When I was a kid, I didn’t have anything that I had to have. I wasn’t a person who needed a blanket, a doll, or anything like that. But as I got older, things started to mean more to me. A hoodie that I couldn’t get rid of, my emotional support water bottle, the blanket that was made from all of my old t-shirts that meant something to me.
Because the thing is – all of it has something to do with memories. Memories that shaped a part of who I am. And to be honest with you, I never really thought about it, until I sat down and watched this episode. Because everything just seems so natural to have with me, to be a part of me.
And for this episode – the thing that weaves all of the moments that Clare is experiencing is a blanket. Pay attention.
One thing that I will miss when The Time Traveler’s Wife is over is the way that it gets to you to stop and look at the simple things in life and see just how the little moments make up the big ones. It’s about how no matter the timeline of life, you can’t outrun fate.
You can’t change time, even when you fall through it.
HENRY’S FIRST TIME AT CLARES
The first time that someone comes to your home, it’s a big thing. They’re meeting your friends, they’re seeing how you cook, they’re seeing how you live. For Clare, having Henry over is a big thing and she wants it to be right.
Yes, she knows that her and Henry will end up together, but that doesn’t mean that the nerves fade. The nerves stay.
Clares friends, Clarise and Gomez are together, but from the beginning I am not a fan of his. Gomez is rude, and it’s completely obvious that it’s because he likes Clare. But like dude, your woman is right there. Show some respect. Also show respect to Clare. No one deserves your shit.
Gomez wants to keep putting Henry down but if we’re being honest here, “library boy” is not an insult. Not even close. So what he works at a library.
Clare and Clarise can’t keep Gomez in check, but I don’t think anyone can. Don’t we all know what it’s like to lust after someone? We turn into versions of ourselves that we may not be particularly kind. It’s human instinct when jealousy is involved.
But Gomez, you truly are not exhibiting BDE. Instead you’re like here’s my petty bitch energy. And hey, you’re showing what a douchebag you are. Sorry, not sorry, Gomez sets off on the wrong tone for me and that makes me not like him, no matter what.
I’ve definitely sized up friends significant others and there is an art to it. But that art is not being a judgement asshole. Clare is not an open book, so I do get why it is that her friends want to be protective.
But they don’t understand what exactly is going on and though I wouldn’t think that it would be something that they would talk about, they surprise me. After all, there will be explaining to do because the person at the door, is, well, Henry.
SHE’S A LEGAL GIRL NOW
Seeing Clare at all stages of her life there are a few things that I think. I think that something had to have happened that made her so pissy, but then I wonder if it’s just everything that she’s been through waiting for time to pass and so it’s just made her moody.
But through the years, the only thing she’s been able to count on is Henry. Only now, she’s 18 and this is a big day.
May 24th, 2006.
Henry doesn’t know why it’s important. He’s confused. She keeps pressing the date and Henry doesn’t get it. He does the math and realizes that she’s 18 now. He’s 41, and she’s 18.
It’s a weird thing to see Henry be afraid to be near Clare now. He doesn’t want to sit next to Clare, even though they’ve been sitting next to each other for years. Clare has a way though of getting what she wants though, so lets just say that resistance is futile.
What we do learn is that this date is important, because it’s the last day on the list of dates that Henry had dictated to her. It’s their 152nd meeting and this is their last time in the clearing.
One thing that I appreciate about this show, is they address and understand that the world is going to look at this outside of a story, and will have their opinions. And I will just say that it’s important that they didn’t ignore and I see both sides to the thought process.
Clare is focused on the fact that she doesn’t know when they are going to see each other again. She wants to know how long it will be and against his better judgement he tells her. He tells her that it will be two years.
Clare doesn’t know what she’s going to do for two years, how she’s supposed to handle it. He tells her to live her life, to meet ppl, to be with them. He says that 26 year old him isn’t saving himself for her, he doesn’t want her to save herself for him. Henry doesn’t want to her first, he wants to be her last.
It’s frustrating to see how Henry is so whatever about life, when you want him to really speak and use his voice. You want him to tell things, to be open. But Henry is always just like whatever, time happens.
No Henry, time happens to you in that way. For the rest of us time doesn’t happen in that same fashion, so we need explanation of time. We need to know what happens.
We need to know what we’re waiting for.
PROPOSALS AND MISTAKES HAPPEN
Clare is reckless. She doesn’t know how to not screw things up in her life, how to not press the buttons on chaos. Chaos is where she lives.
So 19 year old Clare made a mistake and slept with Gomez, even though he was with Cherise. She didn’t ever want to talk about it, because talking about it would remind her of how she fucked up.
And it would remind her of Gomez telling her that he loved her more than Cherise. It would also remind her that she fucked her best friends man. But then, as if it can’t get any worse, Clare makes another mistake and falls into bed with Cherise.
Girl has got to stop being reckless. And she’s definitely got to stop making all this chaos.
