ryn and donna find it difficult to talk when the transition into human. our main mode of communication is through our larynx, and that is impossible in a natural water environment. it’s likely they GROW a larynx when transforming. and when they do speak it’s monosyllabic. even when ryn learns to communicate clearly she sticks to small quick words, straight to the point. donna does too. YOU. CHOOSE. THEM. (uggggh)
their main means of communication is entirely visual and sonic. they move a lot bc they are accustomed to a fluid atmosphere, fighting and swimming away. there’s a chance they rarely sleep (their paranoia is not just for humans it is for other apex predators, and we KNOW there are bigger fish in the sea). they scream bc in their natural habitat they’d have to break through the thickness of the ocean. they have no concept of floors. of electricity. they are baffled by things like blankets and opening things (glass jars and doors). photographs
though ryn is highly intelligent, she has to filter what she is seeing through what she knows, and that is a life of constant fear and fighting
ryn’s already seen maddie at her work at the marine rescue in 1X01, teaching a group of children on a field trip how they feed seals. she associates maddie with ben, the man who helped her. maddie feeding the seals is ofc massively intriguing to ryn, who is starving and distrustful of humans. she initially does not approach maddie bc so far the bad experiences outweighed the good
ben tells maddie about ryn and shows her proof almost right away
they have a scientific interest in ryn’s existence. they WANT to know her. they find her at helens. ryn is triggered by the recording of donna’s capture (believing it to be real) and reacts physically violent, knowing no other way to express herself. together, ben and maddie help calm ryn down and they go do something about the device they found, hoping that could lead to donna’s whereabouts. then comes the scene that surprised all of us, i think. with maddie and ryn staying behind in the car.
it’s an important moment on many, many levels. we learn a lot of both maddie and ryn (and we learn how easily and fast ben and maddie communicate with each other about what to do). it’s absolutely framed more romantic and dangerous than the pilot moment with ben. that has more mythological tension than plain dramatic sexual tension. even the distance is striking
but the comparison is unfair (can u tell i love ben and ben/ryn/maddie and maddie/ben?). ben does have another scene in the pilot with ryn that is charged, but it is also mythologically bent. it’s about the song and ryn’s effect on him. with ben, ryn has little agency. she is being examined. the scene is through his eyes. in this scene, ryn examines maddie and she does so through physical touch and smell
ryn takes control of the moment, choosing to approach maddie aggressively (the last time she was in a car she was attacked), testing the limits of maddie’s patience. maybe trying to provoke her (that would be easier and less confusing than humans who help). it’s important to remember that ben suggested maddie step out of the car to leave ryn inside (bc ryn is dangerous), but maddie chose to stay inside the car (they know about the killed driver at this point, so they’re righfully wary). ryn has no concept of tattoos and is
intrigued by maddie’s raven feather. in return maddie, who does have words, conceptualizes
stories, truth, trust, honesty and reality, even family and tribes.
all of their scenes are in a way deescalation of this first time they’re alone. the second time they’re completely alone is after a long episode where ben and maddie are trying to find her. maddie gets ryn admit to killing her attacker in self-defense (assuaging some of her fears of ryn being just pure predator). ryn reacts physically again, but not as aggressively.
mermaid conspiracy shenanigans happen and throughout ryn comes to associate maddie with safety and comfort. so much so that she initiates contact
and as if that couldn’t be more explicit: ryn considers maddie her family(you are love) when she learns what family means according to maddie (family is love). we later learn that maddie’s mother is a drug addict who abandoned her and her father, so that she has such a positive attitude about her family is a telling and great character beat.
it was PAINFUL leaving out so much ben/maddie and ben/ryn/maddie and ben/ryn, but as i was writing this it stood out just how much onus is put on ryn/maddie. how much we learn about ryn’s way of being and her physicality with her. so much of the dialogue about trust between ryn and the humans is filtered through them and the conclusion is always that they come through. like maddie is the ideal person you’d want to find you and help you and be with.
Just Sha 