OKAY WHITEPINE TOMORROW so uh.
bitotter. how we feeling about bitotter.
because I think he's about to become very important.
if you rewatch the first episode, you'll notice that bitotter takes up a significant amount of screentime for a character with no ep 1 lines. of particular note are the following shots:
the first two belong to the sequence immediately after ivory and serapter encounter pyroscythe, and that sequence features her twice. the first time, bitotter is centrally framed alongside ivory and serapter. given the developments in episode 8, I don't think this is an accident. ivorycello often centrally frames the subject of her shots. the three of them, together, are the focus of the shot, indicating both their future friendship and their importance. the second time, bitotter isn't centrally framed, but this is the first non-dialogue shot we see of a character that isn't ivory. again, an indicator of importance.
the next two are interesting ones, because they're what prompted me to go back and look at the other two. this is during the conversation where clown urges ivory to eat lunch. it immediately struck me as an odd framing, given ivorycello's general cinematic style. clown and ivory are in the corner of both shots. the conversation isn't centrally framed.
but then it hit me. clown and ivory aren't the focus of the scene. bitotter is. the shot changes to accommodate bitotter's movement through the hallway.
in all the shots she's in, bitotter is moving. there is something important about the way she moves through the whitepine estate.
here are a few additional things we know about bitotter:
bitotter used to be vi's assistant but, according to vi, "they didn't really want to deal with [vi]"
bitotter was one of the maids called back for a subsequent round of interrogations
bitotter did not have many friends within the staff of whitepine before connecting with ivory and serapter
bitotter sneaks out at night to act, playing the role of patroclus
this conflicts with the whitepine rule of not having a second job - bitotter fears that he would be fired if zombie knew
so, what does all this mean?
first things first, I think the tension between bitotter and vi is something that will come into play. though I already made a post about the implications of vi and reddoons finding an enchanted book, I'd like to take a moment to note that vi isn't allowed out of the house without an adult, and reddoons isn't a member of the whitepine staff. if this visit wasn't sanctioned, and something goes wrong, bitotter might be blamed for failing to supervise vi.
secondly, bitotter acts as a narrative foil to ivory. while ivory enjoys being a woman, bitotter resents being put in that box. while ivory is truthful about her thoughts, bitotter is hiding a double life. while ivory, as pyroscythe's assistant, has developed a friendly relationship with him, bitotter, as vi's assistant, seems apathetic to him. while ivory spends the mornings playing piano, bitotter steals away in the night to act.
and last, I think something will happen that will re-contextualize those scenes from episode 1. before episode 7, I thought it would be the reveal that bitotter was the murderer. now, I think it'll be more complicated than that. we have more insight into her motives than we do many other characters. where will that take us? we'll have to see.














