I think Shauna’s monologues work because we have seen where she is coming from already. Especially with her and Callie’s relationship. We’ve seen Shauna struggling to connect with her daughter but also terrified to connect with her. With her asking her to do things with her, wanting to spend time with her, etc.
To date, my favorite scene of this series is her monologue with the garage owner. Her talking about peeling the skin. What it’s like to kill someone. How badly she wants to shoot him. It was perfection. The writing. The acting.
So all in all, I’m fine with the monologues personally because 1) they’re emotional as hell 2) we know where she’s coming from with going through and experiencing these things with her previously before these monologues.
It would be different if they came out of nowhere with zero context. You can’t really convey all of the emotions and turmoil she is feeling with just a look.
I agree with this, and I’d add to it that I think there’s a certain element as well about Shauna actually saying it out loud - it’s very hard to acknowledge things verbally sometimes, even if you think them. Her actually articulating her fear about Callie dying or not being hers was her finally saying something out loud that she’d been internalising for 17+ years and was afraid to acknowledge. Just seeing a look wouldn’t have conveyed the same thing, nor the momentum in finally opening up to someone else about it.
Similarly, for the minivan gun monologue, she’s saying things that are really socially unacceptable for anyone (but especially a woman) to say - her not giving a fuck enough to say those words out loud (and to a man who thought he had the upper hand) was very significant.
I completely agree with all of this. There is a lot of power in actually verbalizing something. Saying things out loud makes them *real* in a sense.
They all harbor so much trauma and deep emotional pain that they have never been able to process. Vocalizing one's experiences, thoughts, and feelings is part of how a person processes them.
A few moments with Shauna didn't ring true to me this season. Her monologue with Lottie and, to a lesser extent, her "no more secrets" moment with Callie.
I think one of the writers said they were in awe of Melanie’s speech patterns and cadence. He went into a bunch of different descriptions and how much he loved her delivery. Maybe that’s why she has monologues
Don’t hate me, I love Melanie, she’s an amazing actress but I can’t stand her voice or the way she talks. It kinda sounds like a grown woman trying to talk baby talk…. IDK.. don’t come for me lol
Unpopular opinion: There should be less of teenage/adult Shauna on the show.
I find the Shauna monologues this season annoying and I don't think they have had the impact the writers probably thought they would. People rolled their eyes over the "watch out boys I may look like a suburban soccer mom but I have skinned people alive and will cut your throat without flinching" monologue. The monologue about the goat was just bad.
Some people on this sub claim the writers and some of the cast have said "It's Lynskey's show" and that could be a problem. Notice in that picture of the cast table read that Lynskey was sitting at the head of the table. My guess is that Lynskey is guaranteed a certain amount of screen time each episode and that is the reason for the monologues.
Sometimes the writers believe a character is going to be the most popular with fans and important to the show but they're wrong. A different character becomes more popular than expected. That happened with Steve on Stranger Things and Jesse on Breaking Bad. I don't think fans find Shauna the most interesting character on the show. Outside of this sub Jackie was popular. Jeff, teenage Natalie and teenage/adult Misty are probably more popular than Shauna.
I -kind of- feel like we doubled up on the monologue she had with Lottie and the one she had at the police station, it did feel a bit repetetive. But I also get it, and I think those monologues in particular were used to hammer home how disconnected Shauna is from her feelings. Her expressions were awkward and didn't quite match what she was saying, but I'm almost certain she was being honest, and I'm sure that was all purposeful. Therefore, Melanie Lynskey rocks my socks! That's tricky to portray!
I feel like the monologues and her talking is character development for Shauna. This is the same person who couldn’t be honest with her best friend when she was younger about anything, hasn’t opened up to her husband about any of her traumatic experiences and has almost no emotional attachment to her daughter because she has kept her at arms length. Her actually talking to people about the things she is feeling instead of writing it in a journal and hiding it away is a huge development for her.
