#sutherkin

I've found that Peter being alone and blaming himself for everything that goes wrong is a big theme of the season, as are the dialogues about family & partnership, of needing someone to support you, and believe in you. Some of these talks included a direct or indirect mention of Rose.

Peter angrily mentioning that Rose was taken away from him, or that he had to walk away from everything he cared about, him trying to make her his beneficiary in case of his death?? Because he literally has no one else except Rose (..well, there’s his godfather but 🤫), but since they’re not married he couldn’t? How fucking sad is that. Him replying to Chelsea "At least you have somebody who cares enough to try" referring to her saying that her fiancé is a fixer and meddles with her problems, and this time he fucked-up. This man istg. While he was being drugged and basically tortured psychologically for info - I wanted to reach through my screen and hug him 🤧 - by Stephen Moyer's character, the Father, in ep 8 (nice nod to the assassin from the TNA book btw), Peter was asked "Isn't there someone that you wanna spend your time with, that you cared about?" and Peter said "There was, but I couldn't make it work" and later added "They told me it was too dangerous" having connections as a night agent, i.e.

Father: “That’s awful. Why don’t you quit?” Peter: “I can’t quit. I can’t quit, I’m responsible”. Father: “You’re responsible?” Peter: “Yeah” Father: “Responsible for what?” Peter: “For all of it. For everything”.

Then Father makes the right observation that Peter has this NEED to be different from his father - which is also a big theme in the book that I don’t think was actually remarked as strongly in season 1. In the book Peter is never really trusted by his colleagues, he’s always trying to prove himself. He has to, because he’s constantly being judged by his father’s actions and reputation. I *think* there is a reference to legacy élite FBI agents, very respected, serving the WH is a matter of family pride and honor for them...and then there's Peter, still legacy but disgraced. Tainted by a traitor father. For him it's almost humiliating.

Ok update on this, since I’m rewatching S01 lol I’m a busy bee - in ep 3 Peter says to Rose: “My whole career, I’ve been kept down because of something my dad was suspected of doing. Farr was the only one who never held it against me. She judged me on the merit of my actions, not my dad’s”.

So I'd say in season 1 Diane Farr kinda exploited Peter's need of atonement, and now it's just snowballing.

Father: "That's what you're most scared of? But exposed as what though? Being a fraud, a fluke? A failure?" Peter: "Yeah". Father: "That's what it is , right? That's what you see when you look in the mirror. Right? Someone who, no matter how hard they try, they just can't cut it. It...it must be exhausting. It's like holding a flexed muscle for hours on end". Peter: "Yeah. Yeah, it is". Father: "It's a tremendous burden to put on yourself, Peter". Peter: "Yeah". Father:"Do you deserve that?" Peter: "Yes".

It's a very intense scene. Peter lets himself be consumed by work and duty because he thinks he must atone for his father's sins. The fact that he is alone - aka without Rose because most deffo the bond, the deep emotional connection he has with her, he doesn't have with no one else - exacerbates his feelings.

Before this convo, some scenes earlier, there's also this one bit:

Father: "Tell me about your job, Peter. You find it rewarding?" Peter: "Yeah, I do". Father: "Why is that?" Peter: "I get to protect the people that I care about. Yeah, my job is, uh...my job's all that I have".

My job is all that I have. And not because he wants to, but because he has to. It's just so sad. And unfair. It reminds of Oliver Queen from Arrow, my poor son, who was convinced - in season 3 also!!!! What are the freaking odds - that he couldn't be a hero and have a love life, because being with him = danger. Oh my gOD it's the same thing...I'm re-living my glorious Olicity shipping days. And then they got married and had a kid, HA!

Please lord send him to Rose and leave them beee 🗣️ I’m begging.

