TIME FOR MY TAKES ABOUT BIG DOOR PRIZE, Having Read The Book AND Watched The Show. Vague Spoilers Ahead.

TIME FOR MY TAKES ABOUT BIG DOOR PRIZE, having read the book AND watched the show. Vague spoilers ahead.

The book was surprisingly dark. Why do dark, Walsh? Why make me SO STRESSED? That’s not a criticism, just something that surprised me.

The show used NO JOHN PRINE SONGS. In a show NAMED FOR A JOHN PRINE SONG. What gives?

Dusty > Douglas, but only because of Chris O’Dowd. I did miss the trombone and beret.

In fact, I liked most of the show characters more than their book counterparts, EXCEPT Father Reuben/Father Pete. Oh how I missed Father Pete and his sense of humor.

The takes on Jacob are both really good, but the book broke my heart (and gave me a glimmer of hope at the end) while the show warmed my heart. Do with that what you will, knowing that Jacob’s character is an examination of guilt and grief.

It did my heart good to see Trina happy in the show after reading the book.

Show!Deerfield is so generic. I missed knowing I was in the rural south; it felt so integral to the novel.

WHAT IS UP WITH THE SCIFI-ASS ENDING OF THE SHOW? That kind of seems to defeat the plot of the book entirely. This is a new thing now. It’s good, they’re both good, but they’re not the same. BLUE DOTS? Is it ALIENS?

Also, while I’m here: if you let Dusty and Cass split up, you legally have to change the name of the show. HAVE YOU EVEN LISTENED TO THE SONG???

Apple please actually make a season 2, this is NOT an acceptable ending.

Listen I know I’ve been on my “Kansas Fan Jason Sudeikis” soapbox but I NEED everyone to know that “play smart, play hard, play together” was coined by the late Dean Smith, who coached basketball at UNC-Chapel Hill for 36 years. He was an absolute legend who cemented the legacy of the Carolina Basketball program as more than a winning team (Smith won 879 games in his career) but a “Carolina Family.” And I just wanted y’all to know.

THIS THIS EXACTLY THIS. IF NATE SHELLEY HAS NO SUPPORTERS I AM DECEASED.

I’m in love with Nate facilitating his own growth through his own connections, through connection with his family, through connecting with his own values. It’s not a Ted inspired speech. Nate did this on his own. He saw through Rupert and left. He worked through his anxiety and fear. He connected back to his family. He did all the work. And I love that Will is the person he made amends to - not the guys that used to bully him, not even to Ted. The kitman he was shit to because Will reminded him of himself, and he tried to treat Will the way his father treated him. The healing, you love to see it.

Okay about Nate’s apology to Will, tho. As someone who has never shut up once in my life, I can kind of relate to both Ted and Nate in the ways they describe and connect things when they talk, especially when they’re trying to be funny.

But Nate doesn’t do any of that with his note to Will. He doesn’t explain. He doesn’t grovel. He just says “I’m sorry.” He doesn’t hide behind clever turns of phrase. He doesn’t even call himself the wunderkind.

Idk I just thinks it takes a lot of courage to let a simple “I’m sorry” like that drift out into the open where anything could happen to it.

ted doing the same dance that we see in the pilot if richmond win the match in the finale would be such a slay

WAIT ONE MORE THING: WHO GAVE NOTED KANSAS FAN JASON SUDEIKIS CAROLINA BLUE NIKES? AFTER LAST YEAR’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NO LESS? SOCCER SHOW CANCELLED.