this evil dork bewitched him body and soul

but then that voice is no longer just a voice, but a person named petey who shares your humour and looks out for you and eventually becomes your best friend. a best friend that’s you’re with almost every minute of your existence until one day he’s gone.

you’re not allowed to grieve, because petey’s not dead, he’s just not here. you don’t even know what grief is. so you just do as you’re told and look after the new hire and try to be for her what petey was for you. And you think you’re doing a good job, she shares your humour as well. sure, she gets herself (and you) in a lot of trouble but her antics bring out a more rebellious side in you. She also makes you feel butterflies in your stomach and when you manage to make her smile or laugh it’s better than any perk lumon could offer.

and then you open the elevator to find her hanging by the neck. when she survives you’re desperate to make sure she doesn’t do it again. lumon tells you to make your eyes kind but you don’t even know what that means, so instead you tell her the truth, that you’re glad she’s here with you. somehow, that works, and the two of you get closer. And when you think you might never see her again, she kisses you.

then you get a glimpse of your outie’s life. you find out that you do have things you care about up there, but the thing you care most about has been down there with you the whole time. and you’re confused because you’ve never felt anything for miss casey, nothing like what you feel for helly, which is what you tell helly when you miraculously get to see her again. she’s acting a little strange, but you brush it off; you’ve all been through a lot.

but helly still laughs at your jokes and makes you laugh in return and looks at you like she’s waiting for you to make a move, so you do, you boldly sneak into her tent and the two of you have sex, and you think it’s the best thing you’re ever experienced until the next morning when it’s revealed that it wasn’t helly at all, it was her outie; the same outie who told her she wasn’t a person. the outie she hates so much she hung herself in an elevator.

you feel sick, violated, betrayed, but also guilty for not having been able to tell them apart even though irving could. Outies must be so smart, since helena was able to act so much like helly, was able to trick you into thinking she felt something for you, when really she was just spying. then again, it had felt so real when she said she didn’t like who she was on the outside. when helly asks you if it was different with her, you don’t answer.

and then you’re in a strange cabin and miss cobel is there and you get to talk to your outie, and he offers you everything you used to dream of, a life outside lumon, memories of a childhood and a family and a home. But you realize you don’t want any of those things if they would mean losing helly. plus, you don’t even trust your outie to follow through with his promise. you understand now that there is weight in ending an innie’s life. it mattered when it happened to petey, burt and irving, and it will matter when it happens to you, helly and dylan.

still, when you look at miss casey and she’s yelling your name though the door, begging you to open it, you will yourself to summon the feelings of love for her that severance has deprived you of. But as hard as you try, you can’t feel anything but sympathy for the woman in front of you. and then you hear helly’s voice and you turn around and you realize there’s nothing, no logic, no survival instinct strong enough to convince you to leave her. So you don’t. you take her hand and you run.

“I wish you could know me

And I wish I could know you much more sometimes

Wish I could do nothin' with you

on one hand, you've got two actors who up until now have played Harrow (and a bit of Gideon) and G1deon (with a liiittle bit of Pyrrha) now playing Pyrrha and Nona. It's wildly different characters, wildly different mannerisms and speaking styles, with a completely opposite dynamic. That in itself would be amazing to watch two good actors pull off.

But then

You've got Camilla's body now housing Camilla and Palamedes.

Can you imagine the tape recorder scene?

Nona presses play and starts listening, then the visual cuts to a shot of Camilla, sat down recorder in hand, halfway through her line before pressing pause and rewind, then she closes her eyes for a half second and when she opens them it's Palamedes, with Palamedes's body language, pressing play and hearing the line again, reacting with a whole different set of expressions.

The whole conversation, delivered through a single shot that slowly zooms in, then out, on that one actor. Camilla almost giving a small, dry half-smile as she deadpans “You thought it was your agenda? Huh”, Palamedes hearing it play back and taking a moment because his eyes are getting teary, then “I cannot bear the thought of losing you”, Camilla then bringing a hand to her own cheek because it's wet? Then “Love and freedom can't coexist, Warden” and Camilla giving herself a hug so Palamedes can wake into it.

After the conversation is done, looking strained, Camilla immediately takes a tissue to her nostril—when she takes it away, here's some blood on it.

Do you see my vision. I think a scene like that, well-executed, would take out most of us.