We are the Undead. We are the Redeemed. @redeemed-from-the-earth - Tumblr Blog

@whumpgifathon - Day 7 - Comfort 🫂

In the Flesh (2013), ep. 1x02 & 1x03

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#kieren walker #amy dyer #bdffs #gif #gifs #s1e2 #series 1

the problem with in the flesh is that s1 is a perfect season of television. in only 3 episodes is manages to tell this incredibly rich and complete family drama. s1 is so refreshing as a show with supernatural elements (especially a show from the early 2010’s) in that it’s largely unconcerned with the mechanics of the rising bc s1 is ultimately not a show abt zombies it’s a show about grief. it’s not asking why the dead came back who cares why they came back it’s not an interesting question in the face of the much bigger question of what would you do if you got a second chance with a person you lost?

and the answer largely is that you wouldn’t do what u think you would. its so easy when you lose someone to think if you ever got to see them again you would tell them everything you didn’t get the chance to when they were alive. you would of course be completely honest and loving and you would never lie to them or be cruel to them or blame them or be angry with them ever again. and maybe for some people that’s true. but really most of the time you wouldn’t do any of that.

i feel like in the flesh works so so well as a piece of media which is anti suicide bc it ultimately tells suicidal people that death will not redeem you. death is only death. even if by some miracle your loved ones got you back they would still be angry with you and unable to be honest with you and be cruel to you. in fact they might even be MORE unkind and dishonest and bitter because suicide is not a teacher. it doesn’t typically make people more thoughtful or kind it makes them feel guilty and ashamed and heartbroken. and guilt and shame and heartbreak are not usually the kind of emotions which inspire people to become better.

it confronts the fiction that a lot of suicidal people believe which is that the world would genuinely be a better place without them. it wouldn’t. your pain wouldn’t disappear it would ripple outwards and destroy everything around you like a bomb. and at least for me watching a show which confronts that fact as a teenager had such profound effect on me that i genuinely think it changed the course of my entire life.

#meta #series 1 #kieren walker