#portwell

And I HATE that Gina was the one who gave the speech to Ricky at the end of the season, about how he's not a Maybe to her, he's a Yes. Because that's not what she was saying earlier in the season, she was saying that she wants to be somebody's Yes, and not their Maybe (she was a Yes to EJ, but whatever). Ricky had never been clear with her before, Gina was his second option for the first two seasons, and he did lead her on during season one. If they want to convince me of this relationship, Ricky has to be the one to make the speech, not Gina. Also, if Gina's the one making the speech, it confirms that she left EJ for Ricky (it implies EJ is a Maybe to her, which is BS since she wanted him to be sure about her), and it ruins the whole break up. All her other reasons just don't have many legs to stand on when you realize she wasn't fully into that relationship.

Gina and EJ had such beautiful growth together throughout the series, only for EJ's whole character to be assassinated for Ricky's benefit. It was bullshit, and I stand by that.

Looking back with years of space, in hindsight, I think I know mine.

1. To this day, I liked Ricky and Nini more on HSMTMTS, and, even more controversially, I prefer EJ/Gina and loved their story up until Ricky ruined it, with the writers crafting the exact same story twice. I also liked EJ so much as a character, because I love a complex character who actually grows in a really tethered, remarkable and understanding way. I think this all bothers me as much as it does because I watched this show as an inspiration for my own coming of age writing, and it took a nonsensical narrative turn from MY pov after season 1 was so smart, so high concept and creative to me. Even if that’s unfair.

2. Nathan and Haley are fine. I loved them in the first few seasons, and sure, it was nice having a stable romance on OTH but honestly I could have done with more inner conflict with them — and conflict that was NOT what we got with like Nanny Carrie or depressed Nathan. I think they should have leaned harder in to Chris Keller and it always felt like the show bailed on its plan for that. I also hated the teen pregnancy of it all, although the married stuff was some of my favorite. Season 2 was actually my favorite season of OTH for many reasons, and I think Nathan had to survive what he did, in order for Naley as a couple to feel even keeled (and to be clear I LOVE Naley in season 3.) I just got kinda bored with them after awhile! I don’t actively ship them with anyone else, it just fell flat at times for me.