Jonathan’s names, from symbols of trees to symbols of religion (with some Danny & Teddy paralells)
Linden trees are common lime trees, and are a deciduous fruit-bearing plant. Interestingly, it’s very rare for them to grow in the wild as they need both parent species to be in the same area to survive — which I think is super interesting given that 1) jonathan pine came from loving parents and a good childhood, but was orphaned when his parents died within a short time of each other and 2) the orphan motif that is constantly littered throughout this show, both obviously and subtlely.
The Linden tree is also a hybrid tree, a cross between the small leaved lime tree and the large leaved lime tree — most importantly, this is a NATURALLY occurring hybrid, however this tree is still used by humans for urban growth and development etc street and urban planning. The idea of hybridisation, a natural occurence, but still taken on by humans and used for the benefit of the human world and maybe not the natural world. To me this kind of shows how the natural occurring traits and persona of Jonathan Pine is picked and drawn out by Burr (and later on Roper) to create a man of certain qualities, a natural occurrence but honed in on by the human eye.
Lime wood is used to make piano keys and Morris-dancing sticks, as well as bowls, and for fuel, and subsequently food and survival. This idea of the use of a naturally occurring thing like a tree to be used, again, for manmade purposes, is really interesting to me. Leisure and survival, two things that equal freedom and are very very different. Jonathan Pine is not necessarily a man who indulges in leisure with hobbies eg, in fact he lives a very sad and lonely exitence, isolated in Zermatt in the snowy mountains where his lodgings are depressing as hell, no homely furniture except his hotelier suits hanging up, and a bookshelf with his father’s book in it. He has no life and barely has an identity even as Jonathan Pine, but as Jack Linden, the persona of loud and frightening, a drug dealer with a vague and shady past, these things are just accentuated.
Lastly, the Linden tree does not grow limes despite being called ‘lime trees’, so this idea of deceitful identity is set up here. As I've realised, each of his names set up something for what the other one will be. So, with this idea of foreshadowing how many names and faces Jonathan will adopt in the future — and sure enough, Linden trees are also commonly affected by wilting, which can be fatal for them, which again is just this link to how he does not stay in one identity for too long. So let's move on to Thomas Quince.
Quince trees thrive in the full sun. So, not like Alex Goodwin, but more like Andrew Birch or Matthew Ellis, who quite literally thrive under the sun of Mallorca and Colombia, and become a new person. I don’t have much here other than the fact that there are 2 main types of quince trees: 1 - the flowering quince (chaenomeles) that are very thorny, and 2 - the fruiting quince (cydonia) which is thornless. It’s interesting here that the only two kinds of this tree range between fruity and thorny, as though easily misjudged or mistaken for someone harsh who is really gentle at the core, or the other way round.
And I think that this juxtaposition quite cleverly lands itself to the confusion around Thomas Quince - first Jorji believes him to be a seasonal chef, then Roper reveals he isn’t, and actually has another name, and then we have Corky checking said name, and giving him a ridiculous new one. Interestingly enough, the name ‘Thomas’ translates to ‘twin’ - So there is all this uncertainty around Who Is Thomas Quince, is he Jonathan Pine or is he someone else?
Now, here is where we really start to dive into things.
I know that when researching the symbolism of trees you’re only gonna get positive things about strength and longevity etc, however I think that the Birch is an interesting one simply because this is the identity that Roper gave him. It’s the name chosen by Roper, for the man Roper is going to dress like a doll and build into a mini him (as if he didn’t already have Teddy at this point ... )
Birch bark has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and so it is highly regarded in medicine, or alternative medicine. It is fast-growing in open soil and in any sunny conditions - the idea here of adaptability and the need Roper had to very quickly kind of polish off the edges of whoever Jonathan Pine had been to create Andrew Birch. Now, I don’t know about you but when I think of a birch tree I automatically think of a silver birch (I honestly didn’t know there was a dark kind of birch called ‘downy birch’ until I did this research) - and from further research apparently this is not uncommon; the silver birch is indeed more known and reocngised. Apparently, there is more of an interest in silver birches due to their distinct white bark, and to me hints at the racist undertones from Roper that we see throughout s1 (and 2 tbh). He wants a new man, a smooth talker, a ‘young prince’, a pretty and polished new thing and to give him the name Birch, commonly linked to a silver birch is probably not a coincidence. Yeah Roper sucks.
