--Something I didn’t get to in last week’s post: a new
crop of 1st year residents, A.K.A. additions to the S4 recurring cast,
has been announced! Here’s an article about them…
--And here’s Andreas’ take on the new residents. More opinions are always welcome in the comments!
But we’ve still got all of October to get through before #Shea’s
“best days” get started—and by my count, I still have 7 of those Smaller
Moments (from The Roommate Years) to count down…so…
Now don’t be mad… by the time you finish this article, you’ll
probably be able to figure out exactly what seven scenes will make the list AND
will be ready to challenge me on the order of importance.
AS A REMINDER: “The Roommate Years” is what I’m calling that
spread of time that started after Shaun and Lea (and Hubert the Fish Albert
the Fish) had worked out their living arrangement kinks, and ended just before
the “Superbass” karaoke night catapulted them to The Next Level, whether they
were ready for it or not.
So, let’s pose this as a series of questions:
Why didn’t anything from 2.6 “Two-Ply (or Not Two-Ply)”
OR 2.7 “Hubert” get included?
There were multiple great scenes in both these episodes,
including some very important ones for #Shea history (the fight over the remote
control, the subsequent makeup-but-you’re-annoying-to-live-with-but-we’re-doing-this-anyway…
and I know you can name the crucial scenes from “Hubert” on your own). But it’s
impossible to call them #Shea’s Smaller Moments when, in both cases, the entire
episode is named for something directly related to these two. So I moved past classic
“discussions” like this…
And this one about Hubert looking bored…
Why not include more from 2.12 “Aftermath” than Lea’s
dancing scene in the opening of the show?
Mostly because everything else in the episode that pertains to #Shea is ensemble work. The whole episode takes a different pace as it explores everyone’s “Quarantine” recovery, but the Shaun/Lea/Glassman stuff in particular is relaxed, casual, curious, fun… different. Arguably a lot of smaller, semi-ambiguous moments strung together, I suppose, until Shaun comes home from Glassman’s and… meets… Jake. Which pivots us right into the next part of the S2 arc. Definitely not a smaller moment.
But here’s some of the “racing” sequence to placate your “Aftermath” needs anyway:
Why did you consider the final #Shea scene from 2.18 “Trampoline”
a smaller scene?
Tough call on “Do I look nice?”, to be sure. It was Shaun making a decision about his immediate future that had become very necessary, whether Lea knew it or not. The fact that we were collectively unsure of any hurt on Lea’s part (as he literally passed her by for another woman) is perhaps what tipped this into the “smaller” bin for me. Had the flowers & chocolates been for her? Had he asked her something else? Had she responded differently? Completely different dynamic.
Why not do a countdown of Lea and Glassy’s best scenes too? They’re almost guaranteed to be discussing Shaun and/or Lea’s relationship with him in some capacity…
Frankly, there aren’t enough of them. YET. But I’m making a note for the future!
In the meantime, enjoy this memory of Lea running to Glassman for advice during “Two-Ply”:
Why skip past the “Jake” scenes?
Because who wants to see that guy again?
Just kidding. It’s actually about the weight the scenes carry overall… Shaun’s interactions with Jake and/or Lea are important to Shaun realizing his feelings for the latter. And a case could be made, too, for Lea coming to terms during this time with feelings for Shaun by actively avoiding the possibility with him (and taking up with a new stranger instead).
Could you share one anyway? Please?
Oh all right.... here’s the early morning/OJ sequence from 2.13 "Xin":
See you back here next week for the rest of the list!
2 comments:
Very good, Kelli! Thanks for including some "Extras" - you ROCK!
I've been away for a few days dealing with family, and I've now caught up on the past few days of TGD goodness, including the panel (which remains viewable on replay on the YouTube link) and this post.
In fiction, as in reality, we're reminded of just how precious life is. And more importantly, the people in our lives that we love. These may be "little moments" in a narrative sense, but I know they have the potential to carry some not-so-little meaning.
I laid out some likely candidates for your Top 7, back in your previous "Smaller Moments Countdown" post. Given your latest hints, I'll lay out what I suspect is still to come.
- "Empathy" has a handful of Shaun/Lea scenes in the second half of the episode. Question is: will it stack the deck? I suspect the apartment scene will be in there - a scene that ended on a closeup of Albert. And possibly the "eyes closed" scene. I would suspect that the two scenes with Shaun actually driving might be considered "big" and thus ineligible for the list. [Min. 1; Max. 4; my prediction: 2 scenes]
- The "Xin" scene that ends in the classic Shea quote "my life is better with you in it" / "mine too." I don't think this will be #1, since (a) the primary purpose of the scene was for Shaun to stop over-helping Glassman; and (b) Shaun's line is actually a repeat of a Morgan line from a little earlier in the episode. But I DO expect it to be up there :-)
- The date prep scene from "Disaster." First chronologically in Season 3 (the only scene at all pre-date from that episode), and short. TOO short, given it was Lea's only screentime in the season premiere (though admittedly the most time of the 3 season premieres up to that point, which I expect 4.01 to exceed rather handily).
- The opening scene from "First Case, Second Base." The first appearance of Lea in THREE episodes (don't do that to me again, show!), and her only one of this episode. Solid, helpful advice that would be genuinely appreciated by episode's end - although not without some hesitation. And a great moment where Lea takes a genuine joy in Shaun's latest accomplishment.
- The emoji scene from "SFAD." One that, in my mind, epitomizes everything that makes this show so special. From Shaun's misunderstanding of an emoji - and better yet, the social cues - to his imitation OF the emoji! A real classic!
- The opening scene from "Fractured." It's so seamless following the ending of "Friends and Family," yet captures the essence of the Shaun and Lea relationship. Genuine care; mutual appreciation; and of course, some ambiguity of BOTH of their exact feelings about one another.
Can't wait to see how these order up!
Just out of curiosity, Kelli. Did you compile all 21 of your moments at once? Or did you group them into "tiers" for your posts and then order them as the time for the post arrived?
I grouped them into tiers, Tony :) So many great scenes... Too many big decisions at once! Organization was a must!!
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