Alle, wow, what an amazing post!!!
And I agree with everything everyone else said so I'm not even going to try and quote lol!
For me too, Fever has been the OMG episode... I had already fallen in love with our show, but there, I knew I would never ever fall out.
It's funny the different things that catch one's attention as you watch an episode again. This time, it's Mick's comment about the giant thrill ride that sometimes ends that had me tear up. In retrospect, it is almost prophetic, and it only hit me this time what it must have meant to Beth in those terrible moments when she thought Mick had just been ripped from her life; how she must have been sitting there repeating those words in her mind, thinking they had been the last she would ever hear from him.
Talking of those moments, I also found myself pondering
her self control when Josh tells her about the accident, how strong she really is. Within seconds her entire world is turned upside down. It feels to me the intensity of her own reaction must be a bit of a surprise to her, and she must realise immediately how much more Mick is to her than just a friend, or some thrill factor in her life... right at the same time she loses him. And she has to hide all that from someone who kwnows her so well, and she does, almost.
And of course Mick... I feel that this is the episode where we get the most insight into his predicament. I've always felt that it's kind of ironic how differently he appears to himself, and to us. I mean it's always true of course, but especially in Fever, with that tension between the fact that he could commit the worst -which is all he sees, really- and the fact that he does not, that tension between, on the one hand, how vulnerable he is to circumstances, risking to fall victim to desperation, how his control can only go so far and is somewhat of a delusion in that sense, and, on the other hand, how much greater that control is than we could have thought, how he does rise above those circumstances to remain true to who he has chosen to be. More that any other episode I felt, this one goes to the heart of that tension between what he is and who he is, between what happened to him, what is beyond his will and which he cannot identify with, and the person whom he has forged out of that predicament, out of sheer strength of will. It shows us how, ironically, what he is gave him the opportunity to become who he is, and who we all love so much.
And yeah, "delicate flower", how such few words can capture so much...
And also to me Fever is a turning point in the same sense that SB is. Until then it feels like it's Mick who does most of the hanging around, longing to be near Beth despite himself and hoping deep down against all hope. In Fever it's the first time that the tables are turned, with Mick withdrawing just when Beth gets serious. And of course the way the final scene expresses that is just breathtaking. In Moonlight so many "final scenes" feel like they are so magical, heartbreakingly bittersweet, nothing could ever top that. The one in Fever is definitely one of them, and so incredibly beautifully shot.
And of course, there's the bathroom scene... I'm sure we could talk about it for hours (wait... we have lol). Powerful, poetic, magical... What struck me most about it this time is its sensuality. I mean, we often complain about the limitations imposed by airing on a major network, but fortunately, I feel like we got away with it on this one... Maybe partly because it is anything but gratuitous. And I guess mostly because the form of intimacy portrayed here doesn't fall into the usual categories, it wasn't recognised as such by the watchdogs that be? In any case, I can hardly imagine more sensual a scene. I'm not sure how to put this but, I'm sure you'll know what I mean? It is so intimate, one feels priviledged to witness it.