Cast Commentary #6

Kimbar: Okay, let's get started. This episode was the halfway point of the series. We moved forward a bit on the mystery - Arianna finally visits the marina to dig up some more truths. That was a great scene.

Skye: Some nice foreshadowing in that scene for sure.

Skye: "I won't need rescuing. I promise."

Noel: Oh! The scene where Arianna sets up the dive with Tal. Yes.

Noel: My favorite moment in that scene is when Arianna turns away from Tal on accident, not realizing she's deaf.

Noel: Also, when Arianna, in shock drops the picture and Tal catches it. I actually really enjoyed writing Arianna and Tal together.

Skye: Right, because at first she thought Celeste was deaf.

Noel: Yeah.

Kimbar: I loved that part. I loved the way Tal's not-response matches up to Arianna's words. It was such a skillful, brilliant choice.

Neale: That moment was very beautifully orchestrated.

Noel: Thank you!

Noel: Tal is very inspiring to me. She's sexy and self-employed. Or maybe her being self-employed makes her sexy? =)

Neale: LOL!

Skye: It totally helps.

Kimbar: Oh, I think Tal would be sexy no matter what she was doing, but the fact that she's so self-sufficient just makes her that much more wild and appealing.

Neale: That could be it.

Noel: And she's intelligent, confident, knows her body.

Noel: All great stuff.

Noel: Yeah, sure, she's damaged -- like anyone real -- but she works.

Skye: I like how bold she is. But she's never disrespectful. Mariel Cove is full of women who have no problem saying what they like/want and I love that.

Neale: She's always the easiest character to write. Which is interesting, for me, because out of my characters - Tal, Aidan, Madison and Mikayla - she's the least like me.

Noel: That is fascinating, Neale!

Noel: I would think like it's the total opposite, you know?

Noel: Huh. I like that fact.

Neale: Yeah, you'd think it would be the other way.

Kimbar: I loved the scene towards the end, too, where Tal has such a reaction to the circle and runs off. She's unable to open up to Madison after that. She's more than self-sufficient - it's difficult for her to make strong connections. She's afraid to let anybody get too close.

Kimbar: I wonder if that's part of the reason she's so self-sufficient - she's afraid to have to rely on anybody else.

Skye: That is a really cool fact.

Noel: Yeah, I think that would be true about Tal. She takes care of herself.

Neale: Definitely.

Neale: So, this is also the scene where Rei finds her cherry tree.

Kimbar: Neale! The cherry tree - oh man, Rei's reaction...I feel like before this, I hadn't had a chance to get as close to Rei as I'd been able to with the other characters, but the scene where Rei finds the tree and it just destroys her - instant connection. That level of emotion from her, pushing Lia away, there was nothing distant about her after that point.

Kimbar: I also loved the reconnection of that friendship between Rei and Roisin - we saw it in an earlier episode and we see it again here. There's an understanding there between the two of them that I just love.

Skye: I special requested that scene, actually. It wasn't originally going to be there. It was just going to be Roisin visiting Rei. But I wanted the readers to see what had happened through Rei's eyes.

Kimbar: Good call, Skye. I feel like it brings so much to all of it - to the spat between Kennedy and Rei, to the event itself, and definitely to Rei's character.

Kimbar: You did a really, really good job with it.

Neale: I absolutely loved it.

Noel: The power of the cherry tree plot... so moving... that's why I *had* to include the cherry tree footage in the official trailer.

Skye: I'm glad. I feel really close to Rei in my mind, but I didn't really know if the readers saw much of her. I'm glad this moment opened her up a bit.

Neale: It was perfect with that extra scene in there, because the time spent (both your scene and Rowan's) helped the impact of the loss of the tree be fully realized.

Skye: Thank you, Noel =)

Skye: And thank you everyone! I'm glad the scene worked!

Skye: I also hoped it would show the position Lia was put in. Rei doesn't take emotional support from her lovers. She doesn't let people see her cry. She's been alone so long that she just couldn't be around Lia for a while. And that sudden change/misunderstanding leads to all kinds of trouble.

Neale: It definitely spoke volumes about Rei and who she is.

Kimbar: I could tell right away, reading that, that there was going to be consequences with Lia. I almost feel bad for Lia - you can see Kennedy setting her up as a pawn in a game that - let's face it, there's no way she can really understand it.

Kimbar: Not that Kennedy is doing any plotting in this episode.......

Noel: Yeah, I felt sorry for Lia quite often in Season 1. I felt sorry that someone in her life hadn't taught her to grow a backbone. Rei walks on her by cutting her off. Kennedy walks on her in a million other ways.

Skye: Lia is definitely a pawn. I actually felt really bad writing some of my scenes with her... which is kind of a lie because I really *loved* writing those scenes but I felt bad for what I was doing to her.

Noel: I wanted to grab Lia and shake her: "You're better than this!"

Skye: She's definitely a bit naive. She doesn't look at the future much, to be honest. Or at consequences. And yes, if she'd just stood up to Rei sooner she would have been in much better shape at the end of season 1 because, in all honesty, Rei didn't realize what she was doing to her.

Kimbar: There's one more plot line in this episode that I want to make absolutely certain that we touch on: Aidan. This is a hugely important episode for Aidan.

