Up Here 1×04 “Special” is all about honesty. It’s the most important thing in any relationship – whether it’s a committed relationship or a “friends with benefits” situation. Honesty not just with your partner, but with yourself. If you can’t be honest about what you want and how you feel, you’re only going to get hurt.
Unfortunately, honesty is something that Lindsay (Mae Whitman) and Miguel (Carlos Valdes) are short on in their relationship. And, frankly, it’s been lacking since the day they met. Not just because they aren’t being open about some of their biggest insecurities. But there have been so many lies between them. Miguel lied about his name at first. Lindsay lied about her motives for tracking him down last episode. And now…
After their will-they-won’t-they culminated in some hasty bathroom sex at a print shop, Lindsay assumes that Miguel wants a casual relationship. And maybe that’s what she wants right now. Or thinks she wants, since she panicked when she thought she might possibly feel more for him. Leading her to stand him up. Confronted with the assumption that she wanted something casual, Miguel declares that he wants the same.
Only that’s not what he wants. It’s certainly not what he wants with her. he can barely kiss her without imaging spending the rest of his life with her. And, okay, that’s maybe a little concerning. He should probably pump the brakes a little because these two have barely managed to get through a single make-out session without catastrophe. It’s a little soon to be ordering monogrammed towels. But it’s what he wants, and he needs to be honest with himself about that.
He needs to be honest with her about that, as well. Lying – to them both – about it only sets him up for failure and pain. Which is exactly what happens when he reads an entry in her planner, leading him to believe that she’s seeing another man. And then bailing on their relationship entirely when she – confronted with his news that he went home with another woman – pretends to be doing just that. Instead of being honest with her, he – once again – bails on the relationship. Acting like he only wants to be her friend.
I mentioned these two are a mess, right? Well, at this point, I need them to get it together. At least a little. I was done with the on-again-off-again relationship last episode, so I’m not thrilled we’re drinking from that well once again. Miguel’s slapdash effort to save face (and a little bit of pride) is also not going to accomplish anything in the long run. He’s still lying to himself. And to her. Because there’s no question he still wants to be with her. He still wants her to be special to him. And he still wants to be special to her. So pretending otherwise? It’s just going to lead to more heartache.
Up Here 1×04 “Special” may be about honesty, but right now in the series? That’s in pretty short supply. And I’m going to need Lindsay and Miguel to start confronting some things with honesty if I’m going to continue to root for them as a couple.
