Am I the only one that can’t stop thinking about this show? I understand we won’t get everything answered. I don’t think there are answers to some things. It’s not that kind of show. It’s more like Lost. It’s a pandora’s box of political/societal intrigue and we will be left to figure some things out on our own or decide what we believe. That’s risky for a show. I fell like P’Nuchy is not afraid of risk and comfortable with the discomfort that may cause us. I think if we look at theme of the show as a whole and that everything exists in that grey area, then we can’t expect a clean, cut and dry ending.

I hope that the writers, actors, and director understand how important this show is. It’s not easy to take a topic like this and make it universal. I’m not even sure if that was the intent or it just so happens that corruption is similar no matter the culture or country. At the end of the day there are people at the top hungry for power and wealth that use the system to give people like us the idea of justice and order when really, it’s just keeping us in our place. That is definitely what’s going in America no matter the political party and I’m a democrat. I can still see the issue in the current administration and how they are continuously failing us. It’s like choosing between Tawi or Todd while one is a bigger bad than the other both are problematic and neither have ultimate control. The real control belongs to the 1% who provide the deep pockets and donations that keep them in power. We the people are not who they are working for even though the system tells us we are.

This is where uprising becomes important but Not Me challenges you. It asks are they enough? Are we Martin Luther King (who wasn’t as non-violent as he has been whitewashed to be) or Malcom X.? Is there one right way to push back against those people at the top? I feel like it’s been 13 episodes of what would you do? You can’t judge a single character’s actions without examining your own humanity and figuring out what would you do?

I am not going to lie I’m a bit terrified by some twitter peeps that without hesitation said they would have killed Dan in cold blood if given the chance or watched with satisfaction him kill himself. That’s wild to me but I mean they are being honest. It’s interesting though cause I think those people identify with Black. I find that interesting cause as cold as Black seems he hasn’t been able to actually take a life yet. Unless Todd is dead which I doubt. Even Black has a level of humanity that he can’t shake. We saw that when he had the conversation with Todd about justice and the system. There is a part of him that believes we can do good without pure violence.

Black and Todd/Todd and Tawi/The System

I feel like I am watching a different show than other people or maybe my line of right and wrong is different because the Dan storyline has shown some things I find super disturbing in this fandom.

I will start by saying the way I view this show is layered and complex. There are no absolutes. No one is all good. No one is all bad and how we digest the story in of itself is a commentary on political strife. I have way too many thoughts but for today I will focus on Dan/Yok and why this story is so important if people can get past their hurt feelings and see the bigger picture.

Dan Is Not the Enemy The System Is

I can’t believe after watching this week’s episode I still see comments like “Dan betrayed them.” “I knew it was him all along” “I hate him for hurting Yok”. At face value I get it but what happen wasn’t that simple. To get to this point we have to go backwards. Yes Dan killed Sean’s father. I believe this act defined how some people see Dan and really, they have been waiting for him to be the big bad they have decided he is. Let’s look at the shooting, a rookie cop, a bad shot, he actually showed remorse, but the department covered it up. He didn’t intentionally take a life. Now should he have gone to jail for it? Yes!! So I will forever be upset about that since he did not he decided to fight injustice in his own way. He still believed in the system. That it could be fixed from within. It may be naïve but it’s not pure evil. This doesn’t make him bad it makes him idealistic. There were moments where both Black and White have shown idealism.

In any fight for justice there is no one way to achieve that goal. You need everyone, those who are willing to get their hands dirty and those who work within the system. Honestly if all parties worked together you have a better chance overturning the true enemy which are those at the top and system that keeps them in power. But you can’t yell a system so we choose to focus on people. Enter the Dan hater crew.

Fast forward to his confession on the roof with Sean. In that moment he was prepared to take his own life. Twitter was WILD with people saying they didn’t trust him cause he hesitated. Angry that Yok (who was in love with him) and Gram weren't supporting Sean’s thirst for vengeance. Taking a life is not the cure some of these people on line think it is. If you don’t think Sean would have been haunted by that then I question your humanity. Plus a dead cop on the roof would not have been good for anyone. If Gram and Yok had not been tough on Sean they would not have stopped that from happening.

Now we reach Ep 13. Even in this episode Dan was loyal till he was threatened. No Dan was not a secret agent. He never intended to turn his back on them. He did exactly what he promised. He thought he found someone he could trust. Yes he was naïve and too altruistic. We can all say he should know better but when you believe in the system it’s hard to see it any other way. The moment in which he betrayed them was after he was kidnapped. The old man threatened his family and he made a choice. He believed he was saving everyone’s life. That jail was better than death. He did not want Yok to die or his parents. Even after all of that when the time came he helped them escape putting himself and his parents in danger. How is he still getting slander? What should he have done? This was not a black or white situation. It’s like the trolley question. It’s an impossible choice. To act as if he’s some big bad who was “just what you expected” is so short sighted.

Why Aren't We Talking about the OLD MAN?

So I am still trying to process the digital performance. I watched during the US timeslot so of course tons of spoilers were out. Everyone was talking about crying and I thought. Yeah...right....I can't see myself crying. The minute I saw PP in tears on that table singing Fake News I LOST IT LOL!! Look I was a hot mess all most to the end.

I want to speak honestly here and I was coming off of the weird vibes from the live earlier. We aren't used to seeing them out of sync. I am not reading into it, just when your comfort couple seems uncomfortable it messes you all up. Anyway I think emotions were high all around going into this concert.

I was putting together a cheat sheet for my friend who is going to watch it with me and I don't think I realized how sad all their songs are. No wonder we were all bawling our eyes out.

Honestly the end felt so sad for me. I know everyone was saying Wedding vibes and I get that but also NO LOL for me it felt like a goodbye or some sort of ending. I dunno they didn't really do a ton of press on it to talk about the concept. I would love to have heard more so I'm not filling in blanks that aren't there.

Anyway, other than it wrecking I was trying to think of my fav performances. Honestly I loved everything the ones that stick for me are:

Fake News - First of all it's been a while since I read the lyrics to this song. I was looking them up for my friend and this song is devastating. Have you got all you want? Are you happy now that my heart is shattered? Why pretend to love me when you don't? Good lord what a gut punch of a song. PP was phenomenal and the direction of the club setting was perfection. I cried my face off.