S04.E07: Snipe Hunt

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

Libra men are the WORST. How you a air sign and ain't got a passport? Ain't nobody trynna go on vacation in the woods with bugs. 

Original air date 2022.10.20

[AngieBee1]

In S2 in that episode where Van and Earn goes to the German festival, she tries to pin Earn down and commit to her whereas he wanted them to continue as is. Now here it is all this time later and he's the one who is wanting more. I am hoping that Van hasn't been keeping Earn as her #1 all this time and waiting for him to come around. I really don't want her to go to Los Angeles with him. He spoke of his wants for their relationship, but what about hers? It was interesting to me that he mentions he's been thinking about this since Europe. I am guessing him seeing her wilding out made him realize he was in danger of losing her. I think he likes the idea of an omnipresent, responsible Van who is there when he needs her which is not the same as being in love.

I give it to Earn though - once he got that needless "I wouldn't be alone for long" out the way, he talked a good talk. But my hope is that while Van was touched in the moment, upon rumination she realizes that she doesn't need a commitment from Earn; that they have transcended that.

Plus, with Lottie not wanting him in their tent and wanting her grandparents there, I think she's not as accustomed to Earn being around (and surely got used to Van being gone during her stint in Europe), so it greatly annoyed me when Earn talked about only coming to Atlanta a few times a year to visit. It was as if he was giving her an ultimatum - come with him or he'll be more or less out her life. Which, really is the status quo considering at the start of the series he had just returned to town.

[heatherchandler]

The bug noises had my anxiety at 100!

[aghst]

I can’t recall what their relationship has been like in the earlier seasons.  Had the vague sense that Earn wanted to reconcile but he was also preoccupied with finding what to do with his life, to become Al’s manager.

Plus we just only learned that he had a traumatic experience at Princeton so he probably wasn’t prioritizing Van or Lottie.

Van was also doing her own thing, also finding herself.  She’s also had some episodes showing what she was up to without Earn.

So I didn’t get the sense that she was waiting for Earn.  In fact I wonder if this entire episode wasn’t part of some closure as the episodes run out.  I’m not sure there was ever some mapping out of Van and Earn from early on, how things would end with them.  Could be a bit of fan service.

When he made his heartfelt pitch, Van did register being moved by her facial movements.  It wasn’t obvious like her also shedding tears like Earn did or joy but her face was doing something.  She didn’t say she felt the same, something about Kanye which is suppose to mean it’s romantic in a way that Kanye songs are?

Maybe it’s partly about pride.  Earn is making these big gestures which involve getting the biggest tent at REI, bigger than they needed and which later he tells Van to leave it as they hurry to get out of the rain.  He also rented out the whole campground so nobody else would be around, something which Van doesn’t seem to like, as if she resents Earn flashing his money.  She is after all going to be financially dependent on him.  She tells him he wants her and Lottie to come along so he won’t be alone out there so Earn has to convince her that he wants her.

Then there other snapshots of their relationship like her suggesting that he was driving too fast through tHe woods and that he might be going the wrong way to him pushing back, kind of a typical husband-wife exchange.

Then she asks him what is the probability that they will get killed in the woods in front of their 6-year old daughter.

Later she cuts their hike short, telling him that they’re not crossing some stream — she was probably right to make that decision.  Then she pranks Lottie about the snipe hunt, to keep her busy.

Episode is suppose to be a celebration of Lottie’s birthday but Van suspects that Earn wanted to get an answer out of her, so ulterior motives at play.  Was her agenda to get swept off her feet, to be won over?

Random thing about this episode, it wasn’t in 16:9 aspect ratio.  The opening credit sequence was but as soon as The first frame came up there were black bars on the sides.  Then as they drove away and the ending credit sequence came up, it reverted to 16:9.  So what is Glover the auteur doing with the different aspect ratio?  This family is closer or has to be to fit within the smaller frame?  They start out in a giant SUV, too big for the three of them.  The expensive tent Earn bought was too big for 3 people, especially the family Earn was trying to restitute.  They literally had to cuddle up together closely to share the body heat or they might suffer hypothermia.

So maybe the narrower frames are for the greater intimacy which these characters are establishing?

[JenE4]

10 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

The bug noises had my anxiety at 100!

