Becca and Mel have a close, fraught, but low-stakes relationship and it can fly under the radar sometimes but the latest developments have been so well handled. Mel obviously adores Becca and, yes, shelters her, to her benefit and detriment. Becca adores and admires Mel--in season one, she mentions that Mel is helping people and saving them, she sees this and that's so important. In season two, when something feels wrong, Becca goes to Mel for help and Mel drops everything to help her. They have so much trust and love between them.
At the same time, Becca's desire for more independence is clear and reasonable. She's an adult. She's making adult decisions. In her own way, she advocates for herself. It's easy to think that her remark that, "My name isn't 'my sister'," is simply literally factual, but it's also a request to be treated as an individual.
The reveal about her boyfriend and sex life is so, so telling and I've enjoyed watching it play out! She seemed stressed at the thought of Langdon telling Mel, but excited at the thought of telling Mel herself. She wants to confide in Mel. She wants them to have more of an equal relationship. She wants a confidante, not a guardian. While Mel's reaction is completely understandable and obviously comes from a place of love, it was also wonderful to see Becca assert her boundaries and have them respected. Mel prioritized Becca but wasn't ready to respect her independence, and Becca chose to leave when this made her uncomfortable, and it was fantastic that the person with her (sorry, don't recall the name, but you know who I mean!) respected that.
Ultimately I both believe and hope that we'll see this resolved in a loving way. It's complicated. Becca is an adult and deserves her life, secrets, privacy, and respect, while still needing a degree of assistance navigating some parts of the world. Mel clearly loves Becca (albeit to a fault) and deserves to have that seen. They're imperfect, but they're both such great characters. I love that two autistic characters are shown as being complex, compassionate, and multi-layered. I love that a character who needs support isn't infantilized by the show.
We've heard too many references to the park/fireworks for that not to play a role in the finale, for good or ill. So I'm looking forward to Mel seeing Becca there and meeting Adam.
What seems the best outcome to me? I want Mel to say she'll miss sharing movie night and Becca to be surprised because why would they cancel movie night? I want Mel to express directly that sometimes she's tired of watching Elf. I want Becca to ask if they can take turns picking the movie. I want Mel to smile and agree, but also say they can watch Elf this week, and next week will be her turn.
*I'm tangential to The Pitt's fandom, so if this is already heavily-trodden ground then I hope you don't mind one more ramble on the tag! It's something that really resonated with me, which I wanted to contribute to the conversation.
**I'm choosing to refer to them as Mel and Becca, and him as Langdon because this is about Mel and Becca's personal, sororal relationship; it's about him in a professional context. He showed growth but isn't the focus here.
