#lead: queer

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Some knowledge of the show is probably going to be required to understand this review because it’s too complicated to explain all at once and I’m lazy so. I also just want to be clear that this review is entirely about Cassandra (as most of the episode was) and will have literally nothing to do with the main plot.

One of the first scenes, after the Librarians get their assignment as per usual every episode, Cassandra Cillian (Lindy Booth) visits a neurologist and thus starts the culmination of an issue that has been coming since the series premiere. She is told that her brain tumor has grown and she must get it removed, though she refuses surgery. This starts a major theme in this episode, just wait for it.

When Cassandra returns to the Annex, she seems like she has had too much caffeine, but we (the audience) know that she is doing her best to cope with, essentially, the death sentence she just received. And then, in a really kinda of weird twist, she asks Jenkins (John Larroquette) out on a date.

It made me uncomfortable, but this is where the major theme of this episode takes formation: mortality vs. immortality. Later in the episode, Cassandra is angry that Jenkins rejected her because she feels like he is gifted with immortality, all this life in him that she wishes she could have, and he doesn’t do anything with it. It’s such an amazing and long-awaited emotional point for Cassandra. She’s had many deep emotional moments on the show (more out of anyone, I think), but this is her best. We have known since season one that the character of Cassandra may have an expiration date on the show, and now we have reached what may be the end for her. Lindy Booth’s acting is really amazing here and I just loved Cassandra’s emotional depth.

Back to the plot storyline, though. Cassandra, along with other Librarians Jacob Stone (Christian Kane) and Ezekiel Jones (John Harlan Kim), go to investigate a holistic center from which two previous patients had recently literally burned up when exposed to sunlight. Can you see where this is going? (Oh btw Eve and Flynn are off on a romantic date that I don’t really care about. Love them! Just don’t care this ep lmao)

I like this screencap of them because it’s literally all of their personalities in one picture.

So, we are introduced to the owner of the holistic center, Sofia, and her two children. One of her children, Estrella (Clara Lago) forms a connection to Cassandra, right away. She is both smart and beautiful like every woman on this show I love them all they’re all my gfs. This connection is noticed immediately by Jake, who stops Ezekiel from following Cassandra and Estrella as they go off into the gardens so that they can be alone. It’s literally so fucking cute.

I’M SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe how gay Cassandra is even while facing imminent death. BUT HONESTLY I FUCKING CALLED IT!!! Let’s review Cassandra’s gay history, shall we?

01x05 “And the Apple of Discord” This was gay but like.....kinky gay (:

01x06 “And the Fables of Doom”

02x01 “And the Drowned Book”

The only thing I love more than this scene is Stone and Jone’s reactions.

I’M CRYING!!!! But I’m not done yet

02x04 “And the Cost of Education”

02x07 “And the Image of an Image”

And I think that’s it but even if it’s not oh my god she is so gay. There was really no point to this other than to exemplify how gay she is lmao. Just wanted to put this out there for anyone who wants to contest her bisexuality/maybe lesbianism? (her asking Jenkins out seems more like a cry for more life than anything but I’m not rejecting the term bisexual yet).

And now back to the actual review of the episode. So, the entire episode, Cassandra just basically flirts with Estrella. They are so fucking cute. Here they are flirting in the garden:

And on a bench:

In this scene, they also talk about the major theme of mortality vs. immortality. Knowing of Cassandra’s illness, Estrella, being a vampire, (we all saw this coming let’s be real) offers to make Cassandra a vampire. This way, she could become immortal and not be sick anymore. This is tempting to Cassandra, especially when Estrella says that she could live on the grounds with her. Though Cassandra turns her down, it’s clear that their connection is very strong.

At the climax of the episode, Cassandra faints and is rushed to the hospital.. She is taken into immediate surgery to remove her brain tumor. She is faced with her own mortality and, if she survives, the possibility of losing her gift.

However, when she wakes up, she finds that her gift is intensified. Her whole world is numbers and ratios and formulas. And also she’s fucking telepathic!!! God I love this bitch. It’s very exciting that her gift is so much stronger now. I have always felt like, throughout the entire series, Cassandra has been the most, I guess you could say, magically charged. She has always seemed so much more tied to the magic in the world than the others. I feel like she has to be the key to something. What that is, I don’t know just yet. But I know that Cassandra is important. I feel it.

After her surgery, she goes to visit Estrella and thank her for saving her life because she reminded her that it is not what she is born into that makes her who she is. Then this happens!!!!!