sudden concept. macklin twins with the inverse defense mechanisms of "if it's my fault, at least that means i was in control" vs "if i'm not in control, then at least that means it wasn't my fault".
the first scene we see of the team after mika's been freed from twitler's possession; the first thing mika does in that scene is apologize to ray for what she did while she was possessed.
ray (with a genuine sincerity that is also very notable to me) tells her not to beat herself up about it.
and this exchange is quickly followed with bose wrapping an arm around mika and telling her that it's good to have her back, and mika smiles when bose does that- but in the very brief moment before bose chimes into the conversation?
mika's response to ray's reassurance is to stare down at her hands.
and only two episodes later is "a henry among us". when mika comes very close to going along with twitler's plan for world domination- because he's offering an end to human suffering. he's offering a perfect world. he's offering her the chance to help him run that perfect world.
he's offering her the chance to be in control.
and she's genuinely tempted. because that's what she wants. she wants to help people, and she wants to have that sense of control.
but she refuses, because she won't turn on her friends- and twitler immediately takes the control back out of her hands, this time with the mind control.
and. something about mika being just slightly more impulsive in the second two seasons.
something about mika starting to become the one the others end up looking towards on default to get them out of situations. thinking of plans, taking action, picking up more of a leadership role- and eventually taking in the smoke monster in the finale.
and the subtle idea that- she's putting herself in that situation, and she'll be taking the blow if her plan doesn't work. and it almost doesn't. but she knew that risk going into it, and- she went into it anyways, claiming she could handle it. and maybe she fully believed that, maybe she didn't- but either way-
thinking about mika apologizing to ray after being possessed the first time.
thinking about the idea of post-canon mika dealing with the aftermath of the finale possession, brushing it aside, treating it as nothing more than simple cause and effect; she knew what she was doing, she made the decision, and it already happened anyways, so-
(if it's her fault, then at least that means she was in control.)
and then miles. specifically thinking about this post (thank you for the excellent post @mineralore <3)
thinking about the idea of- twelve year old miles, who was Right There, who was on the blimp for a few moments, who saw henry and ray there before the eventual crash. who almost certainly spent some amount of time not knowing henry had survived it.
and taking that potential survivor's guilt, and combining it with miles consistently insisting that the universe was in control, he was just following a predetermined path, everything was in the hands of destiny-
(if he's not in control, then at least that means it wasn't his fault.)
hmm. concept that i am currently rotating vaguely in my head. <3
