn't view his actions as wrong (Nathan Hoobler said as much!).
Suzu, though, only
appears to be unremorseful. Suzu would be a lot easier to forgive if she was only involved with the student body election, locker incident, and the writer's ruse mystery. By her brother's own admission, she was extraordinarily touched by how she brightened Matthew & Emily's day by the writer's ruse mystery. You can tell she really likes her new friends and "wants to do what is right" for them. Morrie doesn't directly involve Suzu in the student project fund scam or the cobble box escapade so Suzu isn't to blame with those situations. But what the heck, Suzu? The escape room was
your idea? Really? Why? I could see Morrie talking Suzu into helping with the escape room ("But Suzu, I'm trying to help them! I thought you said you wanted to do what's right for your new friends...") but the fact that
she thought of the escape room boggles my mind. It was never Suzu's schtick to "bring out the good in people" so I don't know what she was trying to accomplish with the escape room. Yeah, she likes mentally challenging herself, but that doesn't align with what Morrie says to be her motivations. Suzu, you hurt my brain.
MonkeyDude wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am
And while I do believe that, as a christian, Emily should forgive Morrie and Suzu once she has mental worked through it, Emily really isn't the one we should be focussing on.
Perhaps Emily should not be the primary focus, but she should and will be involved. She is the biggest part of Morrie & Suzu making peace with their life in Odyssey.
MonkeyDude wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:43 am
And if 'Lets Call The Whole Thing Off' chooses to focus on Emily struggling to forgive the Rydells rather then showing Morrie and Suzu the concequences of their actions, I'll be a little sad.
I think "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" could very much be "The Homecoming" but for Morrie and Suzu. Perhaps this episode will be a little homage to it. One of the themes of album 70 is "new beginnings" so take that as you will.
"The Homecoming" featured Richard Maxwell begging for the forgiveness of those he hurt. He was the central focus, but the episode excellently showed the reactions & struggles of Lucy, Tom, and Eugene in particular. Lucy was so upset & hurt that she didn't know how to process everything but knew that forgiving him was the right thing to do (so she did it). Tom could barely speak to Richard out of bitterness and couldn't bring himself to forgive Richard for years. Eugene forgave Richard but couldn't trust Richard enough to befriend him.
"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" could have Morrie & Suzu trying to befriend Emily, Matthew, and Olivia to varying degrees of sucess. Morrie & Suzu both really do want to become friends with Emily, Matthew, & Olivia. Olivia is sympathetic & responds compassionately but with some surprise & hesitance. Matthew treats them kindly but with an extremely wary eye and distrust. Emily, though, is stone cold and she tries to avoid them at all costs (she was the one most affected by them). The concept of asking for forgiveness is foreign to Morrie & Suzu. Morrie at least isn't apologetic for what he did. Suzu may be, but Morrie isn't. He doesn't see "the big deal" about what he did since he believes he helped others. That creates a roadblock in reconciling. Whit talks to Morrie throughout the episode and advises him. Maybe by the end of this episode, he begins to see the error of his ways.
Be the reason someone smiles today.