Daniela

Colombian 🇨🇴| she/her | eng/esp | 27

[mearchy]

boba fett and din djarin as literal inverses of each other on more levels than just the superficial is so interesting to me.

boba fett, who is the grandson of one of the most famous and influential mand’alors in modern history. whose father also briefly ruled, who has a claim to the throne by most measures. boba fett, whose exposure to mandalorian culture and history and politics was largely involuntary and he left it behind as much as possible. who says he isn't mandalorian and seemingly wants little to do with this identity. boba fett who has crafted an entirely separate superseding identity, a legend, around himself as an individual through blood and sweat and tears.

din djarin, the kid who came from nowhere important, just another little planet in the warpath. who was picked up and dropped in the lap of mandalorians and decided to throw his entire being into becoming this thing. who was immersed in mandalorian identity and bled to become one of them instead of being left behind. who was still unable to access his people’s history and politics and culture. din djarin who consistently refuses to individualize himself, refuses to even give his name, because his identity as just one part of a collective whole- one nameless mandalorian among many - is so important to him.

both of them becoming reluctant mand’alors in their own time. both of them coping with the legacy of their peoples’ genocide and civil war no matter how they try to run from it. both of them being dragged kicking and screaming into mandalorian politics and accidentally being good at it.

what we can learn from this? is that regardless of background, the good mand’alor is just the one who wishes someone else would take the job.

[borninmontage]

the Dennis Whitaker effect [1x14 // 2x15]

[olyphant-tim]

RABBOT + text posts

[noah-wyles]

the most beautiful scene. i felt like he was talking to a younger version of himself as well as baby jane doe. that 8 year old abandoned by his mother at his grandparents who was very aware of this abandonment. i also thought he was talking to himself a little as well.

robby, you are so loved. even when you hold people at arms length and you lash out and you fight. you deserve to heal yourself and see wonderful things and be loved.

[sammroo167]

Gown up. Robby, it's you and me.  Saddle up, cowboy. We got this.

[elegantdeerbaran]

i feel like people who hate robby but love langdon are literally living on a different planet than me. like you think robby should die horrifically because he has unconscious biases that he himself has acknowledged and corrected before (i.e listening to cassie regarding the david situation in s1) but you call langdon your babygirl when he's referred to women as "females", constantly expects the women around him (mel, dana, abby) to take on extra emotional labor for him without considering them at all, and tried to slander trinity and get her fired knowing that people were more likely to believe him as a white man, and has yet to actually acknowledge his own overt misogynistic tendencies. obviously i don't think langdon irredeemably evil or anything, i actually kind of like him this season, but i just can't comprehend how someone could think robby is the devil from the bible because of his treatment of women while langdon gets a free pass because he's like, supposedly attractive ig?

[drmelking]

To me, one of the most intriguing undercurrents to Whitaker's arc this season has been about his feelings of alienation, emasculation, and inability to connect with the other men in the department. Javadi calls him an astrology-girlie. The betting boys club mock him and visibly look down on him. He very awkwardly compliments Robby on his motorcycle . Langdon teases him about the med student badge and then gets in his face about the librium faux-pas, physically intimidating him. Ogilve doesn't take him seriously until the very end, Park the Shark calls him an idiot, Joy loudly outs him as having been unhoused in front of the entire department.

And it is both very telling and very interesting that his final straw is Langdon openly mocking his masculinity, the back-handed compliment of stating Whitaker doesn't seem like a gym guy, starting to make what was obviously going to be a crude and inappropriately derisive joke about his sex life. And I don't think Langdon is intending to be as mean spirited or triggering as Whitaker is perceiving it--he has had moments of trying to be a genuinely good teacher to him, being helpful and kind. But still, he has been condescending and patronizing all day, forcing a familiarity and power dynamic to their non-existent relationship that Whitaker is very clearly not okay or comfortable with at all. And exhausted from this shift, stressed about his badge and the shitty old lady and Amy and money, Whitaker has completely lost his ability to swallow it all down. And so for the first time that day, maybe ever, he asserts a firm boundary and stands up for himself.

