S03.E04: Episode 4

[paulvdb]

Quote

In the cold light of day, can sex turn into intimacy, and vice versa? Ruby recoils from Otis. Maeve connects with Isaac. Abstinence roils Moordale.

 

[Zonk]

So Jacob is building a tree house without power tools? And he's further along than screwing in one board? Sure show, sure.

Also who still uses philips head when building something out of wood, especially outside? Use Torx, you animal!

Edited September 17, 2021 by Zonk

[Ms.Lulu]

I actually like Otis and Ruby.  There seems to be more there than Maeve and Otis.

For whatever reason Ruby seems more vulnerable and more authentic than Maeve.

[Danny Franks]

5 hours ago, Ms.Lulu said:

I actually like Otis and Ruby.  There seems to be more there than Maeve and Otis.

For whatever reason Ruby seems more vulnerable and more authentic than Maeve.

That seems to be a popular feeling, this season. I can see why, because Otis and Ruby were actually having positive experiences together and enjoying each other's company.

Otis and Maeve is just weighed down with angst and drama, and every time they talk there was just so much unsaid baggage. The writers forgot to show us any of what made them such a compelling pairing in the first season - the moments where they appreciated each other's minds, where they flirted or challenged one another.

One example I can think of - the scene where they talk to Dex about his penis and Otis reverts to sex therapist mode, they should have had a shot of Maeve reacting to him, with some kind of recognition in her eyes of 'this is why I liked him' but there was nothing.

I do feel like Maeve is a shadow of her season one self, thanks to all the angst with Otis, with her mother and sister, with school. She just seems dulled by it all, and I can certainly understand why Emma Mackey has made noises about wanting to move on.

[Paloma]

I know these are trivial issues but they bug me: (1) Can someone explain to me what the new principal thought was wrong with Maeve's hair, and what Maeve finally did to comply? I didn't see any difference after she supposedly changed it (when Isaac complimented her), other than it not being in a ponytail. (2) Did we know that Isaac had a spinal injury? I thought he had cerebral palsy--not sure if that was said at one point or I just assumed it based on his posture.

On 9/19/2021 at 7:46 AM, Ms.Lulu said:

I actually like Otis and Ruby.  There seems to be more there than Maeve and Otis.

For whatever reason Ruby seems more vulnerable and more authentic than Maeve.

I thought Maeve and Otis were better as friends than as romantic interests, but I never liked Ruby and Otis--mainly because of the terrible way she treated him (and everybody else). It's hard to see her as vulnerable and sympathetic after her previous attitude and behavior. But maybe I'm just reacting as someone who was not popular in high school and envious of the cool and attractive girls who ruled the school.

[possibilities]

We learned about Isaac's injury last season. He took a bad fall and broke his back, IIRC. 

Maeve was in trouble for having pink hair. She had to dye it back to natural, or cut off the pink. I can't remember which one she did. 

[Aulty]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

Maeve was in trouble for having pink hair. She had to dye it back to natural, or cut off the pink. I can't remember which one she did. 

Blue it was. Blue tips, thus Hope's cookie monster comment.
The first time I watched season 3 I didn't get all the remarks about the hair either because its such a dusty blue its hardly noticable if your screen settings aren't on the brighter side. Only when I watched it again on my laptop did I notice it.
Probably didn't help that they shot the show in autumn instead of summer. The whole thing is a lot duskier.

9 hours ago, Paloma said:

I thought Maeve and Otis were better as friends than as romantic interests, but I never liked Ruby and Otis--mainly because of the terrible way she treated him (and everybody else). It's hard to see her as vulnerable and sympathetic after her previous attitude and behavior.

People going nuts for Ruby and Otis are really doing my head in. Do they only remember two scenes and a heart broken Ruby from that whole relationship?
When he was with Ola, he said ILY and did not mean it (and she saw that right away), with Ruby he didn't say it because knew he wasn't there (yet), whereas 

Spoiler

in episode 5 he repeats the ILY from his phone call to Maeve without hesitation and its obvious that he means it.

If they wanted to go with Ruby and Otis at some point both characters would have to work on themselves before this can be an emotionally intimate relationship. Otherwise this will turn into some badly scripted token story like Maeve and Isaac.
Anyway, I am curious what they have planned for Ruby in season 4.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Aulty

[Danny Franks]

10 hours ago, Aulty said:

People going nuts for Ruby and Otis are really doing my head in. Do they only remember two scenes and a heart broken Ruby from that whole relationship?

I think, in large part, it's due to the fact that Otis and Ruby had a string of scenes together where they had cute, happy moments and communicated clearly. All the things that Otis and Maeve were not allowed to have this season, or last season for that matter. All we get from their scenes are bitterness, anger and hurt.

It's not that surprising to me that some people would say, 'this pairing is making me miserable, so I like that one instead.' 

It also helps that Mimi Keene is a charming actress and managed to give Ruby a lot of layers that, even when she was being shallow, you could see her genuine depth of feelings for Otis.

[Aulty]

39 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

It also helps that Mimi Keene is a charming actress and managed to give Ruby a lot of layers that, even when she was being shallow, you could see her genuine depth of feelings for Otis.

You probably have a point. Especially with Otis and Maeve getting very little happy screen time together.
And like @Paloma part of me has a hard time shipping the popular b*tch, especially when she was all or nothing - love me or leave me.
Somehow Ruby's line from season 2, that she 'makes out with nerdy boys because they think they are in love with her, which feels amazing' is also still stuck in my head. There is a grain of autophobia in there somewhere.
 

[Roseanna]

On 10/5/2021 at 10:42 PM, Danny Franks said:

I think, in large part, it's due to the fact that Otis and Ruby had a string of scenes together where they had cute, happy moments and communicated clearly.

I am sorry but I don't see such "string of scenes". Ruby treated Otis horribly, first wanting to keep their relationship secret and then forcing him to dress in the clothes she had chosen although she finally gave in.

It was only when Otis almost forced Ruby to show him her home, she became an interesting person to me, as her vulnerability about her poor home and he sick dad was revealed. But it wasn't from her but her dad that Otis learned that she liked him, not only used him for great sex (of course Otis had done the same).

On the basis of her behavior in the first season, I haven't so far liked Ruby. But because Adam could change and grow, no doubt Ruby could have too. Therefore I believe that Otis's visiting her home where she could behave and he see her without her school role as the Queen Bee could have been the turning point where they could have begun a real relationship.

The writers ruined this chance by making Ruby to declare her love and getting hurt when Otis didn't immediately say he feels the same. But love isn't just feeling, it's also doing (and many other things). Ruby forgot completely that the way she had treated Otis didn't testify of love.