Maybe I'm just easy to surprise but I didn't think it was super obvious that Joplin'd be an antagonist. Like when it was revealed it made total sense (kinda scarily so - anything that seemed ever-so-slightly off suddenly clicked) but ig I was seeing it how George saw it
He was excited to find someone who shared his interests and he trusted them to be a friend when he felt ignored by his other friends. It really hit me when I realised how Joplin had taken advantage of George's social vulnerability.
Like, ok, I,, have to stress the significance of shared interests. I could feel his need for someone who shared his interests through the screen. It can really suck on like, an existential level when no one shares your interests (especially special interests) but when someone does take interest in my interests I am ecstatic. Easiest way to win my heart lmao and uh yeah so I have a lot of sympathy/empathy for that kinda thing in fiction
And it just so utterly sucks when a character feels ignored/invisible. They might even consciously acknowledge it when nobody's listening, only able to confide in the viewers who they don't even know are there like-- idk how to explain this right but ugh ykwim???
And to see it play out in a way that someone takes advantage of that?? And slowly realising with the character that hey, something's not right here. At first you ignore any subtle cues bc you want them to be happy sm and like. ToT I have FEELINGS about this ok????? LIKE THIS HAPPENS ALL THE TIME IN REAL LIFE AND YOU JUST SAW YOUR BLORBO GO THROUGH IT AND NEITHER OF YOU ARE OK ok i'll end the post here i reckon ahem
