ever since the initial rumours that casualty was going to tackle the subject of school shootings, my mind’s been returning again and again to the last time the show did this - in 2010, as the series 25 opener, ‘entry wounds’.
it’s one of the few episodes that’s stuck with me over the years, and i rewatched it earlier this week to see how it would compare with the latest episode. obviously, it doesn’t always mean much to compare episodes that tackle the same themes - there are so many different ways to address things, ways that aren’t necessarily objectively better or worse than others.
saying that, however... i think casualty largely did a better job of things in 2010.
for one thing, the murderers actually felt more like fleshed out characters in ‘entry wounds’, compared with ‘wednesday’s child’. we’ve had ollie for what, six years now? and yet his shift from an ordinary if not somewhat troubled teen to a full blown, gun-wielding murderer, feels so abrupt and honestly, unbelievable. to be clear, i definitely don’t mean to trivialise the traumatic impact of bullying - i’ve lived that trauma myself - but it’s only been a few months, if that, and yet somehow this is enough to transform him entirely?
then there’s rob. he existed to... manipulate and drag ollie to the dark side, and then die doing what he loved most - being a piece of shit.
compare that with jamie and devlan in 2010. despite having only been introduced in that very episode, by the end of it we know why they did it. in fairness, devlan’s full motives aren’t entirely clear until five episodes later - but he’s alive for that. rob and ollie are not. so it’s probably safe to say we’ll never entirely know what drove them to it.
not the most satisfying way to end things for ollie, considering everything we’ve seen him go through before this.
i feel like overall, the 2010 episode also felt more poignant, and focused on emotion rather than high-stakes drama.
saying that, i feel like... it was an interesting decision to kill off ollie. despite the unsatisfying lack of resolution it gives us for why he did it, it also gave jason durr an opportunity to knock our bloody socks off with his acting skills. everything he did after ollie was brought in was some of the most powerful stuff i’ve seen on this show in so long. his fear, his anger, his desperation to believe that natalia was lying, his grief... man, he’s such a good actor. he had me on the brink of tears.
the flashbacks worked so well, too. that’s actually something i feel this ep did better than 2010 - there, it almost seemed as if we were expected to feel sorry for devlan, because aw he just liked this girl so much and the other kids laughed at him once... whereas here, the flashbacks were for david, and they were so simple but so effective.
honestly, i’m in two minds about this episode. david’s scenes, especially once ollie was in the ed, were clearly the standout moments. but ollie’s transformation into a killer - or even just an accomplice, since we never actually saw him kill anyone - feels a bit halfbaked to me. i trust the show will handle david’s grief well, but i wish we could have seen more into ollie’s head when it mattered most.
(interestingly enough, the 2010 episode also featured a school theatre as a significant location. which is a neat coincidence to end this rambly post on.)
Consistently shocked by the idea that people think Bradley Rooster Bradshaw is chill and laid back. He’s actually shockingly unchill. He is the opposite of chill. He did not inherent any of his parents chillness. He’s a loser who’s too invested in everything.
Like ya hi I’m Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw and I cut off my remaining family, surrogate father, and support system for 15 years cuz he pulled my naval academy papers because he didn’t want me to die like my biological father and because my mother wanted me to be free of the navy’s confinements and to exist outside of a system that physically uses me for their own power and political gains— gains I will never experience and feel for myself. A system that sees me as no more than a number, a soldier, something easily replaceable, as a body to be sacrificed in a war that i did not start nor will i finish.
“Bradley's chill.” No he’s not. He’s a beast. He’s a 30 something year old man whose entire purpose revolves around holding a grudge and proving his surrogate father wrong. This beast who literally said this to his surrogate father— "No wife. No kids. Nobody to mourn when you burn in." Beastly. Ghastly thing to say. 15 years and he still hates the guy who's been there for him since day one. He’s a guy who refuses to even begin to understand where Mav was coming from or to even think of what his mother wanted. He’s evil. And I love him.
Hi I’m Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw and when someone brings up a well known, easily accessible fact that my father and surrogate father used to fly together I will try to cause physical harm against them and my friends will have to physically hold me back. I’m Bradley Bradshaw and I was willing to put my entire career on the line (the one in which I put my family aside for) so I can attack and beat this guy up.
I love his big ol’ Bambi eyes… he’s evil and fucked up and he’s not chill. Yes he wears jorts and tropical shirts, but that just means he’s gay and a fucking liar. Just cuz he looks like some surfer dude does not mean that he’s actually laid back like one. He’s lying to himself— trying to convince himself he is something that he is not and never will be. He is unchill. He’s lame. He has undiagnosed anxiety and it physically expresses itself through anger and loserly-ness. He cares so much to the point of self sabotage. He will always be unchill, no matter how much he tries to change that fact.
