Imma be so real the longer I've been here the more I realize Erik isn't even in like the top 5 of roles I like that Richard has played.
Sure Erik is great and all but the more media I've watched with him in it, the more I realize Erik doesn't come close to some of the other roles imo.
Also John Murphy isn't here because I'm still in season 3 of the 100 so I can't fully rank him yet
So what is my top 5 you may be wondering? Well I'm gonna ramble for what is significantly more than normal because autism go heehoo.
5. Seth Durand
Is a mother's instinct bad? Yes. Is it annoying to watch? Yes. So why would I like Seth Durand? He's complex. There's a lot of little things that Seth does throughout the movie that hints at just how horrible he is mentally early on. You can tell just from the opening when you see his shadowed figure pick up the cat that he had everything planned out for a while. Had gloves on, went in the dark, laid low. He was smarter in the beginning of the film. Seth also has a lot of trauma sprinkled in here and there until the climax of the movie. You see how uncaring his mother is, how messy his room is showing he has a lack of self care, how he has no concept of boundaries in the first 15 or so minutes. All behavior that's learnt from bad environments, telling you there's more wrong with him then just being a stalker. He's played as this character your not supposed to feel bad for, but if you looked at the undertones you'd at minimum feel pity. When it finally is revealed that he was abused and assaulted by his brother throughout his childhood, that's when all his odd behaviors and messy actions make sense. He chooses not to be good because of his trauma, which is common for a lot of people to continue the cycle of abuse and trauma. He wanted to be the victim of his own life, even in his crimes attempting to plan something out that would carry the cycle of abuse to others while he could go out on his terms.
4. Alex wright
Honestly I think he's a good choice from 'older' movies if you're looking for short form content of Richard's acting to watch. Despite the flaws that the grave encounters movies have, there's a very human element to the entire production that tells what the 2010s were like for filming on a lower end budget. There's a charm to it, and that charm shines through best in Alex wright because you can see his insanity slowly progress throughout the movie. He already starts off as a sort of hermit who doesn't really have friends or love interests and you can see that he devolves further and further into fully showing just how much of an uncaring asshole who prioritizes himself and his wants first. You also see *almost* all of this progress with his descent into insanity throughout the movie, but his insanity is a more calculated one. People picture insanity as things like Jack Nicholsons role in the shining and other things of the sorts but this is a more simmering on a burner kind of insanity. You see it bubble up but never really spill over til the end, and when it does finally spill over, there's nothing you can do to stop it.
3. Tryst Smith
So I'll be honest the first time I watched fakes I couldn't hardly pay attention to anything going on, and didn't really care about tryst at first. That changed the second time around when I actually paid more attention. Tryst is unique in the regard of you get to see multiple perspectives on him. You see Becca's perspective, Zoe's, and Tryst's own perspective. Between the three the common themeing is that he is unstable and struggling in life. Has his ups and downs but makes a lot of innocently bad decisions in the process of just trying to do something to improve his quality of life. Some actions of course, are intentionally bad for the sake of improving his life, such as the parties he throws to get money. He manages his instability like a dominos tower about to topple over from being stacked too high and you can feel the anxious undertones he has even when he is trying to be all sunshine and rainbows. I enjoy also the way he cares a little too much about others. A little too much and a little too hard that he fails to consider just how bad of a situation he's putting himself in. Kinda also doubles over to why I'm not the biggest fan of Zoe and Becca, not their faults entirely because they're kids but y'know. They're still kinda pricks for just assuming they can do whatever they want and that he can just magically fix it. Also leads into why I really liked the cliffhanger ending (fuck you Netflix for cancelling fakes) be cause oh no if it isn't the consequences of their actions being shown straight to them in the most horrific way possible. Poor Tryst.
2. Kirk Lane
so not only is I Still See You a great movie that has made me violently sob every single time I've watched it, it's also one of the rawest experiences on grief I've seen. I enjoy the way you see that kirk is this sort of outcast character, but when you are introduced to him on a more personal scale you realize he's just misunderstood heavily by everyone around him. Everyone who has ever interacted with him even in the slightest before Ronnie has this negative perception caused by rumors because of him being this outsider who's bounced around place from place against his will. The undertones of him having a hard time with emotions, being depressed and quick to react because he is scared of losing the one good thing he has in life speaks volumes. Ronnie is so good for Kirk because she's the support he has been missing and badly needing in order for him to heal and improve in life. They understand each other and they work so well together in the short time you get to know them because they both know what it's like to feel alone and like an outsider to your own personal life. I also heavily adore the outfit design for him, the design choices made match the theming and environment of I Still See You. It drives me *crazy* when people don't have outfit design that matches what they're in. They nailed that perfectly with Kirk Lane's design. If I could like assign a flavor to each part of his outfit design, I would, so I'm going to in an image.
Prototype/Meron
Ok, where do I start? God, I wish Riese was better. It was a long watch, of which for some reason I decided to put myself through watching the entire show through the internet archive because of course I did. I suppose I will start with costume design; my favorite piece of the design is for sure the forked sickle he has. I enjoy how he moves like an animal hunting down prey. His cape is a nice touch to his outfit design, shrouding him in mystery and that eerie vibe he gives. For him being a completely nonspeaking role also, he has a lot of movement and action that helps talk about himself. He's got to be one of the most underrated roles out there, if not the most underrated because I never see anyone posting about Meron. I think for colors, he gives a very periwinkle purple and pale aqua. He carries little color in his design, but what he does helps carry helps with the atmosphere, so that's why I picked pale colors to represent him. For sweet foods he is a very saltwater taffy, sour candy, meringue vibe. I also think he would be very savory so from a previous post I selected a lot of savory flavors, those being: kimchi, shrimp taiyaki, fried eel. I also think of a few drinks that would fit him, those being cream soda, black raspberry flavored ice water, and hot black tea with a little bit of honey and sugar. For animals I think he gives crows and tiger sharks the most. The crows to represent how smart and connected to the other children who follow him since he leads them, and a tiger shark because tiger sharks will hunt nearly anything and have the largest range of things they're willing to consume. Tiger sharks also rank second to great white sharks on fatality rates, and I didn't want to suggest great white sharks because of how common they are. Tiger shark is more fitting because you don't think of them as immediately, they're not as seen, just like how people don't really know of prototype. For songs I also think of Angel by Massive Attack, but mostly the instruments, not the lyrics. The way that the song builds up and constantly has the jarring noises that sound like you're being hunted down and chased fits so well with the way he stalks and hunts in the show. I think Ringleader by Public Memory also serves as a good representation of his character, both in the background sounds and the vocals. I like how the lyrics aren't clear and sound disorienting, making it a struggle to understand them. The piano part coming in also adds to that unease that reminds me of his role. Honestly everything about his design and the way he behaves perfectly reminds me of an animal hunting. I also threw together a moodboard to represent my thoughts on Meron.
anyways that's enough of my ramble, I hope you liked it and ofc my opinions are my own so don't take these to heart ^^
