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gemsofgreece · 2 years

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A dive into the dynamics of my favourite Greek ship; Stella & Sotiris

Analyzing my favourite shows is a hobby of mine and a recent binge re-watch of the Greek show Είσαι το ταίρι μου (Ise to teri mou - You are my soulmate ) urged me to write something about my favourite Greek ship. For those who do not know, Sotiris & Stella are one of the most popular Greek ships ever and [spoiler?] a canon endgame one. There are many reasons this ship is so loved; a) it’s part of one of the best Greek comedy series, b) the actors have a lot of chemistry and excel at their roles and, most importantly, c) it is an unconventional love story between a very handsome man and a not-as-much woman. The difference that makes this ship special is that this is not a cliche “ugly duckling” story. There is no makeover involved in which the humble girl turns into a pretty princess and the prince realises he loved her all along after all but her sudden prettiness made him realise it. None of that shit, and the “prince” is not an easy, inviting or accepting guy to begin with. Let alone that our female protagonist is not shy or humble or defeated at all and she literally gives zero shit for others’ opinions on her looks. In short, there are many special elements to this story.

*I am writing this in English because most Greek followers interested in this post agreed the post could provide feedback for the Greek mentality and perception of a good love story, a window in our minds in short, plus it is the first Greek show available with English subtitles so there could be interest in the future.

The reason I wanted to write about this ship is that some viewers often speculate on how, why and when Sotiris fell for Stella so this is going to be gravitating towards his perspective. The consensus is that he is already attracted to her in episode 9 (of 30 episodes) but this is incorrect. He develops an attraction actually already in episode 5 and they only meet in episode 4! So let’s see how things develop for Sotiris episode by episode.

Episode 1

In the first episode we are introduced to Sotiris and we see that he’s a person not swayed by everything that shines. While he is portrayed as an intelligent and competent man, he disdains the industry his family owns and prefers to work with the workers rather than be in the management like his two older siblings. He also appears to distance himself from his family and their rich mansion, building a small cabin in the garden for himself.

Episode 2

In the second episode we get more insight. Sotiris is seen writing a lot. He also has a - probably - on and off girlfriend, Katerina, who is tall and thin but interestingly has similar colours to Stella’s. Katerina seems to be sweet and genuinely caring for Sotiris but he appears essentially indifferent towards her. Later in that episode, his older brother Nikos, basically a raging polygamous person, calls him to declare he found the love of his life. Sotiris is sarcastic and doesn’t believe him. When Nikos asks him what is going on in his romantic life, Sotiris avoids to answer and does not mention Katerina. After Nikos calls him a loafer as a joke, Sotiris hangs up and angrily throws away something he was writing. In a different scene, Nikos says to his best friend Alexis that Sotiris is not a man for marriage and kids (as if HE is).

Episode 3

We find out that Sotiris does not talk at all about his family to Katerina and he also judges her for still being close with her parents. He gets angry with her because she took a family photo of his from his desk and asks her to leave. Sotiris is being very secretive. Later, we see that Sotiris has a problematic relationship with his father. When the latter comes to announce to him the good news of Nikos getting married, Sotiris responds with emphatic disinterest and irony. His father expresses his disappointment in him and Sotiris reacts in fury and dismay the moment his father leaves. Towards the end, Sotiris has another meeting, this time with his sister Anneta who wants to stop that marriage from happening because she is sure Nikos found a golddigger. She interrupts Sotiris from having sex with Katerina to express her concerns, clarifying she does not trust him either but he is her last hope to help her prevent this marriage. Anneta says Sotiris isn’t different from Nikos as he is switching women constantly which actually irritates Sotiris once again. While this can’t be understood by a first time viewer, it is actually an instance of unreliable narration. We never see Sotiris with anyone other than Stella or Katerina, while we already see Nikos with multiple women over the course of just three episodes. It makes me assume it was not that Sotiris was a womanizer like Nikos - but he had consistently been emotionally unavailable and closed off, which made people think he was not taking any woman seriously.

Episode 4

Sotiris has a better relationship with his mother but is slightly jealous when she seems to think a lot about Nikos, even though this is the day of the latter’s engagement in Australia (where he lives temporarily for business). Sotiris doubts marriage can bring happiness. Later, Nikos announces his fiance Vicky is coming to Greece to meet the family and describes her pet peeves, phobias and lifestyle choices to the family. Vicky sounds very particular about a lot of things and this annoys Sotiris. When Vicky arrives (who is actually Stella but that is a whole other story) Sotiris, like most members of the family, is dumbfounded as she is a totally different person from the fragile stunner Nikos had been describing all along.

