wilderness mina

Nat spent all of season two trying to get Lottie to look around and realise that her actions have consequences. Tried to get her to realise that starting and leading this fiercely devoted cult isn't a good thing. But she just came across as jealous even to her closest compatriots and it didn't work. Though to some degree it was maybe selfless, the majority of her motivation evolved around wanting to control Travis however and karma shot her in the foot.

Meanwhile Misty has one conversation with Lottie in the finale and completely opens her eyes to what she created and gets Lottie to take accountability for her actions without even meaning to. All she wanted to do was keep everyone alive, especially Lottie. And all she was trying to do was prevent Lottie from spiralling and guilting the rest of them for doing what they had to do to stay alive a little longer during the winter. She achieves in one conversation what Nat had been trying to do all season without even meaning to.

Honestly love how much they parallel and juxtapose one another.

Like with coach Ben in season 2. Misty's last conversation with him saving his life while Nat's last conversation with him doomed all of theirs. The way both of these girls ruin everything they touch in one way or another and when their paths cross, even if they don't come in contact with each other their effect is felt in perpetuity.

And god, Natalie putting a gun in her mouth and trying to end herself the way her father died because, after all, she never thought she was any better than her father, and Misty mercifully ending Nat with a syringe instead? Days later and completely by mistake but Misty following through for Nat and achieving what she wanted once again in season two.

If they do continue the Travis murder mystery subplot, I firmly believe it's Misty that will get the truth out in Natalie's place. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if she succeeds her as antler queen, to be honest. Like maybe they all take turns somehow. Heavy is the head that wears the crown though and I wouldn't be surprised if Natalie tried to take on that whole responsibility for them all though, so it's possible Nat stays the queen and Misty her right hand. Either way I'm dying to see their interactions in season 3.

I have so much to sayyyyyy! Sorry this took me so long to answer, anon, I was using my laptop to play The Sims and any reply I do longer than a sentence I prefer to do on my laptop.

Shauna & Taissa. My favorite normal women ever!! I love that they are both very selfish in ways that harm their families for the sake of Normal Woman Performance. (Btw, neither of them are getting awards for their performances.) Shauna and Tai both have equal and opposite expressions of their behaviors, with Shauna shrinking herself so much to be invisible and Taissa making herself so visible even to the detriment of herself, her family, and her former teammates. Where Shauna must have felt small coming back from the Wilderness and showed it by truly fitting herself into the life she expected from Jackie, Taissa felt like she had to push forward and fit herself into the life she expected of herself. And after what happened to them... those were tough squeezes. As teens, they also are so similar and lean on each other which I love to see.

They're both dependable, they're both strong, and they both want the best for the people they love. However, they both have very determined inner selves that they're fighting. Shauna's impulses that shift from fucking Jeff to eating slices of Jackie to taking a lover and then whoops killing him, and Taissa's Other Tai situation are gnawing at them. These are turmoils they fear telling anyone about not just because of the wilderness but because they expose their raw nerves.

Adult Misty. I prefer adult!Misty to teen!Misty because I think adult!Misty has honed her skills. teen!Misty cleans up her accidents, adult!Misty isn't leaving any mess behind. She's got a lot more confidence as an adult, and she seems proud of what happened out there. Like when she's talking in their circle "remember that first summer..." and Van's like what is this, fucking summer camp? That's so interesting to me!! teen!Misty we're seeing process everything in real time, which while I understand her motivations/etc and know she's a silly teenager I get frustrated with sometimes. Like part of me is like damn, Crystal/Kristen literally would have forgiven you, but I get your situation.

Teen Natalie. Love to watch her unravel. Love to see it. Love to see her go from being a level-headed person who was already on high alert before the crash so she's operating Par For Course to not being able to handle it anymore. She's so Good, and the wilderness/their situation is truly dragging her for a test run. Ironically, her being so Good is what frustrates me about adult!Natalie. She feels bad when she's supposed to, she's careful when she needs to be, she's saved when she does 3 whole reckless things, and the only thing fighting her is her reputation/people's perception of her. Which, I mean, she could just... not associate with Shauna and Tai who are judgmental of her. Well, that and the trauma, which she was even starting to address and work on as she maintained sobriety. That just wasn't interesting to me.

Van. The unkillable lesbian. The fireproof butch. Lottie's first acolyte. My beloved. Trapped in the 90s, can't wait to see more about adult!Van because we know she had to be some sort of adultified as a teen (we see her having to "parent" her mother in the pilot, so that's one of the things established early on) and now she's stunted due to the plane crash trauma.