#turn meta

[honorhearted]

This Ben&Abe gifset reminded me of an old theory (between a friend and myself) of how Ben's "fake scar story" seemed a little too real, given how sincere he came across:

(x)

When Ben lies, he's really not the best at deception, but in this particular deleted scene, he seemed so sincere that it's difficult to tell whether or not he was telling the truth. In the past, several fans have even asked if he was lying. The assumption is that yes, of course he was, but then again, what if he wasn't?

In the aforementioned gifset, I noticed something I hadn't before: in the background of each gif, the blocking deliberately puts Anna in between Abe and Ben. Blocking is never an accident, so that makes me wonder: was Anna the woman who got in between Ben and his best friend from his scar story? Although Ben and Abe obviously love each other like brothers, there's often a bit of underlying tension between them that makes them snappish with each other, so it begs the question: was there some unresolved history?

They even do it in the first promotional image! In my observational experience, they typically put the characters who're the most important to one another, and/or potential love interests, side-by-side. It's possible they'd intended to do a love triangle at first, but dropped the idea, especially since there seemed to be seeds planted for this in S4, in particular.

Although I absolutely do NOT need another Anna love interest, the idea of young!Ben crushing on Anna after she "held his hand while he cried from a bee sting" is cute, and I personally headcanon that he outgrew said crush, but not before Abe found out and put a bit of a wedge between them. It could also explain why Caleb was so gleeful teasing Ben and Anna (in 4x1) about the doxy rumors, because let's face it: Caleb would ABSOLUTELY be the friend who teases everyone about their infatuations.

(x)

[queerquaintrelle]

(Babe) wake up! New and shockingly extensive TURN meta just dropped!

[elrondsscribe]

Predictably, Valley Forge is one of my all-time favorite episodes of Turn. I know that Washington isn’t supposed to be a main character of Turn’s overall narrative, but man did I love that we got to have a Washington episode (and man do I wish there’d been more)!

[More under the cut because this got a lot longer than I intended.]

And again, I’m sure there’s other fictive media that does this, but this show let George fucking Washington have a breakdown. Like, demon-possessed Washington sounds like so much fun (obvs that would be right at home on, like, Supernatural or something), but I think what we got was even better. He was insecure, he was afraid, he had daddy issues, he was doubtful about his decision-making abilities (because he’d been fatally wrong!), and he was at the point of hallucinations and violence over it.

(Plus, am I crazy, or did Washington spend more time than usual without his uniform jacket? Eh, I’m probably crazy.)

Also, technically, he failed! I mean, obviously the choice he makes to write the letter sparing Hewlett is meaningful insofar as Washington’s mental health, but the captain lowkey was NOT going to spare that man and then Simcoe came along anyway.

And I love the little details. Like the bloody teeth and the Dutch angles on Washington’s face, Billy literally putting Washington back together by re-dressing him, the ripple of wind when That Letter snaps into focus, Washington hiding half in the shadows before vanishing into the darkness of the woods, the homage to McRae’s Prayer at Valley Forge, and of course the use of Lawrence’s watch.

Beyond that, the episode really allowed Washington to be not just a Man Who Owns Slaves but also abusive with it. I mean, even the act of asking Billy, whom he owns, to ‘treat me as an equal’ is already putting him in a position where he can’t win; but then getting physically violent when he tries to do exactly that? And then not even apologizing afterwards! Personally I really like this, because it doesn’t allow Washington off the ‘problematic’ hook even by the ending. I was not at all surprised to find that a black woman wrote this episode (actually the woman who produced the first and second season of Luke Cage, Aida Croal — cool!).

And on that note, I really love how much the episode cares about Billy in specific; the camera lingers with him for significant amounts of time without Washington present. In an interview Ian Kahn mentioned that the filming of that episode took place during Ferguson (Michael Brown, if you don’t remember), which I honestly did not put together because I watched Turn in 2020/21. Gentry White, besides being generally dignified and beautiful, really shines here, and his chemistry with Ian Kahn is off the charts. He plays a Billy struggling to hold his own amid the debris of Washington’s spiral, fearful but incredibly powerful once he finds his voice.

And of course there’s Lawrence, whose presence in the story is established as early as the scene with Dr. Thatcher, except you don’t really notice it until you’re rewatching the episode. Washington talks about him like a son about his father, but especially a father whom he idealizes (perhaps because he lost Lawrence so young and/or so long ago). And the encounter Washington has with Lawrence in the woods really is like a prayer — demanding answers from God, and when Lawrence speaks, it is very explicitly a theophany (the homage to McRae really drives it home).

