Rina - Tumblr Posts
im going to come forth and say it, for all i talk abt how rina is the best thing in this show, if they don’t end up happening i’ll be perfectly fine with it. do i think they still have a lot to explore? yes but if the conclusion to this whole thing is that they’re two people who understand each other in a very special but platonic way, it’ll be perfectly fine. i just want closure for whatever ricky and gina are.
I think Ricky's arrival at camp has a layer to it that I haven't really seen discussed yet, that makes the Rina forshadowing almost more deliberate?
Maybe it's the fact that I've been hung up on the Rina slowburn, but I was expecting the payoff to the 'Lily has the harness'-plotline to take a little while. At the earliest, as a cliffhanger for the end of E01. But no - Ricky and Lily lasted from the last (two?) eps of S2 to only halfway though the first of S3.
If they were gonna rush the Ricky and Lily plotline this much, why include it at all? Because they needed Ricky to be almost a day late to camp. Late enough to arrive after EJ has been appointed director, so that Ricky could be there for the "Who said anybody would?" moment.
We all knew Ricky/Lily was going to be a plot device, but it turned out to be the direct set up for the heaviest rina forshadowing we've ever had and I am so here for it.
Yes, this! Also: realizing a little too late that those feelings you never got closure on are romantic and then having to navigate a friendship around that realization. Been there. Kills me to see.
honestly. ricky bowen is such a fucking mood. always a bit confused, a bit surprised, a bit inarticulate about feelings. he’s so real.
I've seen a lot of takes floating around about how we shouldn't make excuses for EJ/Gina/Ricky while talking about the others' mistakes. I can't help but wonder -
Am I the only one that's Team-Make-excuses-for-everybody?
Because fundamentally these characers are pretty young and that summer of firsts has put a lot on their plates.
EJ - isn't spending enough time with his girlfriend and friends? Yeah, because he was slapped with the huge responsibility of making a blockbuster musical work in a few weeks and nobody is helping him. (They are learning their lines and cues to be fair, but no one offered to help him plan for the read-through in that tent? Not one person?)
He's not telling Gina about the letter until she finds out for herself? That's absolutely bad, but he was planning on telling her after he had sorted it out. Which, let's be real, wasn't going to happen before the end of the summer after the documentary came out, so his plan really wasn't very likely to go well and even if it did, he would have still been in the wrong for not confiding in her.
But it makes sense, too. When we first meet EJ, he's a jock who gets leads in the musicals. A popular kid with grades impressive enough to make it reasonable for him to get into Duke. He's also prone to schieming and sabotage and has no clue how to sincerely apologize. We later find out that there's a lot of pressure to be perfect from his dad. You can't tell me that EJ grew up in an environment where it would have been acceptable for him to be vulnerable about something he was struggling with unless it was already in the past and he had already handled it. There's a reason this kid doesn't know how to apologize and I'd wager it's the same reason he doesn't know how to talk to his girlfriend about a something he doesn't yet know how to fix.
That doesn't make it okay, but it makes it understandable and I'm willing to make excuses for him and sympathize with him anyway.
Gina - is being passive-aggressive towards her boyfriend instead of talking to him directly? Yeah, because she's discovered that he's hiding something from her and I think the first few jabs were meant to give him the hint that he should maybe explain himself before she would bring it up. She's been busy with getting the lead in Frozen and trying to be 'a good girlfriend' for the first time, only to learn that EJ is hiding something from her and has been confiding in someone else about it instead. That would upset anybody. And I truly believe that most of her anger has been her trying to force a conversation, even if it wasn't in the healthiest way. Which is perfectly understandable.
She's also showing glimpses of old habits? Of course she is - ambition is not inherintly a bad character trait and "Gina 1.0" wasn't very long ago, so of course she has that ambition in her still. (Tbh I have a whole analysis in defense of Gina 1.0 that I wrote when I first watched that ep, so if anyone's interested in reading that I might still post it.)
And Ricky - has a crush on Gina while she's in a relationship with EJ? Yeah, that happens. It's already tough to rebuild a friendship after having had crushes even when those romantic feelings haven't lingered. Trying to navigate a friendship while having a crush on an unavailable friend is deeply complicated.