The birch tree is also a symbol of purity. In celtic mythology it was used to drive out spirits, and was used by gardeners who wished to make their land purified and new. Which i just think is interesting given the ‘cleansing’ motif we get throughout s2 - however i think Pine is a man who is always looking to cleanse his identity. Living in the night time as a night manager was a way for him to chase away the army demons, and we see that new faces and new identities become almost an addiction and a reprieve for him, his only coping mechanism in a lot of ways.
They are also symbols of fertility, used in the Scottish Highlands as farmers believed that herding cows with a birch branch would make them fertile, and calves would be born healthy. Similarly to this idea is that silver birches are also used to improve soil and land quality because of their long roots bringing in nutrients. Which again is the idea of renewal and purity, rebirth. Which essentially is what he does when he takes Roper down - he stops these weapons from doing damage to any more people, protecting the lives of men, women and children.
Now, ironically I didn’t start with this, simply because I feel there’s more to work with analysis-wise in s2 for Jonathan Pine. Let’s start with the fact that this is the name he will be more familiar with cause obviously he’s had it all his life, but it’s the one he hides from and the one he seeks anonymity within as Night Manager Pine. And a really interesting moment is right after Rex dies, when Jonathan is in his office and finds ‘The Old Trees of England’ book, and he goes to the ‘Pine’ page himself, which I think is just a really subtle but beautiful way of linking this identity sown into him since he was born.
The introduction says ‘No one presents aspects more admirable than the family named after the pine tree. No trees attain a greater statue than these’ — and interestingly he skims this, looking distracted and almost annoyed, which if we read into it (pun intended) can show this idea of Jonathan not being comfortable with himself, and specifically HIMSELF painted in this poetic and almost heroic light, because he doesn’t see himself as that and as we know he’s been living his life as Alex Goodwin and has become a ghost, someone not human.
The book’s introduction of the Pine tree I think is what we can essentially interpret as an introduction to Jonathan Pine himself. The whole scene to me is like this BOOK is telling Jonathan (and us, the viewers) who he is – a story, a fantasy. It’s non-fiction but it’s written in a very poetic way, denoting some kind of illusion and reality mix up, some kind of confusion about what is real and what is not.
In the photo of the pages after the Pine introdction, everything else is blurred except from the word ‘longevity’ which I think is super interesting and sure i think it’s supposed to show us the page number but i still think it’s not at all a coincidence. The symbolism of pine trees also fall into eternal life, and the idea that Jonathan Pine bears an immortal soul is just beautifully haunting to me.
So here is the idea that Pine is like the god of all trees. That despite all these tree names he has and WILL have, Pine is the ultimate one. A bringer of life, peace, wisdom and protection. Pine is the core. Pine is WHO HE IS, and he only finds this again at the end with Teddy.
Speaking of Teddy — i find it so FUCKING INTERESTING that through this scene, Teddy is also introduced. Through Jonathan’s true core, Teddy comes into the story. Which is beautiful considering that when their masks, names and facades broke down and when they literally fell in love, they were left with something very real, tender and raw.
But also the longevity aspect, like Jonathan lives and lives and watches the people he loves die, and he has to continue on, a wise old tree who stands and sways and the seasons pelt him, and eventually a tree must always decay, but he like the tree remains unchanging - a morally good but immeasurably damaged man. (Loki tree parallel anyone??)
I think we can all probably agree that the Pine symbolism is closest to Jonathan’s true self, his core, the very essence of him.
In s1, I think it’s still very clear to the audience that these names and faces are for SURE a relief to him, to the man who hides from daylight in the obscurity of night and takes reprieve from the anonymity of hotelier suits, however — we also see that he easily folds back into Jonathan when given the opportunity. We see Pine unravel in vulneable moments with Sophie, Jed, Teddy, Danny. With them, we see the soft, quiet and careful man we were introduced to, when the walls come down, when it’s safe to be Jonathan Pine again. And when he takes down Roper, and says one of my favourite lines ‘You have to make a choice. You have to commit’ – that is Pine through and through, right to the core, tragically flawed yes but morally good and with a gentle loving heart.
