KA Byrnes – Page 24 – Enneagram and Encaustic

The Story Enneagram of the Mass Effect Trilogy

The Catalyst docks with the Crucible over a war-ravaged Earth

This is my granddaddy review of the entire gaming trilogy. It’s been a lot of fun (and a little bit of frustration) to play through it all again. If the plot is too long to read, I hope you’ll jump to my Critical Notes at the end

ONE

We meet Shepard and the Normandy. Humans are a new addition to the galaxy civilization, which includes multiple races. Geth, though, are an AI race that most of the worlds have never seen in person. We learn about the universe’s elite special forces group just in time to meet our ME1 villain, a rogue Spectre named Saren.

TWO

The First Beacon overwhelms Shepard and implants a vision in her brain. At this point she doesn’t know what it means, only that something bad happened. War, destruction. Later we look back and realize this is the first warning about the Reapers, delivered by the Protheans, a doomed race that was wiped out.

ABE WEISSMAN, NULL

What do showrunners do with a genius like Tony Shalhoub? In Season 1, you ask him to play a version of Monk. He’s on-spectrum, brilliant at math, and able to connect with almost no one. He likes his library, playing piano, and being left alone. All of his students are idiots in his opinion. He’s a strange side character, probably an ivory tower Six.

In Season 2, when Rose has her mid-life crisis in Paris, Abe shows amazing sensitivity. When he finally realizes she’s gone (lol) he follows her and lives with her, jumping into French life. His practical self from Season 1 is still there, though. He makes it clear when Rose wants to take an apartment that their life is not here. He’s firm, persuasive, and calm, and Rose returns with him. He’s left the ivory tower and taken a more main character position. He could still be a Six. His coffee time with the French philosophers is very Head Type. When they get back to New York, he schedules dance lessons for them so they’ll be better than they were on the banks of the Seine. He brings Rose into Columbia to study. It’s an intellectual world, still distant to him.

It’s Season 3 that begins Abe’s transformation to a different Enneagram number. (Needless to say, I’m horrified.) He’s no longer a Head Type, but a Heart. He’s quit Columbia, he’s lost his apartment, and he’s surrounded himself with young, restless people. He’s no longer romantic towards Rose, but wrapped up in a rebellious, beatnik lifestyle that is a mid-life crisis on steroids. He doesn’t collect things (not a Two), and he’s not successful (not a Three), which would make him a poorly-written Four.

As you can already tell, I’m labeling him a Null. You don’t change numbers. You don’t upend character. Even if you’ve cast Shalhoub, you don’t ask your actor to make sense of an arc that twirls about and goes nowhere. Everything I loved about him is gone. It’s heartbreaking.

Reacher Said Nothing

ONE

A house exterior at night. Inside, Officer Stevenson prepares for bed with his wife. They discuss their distress and the difficulty he’s having with the case. Finlay won’t talk to him. The Hubbles (their cousins, right?) won’t answer the phone. She suggests they move away from Margrave, especially as they’ll need a babysitter soon. They’re happy and cuddly about her early pregnancy.

TWO

As they kiss, the camera cuts to a view looking out the window at a black car pulling up. Ominous music. White booted feet and hazmat-suited legs exit the vehicle. One of the four men carries a crowbar. Roll credits.

THREE

An establishing shot of the Atlanta airport runway. Cut to a slow pan of Reacher, starting at his boots and ending at his face above a “stupid” NYC tourist T-shirt. He frowns. (Of course, lol.) Someone wheeling a carry-on calls for a taxi, and Reacher focuses in on the luggage for some reason.

Ah, cut to a flashback. Young Reacher wrangles a bag as he and Joe leave the house. The family is moving to Germany, and the boys consider it a punishment. Mom, with her French accent, gives them a pep talk. Reacher, with the strength of three boys your age, what will you do, she asks. You’re going to do what’s right. The close-up of Young Reacher’s thoughtful face becomes present day Reacher. Finlay screeches up in the POS minivan.

