Enneagram – Page 34 – Enneagram and Encaustic

LITTLEFINGER (BOOK), ONE

He’s short, sly and manipulative. And he’s in charge of the money. One?

He likes secrets, holding them and sharing them. He likes knowing more than others. He likes messing with your mind. Sarcasm and deceit. Yet, I want to believe. I want to find something worthwhile in him. He’s an underdog, actually. We’re supposed to suspect him. He tells Ned not to trust him, yet he helps Ned in ways he could’ve ignored. It’s as if The Game is playing constantly in his head, pieces shifting, and he’ll attend to you and reality in his spare time. He may even watch the tokens move afterward, seeing the effect of his words.

When Ned asks his advice after Robert’s deadly injury he gives an excellent answer. He openly shares a treasonous idea. When it’s rejected, Littlefinger moves on. Open, then closed. He’s like a door. His honesty combined with practicality, and his dry wit, really say One. Also, his use of money, the purse, as a tool screams One. What about his ability to spin on a dime, to negotiate with Ned, and then stab him in the back? Much can be justified when a One believes they’re in the right. A One can be a flat-out villain and have no idea. They relentlessly pursue a worthy goal in their mind. How the rest of the world sees them is not only invisible, it’s unimportant.

Episode 6

ONE

The title card says May 1914. Time is passing between episodes.

TWO

Sybil is in the crowd at some rally. Oh, I see Mrs. Crawley in the background. I think it’s a women’s suffragette meeting, although it’s a man giving the speech. Men in the crowd throw things at him. Branson in chauffeur’s uniform comes up behind Sybil to protect her. Isabelle comes to Sybil and tells her it’s time to go home. Branson would lose his place if anything happened to you. Good argument!

As he drives her home they speak about politics. He respects Lord Grantham but believes he’s part of an oppressive class. Bold words. Sybil is not offended.

Carson and Hughes talk in his office. In the background we hear Patmore railing at Daisy. The doctor has confirmed she has cataracts. She’s scared. But she can’t keep treating Daisy like that. Carson holds a letter that seems to disturb him. No information yet, though.

Sybil comes through the kitchen. Her whirlwind disturbs William who disturbs Thomas. Bates puts in his two cents, and the staff area becomes tense for everyone. It’s just tension, with no idea of a specific Trouble.

Still contemplating his mysterious letter, Carson is late for his duties. Hughes has to come in and remind him.

Bates dresses Robert for dinner. They discuss politics throughout, and Bates mentions that Branson was at the rally. Ha, now Bates is stuck. He’s forced to tell Robert that Lady Sybil was also there.

THREE

At dinner Robert raises the issue with Sybil. He’s quite calm considering how outraged he was upstairs. And . . . there comes the explosion.

TYWIN LANNISTER (BOOK), THREE

Before we see him we know that he or his men have killed the red-toothed tavern keeper. She was just a woman running an inn. What a shame, and I believe that’s what we’re supposed to feel at recognizing her corpse on the gibbet. Tywin is not nice.

Cool under pressure, Tywin is so focused. He never smiles. Problems thrown at him barely register. He intends to break Robb Stark, and then focus on Stannis. He is the most mentally and physically disciplined person in the story. Diplomacy and persuasion are as much a part of his arsenal as tactics and might. No wonder his children are, at least, intimidated by him and, at most, terrified.

His armor is described in great detail. It’s amazing! I wish they’d included it in the show. Gold, lions, rubies, a heavy cloak long enough to drape the horse’s hindquarters. You can see him glisten from afar. What kind of man indulges in something so practical and yet so artistic? When the battle is mostly won, Tywin rides forward, shiny and majestic, surrounded by banners and spears. It’s epic. The man knows showmanship.

However, he misjudges Robb’s tactics. He calls Robb green, which he is, and assumes Robb will act rashly, which he doesn’t. It’s a great, fist-rising moment of victory for the Starks. Does he guess wrong because his pride blinds him? Is he just unlucky on this day? Or is there something about the Starks — a leadership based on camaraderie rather than dominance — that a Lannister can’t understand?

Well, his success at everything suggests a Three. He’s got it all. An imp child would particularly cause such a man to feel shame. Cersei, a medieval-era woman with a ruthless mind and a willful ambition, would baffle and embarrass him. And Jaime, the golden lion who fights hard in whatever direction his father points him, would please Tywin most.

The Deserter

ONE

The team is at a crossroads kiosk. A nearby village advertizes a Fire Nation festival.

TWO

On the backside of the board are wanted posters. The most prominent is of Aang, but he isn’t worried. The festival seems a great opportunity for him to find a fire bending teacher. They’ll attend and wear disguises.

THREE

Another wanted poster is of the Blue Spirit. That’s a fun detail. We get a push-in, though, on the third wanted poster: an unknown person with two vertical scars running through his eye area.

The Naked Time

ONE

Captain’s log as the Enterprise orbits an icy, dying planet. They are to retrieve the science party below and observe the planet’s collapse. However, on the station the people are inexplicably frozen at their consoles.

Beaming in are Spock and another crewman wearing . . . haha! It looks like my grandma’s plastic couch cover. I’m totally distracted from what’s happening by this costume, including the tubular head piece with the clear plastic face plate. Masterful.

However, people are dead, including the guy taking a shower while fully clothed, so let’s pay attention.

