a yap session about strattlands last scenes together in the book (part 1):
while i am a strattland shipper now, i was not when i initially read the book. however, my interpretations of these scenes are the same as they were before i watched the film.
first, weāll look at the scene of the baikonur explosion:
at this point, grace is practically the same level of authority as stratt is. heās doing her busy work for her, signing off some and setting aside the ones he knows she would want to review herself. theyāve reached a level of synchronicity where they can function together as a team without having the other present. i think itās sweet that heās just now realizing how much power he has. it took him a while to realize how important he was but stratt always knew. she made sure to give him the opportunity to prove it to himself. they also touched on this in movie when she asks him if he can take the compliment and has to order him to do so. grace is such a sweetheart, the journey he takes to become a hero is emphasized by so many small details just like this.
after the research center blows up, stratt checks on grace first. their portables were right next to each other so it makes sense that sheād check on him first. though, itās cute that their portables are next to each others hehe. anyway, i saw someone say that the reason she checked on him first was because he was her third backup but that makes absolutely no sense considering they donāt even know dubois and shapiro blew up and stratt clearly had a lot of trust and care for grace at this point. she checked on him because he was her friend not because she knew he was coma resistant. there was no ulterior motive here.
also grace really was doing her busy work while she took a break for once, hence the bathrobe.
the way they both repeat everything they say once because their panicking yet stratt is still on top of things while understanding graces feelings. sheās freaking out just as much as he is but she canāt let it overwhelm her. humanityās survival is dependent on her, she canāt afford to falter. grace also knew that she would know everyoneās location at any given time, heād seen her carrying schedule charts every day for at least a year, meaning theyāve seen each other every single day for at least a year. (iām actually crazy over them).
stratt likely realized at this point that grace would be the next best candidate but she didnāt let herself make that decision right away. when she slaps him and tells him to snap out of it, sheās trying to get him to feel the severity of the situation. sheās hoping against all the odds that there will be some miracle and that grace wonāt have to get on that ship.
the way this was probably the first time they went more than a day without seeing or speaking to each otherā¦ anyway, stratt was obviously in last minute meetings and such trying to figure out what happened. these meetings are probably where stratt and administration members came to the conclusion that they have to send grace on that trip. there was definitely a reason that she left him out of those conversations and not just because she needed someone to sign off on things.
the way she says āthe decisions been madeā and then āreally, the decision made itselfā makes me think that there was other people apart of choosing grace. dr. lokken, dr. lamai, the crew, dimitri, steve, everyone in that room was definitely all in agreement that grace had to go.
this is where stratt starts getting cruel, but i donāt think she means any of it. sheās just trying to detach herself from him before sending him off to space to make it easier on herself. thereās so much evidence beforehand that she doesnāt mean it this way. for example, this excerpt from an earlier scene:
stratt has always believed in grace. sheās never doubted him since the moment they met. she seeked him out because he dared to be different. he was what project hail mary needed, whether that be on earth or in space. she has never underestimated him because he was a teacher and she definitely didnāt start right before sending him to his death. not to mention that even before she knew he was coma resistant, grace was already a leading expert in astrophage. he literally named the species, obviously he was going to be a vital part of the project.
i donāt think stratt was being malicious by making sure he was trained. for all she knew, she wasnāt going to send him on the hail mary. she had no reason to believe that the science team would blow up and the idea of sending him on the hail mary was literally her worst nightmare. she says it herself, āgod knows i didnāt want it to come to thisā¦ā even if she didnāt say it aloud, she cared for him. she didnāt want to lose him. yes, grace was a backup but i donāt think thatās all she saw him as. they spent years together, working side by side every single day. everyone else thought they were screwing, and that he was second in command which once again prove that stratts words are only an attempt to distance herself.
soooo i still have a lot more to say so part 2 soon. maybe tonight or tomorrow hehe. if you read all this thank youuuu i love yapping about them so much.
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