All these theories going around that Eli was made by the Nemeton, But I pose WHAT IF he was made by the nogitsune... okay yes this makes no sense but nothing about the show made sense sooo.
s2 langdon comes back and mel doesnāt really acknowledge him theres no scene where she welcomes him back they donāt have any really defining moments as the season progresses meanwhile langdonās also telling everyone that his marriage is doing fine post rehab and that theyāre sticking together and abbyās been a real pillar of support for him and then in like episode 10 he and mel get nasty in a broom closet and reveal to the audience that heās a LIAR and heās been CHEATING ON HIS WIFE during the time skip
langdon slipping up and calling mel baby at work in front of a lot of people and he plays it off like he doesnāt know where that came from but melās face was beet red. and she had responded. š«¢
let's be real, langdon's first and immediate priority when he's caught is to the control the narrative. he knows santos has him, so he tries to run her name through the mud, make her an unreliable reporter, but that doesn't work--robby listens to her anyway. he pivots to robby--robby has to listen to him, right? but he doesn't, he searched the locker anyway. but he's not an addict, could an addict save lives, could an addict do any of what he's accomplished in a given shift--in a given week? more control, more pushing. he goes to dana, another confidant, and tries again to control what gets out, control how others see him in that moment, and when that doesn't work he gets nasty, he lashes out at robby about his most vulnerable moment. and if that doesn't solidify him as a true addict then idk what show y'all were watching, just because langdon wasn't nodding off in public doesn't take away that he's still an addict, he's acting exactly like someone in active use does, and even if he doesn't realize it, he's definitely still impaired. thanks for listening to my ted talk.
mel being happy to see langdon again and treating him normally but langdon being so ashamed of failing mel because she looked up to him so he doesnāt think he deserves her and tries to keep his distance so he canāt hurt her. at the end of their shift in the park across the street mel catches up to him walking to the parking garage and is like what is going on :( why arenāt you talking to me ā¦ did i do something wrong :( and heās like no mel. i just fucked up. and i let you down. idk what to do with that nowā¦ and she says no you didnāt ā¦.. but i forgive you
it's super clear that as a fandom that we don't realize how rare first time winners in sobriety are because there is not nearly enough angsty langdon relapse fics where mel isnt enough to keep him sober but is enough to get him through a second stint of rehab and mckay and the rest of the gang help him see the point in being sober even when you barely want to conceptualize that you have a problem. like OUTSIDE of the interview with patrick ball, based on the show, there's the actual presentation of someone desperate to not admit that they're struggling, that this is a genuine problem--do we think that'll go away after 30 days of rehab? methinks not
Langdon Mel angst hits hard but could hit harder... like imagine Frank obviously wanting more children but Mel doesn't want kids + Mel deep down wanting Langdon to propose but Frank refuses to get married again. When he does eventually propose she isn't sure she can say yes because he kinda sorta cheated on Abby (with her)
The potential for Langdon and Santos friendship is so funny cause they'd never admit that. They'll be middle aged prunes and still be like "I don't trust that mf" like guys your at brunch arguing over appetizers
downloaded TikTok for the first time ever just to watch the pitt fanedits and those comments are full of idiots but they have the energy so that's something
Listen, Kingdon is absolutely that trope where heās an asshole to everyone BUT her.
Langdon is constantly bickering and being snarky and just downright being an asshole to others. No one ever sees his sweet gentle side.
But to Mel? No, no thatās his babygirl and he could never say or do anything mean to her. Sheās the only person heāll be gentle for. Sheās also the only person heāll ever let take care of him.
AND heāll also be an asshole x 100 to anyone that even thinks about being mean to her or flirting with her. You cannot change my mind on this.
frankbecca bestieism means so much to me but wouldnāt it be funny if becca takes one look at that stupid piece of hair that swoops on his forehead and blue eyes and immediately is distrustful of him. she doesnāt hate him or complain when mel starts to incorporate him into their plans but sheās certainly not sitting there being his bff. okay sure he has a cute puppy named BUDDY and sure heās funny and alright!!! he talks to her without making her feel small, and he never treats her like a kid, and he always actively listens whenever she talks about the center or some other topic sheās really into. fine. whatever, mel smiles way more than she ever has in the past ten years whenever heās around, and itās nice that becca and mel have someone they can rely on because they sure as hell canāt rely on their father or any of the other men mel brought around. itās that fact right there that becca is so distrustful of frank. because it always starts like this. mel meets someone and becca goes all in, happy that her sister is happy and that she has a nice new friend but mel always ends up hurt. and as much as becca wants her sister to find a boy to kiss and date and get a life of her own she knows that ifāwhenāfrank leaves like they all do mel is going to be heartbroken. so sue becca for not welcoming frank with open arms even though she wants to because !!!! frank is so fun!!! his dog is fun his kids are fun its so fun when the center is hosting family events and becca can bring more than just her sister. eventually she does warm up to him fully. because sheās only human. and for his birthday or maybe christmas becca hunts online for the perfect gift and gives it to him
mel takes becca aside later that night and tells her that the two of them are only friends so becca obviously buys another shirt that says āfuture worldās okayest brother in lawā because mhmm yeah sure.
it becomes sort of becca & frankās thing. every holiday becca buys him the cheesiest most terrible brother in law gifts like mugs and sweatshirts and hats that heās so happy about. when mel & frank do eventually get together and married, becca buys him another shirt that says āworldās BEST brotherā that absolutely makes him tear up
let's speculate wildly about langdon's marriage, shall we!
