Definitely not love (yet)
I have a love-hate relationship with people who claim that couples are “in love” way too soon. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter. We can (and should) read into the nuanced interactions between Kinn and Porsche. But...I don’t think it’s accurate to say they are in love at this point (again, just my opinion). In fact, to me, these claims take away a lot of the fun of what we’ve been given so far.
It’s like...do I want to believe that they’re secretly in love? Of course. But while the endpoint is always enjoyable, I’m all for the journey to the love. In most--if not all--cases, I actually enjoy the angst and pining more than the happy ending...but I’m sure that’s true for a lot of us here. We are watching KinnPorsche, after all. It’s far from sunshine and rainbows. We all know what we signed up for.
In the case of Kinn and Porsche, I think it’s worth thinking about where exactly they are on their journey to loving each other, and it’s all up for interpretation. Most us can probably agree that Kinn is much closer to love than Porsche is (but to say Kinn is head over heels in love with Porsche at this point feels like a stretch). Porsche has feelings that he can’t understand. And let’s not overlook the fact that Kinn has betrayed his trust several times over the last two episodes. Say what you will, but all the pining on Porsche’s side is evidently too muddled to really take shape. There seems to be a degree of lust there, and perhaps a glimmer of affection for the man Kinn is beneath the mask (see: the beloved pier-kiss scene, i.e. one of the only times Kinn allows Porsche to see his vulnerability), but until Kinn apologizes/displays real regret for violating Porsche, Porsche’s feelings don’t have room to progress. He has a right to be angry, and any lingering glances are merely attempts to make sense of Kinn’s behavior. It’s “What’s your angle? Do you truly care for me at all?” rather than “I see my future in your eyes.” Is there a degree of sexual desire in there as well? Yes. But I don’t think true love is part of the equation yet (and honestly, I think I’d be a little disappointed if it was).
This post from @yeetlegay does a really excellent job of pinpointing all of the nuances of Ep5, especially in regards to body language. Kinn and Porsche say much more through their expressions than through words. This nuance isn’t nearly as compelling if we simply write it off as love...or even just pining. There’s pain, there’s longing, there’s confusion, there’s skepticism, there’s curiosity, there’s resistance. All in all, there’s so much here that supersedes one, or even two, labels. That’s what makes me so freaking excited about this show.
This post is coming off a little more bitter than I intended. I just think people have a tendency to throw the word “love” around haphazardly and leave it at that when there is so much more to unpack. This is a love story, sure, but love is made up of more than one emotion. We have to witness all of these other emotions take shape in order to get to the one at the top of the pyramid. KP falling in love is what I want to see, and if they’re already there, then we’d be cheated out of a lot of their (necessary) development.
