Jane/Maura tension in Jane waiting for Maura to give up on her...
I'm literally writing this post because I had a dream last night of scrolling tumblr and reading Jane Rizzoli character analysis from an episode that doesn't exist. So, in terms of real character analysis... have this.
I've made a little post about my absolute favourite ship dynamic and I really want to situate Jane within it. To me, Jane is a character that has some major commitment issues (that are also somehow abandonment issues) and this fear that people will give up on her, but especially Maura. At one point in the early seasons, Jane and Maura have a conversation that reveals Jane doesn't like to be disappointed.
And I truly think this is a key aspect of her early characterization. She hates being disappointed and yet it seems like part of her constantly expects to be. If she has something good, she doesn't get to keep it right? And this thinking extends significantly into her early interactions with Maura. I'm going for the first three seasons here, because it's what I have notes on, but it honestly probably extends past that. So here's Jane terrified of Maura giving up on her as a key element of her narrative conflict with Maura.
I'll start at the very beginning. The pilot features the first little kernel of this fear when Jane shows up at Maura's after Hoyt escapes. Gabriel Dean shows up at Maura's door and Jane's insecurity flares because they seem to both like him, but instead of pure jealousy in a romantic sense...
There's also a sense that Maura will inevitably get him, not her. And very little trust in the ability of their friendship to survive them both liking the same man. Jane argues with Maura about her secrecy in this episode out of this fear when she has to go to Quantico, but she's sympathetic here because we can see how much insecurity and fear undercuts her actions. She expects Maura to give up on her with the choice of Dean and Dean on her with the choice of Maura.
This seems like a central current of the first half of season one, especially with the thread laid down in 1x04 pulled into 1x05 with Garrett Fairfield. Jane is framed as insecure about her station. When there's a murder at BCU, it brings up a lot about Jane's limited post-secondary education. She tells Maura about how the BCU campus inspires her, but also makes her potentially regretful.
This becomes even more central when Jane sees Maura with the Brahmins and class comes even further into play. At the scene, Jane wants to question the Fairfields, but Maura is resistant.
Look at Jane's face. She looks like she's just been horribly betrayed. And it culminates into this argument at autopsy.
This compounds on that insecurity about not having a college education by pairing it up with wealth and social power. These things all become a wedge between Jane and Maura because, like Korsak suggests, Jane is afraid that Maura's allegiance is to those ideals rather than to her.
This fear of Maura giving up on her clearly extends beyond wealth and education because it also comes into Jane's interactions with Maura around Tommy. Jane essentially begs Maura not to sleep with her brother, whose mind Maura finds attractive, and then says Tommy's not the only Rizzoli "with a beautiful mind." So perhaps there's an element of romantic jealousy more clearly oriented towards Maura creeping in. But when they have friction over Tommy's arrest, these fears are once again aparent. When Maura doesn't risk a prison sentence and the loss of her medical licence (you know, things you would definitely risk for just a friend) to warn Jane about Tommy's arrest, Jane goes off about how Maura didn't trust her to protect her. And how she should've protected Jane too.
She almost insinuates that they're not friends or that their friendship is tenuous because Maura won't devote herself entirely to Jane's loyalty no matter the personal cost simply because Jane already has invested loyalty into Maura. The reciprocity's unequal, though, which becomes clear when Jane shoots Paddy. At first, it's just fear that her friend will be mad at her because she shot her father.
See the insecurity in it? The humanity, the clarity she was emotionally connected to Maura despite having just hurt her? It turns.
Jane rushes to Maura because she's afraid Maura will turn her over to the IAD and tells her that if their friendship ever mattered, she would be careful about her words. She is so afraid of Maura giving up on her, and so sure she'll do it, that she doesn't even see her own irony here. She wanted Maura to trust her to protect her. But even she can't trust people that way.
When you put all these moments together, you can understand that a lot of Jane's early seasons moments of anger were actually just insecurity and fear turned outwards. And another thing is that, most of the time, Maura acts kindly and reassuringly in response. Or is at least willing to apologize for her responding anger. Other than with the Paddy experience, which took a while, Maura has reasserted her allegiance to Jane almost immediately, found ways to make up for hurting her. Like...
This fear of Jane's definitely isn't limited to the above examples. Consider:
Ian Faulkner and how Jane treated Maura when he was around
The facial expression and apology Jane gives Maura when her father causes a scene in her home
The bridge jump and the scene afterward in which Jane calls herself "hard to love"
I really feel like the disappearance of this fear is a major part of what makes Jane feel so different in those weird last seasons. She's afraid of losing Maura to violence, sure, but I think this fear of not being good enough to keep her vanishes. And maybe there's sense to be made of it. Maybe Maura has, in some way, proven herself not to be the kind of person who would discard someone else. Maybe Jane has finally put her through enough trials. But that kernel of insecurity driving her early angry moments with Maura is what humanizes her instead of making her out to be cruel. As the show goes on, she feels more and more cruel. At least to me. And I think this is partially why.
P.S. Maura has this fear too, which is what allowed it to feel balanced in the beginning.
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Someone pointed out to me that Tasha the squirrel's eyes are 2 ever so slightly different shades of orange. It doesn't seem to be a lighting thing as far as I can tell. Either way, I haven't been able to unsee it. Idk what to do with this cursed knowledge so here you go
It's actually interesting to think about whether it's meant to be a discreet kind of heterochromia or if it's supposed to make her look more like three dimensional. Anyway I love her design and I think it's a fun detail! Underrated villager.
Speaking of squirrel eyes Marshal's eyes aren't black but rather a very dark green.
Use this knowledge however you wish. Maybe make a dark green room for Marshal to match his eyes?
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I know it’s been talked about to the point that’s almost a cliche, but the first season of TNG was so bad it was only one to make me seriously question whether or not I was going to be a completionist. Like during my first watch-through of everything, when I got to TNG Season 1 it was such a pain to get through it literally felt like pulling teeth. I was watching the series in chronological order, and I almost quit on the entire 24th century because of it! And I’m so glad I didn’t! Because the later seasons are very good and so are DS9 and VOY (which I watched later). But damn it was bad.
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[image id: a drawing consisting of eight different small doodles of Star Trek characters. In the top left is Ensign Ro, slightly looking to the side. The middle top one is of Lore wearing Ro’s red headband. The top right shows Alex holding up a drawing of Worf and Lore holding hands, as well as one of Spot’s kittens. The middle left depicts Lore on his birthday. He is wearing a yellow birthday party hat and is holding a pink book titled “Klingon love poetry”. Worf, Ro and Tasha are in the background reacting to the gift. Worf is blushing and Tasha is flabbergasted. Ro acts innocently, and there’s a halo above her head. The middle right drawing is of Worf holding Lore in his arms bridal style. They are both blushing. In the bottom left, Lore is seen hugging Data, who is surprised at the gesture. The bottom middle shows Ro and Lore facing each other. Lore is pointing at Ro and asks, “Are you a homosexual?”. In the bottom right, Lore is looking into a mirror he’s holding. He is wearing Ro’s earring on his anatomical left ear. The background is a solid white. /end id]
A couple of silly Lore doodles I made while working on the Chameleons cover art.
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