Enneagram – Page 19 – Enneagram and Encaustic

LORD GRANTHAM, NINE

My first instinct is that Robert is a Nine. He likes to keep the peace and avoid conflict. He also tries to be a fair manager of his household staff and his tenants. Every now and then he’ll go off, but mostly he likes it calm. Isis the dog is one of his coping mechanisms, and his ulcer is a sign that he doesn’t always succeed.

He kind of snaps into place, doesn’t he? I suppose he could possibly be a Two. All of the above traits could also fit. I’m going to say no, though. He attends and gives parties without a social person’s joy. His attitude is more one of duty. A Nine is always a good host, hoping to put people at ease and give them a good time. He’s also the only other family member who rides with the hunt.

Daughters who are an Eight, a Two, and a Three align with a Nine father, as well. Now I wonder about Cora!

The Third Dream and The Catalyst

Chasing after Kai Leng and the Illusive Man, Shepard finds Sanctuary, a world devoted to taking refugees. However, it’s a false front. Cerberus is using the humans for experiments on Reaper indoctrination, turning people into husks. Miranda’s father leads the research. He does discover a way to reverse engineer the process, so that he thinks he can command Reapers. Kai Leng escapes with the data and returns to the Illusive Man. Because Miranda’s planted a tracker on Leng, he leads Shepard and the Alliance to Cerberus’ doorstep.

Admiral Hackett goes for a final check-in: once the fleet makes a move on the Illusive Man, the Reapers will become aware. The Crucible is ready except for the Catalyst. Everyone hopes that the Illusive Man knows what it is and how to implement it. Otherwise, humanity battles Reapers over Earth as, probably, a last stand. Shepard gives the go-ahead.

Immediately, we’re back in the molasses realm, chasing that Boy.

Shepard in armor watches as Boy runs into the arms of Shepard in casual wear. They all gaze at each other. Shepard awakens in bed wearing her underwear. (This is the point where Shepard becomes intimate with anyone she romanced. I just couldn’t work up the energy to care, although I’ve pursued all the options in the past.)

And then we’re on Cronos Station, the Illusive Man’s base.

It’s a straightforward fight into the center to recover the Prothean VI. Along the way we see the giant skeleton Reaper from the Collector base. Apparently the Illusive Man retrieved it. It’s just hanging there in tatters.

No Apologies

For the first time Reacher has disappointed me. I don’t know if I’ve ever written a breakdown for a show with nothing, not even a nod, to an Enneagram framework.

LEFTOVER NINE

This time we have a small skip. The trio is in the car, listening to a news broadcast. All three look upset, and Finlay, driving, speaks first. “We shouldn’t have left her.”

They fear crooked cops, even at the state level, or being blamed for Molly Beth’s death. The disrespect of leaving her body behind, though, weighs on them.

ONE

As they continue to drive, Reacher notices they’re passing the yard with the picket fence. The dog is down, injured. Finlay pulls over and hops out while Reacher clears the fence. Coming in through the gate, Finlay has had enough. He unchains the dog, prepared to take it. When the owner storms out, Reacher nails him in the nose. Roscoe, lol, has no idea what’s happening. The dog, its neck bleeding a little, sits in the back seat with Reacher as they take it to a safe shelter.

Reacher borrows another car from the Hubble’s garage.

Roll credits.

The Asari Secret

Many worlds are burning, including the Asari homeworld. Finally the Asari Councilor informs us that a religious temple there has an important artifact. We go to retrieve it.

The fight against Reaper minions is tough. When we reach the temple the place is deserted, the scientists dead with their throats cut. Liara, who insists on accompanying us, tells us this temple is ancient, a legacy of a near-dead religion. The large statue of the goddess, though, hums for Shepard. She can hear it. Underneath the statue facade lies a Prothean beacon, intact.

Briefly we can lament that the Asari, the most advanced species in the galaxy, hoarded the Beacon and gleaned knowledge that propelled them to their status. The universe really could’ve used this information earlier in its battle against the Reapers.

URSULA, FOUR

We lost another great this week. RIP to Pat Carroll, the fabulous pipes of The Little Mermaid’s villain. I vaguely remember her, with that contralto voice, as a guest on different TV shows. She was tiny! Nothing about her looked anything like Ursula. Carroll resembled someone who was here to prepare your taxes.

So, what Enneagram is that audacious and larger-than-life? Well, lol, I’ve got to start with an Eight. Oh, no, wait! Hahaha! She’s an Envy Person. Ursula’s a Four.

We don’t see her ride a low wave of depression. It seems like she probably did a lot of that when she was younger, and she’s over it. She battles the defeats, the failures, the sadnesses. As a mature being (mer-squid?) she’s learned much, including where she wants to invest her energy. By now, the marks are easy to spot.

