Since discovering the show I binged it over the course of a couple days and was able to catch up to season 3, since watching episode one of this season I knew I was getting something serious. It reminded me of the jacey (Joey and Pacey) love story/plot being introduced in 3x01 of Dawson's Creek. It was reminiscent in the sense that these two characters who hadn't really interacted much were talking and actually being vulnerable with each other as a result, creating this intimacy and chemistry that was not there before (the chem was always there for Jacey but that's just me). In both cases they were also not the original intention or plan of the people behind the scenes but the dynamics work.

The bus stop scene works so well because it feels like something that's foreign to the show, the name of the game is literally Tell me lies. Every character is lying to each other constantly. It's very rare that we get moments where characters are actually laying it all out there to the people around them but they do happen and in this instance, its two characters who we don't expect to bond.

I've seen a couple of posts across socials where some people have questioned Wrigley's characterization particularly because it's painting him in a much more favorable light than most, if not all characters. I think to start to unpack this we have to consider the person we've seen from s1, the way he's started to unravel in s2, and where he is after the death of his brother in s3. When we meet Wrigley, his first line is literally "I'm gonna steal your wife" and when I was watching for the first time and I noticed he went in for a hug twice; this made me question if they were gonna be a thing, mind you by that point I hadn't seen any scenes from s3 yet or anything on socials. But that's besides the point, he's presented as a drunken mess for the future timeline in the first and second season. In the college timeline when we first see Wrigley he's really nothing more than a frat bro, an enabler of Stephen's antics. He relies heavily on Stephen to help him carry the weight of Drew's secret. He's a prime target for Stephen's manipulation.

This actually makes me think of another thing I want to discuss. Everyone and their mother is on socials always talking about 'How can they all keep Stephen around? Why are they all still friends with Stephen?' My brother in christ they are not friends with him, they are all scared of his ass. Stephen is a character that has dirt on everyone, they have all been terrorized by his antics. If you find yourself on his bad side he has shown time and time again he is not afraid to use their weaknesses against them. This is how manipulation works, the manipulators make you think that you need them so that you are the one keeping them around; and they can always hold that over you (and paint you constantly having them around as a sign of lack of self respect). It's always about how they can make you hurt yourself. Anyways, the entire friend group knows they can't defeat him so they have to have him around.

Bringing it back to Wrigley's characterization, I think in season 2 he's so wrapped up in issues with his brother and it manifests through inner turmoil. He tells Pippa that there has been something wrong with him for a while, he feels a void inside of him. This is all happening prior to his reunion with Drew, he's notably still taking Stephen's advice but he's hanging out with him less because he gets real comfort from being with Pippa. I think with her he can recognize that he can be himself, he doesn't want to be the kind of person that ruins everything. I think this is something that stays with him after Drew dies because of the guilt he feels for being the person that gave him the pill. It makes sense that in season 3 he, for one thing, stays away from the person who gave him advice that cost him time with his brother and manipulated him and also that he stops engaging in behavior that is detrimental to others. Wrigley is your "woke king" because he doesn't want to hurt anyone else. This is someone who doesn't just feel he has lost his brother through his actions but his entire family, that type of hurt and grief changes you. This type of pain has leveled him and has drawn him into Bree's orbit, a character that feels like she's on the outside because of the way she grew up.

The thing I feel like people don't understand is that in romance, timing is everything. We don't know if characters would have worked in any other time in their lives but that's very well the point. Both of their characters were put through the wringer in s2, both questioning their self worth and their place in their world because of it. Now in s3 in the aftermath of that pain they don't want to have to feel like they need to put on a mask, that's whats so special about this dynamic. Wrigley is getting to be more himself and he is realizing that he doesn’t really like the people around him much but he sees something in Bree.

Bree, a character that’s pretty guarded and had only really told Evan about her home life at first, had felt safe in confiding what she went through to Wrigley. He is the only character out of the rest of them to meet her mom - that says everything to me idgaf.

I saw a tiktok where someone was complaining about how Evan is being put on the same level as Stephen and how it's been painting Wrigley in a better light as a result. I get the frustrations with Evan's character, he is half baked and doesn't feel as compelling as someone like Bree. We barely know about the inner workings of his family dynamic, all we really know is that he doesn't know what he wants to do and he is rich. As someone that is rich he recognizes the language of power; something both he and Stephen are fluent in. The tiktok described how they believed it could've been anyone in that pool with Bree or visiting her mom, Evan included. To a certain extent I found the observation fair but I ultimately think timing is everything and where these two characters are right now is the biggest thing. Evan wouldn’t be able to understand losing/not having support from his entire family (as far as we know). This mutual understanding from Bree and Wrigley’s character combined with the crazy chemistry and the fact that they’ve been able to have these intimate conversations immediately separates them from any other dynamic we’ve seen either of those characters be apart of before. The relationship (along with pippa/diana) feels the most intimate because it’s unmarred and untouched by the people around them, even though they are both involved with people in their friend group they are still building a connection based on trust. When you watch the scenes and feel like they are in their own little world it’s because they are. it’s a special kind of intimacy when before in other relationships, they’d centered others. Bree and Evan are hesitant to share their relationship with the group currently, Bree couldn’t tell anyone about the professor when she was seeing him, and Wrigley and pippa kept their relationship a secret in s2 when they started hooking up again. Wrigley and Bree are still shackled by the external forces in a similar sense, given they wouldn’t want anyone finding out about them since they are dating each others best friends (this mess 🚬) but the conflict is not an interruption to the dynamic in the way that it feels for their other relationships - it’s fuel. It only makes it more heart wrenching that the one person who understands them, they can’t be with.