Y’all ever want to cradle a grown man in your arms? (graphic design is my passion)
dune fandom!! so today i learned that the voice of this little guy...
belongs to none other than A SQUIRREL. specifically, it's from a recording that dani connor wild (a wildlife photographer) made in 2020. the squirrel is named "baby pear." that's right – our friend the muad'dib carries the legacy of baby pear :)
original source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5hDqszK_Eq/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==
Oooo starstruck dee has little stars at the bottom of her feet! Are they just aesthetic or would they make imprints into the ground? (like pawprints)
exactly like that! though she's not the only one...
edit: might need to add some additional dialogue to this to make it more clear, but a clarification in the interim; he knows about his own footprints. he's just surprised to see something similar already there when he knows he's only just landed. he lifts his own shoe to confirm that they're not identical (and also to reveal this to the viewer). seems his stoicism beat off the clarity in this one, sorry 😭
She really saw Finch bring his trophy husband as his plus one and couldn't resist complimenting him on his arm candy the way a waiter would show approval of the meal you ordered, ft. Finch's little smile and eyebrow waggle of agreement.
(On Jason, Thalia, Nico, Bianca, and their parallels/connections)
The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan), @/anxiousmaya_, Right Now (Gracie Abrams), The Battle of the Labyrinth (Rick Riordan), Joan of Arc (Mary Gordon), The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan), Episodes Toward and Elegy for Halley's Comet (Lindsey Drager), Jason Grace (Riordan Wiki), The Gods Show Up (Michael Kinnucan), The House of Hades (Rick Riordan), What the Living Do (Marie Howe), The House of Hades (Rick Riordan), Planet of Love (Richard Siken), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), Tangerine (Nolune), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), I Bet On Losing Dogs (Mitski), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), @/abhorarchive (Twitter), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), Seventeen (MARINA), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), @/rollercoasterwords, The Tyrant's Tomb (Rick Riordan), @/the-overanalyst, Where Things Come Back (John Corey Whaley), Grit (Silas Denver Martin), Softcore (The Neighbourhood), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), Frost (Mitski), @/moonbends, I'm Your Man (Mitski), Sun Bleached Flies (Ethel Cain), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), Three (Sleeping At Last), My Art
re: this reddit post i found that discusses the idea that bedelia was too focused on being safe from hannibal, and that she neglected to consider the danger of actively provoking will (and his jealousy), who is just as dangerous. she did this by taunting him about how she was hannibal's wife, and with him "behind the veil" unlike will. OP says that bedelia seems like will's primary post-fall target because of this, and mentions the end credit scene of bedelia in TWOTL. (i really recommend reading their whole post! it was a very interesting observation and theory)
i am going to work with this idea that will is jealous of/angry at bedelia for her being in italy with hannibal instead of him (because will was supposed to be the one hannibal ran away with), and that the end credit scene of bedelia is reality.
i think there is significance to the fact that bedelia specifically had her leg (and most likely the rest of her limbs) cut off, cooked, and eaten by will and hannibal.
who is the only other person we have seen killed this way? gideon. why did hannibal want gideon dead in the first place? because gideon was effectively stealing hannibal's identity as the chesapeake ripper.
both gideon and bedelia were living lives that were not their lives to live. gideon falsely living as the chesapeake ripper, and bedelia falsely living as hannibal's companion, "behind the veil," in will's place.
i also thought it was interesting that in antipasto, the episode switches between the b&w flashback of hannibal cooking and eating gideon's limbs, and hannibal and bedelia's life in europe. i thought this could've been some subtle foreshadowing — as bedelia is living a life that wasnt hers to live, we see what happened to a man who was living a life that wasn't his to live.
as hannibal and gideon eat together, gideon learns about the real chesapeake ripper ("you were determined to know the chesapeake ripper, gideon. now is your opportunity"). i imagine that will and hannibal would do the same thing to bedelia. explaining their life together post-cliff, which what was supposed to happen post-mizumono, to bedelia who was in will's place, living a life that wasn't hers to live.
even further, i noticed that the painting changes in the room bedelia is in from the last time we see her in TWOTL (when will tells her his plan to fake hannibals escape) to the post-credit scene, which indicates that time has passed. so, they didnt instantly go to kill bedelia after the cliff. this time between the cliff and the post-credit scene could be the story of will and hannibal's life together that they explain to bedelia
so, bedelia gets the same treatment as gideon. they both get to see how it feels to (literally) have a part of them, their identity, their lives, taken from them. as they learn about the life they were stealing from the person whose life they were stealing. the divine punishment of a sinner mirrors the sin being punished.
heyyyy who wants some lowish-resolution Lights Out angst scribbles before i go sleep!!!
(gonna put this under the cut bc im not sure if it can be considered spoiler-y or not? does this au even Have spoilers if there's no shared cohesive plot yet? who knows! i'm doing this impulsively i don't know what i'm doing ever! ! i like drawing characters in distress and anguish! thank you!)
the only correct way to write proper high-stake sci-fi finale is to get 3 very gay men and ask them to improvise the most camp, slutty and intense game of catch (also helps if one is trouser-less)
look, they knew exactly what they were doing
the tension, oh gawd the tension
15's face kills me everytime
honestly show me a scene with a better sequence of events (bet you can't), I'll wait right here