Anyway, after all of this I thought about the first episode and how...surprised Peter looked when the Deputy Director told him he had a girlfriend, a family. Or when he asked the couple why they left the FBI (?), a personal curiosity, almost incredulous, and they told him that being spies took a lot out of their family and they chose to prioritise that and get..reimbursed for the sacrifice by selling classified info, basically. Think about it, he’s alone and he had to give up the woman he loves to keep her safe…meanwhile there’s agents out there who have normal personal lives?? People who CHOSE family life over the country. A lot of emotional stuff came up while he was being drugged and he doesn’t even have the luxury of going home to…somebody. He got free from the Father and had to immediately run to meet Adam and all that shit show waiting for him. He’s completely stuck because Monroe holds Rose’s life over his head so he needs to take him down first. And find corruption everywhere. He’s working 24/7 physically and mentally.

Now that I think about this, can I end this by saying that Father was my absolute fave new character? When Peter broke down talking about his dead dad, how he didn't really know him because he was full of secrets and yet he still loves him, Father came to a realisation, you can see it in his face. Suddenly it wasn't Peter drugged in that chair...it was the kid he raised as his own son. And it's this realisation plus the kindness Peter showed the little boy, the "You got a good dad. Just appreciate him while he's here. Don't take it for granted" that ultimately makes Father quit his...job. Peter could’ve exposed the Father’s true nature to the Son right there and yet he didn’t. And it earned Peter the Father’s respect. I really loved that. Stephen Moyer the actor that you are. He was perfect for the role.

Also...Peter displaying this level of compassion towards the Father & the Son, whilst in season 2 he was so aggressive with the dad he "kidnapped" and even Rose was like WTF.

Moving on. Listen, my petty fear was Peter getting involved with Isabel the journalist but thank god - thank goooooooooood - this is not Reacher, or James Bond, or Mission Impossible where the extra hot MC has a different woman every season, no no, Peter is PINING for one woman and one woman only. Sutherkin is so much more than trauma bonding, sorry writers and Rose's therapist.

Oh! Scene that I just remembered: when he went to Isabel’s job in ep 4, before they go to the hunting lodge, and Isabel’s colleague Rita went “Hiiiii” very suggestively, all flirty, as soon as she spotted Peter. Which, fair tbh. And he looks at her, smiles politely, and he’s like “Hi”. PERIOD. And then keeps working 🤣 Like “Sorry, not interested, leave me alone”. A green flag ✨ My kind of guy.

Also, random, but sometimes I forget that he was engaged in the past. And that relationship failed because of his job I’m pretty sure…and now with Rose samesies. It’s fair that he’s questioning things, he obviously wants stuff to be different.

If there's one thing the season cemented is how much he craves stability and a relationship, but the work is too important and it literally consumes him. He craves a partner on the job and in his personal life and I actually was v happy when Adam came along, finally someone to share the burden, who understood this life 100%, Peter thought so too I'd say....and then stuff happened, and you could see the utter disappointment in Peter's eyes.

By the end of season 3 I think he came fully to the realisation, the acceptance, that he already had a partner who supported him and whom he trusted implicitly. Someone to come home to. And he pushed her away. And she's the only one he wants. So this brings us to this little nugget of conversation with the Deputy Director in ep 10:

Peter: "Someone once told me that the best agents know how to find balance in their lives. Thinking I should find some". Mosley: "Whoever that someone is, you should listen to them more often".

And I was like:

Yeees listen to him Peter!! I think it's safe to say that Sutherkin is safe. The real deal. I hope. I WANT TO BELIEVE. The whole season was a giant pulsing arrow pointing straight toward California & Rose. And with Monroe gone....

Also the season ended with no cliffhanger of any sort? It has the kind of open ending that suggests (to me at least) that Peter intends to go looking for Rose...maybeeee possiblyyyy?? If we get a season 4. But if not, this one has a "happy closure" kinda. Eh. It felt a lot like a "goodbye for a while". I hope I'm wrong and god I hope it doesn't end just like that oof naaauuuur. But if season 4 is a thing that means *something* has to happen, and if Rose is back - omg pls - she needs a valid, good, useful reason to be present. I agree with other reviewers that there really was no place for her in season 3, no reason to include her just to include her. There was a moment when Isabel and Jay needed to open Monroe’s encrypted Cloud drive and they couldn’t, and I was like “ooooh the places you’d go if you only had a computer genius there with you 💅” but then they managed. And Rose and Luciane deserve better & more than that.

