a post of @ny-ji's made me think about this but one of my favorite things about al-hashimi is how intentional she is in everything that she says. like she strategizes before interacting with every person that she meets and it's so fun to watch.. her first interactions with robby are very neutral, with her sort of testing what kind of personality she has, and then once she recognizes his particular mode of communication you see her slip into the blunt, sort of coy flirty-banter that robby is able to gel really well with.
and you can REALLY see her gears turning when abbot comes in with the swat team—it's like oh shit, he's another attending but i wasn't expecting him to come in, how do i establish common ground with him? there's that little moment where abbot looks up and she's Staring Him Down while she strategizes and he's like 😁 Hello! and then after the case is dealt with, baran comes up to him and introduces herself in a way that enables her to mention working with soldiers overseas. to me, it felt like she was going "i'm specifically saying this so you know that i see who you are and i respect you, and i hope that you will see me and respect me in return". which does put her in a position of vulnerability, but at the same time communicates that she can see him, and she expects the level of respect that she deserves. it was a really good "i'm not someone you want to fuck with, but i'm not here to fight with you, why don't we get along?" way to introduce herself and i think that abbot definitely picks up on what she's implying. and that intention is what makes him say "i like her" to robby, not necessarily the actual content of what she was saying.
and i think that robby fails to comprehend what she's saying in the same way, and that's part of why he sends their relationship to shit. sepideh moafi has an interview where she talks about how baran showing robby her medical chart was her way of saying "here is my vulnerability, i hope that you will also trust me with yours", and that robby failed to receive that memo and that's the biggest cause of baran's pain from his reaction, is that he completely misses the underlying message that she has put so much thought into. and i think it's fun that the show made sure to include a scene of baran meeting someone who does get the underlying message when she speaks, like damn robby, we really could've had it all. but unfortunately you are the way that you are..
