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Every couple gets one breakup, that's it
It's been a while since I did a Rookie Blue reaction post. So instead of that, have some rambly meta about Chris, Gail, and Dov. Because - well, you've met me, right?
Before that, I just have to say, I was super amused a couple of weeks ago when tumblr was suddenly overrun with people who were shocked - shocked, I tell you! - by the whole Dov/Gail thing. And I just had to think, what show have you been watching?
Because, let's face it - the show has been actively developing (sometimes subtly, sometimes not) the whole Chris/Gail/Dov triangle thing since the beginning of the season. Let's have a rundown:
To ... IDK. Okay, things I have noticed about the OT3/triangle/whatever you want to call it:
- The aforementioned pattern of Dov and Gail's interactions actually starts back in season one, in Big Nickel (which was when I started shipping Dov/Gail a little, and also the time I decided they should just be on OT3.) Dov and Gail bicker (about her connections in the police force), it escalates (when Gail accuses Dov of being a hypocrite), and they share a moment at the end of the episode (when Dov tries to apologise). Their interactions are a little harsher in this - they haven't quite got to the S2 thinly-veiled ~feelings stage yet - but still: Totally fits the pattern.
- In S2, a lot of Chris and Dov's conversations are about Gail, which is to be expected if they're setting up a triangle. And a lot of Chris and Gail's conversations are about Dov, which I guess is also not that surprising, given that he's starting to come between them. But - it seems like fewer of Dov and Gail's conversations are about Chris; a lot of the time, it's just about the two of them. Which is definitely surprising, since I would have figured he'd be a bigger presence in their relationship - IDK whether it's indicative of anything, but interesting nonetheless.
- Okay, so obviously the Most Likely To Be Partnered Together award goes to Sam and Andy, this is pretty much a given. But in second place, by a fairly solid margin, are Dov and Gail, who are about twice as likely to be partnered together as anybody else. Which - I feel like is almost being lampshaded in Best Laid Plans? First Frank (presumably) puts them together, then Oliver tries to, and it's just - does the whole division ship them? Or is it just so much fun to say Peckstein they can't help themselves, I don't even.
Okay, more general thoughts/feelings/miscellanea:
SERIOUSLY, WHERE IS THING WHOLE THING EVEN GOING, IDEK. Usually in love triangles, there's - some kind of indication about what the endgame is supposed to be? Even if it shifts over the course of a series, which sometimes happens. But I have no freaking idea what the endgame is supposed to be here, and I just feel like it would be REALLY HELPFUL OKAY to know that in advance so I can prepare myself. Because I'm cool with it either way (assuming, of course, this is a binary situation and they're not going for the OT3, which is a pretty safe bet) - I skew a little bit towards Dov/Gail, but I love Chris/Gail too, it would just be nice to know which feelings I should maybe try to let go of a little bit. BECAUSE SERIOUSLY, ALL OF THE FEELINGS.
(Sidebar #2: I never even thought of Dov/Gail as an endgame kind of thing until there was this conversation and somehow, we started comparing it to Two Guys, A Girl, And A Pizza Place? And to Berg/Ashley/Pete, which - Dov/Gail are so Pete/Ashley, AND THAT WAS ENDGAME DAMMIT, and I just - now I can't help wanting it, like, a lot.)
Either way, though - I don't think the Dov/Gail thing is played out; Best Laid Plans makes it pretty clear that there's still a lot of ~stuff there, and while I totally get focusing on the Chris/Gail fallout first, I'd be surprised and disappointed if the whole Dov/Gail thing didn't get a whole lot more resolution. (OKAY, SO BASICALLY, I JUST REALLY WANT MAKEOUTS, WHATEVER.)
Finally (because probably nobody has made it this far, seriously, I am not talking about Sam and Andy here), minor speculation: Luke/Gail??? I think this is, like, 80% tumblr's fault and 20% their out-in-the-cold exchange, but - it could totally happen, Gail is pretty much spiralling and we all know Luke is in the middle of his Poor Life Decisions phase (which: totally my favourite Luke phase). IDK, it could be a thing, it would probably be pretty hilarious. In a really tragic way where Gail alienates Andy (and probably also Traci) on top of Chris, and Chris is even more pissed, and Dov is super pissed because HE LOVES HER AND SERIOUSLY, IS SHE JUST GOING TO MAKE OUT WITH EVERYONE EXCEPT HIM, WHAT IS THE DEAL, UNIVERSE, and everybody hates Luke (more) because it was a super douche move and it all ends badly. See? Hilarious.
Before that, I just have to say, I was super amused a couple of weeks ago when tumblr was suddenly overrun with people who were shocked - shocked, I tell you! - by the whole Dov/Gail thing. And I just had to think, what show have you been watching?