I’m just guessing at her mindset, judging by the performance Carroll delivered. She packed a lot of backstory and subtext into her one showstopper. That’s what happens when a studio casts a master to inhabit a cartoon.

LT. UHURA, SEVEN

I’ve recently rewatched the original Star Trek series and wrote about episodes here at the blog. Immediately I think of Uhura singing in the crew lounge. Yes, she was an efficient and brave bridge officer, competent at her job. But that mischievous twinkle when she’d perform a duet with Mr. Spock! Mostly, she kept the light-hearted side of her personality under wraps.

Did Uhura get few of these break-out character moments because she was a Black woman? It’s probable, but also the triumvirate sucked most of the oxygen out of the plots. (And Kirk, even if the episode wasn’t his, would upstage everyone anyway, lol.) I can’t think of any episode that was solely hers. We don’t have much to judge her Enneagram number, but she’s delivered enough. For a supporting character, Uhura hit hard.

I immediately go to Seven. Her professionalism at comms, her cool head during a crisis, and her surprising love of fun are defining traits.

Someday I will do more Enneagram dives into the extended Star Trek universe, but for today I want to get this posted. RIP, Nichelle Nichols. Fair winds and following seas, ma’am.

LADY SYBIL, THREE

We don’t get as full a portrayal for Sybil as we do for the other sisters. Partly, that’s because she marries and leaves, shortening her time onscreen. Partly, though, it’s because the writers have designated her as the rebel. Sometimes her character makes choices to fit this mold, rather than as an inherent trait.

So, how far astray is she written, lol? What is her number?

She’s always described as kind. She’s loved by everyone, upstairs and downstairs. Not only does she support the maid Gwen in her desire to become a secretary, Sybil works on her behalf, scheduling appointments, traveling with her, and writing her resume. Sybil walks the walk. This includes her nursing during the war. She wants to serve, insists on getting the training, and then puts herself in the middle of the soldiers’ recovery without flinching. She’s seen as an angel, with no class consciousness.

Is she a real character? Someone this perfect risks being a Null.

Ah, let’s call her a Three. She knows her own mind, and is tireless in pursuit of what matters to her. I’ll be curious to look at her parents’ numbers and Branson’s just to be sure. Off the top of my head, I suspect Lord Grantham will be a Nine. That his baby is a Three makes sense.

Lol, isn’t it funny how close a Three and a Null can end up being? One is reasonably perfect, and the other unreasonably so.

In A Tree

LEFTOVER NINE

Haha! The opening shot is Spivey’s hole in the head. Reacher is incredibly consistent so far at beginning with the next beat in the story.

ONE

Reacher shines the flashlight on the dead guy on the ground, and back to Spivey filling the trunk space. He goes through everyone’s pockets and breaks their cell phones. Behind Spivey is a bag of spy equipment that Reacher looks into and tosses back.

Then he shoves the two dead guys on top of Spivey’s corpse, breaking the last man’s legs so that he’ll fit. (Crunch.) The trunk lid now closes.

Roll credits.

TWO

Panting, Reacher calls Finlay. They discuss Finlay’s discovery that Hubble quit the bank a year ago, and then agree to meet at the site of a reported burnt out rental car. It could be Joe’s. Reacher asks who else knows, and Finlay says, “Only those who need to.”

Quarian vs. Geth

This is one of the more fascinating themes of the story. Quarians invent Geth as a servant robot race, but they’re AI and they evolve into consciousness. When the Quarians realize this, they decide to wipe out the Geth. The Geth resist and fight back. Eventually the Quarians are driven from their homeworld and have since lived for centuries on the Migrant Fleet, a flotilla of nomadic spaceships that house the entire race.

LADY EDITH CRAWLEY, TWO

Edith has a lifelong antagonism with her sister Mary. Does her Enneagram number provide a clue why?

Ah, she’s very much an Envy person. Mary is mean to her, but Edith wants more than niceness. She wants Mary’s position of respect in the family. Mary is unflappable, while Edith is gently injured by every unkindness. Command comes easy to Mary (because she’s the eldest, and an Eight); Edith struggles to find her place.

Of course she’s a Two. That’s why she and Mary are at loggerheads. They’re each other’s strength and weakness number. It’s also why Edith can never get ahead. A Two is supportive and caring — an easy person to take for granted, especially when an Eight sucks all the oxygen from the room.

And Edith has a moment when she does something cruel. She informs the Turkish embassy, solely for revenge, of her own sister’s indiscretion with their diplomat. When a Two slides into weakness, that Eight quality dominates in a poisonous way. Edith is very unlikable in that sequence, but now we see she’s true to her character. We just prefer her as the nice, dependable Two person.