a needlessly thorough breakdown of a single scene from 1x02 and what i think it might say about langdon, his addiction, and the state of his marriage
under the cut bc i get rambly!!
so a lot has been said about frank and abby's marriage based on the hints we get here and there in the first half of the season. i've even gone as far as saying they have a canonically bad marriage, which may be a little harsh, but i don't think anyone watching with a keen eye can say in good faith that the langdon marriage has been presented to us as particularly healthy or uncomplicated.
he works a physically and emotionally demanding job for long hours and mediocre pay, and we can infer that she either works from home or is a stay-at-home mom to their two young children. he clearly feels some measure of guilt about the way he preforms the roles of husband and father, trying to make up for his shortcomings with gifts and grand gestures, while ultimately being shown to be ignorant, almost to the point of contempt, of his wife's needs.
and this is all before we (and abby!) find out that he's been putting his life, liberty and livelihood in jeopardy with his substance abuse.
so, i think it's fair to say that we can expect langdon's marriage to be a significant point of contention when we pick back up for season 2.
of course, almost everything that we can say about abby langdon at this point is pure speculation. we haven't met her! we don't even get to hear her voice on the phone! we're only getting bits and pieces of this woman, mainly filtered through langdon's unreliable flawed perspective. so if we want something based in canon to say about the way langdon thinks about abby, his kids and his marriage, we'll have to look at some characters we actually get to see on screen.
we may not get to see abby and tanner, but we do have amanda and tyler:
(and also drew, but he's kinda whatever to my points here.)
tyler is the four-year-old boy from episodes 1 & 2 who comes in lethargic and unresponsiveāmel asks for langdon's assistance on the case, and they find out that tyler is sick because he ingested some of his dad's pot gummies. this causes a lot of tension between tyler's parents, amanda and drew, who get defensive when they find out they've been reported to the department of children youth and families (pittsburgh's version of CPS/DCFS). the parents argue, robby breaks it up as the Voice of Reason, mel frets about potentially tearing apart a family, and langdon with his "fellowship in cynicism" argues (correctly) that they're white and therefore won't face drug charges or have their kid taken away. we find out later from kiara that tyler is going to be fine, but that his parents "might need counseling."
and the shift from hell continues!
(side note: i'd actually forgotten, but the STEMI with me, mel moment comes right on the heels of kiara updating mel about tyler!!)
so it's a relatively 'easy' case, and it comes very early in the season, the first time we see mel and langdon working together one-on-one. it's almost forgettable compared to everything that happens later, and it's only after what we learn about langdon's addiction that the last scene with tyler and his parents starts to feel thematically important.
basically, langdon's reactions in this scene are really interesting.
it all starts normally enough with mel and langdon updating the parents on tyler's status, and answering amanda's questions about the potential long-term affects of THC on her son's brain. on my first watch, i was mostly attuned to mel, and her reaction (that langdon totally clocks!!) to amanda's derogatory worries about her son getting autism. but on rewatch, it's what comes next that really stuck out to me.
langdon starts the interaction very polite and professional with both parents, but when amanda gets upset about the mandatory reporting, he immediately gets very defensive, taking on almost the kind of tone we later see him use on santos. he starts talking to her like she's crazy, escalating the situation and making amanda even more upset. he even reaches out in a kind of placating move and she tells him to keep his fucking hands off her, leading to this shot:
which. yes. is the basis of this whole post. but come on. this isn't zoomed in by me, this is the shot as it appears in the show. a mom justifiably angry about her husband's drug use and the way it's endangered her child, juxtaposed against a defensive langdon's wedding ring and the bracelet from his own four-year-old son. you could write a fucking thesis on this shot alone. i mean, i basically am. but never mind.
and langdon's reactions to amanda only get more tense when she starts going off on drew, telling him to stop speaking for her child and that he needs to "get a fucking hotel."
look at the way this is blocked! poor mel is running off to get help, but the guys in the background are framed together in opposition to amanda, and they're both looking at her like she's crazy. in fairness, she is very much freaking out here, but she's also scared for her son, she no longer trusts her husband, and she's just been told that the police may be getting involved. langdon doesn't know it yet, but he's getting a little sneak preview of what his night with abby is gonna turn into!
and when robby comes in to play moderator and calm everyone down, langdon is again alone in the shot with amanda, making a series of increasingly freaked out/guilty expressions as she tells robby that she wants to stay with her son instead of her husband because she doesn't want him around:
patrick ball's acting in this whole scene is so subtle and nuanced as langdon low-key wigs the fuck out in this situation. he is visibly shaken after everything goes down and has to physically psych himself up to get back in the game as robby leaves.
so much about the way this is shot, acted, and edited feels vitally important to langdon's characterization in retrospect. and the defensive way he reacts specifically to the woman in this situation leads me to believe that, at least in the immediate aftermath of abby finding out about everything, langdon is gonna be a fucking nightmare. and while i don't think it would be fair to assume that abby is gonna react exactly like amanda does in this situation, i do think the similarity of the names (abby/amanda & tanner/tyler) and the fact that the boy is the exact same age as langdon's son does invite us to draw a comparison.
long story long, i love that while we get to see first hand how langdon's addiction makes him react defensively and lash out at santos and robby, the show also gives us this glimpse into how langdon and his wife will react to his addiction becoming public in his domestic sphere.