Episode 5

Upon Vicky’s (Stella’s) arrival, Nikos immediately calls Sotiris to ask what he thinks of her. Sotiris diplomatically replies “she seems to be a good girl” but it’s clear he disapproves of Stella’s looks. Nikos reasons that Sotiris must be jealous and that he should see her in a bathing suit, which Sotiris finds hilarious. Later, Nikos calls through the landline and Stella has to talk to him in front of the whole family. Stella turns her back to them and secretly hangs up, a move only Sotiris notices and jumps up.

Sotiris doesn’t reveal that to anyone (perhaps he isn’t sure of what he saw) and is annoyed of all the care his parents take to please her. He is also as dumbfounded as Anneta when Stella claims she is a model and he definitely believes she and Nikos are not a good match. When Nikos calls for a third time during dinner, Sotiris is barely coping. Despite all his disapproval, he and Stella already have two moments even in this very first welcome dinner. Vera, the mother, embarrasses Sotiris by asking whether Stella has any good friend they could introduce to him too. Stella replies that she knows many good girls but she doesn’t know what Sotiris’ type is. This somehow affects Sotiris. My speculation is that, as we see, Sotiris is emotionally and intellectually distanced from all his family, friends and girlfriend. I think already Sotiris feels instictively that Stella is a rare somebody he can communicate with on a more profound level and this makes the answer to Stella’s question (what’s his type) hard to consider.

Later, Stella wants to smoke, contrary to Nikos describing Vicky as an anti-smoker, and Sotiris, a heavy smoker himself, is relieved and lights a cigarette. Smiling, he helps Stella with the lighter and she thanks him, very clearly attracted to him.

Episode 6

The same night, after everyone has fallen asleep, Stella attempts to flee the house. She bumps into Sotiris sexily lounging in the garden. Stella denies she’s fleeing, despite comically carrying three gigantic suitcases, a backpack and a handbag hanging from her neck. Stella claims she wanted to go for a night walk which of course Sotiris does not believe but he plays along, offering to give her a night tour of Athens. He asks her to wait for him at his motorbike and carries her suitcases back. Now, this is extremely uncharacteristic of Sotiris. He essentially makes her stay and takes the initiative to go out with her rather eagerly. Sotiris NEVER takes the initiative with anyone, ever. This is one of the fundamentals of his personality. He could have a 10 opposite him and he would still not take the initiative to go anywhere with her (as we’ll see much later with the real Vicky). At some point, they stop somewhere with a good view of Athens. There, again, Sotiris initiates most of the dialogue (VERY uncharacteristic, Sotiris hardly speaks at all) asking Stella of her whereabouts, when and how she fell for Nikos. Then, he warns her of Nikos’ unstable romantic life but quickly regrets it. Stella perceives Sotiris likes neither Nikos nor her. Sotiris explains he loves Nikos but likes to keep his distance (compare this with how mad he was at his girlfriend Katerina asking about his brother). As for him disliking Stella, Sotiris mostly avoids to answer, eventually saying he will “tolerate” her since his brother chose her and that everyone’s taste is different. Not only Stella gives zero fucks for Sotiris’ rudeness, but hearing this, she suddenly gets night munchies which amuses Sotiris who offers to take her to the closest canteen. Stella reacts enthusiastically and Sotiris smiles genuinely, maybe for the first time in the show. Before they leave, Sotiris asks her once more why she was trying to flee and Stella deflects again. Two things are very interesting here: a) Sotiris asked her whether his family disappointed her so much that she tried to flee. This shows Sotiris already projects through her and that he already starts bonding with her. His mind doesn’t go to the obvious negative explanation, that she is a fraud, but thinks instead that she is like him and finds his family unbearable. b) Sotiris never told anybody that Stella tried to escape the first night, not even to his sister Anneta who is convinced there is something up with her and tries to find out.