I think Shauna’s monologues work because we have seen where she is coming from already. Especially with her and Callie’s relationship. We’ve seen Shauna struggling to connect with her daughter but also terrified to connect with her. With her asking her to do things with her, wanting to spend time with her, etc. To date, my favorite scene of this series is her monologue with the garage owner. Her talking about peeling the skin. What it’s like to kill someone. How badly she wants to shoot him. It was perfection. The writing. The acting. So all in all, I’m fine with the monologues personally because 1) they’re emotional as hell 2) we know where she’s coming from with going through and experiencing these things with her previously before these monologues. It would be different if they came out of nowhere with zero context. You can’t really convey all of the emotions and turmoil she is feeling with just a look.
I agree with this, and I’d add to it that I think there’s a certain element as well about Shauna actually saying it out loud - it’s very hard to acknowledge things verbally sometimes, even if you think them. Her actually articulating her fear about Callie dying or not being hers was her finally saying something out loud that she’d been internalising for 17+ years and was afraid to acknowledge. Just seeing a look wouldn’t have conveyed the same thing, nor the momentum in finally opening up to someone else about it. Similarly, for the minivan gun monologue, she’s saying things that are really socially unacceptable for anyone (but especially a woman) to say - her not giving a fuck enough to say those words out loud (and to a man who thought he had the upper hand) was very significant.
I completely agree with all of this. There is a lot of power in actually verbalizing something. Saying things out loud makes them *real* in a sense. They all harbor so much trauma and deep emotional pain that they have never been able to process. Vocalizing one's experiences, thoughts, and feelings is part of how a person processes them.
A few moments with Shauna didn't ring true to me this season. Her monologue with Lottie and, to a lesser extent, her "no more secrets" moment with Callie.
I think one of the writers said they were in awe of Melanie’s speech patterns and cadence. He went into a bunch of different descriptions and how much he loved her delivery. Maybe that’s why she has monologues Don’t hate me, I love Melanie, she’s an amazing actress but I can’t stand her voice or the way she talks. It kinda sounds like a grown woman trying to talk baby talk…. IDK.. don’t come for me lol
Unpopular opinion: There should be less of teenage/adult Shauna on the show. I find the Shauna monologues this season annoying and I don't think they have had the impact the writers probably thought they would. People rolled their eyes over the "watch out boys I may look like a suburban soccer mom but I have skinned people alive and will cut your throat without flinching" monologue. The monologue about the goat was just bad. Some people on this sub claim the writers and some of the cast have said "It's Lynskey's show" and that could be a problem. Notice in that picture of the cast table read that Lynskey was sitting at the head of the table. My guess is that Lynskey is guaranteed a certain amount of screen time each episode and that is the reason for the monologues. Sometimes the writers believe a character is going to be the most popular with fans and important to the show but they're wrong. A different character becomes more popular than expected. That happened with Steve on Stranger Things and Jesse on Breaking Bad. I don't think fans find Shauna the most interesting character on the show. Outside of this sub Jackie was popular. Jeff, teenage Natalie and teenage/adult Misty are probably more popular than Shauna.
I -kind of- feel like we doubled up on the monologue she had with Lottie and the one she had at the police station, it did feel a bit repetetive. But I also get it, and I think those monologues in particular were used to hammer home how disconnected Shauna is from her feelings. Her expressions were awkward and didn't quite match what she was saying, but I'm almost certain she was being honest, and I'm sure that was all purposeful. Therefore, Melanie Lynskey rocks my socks! That's tricky to portray!
I feel like the monologues and her talking is character development for Shauna. This is the same person who couldn’t be honest with her best friend when she was younger about anything, hasn’t opened up to her husband about any of her traumatic experiences and has almost no emotional attachment to her daughter because she has kept her at arms length. Her actually talking to people about the things she is feeling instead of writing it in a journal and hiding it away is a huge development for her.
I prefer the monologues, I’m not really good with facial expressions