Thanks.
Simply put, Nika and Bella are idiots.
The fact that they are idiots makes the consequences even more important.
I never thought Bella was smart. Nika seemed smart to me at first. But the more I think about what they're doing, the more I come to the conclusion that he is smart and stupid at the same time.
Realistically, if they had continued with their plan regarding Vanessa, they would've definitely failed.
They don't stand a chance against her. She would have bulldoze them over. That's not even a fair fight.
It's kinda disappointing. These kids need someone who spank their asses.
Vanessa would be perfect for this role.
And yes, I'm also starting to suspect that the Holgersons probably aren't that bad.
At least Stefan. And Mario is just a dumb kid. To me, Nika and Bella are more awful.
Speaking of awful people. Among major characters, my top 5 looks like this:
1. Leia. I don't think I even need to spell out any serious arguments here. She is the only character I dare call evil. But it should be added that we don't really know how far her criminal activities went during WiAB and by the time of SG. I'm not dismissing the possibility that she's a murderer.
2. William. Right next to his beloved sister. He's a real piece of shit and we haven't even seen his final form. The longer he stays in his hometown the lower he falls in my eyes.
So, Leia and William are the worst. The other three are not near them but they're still kinda bad.
3. Vanessa
4. Bella.
I'm a little conflicted about them. We know more about Bella's bad deeds and in total they outweigh poor Mario's ass imo. But since Bella sometimes feels remorse for her actions and Vanessa doesn't look like a person who care much, I'll put my favorite above Bella.
5. Nika, of course.
I've touched on this in the quotes below so I'll just add the additional responses/thoughts. The whole plot they're hatching is pretty much nonsense, but Nika's at least self aware enough to realise he's outclassed by Vanessa at this point and they need to be careful. He knows Bella is too blunt to be able to handle her.
Mario and Stefan are bad - they've pulled strings to charge Mila with no evidence, purely because Mario wants to embarrass her and put her down. There is no reason for them to do that, unless Mario noticed Nika at Bella's. But that's a crazy connection. The only reason I can see that they might have a reason is Vanessa knowing who Mila is if you're on Mila's path.
Regarding evil people: I think Leia is the most dangerous and the most toxic, but I don't think of her as evil. Selfish, obsessive, but even though I dislike her, she is also passionate and caring. Vanessa is the most remorseless, but does seem to have a sense of respect. Nika is disconnected, but does have a sense of morality (it's just that he's broken), Bella is also broken but in different ways; she is missing the joy of her childhood, and is bitter from distrust, yet we see her delight sneak up on her. William is just a jerk. Not evil, just egocentric.
Evil is too far for me. All have their redeeming qualities, and all of them will have a chance to be guided to more positive outcomes. If I think of tenacity vs stubborness, one is a positive, the other is the negative, while both are a form of enduring and holding on. I think the characters are well done, (despite my preferences) because they are not so easily reduced to one emotion or one motivation. Willi crying over what has happened, his difficulty in disappointing Daphne sho he is human rather than villian. Most people aren't evil, they are just following what they think is good at the expense of others, it is a form of ignorance and selfishness. I sincerely think OCean will rip the bandaids of their eyes and they'll see how harmful their actions are.
As far as actual villians, Detective Ceril is the most 'evil' character so far, to the point of being a cartoon villain. Melanie seems like a piece of work, but I suspect we'll have the chance to romance her and there might be explanations forthcoming
Possibly Emilio or Stahl are the second place evils (joke)
Thats some wild stuff
I don’t think Mila has a baby but i didn’t saw the earlier post tbh but it’s too weird of a setup
I think Stefan’s feelings about Amber are platonic and he isn’t even cheating.
Amber is probably Bambi and i think they know each other for a long time and are somewhat friends.
Bella‘s view is just kinda screwed due to hate lol (and Mario seems to be a jerk i guess but Mila even told us that he was a good guy back than).
As if Amber can’t tell if Stefan hits on her or has nefarious goals, Amber has life experience and can read people like books and way better than Bella who’s way too emotional and easily biased.
Amber is the opposite of a trophy wife anyway, she’s rich herself, a mini celebrity and is supposedly very competent in her profession.
I think Vanessa is using Mario for something (but I don’t think it’s about her dominatrix skills lol). He’s probably never gonna fuck her.
I agree about Katie and think she watched him at college already too
Her talk with Nojiko at the bookclub was Katie saying: This is where I (or we) am taking over. Just without words.
I don't think she has a baby. I'm not sure what she cut off saying, but I don't think it was that. This is her first conversation alone with a stranger she's known for three days, trying to get to know him.
It could well be Stefan's motives towards Amber are all Bella's projection, but until we know what happened to Bella's sister, we're just guessing. Her hatred of Stefan might indeed be related to what happened to her sister.
And yeah. More Katie, more complexity - the trainer wheels are off.
I think Nika has a bit of the 'Robinhood' complex going on.
He knows that he can't right all wrongs, but he does not let power or wealth get in the way of trying to protect his loved ones and his friends.
I don't see taking $9K as theft - it is simply part of redressing the balance.
We are given the option to treat Mila to a meal, using Mario's $...
It is a quiet 'in your face' to Mario where Mario's $ is being used to help someone he has/does bully.
IMO - Nika sees taking Bella's sandwich (and eating it to satisfy his hunger) the same way he views taking Mario's $ - getting a little payback.
This fits with his desire to influence events/people from behind the scenes versus intentionally doing this publicly, putting himself at a greater risk of going to prison and Not being there to protect Noji/Nami and others he cares about.
I chose Not to spend any of that $ - treating Nika as smart enough to act and spend as he has before - not drawing attention to himself (not that this lunch would but it is more a theme of my primary playthrough).
In S2, Ocean may create options where we can spend/not spend that $ in a way that could help others who need it But, at the risk of putting him on the radar of the police/others who believe he Should Not have that level of resourcing.
Cheers!!
Oh he definitely has that complex, but the sandwich is different to the money. With the money, his thought is not about justice, but selfishly about what he can use it for. Previous versions where Bella grabbed it and tossed it to him made more sense, she doesn't care about the money, she nows it's trivial for Mario, but she knows that she can rub Nika's face in his poverty with it. The big thing is that Nika doesn't think about the money as a way to avenge Mila for those nasty names (oh so nasty), he literally thinks about how much he needs money "I want it" "not everyone is born rich you privileged baboon." are his words, and I'm taking it on face value - there's no altruism implied. Same with the sandwich and the vandalism - Nika gets to feel satisfied, but there's no advantage to Nami or Mila respectively. Even the plot with Bella, Nika's goal is to fuck Mario up, and destroy the Holgersons, more for his own amusement and to cement his relationship with Bella.
Nika being poor - well this money allows him to approach Emilio for info. That's the only way it won't bite him. Using it to take Mila to Relucia for example, that'd be super dumb. Using it to pay rent would be fine though, unless he was under suspicion.
I’m not sure if a cheap dare with a girl like Mila is really more sus than a date with Bella while rocking a 12k outfit
Nika kinda fucked that up already if Stefan suspected him
I'm outta reacts so yes, this. Their plan put them directly on the radar with them not even being subtle, but talking with Stefan directly through bad planning. It was supposed to be a recon mission, but then they lost their impulse control and had to do something. Again, more fuel for them being pretty dumb about what they're doing. I take them as that scene in Indiana Jones, they're being fancy with their sabre, and Stefan will pull out the gun(in this case the police and charge them)
