Essay #192

The Rustle of the Sheets . . .
Essay #192

"Return of the Complexity"
(The July 22nd/29th Scenes -- Back at Casa Santos after the Honeymoon)By Kristie

Gosh darn it, kristi, you're going to make me rewatch these scenes again. I absolutely adored yesterday's Manny scenes and loved, loved, loved the trip down memory lane.

From the clothes Michelle was wearing to the blocking of the scenes to the twists on some of the same phrases that were said in that bedroom so long ago, we were watching that beloved couple from the early days and not the clones that have been running from bullets and bombs and quack doctors. Couple of things to add:

How long now have we talked, no, almost begged for some sense of normalcy and romance combined with their signature angst? Since the first days in that wonderful bedroom -- maybe five months now. You nailed it when you said that they finally seem like a couple who share their daily events, their feelings while the whole time they are circling each other again. Maybe this is our reward for suffering through the post-shower, pre-honeymoon vapidity and still maintaining our faith in the writers. So now I'm bowing down to the soap Gods with you and exclaiming a huge THANK YOU!

I agree that we had foreshadowing aplenty in the scenes from yesterday. It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Danny is going to have to leave Michelle behind in San Cristobel and thus the purpose for that little aside in their conversation. Did you notice how when they were hugging and she told him "not to even think about it," that he would never have to know what that was like to leave her and then Joie Lenz arched her right eyebrow oh so slightly. It was as if she knew she was lying and her body language betrayed her -- either that or it was a very clever touch on behalf of the director which said if you pay very close attention you know that they're in for another big dip on that roller coaster.

To compound this foreshadowing Danny reiterated that he can't trust his mother or Edmund, so it's my feeling that they will be directly responsible for getting Michelle either jailed or held captive in San Cristobel while Danny comes to grip with the reality of leaving his loved one behind, again. This is all so intriguing -- let's hope the writers can deliver. I believe ... I believe ... I believe.

Loved it when he tells her yesterday as she leans in for round #2 and he says "you can never get enough." She smiles and says something like not with you. How far we have come from "I will never love you," and "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man on earth." Finally we get that one night stand, that wedded bliss, and that great love affair all rolled into one.

In this episode, not only did they talk next to the bed, they actually sat on it to talk!

Remember after pre-Cana when they sat on that bed and had that misunderstanding about their future? For me, that was one of the few times they really connected, and how many times have we talked about them just sitting on that bed and talking about their lives, about the weather, about nothing? So I'm back to singing the writers praises and bowing and scraping. Now if Manny actually pulls out the Scrabble board or plays gin on that bed I'm gonna fall over in a dead faint.

Love Puff Danny, definitely noticed his roaming hand inside her robe ...

I really feared that the tactile couple that we all fell in love with would go away once they got past the early marital bliss. Seems to me the touching is even more frequent, more passionate, and more, shall we say, risque -- and I am goofy again.

Remember the early days? "I wanna trust you"/"I wanna trust you too?" "Trust is a difficult one for me, esp. coming from this family?" And the absolute clincher (for me), Danny on his knee implicitly begging Michelle to trust him and come clean about the FBI set-up?

I almost fell off my chair when Michelle pointedly told Danny earlier in the week that she trusted him, and he told her yesterday that she was the only person he could trust. Obvious foreshadowing but it was like manna from heaven wherein the last early days relationship obstacle was dealt with and pushed away. Now on to the next 542 obstacles ....

It's been a great, great two weeks and I feel good about things again. There seems to be purpose and reality again and that circuitous and complex storytelling that we've been missing post-shower scenes seems to be peeking out from under the covers and teasing us. Perhaps we should all write TPTB giving them much praise and thanks for the quality of material that's been thrown out there. Couldn't hurt.

Kristie

Read kristi k.'s Response.

Essay Index | Previous Essay | Next Essay