As much as some of the scenes in this episode were deeply upsetting to watch, Payback is doing some very interesting things around morality.
This may not be entirely cohesive, because I have a lot flying around in my head right now, and this is me attempting to process via writing.
(Also I do want to acknowledge I know there is a lot of cultural-specific belief incorporated throughout the series, which I am not qualified to speak to, so this is gonna be a Western white lady's perspective).
1) Intent is not an excuse
Intent is a very popular excuse when it comes to misdeeds; you can't go one week without hearing some angsty person on the internet making an apology about how they didn't intend for people to take what they said in that way, they're a nice person, really. There's a lot of bad things out there people have done, and continue to do, and have attempted to excuse via "I didn't intend this". (This also applies to actions or even inaction that prop up oppressive systems, but we'll keep it at the individual level today).
But, of course, when it comes to harm, intent is for all intents and purposes total bullshit, because the harm has still happened. This is why I appreciate the series not shying away from Sun's actions as a debt collector. Yes, he had reasons, but he still did harm, and the series has never portrayed his reasons as an excuse of good intent. Interestingly, I have seen some viewers use it that way - but Sun himself absolutely never does, and that's an important part of his character, and his ability to transform into a better person.
Compare that to a character like Kongkiat, who up to this point, has been a mostly passive character. He doesn't procure the boys - Sunny does that. He doesn't assault or hurt them - Songpol does that. But there's a reason the camera goes back to Kongkiat so often while these things are happening in the room he is in. Whatever his personal intent may be, he is fully culpable in everything that is happening, and he holds moral responsibility for the harm that has affected all of these people.
Regardless, Sun's intentions are not the path to redemption. He has to do the work.
2) Accountability opens a path
Payback has made a point that you can be capable of some awful stuff, and still be able to work your way back to a good person. This is the entire reason for Pen-neung's arc. Permanently disabling another human being and running from the crime are the kind of thing that a lot of people would say makes him a bad person. But Payback is not interested in that kind of black and white thinking. Pen-neung did a bad thing, and he continued to do bad things as long as he tried to run from his actions.
What brings him back to a place of worthiness is accountability. He walks towards his actions, acknowledges he will need to start from scratch with his career, and accepts the consequences. He is the model of what is possible when you acknowledge the harm you've done, and openly take accountability to do and be better.
For Sun, true accountability would be going back and connecting with the people he harmed in the past, but realistically that's incredibly hard to do - not just emotionally, also logistically. He also can't do that for his brother and mother. But he can do that through taking on responsibility for other people who are being harmed by those in power - the representations of the people he used to harm himself.
3) Choice reveals who we really are
I would argue that up to this point, Sunny still had a path to walk back. It would have been an incredibly hard one with the level of harm that he had done. His accountability would have to involve some pretty serious consequences. But at the same time, Sun hurt and assaulted many people, and was ultimately responsible for his brother's death, and he has been fighting his way back. A hard path is still a path.
But today's episode really shows just how deeply Sun and Sunny diverge as characters. And it comes down to choice.
Songpol gave the order, Kongkiat gave the nod, but Sunny made the choice to murder a young man with his own hands.
Sun made the choice to save Sky or die trying.
Sunny may have been a victim himself previously, there may have been harsh consequences for him disobeying, but he wasn't willing to put himself on the line, even with an act so horrific that it cost the last remnants of his humanity.
For Sun, there wasn't ever any other possible option. He made the choice long before he entered that room. I've seen some people complaining that he could have planned better, could have told Suchat, and yes, but that's exactly the point. He has to take accountability, he has to make the choice, he has to sacrifice everything to save his brother, to finish his walk on the path in service of all of those he harmed in the past.
I'm going to leave it here for now, and I'm sure I'm leaving out a million things, but wow do I appreciate getting a show that is so rich and nuanced, even though I need to go snuggle some bunnies or something after today's episode.
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
stormborns
