13x19: “Backfire", script extracts. Meta under the cut.
I really want to meta on why it’s Nick that DB opens up to in this episode and not Finn. But I can’t do it very WELL because I don’t KNOW. There are a few options I’ve tossed around:
Does he hold back because if Katie still isn’t okay then maybe Finn isn’t either, and he’s not going to add to that with guilt? Maybe. (Katie and Molly aren’t the only ones “Trying not to show it. Trying to be strong.”)
I’m discounting anything to do with blame for losing her. At least directly - perhaps only in the sense that part of Finn might still blame herself, in which case, circle back to point one re: guilt.
IS IT JUST TO DO WITH THE PACING OF THE EPISODE AND WHO IS WHERE IN ANY GIVEN SCENE? No, because then you don’t even need to include the initial deflection. [Although there’s definitely an element of writing for the audience rather than the characters. Might the audience need a reminder that Maya is Russell’s daughter? Perhaps. Does he need to describe her to Finn as “my daughter Maya”? lmao obviously not.]
Is it just wrapped up in how well they know each other? In the sense that he can admit to Nick that things aren’t okay, and Nick is a good guy who’s shaken by this case too, so they can share a supportive moment and get back to work - because they’re colleagues and it’s contained. (At least Russell thinks it is. Clearly the moment his back is turned, Nick is offscreen worrying to Finn that the bossman isn’t okay.) But if he admits to Finn that things aren’t okay, then she knows him, in a way that runs deep, and she’s going to worry about him in a way that lingers and shifts the balance between them, just a fraction? I guess this is as close to happy as I can get with it… but I don’t know.
There’s just a weird on-and-off between them post “Karma to Burn”, where in “Code Blue Plate Special”, Russell insists that everything is okay, a couple of episodes later in “It Was a Very Good Year” he admits that Barbara is still spending weekends in Seattle, but now another half a season down the line, he’s back to deflecting. AND I DON’T KNOW WHY, and in case you can’t tell I’m not super chill about it.
If there’s an obvious interpretation I haven’t considered eg. “if you look at scene D in episode X…” or “Melissa no one is supposed to care this much” then please, I am very open to it.
