Enneagram and Encaustic – Page 16 – Screenwriting, Lyrics, Art, and Investigation

Pie

Lol, I haven’t even started watching, but I love the episode already from its title. The problem introduced at the very beginning of the season — will Reacher get to eat a piece of that delicious peach pie — promises resolution here.

LEFTOVER NINE

Ah, lovely. We pick up exactly where we left off, with KJ pointing a gun at Finlay’s head. Reacher submits to Teale disarming him. Picard explains himself to Finlay.

ONE

Reacher asks about Roscoe, and KJ holds up a phone video of her, hands tied over her head. Teale agrees that they’ll all die except the Hubbles. The townspeople don’t like to see an innocent family killed. Well, no. KJ intends to torture Paul Hubble. He’s the last loose end.

Unintimidated, Reacher tells how much he knows about the Venezuelans. Pretty soon they’ll come for KJ and give him the “same necktie” they gave his daddy.

KJ responds, “I killed my father.” (YIKES. Reacher looks a little gobsmacked, too, lol.)

And now we know, as does Reacher, that KJ is batshit evil. We get a little proud monologuing as KJ claims responsibility for all of it. Holy crap, the long list of murders ends with, “I killed your brother.” Lol, take a beat on Reacher’s reaction to that.

(The casting of KJ is excellent, because all we want to see is Reacher decimate that little toad. And we know from his face here that KJ’s a dead man.)

Teale, just a low-level scumbag, sums up the plan. The Reacher brothers were working together with a bad cop (Finlay), or at least that’s how they’ll make it look to the community.

TWO

And now the threats and exposition are over and the story begins. KJ demands that Reacher use his tracking skills to find Hubble. If he doesn’t call by the morning, the Hubble women and Roscoe will die in unimaginably horrible ways.

Hold on Reacher’s face. Roll credits.

MATTHEW CRAWLEY, NINE

He’s a tough bird to pin down. At first Matthew is the usurper. Legally he is the heir to Downton, but the family doesn’t know him. Mary had plans, all ruined by the sinking of Titanic. Then he goes to war as an officer. He and Mary obviously have feelings for each other at this point because she gives him the fuzzy bunny for luck. But isn’t he also engaged to Lavinia? Lol, what a soap opera! And then he’s paralyzed, but then he recovers. Eventually, after many tribulations, he and Mary get married, only for him to die smiling in a car crash.

Does a character this chaotic have a clear arc?

Before the Downton writers put him through the wringer, Matthew’s a lawyer with no aspirations to the aristocracy. He lives with his mother, the Four. Wait, is he a Nine? That would explain why he and Robert, who only clash due to generational misunderstandings, basically feel the same way about the estate and duty. It would also explain why Mary is drawn to and repelled by him. Marrying a version of your father is a complicated prospect!

He and his mother are in that classic Four/Nine relationship where she experiences enough feelings for both of them, allowing him to keep a superior distance from all that emotional unpleasantness. It’s also why he can’t settle on a fiancee. Lavinia seems so peaceful and uncomplicated, right until she dies and dumps conflict all over Matthew’s lap. He loves Mary, but she’s an endless basket of conflict. When he finally stops dodging all the turmoil, he and Mary become a calm couple, bringing out the best in each other. Of course the writers must kill him at that point, lol. He’s gotten boring. (I think the actor ended his contract, but the writers were relieved, believe me! Heh.)

So, when all is said and done, Matthew ends up being a mini-Robert. Instead of a clash between the Earl and his heir — a more traditional plot choice — the show rolls Matthew around in a rain barrel. Hmph. Well, it worked for many seasons, although I will say that the racing car driver made for a more interesting Mary-husband. Sadly, I’m not sure he got enough screen time to develop an Enneagram.

Haha, I can’t even stay focused on Matthew during his own write-up. Sorry, my dear boy.

Breaking the Encaustic Inertia

My encaustic studio is still pretty warm, but I can feel the pull to start up again. Slowly, lol. This is the corner of my display wall with the pieces I like best. As I move into the next art season I want to use these as a reminder and inspiration.

