*two disclaimers: I normally hate making prediction posts, and I keep changing my mind about this one, so don't be surprised if I change it again before S4*
woke up thinking about this post from last fall. I know the OP was trying to make a slightly different point, but for me it serves as a reminder that Nat has historically been considered the "moral compass" of the show, while Lottie has... not.
in fact, I think the way S3 ends really drives home the point that Lottie has fallen to new depths of shall we say "corruption" (for lack of a better term), while Nat has risen to near hero status. this is represented by Lottie's time in the cave while Nat was climbing the mountain to call for rescue, but that's kind of been the contrast between them ever since Doomcoming.
btw, this is not to say that our fandom has not already recognized Nat's imperfections or debunked the "moral compass" allegations. in fact, no one has done this better or with more nuance and love than my moot, and I highly suggest checking out her gray morality post and her post about Nat's avoidance.
up until now, however, we've only ever seen her on the edge of violence. she had the knife at one point during Doomcoming, but she didn't use it. she threatened Jackie after Jackie made that comment about Nat being "mayor of poundtown," but she didn't follow through with it.
she also shoves Misty and cusses her out when she discovers the black box, but she quickly stops herself from harming her any further and even teams up with her (and Van) to use parts from it to fix the transponder.
there are many instances, in fact, in which Nat teeters on that edge of violence without going all the way there. let's also not forget that she initially came after Lottie with a tree branch when she first escaped at the compound.
and yet, I was reminded today that we already know she can and has gone over that edge. we just haven't seen her do it. we've only been told she has.
which brings me to the infamous mugshot photo...
when I first saw this, I assumed she'd been arrested for some petty crime— public intoxication, drug possession, or something of that sort.
but... isn't it possible (not certain, by any stretch, but possible) that we are going to see her completely fall from her position as "moral compass" in a really dramatic way?
I know that if I had a character like Nat, whom I had last placed in the position of "hero" (meaning, literally atop a mountain, calling for rescue)— and if I were writing a show that had "gray morality" as one of its central themes— I would be painfully tempted to knock her as far down as possible just to make a point.
in fact, I can almost hear Bart and Ashley in my head, saying, "oh, you thought she was a hero, huh?" while twirling their metaphorical mustaches.
I know, I know 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
it's fine if you disagree.
and, like, I said... do not be surprised if I change my mind again before S4. this is definitely something I never feel very sure of, but... as a writer myself, I can't help but wonder.
Can we please stop saying things like “Nat ruined Travis’ life with drugs” and was “always getting him to relapse.”
Travis is showing signs of addictive, compulsive coping in the wilderness, often when he is emotionally separated from Nat entirely. His struggles are rooted in trauma, grief, survivor’s guilt, repression, and unbearable emotional pain. Nat’s addiction is born from the same place. They are two traumatized addicts who absolutely feed into each other’s unhealthy patterns, but mutually.
Nat says they both tried to keep each other clean. And when Lottie asks her what happened when Nat and Travis last saw each other, she says, “What always happens,” implying there is a repeating cycle of relapsing together whenever they are around each other for too long. Taissa refers to their relationship as a “trainwreck,” says Nat and Travis are “the worst for each other,” and implies that she has had to “drag” Nat out of “that toxic shit” multiple times. It’s a mutually toxic relationship, and that’s what makes it interesting!
Nat and Travis are both addicts. They feed into each other’s addictions, obsessions, and unhealthy coping mechanisms in an extremely codependent, mutually destructive way. Travis has his own destructive patterns and his own part to play in the toxicity of his and Nat’s relationship. He is not living healthy and innocent until Nat comes into his life and wrecks it all. Framing addiction as something Nat imposed onto Travis misunderstands both their dynamic and addiction itself.
So many subtle, delicious Tainat moments in this 3x06 scene…
Tai jumps to stop Gen when she pushes Nat:
Tai looks conflicted and guilty as Van yells at Nat:
Tai attempts to diffuse the situation as she senses it’s starting to become dangerous for Nat, suggesting a trial in an attempt to bring civility back to the group and protect Nat from immediate harm (using the same method she saw Nat use to protect Coach Ben):
She steps in front of Nat when Shauna threatens Nat’s life, getting in Shauna’s face, fully ready to challenge Shauna to protect Nat:
And the seething glare Tai shoots Lottie after she crowns Shauna as the new leader. Her anger and disappointment is so palpable in a single look that Lottie immediately avoids eye contact with her:
"you already scanned that one." "it's easier this way.", and how shauna shipman cycles through the same things again and again, trapped in a cycle of self punishment that only hurts her and the people around her, simply because it feels like the easiest and most natural thing for her to do
I know there’s this desire in the YJ fandom right now (myself included at times) for Nat to become more outwardly vicious or explosive like Shauna, especially after Season 3 (I’ve even seen posts advocating for her to “switch places with Shauna” in Season 4), but I can’t help but feel like that would do a disservice to both characters.
