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Class S1.3 Nightvisiting
There is a difference between ‘This is a really good show, I really like it, I can’t wait see what happens next’ to ‘This show now has a hotline to my soul’.
It’s sort of unnerving and wonderful when the latter happens. It doesn’t happen all that often (and I don’t watch all that much TV, honestly) and it takes a certain kind of show, that special something that probably changes from person to person. For Class, for me, ‘Nightvisiting’ did it. I don’t think any show has ever won me over so completely so quickly… (With the possible exception of Firefly. But then I was ready & prepped to love Firefly, all of fandom singing its praises, and I bought the DVDs to watch. Class took me unawares.)
Trying to parse it out, it was a combination of factors. (Charlie/Matteusz is an obvious thing to point to, but in isolation I don’t think it’d have had quite the same effect.)
Overall it was the subject matter, the way it was handled, the fact that this was the third episode, and they slowed everything down to create something that reminded me mostly of Buffy’s Conversations With Dead People. Which was a S7 episode. Where ‘The Coach With the Dragon Tattoo’ is about the immediate shock of loss, Nightvisiting is a weighty, serious and deeply layered episode about grief and people’s complex reactions and ways of dealing - but centred on a 14 year old girl. Like - who does that? How the hell did this YA spin-off choose to be a show that did this?
The key line for the episode (for the show, even) is probably Matteusz’s:
QUILL: Alien invasion or teen angst?
MATTEUSZ: Teen angst is a pejorative phrase.
It’s a funny, smart, cutting line. It’s also layered. It comes immediately after the initial scene with Tanya and her ‘father’. The line says:
‘Hold up. Don’t dismiss these characters as ‘just teenagers’. Their pain is real. Their emotions are real. Their lives - even though they are young - are as complicated and difficult as adults’ and they are in most ways less well equipped to deal with their problems. They’re still trying to figure it out (as are many adults) and they are no less worthy of your time just because they are young.’
Anyway, onwards. As before, I’ll be dividing up my commentary into sections. There are even subheadings! (I’m so happy, can you tell?)
GRIEF
Vines
APRIL: Night visiting. It's a genre of folk song. There's been songs for centuries about people coming to your window at night. Usually ghosts of people you've lost.
RAM: Like Rachel. What do they want?
APRIL: Sometimes it's a warning. Sometimes they want to drag you down with them.
The episode, although it cuts between four different storylines, has as its foundation Tanya’s talk with her ‘father’ - the main ‘vine’ or ‘branch’ goes to her room, and the same goes for the episode. It’s a hell of a burden to place on a young actor, but Vivian Oparah is amazing. It’s a quiet, reflective performance, revealing the depth and intelligence of the character, as she tries to find out more about the Lankin, what it wants and how she might defeat it.
The flashbacks at the start are simple and effective. Just a happy couple, and then family.
As Tanya puts it:
TANYA: Everything was perfect and we were all so happy, and then you just left.
The reality of the death is understated, but very hard hitting. (And it shouldn’t be a thing, but it’s great to have a happy, black family, y’know? Just being a family. We need much more.)
And this is where having teenagers as leads pays off. As the Lankin says, Tanya's mother has let go - she's had to be a single mum for three kids, and make sure they still have a roof over their heads, and has been forced to move on. But Tanya is only 14, and trying to deal with grief and loss (and anger) and we see her try to tackle this head on, even as we can see all the wheels turning, trying to figure out a way forward. (I love that the smartest person of the group is a 14 year old girl. It's just delightful.) We get a thorough look at her family, her life story so far. It's excellent.
In my thoughts on Ram I talked about how the dragon and the knight were metaphors for the characters. The Lankin is… both more and less complicated. It's sort of its own metaphor, creating images (snares) of what people have lost. A mirror, reflecting back to people what they want, yet shifting, changing tactics, in order to accomplish its goal.
Incidentally it’s incredibly difficult to write about this episode. I keep just watching, drawn in, and I’m honestly not sure that there is much to say about Tanya’s story. It just is.
If you’re curious, here is Tanya’s House. It’s great to get a little tour, as we can pick out detals that often get missed when focussing on the action. She has lots of anime pictures on her wall, f.ex. Sailor Moon, and generally it’s a very well realised 14 year old’s bedroom. The character rings true, which is important – she is smart, but she isn’t magically more mature. And the Lankin hits her where she is most vulnerable – we see that she wants to believe, desperately wishing that her father really has come back. Still a child, aching.
