#and not blsck and white like other relationships

[akria23]

I have a number of issues with the narrative and up until this point I had been trying to hold off on discussing them until the very end but this episode really put me in a sharing mood… (post episode 12) These are very loose thoughts and so there may be aspects I didn’t fully point out as I just want to focus on the issues I have with these points.

* Sean & Blacks line of the triangle not fully being explored.

* The lack of support / care for Black

* Gram / Eugene

* Dan

Black - White - Sean is a triangle, each one connecting to the others. Because Sean & Black had an existing relationship that White impacted by sliding into Blacks place, their arcs all intertwine. A bit ago I said we were likely getting to the point where to fully become the White he wants to be he’d have to face Black fully come out of his shadow and shoes and reside in who he is now for their side of the arc to complete - we saw that take place this episode. White taking a stand and choosing himself, choosing his own path and stepping into himself in body and within the gang. Of course this also stamps his line (arc) with Sean as well because stepping into himself, choosing himself and his path meant choosing Sean, walking with Sean. Being brave enough to grab what Sean was offering.

Now the only issue is the Line between Sean & Black was just left wide open, unexplored and unfinished. For the arcs between these characters to reach their end each character’s arc has to meet the other’s in the middle. So for Black to come to a place of accepting White’s choice in walking this path and who he was walking with (Sean) he’d first have to come to terms with Sean (even if begrudgingly). Black is someone who has been betrayed by those hes closes to often, he rarely lets others in and has a cold disposition, and when they betray him he seems to just take it in stride. He’s lived so long for his ideologies and his goals and he strives for them, working harder than anyone to the point where they don’t match what he feels is the standard - he works til he sets the standard. The protection of his brother has been one of the areas we’ve seen him show the most emotional extension. We saw him put effort into ending the relationship between Sean & White with the reasoning that being around him would lead to his brother getting hurt. On the other side of that is Sean who had token Black as the person who gave him the mission on his life that kept him living and driven but who had also betrayed him and not given him any real compassion (which he later finds with Blscks twin brother). Sean in many ways having been number two in the gang under Blacks leadership. So you have two ppl extremely alike both having to had taken care of themselves, living solely for their goals to the point of being willing to die for them. One could argue that these similarities they have are because Sean in some ways co-opted Blacks way of survival. These two men should be able to see & understand eachother better than anyone else except maybe White. There def should be a meeting oin the middle even if begrudgingly because they had an arc that entertained before white even got there.

And the lack of exploration on these part affects other aspects of the story as well. For example Sean’s arc with Dan bounces off his one with Black & White. The confrontation with Dan should not have come at the voice of reason from Gram and Yok neither of these two have a any kind of impact on Sean’s ideologies or who he is as a person - that’s Black and White. Black taught him survival and being driven for the goal by any means necessary be it violence or death (negative space) while White taught him to look for the path of compassion. To seek justice but not at the expense of himself (positive space. So his choice of which is the most justified route should have been contingent on how both of those men grew him and not just some random speak of laws that had never done anything for Sean. And because we didn’t actually get to see him struggle through the right and wrong himself through the concepts that he’s learned on this journey we’ve seen him on, the scene of revelation that took place was lackluster and felt like the buildup didn’t match the outcome. Nor does it feel believable he’s been building this whole time to deal with the men who messed up his life, we have seen him struggle with showing his own close friend mercy when he just wanted to bring in a cop that he knew nothing about into the group and yet he’s so easily dissuaded when confronted with the truth.

Then we have this element where before there was those who care about Black, who seemed to understand his hard shell covered a vulnerable interior. There was talk of how important he was, how he inspired the group even if he was a hardass and yet that narrative disappeared a bit before he awoke and he quickly was presented as the evil doppelgänger. The concept of the supposed closeness he and Gram had was on the backburner as Gram took to back mouthing him any chance he could get, trying to get with the woman he’s in love with and lowkey succeeding. He been betrayed by so many ppl it’s difficult to imagine him and Gram were ever actually close when a lot of Gram dealing with him now just seem like guilt. There’s no wonder to where Black has been this whole time when he finds out that White isn’t Black. He called them his friends this episode but Gumpa knew it wasn’t him in the group and never even went and looked for him. In fact when Black demanded to know why he let his brother into the group (knowing he wouldn’t have liked that) Gumpa tells him they needed ppl and White is better than him. In fact he’s repeatedly being told White is better than him lately. It’s funny - the gang feels like home for White and a battle field for Black. They’re constantly showing and telling us that Black is expendable now. He’s never on missions with them, he’s at odds with them all, none of them care what happened to him. He’s propped up and fails against White in their eyes. They no longer listen to him. He’s still being betrayed by some of those closes to him. He’s almost on the outs. They’re all having a Kiki with White while he’s setting up to face his oldest friend who put him in a coma once & almost killed him a second time, and he’s supposedly doing this to stop Todd from exploiting the gang getting rid of Tawi & sliding into power and doing more harm. He has no support, no team despite his apparent fear that he will lose to Todd again.

