I wanted you to do it, Barry. I wanted you to do it
This scene is interesting to me because why did Rafe so easily presume Barry would be the one to murder his dad? That conveys a lot about how he views Barry, and what he thinks he’s capable of, which is such a misreading of him.
Ik a lot of people like to think of them as knowing each other deeply and intimately, but Rafe thinks Barry is tougher than he actually is, and Barry plays into that belief, when in reality, he’s easily intimidated. There’s an inauthenticity threaded throughout their dynamic. Like look how quickly Barry snaps at Rafe’s provocation and slips back into the trailer with his tail between his legs, almost as if he was embarrassed. And Rafe doesn’t flinch at all when he gets what he wants from him. It flipped so quickly.
The power dynamic is in constant flux. Again, ik a lot of people portray Barry to be this domineering and authoritative figure over Rafe, but Rafe holds his own more than people give him credit for. It’s a back and forth, where they’re constantly trying to figure each other out. They’ve only truly (?) known each other in the confines of the trailer park, where Barry’s right at home, and Rafe’s at his lowest.
Hence the severe over/under estimating of one another’s whole self.
Like look at them on Rafe’s turf when Rafe’s got his shit together😭it’s a clear departure from their s1-2 dynamic, and even their dynamic in s3 scenes on the Cut. It fluctuates. They don’t know each other as well as they think they do. Any minor change in environment, situation, (Sofia perhaps being thrown into the mix…) and it’s like they have to quickly rearrange the pieces to make sense of the arrangement they thought they had figured out, leading to lapses in who’s holding the leash (metaphorical or otherwise).