Because, let's face it - the show has been actively developing (sometimes subtly, sometimes not) the whole Chris/Gail/Dov triangle thing since the beginning of the season. Let's have a rundown:
201 BUTTERFLIES -> Dov and Chris fight about Gail moving in, Chris and Gail fight about Dov wanting her to leave. Gail goes to confront Dov but, shocking revelation! - Dov's brother died, so she lets it go. She asks Chris about it later, they talk about Dov for a bit; later at the Penny, we get the last piece of what was to become a pattern of repeating scene types, when Gail compliments Dov and they share a ~moment. So, the first episode in and we've already got the basic setup for their pattern of interactions in the first half of the season: Gail and Dov bicker, it escalates, then something happens and they share an emotional heart to heart. Which happens again in:
203 BAD MOON RISING -> Dov and Gail bicker, shocking! About the shared bathroom in their apartment, even more shocking! Which she now officially lives in, as she tells Dov when - can you guess? - their bickering escalates. Over their roommate situation, over her relationship with Chris (so there's that), and, finally, over her being in charge and the fact that he's feeling powerless after his screw-up last episode and subsequent probation. And then something happens (ie. Dov has good instincts), and at the end of the episode Gail confronts him and they share another (more serious) moment. And a hug.
204 HEARTS & SPARKS -> We get the pattern again here, with some nice progression of ~feelings. Dov and Gail bicker, but this time it's a lot more playful - they play video games together, she humiliates him, he spends the entire day admitting how awesome she is. With some bonus extra bickering about her letting Chris keep the puppy he rescued. They have a couple of moments here - one preliminary, when Gail talks about the difference between them and Chris, and a pretty big one at the end, with Gail worrying that Chris only likes her because of his ~issues, and then the amazing, "No, I mean it. You're awesome. Really," from Dov. And then the long look up at Gail hugging Chris, and sadly back down at his takeout menus.
205 STING -> The big one for me, at least until Brotherhood. And the turning point, I think - while up to this point it had been largely 'OT3, Dov and Gail bicker and maybe also secretly have ~feelings,' this is the episode where all that subtext rapidly becomes text. So much so that we actually skip the preliminary bickering stuff (though we keep the long looks Dov sends at Chris and Gail) and condense pretty much everything into one scene at the end. Before that, though, is one of my favourite moments: Frank tells Gail she needs to come with him because her boyfriends are in trouble. That's the only way I can read that, seriously; Chris isn't actually in direct danger (and in fact, is sent out of the house immediately), and sure, Dov's her friend, but they're all Dov's friends. So: Gail's boyfriends. And Dov tells Chris he has to leave because Gail will kill him if he kills Chris (god, OT3 ♥), and then everybody runs up to him at the end and - for a moment, the first time around, I just thought she was going to hang back, but no, she gets her very own hug! And then the scene at the end - Gail bursts in to confront him, and their bickering is turned up to eleven; then we get to the heart of it - he could have died - and they have their obligatory moment. And a half. And then Chris walks in, and - there's this second, this look, like Gail's been caught doing something she shouldn't be, and it's only really noticeable because she hasn't. (Except maybe having ~feelings, oops.) And Dov totally catches it, and I'm, like, 98% convinced that's what propels him towards the whole, "We both go for what we want" thing, because before that, he had no idea that Gail might possibly have some of the feelings for him that he has for her. And now he kind of does.
206 IN PLAIN VIEW -> Which is not to say that he goes for it immediately, despite his secret-double-meaning pact with Chris, because he's not (intentionally) an asshole. And what I'd loved about this whole thing is that, even though they're developing the whole Dov/Gail thing and making a triangle out of it, they never stopped developing Chris/Gail. And while this episode has a few cute Dov/Gail moments - pretty much every time he teases her - the emotional stuff is slanted more heavily towards Chris/Gail. (Sidebar: I love Dov trying to impress Superintendent Peck, not least because his motivations aren't totally simple - is he trying to impress her because she's Gail's mother? Because she's his superior? Because he wants people to like him in general? Probably all three, and I love that they're all equally valid motivations.) It's Chris that Gail opens up to about her relationship with her mother while Dov remains ignorant; that vulnerability on her part, and him stepping up to be on her side, make the whole triangle thing seem a lot less ... forgone conclusion-y than most. (Seriously, though. I actually wish I were massively spoiled for where they're going for this whole thing, because I have no freaking idea what I'm supposed to be rooting for, and it's driving me crazy. But more on that later.)
207 -> THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY -> Like the last episode, this one is pretty heavy on the Andy/Luke/Jo drama, so fairly light on the OT3. But we do get another of my favourite things - Dov asking, "Shag?" and Gail replying, "Yes." Which is probably not even an intentional double entendre, IDK Canadian slang, but I highly enjoy it every time. Plus, they make fantastically adorable partners, so there's that.