Noel: Totally.

Skye: It really is. Such a powerful scene/revelations about Aidan's past.

Noel: The reveal of Aidan's condition. (Sort of a reveal.)

Neale: The anniversary of Megan's death.

Kimbar: I just want to say that I love how her condition *is* revealed: nobody needs to outright say it. It's clear from the way the piece is written.

Noel: Yes, a reveal that respects the readers' intelligence.

Kimbar: This is how most writers aspire to write. And it makes the scene so much more powerful as a result.

Neale: It was tricky to write, because so few people in her life know.

Noel: I completely agree.

Neale: Sometimes, you get the easy road out with an awkward person: "Hey, so how's your anorexia? And that brief psychotic disorder, how's that treatin' you?"

Neale: Although usually they're not as blunt. "You... you're *well*, right? You're... *healthy?*"

Neale: Aidan is such an interesting character to write because she spends so much time hiding from other people. She's mostly in her own head.

Kimbar: I feel like it means a lot more the way it was done here - it made it one of the most powerful scenes for me in this episode...actually, the most powerful scene of the first six episodes together.

Neale: Kimbar, thank you.

Noel: I think her sense of privacy draws readers to her. They want to know what's up with her.

Skye: And then once they realize what's up with her, they have a driving urge to follow how she progresses. I think the readers will really want to see her heal... but they know it'll be a hard road and it may never fully happen.

Neale: Recovery is definitely something that continues for the rest of someone's life.

Kimbar: She's got people, though - she has Mikayla. I loved that even though Arianna wasn't available, didn't even know what kind of an anniversary this was for Aidan, Aidan still had someone checking up on her, making sure she was okay. Pushing her to call. I found myself smiling like an idiot when Aidan made the decision to actually do that, to not go through this on her own.

Skye: I loved that, too Kimbar. That last moment when Aidan decides to let someone help. Powerful choice.

Neale: You make progress - solid progress - but it never really 'goes away.'

Skye: Definitely, Neale.

Noel: I liked the connection between Mikayla and Aidan because it shows how, sometimes, a *friend* is more in your life than a lover. Just a truth.

Neale: Absolutely.

Neale: And for Aidan, that is key.

Neale: Megan was, after all, never her lover.

Neale: But they were almost closer than lovers.

Neale: It seemed only right that the person she finally reached out to was her friend. *Not* her lover.

Noel: Yes, exactly. The impact friends have on us.

Skye: I can't think of anything more intelligent to say than "I agree" but I wholeheartedly agree. And I find it powerful that Mariel Cove can show some of these friendships without there being romantic tension.

Kimbar: Megan - this is how well you wrote this scene: I was incredibly saddened that this character was dead before we ever got to meet her. I loved getting to see how Aidan's subconscious viewed her. Pushing her to eat. You haven't eaten anything. Eat something.

Neale: That's the hard thing about writing - every character, every person (even in real life) has so much history.

Neale: And mostly, we already know that history.

Neale: We're not walking around saying "So this happened to me when I was 16."

Neale: "Then, at 18, I _____."

Neale: "Last year, my cat died."

Neale: Blah blah blah.

Neale: So getting across so much backstory, without it being too much exposition, was definitely tricky.

Neale: That's all to say... Thanks =)

Skye: The scene was beautifully handled. : )

Neale: Thank you, Skye =)

Kimbar: Alright, we're just about out of time. Is there anything else - any other scene or event - that anybody would like to discuss?

Skye: Hmm. You have anything to say about Kitty, Kimbar? There's a big, important chunk of Kitty in this episode.

Kimbar: This is true - it is.

Skye: That sentence sounded so wrong the minute I wrote it.

Neale: LOL!

Kimbar: Haha. I know what you meant though. This scene required so much editing, but I was pleased with how it turned out. It kind of marks a turning point for Kitty - there's going to be some fun stuff that she gets to do later on as a result of what happened in this episode.

Skye: I liked getting to see Kitty without Kennedy. I feel like the readers got to see more of what was important to her and her life than just her partner.

Noel: Kitty became more of a real person.

Kimbar: The sketches of the sculptures she's going to do...the decision to make a sculpture for Ruth...I really got to remind her of her roots. We know she sculpts in secret, but we get to see her actively beginning the process by creating the concept.

Noel: Kitty being a metal/found materials sculptor is one of my favorite elements in the series.

Neale: Me, too.

Skye: Nothing goes to waste in Mariel Cove.

Kimbar: I have to admit - it was hugely daunting. I had to do a lot of research for it. Writing for her got a whole lot harder after this episode! But we'll get to that later =)

Noel: Well, it turned out great, Kimbar. Truly.

Kimbar: Thank you! I'm glad to hear that.

Kimbar: Alright, unless anybody has anything else to say, I think I'll bring this meeting of the Funky Name Color Club to an end! It's been an absolute pleasure talking to you all again.

Skye: : ) I love these meetings.

Kimbar: Me too. They're one of the things I look forward to at the beginning of every week.

Noel: Thank you for having us all over, Kimbar ; )

Noel: These get-togethers are always eye-openers.

Noel: Have a great week, everyone.