Okay, but why is nobody talking about which cassette Jonathan is actually keeping Nancy’s ring in.
It’s John Coltrane’s album A Love Supreme.
Coltrane recorded it in 1964, right after he clawed his way out of addiction, chaos, and a whole lot of self-directed anger. This album is, quite literally, a thank-you note.
And damn, it’s beautiful.
I’m not going to fall into the whole “who’s going to die based on the rabbit hole” thing. So I’ll just say that in 1988 U2 released “Angel of Harlem”:
New York, like a Christmas tree
Tonight this city belongs to me
Angel
Soul love, this love won’t let me go
So long, angel of Harlem
Birdland on fifty-three
The street sounds like a symphony
We got John Coltrane and a love supreme
Miles, and she’s got to be an angel
Links:
A Love Supreme album
A Love Supreme The Story Of John Coltrane’s Signature Album (Book)
P.S. Jancy still isn’t my ship, but I respect it. And the album is damn beautiful.
I also want to point out a few things.
First: in the 80s, getting married right after high school, in your early twenties, was the norm. That wasn’t insanity. The way people viewed being 20 back then versus now is… yeah, wildly different.
Second: to everyone saying Nancy needs to be alone to heal. Okay, guys. These characters went through things you literally can’t explain to someone who wasn’t there. This isn’t even the kind of stuff you casually unpack in therapy (and yes, 1987 and therapy — technically a thing, but still very much not the norm). Who exactly decided that sitting alone with your trauma is better than being around people — not just Jonathan, but anyone in the Party — who you can actually talk to about nightmares, anxiety, and all the ugly, complicated parts?
Third… I honestly think a proposal is wildly out of character for Jonathan. At least not in that context, and not after what they went through in season four. But—fine. God. I hate year-plus time skips. Way too much empty space for theories to run feral.