Genuine question... why do you think they gave the Dangers Of Fraternal Organizations/Joe conversation to Danny and not Jamie for that scene with Eddie? Sub question: would it have been more Impactful/Meaningful if that revelation had come from Jamie and would it have lessened some of the bullshit from his behavior in that episode?
Would it have been more meaningful for Jamie to have the Joe Conversation rather than Danny? Yes absolutely. That would have been (something close to) an admission that his Concerns were rooted deeper in his fear/PTSD/what have you. It would not have excused his behavior, but it would have explained it in a way that earns him a little more justified sympathy. Between that and a legitimate apology, maybe we could have come away from the episode not hating Jamie Reaganās immature, emotionally constipated guts.Ā
But thatās not how things went.Ā There are two factors that gave viewers the idea that Jamieās Concerns were Joe-related:Ā
The synopsis. Using the wordingĀ āfraternal organizationā automatically brought to mind the Blue Templar, whereas sayingĀ āsoftball teamā or anything else wouldnāt have carried the same association.Ā
The Danny scene. Seeing that scene beforehand as a sneak peek further rooted the idea in viewersā minds that Jamieās entire position in this episode would be related to Joe. And itās the only actual mention of Joe in the episode.Ā
Without those two things, would the audience have made that connection so readily? Would they have jumped from softball teamĀ to Blue TemplarĀ so fast to justify Jamieās bullshit? PrObAbLy NoT. There was no subtext to Jamieās scenes to indicate any Deeper Reasons for his actions, beyond just what was obvious on the surface (ie heās a controlling asshole, The End). It was the audienceās own, mostly unfounded projections that Jamieās behavior was related to the loss of his brother, and people were quick to minimize or write off his shitty treatment of Eddie because of it.Ā
So why did Danny get that scene instead of Jamie? Who tf knows. Maybe the writers wanted to give Eddie and Danny a chance to bond, since weād gotten Eddie/Erin scenes but no Eddie/Danny moments. Maybe they didnāt think Jamie was That Bad, with his FeMaLe EmPoWeRmEnT and his No-Go bullshit, to need more than that final scene to polish things up; or maybe they truly didnāt realize how one-dimensional Jamieās scenes came across.Ā
Alternatively, if they did leave that conversation to Danny, then Jamie should have outright acknowledged the Joe Thing in his apology rather than bullshitting his way through some āIām not you. Only youāre youā crap.Ā Either way itās a disservice to everyone to insinuate Jamie is acting out of Joe-related concern without ever having Jamie so much as hint at it himself (again, it was all based on those two factors, with no Jamie contributions at all).Ā
Basically it was all gross and pathetic, and Eddie deserved better. The good news is I plan to touch on this Injustice in my latest Jamko fic because yes, thatās a thing and itāll hopefully fix all of our problems in a way that leaves no question as to whether Jamie and Eddie make a good couple. šššĀ