Thoughts on Spy in Expiration Date:
I think Expiration Date actually gives us our first look into how badly Spy has messed up his relationships with the other mercs.
So in Expiration Date we actually see Spy putting himself out there when he tells Scout to collect everyone's dying wish. He WANTS to hear them. He’s expressing a desire to have this, (even if it’s seemingly a very small) connection with the other mercs, before they all end up dying. And even more so, he’s doing it to NO gain of his own. Like, this benefits him in NO way. He takes nothing away from learning everyone's dying wish, from making these connections, because he’s going to die the same day they do. So for ONCE, for one singular time, Spy is putting himself out there with these men he’s been growing a connection to.
And immediately no one gives a shit. Because…why would they?
Up to this point, what has Spy done to make them care about him?
We can see that they don't like Spy, that much is like, perfectly clear. Scout has no respect for him, or at least, in front of the other mercs he makes it known that he’s willing to make Spy the butt of the joke. And the looks the other mercs give him really don’t indicate that they WANT to be sitting around with Spy talking about their last wishes. They just seem…annoyed, unconvinced, bothered by whatever trick Spy is trying to pull, because what else are they supposed to assume from Spy? That he actually cares? When has he ever proved that he cares about his team, when has he ever made it known he enjoys their company or wants their friendship? Because it’s already vaguely implied that he hasn’t tried to form relationships with any of them (or I could possibly be insane and reading too far into things, who would have thought). And also, he has the persona of being a stuck up asshole. Which surely isn’t making him anymore popular with the others.
But the sad part is that NOW, in his final days alive. When his world, and the world of the people he so DESPERATELY wants to be close to is ending, he reaches out. He reaches out and he lets himself test the waters of vulnerability, and it just doesn’t matter. It’s too late, and no one cares.
And I think, I think that he sat in his smoking room before Scout eventually showed up, and had this moment of realization. This moment of clarity. Where he realized that it was genuinely too late. That he finally can’t run. He finally can’t pretend it doesn’t get to him. He’s finally reached the point where it’s too late to change. It’s too late to grow. And he pours himself a drink, lights a cigarette, and just sits there. Maybe he wonders about how the others will spend their last days. Maybe he thinks about how his deepest fears of dying alone are coming true before his very eyes and there's nothing he can do to stop it. And that, in the end, it's all his fault.
Wrote this in the discord, then fleshed it out at a very chill and normal hour of 12:45 am. My apologies if this ends up making NO sense. Good morning and good night chat 😭
(Also also, this might eventually lead to a SpyDad Expiration Date breakdown post, who knows).
