Next Katherine. Urg, Jill you dumbass for the love of God notice that she was talking about you when speaking about her flashback.
Yeah, I had that vibe in that scene too.
Too bad she is angry and/or jealous of wanting to be a fifth wheel on this thing that Jill has going on at her house (noticed how Kath already put Rachel on the wheel too with Jada and Ellie
).
She knows about Ellie and Jada huh? Not hugely surprising. She's not getting it though, the 'fifth wheel' would be the third person, Jada, if it were just a couple.
That's not how I interpreted that scene.
The phrase "fifth wheel" just means someone superfluous (ie, a car has four wheels, a fifth wheel isn't necessary). Sometimes people will say it as "third wheel" instead (meaning the same thing, just referring more to bikes with two wheels), but it's not a explicit expression of how many people are involved.
Katherine says she knows about you and Ellie, but she doesn't really give any indication that she knows about Rachel, Jada, Hanna, or anyone else.
All she's really saying in that scene is that she doesn't really want to get in the way of whatever relationship you may have with Ellie. Which, depending on how you interpret it, can be because she's afraid it will hurt Ellie (her patient), or that she'll always be second-best in your eyes (when she actually kind of wants you all to herself).
Her perception of the situation might change if she knew Jada was sort of tying herself to both you and Ellie, Rachel was making a move on you (and you were reciprocating), and you had any number of other side hussles going on.
I don't really get why Rachel was so insistent that she sleep with Ellie instead of us. Maybe at some point we'll be able to have both of them sleeping with us? Might need a bigger bed; it seemed pretty cramped that morning.
My assumption is either jealousy or worry, depending on how you interpret her phone conversation with "Precious".
The subtext seems pretty clear that Rachel is interested in you, and maybe even considering making a move, but is hesitant to do so because she's worried about how it will affect your relationship with Ellie (she mentions the two of you are apparently getting close again). The
innocent way to interpret that is that Rachel means your relationship as sisters, and she's completely unaware that Ellie's interest runs much deeper. In that scenario, it feels like her main worry is that she doesn't want to flirt with you because it might scare you off again and Ellie will lose her sister again, so she's trying to be responsible. In which case her wanting to keep Jada away from you is probably more just personal jealousy than anything.
But there's also the possibility that she's very much aware of Ellie's interest in you, and is willing to allow it (even if just because "I've been a bad mother and I want her to be happy"). If so, she wants to keep her own distance from you because she doesn't want to "steal" you from Ellie. And in that scenario she's probably worried about Jada getting too close to you because she doesn't want Jada stealing you away from Ellie either.
Keep in mind, an underlying theme in this story is that about 99% of everyone's problems would probably be solved fairly quickly if they were all just willing to TALK about how they actually feel. It's awkwardness and embarrassment that's keeping people from explaining how they feel, which is just making things more complicated.
Also it's a little harsh calling us scum, we were in a rough place back then but I think that's a little strong.
Arguably, you weren't even in a rough place - she
assumed you were because you showed up in a place where gangs hung out and drug deals happened, but you yourself mention that you weren't into that scene.
Keep in mind just how formative that event clearly was in Katherine's life - it's the reason why she became a psychologist. She's spent
years assuming you were a terrrible person who in that random moment did a good thing, and she wanted to understand how people can be so complex. Even if she realized exactly who you were later, she never would have been able to examine or talk to you because you were already gone. When she became Ellie's therapist it gave her the opportunity to learn more about you and who/what sort of person you were (which is probably the main reason why she
became Ellie's therapist, even when no one else wanted to take the job). She's built up this entire complicated assumption of what made you YOU, which was a key aspect of her life. And it would always be a complicated knot because she'd never see you again.
Now you're back, actively in her life, and she's being forced to completely reevaluate all her assumptions about what sort of person you were. All while she's a bit sexually confused and aroused and you're pushing things. She's trying to push you away while still accepting your advances. She's trying to do right by her patient even if it's not what she wants for herself. One of the first things she does is break up with her boyfriend (and then tells said boyfriend that you're her girlfriend) - she's clearly waaay into you, even if she can't quite accept it herself yet.
Pretty much everything she thought she knew or assumed about the world is apparently wrong. It's not surprising that she'd be leaning into her old assumptions and lashing out a bit in her confusion. In a way, everything would be so much simpler if you were just the "stupid scum" she always assumed you were. Why did you have to be so loveable?
Plus, she's already figured out that when she's an asshole to you she can annoy you into being rough with her, and she's getting off on it. As you yourself figure out, she's deliberately escalating situations and could stop you at any time, but won't. Part of the appeal for her is being dominated.
Ugh, we really need to get that asshole cop fired or something. Even with a record that doesn't give any random donut-muncher license to harass us, he's no detective assigned to anything, he's a random patrol cop. Especially since I'd suspect that it was a juvenile record.
Wouldn't necessarily matter. Our general rebelliousness and occasional childhood misdemeanors would fall under juvenile record laws and be legally sealed to the public, but he's sniffing after what he considers to be a "suspicious death", and there's no statute of limitations on murder. If he can prove we were involved, he'd still have grounds to investigate us for it and take action.
Keep in mind, it's not just that he's an asshole and has taken an immediate disliking to us (compounded by the fact that we just
happened to show up to move into a building the exact same day it burns down), but he's clearly ambitious. He's hoping that if he solves a case that's been cold for years, it will earn him a promotion.
So he's got motive to keep looking until he's absolutely
sure that he can't find anything he can make stick... or until he has an "accident" of his own.
I like Johnson's vote of confidence in us. Jada can be wild, but she isn't bad, she's just as he says a little trouble-maker.
It's pretty obvious that he sees her exactly the same way he sees us (especially if we're playing female MC). She's a good kid growing up in bad circumstances who just needs a guiding hand to help them cope with their issues and be a better person. She's not a criminal or a monster - she's a victim.
To Johnson, the fact that we left town, got our stuff together, and seemingly came back as a responsible adult with a job and a willingness to try and fix things shows that there's always hope. Proof that people can overcome their past.
It's why he's so quick to agree that Jada should live with us - he's hoping we can become the parental figure in her life and help her without having to go through some of the harsher stuff we did.
Rachel may have opened herself up to the idea of sharing with Jada, but I don't think she knows about Ellie and would probably not react well to that yet.
Hard to say. Like I mentioned above, there's a chance she already knows, or at least suspects. But is aware of just how much of a shit she's been to both MC and Ellie in the past, and how much of their damage is at least partly her fault (even if she was also a victim, in her own way), that she's not willing to stand in the way of something that seems to be making both of them happy. She keeps hiring therapists to try and help Ellie - it's possible that she's desperate enough now to see such a thing as the only real solution. If the only way for them to be a happy family again is just for everybody to bone... well, maybe some part of her is willing to accept the idea.
That being said, it's also possible that as Ellie/MC and Rachel/MC evolve as separate relationships, we're eventually going to see sparks fly down the line as Ellie starts getting jealous of her mom and Rachel sort of has to juggle her own confusing conflicting emotions over the taboo, over her own jealously, and her desire to try and fix things.