Do you think she followed the news? Kept up with Peter's activities somehow? Did she take some self-defense lessons? Considering she was strangled twice in two seasons it would be good for her. Maybe she created a useful software? Imagine if she was recruited for...something. Since I'm petty to my rotten core I fecking hope she hasn't moved on romantically. 1. I couldn't bear it 2. it would make absolutely no freaking sense. She has the right to, that's fair, but it's a trope I don't like in tv shows or books. Old scars never fade. Ugh just the mere *thought* of Peter finding her, wanting to be with her, and she goes “I’m seeing someone, sorry. Because you sent me away and I couldn’t wait for you forever. What did you expect”. And then maybe it turns out the guy is evil or something, blah blah. Same old, same old. My blood turns to bile thinking about it. Even fecking worse, she’s brought back just to be killed off or she helps Peter but she has a life so they part in a friendly way forever…nononono. Cannot accept. This is why I wanted the series to end in 3 seasons, the story wrapped-up like the book, aka Peter leaving his FBI job and going away with her to start a life together. But if they plan on having more than 4 seasons how are they gonna incorporate Rose into the story. Idk. The ideal would be Peter retires and a new agent takes over, with Peter (and possibly Rose) maybe making like cameo appearances here and there. Rose being Peter’s partner in missions would be great, also. I know some may say it’s unrealistic because she’s a simple civilian but she can work comms? She has already. Coordination stuff. Computer stuff. All from an office. Don’t forget the amount of investigation Sutherkin did by themselves in season 1. And then home together ✨

*Stomps feet* I just want them to be endgame, is it too much to ask for some fluffy happiness in a world that’s gone to shit?🤧

Also this is not a romance show, why feed us romantic drama? Nah. Pass. That would be a nightmare and who's got time for that.

Gotta stay positive!! No new love interests!!! No deaths!! No sire!!

As for the other characters this season: I kinda liked them all? Extremely happy to see Chelsea again, I'd give my firstborn to have her and Rose on screen together one more time. Isabel I was neutral…well actually I’m lying, I disliked her on sight - she was the temporary patch to cover a giant Rose-shaped hole after all- especially in the first ep when Peter was “flirting” with her, urgh, BUT it was blatantly obvious he was acting and she told him so in ep 4 I think it is. So points for Isabel because she realised Peter had zero interest in her, is basically taken, and she always respected that and his feels. She grew on me from that point lol. Oh and I liked the scenes she had with her father, I saw myself in her in those moments. I appreciated she never "saved" Peter from bad situations, like him almost getting shot in his pretty face in the woods...saving his ass is Rose's thing lol. It's the little joys in life.

Speaking of Jacob...can you believe I got pissed when Adam killed him? One episode I was like that meme of the teary-eyed cat with a paw covering its mouth, over him threatening to blow up Rose and the next I was mad he died?? Wild. I hoped for a different manner of death I guess. Did not care about his flashbacks one bit, btw. Was I supposed to excuse him because the bad guys (?) took his pregnant beloved to hurt him, and 30 years later he went and did the same to Peter? Is it like a parallel I missed? Jacob became ruthless and Peter stayed “levelled”? Idk. The president and his wife...damn. So slimy. I was actually kinda rooting for him and then he turned out to be a prick. Ordering murders left and right to save himself and his wife, by taking advantage of Adam his old Army buddy and close friend who obviously had some sort of PTSD-adjacent thing going on. The wife fucking-up Chelsea to cover her own ass? And they were friends!! Behind her (probably conservative) perfect polished mask, the perfect mother and wife, the perfect blonde hair, gorgeously chic, she turned out to be a woman who would do anything to not lose power and prestige, and to keep her equally soulless husband in the White House. And then after being exposed, he pardoned himself and her lol like a coward. Will the next president be better? 🤷‍♀️

Oh and how could I forget...Catherine's death? UNACCEPTABLE. Why. Just why. What was the purpose. I really liked her, and in the past year she developed a connection with Peter + she was tuned to the Sutherkin frequence, I wonder if she kept in touch with Rose in some capacity? Who knows. I like the thought.

This word salad sums up my feels, I'd say. If you have any thoughts or theories I'd love to read them!