But yeah. Valley Forge is a rollercoaster of an episode where my favorite Turn character is probably at his most human, vulnerable, unstable, and problematic. And it’s my favorite episode to rewatch.

[calamity-bean]

Did you notice that hewlett said Anna in the same tone he said "oh dear" when they kissed

Oh gosh, I just rewatched that part. He says her name so softly. And then, just as softly, “No, no–”, and closes his eyes, shakes his head, spends a long moment looking down and opening his mouth but not speaking…

When he opens his mouth again at the end of that second gif, he’s not saying anything; he just hesitates as though about to speak before finally shaking his head and insisting that science is his TRUE love and he’s TOTALLY FINE being alone. Hewlett may be trying to act like he’s over Anna, but that face, the way he’s blinking and working his jaw … There’s still a lot of pain in there. I hadn’t connected his tone to that previous moment specifically, but you’re right: both instances are hushed, taut, full of emotion, raw.

[calamity-bean]

I know it isn't your top turn relationship priority, but what did you think of the abe/mary scenes? part of me was happy that mary's getting the "real" marriage that she wants, but part of me feels like we missed a step in their development, considering he was still asking anna "what about /us/?" back in 3x04(?). objectively, i know that they have time constraints, but what are your opinions? you always have such insightful analyses. thanks!

Thank you, I’m glad you like my analyses, and it’s funny you should ask about this! Let me refer to the notes I wasfrantically scribbling longhand all through the ep, where I scrawled…

“YOU’RE MY CAUSE ABRAHAM” GOD DAM N MARY I WEEP !!!!!

…I adored that line. Just as I adored Mary saving him later in the ep.

You’reright that this relationship isn’t my top priority(if only because literally nothing else comes close to the one that is), andit’s no secret that I’ve had a lot of frustrations over the years with Abe. ButI adore Mary, and I’m actually very supportive of their marriage working out.Yes, there were points in season 3 that seemed to be backsliding towardAbe/Anna – which frustrated me at the time – but now, with the benefit ofhindsight, I think I understand why that happened. I think that backsliding wasultimately in service of a larger point: that Abe and Mary’s relationship is succeeding for the same reasons that Abeand Anna’s failed.

Itdoesn’t look like Abe and Mary are suited in the beginning, right? Season 1 pushes that~star-crossed forbidden romance~ angle hard, and Mary, while not unsympathetic evenback then, is cast in the role of the uptight wife who’s an impediment to Abe’swork as well as to his and Anna’s ~love.~ Mary does not share Abe’s politicalsympathies, as Anna does; she does not share Abe’s history, his childhood, hiscircle of friends; they’ve been married a couple years or so by that point, yetthere’s a sense that Abe and Mary … still don’t really know one another verywell. Abe sees Mary as an obstacle, Mary sees Abe as wayward, and the spyworkand Anna affair has them at odds…

…untilEnsign Baker is shot. And suddenly, both Abe and the audience realize that Maryis (as Abraham himself says) much more than the lovely rose Thomasdescribed. She is, in fact, every bit as cunning and ruthless as Abraham, whenshe needs to be – which can make her a helluva asset to him, or a helluvaimpediment, depending on whether their goals at any given moment align.

Fortunately,with each season, their goals have aligned more and more – partly because Abelearns to value Mary more, but largely because Mary slowly comes to accept thatshe’ll never succeed in stopping Abe, so she might as well help his dumb assany way she can. Teamwork brings out the best in Abe and Mary’s relationship. Iseldom like Abe more than when he’s listening to Mary’s ideas and we see thetwo of them collaborating and supporting one another. There’s some lovelyAbe/Mary content in … 3.01, I think? Where she’s, y’know, stuffing pistols upher petticoats for him to cover up Eastin’s murder (which was her idea), andthen they tumble into bed together all playful and sweet. Watching that, Iremember thinking: “Thank GOD! Abe has FINALLY realized how well they worktogether! He’s FINALLY learned to appreciate his wife!”

…Andthen the Hewlett situation happens. And the long-cooling embers of Abe/Annaflare up for one last, miserable hurrah.

Becauseat the same time that Abe and Mary have been learning how well suited they are– both cunning, both stubborn, and both increasingly willing to engage inwhatever violence or deceit they need to in order to achieve their goals andprotect the things they love – Anna has been undergoing a paralleltransformation. Hers, however, is asoftening. She who started out the series so angry and so confident in therebel cause has discovered compassion and admiration for someone she neverexpected, and as a result, she now finds herself drawing lines she can nolonger cross. And what we see when Abe comes back from prison – which rendershim more bitter and ruthless than ever before – is suddenly, his ruthlessness frightens Anna even as her affection forHewlett baffles him.