Despite their first date (because that’s what it was let’s be real) going pretty well, Sotiris shows a different stance later in the episode. He and Anneta watch speechlessly Stella playing very...uhm... gracelessly with Anneta’s son, Miltiades. Sotiris says “No matter how much of a shithead Nikos is, he would never get engaged to a...girl like her. He wouldn’t even look at her. Our brother has lost his mind”. Sotiris mostly addresses everything to Nikos, while Anneta uses constantly bad characterisations for Stella, something Sotiris does not do. Mother Vera argues Nikos must have seen something in her and Sotiris suggests, kind of bitterly, that maybe she has “secret talents”. Vera scolds him but this means that Sotiris is already assuming a lot about Stella’s privacy. Anneta agrees that it is likely since Nikos is erotomanic and Sotiris looks very disapproving of his brother - another evidence he is not like him as everyone thinks.

And then out of nowhere, he implies Stella is a golddigger, which literally makes no sense because a) one doesn’t need to be a golddigger to fall for a handsome guy like Nikos and b) Sotiris knows Stella wanted to escape. The only explanation for this sudden change of stance is that he tries to find problems in this relationship, unlike Anneta who genuinely thinks Stella is a liar. Besides, when Anneta clarifies that Nikos is the victim in this situation, Sotiris is secretly irritated.

After Anneta’s accusation towards Stella, Sotiris stops being willing to support his sister, claiming “he doesn’t care about Nikos’s affairs”. Clearly, he felt defensive for Stella’s sake and quickly went into denial mode.

Later, Vicky, Nikos’ real fiance, passes by to talk to Stella but only Sotiris is at home. The real Vicky is indeed a stunner and they both are visually attracted to each other. Vicky introduces herself as Stella, Vicky’s (real Stella’s) bestie from Australia. Sotiris promises to tell Vicky (Stella) she passed by. They both stall, prolonging the encounter, but Vicky eventually leaves. When Stella returns, Sotiris tells her Vicky passed by and asks whether Nikos knows her, confused how his brother didn’t hit on her. And then we have this iconic reply:

And then we have a very unintentionally “married” moment, as Stella concludes Sotiris liked Vicky. Sotiris deflects like a husband who wants to avoid the fuss but Stella has none of it and lies that she can arrange a date for them. Sotiris, who also knows she’s full of shit, plays up his narcissistic persona and says he doesn’t have a problem either way and leaves, but not without touching Stella to get his lighter back instead of simply asking for it.

We are in the literally first episode they properly interact and they are clearly already fully into each other and at least suspecting the other’s interest as well. Sotiris is not into Stella’s appearance yet but he is sold on everything else. He shifts moods like a rollercoaster. Stella reveals to her best friend Toula that she is falling for him, deciding to make a move. To her bad luck, Sotiris catches her ravaging the family fridge in the middle of the night, which repells him a little. Stella tries to overcome this and have a drink with him but Sotiris says he wants to be by himself. Stella respects that. The other day, the family decides Vicky (Stella) suffers all alone in the house in the summer and someone should take her to their summer house in Andros island. Lycurgus, the father, insists Sotiris should go with her. When Vera tries to tell Sotiris, he is heard in all of Athens. He raises hell, shouting he does not like her and he would not go even to the closest mini market with her. In his efforts, this time he shittalks her openly for ravaging the fridge in the night. His reaction is inexplicable because we have never seen a negative interaction between them. Let alone that the very first night he was getting her to canteens voluntarily. The conclusion is that Sotiris was scared at the prospect of being all alone with Stella for the entire weekend. Let’s not forget she is supposed to be his brother’s fiance.

When they arrive at Andros, because of course they do, Sotiris directly tells her he’s living a nightmare and is very authoritative and stern towards her, to the point that Stella responds to him like he is her captain in the army.

Episode 7

Sotiris keeps acting indifferent, abrupt and borderline rude. Stella in the meanwhile goes into either starvation mode or eats secretly from Sotiris. And here’s an important thing - one common toxic behaviour is when a guy supposedly is into a girl but insists on helping her lose weight. Amidst his seeming indifference and silence, Sotiris asks Stella whether she had breakfast and later if she wants a snack at the beach. So, he knows she likes eating and / or that she would be hungry by now and he reminds her to eat. Once Sotiris goes to the beach bar to buy them ice creams, he bumps into Vicky (who has followed them along with Grigoris) and stains her swimsuit but it is mostly her fault. Sotiris remembers who she is. Vicky doesn’t and throws a huge tandrum and calls him names which almost makes them physical. Sotiris warns her saying “You’re so lucky that-” but Vicky brushes him off. What he meant was “you’re so lucky you’re Stella’s friend otherwise I wouldn’t let this drop”. Sotiris leaves steaming and tells Stella nothing of this encounter. Apparently, he has picked up on the weirdness of it all. Later that night, he asks whether Stella wants to go out with him but clarifies like a billion times it’s his mother who suggested it. Like, what truly indifferent man actually ever says that??? Stella picks up on his utterly failed attempt at indifference, so she asks him rather boldly whether he wants her along too. And when I say boldly...