One of the main appeals of Nat and Shauna’s roles on the show is how they contrast in the ways they express trauma and anger. They both have a deep sense of self-hatred and a core belief that they poison the people they love and are therefore undeserving of closeness, but they embody it through completely different survival mechanisms. Shauna externalizes and lashes out until she has destroyed everything she could possibly risk caring about and allowing herself to love. Nat internalizes and drowns in her guilt until she has destroyed herself to the point that no one will come near her. Shauna cannot tolerate her grief and self-blame sitting inside her, so she projects it outward onto everyone around her. Nat turns it inward and lets it consume her. And in doing so, both of them continually recreate the very conditions that traumatized them in the first place. Shauna’s externalization manifests as violence, continually reinforcing her belief that she is dangerous and undeserving of love, while Nat’s internalization leaves her frozen and passive, complicit in harms she can never forgive herself for, trapping her in a relentless cycle of guilt and self-punishment.
That’s why they understand each other so deeply while also constantly clashing. Shauna sees Nat’s moral posturing as hypocrisy because she recognizes the same guilt inside her. Nat sees Shauna’s brutality and rejects it because Shauna externalizes what Nat spends her entire life trying to contain ("Keep the tiger in the cage").
I don’t want to see Nat become outwardly abusive and aggressive in the way Season 3 Shauna was. That trauma response is unique to Shauna, in the same way that Lottie’s religious fanaticism is unique, Tai’s compartmentalization and dissociation are unique, Van’s escapism, Misty’s obsession, Travis’ submission, ETC. Each character represents the many different, complex faces of trauma. The brilliance of Nat’s dark side is that it comes out through manipulation, playing the moral high ground, and remaining complicit. She has brief, fleeting moments when her anger breaks through the surface, and we see her lash out, but she almost always retreats afterward, collapsing inward and resuming her state of passivity and paralysis in the face of her guilt. Nat’s pathology has always been quieter than Shauna's, but it can be equally as destructive.
Nat's tendency to internalize her rage and trauma makes moments like her faking Javi's death and allowing him to die, covering up the truth from Travis, or taking the moral high ground during Ben’s trial so compelling. Nat’s cruelty rarely looks like Shauna’s. It looks like silence, rationalization, letting something terrible happen because intervening would force her to fully confront herself (and the fact that she's benefiting from these terrible acts). The way she drowns in her guilt and wears her remorse on her sleeve creates the illusion of innocence. And that distinction is far more interesting than simply turning her into another version of Shauna.
"you were always it's favorite" the wilderness sent wolves after tai's group when they tried to hike out, but it let nat climb to the cliff tops and call for help
"you were always it's favorite" the wilderness blew up laura lee's plane when she tried to leave, but let natalie do whatever she wanted
"you were always it's favorite" the wilderness didn't spare mari, who drew the queen only due to interference from another, but it did everything to save natalie who drew the queen fair and square
the wilderness didn't want them to leave, but it loved natalie so much it let her go
I know there’s this desire in the YJ fandom right now (myself included at times) for Nat to become more openly vicious or explosive like Shauna, especially after Season 3 (I’ve even seen posts advocating for her to “switch places with Shauna” in Season 4), but I can’t help but feel like that would do a disservice to both characters.
One of the main appeals of Nat and Shauna’s roles on the show is how they contrast in the ways they express trauma and anger. They both have a deep sense of self-hatred and a core belief that they poison the people they love and are therefore undeserving of closeness, but they embody it through completely different survival mechanisms. Shauna externalizes and lashes out until she has destroyed everything she could possibly risk caring about and allowing herself to love. Nat internalizes and drowns in her guilt until she has destroyed herself to the point that no one will come near her. Shauna cannot tolerate her grief and self-blame sitting inside her, so she projects it outward onto everyone around her. Nat turns it inward and lets it consume her. And in doing so, both of them continually recreate the very conditions that traumatized them in the first place. Shauna’s externalization manifests as violence, continually reinforcing her belief that she is dangerous and undeserving of love, while Nat’s internalization leaves her frozen and passive, complicit in harms she can never forgive herself for, trapping her in a relentless cycle of guilt and self-punishment.
That’s why they understand each other so deeply while also constantly clashing. Shauna sees Nat’s moral posturing as hypocrisy because she recognizes the same guilt inside her. Nat sees Shauna’s brutality and rejects it because Shauna externalizes what Nat spends her entire life trying to contain ("Keep the tiger in the cage").
I don’t want to see Nat become outwardly abusive and aggressive in the way Season 3 Shauna was. That trauma response is unique to Shauna, in the same way that Lottie’s religious fanaticism is unique, Tai’s compartmentalization and dissociation are unique, Van’s escapism, Misty’s obsession, Travis’ submission, ETC. Each character represents the many different, complex faces of trauma. The brilliance of Nat’s dark side is that it comes out through manipulation, playing the moral high ground, and remaining complicit. She has brief, fleeting moments when her anger breaks through the surface, and we see her lash out, but she almost always retreats afterward, collapsing inward and resuming her state of passivity and paralysis in the face of her guilt. Nat’s pathology has always been quieter than Shauna's, but it can be equally as destructive.
Nat's tendency to internalize her rage and trauma makes moments like her faking Javi's death and allowing him to die, covering up the truth from Travis, or taking the moral high ground during Ben’s trial so compelling. Nat’s cruelty rarely looks like Shauna’s. It looks like silence, rationalization, letting something terrible happen because intervening would force her to fully confront herself (and the fact that she's benefiting from these terrible acts). The way she drowns in her guilt and wears her remorse on her sleeve creates the illusion of innocence. And that distinction is far more interesting than simply turning her into another version of Shauna.
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