ContrastAnna’s behavior during the Abe–Hewlett conflict with Mary’s. Because Mary andEdmund, they were friends, right? They seemed to respect one another? To getalong? In season 2, she calls him a darling man, a good man, and prays for hissafety and his soul. She even helps save him the first time from Abe! But oncethat conflict is in the open…? She loses all sympathy for Hewlett. She refusesto help Anna broker a peace. She knows that Abe intends to betray Hewlett, andher response to Anna is basically: What,you don’t want Abe killing this guy to protect his family? That sounds like aYOU problem, hon. For Anna, trying to protect both men is an absolutecrisis. For Mary, it’s no dilemma whatsoever. Abe is her cause.

Interms of priorities, personalities, cunning, aggressiveness toward obstacles,stubbornness in pursuit of sometimes selfish goals, and willingness to crossmoral lines for the sake of what they hold dear, Abe and Mary understand oneanother in a way that Abe and Anna simply cannot anymore. The reason we getthat backsliding in early season 3, though, is that Abe has not yet fullyrealized or accepted this yet. I think he’s extremely jealous of Anna’saffections, and I think he’s absolutely furious with her for protecting Hewlettbecause he simply cannot for the life of him understand why the HELL she isdoing this. For him and Mary, pragmatism demandsthat Hewlett be dealt with, and that’s as simple as that. The abstract moraldilemma Anna is grappling with simply does not exist.

Inshort: the reason Abe’s feelings for Anna flare up again in early season 3 isso that they can be definitively doused. A last violent, ugly show ofresistance to change before Abe can accept that it’s time to move on.

Fortunately,we’ve seen no further backsliding in season 4. Abe and Anna have healed theirfriendship, but Mary is Abe’s partner in life and love, and I think he knowsit. God knows Mary deserves better than anyone can give her, and I have toagree that we haven’t seen as much obvious devotion or development of feelingson Abe’s side of the equation as we have on Mary’s. I think it’s clear herespects and cares for Mary, but he’s often focused on the cause. However, giventhat it was only a couple seasons ago that he was telling her he didn’t loveher the way she loved him, I think it’s wonderful how much progress the two ofthem have made. 

[calamity-bean]

hewlett & abigail!!!

Things I love about this teaser:

Two of my favorite characters having real, substantial interaction at last!!! Just in time before the series is done!!! (They’ve technically met before, of course, and have both heard much about the other via Anna, but they’ve never really talked.) 

Hewlett comforting Abigail!!! Taking her hands, kneeling, apologizing for frightening her!!! I LOVE IT

And of COURSE he’s gonna help her get to Cicero. He is A Good Man.

~Anna mention~

Plus Ben mention = potential fake love letter mention...?

Abigail knows that Anna was engaged to Hewlett and legitimately had feelings for him (see 3.08). With the right prompting, might she tell him what Anna told her?

Even if she doesn’t, Abigail says she intends to go to Washington’s camp and appeal to Anna. In 4.01, Anna encouraged Abigail not to give up hope of seeing Akinbode again. Given that Abigail is now trying to do just that (reunite with Akinbode as well as Cicero, that is), and given the subtle parallel or two this season has seemed to draw between Abigail/Akinbode and Annlett, wouldn’t it be nice … if Abigail mentioned to Anna … that Anna has a chance to see a man Anna thought gone for good, too…

Did I mention I love both of them and I get so excited whenever characters who have always been in completely separate spheres of the narrative FINALLY intersect??

Things I do not love about this teaser:

“Then I will leave this cursed country for good” oh no you DON’T mister you are NOT getting the deed to Whitehall just to SELL IT you sit your skinny idiot butt back down RIGHT NOW!!!

[calamity-bean]

How about that moment in "The Prodigal" where Abe arrives home and Anna is about to rush forward but Hewlett puts out a hand as if to say, "Wait. Let them have their moment." Part of it may be Hewlett's fondness for Mary, but part of it is a desire to keep Anna from being humiliated. Remember, this is right after Hewlett rescued himself from captivity and he's clearly in love with Anna, but he's not stupid. It's a very subtle gesture that probably no one else notices, but Anna takes the hint.

An Annlett moment that I’ve never analyzed before! What a rare treat.