Whilst he’s still the same person in s2, he’s very different.
Which brings me to Alex Goodwin — but before we meet him, we get shown 2015 Pine in Syria. And here we can understand that he is struggling to live as Jonathan Pine, and the show wants us to see this before they then take us to how he has spiralled further into the lifeless shell of Alex Goodwin. He is not the fresh faced, clearly traumatised man anymore, the one who was gentle and smiled easily. He is a tired shade of a man, and I would argue that there’s something ghostlike to him in this flashback, again, before we even get to Alex Goodwin, the more ghostly identity of them all. He’s not saying much, he’s distracted, he is not sleeping, and once they go to identify Roper, he can’t look away. Jonathan Pine has been moulded into a man who thinks only of Richard Roper and when in the same room, tragically cannot look away.
Immediatley, it’s obvious that this is a very different man to the one we were purposely shown beforehand in 2015 - gone is the beard, the loose shirt, the younger face. I won’t go too much into what he looks like bc then this meta will run away from me, but basically now we see a man who looks more different to ANYONE he has ever been. He’s older, gaunt, pale. He does not smile except from weakly to his colleagues who he is genuinely fond of, and only when in awkward interactions with his neighbour who he keeps turning down. He hides.
And here ends the tree symbolism, the hope, the longevity, these beautiful pinnacles of nature that keep the world turning.
This is the first of all his names, including the one he was born with, that is not tree related. It actually has religious connotions … which, coincidence? No way. The name ‘Goodwin’ is Anglo-saxon and is derived from ‘godwine’ which translates into ‘good and wine’ or ‘friend to god’.
So this is the first name he has had with spiritual connections - and symbolsim about him being a literal and figurative ghost. He is something almost not real. Additionally, in the Middle Ages, ‘godwin’ and ‘goodwin’ were used similarly with each other because ‘god’ and ‘good’ also sound the same. Which is really interesting - again, like the Birch connotations, good or bad considering who uses the name, and the context. We know that realistically, it was probably Rex who gave him this name, and even without knowing the name's meaning it sounds impressive, ‘goodwin’ - good and win. It sounds something like a positive connotation, kind of like Rex trying to remind Jonathan of his goodness. It sounds like a strong and impressive name, like a direct contrast to the incredibly bland and depressing life of Alex Goodwin. Another thing I realised when rewatching is the purpose of the Night Owl surveillance unit is to essentialy catch, as Jonathan calls them, ‘the bad guys’ — which speaks to me about the fact that there is no straight of good or bad, and reminded me that Jonathan has done the same ruthless things as these guys - for good reasons, but like I say, it’s a morally blurry line. It just makes me wonder if he thinks of himself as a kind of moral imposter.
Anyways, the name Alex is derived from the Greek name Alexander, ‘defender of the people’ or ‘defender of mankind’ or ‘protector’ LIKE HELLO!! But it’s the contrast again. The goodness of him, he protects people especially, sure, in the context of Night Owl Unit Director. But then the ghost-like man who is told by his superiors, and his friends in the case of Basil, not to do anything risky, like he would have done as Pine, Quince, Linden, or Birch (i know he doesnt know basil knows this, and myra doesn’t know) but it’s this idea of all of them forcing Jonathan into a box of ‘you have no past, you are not a soldier anymore, the mindset and trauma must be gone, you are not the man who took down richard roper – you are not the man who will explode’ — it’s powerful stuff, but also incredibly tragic. We can see a few times that he almost tears up, for sure feeling trapped in the identity of Alex Goodwin who is not allowed to remember the past.
Okay I had so much fun with this one.
Firstly, some background in case anyone’s forgotten: Jonathan finds photos in Roper’s archive of Danny, and it reminds him to try to connect with him before he goes on this mission that could possibly get him killed. But he mainly goes there for his own self-interested purposes of wanting to find out about specific things about Roper, which I'll get to shortly.