And crucially this is the first time, too, we see Langdon take in a boundary, hear it, receive it, and respect it. He apologizes, genuinely, and doesn't deflect or defend or respond with hostility. And when Whitaker feels bad, second-guesses himself and start to backtrack, Langdon says--hey, no. You were right. It's okay. It's a huge moment of growth for them both, and the fact that they really hardly know each other is exactly what is critical to allowing so much development.

[tinygalaxykid]

I haven't stopped noticing the severe change in costuming and makeup for Robby between seasons 1 and 2. He look entirely different. It's a really dramatic change in how he presents himself.

In season 1, Noah Wyle described the costuming process for Robby as: being shown a wardrobe and doing what Robby would do on any random day-- pick what was clean. The result is something comfortable. Old cargo pants that don't match his scrub colors at all, a t-shirt, and an old hoodie. His hair is not unkempt by any means, but it's scruffy. The result is this gentle, at-ease man who is dressed for utility. He doesn't need to look nice, he needs to do his job. It has this rounded shape language to it too that makes him seem friendly and approachable.

Season 2 Robby is all sharp angles. He looks distinctly professional. The green fleece and quarter sleeve match, his black pants fit quite nicely, and his hair is much neater. Noah Wyle has yet to say anything about Robby's costuming this season but the shift feels so intentional.

And the makeup this season is incredible. Robby looks 10 years older. He is gaunt. His skin really shows his age. It's unclear if Noah Wyle did anything to his body but they certainly took pains to make it look like Robby lost a lot of weight.

He looks unrecognizable here. It's genuinely phenomenal.

How Robby presents himself has always been such an important part of his character. His costuming for season 2 feels so significant. This is his last day at the PTMC. All of his actions are tinged with the word "final." That affects every choice you make consciously or subconsciously.

What do you wear on the day you say goodbye to everyone you care about? How do you want them to remember you? Do you spend a little extra time on your hair? Do you try to present yourself as someone confident, capable, and larger-than-life?

When you get dressed that day, are you thinking about what your picture is going to look like on the wall near the entrance of the ED?

[tinygalaxykid]

This episode proves that Robby does not need to be made to stay. He doesn't need a psych hold. He doesn't need someone to wreck his bike.

He just needs people to really talk to him. It took so little for him to tell Duke everything. He wasn't really hiding anything-- he just needed someone to ask. He needs someone to tell him that he's important. That he is needed. A reminder that he matters outside of the ED. He needs friends and community. He needs a reminder of his faith and heritage.

There are so many things people in pain need to heal and none of them are punitive force. I love the scene in the ambulance bay. Robby's motorcycle, a friend, the presence of the magen david in Duke's tattoo; it's such a small smattering of things but it's shrine to who Robby is outside of the ED. It begs us to believe that a life, even that small, even that hard, still matters.

[alexisneverokay]

I fully believe that whenever robby is overwhelmed he just marches up to dennis, hugs him into his chest, and buries his face into his hair. and then he'll just stand there for 30 seconds or so, breathing in and out slowly, really filling his lungs with the sweet scent of dennis, and letting the soft curls soothe him until he's ready to emerge again.

dennis will be grinning unashamedly into his chest the whole time, not even remotely guilty about enjoying the warm puffs of breath he can feel against his scalp as robby calms himself down. dennis always gets a sweet kiss in return, and the honeyed look in robby's eyes that makes his stomach wobble.

they do it without words these days, they understand each other without them, knowing exactly what the other needs on the purest level. it's just how they work.

[thebreakfastgenie]

That scene between Robby and Donnie is so important. He lets Donnie go home to his wife and baby and asks him not to tell anyone because he knows it's unfair. He himself said Santos and Whitaker shouldn't have to do all the digitizing themselves, that's why he was asking Donnie to stay. But he lets him go and checks that he's okay to drive home. This is the kind of boss Robby usually is. That's why everyone in the ED holds him in high regard. He's earned a lot of loyalty and love from these people over the years. We get so few glimpses of the person Robby used to be and I live for them. This might be the clearest one yet.