There is NO WAY Sotiris hasn’t realised by now that Stella hits on him full and hard. Probably this adds to his aggression and defensiveness. In any case, no sister-in-law-to-be acts like that or should ever act like that. This is why once again Sotiris acts very dismissively which angers Stella but she will not waste this chance and glosses up before she follows him out. And truth is, Sotiris actually liked her. Physically, this time.

STELLA: I’m ready, let’s go!

SOTIRIS: Finally! (looks at her)...What did you do?

ST: What?

S: Why do you look like this?

ST: (acting fake coy) Come on... Stop the compliments, I am blushing!

S: Is this why it took you hours to get ready?

ST: Hours?! Ten minutes, I fixed my hair, put lipstick on, that is all...

S: All women are the same.

ST: (full attitude) Ahhhh, our night is off to a bad start, Sotiris boy. You ain’t gonna compare me to all other women.

S: Whatever, let’s go now. I must remind you... I am taking you out only because my mother asked it!

ST: (still full attitude) Is that so? I AM taking you out because my mother-in-law asked it!

S: (lowkey speechless) ...Get a move on.

This scene is very important because there is a genius irony in here. Stella asks that Sotiris won’t think of her as “one of the many” but Sotiris already thinks she is different! When he saw she took a long time just to gloss up is when he reached the conclusion that “all women (therefore her too after all) are the same”. Therefore Sotiris had previously formed the impression that Stella wasn’t like the others. However, joke’s on him because now he is into her physically too. It’s clear that Sotiris does not care for looks, it is not a prerequisite for him. But it is a welcome bonus as it happens with us all.

Regardless, Sotiris remains moody and distant when they go out. He’s such a party pooper that Stella prays dramarically for strength to put up with him and Sotiris acts “done”, but look as soon as Stella can’t see him:

Dude is having the time of his life! But not for long. The real Vicky shows up and Sotiris wants to vanish. He only barely acknowledges her and poor Grigoris’s presence. After the initial shock, Stella drags Vicky to the restroom where they have a fight. Vicky shows interest in Sotiris but takes Grigoris and leave. On the contrary, Sotiris is utterly relieved when they do leave and so is Stella, who expresses it openly. They bond over disliking Vicky but Sotiris has not much time to wonder why Stella dislikes her supposedly best friend because Stella starts dancing in a very... unique way that makes Sotiris wanna kill himself and attracts two assholes. Sotiris finds Stella’s dance embarrassing, however this doesn’t mean he doesn’t turn mad when the two guys start laughing at her. Sotiris launches at them, attempting to protect her and the guys beat him up. Stella, who doesn’t take any shit, sees Sotiris is in a fight (doesn’t know why) and launches at all three, attempting to defend Sotiris! I LOVE THEM! Long story short, they kicked them out of the bar. Sotiris is ready to leave quietly but Stella causes a huge fuss. Then he turns against her, saying it was his fault he tried to defend her. Furious, Stella replied with the exact words that would probably seal the deal for Sotiris:

Did I ask for your help? Answer me, man! Did I? We need to clear the air here! I don’t need anyone’s help! I can handle things on my own! One, two, three, done!

Stella has qualities Sotiris loves: she’s independent, strong, straight-forward, brave and doesn’t give a shit about what others think. Of course, they are mad at each other and eventually Sotiris leaves without her. Stella returns home on foot and she is in a dissolving state. Sotiris has left the door open for her. Stella grabs two beers from the fridge and tries to wind down after this disaster of an evening.

Now normally, Sotiris hates her and would love to pretend he is asleep and avoid her, right? Except...

