an exhaustive list of things i love about âperfect harmonyâ:
- on a meta level, i am deeply obsessed with the fact that madison and charlie wrote it together because thatâs such a clever way to give the actors more immediate access to a huge part of their charactersâ intimacy AND because itâs a really nice mentorship move, affording two actors early in their careers the opportunity to push their creative limits
- luke singing step into my world when heâs actually taking a step into julieâs, both in the context of the fantasy and in the story more broadly, and how the world being that of a bittersweet love story âbout a girl reinforces this crafty juxtaposition
- much of the choreography being a mirror image of the dance julie just did with nick, starting with the hands and how carelessly julie can take nickâs vs. how much pathos goes into the moment she tries to grab onto lukeâs
- julieâs âplease reassure me through thisâ look she gives to luke when their hands miss coming into contact twice and his âtrust me, you got thisâ eyebrow wiggling and subtle little nod
- and then the way she freaking Comes Alive when they finally do touch
- when the keyboard beat drops and just. the song currently exists solely in julieâs head so of course itâs driven forward by her instrument while being supported readily by lukeâs lulling guitar (god i just *clenches fists* love subtext)
- nickâs lift being straightforward and about the act of the lift vs. both of lukeâs lifts being more stylized and romantic
- the lyric when he goes, i know he doesnât leave because itâs a playful line about luke being a ghost but also because lukeâs not there in dance class yet heâs fully alive in julieâs head and heart sheâs carrying him with her always the ROMANCE of it all
- speaking of ROMANCE her hand planted over his heart for the move that accompanies the lyric? top-shelf
- nickâs fancy floor moves ft. julie vs. lukeâs fancier floor moves ft. fancier julie
- they just have the cutest flirty expressions here idk
- nick & julieâs clumsy and short-lived version of this move vs. luke & julieâs smooth af, lingering version
- the way all these mirrored moments add up to say that luke has fully supplanted nick as the loverboy of julieâs fantasy life and is clearly a far more complete person to her than nick ever was. on the flip side of that, though, is the way these mirrored moments speak to flynnâs line about julie âalways want[ing] what she canât haveââŚnick is there in real life and itâs less glamorous than the fantasy. which is only a small part of why julieâs going full âi am not looking i do not see itâ with nickâs feelings but the writing/framing is encouraging us to see that itâs still for sure a factor and i, for one, am compelled
- lukeâs finger flare when he reaches his destination and theyâre finally palm-to-palm and how it makes me need to lie down for a full hour
- and lastly, the way the complete song is chock full of lyrics that play with the convergence of these two people being in each otherâs lives unnaturally (two worlds collide when iâm with you + weâre heaven on earth) and their connection being only more powerful for that fact (we come to life when weâre / in perfect harmony speaking to how they defy death through music + love me as i am / iâll hold your music here inside my hand building on that to bring the deepest âmusic = the spark of lifeâ cut into being)