analysis of jay's character expressions in drs3p2 because i have free will (ft very bad screenshots taken by yours truly)
the character expressions in drs3p2 are honestly maybe the highlight of the season for me from an animation and storytelling perspective and i NEED to yap about them so here goes.
more specifically, the way jay's expressions are animated stood out to me a lot because i think the animators did an excellent job of using his expressions as a subtle way to show his internal conflict throughout the season of grappling with his trust issues and deciding that maybe he wants to be good, despite his shattered soul.
(before i get into this in more detail, quick heads up that i am no expert on literally anything ever. i may be an animation student but all that really means in this scenario is i look at the way the show is animated a little more closely and get a little giddy about it. at the end of the day i am simply autistic about animation and also jay lego ninjago. also this post is going to be VERY jaya centric so bear with me, i may be a little biased)
i think part of jay has trusted the ninja (or at least nya specifically) since the events of s3ep10. given what we know of his life following the merge, it's pretty safe to assume that nya saving his ass during the thunderfang fight is the first form of like. compassion he's ever gotten to experience. if he was with the administration or with ras, they probably would've left him to rot and die. but nya didn't know who he was and helped him anyway (first little example of her being particularly selfless in his presence, which i think acts as build up for his little speech at the end of part 2), and then the ninja returned him to their monastery where they took care of all his problems and pretty much let him freeload for a while, and well, honestly that's probably the nicest anyone's ever been for him by that point so it makes sense that he faked his injury after a certain point so he didn't have to part with that comfort.
first instance where i think you can tell that part of him actually cares about them is in ep12; his expression turns worried when wyldfyre is almost left behind and nya backtracks to go help her.
you could argue he's only worried about the integrity of the mission, since they're paying him and all, and he does snark about all that after the fact, but i think his expression in that moment is more concerned than it is annoyed, and i choose to interpret that as a small part of him caring about other people. he does fuck off into the portal before nya even returns with wyfy, but like he's been taught since the merge to only care about his own survival and the way that conflicts with how the ninja work is pretty much half the conflict throughout this season.
i've also seen people point out this little bit of him seemingly pushing nya out of the way of the lasers the agents are shooting at them, but honestly i can't for the life of me tell if he actually moves her out of the way or if she's jumping out of the way, and also this is technically body language and not a facial expression thing, so i'm electing not to focus on it too much. however depending on your interpretation this further pushes the idea that he feels a little protective of her, even if it could very well just be because she saved his life and he feels like he owes her or something.
this little awkward smile he gives after he fumbles and nya smacks him is also noteworthy to me. sure, it's bashful and embarrassed and all that, but it reads to me as more genuine than most of the smug cocky smiles we see from him throughout the season, as though he's slowly warming up to them a little bit.
i've seen people point out how from his body language and expressions it's clear he made up the whole "count mcoolguy" bit as an excuse not to shake lee's hand, implying that he's not particularly comfortable with physical touch, and i think that further backs the idea that he is getting more comfortable around the ninja, since we see on many occasions throughout the season that he's not opposed to nya touching him. this could once again be because she saved his life and helped him walk down the stairs in ep10 when she could've just left him to wither up and die. could also be that maybe part of him still finds her familiar. or he's just a simp. that's also an option lol
i think his bitter facial expressions when he talks about how the administration lies a lot also give pretty good insight into his character. he's been hurt. he's sick of being lied to. he's sick of people trying to tell him who he's supposed to be (this is a side note but you could make a pretty banger possession/skybound parallel out of this given nya's own arc about being sick of being told what she has to be)
also gonna bring attention to the fact that he instantly turns to share an exasperated look with nya in this scene, expecting her to agree with him, likely because he feels a little more comfortable around her. there's more examples of him turning to her specifically later in the season but i'm going for a chronological approach so we'll cross those bridges when we get to them.
the dancing scene is especially dear to me when it comes to jay's arc this season, because we quickly see his fed-up, grumpy expression twist into a genuine smile as he gets a hang of the whole thing. i think this might be the first bit of like. genuine joy we see from him since he shattered his goodness. at least, it's definitely the first bit of genuine joy we see from him while he's spending time with another person. he's surprised that he's enjoying himself, maybe he's also surprised that he's good at this. for the briefest second, he lets his guard down and lets himself have fun.
