ass to ass with you

Let’s start with this post. It was definitely intentional. We could assume that Cook was going to be the “new Tony”, the show’s protagonist. And let’s face it, Cook was the main character of gen2. He had basically 3 episodes and was involved in every big sl (except for Katie’s). And to be honest, that parallel was supposed to be the first one I posted, because there’re more and I wanted to post them all, but for some reason I didn’t and now I feel like doing it in the near future. So yeah, thanks for asking this question.

Anyway, back on topic. Let’s talk about Effy and her relationships with Tony and Cook. We all know that Effy and Tony had this special connection, they were very similar, they could trust each other, they were protective over each other and understood each other without words. Tony was never a hedonistic prick around Effy and Effy was not all mysterious around him, but she actually cared. She was at her best around Tony, that’s for sure.  And imo, she was kind of similar around Cook. It all started in 3x8, we got those “hit me” lines(Tony in 1x8). Everyone turned their backs on Cook and Effy(again, Tony in 1x8) so they just ran away together. And on their outlaw tour we could actually see the old Effy. One part of her was just having fun, while the other one was actually worried about Cook. She really cared about him(just like she cared about Tony). And we know that she always liked solving other people’s problems, but when it comes to Cook she did the most selfless thing ever. She couldn’t help him herself, so she called Freddie. And she knew he wouldn’t have come there just for Cook, so she did it, she exposed her feelings, she became vulnerable and that was admirable. I’m mentioning this because I believe she was such a great character in gen1 because Tony was bringing the best out of her and after he was gone she became this annoying bella-swan-alike character and being with Cook brought back some parts of the old Effy.

I need to mention the connection she had with Cook. Like, we know Tony knew her best, but Cook understood her as well. And she knew that, she even told him about it in 4x3(prison scene).

There are some other scenes that prove Cook knew Effy better than Freddie, but I’m not gonna turn it into Ceffy vs. Freffy post.

When it comes to Cook/Effy/Tony I think 4x7 is the most significant. I think it parallels 2x6. Tony needed someone to bring his old self back, same with Effy. And I might be overanalyzing here(Jamie Brittain wrote both, so I don’t think I am): in Tony’s case it was himself who did that, if we believe it all happened in his head. But I don’t think it was a coincidence that his alter ego was named Beth(Elizabeth probably). Like, he needed someone like himself or Effy to bring him back. In Effy’s case it was Cook who brought her back, someone like herself(Ceffy got the most parallels in this show, lbr) or Tony. Effy’s episode was basically the next chapter of Tony/Effy story for me. It all happened on the same street. Tony has lost basically everything on that street, in Effy’s case everything came back to her there. And Cook took a huge part in that.

So yeah, to answer your question, I think Cook kind of became Effy’s Tony. The writers needed someone to take Tony’s place. They created three characters with so many similarities. Effy was similar to both Tony and Cook. And those two guys were similar to each other as well and on top of that Effy was the most important girl for both of them.