It's fascinating then to see the contrast with Quill…
Chameleons
Next up is Quill, as she is the other main character who interacts at length with the Lankin. It reaches out in the form of her sister - but her sister in human form. Quill is not fooled for a moment. She stalls, playing for time, while she waits for Charlie & Matteusz to ‘emerge from their love nest’, and it gives us a fascinating look at both her, and her culture.
QUILL: You tried to kill me in the nest.
ORLA'ATH: All Quill sisters do that. It is how we know the survivors are strong.
We see that the violence which seems so innate really is that – clearly it’s something inherent to the species from infancy. Although this is probably my favourite exchange:
QUILL: How do I know that you're not just some chameleon?
ORLA'ATH: Chameleon?
QUILL: An animal they have here. It changes its skin to match its background.
ORLA'ATH: Useful for camouflage. Have you made contact with their leaders?
QUILL: Chameleons hide themselves. So what I am wondering is what is it you are hiding?
ORLA'ATH: Maybe you should ask yourself, what am I offering?
The immediate response is one of tactical advantages. It’s a simple, but effective way of highlighting a species focussed on warfare.
Mind you, Quill puts her finger on the main issue almost immediately:
ORLA'ATH: We've never gathered the souls of this race. Not until cracks in the universe started appearing here. We found a few souls we could help, but we'd like to help more.
QUILL: Right, so this is a sales pitch?
We see the Lankin changing its tactic repeatedly with Quill, as it keeps hitting a blank wall. First it offers heavenly peace, then a fight, then Quill’s gun…
Of course the second she is able Quill turns the tables, and interrogates the Lankin, with Charlie’s reluctant help…
And, in the end, it is the combined effort of Tanya (‘poisoning’ the Lankin with her anger) and Quill (running over the main trunk with a bus – totally a call back to Mels! And/or Iris Wildthyme?) which defeats the enemy. Which is only fitting.
Now what’s especially interesting is the fact that although Quill’s feelings for her sister are in no way sentimental or affectionate, their bond is very strong. I’ll come back to the implications of this.
TEEN ANGST IS A PEJORATIVE TERM
April and Ram
Ram does not interact with the Lankin projection of Rachel, he quite simply runs away. (Which may be the best option, to be honest.) Here, I’m going to borrow a line from![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
enigmaticblues to describe Ram:
‘full of boyish posturing, but you can see the bones of the good man he'll become, too.’
And it’s interesting that he finds it much more difficult to deal with things than April. She notes, several times, that he’s shaking. Not that this is strange considering what he’s been through, but more as a contrast to April for whom this isn’t new.
Again, the writing is smart and multi-tasking. April plays the violin in our first shot of her in this episode (tying in with her revelation in the previous episode that she only tells close friends that she plays) and the title of her music is ‘Nightvisiting’, leading her to explain the premise of the episode later.
We also have her opening up to Ram about her music, her father, and what she has (and still is) dealing with.
APRIL: Yes! I do always have to be so goddamn sensible.
RAM: Why? Why do you say that?
APRIL: Because the world isn't sensible, haven't you noticed?
RAM: Yeah, I've noticed.
APRIL: I decided a long time ago that I could either let that break me into pieces, or make sure that it never got the chance. You just think I'm nice or sensible, but really it's war. I'm always at war.
[…]
I'm not made of glass. What he did, it's important, but if it's the thing that rules, then he gets to keep doing that to us every day forever, and I won't have that. I play folk music because I love it. I won't let him take that from me. And that's why I'm so goddamn sensible. You're still shaking.
And then they kiss…
(If anyone’s upset that Ram seemed to move on so quickly, I believe there’s someone on Tumblr with a power point on teenagers: x)
Incidentally – does Ram have a mother? This is a rhetorical question, I suppose, but it’s just curious that we only ever see his father.
Charlie and Matteusz
Now, since we have got to this episode, I can share the following article:
The Casual Gay Relationship In “Class” Is Actually Important
“It was important to me but it was also important that it was part of the story – nobody cares, let’s see how their relationship goes,” creator and executive producer Patrick Ness told BuzzFeed News at a panel for the show.
It’s a great article, and a great point, but Matteusz’s situation here sort of belies this… Sure, no one bats an eyelid at school that two boys. But his situation is nevertheless one that is far too familiar for LGBT+ youth: thrown out of his home and his family, because of what he is. Yes, things have gotten better - immensely so - but not everywhere, and not for everyone.