But that’s Clare. She’s always creating chaos in her life. Take going back to being 18 and in the clearing with Henry. Henry keeps trying to push Clare off, but she’s right in telling him that he made rules for himself and not for her.
Henry doesn’t want to have sex with her in the clearing because that’s the place that he watched her grow. It’s the place that they have shared so much. But in usual Henry fashion, when he’s trying to get himself out of something, he finds himself stepping into something.
He tells her that he never proposed to her. No proposal? Um, not okay. Every girl wants to be proposed to. She’s like no way am I going to marry you unless you propose, which honestly is the nicest way to say it. Clare is like there will never be a better time or place. She’s like husband, propose, and I applaud.
Henry gets down on one knee and proposes.
Clare is able to use this to her advantage. She’s able to say something about him needing a test drive and he falls for it. But then again, anyone shocked there?
Clare doesn’t understand why she always has to be the one to wait. She’s always waiting for Henry and it just feels like something that is hurting her. But it is hurting her more that she knows that his time is going to be a long time.
And before she can answer the proposal or say more about how she feels – he is gone.
EXPLANATIONS
What is Clare supposed to do with 41 year old Henry showing up where 28 year old Henry is? Especially when she can’t hide it. There are literally two Henry’s in her apartment, bickering.
41 year old Henry is entranced with Clare and 28 year old Henry isn’t liking it. He doesn’t like them touching. He doesn’t like Henry having an erection. He sure as fuck doesn’t like the fact Clare is good with the erection.
Neither one of them like the fact that Gomez shows up and is trying to asset his dominance. But Clare, well she can get rid of him. What she can’t get rid of is the person that no one expected to show up.
Ingrid.
Where as most of us would have sent Ingrid right out the door, Clare isn’t like that. She offers her a drink and asks her to stay.
Comparing relationship points is never a good idea. Ingrid is like strong, but she’s hurting. Ingrid loves Henry, but doesn’t like the fact that Henry is with someone else. No one can judge her for that, cause lets be honest, most of us woulda kicked his ass for any of this.
Ingrid knows about the time travel. She loves Henry no matter what he does and it bothers her that he is not in the same emotional state of being in the same space as her. Clare is honest with what Henry says about her, that they have nothing in common and that they argue.
Henry, I believe, has a lot of feelings, but he doesn’t know how to deal with them. He decides – both versions of him – that the only thing to do is to explain and be honest. However, I think it was kind of selfish of Henry to not talk to Clare about it.
Gomez and Cherise are so confused, no matter what explanation is given to them. They have a lot questions, and Henry keeps fucking with them. He is taking joy in watching them be confused.
They have to explain that Henry is a time traveler. He has a genetic defect that bounces him through time. Henry has always been like a river, ebbing and flowing through time. Clare has had to be the rock throughout time. Henry may not get it, because he’s so whatever about everything. But the truth is sometimes the answer, even when the truth is unbelievable.
INGRID
This whole time, Ingrid is just there. She’s there watching everything going on around her, eating and just being. And you have to feel bad for her, because she’s obviously in pain.
41 year old Henry is trying to help Gomez, giving him stock tips to help him in the future. You can’t help but laugh when he tells Gomez to buy stock in face masks. The writers are making it feel like it could truly happen, as if this story isn’t a fairytale of things that would never happen.
Ingrid wants to stake her claim to Henry. She wants Clare to see that she loves the Henry – the real Henry. She has loved Henry longer, she thinks. That is until she finds out that Clare’s known him since she was six.
Ingrid looks at 41 year Henry, who is looking at her. He’s got a look in his eyes that he’s staring at someone that was gone. She keeps pressing for the question if she’s alive or dead.
He’s like everyone is dead in future. She’s like I have a right to know. Henry apologizes to Ingrid, for everything. She needed it, she needed to know that things weren’t her fault. She doesn’t like his response, that knowing is not a right. Knowing is hell. She asks how long she has. He won’t tell her.
And the truth is, knowing isn’t a right. It’s not even something that we would really want to know. No one gets out of life alive. You can’t hide. No matter what you do you won’t live forever. So why would knowing make anything easier? Shouldn’t we all just like like we are dying – living everything to its limits.
Ingrid loved him. He made her feel alive and taught her about surviving. He made her feel safe.
Somehow Henry has a habit of doing that – making people feel safe even when it’s the last thing that he really wants or expects to do. Maybe, just maybe, that’s the beauty in Henry – the impact he leaves on souls.
Henry reminds her that they had good times and she get to keep those. As she hugs him, he tells her its all gonna be alright. And he disappears in Ingrids arms. Everyone watches him leave.
As uncomfortable as this whole dinner was, maybe that was the reason that he needed to be there. Maybe he needed to give Ingrid peace.
Who knows. It’s kind of ironic that time with be the thing that tells.
The Time Traveler’s Wife airs on Sundays on HBO.
