'Tis very late, but I'll start with this one because as much as I can't resist Ryan, and desperate, hurting, lost!Ryan, I really can't resist Ryan and Sophie- excuse me- the Nana. Ryan has a nana now; it's official!
You've brought so many aspects of Sophie's uniquely strong and sensitive personality to life here and you have her incorporating both her personal and professional experience with Ryan- something TPTB never managed, but I digress. She makes it clear that she accepts him, loves him unconditionally- which is still a foreign concept to him- and she's also the one person who is qualified to know how to help him as well.
It's so important that she makes the right choice (Sophie's Choice- hee!) here when Ryan is at his most vulnerable, but also both desperate and courageous enough to make difficult choices of his own. He chose to seek her out and he chose to trust her not merely to keep his whereabouts between them, but he chose to share his deepest secret and reveal the shame, guilt and self-loathing that has been eating him alive. What started as worthlessness has reached new depths. If he thought he needed to spare the Cohens before and give them back their lives, now he believes he's beyond redemption. Now Sophie knows what propelled him to leave, to keep the vicious cycle going and what has led to it spiralling out of control.
To her credit, she respects him and his wishes. She knows that what is most important is giving Ryan a haven for however long he'll accept it. He needs a respite at this point to simply stay alive and functional before he can even begin to process the emotional trauma. She wants him to feel safe and she wants him healthy and she wants him to continue to trust her. Through her actions and words, she is sending him the undeniable message that he has value and that she values his trust- something which isn't easily given. She recognizes what that cost him and how precious it is and thankfully, she hasn't betrayed it or him.
You make a point of stressing how Ryan can't reach the part of himself that feels the most dirty- the part no one can see, but that he can't ignore. I've always felt that Ryan believed he was tainted and that he only infected others with his presence. How could he not believe that there was something instrinsically wrong with him? His own family hurt, betrayed, rejected and abandoned him. Even Trey wasn't discarded by Dawn like he was and Ryan was the one who tried so desperately, tirelessly and determinedly to hold their lives together. Nothing he did was ever enough. He was never enough. No matter what he did, people paid the price and he was the common denominator.
Thanks again for another poignant, engaging glimpse into the very carefully constructed relationship between Ryan and the Nana. This dynamic offers so many insights and while we finally get to see Ryan relaxing ever so slightly and lowering some of his defenses, we also get to see the Nana have the opportunity that she's obviously been missing too. There's nothing like being needed and being loved and she's got both.
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You've brought so many aspects of Sophie's uniquely strong and sensitive personality to life here and you have her incorporating both her personal and professional experience with Ryan- something TPTB never managed, but I digress. She makes it clear that she accepts him, loves him unconditionally- which is still a foreign concept to him- and she's also the one person who is qualified to know how to help him as well.
It's so important that she makes the right choice (Sophie's Choice- hee!) here when Ryan is at his most vulnerable, but also both desperate and courageous enough to make difficult choices of his own. He chose to seek her out and he chose to trust her not merely to keep his whereabouts between them, but he chose to share his deepest secret and reveal the shame, guilt and self-loathing that has been eating him alive. What started as worthlessness has reached new depths. If he thought he needed to spare the Cohens before and give them back their lives, now he believes he's beyond redemption. Now Sophie knows what propelled him to leave, to keep the vicious cycle going and what has led to it spiralling out of control.
To her credit, she respects him and his wishes. She knows that what is most important is giving Ryan a haven for however long he'll accept it. He needs a respite at this point to simply stay alive and functional before he can even begin to process the emotional trauma. She wants him to feel safe and she wants him healthy and she wants him to continue to trust her. Through her actions and words, she is sending him the undeniable message that he has value and that she values his trust- something which isn't easily given. She recognizes what that cost him and how precious it is and thankfully, she hasn't betrayed it or him.
You make a point of stressing how Ryan can't reach the part of himself that feels the most dirty- the part no one can see, but that he can't ignore. I've always felt that Ryan believed he was tainted and that he only infected others with his presence. How could he not believe that there was something instrinsically wrong with him? His own family hurt, betrayed, rejected and abandoned him. Even Trey wasn't discarded by Dawn like he was and Ryan was the one who tried so desperately, tirelessly and determinedly to hold their lives together. Nothing he did was ever enough. He was never enough. No matter what he did, people paid the price and he was the common denominator.
Thanks again for another poignant, engaging glimpse into the very carefully constructed relationship between Ryan and the Nana. This dynamic offers so many insights and while we finally get to see Ryan relaxing ever so slightly and lowering some of his defenses, we also get to see the Nana have the opportunity that she's obviously been missing too. There's nothing like being needed and being loved and she's got both.