Oh my gosh, HAHAHAHA! I really thought Mari was going to just knock him unconscious or something, but to think her first instinct was to actually SHOVE LARA OFF THE OVERPASS AND INTO THE BAY BELOW?! I’M DEAD! It did end up helping her out though, as she was able to get over her shock and resume her Human form. But the fact she had turned back into a mermaid despite having taken the potion is an unexpected twist! It’s unclear whether Grace knew about this, but when she’s in a form of a fish, she’s simply impossible to read.
This episode was a fantastic one not just for introducing Luca, but because of the lore dump it provided to us. Through meeting Luca, it has brought back vital memories that she had forgotten about shortly before she had died. She now remembers what has transpired during the last few minutes of her consciousness. And this was a pleasant surprise, as instead of someone else explaining this to Lara, she was able to figure this out within one episode. Perhaps a touch of a rushed reveal, but given the time constraints, any further delay would certainly pose a problem. This is not going to be a one episode fix, especially given how complicated this matter actually is.
The fish dagger that hovers menacingly over the town is actually “Her Heart”. Though with the way it behaved, it certainly still strikes me as a separate entity of with a mind of its own. There’s a duality between how Lara feels and how it feels. One second it’s asking “Why can’t you love me?” and then the next it’s saying, “I want to eat that soul!” If it really is the depth of her heart, it could be it embodies the darkest side of her, including a part of her she didn’t realize she had before– the desire to eats souls. (Which tracks with her long-time habit). In-fact the fish dagger had almost devoured the Prince’s soul, but it was seemingly deflected by Lara’s light that sought to protect him at the very last second. And the impact was so significant, that it destroyed the guard-rails around the balcony of the tower.
But now this raises a lot of questions, something which Lara’s now thinking about herself: Despite being rejected by the prince, she did in-fact fall in love with him, and still loved him after being rejected… So why didn’t the light come for the Kingdom? Was it because she died? Was it all lie? Are there more conditions that need to be fulfilled, such as that love being reciprocated and fully accepting of who and what she is? She’s not sure, but seeing how things panned out, I can’t help but wonder if her light had gotten destroyed when she used the last bit of her energy to deflect the dagger’s attack on the Prince. We saw the dagger had burst into light that and the light had protected the Prince’s soul from being consumed. But had she not done that and the fish dagger successfully consumed the Prince’s soul, would the Kingdom have then been embraced in light? Would consuming souls actually be another way to provide the type of light the mermaids needs to survive if they cannot find true love? If that’s the case, then the whole thing about the Princess providing the light through love may be the case of selflessly choosing to give up her own light in order to protect her beloved ones… And that would certainly spell a tragic end that none of us want to see pan out. (Truth to be told, the ED Theme has had me concerned about this for a long time now with the way the shell closes on her…)
So now that Lara remembers all of this, she’s rightfully cautious and scared that she might hurt someone again. And this is probably why Grace never mention it to her. But now that Lara knows, the two really need to have a proper discussion about this particular matter now, and fast. With Lisa plotting how to separate Lara from Grace and Humans, there are certainly things that Lara shouldn’t be left in the dark about, otherwise it might end up royally backfiring if she doesn’t know about it. That includes addressing the bit where the episode ended, revealing Lara had soaked shoes and feet. Is it a sign that she’s falling in love again, and she’s slowly turning back into a mermaid just as the shock on her heart had done to her earlier? Or is it a warning sign of time running out?
For the mean time, it looks like Lara will continue to be friends and hang out with Luca since he was able to grant Lara the much needed closure that she was deprived of for so long. Him telling her that he fell in love with her because she’s just herself was exactly what Lara has longed to hear from her Prince. This helped remove the chains from that trauma to enable her to keep hanging out with him. Whether anything romantic between the two actually comes out of it is still unclear. Lara’s feelings are still ambiguous, as this time it’s Luca who had fallen in love first this time. She has shown she’s open minded to it, but there’s also the fact she’s hyper-aware of the danger she poses to others. So that’s another obstacle for her to overcome when it comes to falling in love again. But truthfully, I don’t think he’s the one– in-fact, I don’t think most of us watching do. Not to mention, I’m still under the impression that this isn’t necessarily going to be a ‘romantic’ love story, but a found family love story in a much broader sense.
Speaking of Luca, he’s a pretty funny and endearing character. First year in high-school, passionate painter, and notoriously clumsy to boot. He’s in some ways similar to the Prince Lara had fallen in love with in the past, such as his face and clumsiness of falling flat on his face, but he’s also quite different. He was exceptionally smooth when it came to asking if she were a mermaid (proving he did in-fact notice her appearance on the bridge), and then proceeded to share his number with her and even asked to hang out with her.
Upon first sight of seeing she was a Mermaid, rather than freaked out, he was smitten. Unlike how the Prince from her past reacted, Luca thought she was beautiful. And this Luca loves beautiful things, and that’s why he wants to preserve it in painting forms. So in the beginning, he sought her out in hopes to get to know her better so he could paint her, but as the two spent more time together, he fell in love with her.
However things got complicated because seeing him together with a painting spatula falling onto the ground brought forth the traumatic memories of when he had pointed his dagger at her. It was so overwhelming, she had to flee, but the poor guy didn’t understand what had happened for her to suddenly act like this, and found himself ghosted for a while. Fortunately, thanks to Mari’s intervention to encourage Lara to speak with Luca to resolve things rather than to continue avoiding him, she found herself receiving closure she so desperately needed.
But what I really loved about this particular development though, was the parallel they had presented, where Luca had expressed his worry that she disliked him because he’s Human. Back in the past, it was Lara who was worried and had her fears realized of being disliked and treated like a monster for being a Mermaid.
As for Mari, while she didn’t have a big role this week, we still managed to see some endearing moments of her being a champ of a friend. She tried to give Lara cover by shoving her into the bay, she helped her set-up a smart phone so she can be in touch with Luca. Actually the whole smart-phone speech to text shenanigans was quite funny. This is why you don’t bother with it when there’s two or more people within proximity of you. It picks up EVERYTHING. (Though it’s definitely helpful when your hands are full!) It was very cute how Mari and Lara were freaking out how Lara had the finger on the. mic button and it was sending everything they were saying!
And better yet, when Lara was feeling down, Mari had invited her to join her and her family to watch the fireworks together. Although in the end, Lara went with Luca, it didn’t look like Mari had minded too much. It was more so of reward for resolving the matter between them. So I don’t think she’d be upset about that.
Lastly, while it was mentioned just briefly in the episode, it should be noted that Mari is actually quite busy right now with preparations for the upcoming tournament. She mentioned she has to mind her weight, so this tournament should be approaching relatively soon. Bearing that in mind, we also know that she has presumably won as there’s a picture of her and Lara in the very beginning of the first episode. It seems shit will likely hit the fan some time around then or right after… So hopefully this points to the conversation I’m hoping Lara and Grace to have, or even Grace’s backstory could happen soon too!