and then the second that any attention is brought to the fact that mr cool solo bounty hunter guy seems to be working seamlessly with this person he claims to hate, his eyes grow big like saucers and he immediately backs away and denies it, throwing his guard back up and trying to preserve his careless bounty hunter persona. (this is another side note but i love the way their eyes grow comically big for a sec when characters are surprised. they look like little bugs. i want to put them in my pocket)
we see a smidge of this again when we see these two next, following the painting class they took or whatever the hell. jay, once again, seems happy to have indulged with a past interest of his he didn't know he had, and seems to have genuinely enjoyed spending time with another individual.
then when nya returns to pestering him about his past, he immediately looks a little disappointed. he's enjoying her company but he doesn't appreciate that she keeps bringing up who she thinks he used to be. i think he's also maybe a tad conflicted, because he's starting to trust her more. maybe he's starting to want to believe her, but the idea of trusting someone again and getting hurt again gnaws at him, so he pushes both her and his conflicted emotions away, electing to ignore them.
even after this though, we still see him genuinely smiling around her. it is rather unfortunate that what i assume was a significant event to their development occurred off-screen, but it's more points to jay beginning to let his guard down around nya a little bit more.
this is made more evident to me when they see the lees making gravestones of their fake names. he genuinely looks scared. a little distraught. and i think we could count this as the first little micro-moment of him being vulnerable, letting it slip to another person how he actually feels on the inside.
once again, after they're chased out of the no-neighbor zone by the lees, jay shoots her a little grin. and it's not cocky, smug, arrogant, it's happy and giddy. methinks he's perhaps enjoying being on a mission that's not solo for once.
i think this scene right here is by far the most key moment where we see his internal conflict and emotions clearly reflected through his facial expressions.
the way that jay softly smiles at arin's parents as they begin to joyfully sob when nya breaks the news to them that arin is alive is SOOOOO important to me actually. the camera even pans to him, zooming in on his face, focusing on his reaction and showing us that it's important. i think this is part of what the writers were alluding to with the whole "you make me want to be not a terrible person" scene. by joining nya on this mission, by helping find arin's parents, jay got to learn all over again what it feels like to help people. to do something good. and i think somewhere deep down in his fucked up shattered little heart, he realizes that maybe he likes helping people. maybe he wants to be good. maybe he wants to be heroic and selfless like she is.
the second i saw that stupid little smile on his face i instantly was like oh something twisted in his heart actually. the jrinch's heart grew three sizes that day. it's such a subtle development but it's so cleverly executed and i think it's a very good way to show his character progression, because up until this point jay hasn't exactly been vulnerable. this jay wouldn't talk about his feelings. he'd rather stamp them down and ignore them. so the best way to show the audience that he's changing is to show a small moment where he can't help but smile.
he then proceeds to make eye contact with nya and immediately wipes the smile off his face, refusing to let her see how he actually feels and slipping back on the mask of his mercenary persona because let's be honest he's got an emotional constipation stick so far up his asshole i'm surprised it hasn't come out the other end.
i also would like to bring attention to his facial expression after nya tells him to be careful. he looks surprised, as though he wasn't quite expecting for her to care if he's careful or not. which i think makes sense for his character, because again since the merge he has been treated more like an asset than a person by those around him.
and when he's no longer with nya, when he's reunited with lloyd and wyldfyre, his expression and general attitude immediately becomes more guarded, more harsh. he feels a little meaner idk. plus he actually refers to nya by name not long after this which honestly i do not think he's done for any of the other ninja before this or since, which further implies that he trusts her more than the others.
skipping ahead a little bit, i am incredibly fond of how sad he looks whenever wyldfyre insults his breath. either his breath genuinely stinks (which honestly would not surprise me whatsoever since he apparently drinks sewage) or wyfy actually struck a chord, but regardless of the reason his reaction endears me a lot. the way he awkwardly goes to sniff his own breath. he's such a fucking loser i love him. (just realized that wyfy's breath comments could technically be a callback to that one scene in rebooted lmao)
i would also like to point out that he looks the slightest bit remorseful after wyfy clapped back at him for making fun of roby. you could probably interpret this expression as uncomfortable or disinterested but the slight furrow of his brow makes him look a little guilty to me idk.
there's something very important to me about the way he instantly backs nya up in this scene. like sure buddy. you totally don't like her. you totally hate her. no positive feelings in your heart whatsoever. i definitely believe you. you're only acting like you're her guard dog because her little brother's paying you, trust /silly
(1/2, i capped the tumblr image limit LMAO, expect more in the reblogs <3)