And in an episode where links to (lost) family are front and centre, these two boys are interesting. Matteusz is rejected, and Charlie… Charlie’s bond with his parents is so weak that the Lankin can barely take their shape, dissolving upon sight. Compare and contrast with Quill, who may deeply dislike her sister, yet has a strong bond.
Here’s what Charlie says about love:
CHARLIE: On my world, love is a practical term. It's almost a business one. It means to combine what you have with what someone else has. It's the combination that means love, not the wish to do it. The wish told you where love might be found. It wasn't love itself.
MATTEUSZ: What are you saying? That my wish isn't love?
CHARLIE: No.
MATTEUSZ: Because if not, then I've given up very much for a pointless wish.
CHARLIE: No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. Here, you have so much choice. But if your family is wrong for you, you can choose a different one. My family they never saw me as someone they needed to bother combining with. I was a valuable piece of property to be used for the good of the country. The wish, my wish, had nothing to do with it. I wish for you.
MATTEUSZ: You wish to combine with me?
CHARLIE: Yeah, isn't that what we just?
MATTEUSZ: Sometimes I think you play stupid!
It’s an interesting contrast with Quill – her emotions are strong and deep; she may have hated her sister, but they are not abstract.
It’s easy to see how the two races had difficulties getting along – the Rhodians are clearly a more cerebral culture (where love itself is a practical term, almost a business one; a bit like an arranged marriage maybe?), and Charlie is squeamish about knives, whilst having no problems with Quill’s punishment, or her slave-like situation.
However, Charlie is having his horizons widened. It’ll be interesting to see what that means.
Looking this over, I realise I come across very sort of reflective and calm, which is very far from the truth, considering the number of times I’ve rewatched Charlie & Matteusz’ scenes and wallowed in the unashamed shippiness. Although the article I linked to does a good job. It's just ridiculously unusual to have a ship that JUST HAPPENS, without several seasons of will-they-won't-they. Oh and in case I haven't mentioned it, Matteusz is my favourite. Like, no question.
If anyone wants to flail at me, or talk about, well, anything at all, please do! Just try to keep it spoiler free for later episodes…
(I keep feeling there’s so much more I want to say, but my brain is not functioning, and time is limited. So this’ll have to be enough for now.)
It’s sort of unnerving and wonderful when the latter happens. It doesn’t happen all that often (and I don’t watch all that much TV, honestly) and it takes a certain kind of show, that special something that probably changes from person to person. For Class, for me, ‘Nightvisiting’ did it. I don’t think any show has ever won me over so completely so quickly… (With the possible exception of Firefly. But then I was ready & prepped to love Firefly, all of fandom singing its praises, and I bought the DVDs to watch. Class took me unawares.)
Trying to parse it out, it was a combination of factors. (Charlie/Matteusz is an obvious thing to point to, but in isolation I don’t think it’d have had quite the same effect.)
Overall it was the subject matter, the way it was handled, the fact that this was the third episode, and they slowed everything down to create something that reminded me mostly of Buffy’s Conversations With Dead People. Which was a S7 episode. Where ‘The Coach With the Dragon Tattoo’ is about the immediate shock of loss, Nightvisiting is a weighty, serious and deeply layered episode about grief and people’s complex reactions and ways of dealing - but centred on a 14 year old girl. Like - who does that? How the hell did this YA spin-off choose to be a show that did this?
The key line for the episode (for the show, even) is probably Matteusz’s:
QUILL: Alien invasion or teen angst?
MATTEUSZ: Teen angst is a pejorative phrase.
It’s a funny, smart, cutting line. It’s also layered. It comes immediately after the initial scene with Tanya and her ‘father’. The line says:
‘Hold up. Don’t dismiss these characters as ‘just teenagers’. Their pain is real. Their emotions are real. Their lives - even though they are young - are as complicated and difficult as adults’ and they are in most ways less well equipped to deal with their problems. They’re still trying to figure it out (as are many adults) and they are no less worthy of your time just because they are young.’
Anyway, onwards. As before, I’ll be dividing up my commentary into sections. There are even subheadings! (I’m so happy, can you tell?)
Vines
APRIL: Night visiting. It's a genre of folk song. There's been songs for centuries about people coming to your window at night. Usually ghosts of people you've lost.
RAM: Like Rachel. What do they want?