[puppiegracie]

okay I know I said no Pitt takes but people are acting like the baran and robby scene came out of nowhere. it didn't.

it wasn't even an admittance that they like each other, tbh. it was just a quiet yeah you're a good doctor. you are too. because they both fucking are, and have seen it this shift. baran has seen robby save lives just as robby watched that slash trake with stars in his eyes. he does admire her and he does recognize her intelligence.

baran leads with empathy and kindness, it makes sense she would say something kind, and that she would be the first to truly do so. no, robby doesn't necessarily "deserve" it. he's been a fucking asshat to her much of the time. but the beauty of baran's character is she doesn't reserve her empathy for those she deems worthy— (cough like so many of you cough) she freely gives it.

the reason Robby was unsure of Baran in the beginning was mainly because he's grasping at straws to make himself stay. if Baran is "unfit to run the ED" than that means he has to stay, right? he can't just leave, right? they need him, right? he gets more combative after Baran is shown to be capable because fuck, maybe no one does need him. it's not even really about Baran.

it's now shifted a little. Robby is genuinely concerned. it's a concerning thing— whether you guys want to admit it or not, it is. she could be capable and she has most definitely been but if she seizes at the wrong moment, so to speak, that's very dangerous for whatever patient she may be supervising. plus clearly, she wouldn't even be bringing it up if she didn't consider it dangerous herself— she's likely getting worse.

this scene is not undermining Baran's character or even particularly lifting up Robby that much. it's just another facet of her goodness, her maturity, her professionality, etc etc. and Robby responds to it because he's been matching tones all day— he's very unstable and this wasn't negating that, or negating that he was an ass. two things can be true. he was a fucking dick. but he does harbor respect for her.

now, seeing as this is mainly seen in acting choices and subtext, of course most people missed it, because you guys scream and cry about how this show is too heavy handed and obvious with it's writing— but when something isn't heavy handed, you fucking miss it. cmon. (just like somehow everybody missed the fact that tension has been building between Frank and Dennis literally the whole shift.)

[enbloop]

trying to explain whitaker and langdon’s conversation!

I’ve seen a lot of people confused on Whitaker and Langdon’s conversation in the break room and the subtext is doing SO much work. On the surface it sounds like they’re just making a random Gilligan’s Island reference, and a lot of people are taking it at face value because they just don’t understand what’s happening (lol)

FOR CONTEXT: Gilligan’s Island is an old sitcom about a group of people stranded on an island after a boat trip goes wrong. Every character in the series has a very clearly defined role in the group.

When Whitaker brings up Skipper and Gilligan after Langdon calls him “little buddy,” he’s reacting to that exact idea of being placed into a predefined role. Even if Langdon doesn’t mean it in a cruel way, that kind of language still implies a hierarchy where one person gets to define the other.

Two episodes earlier (I think…?) Santos tells Whitaker about how Langdon, on her first day as a doctor, made her question her competence and whether she even belongs in the ER at all. So Whitaker is already primed to see a pattern where Langdon (intentionally or not) destabilizes people’s sense of where they stand in the hierarchy.

When Whitaker snaps, it’s him reacting to that pattern in real time. And it’s not just about his own interaction, it’s also about what has been happening to Santos because, remember, they’re FRIENDS and he’s looking out for her too.

When Langdon says “Okay, what part am I?” he’s trying to restore that kind of structured system where everyone has a clear, assigned role, specifically because that’s what he’s been trying to do this entire season; he’s been trying to find his role in the ER since last season, he had a definitive role—He was Robby’s golden boy. But Whitaker rejects that entirely with “Play whatever part you like, just don’t pick mine for me,” He is explicitly saying that Langdon doesn’t get to assign him a fixed identity or position in that hierarchy and that it didn’t matter where he, Langdon, fits in the hierarchy either.