And a very rich, flavorful treat indeed, because there are a lot of layers here:

Anna’s feelings for / romantic history with Abe (engagement, breakup, affair), all of which Edmund knows about (as does everyone else present, excluding, well, Sprout) 

Mary’s own claims to Abe (romantic, social, familial, and legal), and Edmund’s friendships with her and with Richard

Anna and Edmund’s brand-new pseudo-relationship — which is platonic and undefined and more a friendship than anything romantic yet, but still something — enough of a something to let them interact in a private, intimate way in the background of the scene

…All of which creates a situation in which there are a lot of romantic, social, and interpersonal dynamics at play. And what Edmund does, with nothing more than two fingers to Anna’s elbow and a whispered, “Wait,” is kind of cut through all those tangled relationships and — as is Mr. Law, Order, Authority’s way — put everyone in their proper place.

And, to judge by Anna’s face, it’s honestly a gutting moment for her.

Anna doesn’t know it yet, but the romance between her and Abe is over. If it was still alive when he went into the sugar house, it’s dead by the time he comes out. When they have their private reunion in his secret little Culper basement, Anna is very physically affectionate … but Abe, traumatized and tired, doesn’t really respond. Certainly not in the way Anna’s just watched him respond to his family, to whom he CLINGS. And that touch to her elbow was this gutting reminder that Anna is NOT Abe’s family, that she has NO claim to him — not one that can see the light of day, at least. After all, Hewlett didn’t say don’t; he simply said wait. So she waits for her moment, when she and Abe can be alone … and I think she still doesn’t get the response she’d hoped for. Because she and Abe, in the mere couple of months or so they’ve been apart, have both deeply changed.

A cynical reading of this scene could interpret Hewlett as possessive: controlling Anna’s personal interactions with a potential romantic rival. But I really do not think that interpretation holds up. Hew never expresses jealousy about Anna being around Abe — not now, not any other time, not even once his and Anna’s relationship is explicitly romantic. “Wait” doesn’t mean “Don’t go near him,” it just means “I know you want to see him, but not yet.” So it’s much more like you said: he’s saving everyone, first and foremost Anna herself, the awkwardness of trying to insert herself into a situation that … however painfully, for her … is simply not her place.

You know, I’d never articulated it before, but this is SUCH an important scene in marking the shift from Anna/Abe to Anna/Hewlett. First Anna is reminded that Abe’s life has no stable place for her … then she discovers for herself how much imprisonment has changed Abe … and in the next episode, 2.10, she takes Hewlett’s side over Abe’s for the first time. And finally, the nail in the coffin, really, she gets called out on her feelings for Edmund by none other than Abe himself.

[calamity-bean]

i love how simcoe said he was proudest of making hewlett one of his creations - like he knew he had been bested by this little man of no importance, and couldnt help but be a bit proud of him. it also sort of makes me wonder how their dynamic was before they came to setauket for some reason?

Seriously, can we TALK about the dialogue in that scene??? “Of all the men I have forged from weaklings into warriors, you may be my greatest creation.” What a LINE!

And the reason that statement is so powerful – the reason the whole SCENE is so powerful – is that for a terrible moment, it seems as though Simcoe has won. He’ll die, sure, but that’s small potatoes compared to the TRUE victory: transforming Hewlett into a mirror of Simcoe himself. As I discussed before, this season has been having Hewlett mirror Simcoe like WOAH, and all in pursuit of the ideological question at the heart of Hewlett vs. Simcoe: Is it better to be ruthless or to exercise moral restraint? Or, to put it in 2.04 terms: Shall we be men of reason, or men of blood? Killing Simcoe under those circumstances would prove that Hewlett’s victory comes at the price of him becoming one of those men of blood he once disdained. And Simcoe, resigned to his death, is so fucking delightfully SMUG to think that he’s getting the last laugh!

…Which makes the subversion – the mercy – all the more sweet.

Honestly, what a classic Simcoe thing to do, though – even on his apparent deathbed, he underestimates Hewlett yet AGAIN, refusing to give Hewlett credit for beating him by claiming that Hew’s only able to because Simcoe taught him how. Hilarious. I love it. To be honest, though, I actually have NO idea how long Hewlett and Simcoe are supposed to have known each other before Setauket. This is just my headcanon, but I guess I always got the impression that these two hadn’t been working together for very long even as of season 1.  Hewlett’s supposedly only joined the military fairly recently (since his father was bankrupted by the trade embargoes in the early days of the war, right?), and Simcoe’s apparently never been to England. So in my imagination, I suppose I reckon the war just happened to throw them together by virtue of getting them assigned to the same unit / stationed in the same town.

If so, then what a, uh … momentous bit of serendipity that was.