With the bug noises, the foreboding foreshadowing of being murdered, and the framing that something could be lurking on the other side (Lottie and Van emerging from behind a tree, the doorways of the abandoned building), the precarious situations (river of doom and Lottie being left alone hunting snipe), and the fact that “nothing” was really happening in terms of it being a regular day, I also had a weird sense of anxiety the whole episode, on edge of what was going to happen. In that way, it was truly amazing because it put the viewers in what I assume was to be Earn’s emotional state. He planned this whole big family bonding experience in the hopes of convincing Van to come to LA with him—but moreover changing the status of their relationship. They’ve been together but not together for years. There’s just always been something there that l, I don’t know, maybe both of them have been too stubborn or emotionally unavailable to just say, hey, we obviously love each other so why do we keep playing this game that neither of us wants to be the one to admit that we want to just be together? What was left unsaid between them for all of this time has been the source of anxiety, and once Earn was finally the one to admit, hey, I’ve always loved you and all I want is to be a real family with you, Van was able to admit that she wants the same thing. After that, all of the anxiety and tightness that was built up the whole episode (good call, Aghst, on the aspect ratio!) suddenly melted away—that they were physically tight and shivering at night to suddenly relaxed and melting “down the incline.” Lottie also did not seem to be enjoying her birthday at all because she could sense the anxiety too, and wanted the familial love of grandma and grandpa, but as they were leaving, she looked at her parents and smiled for the first time the whole trip. She finally felt like a family, too. 

[possibilities]

I thought this episode was the most traditional tv-like we've seen from this show in a while. So for me, it was tv vs movie framing. Also, it was kind of one cliche after the other. I feel like he was pranking the audience: "Oh? you think the show is too weird/creative/artsy now? Okay, so here's the formula you're used to." Now, back to the new format.

[aghst]

The Ringer Prestige podcast has some great takes on the episode.

First, snipe hunt is a prank, when immigrants were sent off to chase some mythical creature.

So this episode explores whether love is real, whether there is something real between Earn and Van.

That pillow case which Lottie used to catch a snipe is the oversized tent that Earn bought.

Earn talking from his heart shows there is something real, they did catch something in that pillow/tent.  (And as they leave together, they leave the tent, as it served its purpose, even though he got one big enough that there could be separate rooms).

In the earlier episode this season, he was shown getting therapy.  He might not have expressed himself this way if he hasn't been doing work on himself.  Remember that was the episode when he went big on a spite prank to ruin the life of the TSA woman and at the end of the episode he said something about how he needed more therapy.

So the Earn in that tent is suppose to show growth in the conventional sense, because one thing you can't say is that this show have been conventional very often.

In fact, the podcast host argues that they've planted bread crumbs throughout the series of them moving towards this moment, such as their separate adventures in Europe.

I didn't quite catch Lottie smiling as they drove off in the end.  But she didn't feel close with the three of them initially, wishing her grandparents were there.

[Racj82]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

I didn't quite catch Lottie smiling as they drove off in the end.  But she didn't feel close with the three of them initially, wishing her grandparents were there.

It was literally the last shot of the episode and they lingered on a Lottie for a while absorbing the moment. Very important thing to miss. It was delightful though.

I look at Van and Earn as truly realistic. When they first were together, Earn was not ready for everything they have now. One could argue Van wasn't either but she HAD to step up because Earn wasn't and was very lost. Throughout the series, we saw Earn find himself and purpose while Van became the opposite. But, they are both much more mature than they once more. Sometimes the right person for you isn't the right one in that moment but later on they are.

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought this episode was the most traditional tv-like we've seen from this show in a while. So for me, it was tv vs movie framing. Also, it was kind of one cliche after the other. I feel like he was pranking the audience: "Oh? you think the show is too weird/creative/artsy now? Okay, so here's the formula you're used to." Now, back to the new format.

This is another bizarre thing where ppeople are find extra meaning in everything this show does. It can't even have a simple character focused episode without it being deemed as response to something else. By some people anyway. I understand why this happens but i dont think its always that deep. I think everyone involved wanted to wipe everything else the show in known for in order to focus on these three characters, their dynamic and their future. No distractions. Although, just because it is Atlanta, everything from bug sounds to aspec ratios triggered all sorts emotions just because.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Racj82