Constant Thoughts

This episode was all about being a coward. Afraid. Vivian’s afraid of coming out again, Archie’s too afraid to tell Elisabeth how he feels, or even really talk to anyone except Vivian and perhaps Aster. Aster’s afraid to be in the closet again. Sophie’s seems afraid too – I’m not sure what of yet, but she definitely has problems. In fact, the only people not afraid are the drunk homophobes. Which is perfectly realistic, if you ask me!

Vivian is under a lot of stress. New place, strained relationship, new ‘mom’, reunion with an old friend. Some people respond to stress by reaching out. Others respond by closing up. Guess which sort Vivian is! By the end, she can hardly tell Aster she still loves her, and she can’t ask her honestly to stay. More importantly, she can’t really tell her, can’t make her understand why she’s acting that way. The same things that keep her from coming out to the school keep her from explaining to Aster. It’s a cycle.

This is an unusual sort of characterization. (And one that I identify with – I act this way, very much) We see ’shy’ characters often, but usually only in stereotype. They’re scared of social interaction in general, or scared of asking someone out, or something like that. The solution is always for them to become less shy, more extroverted, whereupon they are suddenly happier. (Think of Willow from Buffy). The other ‘bottled up’ sort of character refuses to share their emotions – the typical male pattern. Their solution is to learn to share, to relate. But Vivian is neither. She expresses her emotions perfectly well, but is unable to… articulate her reasons, if you will. And Aster only sees this as abandonment.

In real life, as in the show, it’s just not so simple as suddenly being more outgoing, or anything like that. For one thing, you can’t just change yourself, and even if you could it wouldn’t necessarily be better!

It’s all just just one hurdle, one decision at a time, and Vivian needs to find her path among them. Hopefully without driving the people she cares about away.

Things I liked:

• Vivian yelling at the surprised bystanders – one again, no problem expressing her emotions!
• The overall realism. Breakups aren’t all about angry yelling and dramatic exits. And sometimes they just drag on and on.
• It’s good to see that the homophobes are out in full force. I was beginning to thing that Viv was overreacting to the whole situation.

Things… not so much

• I’m confused about Sophie. Hopefully, her story thus far will be cleared up soon.
• The scene on the bench. I think it might have been the camera angle, or the sound, or something, but it felt a bit disconcerting and distracted.

The one-off weird bit:

• “Get me another drink?” Really? Really? Loser.

What made me cry a bit:

• Vivian in bed alone near the end, as the counterpoint to the opening of the two parter.
• “Pride.”

It’s back! Anyone But Me – Episode 7 is here.

Aaaaand we’ve got drama! Or at least drama, ABM style.

Episode 7 was the mirror image of episode 4, only more so. Both began with Aster and Vivian in bed together. In both, there was a party, which Vivian did not want to attend. And both ended with a fight. In ep4, Vivian was sad and hurt that Aster didn’t want to spend time alone with her. In ep7, Aster is more than hurt – she seems almost devastated. She says “I won’t be the friend again. Not even for you.” And she walks off. It seems this has happened to Aster before. And she won’t let it happen again.

To make things even worse, there’s something… not really flirting, but just something, between Vivian and Sophie. (Don’t do it, Vivian!)

I was hoping (but not really – that would be boring!) that this wouldn’t happen. It almost seems inevitable, though. Vivian was completely out in NYC. She moves, and she’s not out anymore. I get the impression that it took her a long time to come out in the city – perhaps she didn’t start with Aster until after she was out. Now, she wants to do it slowly all over again, but Aster’s not having it. It’s almost like Vivian is trying to start a new relationship with Aster right on top of their old one.

Fascinating.

I personally can’t blame Vivian. New places are scary, especially for an introvert like Vivian (or me!). I can hardly blame Aster, either – she is ‘right’, after all. It’s just life; a bad situation.

Things that were wonderful:

• The opening mirror shot – which, now that I think of it, reflected this episode’s relationship with ep4!
• The aunt’s question. I take it she bit her tongue and said something else?
• Archibald. Can’t dance. That was so me, it’s not even funny.
• The overall feeling. I know I’ve said this a million times, but it’s even better than ever. Some of the early episodes had scenes that just seemed… awkward, especially in the camera and sound work. This episode had no such problems.

Things that were not-so-good:

• The scene with the Dad and Aunt seemed out of place. I wish there was time for more about Dad, but you can’t have everything!
• Is Jonathan really that big of a jerk? Yuck.

Little touches that made me laugh:

• Archibald trying to dance.
• Aster’s relationship advice. “She knows.”
• The expression on Jonathan’s buddies’ faces when Sophie started going off.

Little touches that made me cry:

• Vivian pushing Aster’s hand away from her waist as they walked into the party. It all went downhill from there.

Amazing as usual.

Anyone But Me is back! And it’s as good as ever! Loved the pacing, the sound design (the audio was perfect – no noise), the plot – everything!

Once again, understatement is the theme of the day. Aster is depressed about her relationship with Vivian. She skips school. She lies in bed. I love that she’s not overtly mad, not obviously depressed – it’s just she just won’t get up, and won’t answer the phone. And yet, she’s fully dressed, so we know she thought about getting up and doing something. Loved all the details. (But it makes me so sad! Waah! Which means that it’s really good.) The cut to to Vivian hanging up her phone worked amazingly well.

On to Archibald: I still can’t figure out why he’s always hanging around the principal’s office. Perhaps I missed that. Still, it says a lot about his character: he’s an articulate loner. Who has a crush on Elizabeth – which we found out about in one short scene, and one line. Love, love, love the brevity and density. And Archibald and Vivian bonding over girl troubles was sooo cute!

Speaking of cute, I thought it fit perfectly that Vivian is a Buffy fan! Oh – and she is also prone to ramble – not incoherently, but awkwardly (“… because I always get ravenously hungry when things aren’t going right.”) I completely do this! Yay! for introverts.

The only thing I didn’t care so much for in this episode, was the scene with the dad and the aunt. It just… didn’t seem to add anything, especially considering how long it was. (It was interesting to know that the aunt was a bad girl. That explains her inability to be a mother figure to Vivian, I suppose.) I was also really surprised that Vivian didn’t call them. We know that Aster is irresponsible – I thought Vivian was the responsible one. Still, she has a lot on her mind, so it’s certainly understandable.

Finally, cliffhangers! What’s up with Vivian and her old friend? And more importantly, what’s in the note…

Anyway, I still absolutely love Anyone But Me. Can’t wait for the next episode!