The Night Manager S2 spoilers....don´t read if you did not watch it yet.
Let me tell you, how much I LOVED this scene and not only for the obvious "they have such a great chemistry!" reasons.
I swear if this season goes on with this greatly crafted scenes, it may turn out even better than S1 (and it is on the way)
The way this scene is built is exactly what Tom (and others) spoke about. It is about a play, lies, deception but also about how the characters are actually vulnerable, how Jonathan gets in over his head, how Teddy is kind of a wounded soul beneath it all and how Roxy has her own agenda and you never know whose side she is on.
First, the acting here is perfect. Camilla gets very overlooked here but Roxy was the one who pushed Jonathan to the pool to not only end the party that was probably going to kill him eventually (because he is not used to drinking and taking drugs, let´s be honest here) and she knew it was the test he would probably eventually fail. She did it after he told her "help me" because it was starting to get too much for him. And when he starts talking, she looks resigned, waiting for him to spill the beans because he seems delirious. She looks scared, worried, she knows if he starts telling the truth, Teddy kills them both Then Jonathan starts talking yet ANOTHER fake story, perfectly in control, telling the "truth" to gain Teddy´s trust. And then her expression changes into surprised and to "he is better than I thought" or "I did not expect that"
And the "dance" between Teddy and Jonathan....the touches where Teddy very softly strokes Jonathan´s hair, playing the caring type (who he maybe is when it comes to Matthew/Jonathan?), only very softly, almost asking for a permission.
And then Jonathan touches very intimately Teddy´s hand with his finger. Very intimate gesture, basically encouraging for more and saying "It´s OK", while making himself very vulnerable.
He then settles, shifts his position, his head relaxes in the lap like "I feel safe and comfortable" but is it a play? Or does he feel that way, momentarily, while telling the fabricated story?
And he seems to be taken by Teddy and Teddy by Jonathan.
Given the "twist" of Teddy being Roper´s son was dropped in the middle of episode 2 casually, it was not meant to be THE twist, they knew it was kind of obvious so they played as if we always knew (which I think everybody who saw any TV or a movie, figured out after a while)
No, they did it because we are now curious how the story unfolds.
Jonathan hated Roper as at the same time, he was also trying not to fall under his charm as others did and had a silent amdiration for him while despising him at the same time. That made their relationship interesting.
Why they revelead it this soon is only the beginning to how the story will unfold, makes us curious (and I am). The irony of Jonathan hating/taking down Roper (and still having nightmares) while maybe seducing (?), being maybe in relationship or slightly smitten (is he, will he or won´t he?) with his son, that would be so fascinating to watch.
I am also very curious where Roxy falls here because she plays with both men, too.
If this works and if this will continue to be as good and gradually more interesting and intense as this scene, I think we are in for a ride.
(And I hope they start filming S3 soon, I don´t want to wait another couple of years for a new season, which at this point, is already two years away, given they did not start filming yet)
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