And my big issue with this is writing it where suddenly no one cares for Black (except White but who has to walk his own path), where he lacks bonds and none of them is even on the mend, where he’s the energy drainer. Tie that all in with the constant foreshadowing of death and you get a setup that hints the writers want the views to think he’ll end up either villainized (betraying the team) or dead (fighting against Todd). The former is absolutely unbelievable I wouldn’t care what reason they came up with. and the latter would be absolute bullshit and annoying. Black’s death wouldn’t do anything for the story, the themes, or the audience. And while they could pull a bait and switch (killing one twin as a sacrifice for the other - or making you think one is dead while it’s the other) that too would just be pushed in for effect and add nothing of value - even though they’ve made this air that both twins lives are in danger and can die. However them even choosing to lean into this foreshadow so heavily has already impacted Blacks characterization (they’ve been foreshadowing since his wake). To make him seem expendable they had to they had to rip any bonds he did have to shreds, they had to avoid focusing fully on him & exploring his individual complexities. So we still have a very incomplete visual of who Black is, his arcs aren’t fed into as they should be and affects the story because he was a great part of its complexity. Black has been due his own POV episode. Even Sean has been given his own pov slates. To bring their arc to full completion White AND Sean should be seen saving Black. Both of these men are the ones most impacted by Blacks ideology and life - him giving Sean his mission in life save him in its own way, Black had been Whites protector throughout their childhood and then the thing he held on to after their separation and then walking in Black’s shoes had given him a new lens on life, had given him a new life itself. Sean & Black being so much alike should have def been used more in this latter half of the story and not just for the comedy but to evaluate the depth of both men and there really been no set up for them to have that moment yet. While White saving should def be a physical thing to present to his brother that he really has grown, that he can not only take care of himself but like Sean Black can depend on him too. He no longer needs a protector and that’s not just about pain or choice but about ability.

- Understand tho that I don’t say it should end this way because I want it to, as I mentioned in my pre-episode 11 thoughts post the last end really should’ve focused on how this triangle would fall (fractured or United) but because the path they’ve shown this far there is no reason for them to be fractured, unless they just have Black suddenly flip and betray them and that doesn’t make sense thus far. So for a true United triangle arc a returned saving makes the most sense. BlackWhiteSean isn’t the first triangle arc in a story. Beyond Evil’s two protagonists & the father were the main frame triangle. Or the Brothers and the female protagonists in Its Okay to Not be Okay. In both stories each character had to deal and absolve their issues with eachother to fully complete their character arcs and that’s what should’ve happened with SeanWhiteBlack. The more in-depth the more fulfilling it would be.

The GramEugene thing is just a mess, it made a mess of things and was pointless thus far. Black dating Eugene at all was already madness. A man so driven in his goals who doesn’t trust ppl and walks alone and keeps secret opening himself for a relationship he knows he’s gonna have to end. They really would’ve needed to be written into a crucible because it’s more believable he would’ve intentionally avoided her. But they proceed to give him an outright gf and then add another level to the bs by having Gram in love with her too. Worse of all she’s not in the group, she’s not in the main frame of the story and so to even deal with this arc we have to go away from the main story arcs. It pulls focus from the main story not add to it. To build up that twist they had to waste a lot of view time and it was all for nothing because who actually cares if Gram likes this girl? It’s just another thing taken from Black for no reason. Going this route gutting any depth from Grams character as well. Instead of them focusing on what Gram stood for - those who may not have big reasons to fight the system but still chooses to do so anyway because they believe in the good of the people, we instead get to just watch him chase his supposed best friends ex, bad mouthing him, and not showing any care for him much at all. Going this route he loses his reason of being and we just watch a bunch of scene that could’ve been cut to give focus to something more important.

I’m not even gonna talk about Dan yet… but Dan and also that scene with him and Sean 🙃

#not me the series #not me sean #not me #not me black #not me white #not me gram #not me ep 12 #not me episode 12 #seanwhite #seanblack #whiteblack #gmmtv #thai bl