Yeah, well done, Sotiris. This is exactly how you show up to a woman whose attention you try to avoid. Half-naked, zipping up in front of her. After the visual show-off, Sotiris sits next to her and joins her for the beer. Again, Sotiris is being very uncharacteristic. He hated the idea of going anywhere with her. He was in his room, where he could avoid her, pretend he was asleep. But he chose to get up, barely dress and join her for a drink. Even though they just had a huge fight, they act like it didn’t happen. Sotiris is still authoritative and Stella is still sarcastic but they are back to normal, just like that. Stella asks him again whether he liked Vicky and this time Sotiris is more honest. He tells her women like Vicky are not his type but is evasive about the type he actually likes. He argues again that Nikos would like a woman like Vicky but adds that Stella shouldn’t feel jealous because Nikos sounds smitten with her. Stella doesn’t explain the misunderstanding and compliments herself, wondering loudly what is so special about her. That gives Sotiris a start, abandoning his rare conversational side. He abruptly tells her to go sleep and retreats to his room. Clearly, Sotiris did not want to think about what made Stella special - especially while sitting right next to her. Moreover, he was reminded of his suspicion - that Stella hits on him.

By the way, the show doesn’t let us go without giving us a parallel to emphasize on Sotiris’ motives behind defending Stella. The next day, Vicky and Grigoris are at the beach. While Grigoris is swimming, two guys harass Vicky (two mocked Stella too). Grigoris rushes to defend her and the two guys grab him and toss him to the water (like Sotiris being beaten up). Vicky only calls for help but when the assholes leave she gets into the cold water to get to Grigoris (like Stella defending Sotiris, almost, well Vicky is Vicky). When Grigoris comes to, Vicky kisses him for the first time, calling him “my knight in shining armour, my romantic boy”. Of course these two are major characters too and this is not just a plot device, however it DOES work as a parallel for Sotiris, who appears so emotionally constipated that it’s hard for us to recognize the reasons behind his actions.

Episode 8

The episode starts while the family has dinner and the parents suggest to Sotiris that he should bring Stella to the aisle in the wedding, since Stella is an orphan. Sotiris immediately reacts, however it is relatively toned down. Militiades, his nephew, who loves his aunt-to-be Stella, asks if he’ll take her there with his motorbike. Sotiris is still negative but he has a weird expression, like he is troubled and bitter but also barely suppressing a smirk at the thought.

The following morning Stella sees Sotiris working in the garden. This is the case of the unreliable narrator again. We are constantly told how Sotiris is lazy and does nothing but he is actually the only one who we see working literally all the time. Stella pretends she airs her bedsheets and starts singing loudly a romantic song in the window “It dawns only for you...”. How clearer should she make it? Sotiris stops the work enough to act ‘done’ and shake his head. Stella is interrupted by Panagiotis who compliments her voice. This is another technique used regularly in this show. When Sotiris guards his reaction around Stella, there is someone else who appears and voices Sotiris’ thoughts. Of course, it matters that Panagiotis believes this on his own but HE IS also a plot vessel here. In future instances this will become clearer. After Panagiotis leaves, Stella resumes her singing and we can see that Sotiris can’t focus on his work and he frequently breaks his neck to look at Stella sing instead.

Nikos asks Sotiris to bring a horse to Vicky (Stella) who loves horse-riding. Sotiris complies and Stella’s first attempt at horse riding is a disaster. Sotiris and everyone else present are at a loss for words. Sotiris helps her mount the horse but Stella is really NOT made for this. Sotiris kinda has second hand embarrassment and is seen hiding his face on the horse’s neck in despair but he doesn’t say a thing.

Then Anneta sends Sotiris (because lazy Sotiris does everything in this show) to ask around in Stella’s old neighborhood for more information about her. Sotiris finds a car mechanic and says “ I am looking for a girl. Vicky Seitanidi... A girl... how can I describe her... She must be from Agrinio”. As you see, Sotiris avoids consciously to describe Vicky (Stella) by her appearance, (the first thing mentioned usually in such talks is the body type) and chooses to describe her by her descent. Sotiris doesn’t want to talk to a stranger about what conventionally will be interpreted as Stella’s flaw. Dude respects her fully even when she is not around. The car mechanic however understands who he is talking about and says Vicky was the most beautiful girl in the neighborhood, a “ten” who liked to torture and play with men. Sotiris is confused as hell, reasoning he must be talking about somebody else but he doesn’t entirely reject the possibility. The car mechanic asks his name and Sotiris unknowingly gives the name “Stelios”. Stelios of course is the masculine version of Stella! So the show here plays with the idea that it is really their fate to be soulmates.

