NORA I LOVE YOUUUU 🫶🥰 Damon Lindelof eppys focused on a single character are so good, this was the most fun I’ve had with an episode in a while I loved this a lot. Nora going “oh fuck your daughter” to Kevin alone makes this a 4 that was the funniest thing I’ve heard all day 😭😭😭 Elliot’s mother was in this too so bonus points for that because Mr. Robot reference!!! [SPOILERS] I think the thing that I adore the most about Nora’s character thus far is the depiction of her internal conflicts and how authentic it feels, which is obviously portrayed better here than anywhere else. I really feel as though this eppy revolves around the push and pull conflict she has between truly living and moving on in the wake of her family dying or clinging onto that loss like it’s all that she has with it now defining her identity, and pretty much every scene adds to this idea. Right from the start we’re shown that she does have a tragically realistic, self-destructive nature as depicted in the scene where she pays somebody to shoot her, with the fact that she hired an SW of all people to do it further reinforcing that she finds some kind of gratification or solace into clinging onto the pain of what’s happened to her. Even when she learns about her husband cheating on her, something that disillusioned her from the family she longed to come back so deeply by making her divorce him, she still keeps her married name, which I believe is trying to show that she may not be truly ready to move on in the way that she believes she is. I believe this theme of how her suffering and willingness to let it define her was also the intent of her getting impersonated and not having the right identification as well. When she’s seen as just a “guest” she feels far more free to live normally, vs her real identity which has now been so thoroughly consumed by the miserable deaths of her family, an identity that she still has some desire to be involved in thanks to her still wanting to be seen as a Durst. Seeing this portrayal of self-destructive grief and unhealthy coping with her eventually still clinging onto what happened to her when she confronts the author after seemingly making so much progress was perfect and so hard-hitting, and I especially love how the development of her (already brilliant) dynamic with Kevin coincides with her growth here. In their first scene together she is shown completely falling apart the moment she does anything awkward, stifling the opportunity for any real connection, vs by the end of the eppy where she is clearly more and committed to establishing a relationship with Kevin in a productive way. Really excited to see how their relationship evolves from here now that it’s been truly kicked into gear. Speaking of which, time to mention the fantastically acted Wayne hug scene and ensuing ending which I am mostly positive about, even if I have a few doubts in the back of my mind and I could change my mind on it later depending on how they follow it up. Her character development after the hug was really superbly executed, particularly thanks to this show’s incredible utilisation of visual storytelling to convey its themes in a subtle way just as I’ve praised before. Seeing the way all the visual motifs that it previously established came back was so good, she no longer stared at that woman the way she usually does, jealous of the life she lives, she refills the paper towel she was previously shown to be unprepared to get rid off, and most importantly question 121 on her questionnaire is answered with a no after all of the other people she asked had said yes (something that was really well built up due to how they obscured what the question said when it was first introduced). My one piece of skepticism when it comes to the conclusion to Nora’s development here is that it feels like it might be implying that Wayne’s hug actually somehow worked or healed her which would obviously be pretty ridiculous and cheap, but I really doubt that the show would take that route and that we’ll definitely see her character regress back later. One thing that could be seen as hinting at the fact that Wayne’s treatment only stifled her delusions and poor coping rather than truly helping her grieve is the fact that for once someone answered with a no to question 121 as I said before, which can be seen as implying that while the people she questioned were once living in delusion about what’s happened to the departed while Nora experienced her suffering without any hesitation, it’s now reversed as she’s the one covering up her true grief. I could be wrong though and I’ll have to see how her arc progresses from here, something that I’m very excited for. Amazing eppy with so much brilliant direction, acting and characterisation throughout, really excited for the rest of this season now :)