Jason says goodbye

In my previous post, I talked a lot about Jason looking for support from his family against his father.

But it has occurred to me recently that additionally, and perhaps more importantly, Jason is bidding a final goodbye to his family. This night is the last night he has with them. It is the first time he has seen them in 4 years but also the last time he will ever see them. And it is the way they will remember him forever.

He knows in the back of his mind that he may end up killing himself. Even though he doesn't quite make the decision (in my opinion) till Jack disregards his achievement, he knows it's a significant possibility. He may be denying it up to that point but some part of him always knows.

The reason this is important is because it significantly raises the stakes for him in every moment. It's not just his reputation that's on the line, but his eternal remembrance. If ever there was a time to redeem himself, to show that he's more than just a "murdering rat," that time is tonight and only tonight.

Take the presents for example. I think those really are tied to his deep-rooted desire (and what I think is super-objective is) to be seen as an angel by his family. A martyr, if you will. He can no longer deny the crime he has committed, but if he compensates by giving his family gifts, exposing their dark secrets to each other, and granting Jeanann the opportunity to escape the vicious cycle before killing himself, then maybe he can be redeemed.

Of course, things continue to spiral out of control, and each time his family's perspective on him is damaged, it becomes another obstacle to his super-objective. Ironically, it's possible that the family is actually most positively inclined to him at the very start, when he first walks in the door, but in his attempt to earn respect with the shellback scroll and the pig-bag he actually ends up hurting his case. Especially when Santos walks in and says it's not a pig at all. It all turns into one more giant obstacle to his super-objective, and something he fights against for the rest of the show.

But that strikes me as a particularly operative element of his inner life: Jason is saying goodbye to his family. He wants to leave them with a good impression. He loves them desperately and he can't bear the thought of dying as another no-good violent monster to them. So he goes back to his family and tries to prove his worth before he dies.

Jesus that's sad.