ALSO, it’s really interesting is how they immediately start disagreeing on who fits into those roles in the actual ER. Langdon says Robby is the Skipper, which means he views Robby as the clear captain figure, the person at the top of the hierarchy who runs everything. Whitaker pushes back on that and says no, Robby is more like the Professor: someone highly skilled and important, but not necessarily the one actively steering the ship (pun intended) in real time. And Whitaker, instead, places Dana as the skipper, which reframes the authority completely. It suggests that, in practice, Dana is the one who actually keeps everything moving, coordinates chaos, and holds functional control over the environment, not just the person with the title.

[readysetjo]

Robby’s spontaneous poll of the women was everything to me. That whole scene was a delight to me, actually. Mostly because he stored the EMT names in his mind and stuck the largest pin in them so that he could advise them later. He’s not motivated by malice towards idiots but he has endless anger at common misses that kill people. He’s a no bullshit teacher and advocate and if you can keep your ego in the right place between competent confidence and teachable he likes you.

[tinygalaxykid]

Something I love about this season is how it shows the full effects of isolation and loneliness is healthcare workers. Every single person on this staff is trying to be a good person-- trying to do what is asked of them. But it doesn't even register that their complete isolation makes them virtually incapable of sustainability:

Santos: I can't stop thinking about the Isa Briones interview where she says "She pushes [Whitaker} away-- I think-- because she knows he'd be her best friend." Santos is always pushing people away while clawing at them to be close to her. She can't be honest about needed to be loved. She can't admit she loves living with Dennis. She can't bring herself to tell Robby how much she needs him there. She can't tell Yolanda what she really wants from her. It screams "know your place" and "if you told anyone any of this, they wouldn't care/ they'd use it to hurt you/ they'd leave"

Langdon: 10 months in recovery and no one reached out to him. 10 months of thinking "did any of them care about me? will they ever look at me the same? how can I ever go back there?" He's living through the realization that his entire social circle was built like a house of cards. It was predicated on him being the golden boy. Now, he has no place in what used to be his home.

McKay: McKay is so isolated by responsibility and circumstance. She lost custody of her kid. She had a fucking ankle monitor. She has so much bullshit to put up with in every part of her life. Her off shift life consists of co-parenting with fucking Chad! Even if she's happy with her son, it's hard and it's lonely. She's more numb than she knows. She can't even cry anymore. She's always finding ways to pass on advice and look out for other people-- but god what would a hug even do for her anymore?

Javadi: Went to college at thirteen. Celebrating her 21st during med school. A mom who accuses her of failure in the middle of her workplace. A dad who can't see what she's going through. No matter what accolades she has, emotionally Javadi is supporting herself. She chooses cute earrings and hoodies to wear to the job that was chosen for her from the moment of her birth because it's the little self expression she has. Under all this pressure, no one else will believe in her. No one else will cheer her on. She has to be excellent, independent, but can never be free.

Al-Hashimi: I am team #al-hashimi is having absence seizures and PTSD but we'll see. I think it's really clear that Al-Hashimi's professionalism is a double edged sword. It makes her an impeccable provider, but she struggles to integrate herself into the ED. Santos becomes cagey at the sight of her. Langdon puts up a facade. Robby can only tolerate her when they're jokingly flirting. Luckily, she's growing close to Dana (and perhaps McKay) but people are reluctant to tell her what's really going on. Al-Hashimi , ever the strict rule-follower, is her own chilling effect. Even if it might be for a greater good.

Mel: Mel lived her whole life for her sister. Remember, this goes so deep that Mel doesn't even know she's autistic! She is not capable of examining her own psyche, it's not her responsibility. Her responsibility is Becca and if she's good enough at that, at least she'll always have her sister. Without Becca, Mel is just a girl with no hobbies, no movies she's seen but Elf, and no friends to watch the fireworks with. She's unfit for her job, unfit to be a sister, and after that there's nothing left.

Mohan: "Someone would have to be in a bad way to leave you behind, little one." Oh SAMIRA. All she wants is someone to tell her that she belongs where she wants to be. Her mom doesn't want to stay with her. Al-Hashimi and Robby won't encourage her to stay. She has worked at the PTMC for 6 years. She was there as an MS3 when Adamson died. She's watched Robby's opinion of her go from "Rockstar" to "Slo-mo" to "Do you need to go home???" She's lived her whole life for a dream that has slipped through her fingers. She can't even help Orlando. It's losing her dad all over again. She's no one. She has no one. The worst part is that she thinks it's all her fault.

