I should've gone to bed hours ago but I was thinking about the ending scene of numb and wrote this long rant in the comment section of a YouTube video:
*apologies in advance for any grammatical or spelling errors I am very tired*
"I've watched this scene dozens of times and it always breaks me.
First off, the fact that they flawlessly pulled off a first person perspective shot with stop motion animation is insane, major props to them. It elevates this scene so much more than if we as the viewer were watching Clay go through these motions rather than truly being forced to be put into his shoes so to speak.
We see him with the handkerchief in one hand, drink in the other, and by how aggressively he moves he's obviously pissed at Bloberta's infidelity. Naturally, he goes to confront her about it only to see Shapey along the way, yet another reminder of the lack of commitment in their relationship. Of course he's confused when he sees Block, but he's at the point where he only passes off as a hallucination of the alcohol.
He's almost to their room, where he could assume to find Bloberta, when he hears her voice coming from Orel's room, just in time to hear what she has to say: "He doesn't change, Orel. That's just his true nature coming out". When he looks at the drink in his hand after Orel questioning their marriage due to his addiction to alcohol, it's sort of a sign to him about how awful he truly is. Right after the last words, he sees Bloberta crumble in front of him in a fit of sobs. She feels that this is the only time she can be vulnerable to having no eyes on her, only to see Clay looking at her. Does she yell at him, tell him to forget what she saw or something of the matter? No: she goes completely numb, and walks away as a reminder to how he has broken the family. Knowing exactly where they're both going, she slams the door on him, adding, more salt to the wound.
Clay enters, staggering a bit as he walks. When he sits on the bed, he looks towards Bloberta with a genuine expression of sorrow as if he wants to say something, likely about the handkerchief. However, seeing how his wife, his own son views him as a monster, seeing Shapey and being reminded about not only his wife's infidelity but his own, he comes to realize that he is no better than her. There is nothing of worth to say. Neither of them want this life but they're too far gone to try and fix it. They truly just want to be miserable, after all what friends do they have to genuinely support them in their time of need? What family do they have that actually care about one another? And what aspect of their faith are they not constantly being hypocritical about and find themselves breaking on a multitude of times? It all accounts to nothing as they lay their heads on their pillows and feel truly miserable and numb."
This will forever be my favorite scene of the entire show because it is truly perfect.
