all the good takes on that arc, part 2
I’m that meta bitch.
These were collected a few days post-season 2 finale. There is a Part 1 from before the finale, when a lot of us were deeply struggling with the arc. And I’ve added individual thoughtful posts afterward as I come across them. Follow the [#good takes on Izzy’s season 2 arc] tag down the rabbit hole for more good soup.
Takes on why Izzy got unsought rehabilitation when the show required atonement of Ed
@areyoudoingthis on how stede's influence on everyone raises izzy up with the tide, and how izzy had to change before ed could hear him verbally release him from his old life
@bookshelfdreams on Izzy as the embodiment of "A lot of what we're taught about being a man is wrong," and how that had to change in order to give Ed catharsis
@thetardigrape and @asneakyfox back and forth on how, emotionally, Ed and Izzy's redemption arcs feel backward, but swapping them would have given Izzy even more narrative time and weight than he already took up in season 2
Takes on the father figure idea and other familial aspects of Ed and Izzy's relationship
@teeny-tiny-revenge framing izzy's arc as a family member who initially rejects your coming out and later comes around to it
@asneakyfox on how Ed's imprinted idea of a father figure is an angry white man
@starlithumanity on Ed keeping Izzy around precisely because he is an angry white man--a figure that Ed is used to
@tfemteach on the familiarity of Izzy's treatment of him for Ed, and why Izzy's words affect Ed so deeply
@happyfeetfuryroad and @sarucane on Ed's reaction to Izzy's apology, and how the whole thing reads as a fantasy of getting the apology you never expected from a bad parent and feeling like you have to even the field when they give it to you
@elapsed-spiral further on the intense closure of izzy's arc
Izzy's arc as only one of many possible queer stories
@bookshelfdreams on how the self discovery arc is neither unique to izzy in the show, nor is it the only queer story available to tell
Other
@asneakyfox hypothesizing that the writers were nervous about the redemption arc not landing, so they went too far in the direction of making it obvious that now Izzy is a Good Guy
@sabra-n on the theme of quiet (stillness/slowness) in the death scene, izzy as a wire mother, izzy’s use of “eddie ,” and the crew's love for ed
@forpiratereasons on izzy's full season 2 arc as one of hope and possibility
