An Optimistic Analysis of Tyler and Wednesday's Relationship
There's been a lot of crashing out today, but I'm still feeling optimistic.
First, going back to one of the interviews, the showrunner said that Wednesday's relationship with Tyler was the closest she was going to get to love, and that's exactly what we saw.
Wednesday is obsessed with Tyler. She seriously considered the possibility of Tyler being behind the murders, even though he was locked away. That's kind of crazy. Then, it's revealed that she requested court approval to see Tyler weeks before any of the murders happened. She wanted "closure". Closure? A girl who prides herself on burying all her feelings wants closure?
And then don't get me started on the way she insulted Tyler. She calls his looks “generic” and his barista skills “subpar.” She's deliberately attacking her attraction to him and their good memories together at the Weathervane. She's clearly still in love with him, and it hurts her. She played Prokofiev's composition Romeo and Juliet with so much pain that the music teacher commented on it.
Moving onto Tyler, he still loves her too. There's hope from his side too that Weyler could happen.
In the first scene, we first saw the Hyde part of Tyler, up until Donovan's death is mentioned. He was sinister and manipulative but also happy to see her. There’s a bit of warmth in “I knew your morbid curiosity would bring you here.” He knows Wednesday. He still thinks about her. He’s angry with her, but that’s not the only emotion he feels.
Even before this, the Hyde’s always been attracted to Wednesday. At the dance, when Wednesday says she’d throw the bullies to the piranhas again, the Hyde says, “I knew there was a reason I liked you", and they dance. That is telling framing: they bonded over violence, and then they almost kissed.
But is there any of the “normie” Tyler left that could counteract the evil? Yes! When Wednesday blames him for Donovan’s death, he looks sad and regretful for a moment, and his response, “You got me, Wednesday, I’m a criminal mastermind pulling the strings from in here,” is bitter sarcasm that reminds me of the old Tyler. Think back to the scene of Tyler and his dad in the second episode. When his dad abandons him again, Tyler yells after him, "Oh geez, Dad, I thought we’d catch the big game and fire up the grill". There’s a bit of our old Tyler there!
Now is the point where you’re probably thinking, he fucking defenestrated her. How do we come back from that? It stumped me a lot too, but what’s helped me is first considering how he tried to kill he (if he tried to kill her at all, anyway). The Hyde’s MO has been to use its claws to slash its victims, and serial killers don’t usually change their MO. But here, we have Wednesday thrown through a window. Why is that?
The second thing is that he hesitated. He stared at her without making any motion to hurt her. He did this too back in the forest in the season one finale. He pulled her closer to him, internally debating something. There’s a part of Tyler that wants her dead, and another part that still loves her, but the violent part of himself keeps winning out. We have no idea if he can hold back the monster.
That brings us to my final point: how few scenes Tyler has had. We mostly hear about Tyler from external sources. Sheriff Galpin sees the son he could still save, Wednesday sees a monster through and through, Dr. Fairburn believed he could be rehabilitated, and Thornhill saw a monster she thought she could control. This is very fitting for a Hyde, but none of that is the real him. We know nothing yet of what he’s going to do or how he feels. But there is one thing that should give us hope:
When he escaped Willowhill, he didn’t try to kill anyone. He threw them aside and ran into the night. Maybe he just wants to be free of the past (that’s actually the narration over Tyler’s part in the teaser—“what we are really haunted by is our past”). That’s not a villain arc. That’s the seeds of a redemption arc. Now that Tyler is free, he can decide who he really is: the monster or the boy who could be redeemed and find his way to love again.
Finally, remember that the official merch was a t-shirt that said Love is Torture. That’s what’s making me think I’m not just hallucinating. Weyler could still happen!!!
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