Episode 9

Stella confronts Sotiris for embarrassing her with the horse. Sotiris invites her to play darts with him to which Stella replies “she usually plays with men instead”. Stella is the peak example of “fake it till you make it”. But the truly funny thing is that Sotiris was told in the previous episode by the mechanic that Vicky indeed was playing with men. So Sotiris still does or tries not to believe all this but there is this confusion growing inside him of “what the actual fuck, cound this be true?!”. They start throwing sarcastic jabs at each other which eventually gives Stella the opportunity to ask him what he thinks about women, family and love. Here is a very interesting detail:

STELLA: I wonder what you think about women!

SOTIRIS: (gently touches her on her thigh to push her out of the dart aim’s way) These are conversations I have with men only.

ST: Okay, imagine I am a man.

S: What?

ST: Imagine I am a man and we talk about women.

S: To presume you are a man, you mean?

ST: It wouldn’t be that hard for you...

S: ....

ST: Don’t hesitate, go ahead...

Sotiris stalls twice at Stella’s urge to see her as a man and when Stella implies she is plain looking enough for him to have no problem doing it, Sotiris pointedly does not respond. Compare this with how Nikos in a later episode tells Stella he sees her as a best mate (male) of his. Anyway, since Stella insists, Sotiris complies and he gives her the most sexist answers he could come up with, while subtly checking her reactions. Stella tries to stay calm but eventually breaks character and calls him sexist, misogynist and hanged-up. Then Sotiris calmly but triumpantly tells her she does not sound like a man anymore. Sotiris was trying to draw her out of her male alias and to rouse a reaction from her. He gets more serious when Stella grabs him softly by the hand and asks him about family. Being an orphan since childhood, Stella values family a lot, however Sotiris, privileged as a member of a large family, explains his frustration with the conventions that taint family values, meaning that one can be member of a family and still not feel truly he is a part of it in a more profound sense. During this dialogue, Sotiris also implies he does not believe in love and romance while Stella exposes herself as a hopeless romantic. Viewers soon will realise Sotiris is lying and knowing Stella is a romantic will actually draw him even closer to her. Stella, seemingly disappointed in his answers, thanks him sarcastically and turns to leave. Then she returns, takes a dart and hits a bull’s eye. Then she tells him “If I really aim for something, I always succeed”. Sotiris is impressed. What Stella meant by this was that no matter how many obstacles Sotiris put in her way, she was determined to win him over. She essentially plainly tells him “you don’t believe in love, you don’t see anything in women except beauty and service, you don’t want family or kids... yet I am still gonna have you”. It is unclear but I believe Stella also suspects Sotiris is lying to her.

Later at the same night, Anneta gathers the whole family to interrogate Stella. Only Sotiris sides with her. Initially, Anneta is in charge of the situation, yet gradually Sotiris becomes more and more involved, heated up and intense as Stella continues to answer correctly thanks to her lucky stars. Eventually, really intense, Sotiris challenges her to say something very private about Nikos. Stella does and initially most of them think she is wrong, and Sotiris rises up and tells her she must confuse Nikos with somebody else, so as we see, the talks about Vicky playing with men start getting to him. Eventually, Vera confirms Stella’s allegation and Anneta and Sotiris are shocked, but Sotiris especially is petrified.

This is super nasty for Sotiris. Not only he humiliated himself in front of Stella, which is bad news for his massive ego, but he also is now convinced Stella 100% has been intimate with his brother, while he was cultivating hopes this was not the case. As soon as Stella returns to her bedroom, the parents accuse Sotiris and he shouts “LAY OFF ME, ALL OF YOU” before leaving. Because apparently nobody understands why Sotiris acted the way he did. But here it’s important to note a detail: in the beginning of this scene, Anneta refers to the disastrous horse-riding episode, during which she wasn’t present. Then the grandpa bursts out laughing, revealing it was him who told Anneta about Stella’s incompetence as a rider and not Sotiris, even though Sotiris is both the closest one to Anneta and also supposedly cooperating with her to reveal Stella’s scheme.

