I really liked your take on Coach Orion. I think the difference between Coach Bombay and Orion is that Bombay is written to act as Charlie's paternal figure while Orion isn't, so it's easier for the viewer to connect to him(& Charlie) than to Orion (& Charlie)
thanks anon! and yeah, i do agree with this. despite a lot of trial and error, bombay has always been written as a “hero who seeks redemption” protagonist who you’re supposed to empathize with as we go with him on his journey, with the ducks (specifically charlie) humanizing him as we go along. whereas in d3, charlie is the lens we’re viewing through (and thus the protagonist) rather than the coach. the ducks have misconceptions of orion from the start (”i heard he punched out his own coach” / “washed up pro who couldn’t hack it”) and orion never gets the chance to ‘redeem’ himself because it’s not his story that they’re telling but charlie’s. and, to be honest, this is also the reason why i'm way more lenient with orion than i am with bombay.
funny enough, charlie even brings up that bombay is similar to his father in both an earlier draft of the d3 script and the novelization of d3 (which are based on the finalized scripts), yet they ended up taking this out of the actual movie itself. probably to make bombay seem less like an asshole. but, to be honest, it would've clarified charlie's behavior a lot more than him simply going "you obviously have no idea what i'm going through". (because neither did casual viewers!!! i've seen a lot of hot takes from people who hated charlie's attitude switch in d3 because they clearly didn't read between the lines).
(1st image: early draft of d3 script. 2nd image: d3 novelization)
honestly, i’m glad charlie's story in d3 concludes with him accepting that things have changed and letting go of whatever warped view he has of bombay & himself. i think they'd have a healthier relationship without the father/son connotations (and considering tmdgc kinda told us they haven't been in touch since forever, that's probably what happened, lmao).
i also really like that we end d3 with a moment between charlie and his mother where she tells him she’s proud of him and he tells her he loves her because, in the end, the sole reason he turned out to be such an amazing kid is because of casey conway. she is the one who raised him and is the one who deserves credit for it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
prguitarman
snowghoul
tangentwithtanner
