a pipe dream

Starting in April on Fable is our Sarah Dessen book club!! Each month will be a different book (or two, depending on length) ((plus movie adaptations)) by Sarah. Right now the idea is to go chronologically with a break in the timeline for the new book Change of Plans.

Anyone is welcome to join!! Fable is free and they also have a pretty good tutorial for any new users. There is no zoom meeting or physical meeting aspect, so no worries there for anyone who feels shy. It’s all text communication!!

like we learned/saw

1. More of Quinn’s personality through their shroom journey lol. We know they love music but we really saw their heart here.

2. Mr. Martin, Quinn, and Yuri bonding— three characters typically unlikely to be around one another. And their conversation on bad memories and being dead for so long, plus Mr. Martin’s heartbreaking realization that he cannot remember his mother’s face. I like that the writers have developed him to be complex and not just “monster teacher”. I think it really shows that he wasn’t trying to be horrid and deceitful when being the ghost kids’ mentor. But he lost himself in his fear.

3. Rhonda and Quinn possibly going romantic?!!

4. Maddie’s paranoia, dread, and impending mental breakdown. It’s a miracle she hasn’t lost it yet, she’s dealing with so much. And her hallucinations feel like way more than just bad PTSD. Fire and her dollhouse feel like really important imagery. And she picked up herself in doll form shattered. I’m worried!!!!

5. Maddie and Xavier relationship mending! And caw caw.

6. We learned Claire is Finnish ! But also now know that the school sits on a flooded church. And it hints that when a place is destroyed, those spirits are trapped.

7. Creepy ghost man now has a face and visual and he HAS SIMON. BUT!! This show loves red herrings, even though I was a Janet defender on day 1, the show did play it like she might be bad. I bet the Forgotten are the same; desperate for reprieve & are using Simon to transfer memories??? Or they could just be evil lol.

8. The lore in the hospital is growing because now we have at least an early 20th century ghost who Knows Things. I’m guessing she is from the same period as the flood, but maybe some year(s) after being that she’s unaffected by the same issue those ghosts face. And she confirmed what we suspected: those ghosts are trapped. But she also confirmed that the Exits are legit and are a true method of leaving.

9. Yuri’s scar! He knows now he wasn’t scared of being a parent or being with someone, but was terrified of losing his potential and sense of self.

10. And Yuri learns how to stop resets. And now we know too that if you bring something into a scar, it doesn’t reset. I wonder if this is a clue towards Simon’s predicament? He entered a scar and can’t “reset” into the living where he belongs.

11. Simon and Wally bonding!!

so far i am loving this season!!

my thoughts/theories so far are

i think the town name is a hint in and of itself: split river. and in season 2 when xavier was ghosting in the waiting room, the television was talking about the river styx. whatever is going on in this town, it's clearly haunted or cursed or both. there are two separate worlds in parallel against each other, split like a river.

i wonder if the limits of the entire town, or just certain areas are cursed? we so far only know of the hospital and the school, but there could obviously be more. is there a pattern to these "haunted" spots? can it be literally anywhere? or are the locations that end up haunted in and of themselves larger scars that make up the entire town?

i wonder if there was once a community that's been long buried and now places like the school and hospital sit on them? going beneath mr. martin's scar leads to what first appears to be a home that then turns into a church the closer simon looks. but is that its actual form or does it change depending on the person, because we know simon is religious.

but also does that show what happens when a ghost's scar is demolished? do they become trapped in a creepy pond hand state and lose their selves?

i wonder if mr. martin's childhood friend was spirited away in the same vein simon was?

the creepy ass children that are appearing out the pond and in the bus scar; are they beginning to leak out and bleed into the other scars and the ghost realm?

maddie is deemed safe now that she has her body back, but i don't think her dreams are just dreams. i think the ghost realm still has its claws in her. water and drowning is a repeating motif in her nightmares, just like her scar.

joyce clearly knows more than she lets on with cameras being the exact location of the scars. is she related to tracey, the woman xavier cannot for the life of him find.

simon's headphones appeared on the living side seared, the rope connecting him to wally was also seared off. is that a hint?? lol.

thoughts on characters

i feel bad for yuri!! we know from s2 that charley's biggest bully is himself. he's self-sabotaging his relationships in a way that reminds me of nicole in season 1. his growth this season will be dependent on him learning to love himself and not make everything an attack on his own person.

i wonder if we will see yuri's ex gf in his scar? also if we find out if she had the baby and who they turned out to be. is his grandson simon lol

i love the wally and simon interactions. honestly i just love simon this season it's so funny seeing him interact with the ghosts because he is SO headstrong and so used to being the leader.

quinn is ADORABLE!! i loved their coming out of sorts to the gang, and their relationship with rhonda is lovely. i also loved seeing more flashbacks of rhonda. it's devastating that what inspired her and made her feel alive is what ended her life. it's so unfair.

i feel for maddie. poor girl is seen as a psycho and her mom is following her like a super helicopter mom. i understand her mom's fears but im glad she's seeking outside help with her drinking. but it also goes to show that sobriety isn't perfect; backslides CAN happen. healing isn't linear.

i'm glad maddie got that moment with her dad!!!

i'm excited to see xavier's interactions with other hospital ghosts. he's a fun character.

i feel so bad for mr. martin lol. he's done awful things but it feels like he's been haunted all his life. he acts out of fear not power or anger. rewatching the season with that in mind makes it very clear why his motives look so extreme. also im so glad he and janet never had a romantic relationship. they explored the power imbalance without making mr. martin into a creep.