EVEN later that night, Sotiris goes to Stella’s bedroom to apologize. Stella forgives him easily because she knows Sotiris technically isn’t wrong in his suspcicions against her. She asks him why he is so jealous of Nikos. Sotiris denies it but uncharacteristically sits on her bed and goes into a meltdown about how his father always loved Nikos more. She is the only one Sotiris opens up to so easily. He goes on denying firmly that he feels any jealously and he finally slips “I was never jealous of him, never! Not even now”. He tries to leave then but Stella isn’t having it. She presses him for an explanation. Sotiris explains that even though he is not into her at all (yeah right), Nikos is lucky to have found a good partner like her. And then we have this iconic dialogue:

STELLA: You saw right through me, huh?

SOTIRIS: He’s lucky to have you as his wife. Me too.

ST: ???????

S: I mean... I am lucky to make you my sister-in-law!

ST: But I am also lucky to make you my brother-in-law! We are all so lucky!

S: A happy family! (?!?!?!?!?!)

ST: Are we gonna stop kidding ourselves, ever?

Sotiris can’t handle her bluntness and tries to leave again. Stella shuts the door and asks him why he ruins everything good in his life - his relationship with his family, his opportunity at a good job. Sotiris stops her and says she has no idea what it is like to feel lonely. Stella is infuriated and claims she is the true expert in loneliness, denying openly that Nikos is hers and kicks Sotiris out of her room. What she meant about Sotiris ruining his life was that Sotiris was refusing his chances at happiness. Stella’s question seems irrelevant to the previous discussion and Sotiris’ slip-up but it is not. She indirectly asks him why he denies her even though he is in love with her, and why he has a habit of doing this in all aspects of his life. This episodic encounter leaves Sotiris confused and Stella very sad.

Sotiris still is in a relationship of sorts with Katerina. He still is mostly indifferent around her. Stella is watching them one morning and as she peeps through the window of Sotiris’ cabin, the chair she stands on breaks, making a loud noise. She manages to hide but Sotiris gets out and sees the broken chair and understands it was her. He can hardly suppress his satisfaction. He gets inside and reassures Katerina nobody saw them. Suddenly excited, he doesn’t let her leave and has sex with her with a new surge of energy. Stella doesn’t let Katerina fully enjoy that rare gift of Sotiris’ excitement - she ruins the tires of her bike. Poor Katerina. But Sotiris is going to know Stella was watching them and then ruined his girlfriend’s tires. It’s not like Stella ever gave a single shit in her life...

Episode 10

Stella takes it even further and the following Sunday meets Katerina before she gets to Sotiris’ cabin and tells her he’s a gigolo! Katerina freaks out and leaves. When Sotiris gets out to see why Katerina is late for their date, Stella leaves singing “Wait no more, it’s all over...” Like, she’s ruining his relationship to his face, she doesn’t even bother to hide it! But let’s be real; Sotiris enjoys seeing Stella trying to ruin his relationship.

Anneta and Sotiris go to a private detective. He advices them to search for Stella’s ID card. Sotiris sneaks into her room but Stella follows soon after and Sotiris hides under her bed. Stella jumps into her bed in a good mood and unknowingly nearly breaks Sotiris’ neck. Sotiris is pissed but of course can’t reveal to the rest of the family how he got injured. When they go to the detective’s office again, the detective tells them what he has found out about her so far, including that: she was a school flagbearer because of her height, she quit many jobs because she was getting sexually harrassed by her bosses, she was dating a famous Greek singer, she was popular among rich Greek expats in Australia, she was working as a model there and had an offer to be in the cover of Australian Vogue. Sotiris breaks at this point and bursts out laughing. However, he scolds Anneta when she makes her vitriolic remarks. “Come on, Anneta, enough!”. The interesting thing here is that we have again the trope of projected exposition; when Anneta says her head is buzzing because she was told Vicky dated a handsome celebrity, we actually get a shot of Sotiris experiencing exactly this.

When they conclude it can’t be the same person and the detective is offended, Anneta says “Sotiris, let’s go, I am getting a headache!” and we see Sotiris looking like he’s getting a headache. So it is definitely a thing in this show - Sotiris’ feelings are projected through others because he almost never expresses them on his own.

Back in the house, Panagiotis reveals to Stella that someone from the family is in love with her. He means himself but Stella thinks it’s a confirmation of her suspicion that Sotiris loves her.

(End of part 1)

#greece #greek tv #greek post #greek tv series #eisai to tairi mou #greek facts #you are my soulmate #meta #analysis

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