And that is what he's trying to do! He's not trying to interfere in portwell at all. We know what Ricky looks like when he's trying to sabotage a relationship and this isn't that. (I could make a whole other post about that difference tbh.) This is Ricky and Gina, who never got closure on their feelings for each other, trying to act like the casual friends they were before she ever pulled away from him. Only their casual friendship was founded on electric understanding that was likely already hurtling towards something way back then - so finding a new normal, that will actually look casual to the outside world (nevermind feel casual), is a tall order for both of them. (Not saying their attempt at friendship will leave them driving off into the sunset together anytime soon! Just saying that they've got a difficult goal here and it's bound to be awkward as they try to figure out new boundaries.)
At the end of the day, these characters are all trying to navigate pretty complicated romantic situations while also having a lot of other stuff going on at the same time. Be that the musical, the documentary, pressure from home, having to defend your ambitions to your best friends, or having to find your place in a group where some of your strongest connections were your ex, your ex-friend who you have a crush on that can't be more. (And I'd also list Ricky's friendship with Carlos here, but tbh their friendship is pretty uncomplicated so it's not relevant to my point right now.)
Of course all of them are going to make mistakes, but they're all very understandable. The discourse around not laying blame at only one character's feet feels to me a bit like people trying to justify their fave or even their ship at the expense of (more) nuance. (Which is also totally fair, I just felt like I had to throw my own take into the ring as well.)
I still stand by my opinion that Ricky should stay single this season, and I still ship portwell. HOWEVER, I cannot deny that I am now intrigued with the Rina storyline, despite my reservations, bcs I think that it can do a lot for Ricky's character development. I would hope to see Ricky come to terms with his feelings for Gina, but decide to take a step back not just for her, but for himself as well. Like I said, I think he deserves a season of self discovery, and for him to not get involved in messy relationship drama again after everything. Seeing him take a step back for the sake of both their happiness is definitely a step up from season 1 Ricky, and shows that he's choosing himself first above everyth. (There's a post I saw talking about how this would be an improvement from season 1 Ricky, I'll repost it if I can find it again).
I would also want to see the portwell break up happen naturally, and not because Gina wants to run back to Ricky. Gina is happy in her relationship right now, even though there are issues rising, she's even thinking abt love. It is completely unjust to her character to suddenly drop her first relationship that has real feelings and go to Ricky after a few episodes. And again, I really don't want to see ej lose a girl to Ricky AGAIN. IF they are going to break up, I want to see it happen because they are in different places in their lives, on different pages, and ultimately decide to end things before they resent each other. Gina will need a proper amount of time to get over her heartbreak, before she can even consider having feelings for Ricky again.
Essentially, while I wish for a portwell endgame, if the Rina storyline is treated properly, I honestly don't think I'd mind a Rina endgame in future seasons (after I get over my initial disappointment). Just as long as it's not rushed now that Nini is out of the picture, and all the characters involved are done justice.
rina + perfect harmony (requested by anon)
#of course he showed up
#the math is mathing huh carlos?
RICKY & GINA in the eyes of Sabrina Carpenter’s emails i can’t send (i/ns/p)
over and over the only truth
everything comes back to you
Jet 'you mean Gina' Last-Name
(I haven't been able to watch the newest ep yet, but I've seen a few gifs and it's so funny to me that this has happened twice.)
we’re a ride home in the dark with our fingers intertwined we’re a ‘see you all the time’, but still wanna see you more.
I compiled a video of all the “Rina Cues” in the series so far. If I forgot any I’ll did so don’t tell me lol.
“if i went behind your back, but for a good reason, wouldn’t you be be flattered?” OH-
"Sorry, there just some things that I tell you that I don't really tell anyone else."
"Yeah, I think we do that for each other."
My second Rina fanart! A very underrated scene, my favorite season 2 Rina scene. What would you like to see for my next Rina fanart? 👀
You aren’t a maybe. You’re a yes.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Gina Porter and Ricky Bowen
RICKY & GINA + second chances/beginning again