SHE'S ON TO SOMETHING - Next to Normal | APRN Reacts - PART 8

Comments · 30

• IZ

  @izzycusson3017 · 1 year ago

  My favorite moments of the double entendre in here are during How Could I Ever Forget when Diana is singing about the son and Dan is singing about Diana and during A Promise when he says “you’ll remember that girl, I’ll remember that boy” and they are talking about each other as young adults and also talking about their son, that he pushes away, and daughter, that she can’t love

  98

• AN

  @annegasko7719 · 11 months ago

  The thing about Dan immediately wanting to go back to the doctor is that he wasn't saying 'we need a professional to mediate this'. He says something like 'we'll pay the bills, we'll take the pills, we'll do more ECT'. Basically he's reaching for a 'quick fix' again; rather than facing the pain, he's trying to make it just go away again. Which is totally understandable - in his eyes, last time Di was like this she tried to commit suicide so of course he's scared. But at this moment he just can't give Di what she needs. It's even reflected in the promise song...even though it's a gorgeous song, he's talking about the girl she used to be. Hoping that one day they'll find the people they used to be, rather than accepting that they are both forever changed. To me, the idea that Dan looks for the girl Di used to be is the encapsulation of why they can't stay together - he can't accept that she's changed, and while she's trying to be 'that girl' she'll never have the space to grieve or heal properly.

  34

• ID

  @iddoAdam · 1 year ago

  i think with Dan suggesting they go see the doctor it really has to do with her saying she remembers their son being older and not a baby(like I think if it was still just about the death it would have still been hard, but we do get him at least talking about it with her), so he was likely afraid that the hallucinations part was coming back or at least the threat of it happening again. He even says "we caught it just in time" which might not be something he has the tools to or feels he can't handle on his own or that like was said that he might make things worse

  88

• SP

  @SpiffyBlueness · 1 year ago

  Dan might think he's taking care of Diana, but I'm convinced the spiraling music while she's asking 'what was his name' is 100% reflecting Dan's state. She's emotional but grounded.

  50

• TH

  @Theater-kid14-d3y · 1 year ago

  Why stay/A promise is SUCH an underrated masterpiece of a love song. It’s not overly romantic or dramatic, just, “I’ll stay even when things are hard.”

  19

• AW

  @awaywiththe27 · 1 year ago

  one of the other parallels that I don’t see a lot of people mentioning is Dan’s “I will search for her nightly/if you see her, please send her my love” here and Henry’s “I want who I knew/she’s somewhere in you” in hey #1. makes me feel feelings

  29

• KA

  @KaylaRichards-o1l · 9 months ago

  I just noticed that the son was humming the music from the music box this time

  7

• KA

  @katetoldness4220 · 1 year ago

  Also we should give Dan credit for only hiding the things that might trigger Diane's darker memories and traumas. He absolutely could have thrown them away and Diane would have been none the wiser. I think Dan knew he'd eventually have to help her recover those memories as well but he just kept putting it off because he was afraid and his avoidance begat more fear, his fear more aviodance etc etc.

  14

• PA

  @patiencekillz · 1 year ago

  yes! dan is really just trying his best! i’m a dan goodman defender 4 lyfe

  17

• LN

  @lnng8421 · 11 months ago

  This production made me appreciate Aftershocks a lot. It really is interesting how they show it as the son being locked in glass watching and waiting for her to remember. Jack Wolfe really plays the son so well and he&apos;s such an intriguing character. &quot;You wonder which is worse - the symptom or the cure&quot; is a bar but oof.<br><br>I don&apos;t think Dan is a villain. I&apos;ve always found him to be a sympathetic character. That said, I do think he made a choice based on what he wanted, not what she said she needed. He wanted a untraumatized wife. She needed to know and understand her past and was distressed knowing there were things she was missing (&quot;I&apos;m some Christopher Columbus sailing out into my mind, with no map of where I&apos;m going or what I&apos;ve left behind&quot; is great imagery). He saw that and continued to prioritize his needs. I think it would be hard to trust someone who was keeping information about your own life from you, even if it&apos;s well-meaning. He mentioned photoshopped pictures in Better Than Before &nbsp;when he was showing her albums, and even if that&apos;s just making it look like they were smiling and happy at times where they weren&apos;t, that&apos;s creating a narrative that wasn&apos;t true to their experience. It was ego syntonic for him to believe he was protecting her by not reminding her of their grief. It allowed him to continue avoiding his grief. She doesn’t need Dan or even her doctor necessarily deciding what&apos;s best for her when she knows that she needs to know her past for her own piece of mind. So yes, I feel for Dan, but I also think he has a level of control over her past narrative that isn&apos;t healthy and causes an even bigger power differential than they had prior to the ECT. I wish that Dr Madden as a neuteral party had been more involved in telling her the whole truth or being in the room while Dan did it in the safe environment of his office. <br><br>I love Natalie that Natalie is like &quot;um, dad... I think we gotta be real with her&quot; and she talks about some of the bad stuff that triggers memories. Her little smile when Dan pats her back like yay you did it. Natalie must be protected at all costs. ❤

  4

• VM

  @VMsmith44 · 6 months ago

  TY to Sammie standing up for Dan,who&apos;s trying to do his best to keep all the balls in the air (although I did not like when he hid the music box). It&apos;s just soo..difficult for the person in the midst of this struggle &amp; their family&apos;s struggles too. Soo...difficult all around😔

  2

• SC

  @scifigeek14 · 5 months ago

  I don&apos;t villian-ize dan, but I do think that for the sake of the story he sometimes ends up functioning as a bit of an antagonist (despite him trying his best) because he want to move on and just slap a bandaid on it and call it better/normal and his unwillingness to talk about their son ends both before and after the ect keeps her (and him too) from being able to properly grieve. this in hinted at in lot&apos;s of the son&apos;s lyrics but especially in the lines &quot;if you don&apos;t grieve me you wont leave me behind&quot; and in in &quot;with nothing to remember is there nothing left to grieve&quot;

  3