APRIL: Sometimes it's a warning. Sometimes they want to drag you down with them.
The episode, although it cuts between four different storylines, has as its foundation Tanya’s talk with her ‘father’ - the main ‘vine’ or ‘branch’ goes to her room, and the same goes for the episode. It’s a hell of a burden to place on a young actor, but Vivian Oparah is amazing. It’s a quiet, reflective performance, revealing the depth and intelligence of the character, as she tries to find out more about the Lankin, what it wants and how she might defeat it.
The flashbacks at the start are simple and effective. Just a happy couple, and then family.
As Tanya puts it:
TANYA: Everything was perfect and we were all so happy, and then you just left.
The reality of the death is understated, but very hard hitting. (And it shouldn’t be a thing, but it’s great to have a happy, black family, y’know? Just being a family. We need much more.)
And this is where having teenagers as leads pays off. As the Lankin says, Tanya's mother has let go - she's had to be a single mum for three kids, and make sure they still have a roof over their heads, and has been forced to move on. But Tanya is only 14, and trying to deal with grief and loss (and anger) and we see her try to tackle this head on, even as we can see all the wheels turning, trying to figure out a way forward. (I love that the smartest person of the group is a 14 year old girl. It's just delightful.) We get a thorough look at her family, her life story so far. It's excellent.
In my thoughts on Ram I talked about how the dragon and the knight were metaphors for the characters. The Lankin is… both more and less complicated. It's sort of its own metaphor, creating images (snares) of what people have lost. A mirror, reflecting back to people what they want, yet shifting, changing tactics, in order to accomplish its goal.
Incidentally it’s incredibly difficult to write about this episode. I keep just watching, drawn in, and I’m honestly not sure that there is much to say about Tanya’s story. It just is.
If you’re curious, here is Tanya’s House. It’s great to get a little tour, as we can pick out detals that often get missed when focussing on the action. She has lots of anime pictures on her wall, f.ex. Sailor Moon, and generally it’s a very well realised 14 year old’s bedroom. The character rings true, which is important – she is smart, but she isn’t magically more mature. And the Lankin hits her where she is most vulnerable – we see that she wants to believe, desperately wishing that her father really has come back. Still a child, aching.
It's fascinating then to see the contrast with Quill…
Next up is Quill, as she is the other main character who interacts at length with the Lankin. It reaches out in the form of her sister - but her sister in human form. Quill is not fooled for a moment. She stalls, playing for time, while she waits for Charlie & Matteusz to ‘emerge from their love nest’, and it gives us a fascinating look at both her, and her culture.
QUILL: You tried to kill me in the nest.
ORLA'ATH: All Quill sisters do that. It is how we know the survivors are strong.
We see that the violence which seems so innate really is that – clearly it’s something inherent to the species from infancy. Although this is probably my favourite exchange:
QUILL: How do I know that you're not just some chameleon?
ORLA'ATH: Chameleon?
QUILL: An animal they have here. It changes its skin to match its background.
ORLA'ATH: Useful for camouflage. Have you made contact with their leaders?
QUILL: Chameleons hide themselves. So what I am wondering is what is it you are hiding?
ORLA'ATH: Maybe you should ask yourself, what am I offering?
The immediate response is one of tactical advantages. It’s a simple, but effective way of highlighting a species focussed on warfare.
Mind you, Quill puts her finger on the main issue almost immediately:
ORLA'ATH: We've never gathered the souls of this race. Not until cracks in the universe started appearing here. We found a few souls we could help, but we'd like to help more.
QUILL: Right, so this is a sales pitch?
We see the Lankin changing its tactic repeatedly with Quill, as it keeps hitting a blank wall. First it offers heavenly peace, then a fight, then Quill’s gun…
Of course the second she is able Quill turns the tables, and interrogates the Lankin, with Charlie’s reluctant help…
And, in the end, it is the combined effort of Tanya (‘poisoning’ the Lankin with her anger) and Quill (running over the main trunk with a bus – totally a call back to Mels! And/or Iris Wildthyme?) which defeats the enemy. Which is only fitting.
Now what’s especially interesting is the fact that although Quill’s feelings for her sister are in no way sentimental or affectionate, their bond is very strong. I’ll come back to the implications of this.
April and Ram
Ram does not interact with the Lankin projection of Rachel, he quite simply runs away. (Which may be the best option, to be honest.) Here, I’m going to borrow a line from
enigmaticblues to describe Ram:‘full of boyish posturing, but you can see the bones of the good man he'll become, too.’
