WeBuiltThePyramids

I can't rewatch Scorpion yet, because whenever I see beautiful moments I just think "it ends with all this being stripped away." But I know I *will* someday watch Scorpion again - in contrast, I honestly don't know if I can stomach any more Mentalist.

Cyclone139

I've rewatched a lot of Scorpion. I love it too much not to keep watching it. I guess I'm happy enough with my post-finale head-canon (we know everything turns out OK in the end, don't we ) that I'm still able to watch the story unfold - apart from that scene, which remains unbearable.

FoxPhile

That's sort of where I am. As long as I don't actually watch the disaster, I'm fine knowing it's just a very temporary hiccup.

WeBuiltThePyramids

I'm pretty happy with my headcanons too, but for me, watching just reminds me that what's in my head will never be acted out.

FoxPhile

One day soon I want to do a Waige-centric rewatch so that I can get back the warm fuzzies.

WeBuiltThePyramids

First Waige post in November ayyy

Cyclone139

It's been a while. I'm sure we haven't said everything we have to say about Waige yet!

WeBuiltThePyramids

I will never stop talking about Waige. The other night I almost started crying talking about a ship of mine that haven't been on television in 13 years.

FoxPhile

Part of what makes Waige so compelling is the individual characters. In their own ways, both Walter and Paige are initially presented as lost causes, romantically speaking. Walter doesn't believe in love and Paige has been supremely unlucky in that area - and as a single mom working multiple jobs she just doesn't have time for it. Yet, they wind up being "the one" for each other.

WeBuiltThePyramids

Yessss. They both have horrendous love lives outside of the relationship they built, and had they been allowed to get back to each other they would have been so much stronger.

FoxPhile

One of the things that I love about the way they presented Walter and his attitude towards love is that they didn't immediately go for the "I don't believe in love" thing. I think that would have made him difficult to like. Fans would either see him has cold and unfeeling or as being in denial. Instead, they presented him as clueless. He was trying to make a connection with Janice - but was going about it completely wrong. Neither his motivations for trying nor the reasons why he was failing were the focus during the Pilot. That allowed us to see him as an unfortunate guy who, despite his brains and his looks, simply could not succeed at love.

WeBuiltThePyramids

And while he did say he didn't think love was real, it was clear that was only romantic love. From the very start you could see he had an incredible potential to love Ralph, and then in the second episode it showed his love for his sister.

Cyclone139

Walter was so endearing right from the start, never cold or emotionless despite his claims to the contrary. That's what Paige saw in him immediately. People who have difficulty interpreting emotional cues are not emotionless at all and her job was to help him interact with others, but she knew the only way he could do that was to learn be more aware of his emotions, not to be afraid of them, because that's how people successfully interact. We use our emotions to understand each other.

The development of their relationship may have been frustratingly slow at times, but it was realistic. I think I would have felt cheated if they'd had Walter rushing into a stable, loving relationship with Paige by the end of season 1. He needed longer to understand her and to understand himself and we saw at the end how he still didn't really understand either. They just needed a little longer to sort themselves out, but we know they'll get there.

FoxPhile

Exactly. A lot of Walter's stated beliefs about love and emotions were more a reflection of his fear of them. His emotions are incredibly strong - but also not something that he can define with equations or control with a computer. So he pretends they don't exist. Paige - and others - helped him to understand them better and more importantly, to understand that he doesn't really need to completely understand them. One of Walter's major flaws is his need to maintain control over everything in his life. It wasn't until he could accept that emotions simply aren't completely in his control that he could admit to himself that he has them.

WriterFreak001

I made this tonight.

It's kind of interesting how Paige and Walter seem to have switched places in a way.