Very quick with the tree symbolism here because that isn’t the main part of the Michael Oakes section but it does lead onto it - so, the oak tree is a symbol of immense wisdom and has an association with Greek and Celtic gods. And now we move onto the Teddy paralells (who carries the religious symbolism in the show, or most of it), and how there is the theme of fathers, sons and orphans in this scene alone.
So, Jonathan starts out by taking his glasses off, which he wore as Alex Goodwin - and we don’t have any information on this but it’s my personal interpretation that they aren’t real. Still, I think taking his glasses off symbolises that breakdown of his identity, or the breakdown of Alex Goodwin, because now he’s coming out of the shadows and ‘facing old ghosts’. But i think that in trying to become recongiseable to Danny again, Jonathan actually just makes it worse.
So anyway back to my point - Danny shuts Jonathan out pretty much straight away, and says ‘something tells me this isn’t just about pastoral care’ — and on my rewatch it HIT me and i was like omfg?? Pastoral care is basically the pracitce of emotional, social and spiritual needs of indivudials, and is widely used in SCHOOLS. It also has roots in religious care traditions, with a focus on helping students feel valued and safe. Now, yes there is an element of here of Danny feeling neglected by Jonathan, remembering the sort of guardian he became for him back in Mallorca. However there is absolutely NO WAY this was a coincidence. The hinting at religious themes to tell us what is to come, to foreshadow Teddy.
What makes this even more insane is that Jonathan shows Danny a photo of Teddy, and asks him if he knows him. A coonnection of Roper’s. Danny says no, and Jonathan asks him to look again, and then asks him a second time. I kind of think that yes Jonathan cares and feels a kind of pained sadness, however he is blind to the idea of just swanning in and asking questions about Danny’s father, the whole reason Danny doesn’t see Roper anymore - it’s emotionally insensitive.
Danny clearly doesn’t give a shit about the photo and instead asks Jonathan why he should do him a favour. He feels neglected and angered by the way Jonathan separated his family, and lied to him. To his credit Jonathan does leaves right after this, but then takes the decision to tell Danny about Roper being dead, which breaks the rules Angela set in 2015 in Syria. To me it kind of shows that wisdom of ‘oaks’ does not always bring truth. That a quest for truth shows the neglected parts of relationships, particularly between fathers and sons, and guardian figures and children.
I think it’s interesting that Danny accuses Jonathan of ‘separating his family’ and then right after, Jonathan shows the photo of Teddy — they never knew each other but they are still family who is separated, essentially because of Roper.
Danny and Jonathan's conversation is the complete opposite to Teddy and Roper. Danny feels very strongly about not helping Jonathan, because Jonathan never cared or came to see him. But Teddy, we see, gives his entire life and his identity to Roper despite Roper barely seeing him or making any effort, grooming him and bringing him up so that he craves praise and attention, but only from Roper. But there are also similarities: Danny does have a mother, but apart from that no one else visits. He’s lonely, and has had people leave for years. He is another orphan of this war, feeling angry and misunderstood.
Just like Teddy — only he obviously doesn’t know it yet at this point. Jonathan hates to see Danny in such pain, and Danny asks why he wasn’t told and gets really upset, which to me has such stark similarities to the way Jonathan broke the news of Roper using Teddy. Both times, Jonathan acts as the bringer of truth, the man with the truth for these broken souls. For one, it helps him to be free, if only for a day or so. For another, it brings a whole other torrent of grief.
And the religious paralells – with Michael Oakes and this scene specifically, we start to edge away from trees and protectors and ghosts, and move onto the spiritual essence, the religion aspect that the next 2 identities are defined by more. The pastoral care mention is an interesting one. Maybe the mention alone is enough for us to ascertain that maybe it’s something Danny already gets at school, but to me, because we are told in the beginning of the scene that he doesn’t get visited by anyone apart from his mother, essentially it paints the picture to me of a neglected and lonely kid who relies on his place of education providing the emotional value and care that a parent or family should give him.
For Teddy, I think that the monastery is a bit more complicated. Maybe they had that but Diego’s mention of the monastery not being a good place for Teddy ‘physically and emotionally’ suggests that Teddy was abused and neglected. Teddy was not nurtured as a kid should have been, at all, and he was also incredibly neglected by Roper as we know. So there are some differences, but ultimately Teddy and Danny have more similarities and the fact that it’s shown and foretold in this scene, this one scene that could be easily misconstrued maybe as a filler or whatever, is insane.