TWO

Rut-roh. The unnamed crewman takes off his glove and reaches under his hood to scratch his nose. There sits his abandoned glove while he continues to investigate the console, his bare hand coming close to a mysterious substance. Aargh! The stain ejects a drop that travels to the idiot’s hand. WHAT?!! He shakes the hand and touches his face with it! And then he puts his glove back on. Haha, and of course Spock returns and says, “Make sure we expose ourselves to nothing.”

Roll credits.

Bridge business as the Captain’s log recaps what we know so far.

THREE

Scotty beams up the away team. At Spock’s insistence he and doofus go through a decontamination sequence. Kirk wants them also to go to medical for a check-up. Bones In, on the case, as our Three.

I WAS A TEENAGE GARY

ONE

Gary exercises on a hamster wheel. Spongebob takes him down and plays fetch. Whatever he throws, Spongebob must wait, checking his watch, as Gary the Snail retrieves it. Heh.

When Gary finally returns, waking Spongebob from a nap, he gets chin tickles and eye stalk pets. “I love you, Gary.” Gary climbs all over Spongebob with snail cuddliness.

Patrick bursts through the door. He’s very excited as he wields his jellyfishing net. There’s some kind of convention this weekend, but Spongebob has no one to take care of Gary.

TWO

Cut to Squidward knocking on the pineapple door. He’s here to complain about underwear on his front lawn. Wut? But Spongebob takes this perfect opportunity to ask Squid to watch Gary.

THREE

Haha! Spongebob introduces the snail, which drips slime in closeup, and Squid recoils. Get somebody else.

RENLY BARATHEON (BOOK), THREE

He’s quick, funny, and light-hearted. Honest. And he dresses well with no apologies.

Strike while the castle sleeps. Renly knows exactly what’s happening in the moment Robert dies and the branches of its outcome. Take the children and Cersei will cave. Of course, he’s correct.

I like Renly! He’s easy-going and not quick to feel aggrieved. His encampment is beautiful, lively, and fun. All who follow him are at a party, it seems. He enjoys fine things but doesn’t overindulge. He’s nice to everyone, high and low. My God, he’s such a Three. If Stannis hadn’t resorted to magic and trickery Renly would’ve ended up King. He was golden and unbeatable by normal means.

Episode 5

ONE

Gwen, Anna, and Daisy prepare Mary’s bedroom. Daisy, fumbling the andirons at the fireplace, says she hates this room. Flashback to her memory of Kemal being carried out. She says nothing, though, and Gwen shrugs.

Exterior shot of the Abbey, wildflowers in the foreground. I assume we are to feel a sense of summer.

In the dining room the family eats breakfast. Letters and sniping.

TWO

Sybil’s letter gets her up and down the hall. She’s applied for a secretarial job in Gwen’s name. When she’s told, Gwen is excited. Very straightforward Two: the traditions of Downton are changing.

Crawley House. Isabelle will write to Edith about this church tour offer. Matthew makes it clear he has no interest in her. This is a stealth Two. We won’t see how this Trouble develops until later.

Molesley would like to help the village flower show and is given permission. This, which seems kind of a throwaway moment, is the most resonant plotline in this episode. Fascinating structural choices.

THREE

Thomas, returning keys, hides a bottle of wine behind his back as Bates walks in. It’s Carson’s office, and we’ve heard him mention in a previous episode that wine has been missing. Let the sneaking, and its repercussions, commence.

BRIENNE OF TARTH (BOOK), NINE

She wins the melee tournament, defeating Ser Loras at the end. She’s large, strong, a trained warrior, and ugly. Catelyn pities her for this, but even more for the look Brienne gives Renly when she asks to be named to his honor guard. Young. Naive. A heart to be broken.

It goes without saying that she’s a Body Type. She’s a medieval superhero. To fight this well, especially in an era when every social convention would contradict you, you must need it in your bones. This is a Nine. The strength and competency combined with her personal gentility are the key traits.

Brienne is a wonderful character, and it’s a shame to cut to the chase so soon, but her Enneagram number is easy to spot with only one chapter of information. I am distrustful of George R. R. Martin’s skill in writing women. I have found the main characters — Catelyn, Daenerys, Arya — contradictory and arbitrary at times. I’m going to peg Brienne here, mostly because I don’t trust the rest of the writing about her to be consistent. At this point, she’s very clear.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

This episode is a structural disaster. I’ve left detailed impressions at the Four and Five, in case you can spot a Three and Six yourself. I won’t be offended if you skim past, though. If you do, see my recap after the Nine.

ONE

Space, with Captain’s log, over. Ahead is a recorded distress signal from a ship listed as missing two centuries ago.

Okay, weirdness. The camera pulls back from a little view screen of outer space, the image we’ve been watching, to show Kirk and Spock playing 3-D chess. Spock, in a yellow shirt and with bushier eyebrows, looks non-canon. And his makeup makes his skin yellow. I can’t concentrate on the plot!

Kirk contemplates this odd distress message while Spock challenges him to make his chess move. They banter, waiting, until the bridge signals. This lounge, well-lit and well-populated, is a real set, nothing like the cardboard-walled rec room from the last episode.

TWO

Transporter room. It’s Scotty! Yay, finally! Like Spock, he also wears the gold jersey. The mystery item with the signal is beamed in. It looks like a probe, and Spock says it was ejected when its ship was damaged. Rut-roh, it starts to blink and beep, transmitting something. All decks go on alert.

Roll credits.

THREE

(There is no Three.)