And it’s interesting that he finds it much more difficult to deal with things than April. She notes, several times, that he’s shaking. Not that this is strange considering what he’s been through, but more as a contrast to April for whom this isn’t new.
Again, the writing is smart and multi-tasking. April plays the violin in our first shot of her in this episode (tying in with her revelation in the previous episode that she only tells close friends that she plays) and the title of her music is ‘Nightvisiting’, leading her to explain the premise of the episode later.
We also have her opening up to Ram about her music, her father, and what she has (and still is) dealing with.
APRIL: Yes! I do always have to be so goddamn sensible.
RAM: Why? Why do you say that?
APRIL: Because the world isn't sensible, haven't you noticed?
RAM: Yeah, I've noticed.
APRIL: I decided a long time ago that I could either let that break me into pieces, or make sure that it never got the chance. You just think I'm nice or sensible, but really it's war. I'm always at war.
[…]
I'm not made of glass. What he did, it's important, but if it's the thing that rules, then he gets to keep doing that to us every day forever, and I won't have that. I play folk music because I love it. I won't let him take that from me. And that's why I'm so goddamn sensible. You're still shaking.
And then they kiss…
(If anyone’s upset that Ram seemed to move on so quickly, I believe there’s someone on Tumblr with a power point on teenagers: x)
Incidentally – does Ram have a mother? This is a rhetorical question, I suppose, but it’s just curious that we only ever see his father.
Now, since we have got to this episode, I can share the following article:
The Casual Gay Relationship In “Class” Is Actually Important
“It was important to me but it was also important that it was part of the story – nobody cares, let’s see how their relationship goes,” creator and executive producer Patrick Ness told BuzzFeed News at a panel for the show.
It’s a great article, and a great point, but Matteusz’s situation here sort of belies this… Sure, no one bats an eyelid at school that two boys. But his situation is nevertheless one that is far too familiar for LGBT+ youth: thrown out of his home and his family, because of what he is. Yes, things have gotten better - immensely so - but not everywhere, and not for everyone.
And in an episode where links to (lost) family are front and centre, these two boys are interesting. Matteusz is rejected, and Charlie… Charlie’s bond with his parents is so weak that the Lankin can barely take their shape, dissolving upon sight. Compare and contrast with Quill, who may deeply dislike her sister, yet has a strong bond.
Here’s what Charlie says about love:
CHARLIE: On my world, love is a practical term. It's almost a business one. It means to combine what you have with what someone else has. It's the combination that means love, not the wish to do it. The wish told you where love might be found. It wasn't love itself.
MATTEUSZ: What are you saying? That my wish isn't love?
CHARLIE: No.
MATTEUSZ: Because if not, then I've given up very much for a pointless wish.
CHARLIE: No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. Here, you have so much choice. But if your family is wrong for you, you can choose a different one. My family they never saw me as someone they needed to bother combining with. I was a valuable piece of property to be used for the good of the country. The wish, my wish, had nothing to do with it. I wish for you.
MATTEUSZ: You wish to combine with me?
CHARLIE: Yeah, isn't that what we just?
MATTEUSZ: Sometimes I think you play stupid!
It’s an interesting contrast with Quill – her emotions are strong and deep; she may have hated her sister, but they are not abstract.
It’s easy to see how the two races had difficulties getting along – the Rhodians are clearly a more cerebral culture (where love itself is a practical term, almost a business one; a bit like an arranged marriage maybe?), and Charlie is squeamish about knives, whilst having no problems with Quill’s punishment, or her slave-like situation.
However, Charlie is having his horizons widened. It’ll be interesting to see what that means.
Looking this over, I realise I come across very sort of reflective and calm, which is very far from the truth, considering the number of times I’ve rewatched Charlie & Matteusz’ scenes and wallowed in the unashamed shippiness. Although the article I linked to does a good job. It's just ridiculously unusual to have a ship that JUST HAPPENS, without several seasons of will-they-won't-they. Oh and in case I haven't mentioned it, Matteusz is my favourite. Like, no question.
If anyone wants to flail at me, or talk about, well, anything at all, please do! Just try to keep it spoiler free for later episodes…
(I keep feeling there’s so much more I want to say, but my brain is not functioning, and time is limited. So this’ll have to be enough for now.)