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Mega Leech - A prelude to the seeds of the rebellion? (The father vs the son)

Okay, so, before I start, I know a lot of fans are very passionate about this scene, but I want to inform you this is neutral territory. And therefore, I am asking you to leave behind any theories you might have before reading this post.

My analysis is not there to prove or refute any theories. The reason why I am analysing any ML scene to begin with is because the cinematography behind it striked me. So my focus will only be on the shots themselves and how they make me feel as a viewer.

Are we good? Good. Let’s proceed.

First, let us remind ourselves of the context. Mega Leech is loaded with real life issues such as police-state (how the mayor abused of the police officer to shut down any protestor and later litteraly become a dictator so everyone does as he says without any opposition) and how the political class can favor companies and their profit over the common good and do so behind people’s back. Basically, the episode teaches the viewers to pay attention to the projects their political and rich elites try to sell them. To look past the pretty images and doublespeak use to promote a project and use their civic right to protest and make noise to counter censorship and raise awareness.

During the episode, Mylène and Ivan inform their classmates about the unsustainability of the Mayor’s new environmental project sponsored by two companies : the Gabriel’s brand and the Tsurugi’s company. Adrien -- whose image is used in the add to promote the project -- discovers that he had been mislead. And later, he takes a stand and protest with his friends against the project. Stand that his father of course learns about.

However, it is only during the final scene, when Adrien gets home, that Adrien faces the consequences of taking position and being openly public about it.

First detail I’ve noticed when the scene began was where the camera was put. It was on the ground level, giving us this illusion that everything is oversized. It doesn’t help the mansion is huge to begin with, but due to the perspective, the door, the plant even the tiles looked way bigger than Adrien.

So right away, we feels that Adrien is very small in the environment that is supposed to be his home AKA a safe place. We, as the viewers, immediately don’t feel safe because that shot makes us unconfortable. This is not a normal view at eye level like we usually see. By placing the camera -- the viewer’s viewpoint -- so close to the ground, it is as if someone is about to step on us. Speaking of which...

The camera travels back to reveal Gabriel, standing. Immobile. And Gabriel who is already a very tall character to begin with seems even more imposing, towering Adrien. Adrien is visible from head to toes in the frame. Gabriel? The frame only manages to show us from his knees to his toes.

Next shot offers us Gabriel framed with a low-angle, reinforcing his dominance over Adrien. Behind him, we see the family portrait. We clearly see painting!Gabriel’s hand on painting!Adrien’s shoulder. It is not meant as a sign of reconfort nor love, but as a sign of possessiveness. To Gabriel, Adrien must obey him. That is what he expects from his son : total obedience. We also get the impression painting!Adrien is trapped. The majority of the space is taken by two Gabriels, not allowing him to reach the open wide space at the left of the frame. On the other side, very close to him, the painting and the shot frames each acting as wall, enclosing him even more. No chances will be given.

Reverse shot. Just like Gabriel had a low-angle to assess his authority, Adrien gets a high-angle to symbolize his inferiority and powerlessness in the conflict going on in this scene.

During this shot, Adrien is defending himself. Or at least, tries to. He explains why he did it. How it wasn’t meant as a direct attack against his father. (The fact Gabriel treats it as such is a Red Flag). Adrien heard his friends’ argumentary and came to his own conclusions the project was bad and he stood for what he thought was right. Adrien is very open and genuine. His body language reflects that. Adrien is expressing himself. His hands moves around. In contrast, Gabriel stand very still. He hasn’t moved since the beginning of the scene.

We might think that Gabriel is inside the frame because he is listening but that is a mistake. In a way, I think Adrien was hoping for his father to listen to him. However, Gabriel is instead already set for what comes next.

He raises his hand, which cover Adrien’s entire body. Silencing Adrien. Shutting him down.

Remember, this was an episode about censorship and abuse of power. And Gabriel is displaying exactly that. He is the patriarch, the authority figure of the household. Not only that, but he is also Adrien’s employer. Adrien is merely a pawn who cannot explore any other routes than the ones selected for him. This is even more heartbreaking because earlier, during the protest, we have seen Marinette’s parents, Mylène’s father and Alya’s big sister not only come see them but also support them and join the protest, defending them against the Mayor’s authority.

Also, it is important to note the presence of Gabriel’s wedding ring in the shot. The bond between Gabriel and Émilie. Their vows. And not just their marriage one. We have seen this ring play an important part during a previous episode. During Félix, which marked the first anniversary of Émilie’s “disappearance”, Gabriel renewed his promised to bring her back. The episode also coincide with Gabriel considering the option to tell Adrien the truth (which went poorly).