Whitaker: In one of the TV Insider interviews, Gerran says that Dennis' relationship with Trinity is so important because "it means a lot that someone is willing to put up with him." Whitaker, how did you end up so alone? Far from Nebraska and homeless despite having a lots of family. Mr. Milton telling him that his parents must be proud and him saying "I guess." It's funny because this season 2 is probably the least lonely he's ever been. He belongs at the PTMC, he lives with Trinity. Robby has this profound trust in him. Yet he can't get any of them to lean on him back. It's this horrible lose-lose where the people he cares about won't open up to him and he can't reciprocate despite being so, so willing.

Dana: Everyone should be talking about Dana 24/7. On the surface, she should be the best off out of all of them. A seemingly happy marriage and daughters she loves. But she knows she can't put this on them. She can't tell them or anyone about the vial of versed she keeps in her pocket. The nights she thinks about how fragile her safety is. The dreams she has about covid and the world crumbling around her. She has to be strong. Everyone is counting on her to be strong. She has to protect her family. She needs to be a rock for Robby. She needs to take care of her staff. Then, Emma has the gall to ask her why she keeps coming back. Like it's a choice. Like she knows how to anything else.

Robby: Everyone who has actually known Robby has left. His mom, his grandparents, Adamson, Janey, Jake, and Heather. Who does he have really? Does he have friends? It's implied that as close as he is to Dana, Jack, and (previously) Langdon, he doesn't see them outside of work. There must be, he thinks, something so fundamentally broken in him that stops him from being able to be close to other people. Some scar, some inability to let people in.

But he can't think about that. Whether the final nail in the coffin for him was Pittfest or Adamson or if he was broken from the start and the first person to ever see it was his mom.

He sleeps with the tv on so he can't hear himself think. He has a casual fling to feel normal. He works a minimum of 60 hours a week. He plans his "sabbatical." He spends his last day at the PTMC saying all of his goodbyes: drinking in the people he's going to leave behind even though not being able to be there for them is crushing him. He can't do it anymore, he can't be the leader they need. No matter how badly he wants to.

He listens to Ms. Azuremendi say "[Her son] was riding around on his trike, until he wasn't." He feels the parallel but knows it's different for him. Because that kid has a mom who noticed. He's not capable of being someone who might be missed, he can only just be worried about all the work he won't be there to do.

It's never occurred to him that he could be something else. That he could lean on them. That they might beg him to if they knew what was really going on.

[cbartonscoffee]

Javadi standing up for herself and talking back to Robby when speaks over her and negates her the opportunity to explain herself is everything. It shows how much trust she has in Robby and in having a place in the ED. Because she doesn't talk back like that when it's her mum that scolds her.

Every time that has happened she completely loses her voice, just takes the words as they come and tries to move past them once Shamsi's out of sight. But Robby calling her out on something he doesn't understand and isn't even what she was doing? She doesn't feel afraid of speaking up and correcting him. And when he doesn't allow her to do that, she doesn't think twice before giving him a piece of her mind and walking away. It's nothing like the way she takes criticism from her mother. In both cases it's completely unfounded criticism, but in one she has the rapport and trust necessary to stand up for herself without fearing catastrophic consequences. And it's not with her mother. Robby's created a space in which she feels she can advocate for herself. He's helped her gain confidence in herself and what she does and on how she has to defend those things, we've been seeing snippets of that all season.

[puppydogwhitaker]

“is that the final lesson to these kids.”

telling robby he’s needed is the only thing that works. that’s what got him off the floor in season one. telling him he needs to be a teacher, he needs to be a mentor, he needs to be a doctor, he needs to be an example.

duke highlighting how everyone looks to him is the most helpful thing for robby specifically. they look to robby for their habits and their futures, and robby has forgotten that in all his emotional turmoil.