Also, we’re replacing the flooring in our house. The peace I need to evaluate an episode eluded me this week, so . . . here are some pretty pictures as a placeholder.

ROSE WEISSMAN, TWO

When Rose escapes to Paris I fell in love with her. In Season 1 she’s a respectable and predictable mother, wife, and grandmother. Midge and Joel caretake their own children less than she does. The two kids sleep over in her apartment while the couple goes out club hopping as if they’re single. Rose is solid and stylish. Her almost invisibility sets up her Season 2 renewal, which is really fresh writing. She comes back from France and begins auditing classes at Columbia.

My God, I genuinely can’t remember what Rose does after that. She visits her family in Oklahoma! That’s weird. They come from oil money, and Rose wants to increase her allowance now that Abe quit his job and lost their apartment. Instead, she resents her brothers’ misogyny and refuses any money. Meanwhile, Abe has let beatniks overrun their home for the time they have left.

Then she and Abe move in with Joel’s parents. (The Maisels are fabulously written and played. So sharp!) Do they suffer there through all of Season 3? I think so. Then in Season 4 they move in with Midge back at their original apartment building.

I mean, honestly, what is that? So much character promise for Abe (which I discussed on his page) and Rose vanishes. Where is that plucky woman who survived a mid-life crisis? Where is that curious person who found a reinvigorated relationship with her husband? Oh, that’s right! She starts a career as a marriage broker! She has a intuitive instinct for matching people, so she’s encouraged to go professional with it. And they need an income, because Abe is still pretending to be an irresponsible teen.

Alright, enough of my complaining. What is Rose? She connects with people. That’s why she’s good at matchmaking. It’s more than observation, as a Five would excel at. She has a natural gift, a way of understanding others. I want to say Heart Type. She’s no Three. The way her family walks over her is something a Three would never support. Two or Four? She’s too undramatic for a Four. I guess that makes her a Two.

Her role as the perfect homemaker fits that. Her sudden fling to Paris is a fun Two slide to the strength number, Four. It’s selfish, and it can’t last, but it’s a wonderful free time. And then her personality is subsumed under Abe’s crazy breakdown. That’s also Two, to not complain when your family is taking advantage. It’s all there, and it’s a solid Enneagram, but . . . sigh, I think Rose could’ve had so much more.

ISOBEL CRAWLEY, FOUR

Matthew’s mother and a trained nurse, Isobel is an opinionated and knowledgeable character who feels no great loyalty to propriety and aristocratic tradition. She’s often written as the foil to the family, especially the Dowager Countess, and will express a more modern perspective on whatever plot trouble is around. In some of my episode breakdowns I complain about this. She feels forced to do things against her nature so that other characters can react and advance a conflict.

If I look past what I consider to be unfair writing for her, who is Isobel? She’s competent and, let’s be fair, bossy. She wants her way with the doctor and the hospital management. She’s very respectful of Matthew’s independence. Whoever he loves, Isobel will love. However involved he wants to be in the Downton estate, Isobel is supportive.

The key to her, as I mentioned under the Dowager Countess’ page, is the friendship between these women. At first, they’re adversarial. Some of that is the writers making them represent different perspectives for the audience. Underneath, though, their antagonism is due to them both being strong leaders. It’s natural they would clash. When Violet becomes ill and Isobel is the one trained and willing to nurse her through it, their friendship advances. Isobel is a genuinely giving person. Although she often disagrees with the Dowager, she will still befriend her.

I’m leaning toward a Four. Envy does eat at her, although Isobel isn’t consumed by it. She is absolutely Heart, needing to connect with family and community. I would say Two, but she’s too confrontational. When she feels she’s right, she’ll fight for it. When Lord Merton’s children are cruel to her, though, she retreats. Their feelings get priority. Isobel doesn’t have the black and white standards of a Six. Her heart rules her reactions, and she is a woman with passion. The world can wound her, but she rallies. Very Four.

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