And then we have the mention at the beginning of the scene also by Michael Oakes about being Danny’s unofficial godfather. So firstly, this basically means that he is a godfather in the way a close family friend would maybe be an uncle or an aunt - not a blood relation but close enough to be called such a thing. Now, he could have said he was an uncle, but maybe ‘godfather’ is a step up and gives him some credibility with the teacher here?? What’s more, an unofficial godfather means there was certainly no baptism. When someone agrees to be a godparent, they are promising (to god, the parents AND the child) that they will be there to look after the child in the case of absent parents, in whatever context. It is a lifelong and beautifully spiritual commitment, a promise. There is a lot of love and honour in this — and I think the thing is that Jonathan knows Roper was not religious and would not have had Danny baptised, and so he knows that maybe it would be wrong to say he is an official godfather, because maybe it would be suspicious. But the idea of playing on religion in order to decieve the truth, is interesting. Just the religion motif in this scene makes me crazy
Also a quick point about the credibility. It doesn’t seem to me that the teacher did a check or calls Danny’s mother to check this man called Michael Oakes is legit. The teacher just believes this man is who he says he is, and he also says he’ll be outside and then does nothing when Danny starts yelling and pushing chairs and tables — and maybe I’m reaching but it could be another allusion to both Danny and Teddy and their absent, neglectful, abusive and irresponsible fathers and guardians.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they had Jonathan find Teddy’s photo and then Danny’s right after. Or that there was so many religious themes in this scene, and hints at parallels between the half brothers who have never met.
We have already been introduced to Teddy but not face to face, and he is introduced as ‘Roper’s true disciple’ and so to have these hints of parallels to Danny is really interesting, like sowing the seeds for Teddy’s upcoming character arc. It’s a fucking trip to rewatch knowing what we know.
And here is the religion aspect in a more direct sense. I have to admit I only caught this on my last rewatch and I legit paused and stared at the screen like, are you fucking kidding me?? That CAN’T be a coincidence.
Now, Jonathan does see Teddy here but it’s from far away and it’s a fascinating game of cat and mouse chase. They speak on the phone, but they never come properly face to face - that facet of identity never really comes to pass here.
They are faced with violence and betrayal and punishment, and harsh consequences - which is interesting given Teddy’s catholic guilt.
Here in Spain we see him to think himself as untouchable, detached from what is needed from him to carry out the protection of the shipment list (and further security for Roper but) — to have Joanthan’s new alias’s surname as CHURCH when he is chasing down Teddy, the man who does not yet portray ANY guilt for what he is doing whatsoever, i just think it’s such an interesting parallel, almost so direct and in your face when you’re rewatching and know exactly how Teddy’s catholic guilt follows him like a shadow. To me it’s also a very obvious idea of – churches are where people, god’s family, come to pray and worship, a very beautiful and peaceful thing. For Jonathan to almost adopt this name in the scene where Teddy basically says with everything but words ‘i am roper’s disciple and i’m gonna walk away from this exploding building and the screams like i can’t FEEL what i’m doing’ — idk yeah i just feel it’s such a glaringly obvious juxtaposition, evil and saints, innocence and purity contrasted with impurity.
The name ‘Stephen’ is of Greek origin and means ‘wreath’ , and is associated with Saint Stephen. There’s a lot of information about Saint Stephen but the main points are that he was a figure of faith and courage who forgave those who falsely accused him of blasephemy, and he prayed for his executioners, essentially asking God to forgive them. And here we have the motif of forgiveness again, of being bold with one’s belief, which to me parallels Jonathan’s ultimate treatment of Teddy in the end, when the Stephen Church / Roper’s True Disciple identities falter into Matthew and Teddy, and then finally to the tender and beautiful love of Jonathan and Eduardo. They really were paired in the symbolism and metaphors and parallels before they even come face to face. My heart.
(Matthew Ellis is a whole other section which I’ll probably get round to posting tomorrow or Sunday)
In conclusion, this show is INCREDIBLY packed with symbolism and metaphors and i’m over here going fucking insane about it.