THE DOWAGER COUNTESS, EIGHT

If ever anyone was an Eight, right? She says whatever she likes, which could just be the privilege of age, but it does seem like it’s part of her character. Although she’s proper, she’s also not overly surprised or horrified by sexual impropriety. Edith’s pregnancy, Mary’s affair — she rolls with it.

We’ll have to take a look at Isobel Crawley, because the friendship between these two, unlikely women is fascinating. Also, I didn’t intend to dig into Spratt and Denker, the Dowager’s household staff, but her complacency with them, with their arguments and petty grievances, seems Eight-ish. Eights aren’t driven by social niceties. The staff can tussle in the dirt for all the Dowager cares, as long as they do their jobs properly when asked and don’t bother her with the details.

When the Dowager must give up her crown of Winner of the Village Flower Show (whatever it’s called, lol) to Molesley’s father, she eventually becomes very gracious about it. It’s hard to lose — that would be her Eight leadership — but when she realizes what’s fair and just, she lets go of any resentment or anger. This is also Eight-like. Move on emotionally when an issue has been settled.

She is a matriarch, and not just by birth. Releasing authority to Cora is very difficult for her. If Cora weren’t truly competent and deserving, Violet wouldn’t step back. Very Eight. As for Isobel, the distance between a Four (which I’ll get to next time) and an an Eight on the Enneagram wheel is a few steps removed. It explains why they took so long to find a camaraderie.

The Story Enneagram of Mass Effect 3

Jump down to my Critical Notes if you can’t stand one more pass at the plot, lol.

ONE

The Reapers land on Earth. We knew it was coming, but it’s worse than we ever imagined.

TWO

The Boy doesn’t escape in the shuttle, which is destroyed. All of the Mars mission is included in this section: Finding the ultimate Prothean device. (Using it — the Crucible — is the key to the Eight.)

THREE

Dream One

JOEL MAISEL, TWO

As Midge’s husband, Joel is barely tolerable. His character is predictable and pitiful. When he separates from her, though, and begins his own career as a club owner, he becomes much more intriguing.

He’s an unhappy mid-level manager married to someone more clever than he during the first season. At that point he’s probably a Null. He doesn’t do anything fresh or distinct. Later, though, we can see an Enneagram come through.

The show makes a point of stressing his ease at instigating a marriage separation. Midge is socially screwed, and Joel is unaffected. He can walk away with no repercussions. However, he’s a good father, responsible and loving, in an era that didn’t expect such behavior. (This is the first non-Null thing he does.)

Later, he also begins to connect to his father’s business in the garment industry. Now he wants to sharpen the finances and strengthen the family factory. He’s a dedicated worker and a non-fussy, jump-in kind of guy.

When he opens his own nightclub, he starts a relationship with a woman who suits him much better than Midge ever did. He’s striving, he’s a good egg (the club comes with a surprise gambling hall in the basement), and he’s effective. Susie brings him Midge’s earnings to manage because he’s so reliable. All of this money competence suggests a One, but he’s completely lacking in a One’s characteristic wit.

So, where do we end up? He’s an Envy person. Midge’s success ate him alive for a while. He’s not a Three, though. He spent too much time at the beginning knowing nothing about what he wanted from life. You know, he might be a poorly-written Two! He collects jokes. At first, he steals them from Bob Newhart’s comedy album. Then that side of his personality drops from the story. Then he opens a club where he can produce and encourage lively acts.

It’s a stab, I admit it. Joel’s character could’ve been streamlined to make him a solid Two. It would’ve been hilarious! We’ll see where he goes in the next season. He has potential, but so far he’s not a solid Enneagram. He’s trying, though, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Papier

ONE

Close-up on Finlay’s wedding ring as he spins it on a picnic table. Reacher explains to him that the gang they’re working against is Venezuelan. Kliner Sr.’s neck wound is a signature move of theirs, a “butterfly cut”. Insert a cell photo of the dead man, just to remind us how the last episode ended.

TWO

They thought Kliner was the boss, but now they know they’re dealing with someone bigger who doesn’t like how messy this Margrave situation has become. Reacher wants a stakeout to see how the change in leadership will effect Kliner Industries. They’ll need a car no one will recognize. Reacher’s on it, while Finlay is called back to the station house. The “dung” — as Finlay euphemizes — has hit the fan.

