"Hi I'm Tad, I like popcorn, scary movies and rainy days"
Before we get into it: Early on, Twist (and Dana) were clearly intended to act as foils — representing betrayal, resentment, and ideological disillusionment with Will Shane. However, that conflict belonged to an earlier phase of the story. This is at the very end of it.
When looking at something more direct, I think Tad fills the role even more so:
The difference is that Eli has support from the Shane Gang and the community he was able to grow. Tad already has an idea of what he wants to accomplish. I'm here to claim my inheritance.
Eli becomes a hero through community. He has the Shane Gang, trust built over time, and a support system that grows alongside him.
Things they explicitly share:
"Alright, Burpy if you say so."
Being emotionally open to slugs, you see this in how Eli and Burpy interact. Along with how much Tad fonds over Piper, always giving her verbal praise and petting her.
Both talk to slugs, confide in them, and treat them as companions rather than expendable objects. Even after heel-turning, Tad still continues to build a bond with ghouled slugs.
"Good job, buddy"
That vulnerability is framed as a strength in Eli, his compassion towards slugs is proof of his heroism, then Tad being the dark counter.
"After your performance yesterday, I know you got some serious slug slinging skills."
"Thanks, but all I did was aim and fire, the slugs did all the work."
They're both naturals at slinging, Tad already understanding trusting Trust the slugs to make the right call, naming them and using his environment to his benefit. Eli even states that Tad reminds him of him when he got there. Tad isn't afraid in acknowledging that success isn’t solely his own.
Of course, how Tad wants to use these talents, is where they contrast...
"I even have my own team now"
A want for community and connection, you see this displayed with Eli and the Shane Gang, where things were done with gaining trust and rapport. Tad gained his by baiting the Trash Boys to join him.
But you can see this clearly with his first interactions with the gang, he likes the idea of having a team, but doesn't know how to properly establish a reliable one.
"It's just like you said Eli, my slugs are part of the gang now, one big happy family!"
"I'm here to pick up where my feeble father left off."
Both are trying to fill the roles left vacant by their fathers, inheriting legacies they don't fully understand.
Eli: you don't have to follow in your father's footsteps
Tad: ha! you're one to talk, Shane. How long have you been following in your father's footsteps?
My mind wonders to the B plot of the movie with the Shadow clan. They're the reminder of Will Shane's forgotten plot. Eli has been for a long time following his father's shadow, wishing to get just a fraction of what he's been hiding away.
Eli internalizes his struggles with his father, deciding to look on the palatable side of him.
Tad externalizes his struggles with his father: You can tell from the way he talks about his father that he hates him.
"Once I found out who I was, I came here to claim my inheritance, and then I hear that my dear old dad was beaten by a kid my own age! Pathetic!"
"I'm nobody's junior, Ember"
Eli: "You don't have to be like your father ya'know, you have nothing to prove to anyone"
Tad: "I could say the same to you, Shane."
Eli tells Tad he doesn’t have to follow in Blakk’s footsteps — yet spends much of the series doing exactly that with Will, quietly hoping to measure up.
And when Eli teases Tad for wearing his feelings on his sleeve, the contrast becomes more explicit.
"let's just say someone has daddy issues."
Where their stories divert:
"You know, we're gotten pretty good and knocking people down holes"
"Yeah, just not getting them out."
Where Eli is allowed to hold onto the hope of one day finding his father, Tad is pushed further into the dark, to accomplish something Eli can only imagine:
Standing face to face with the man who shaped him.
mario is what i would call an unorthodox master of slug fu
lets start with one of the first things junjie tells eli slug fu: showdown:
Junjie: youre being attacked from several directions.
eli: piece of cake, ive got plenty of slugs
junjie: with only one slug
this is the core of what makes slug fu: one slug, fully understood, is more powerful than a dozen fired blindly.
“90% of trick shooting is half mental.”
slug fu is about the mental connection, mario understands the psychological discipline required to truly sync with a slug.
“figure out the order of the layers.”
he isnt just telling eli to aim with his eyes, hes telling him to analyze every detail of a complex set up and internalize it before acting
"when you start something, always know what it is you want to finish."
every slug fu move is about intention. control the emotion, control the slug.
and even after the lessons he encourages him!
'youre improving, eli- but youve got to relax"
Relaxation is the foundation of any mental discipline
slug fu requires calm, trust, and fluidity to sync with slugs while youre blasting them
and finally:
"youve got a trick shooters heart, eli, and ive never seen someone so connected to their slugs- other than me”
mario sees elis connection and recognizes it because it mirrors his own!
now full disclosure: ive only watched it once all the way through, i was high for most of it. im just watching episodes and jumping around now