208 MONSTER -> Okay, so! I actually still think the complete lack of Dov freaking out about the quarantine, even a little bit, is a bit out of place? Like, I get that he had shit to do and whatever, but still: Missed opportunity for some grade-A pining and general tropetasticness. And - maybe they thought they couldn't have a great Chris/Gail episode that also had Dov/Gail stuff in it, but I don't get why not. But this really was an excellent Chris/Gail episode (probably my favourite - Gail in super-quarantine! The pout! Everything about Chris ever, but especially the kiss), and another really good example of their continued relationship development.
209 BROTHERHOOD -> aka. NOT THE FIRST TIME WE LEARN THAT DOV HAS FEELINGS FOR GAIL, BY A PRETTY WIDE MARGIN. Like, I get suddenly having an opinion after this episode? Or being shocked at the depth of Dov's feelings, which, I was, but only in the way where I'm always all, lalala he's totally in love with her, thinking it's just in my head (this has happened many times before, in many different canons) and then being SHOCKED when he actually is in love with her and not just moderately interested. Every. Time. Anyway, I'm pretty sure everybody knows my feelings on the whole romantic confession (which are: deeply conflicted but also REALLY DIGGING IT, just like Dov/Gail in general), so - moving on.
To ... IDK. Okay, things I have noticed about the OT3/triangle/whatever you want to call it:
- The aforementioned pattern of Dov and Gail's interactions actually starts back in season one, in Big Nickel (which was when I started shipping Dov/Gail a little, and also the time I decided they should just be on OT3.) Dov and Gail bicker (about her connections in the police force), it escalates (when Gail accuses Dov of being a hypocrite), and they share a moment at the end of the episode (when Dov tries to apologise). Their interactions are a little harsher in this - they haven't quite got to the S2 thinly-veiled ~feelings stage yet - but still: Totally fits the pattern.
- In S2, a lot of Chris and Dov's conversations are about Gail, which is to be expected if they're setting up a triangle. And a lot of Chris and Gail's conversations are about Dov, which I guess is also not that surprising, given that he's starting to come between them. But - it seems like fewer of Dov and Gail's conversations are about Chris; a lot of the time, it's just about the two of them. Which is definitely surprising, since I would have figured he'd be a bigger presence in their relationship - IDK whether it's indicative of anything, but interesting nonetheless.
- Okay, so obviously the Most Likely To Be Partnered Together award goes to Sam and Andy, this is pretty much a given. But in second place, by a fairly solid margin, are Dov and Gail, who are about twice as likely to be partnered together as anybody else. Which - I feel like is almost being lampshaded in Best Laid Plans? First Frank (presumably) puts them together, then Oliver tries to, and it's just - does the whole division ship them? Or is it just so much fun to say Peckstein they can't help themselves, I don't even.
Okay, more general thoughts/feelings/miscellanea:
SERIOUSLY, WHERE IS THING WHOLE THING EVEN GOING, IDEK. Usually in love triangles, there's - some kind of indication about what the endgame is supposed to be? Even if it shifts over the course of a series, which sometimes happens. But I have no freaking idea what the endgame is supposed to be here, and I just feel like it would be REALLY HELPFUL OKAY to know that in advance so I can prepare myself. Because I'm cool with it either way (assuming, of course, this is a binary situation and they're not going for the OT3, which is a pretty safe bet) - I skew a little bit towards Dov/Gail, but I love Chris/Gail too, it would just be nice to know which feelings I should maybe try to let go of a little bit. BECAUSE SERIOUSLY, ALL OF THE FEELINGS.
(Sidebar #2: I never even thought of Dov/Gail as an endgame kind of thing until there was this conversation and somehow, we started comparing it to Two Guys, A Girl, And A Pizza Place? And to Berg/Ashley/Pete, which - Dov/Gail are so Pete/Ashley, AND THAT WAS ENDGAME DAMMIT, and I just - now I can't help wanting it, like, a lot.)
Either way, though - I don't think the Dov/Gail thing is played out; Best Laid Plans makes it pretty clear that there's still a lot of ~stuff there, and while I totally get focusing on the Chris/Gail fallout first, I'd be surprised and disappointed if the whole Dov/Gail thing didn't get a whole lot more resolution. (OKAY, SO BASICALLY, I JUST REALLY WANT MAKEOUTS, WHATEVER.)
Finally (because probably nobody has made it this far, seriously, I am not talking about Sam and Andy here), minor speculation: Luke/Gail??? I think this is, like, 80% tumblr's fault and 20% their out-in-the-cold exchange, but - it could totally happen, Gail is pretty much spiralling and we all know Luke is in the middle of his Poor Life Decisions phase (which: totally my favourite Luke phase). IDK, it could be a thing, it would probably be pretty hilarious. In a really tragic way where Gail alienates Andy (and probably also Traci) on top of Chris, and Chris is even more pissed, and Dov is super pissed because HE LOVES HER AND SERIOUSLY, IS SHE JUST GOING TO MAKE OUT WITH EVERYONE EXCEPT HIM, WHAT IS THE DEAL, UNIVERSE, and everybody hates Luke (more) because it was a super douche move and it all ends badly. See? Hilarious.