6x05 - Tumblr Posts
Damn I was a Spike girl until that scene...and still enjoy his character...
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER | S6E5: Life Serial
Just trying to get my thoughts in order about all of the implications about Tim’s past that last night’s episode revealed, and how it relates to other scenes in the show’s history.
Because holy crap, last night’s revelations were a dumpster fire. And while I’m still upset that he didn’t at least text Lucy to say he was alive, I’m starting to get it.
Tim was young when he was a squad leader in the army (to be fair most are, but still, as someone who is now older than he would have been, the pressure of the decisions he would have been making hits even harder). Based off of his being a 12 year LAPD vet when Lucy was a Rookie, he would have been max 26-27 when he was discharged. Which means he was probably even younger when everything happened.
So going over everything that was revealed last night— One of the men under Tim’s command stole nearly half a million dollars and went absent without leave. Obviously Tim didn’t report him (likely to protect his wife since all of Ray’s benefits would have been cut off), because Ray was able to order an airstrike on the location of his own squad, killing at least 2 of Tim’s men (again, there wasn’t even enough left of them to fill a shoebox) and likely severely injuring several others. And again Tim fudges the report, so that Ray’s ‘widow’ and daughter will get his death benefits (this is so Tim, but more on that later).
We already know Tim takes on so much blame, even when he doesn’t deserve it. Can you imagine how much guilt he’s shouldering over this?!
And that regret over his actions doesn’t even take into account what we also know about Mitch’s injury. Because I looked back over the transcripts from Casualties, and it definitely sounds like that was a separate incident (he specifically stated that he let Mitch slide on something he shouldn’t have. Not let something slide in general). So we have at least 2 incidents of Tim trying to show the men he was in charge of some compassion, and it resulted in severe injury or death of the people he was responsible for.
No wonder rules matter.
There’s also the revelation that Tim was dubbed the Reaper - aka the personification of death. We don’t have much background info on why that is, but I can definitely see him not wanting Lucy to know about that side of his past, especially with what Greer was implying (that he’d gone soft for not jumping on the chance to kill Ray).
But going back to the ways that all of the ties to past storylines. Remember when Tim reported Mac Daniels and Grey pointed out that he would lose his pension, and Beth specifically asked him how she was supposed to afford to raise their kids? Holy direct parallel. We thought it just related to the way Tim hid Isabel’s addiction, but now we see that the last time he skirted the lines, it got his men killed. And now the pain that Tim was in when Beth tore into him hits so much deeper.
Him trying to hide his tears when he helped Mitch find a job and a bed hits so much deeper.
Tim is absolutely reeling right now. He was barely holding back tears when he came to see Lucy. He needed her comfort even if he couldn’t bring himself to tell her what was going on— Not just to protect her career, but probably out of so much guilt too.
Lucy wasn’t wrong to turn him away. In fact I’m glad that she set boundaries, and I know she was actually hoping that giving him that ultimatum would make him just tell her.
But holy crap does it hurt understanding how much he needed her in that moment.
Both of our babies are in so much pain right now. And I’m really going to need them to at least start letting each other back in during next week's episode, as well as a healing arc for the remainder of season 6.
I’m begging.