So, for whatever reason, Adrien straying from the path his parents have decided for him is not welcomed by Gabriel and he will put a stop to it. Gabriel will not stand any form of rebellion from Adrien, especially if he wants to bring Émilie back.

Next shot, a close up on Gabriel’s mouth as he orders Adrien to go to his room. His words are laws.

Followed up by a reverse shot of a resigned Adrien, accepting his fate, with no will to fight off this injustice he is living.

Tbh, I dunno what other people expected. Adrien is very used to have his father not listen to him. He rarely manages to confront his father without any consequences. For Adrien, he is better off to do what his father says. He told Nino so during Bubbler, one of the very first episode of the series. Adrien very carefully pick his battles because he can easily lose a lot. His privilege to go to school and see his friends can easily be taken from him by his father and Adrien fully knows that and can’t risk it. That is the one thing he has chosen for himself in his civilian life and which bring him some joy that his father allow him to have.

So, 4 seasons in and Adrien cannot fight directly against his father. Even when Adrien wanted to go to school, he had to sneak out and have some support from Nathalie. What is the use? His father will only shuts him down at best or punish him at worst. The small victories he did have are so scarce and unpredictable.

Remember, during Stormy Weather 2, Adrien was questionning whether his life will ever change? His homelife is quite a challenge already. Although, between SW2 (S3ep17) and Mega Leech (S4ep10), we did get a bit of hope. At the end of Mr. Pigeon 72, we do get this shot :

I dunno if you guys have noticed, but the car has become a symbol of Gabriel’s control over Adrien. The car leads Adrien wherever Gabriel wants him to be whenever he needs him to be. But during the reenactment of the umbrella scene, if memory serves, this was the first time the Agreste car wasn’t parked immediately next to the sidewalk.

This shot illustrated Adrien’s dilemma : either walk home or take the ride home. Same destination, but two ways to reach it. For the first time, Adrien felt like he had a choice, an alternative path available to him. However, Gabriel’s shadow quickly shut him down and Adrien picked the safest option for him, not wanting to anger his father needlessly.

Anyway, all this to say that on his own, Adrien avoids confrontation with his father, especially frontal confrontation. That’s why Adrien prefers to be sneak and sly when he disobeys. Or exploit the loop hole. No confrontation, no caught red-handed, therefore no problems nor punishment.

However, in Mega Leech, Adrien did pick a side, guided by his friends who helped him see the truth. Just like Marinette helped him see an alternative back during Mr Pigeon 72. Adrien is slowly learning about himself and to express himself with their help. And that’s how his life can change. And that might be what Gabriel is afraid of.

End of the paranthesis, back to the analysis.

Adrien obeys and heads to his room. Notice the frame. Gabriel’s eyes are hidden away as a sad Adrien passes right next to him. He doesn’t see Adrien’s feelings in this. Or rather, he doesn’t want to see them. It is only when Adrien is behind Gabriel that the camera lift itself to show Gabriel’s face.

Emotionless and stubborn as always. Gabriel is perfectly still while Adrien is moving away from him. What I personally get from this shot is that, in his impartiality and by being arbitrary, Gabriel is causing a rift between Adrien and him. After a few seconds, the shot ends with Gabriel turning away.

The shot changes during the movement. We barely see Adrien who is tiny in the whole frame before he exits it. In the meantime, Gabriel finishes his movement...

... allowing us to see him twitching his ring in his back.

Honestly, this shot is up to interpretation until we know the secret behind the twin rings and what actually consist Gabriel’s promise to Émilie. So we cannot be sure of what is being subtexted here. Thomas, his writers team and the storyboarder who has worked on this episode obviously knew about its meaning and the shot feels important for what is to come. And at this point, that’s all we can tell concretely.

Personally, I interpret the ring twitching as a sign of nervousness from Gabriel. Either the thought of Adrien rebelling is making Gabriel anxious about what is to come or he is not respecting a part of his promise to Émilie. Maybe both.

Also, I can’t get off the fact we briefly see Adrien in this shot, along with the asynchronicity of both character’s movement at that moment, thus not timing in. As paradoxal as it may be, to me, it felt like Adrien is eluding Gabriel’s monitoring, thus still managing to escape Gabriel’s control despite submitting without a fight.

At any case, the scene concludes on a close shot of Gabriel’s face, frowning. There is something he obvisously didn’t like about what had happened today. And it felt like he will make sure this won’t ever happen again. As in he cannot risk it to happen again. And he will be considering his options.

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