Roll credits.

At the station, Chief Teale directs the officers. Stevenson is to look at footage of the road leading to Kliner’s. When Finlay enters, Teale rushes over to get him on the case. (Finlay pretends to not know any details about the crime scene.)

THREE

As Finlay prepares to head out, Kliner Jr. comes into the station swinging for him. Finlay sidesteps and locks his arm. KJ, furious that Finlay suspected his father, calls him a carpetbagger and spits at his feet. Teale sends KJ into his office, then tells Finlay that he should stand down from the case. “Hit the bench and I’ll call you back in the game soon enough.”

TOM BRANSON, SEVEN

Chauffeur, socialist, Irish rebel. In the end he’s a reliable, beloved son-in-law who happily works for the Downton estate. What an arc!

He feels very strongly about things, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Part of his confrontational style is just writers stirring the pot and creating conflict, but it’s also baked into his character. When he becomes the backbone of the Crawley family, we believe it. All of his commitment has been redirected into loyalty to the people of Downton.

What number is this principled person? Well, he isn’t afraid to rock the boat or speak his mind. He can’t be intimidated. He’s as successful as a car mechanic as he is an estate manager.

Is Branson a Seven? He remakes himself more than once. His life is full of challenges: master the new automotive tech, woo an earl’s daughter, defy the family, raise a child, completely switch careers, and form a bond with the aristocracy. Sounds Seven-ish to me, lol.

But wait. It’s not his fault he was born a lowly Irishman. He rises and succeeds. Isn’t that Three-ish? His romance with Sybil has always been awkward to me. It feels very “author’s message” in that they’re supposed to be shipped, whether they fit together or not. What if they’re both Threes? That would explain why they seem forced as a couple.

Here’s why he’s a Seven, though: the other women. After Sybil passes, maids and revolutionaries are thrown in his path, tempting him. He’s just too nice to tell them to get lost. A Three wouldn’t put up with it. He would know how these women damage his reputation upstairs and downstairs, and he would stop them in their tracks. Sevens aren’t that ruthless, and they’re not that focused on presentation. Branson has too much sympathy for human foibles to be a Three. It’s not just the writers creating drama by making his character dither, lol. His spirit for adventure, regardless of cost, makes him a Seven.

Boy

Shepard reaches for the Citadel console, even though she sees no other button to press, and collapses before she can solve the problem. That’s when the floor panel she lies on rises up and ascends.

She’s lifted to a new area, and there he is. It’s Boy, limned as a transparent computer construct. He chastises her. He’s in charge, the one who directs the Reapers to harvest mature civilizations. It’s the only way to save organic life. Eventually every species will reach a point where synthetic life will threaten them. Before all organics are killed, the Catalyst — Boy — looses the Reapers. Mature species are processed to become new Reapers. Immature species are left alone to develop over the next 50,000 years.

(Talk about an exposition dump!)

SUSIE MYERSON, EIGHT

When I grow up I want to be Susie, lol. She’s such an Eight.

Although she doesn’t have a prominent bosom as a Woman Eight would, Alex Borstein leads with her torso and chin. Whatever the world is going to do to Susie, she’s gonna take it front and center. That’s great acting. Borstein knows Susie so well (and her character’s written so strongly) that she perfectly physicalizes her personality.

The way Susie befriends the men who’ve been hired to kill her is such an amazing sequence, and a great indicator of her Eight-ness. Eights are not intimidated by the unvarnished truth and will face unpleasantness head-on. They’ll also speak out, no matter the consequences. I mean, there it is! Watch Susie, watch an Eight. It’s a consistent, brilliant portrayal. Her lack of sentimentality, and yet her loyalty and deep feelings — again, textbook.

I’m cracking up thinking about her “job” as a plumber at the summer resort in the Catskills. She bullies and bullshits her way in, and maintains a ludicrous position until the lie becomes real. Employees scour the woods looking for her when they think she’s lost! Oh, my God, I’m dying as I remember it. Every Susie moment is perfection.

I could go on and on. (I won’t.) I had some difficulty with aspects of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but Susie kept me coming back.