Thoughts under a cut with a BIG spoiler warning, seriously do not read this unless you have finished both seasons
I got assigned female and most people still read me as a woman and a lesbian, so misogyny and homophobia both affect me, and for what it’s worth I didn’t feel at any time that the show was saying anything homophobic or misogynist. Many of the *characters* say homophobic and misogynistic things, but we're not meant to agree with them. The show portrays bigotry in a firmly *unflattering* light, it’s something the writers did on purpose. (Also, the show's two creators are both women, and one of them is bi and is married to a woman. But, maybe you already know that.)
Isaac tells Dulcie "just because you're a lesbian doesn't make you queer" because Dulcie is a *cop.* Isaac's point is that you can't be both queer and a cop, because to be queer is to be outside of norms, and cops are the ones who enforce those norms. (Btw I notice you’ve referred to Isaac as a man, but the show doesn’t tell us anything about Isaac’s gender.)
you cannot just say “prison bad” and not offer any alternatives or deeper discussion.
Eh. I think it's fine to criticize existing systems without necessarily offering an alternative plan. Sometimes just noticing what’s not working and why can be an important first step, you know?
But I do find it interesting that the deaths you named do feel a bit punitive to me, now that you’ve pointed it out. That’s a fascinating point. Until I read your post I would have confidently said that Deadloch valued rehabilitative justice, and I do still think that’s true, but I guess it’s more nuanced than I thought.
So. Why did I/do I think that?
Miki and Cath as writer-mouthpieces:
Miki’s speech to Eddie near the end of S2 features VERY rehabilitative-justice-y lines like “I don’t bin people” and “I’m trying to KEEP you”
Cath’s you-have-badly-fucked-up, please-do-better speech to Dulcie is also so loving and kind and even ends with a very sincere “I love you,” and that feels to me like Cath refusing to give up on Dulcie even when Dulcie is fucking up
I find Miki’s line to Pat “you’re not coming back here” so fascinating. It doesn’t seem like punishment or like rehabilitation either, I don’t think it fits into either of those categories…but it does feel to me like an important moment for this theme of what justice is in Deadloch. It’s such an incredibly mild way to respond under the circumstances, when you consider that Pat’s just killed someone — and that she *thought* she was shooting at Miki’s 10-year-old nephew and ward.
People who punish are Bad, in Deadloch. Although the *narrative* maybe punishes characters, with those deaths you named, there’s never a point in the show where a PERSON punishes another person, and where that punishment is shown in a positive light.
Pat’s vindictive rage is shown as racist and unhinged — we’re not meant to root for her.
The same is true when Shane Hastings and the Carnage Bay boys arrest the Deadloch women. Their vendetta is shown as pure misogyny.
The killer in S1 was choosing their victims because of the victims’ past mistreatment of women — an extreme example of punishment — and that’s shown as an insane unhinged reaction (“did any of the women actually ASK you to do this?!” Eddie demands, rhetorically, bc of course none of them did). The killer is shown as a ridiculous hypocrite (“SAY I’m your best ally!!”) and an idiot.
Relatedly, something I love is how Dulcie never seeks to punish anybody, and how in s1 she really often lets minor crimes slide.
A couple of characters who fuck up get rehabilitated, or at least treated sympathetically:
Vanessa’s homophobia is repeatedly shown in an unflattering light, but she’s never punished for it — instead she reforms herself and the s1 epilogue shows her proudly celebrating her rainbow family.
Phil McGangus is heavily implied to be a rapist, and he gets his tongue cut out, which feels pretty punitive…but in the epilogue of s1 we also see him looking thoughtful, like he’s regretting his mistakes, while the music swells warmly with the lyric “we belong together.” That final shot feels to me like a really sympathetic portrayal, like in spite of everything the show is rooting for him to get his shit together and be a better person.
So, I guess I don’t know that I see a totally consistent Message in the show about what justice should be like. I do know that I love the moments I’ve named above — the emphasis on kindness and rehabilitation instead of punishment. I like thinking about this, and I’d love to see another season (or another show) explore this topic more.
