Alright here we go...I need to break down my feelings on this.
*1st...Do I think that the writers are abandoning the nace ship? No. I do believe they'll end up together but it's the storyline presented in this episode that now taints that for me
*yes, I know Nancy did what she did out of love. It's the same reason she gave the road back the list to save ace's life in season 2, the same reason she denied her feelings for him in the S3 finale. She makes a lot of bold choices to protect Ace.
*then there's the fact that the only reason he was on that boat to begin with was bc she told his dad yes when they body swapped and she gave him a deadly curse jar to drop in the ocean to boot
*while Ace is living through this hellish nightmare, the rest of the Drew Crew were building heartfelt memories in honor of Nancy's mom. Seriously, hate this for him.
*so Nancy leaning on Ace in these ways but kind of not always being present for his needs is a pattern that I needed to see them break. But they didn't, they repeated it. That doesn't make their big love seem as real, true, or sincere
*this means that the convo on the phone from 4x08 was an altered memory, which means even with a fake remembered heartfelt convo like that, Ace didn't invite Nancy to Seder and they were cold as ice to each other.
*Ace had an impossible choice, to save his Dad or Alice. There wasn't much he could do in that scenario obviously but the whole scene felt weirdly off and not surprisingly, difficult to watch
*so... while I can believe that a final twist is possible, if it doesn't somehow remedy the fact that Ace was put in that situation because of Nancy and then the memory of it was erased by Nancy without his consent, and all the ramifications that brings....I'm not sure I'll feel great about it
Now... some random other thoughts I have..
*I don't think that Tristan's curse is actually broken, it was way too easy
*they should've done an 18-episode order for the final season minimum, it's not fair that the storyline had to be truncated into 13 episodes and we've missed so many opportunities for extended scenes
*really though, what could the big final twist be? Is this all still one big crazy vision from Temperance and were all still at the Vale in real time?? Or maybe the memory Nancy and Ace witnessed still wasn't really accurate?
All I know is I really hope next week leaves a much better taste in my mouth and warmth in my heart ❤️
Seconding all of this. And so sorry to co-opt it a little with my own rant, but it really set me on a thought-path, so I’m following it, lol.
Let it be noted that I haven’t watched tonight’s episode - I’ve just been watching the writhing cascade of live blogs that have been rolling in since 6PM my time, and jesus christ. But I’m feeling strained and sick over all of this, and here’s why.
There’s not actually a scenario next week - a giant twist, a new perspective, a big reveal - that’s going make me feel retroactively satisfied with the road they took to get there. No matter how many flashbacks they might give that prove that it was aaaaall a misunderstanding/supernatural entanglement/curse or false memory, we still got what we got up until this point. We have a season that largely consists of these characters not being together, not sharing screentime, being OOC, and that doesn’t make for an enjoyable watch. That doesn’t make those things more fun, because I can’t stop myself from thinking there were countless other choices the writers could have made to have met similar ends that would have been more engaging.
If what they wanted was to have us be on the edge of our seats with hints of false memories, they could have been more obviously laying that groundwork 7 episodes ago, ramping up our tension, WAITING for the characters to start cottoning on and for all of us to start unpacking it together. Instead, we’re all - at best - being asked to trust there’s something bigger going on. And I say “at best,” because part of me doesn’t really believe they ARE asking us to trust them. Instead, a very big part of me believes they don’t realize how far afield they’ve taken all of this, so they won’t know what’s left to course-correct for us.
I suppose I’m frustrated to the Nth because it’s been awhile since I’ve been in a fandom that *hasn’t* bottomed out a ship this way, and that’s preposterous given that there are so MANY ways to not run ships aground. The most frequent well writers dip into is Love Triangle - but why? Why NOT have an exceptionally interesting season about two people who want to be together not being able to be together but trying to work together? It’s such a given, it’s such internal conflict served up on a silver platter, why would you bat the platter to the floor, spilling all the goods? Even if this ALL turns out to be the equivalent of a dream or trick, that is not nearly as fulfilling as having seen our characters work through their issues another way. Furthermore, the constant dragging in of other people really takes the wind out of the sails (god, honestly SO many maritime metaphors with shipping) of the couple we’re rooting for. I suppose I’m just feeling really cheated out of substantial character growth, windows into why these people should and deserve to be together, and organic build up to a substantive climax.
Ugh, just really really feeling disappointed right now, and that’s a bummer. Hoping for a little something good last week, since it’s the last chance for it.
