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More notes from the depressing French cop show
Having held off as long as I could make myself (because once I finish, there will be no more for a long time), I'm now watching Engrenages season five, aka Everything Is Awful And My Babies Are Sad. This season is certainly doing a stellar job of hitting my friendship and found-family buttons, though.
Like, for example, Laure finds out she's pregnant this season, and the baby's father is out of the picture for various reasons. So her best guy friend Gilou tells her, "We could get an apartment together and I'll help you raise it!" She's understandably nonplused by this, and he quickly reassures her that he doesn't mean as a couple; he just means he'd be happy to co-parent her kid for the next 18 years if she wants him to.
♥___♥
As a caveat, there's a certain amount of ambiguity over how platonic his feelings for her actually are; I wouldn't be surprised if the show heads eventually in a Gilou/Laure direction, or at least I could see it if it did. However, the whole way that he's been reacting to her pregnancy and trying to support her is basically Gilou making obvious hearteyes over the whole idea of a Laure!baby and being as supportive as ... well, as he's capable of. Including trying to encourage her to at least talk to the baby's possible father and work things out on that end for her own peace of mind. (As opposed to being jealous. It really doesn't read like he's using the baby as a possible angle on a relationship with her; he just clearly thinks the idea of a Laure!baby is fantastic and also kind of sees it as an opportunity to get as close to fatherhood as he's likely to come. I find it both hilarious and adorable that the character whose biological clock has gone off as they get older is apparently Gilou. There's also a really cute scene this season in which he's dealing with a child witness and Laure watches the whole thing with an "omg exploding ovaries" look on her face.)
I would be surprisingly okay with the show eventually going for Gilou/Laure as a pairing .... well, provided it doesn't blow up horribly and ruin everything. Normally that's the kind of thing that'd bother me -- a long-term platonic male-female friendship turning sexual -- but there's just such a strong and solid foundation of affection, love, and intimacy between them, as well as a general lack of ship-tease while still suggesting occasionally that Gilou, at least, might be open to more. They're just very close and comfortable with each other. I actually think it's a very believable depiction of a close male-female friendship, which includes occasionally needing to deal with the fact that the other person is a sometimes-single and available member of the opposite sex, without having that be the defining feature of their relationship. I find myself shipping it a lot more than I ever expected, while also being happy with the idea of it staying platonic and the two of them ending up with other people.
(The show also has a really wonderful way with working-class guy friendship, with Tintin and Gilou. Not that male-male friendships are lacking on TV or anything, but I don't see very many that really get the level of shit, often genuinely mean shit, that straight guy friends in their particular demographic -- well, most of the ones I've known, anyway -- give each other. They're awful to each other most of the time, but it's also abundantly clear in canon that they really love each other.)
Like, for example, Laure finds out she's pregnant this season, and the baby's father is out of the picture for various reasons. So her best guy friend Gilou tells her, "We could get an apartment together and I'll help you raise it!" She's understandably nonplused by this, and he quickly reassures her that he doesn't mean as a couple; he just means he'd be happy to co-parent her kid for the next 18 years if she wants him to.
♥___♥
As a caveat, there's a certain amount of ambiguity over how platonic his feelings for her actually are; I wouldn't be surprised if the show heads eventually in a Gilou/Laure direction, or at least I could see it if it did. However, the whole way that he's been reacting to her pregnancy and trying to support her is basically Gilou making obvious hearteyes over the whole idea of a Laure!baby and being as supportive as ... well, as he's capable of. Including trying to encourage her to at least talk to the baby's possible father and work things out on that end for her own peace of mind. (As opposed to being jealous. It really doesn't read like he's using the baby as a possible angle on a relationship with her; he just clearly thinks the idea of a Laure!baby is fantastic and also kind of sees it as an opportunity to get as close to fatherhood as he's likely to come. I find it both hilarious and adorable that the character whose biological clock has gone off as they get older is apparently Gilou. There's also a really cute scene this season in which he's dealing with a child witness and Laure watches the whole thing with an "omg exploding ovaries" look on her face.)
I would be surprisingly okay with the show eventually going for Gilou/Laure as a pairing .... well, provided it doesn't blow up horribly and ruin everything. Normally that's the kind of thing that'd bother me -- a long-term platonic male-female friendship turning sexual -- but there's just such a strong and solid foundation of affection, love, and intimacy between them, as well as a general lack of ship-tease while still suggesting occasionally that Gilou, at least, might be open to more. They're just very close and comfortable with each other. I actually think it's a very believable depiction of a close male-female friendship, which includes occasionally needing to deal with the fact that the other person is a sometimes-single and available member of the opposite sex, without having that be the defining feature of their relationship. I find myself shipping it a lot more than I ever expected, while also being happy with the idea of it staying platonic and the two of them ending up with other people.
(The show also has a really wonderful way with working-class guy friendship, with Tintin and Gilou. Not that male-male friendships are lacking on TV or anything, but I don't see very many that really get the level of shit, often genuinely mean shit, that straight guy friends in their particular demographic -- well, most of the ones I've known, anyway -- give each other. They're awful to each other most of the time, but it's also abundantly clear in canon that they really love each other.)