Wow I love this episode so fucking much. It's crazy just how much this has been ingrained in my memory, even nearly two years after I first watched it I could still remember every single scene almost perfectly while still managing to be captivated for every second

The consistency in this is nothing short of stunning. I find it so impressive that this episode manages to stay focused, attention grabbing, and near exhilarating in its portrayal of its themes and arcs, all the while following a completely non-linear and scrambled timeline of events that span over the course of a decade, and I think the main reason it managed to uphold such consistency is through its theme. This season is practically a smorgasbord of themes, with every line of dialogue being a monologue to serve either Rust or Marty's outlooks on life, and while there are subtle hints of episodic theming strewn throughout, it mostly just throws out monologue after monologue of whatever they feel like talking about at that moment, (which is not at all a diss btw this has my favorite dialogue of any tv show ever) meanwhile with this, the entire episode is centered around one theme and one theme only, that being the secret fate of all life (obviously), and the way it handles that theme is brilliantly tragic.

The first half of this episode is truly something special. For the first time in the show, we're given triumph. From the very opening scene which carries over the adrenaline and excitement from last episode, we are brought to the seeming end of this case, a scene in which the good guys win, and Rust and Marty seem to find a small sense of understanding in each other in an almost bittersweet way, “it's nice to see you finally commit to something.” With Rust's justification of Marty's rage and them both working together to save that child's life, and the scene of them both carrying out the children, it's downright cathartic. Plus something about that scene has just completely altered my brain chemistry, like there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about that scene and idk why. After that incredible opening we are treated to our reward for sticking through the grit and crushing weight of the previous episodes by seeing these characters living genuinely happy lives. Marty finally gets his act together and reconnects with his family, and Rust finds someone who fits for him (or at least it seems so), and they are both able to return to their normal lives. But time is a flat circle, and just as both these characters and the viewers are lulled into a sense of security, we're pulled right back into life's vicious cycle. Almost all of the progression that Rust and Marty have made is sucked down the drain and they regress just as time does. Marty is pulled back into his rage and impulsiveness as he lashes out against Audrey which once again pulls him away from his family, and the criminals mention of the yellow king causes Rust to be pulled back into his obsessions and seeming unwillingness for acceptance, and as the next episode expands upon, these regressions to their “true nature” will only cause them to spiral down an even deeper pit than before.

This has definitely become one of my favorite episodes oat, like t50 at the very least. The amount of character development that's been squeezed into this is brilliant. And I don't mean that as in these characters having gone through these massive arcs or transformations, it's a more expansive and thorough kind of development. It uses its theme and depiction of said theme to tell a story of self destruction, history, and regression, in just a single episode that would've taken most shows whole seasons or more to get through and it doesn't feel rushed or cheap in the slightest. Everything here feels perfectly put in place. From the catharsis and beauty, to the tragedy and inevitability.

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