House Rules: The Real Risk

"It was always there within your power. You just had to risk it all in order to find it for yourself."

---

It was always there within your power. You just had to risk it all in order to find it for yourself.

The only person with the power to change Oliver’s situation was always Oliver. And, when he did find the courage to take the necessary risks, he put himself closer and closer to the peace he was so desperately seeking the entire time.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Oliver’s first risk occurred before Theresa ever issued a challenge, and centered squarely on his decision to take on Shane McInerney. For all intents and purposes, his bargain with Andrea to get back his Mr. Coffee was the riskiest decision of his life, as it turned his world upside down.

Taking on Shane resulted in a complete overhaul of how Oliver arranged his work world and eventually his personal life. From remaining in the comfort of the DLO, to spending a majority of his time in the field, he began to invest a greater, and perhaps more vulnerable, part of himself into his work.

The consequences slowly began to reveal themselves throughout the course of the series, perhaps most memorably in “The Masterpiece” when he mistakenly replaced “New York” with “Paris” when discussing the rift caused between Henry and Daniel over his dreams of becoming an artist.

The complicating factor in Oliver’s story towards taking risks is Shane. In many ways, it seems as though Oliver’s hesitance to move forward resulted in Shane taking those steps for him, pushing him forward for a time. In a lot of ways that had more to do with Shane fulfilling, rather clumsily at first, her directive to “dance a little” than with Oliver’s hesitation to take a risk.

Quite honestly, I don’t know if Oliver knew what next steps to take until Shane began presenting him with the real possibility that Holly never intended to return. Without Shane revealing Holly’s intention to stay in Paris, Oliver may never have felt compelled to write her a letter in that vault, let alone track down her address.

Oliver writing and sending the letter is his first true “risk” towards pursuing peace. I find it interesting that Oliver received what I like to call a “red-headed reminder,” from Norman’s grandmother that he should do “the thing that scares him the most,” calling back in a way to Theresa’s advice at the outset to “risk it all.” In a way, the advice bestowed upon Oliver in "To Whom It May Concern" found a certain level of completion the minute the receiving door snapped shut on that mailbox in front of Denver Mercy.

But was sending the letter really the thing that scared him the most, or just a step in confronting whatever that truly was? Watch the Gifs, and pay close attention to Oliver’s face as Shane attempts to phish about the contents of the letter.

"I miss you---come home."

"Goodbye."

See the terrified look in his eyes at the possibility of “goodbye?”

When he tells Shane he’s not afraid to mail the letter, I’m inclined to believe him. What Oliver is afraid of is what happens next, and then whatever happens after that.

Take Oliver choosing to postpone deciding what to do about his marriage another night in From Paris with Love as a bit of proof. He’s the one who ends date for drinks, and he does so right after Holly hesitates to say the word “divorce,” filling in the blank for her barely above a whisper. When she takes his hand and turns over his wedding ring, you see Oliver immediately become uncomfortable and even a bit scared. I kind of wondered what was going on in his head at that moment, and now I think it was him looking over the edge of the cliff he had done so much to stay away from---the one that led to "goodbye." Postponing their decision allowed him to step back. 

Oliver verbally reveals this to Shane on her front porch the next night. He says he spent two years wondering what would happen when he knew for sure he would no longer be Holly’s husband. The implication is that he considered whether it would be the end of the world, or if he would be able to pick up the pieces and move on. When Oliver says “I went out and bought a porch swing,” what he really said is that the world did not, in fact, end and he found hope on the other side of his turmoil. And also, I believe, the peace he so desperately needed and told Holly was “essential.” You could see the weight those two long years lift off of his shoulders in that moment.

I want to say that Oliver is in league with his colleagues as far as having successfully tackled and mastered the art of Theresa’s advice to him about “risk[ing] it all,” but Oliver still has one more risk challenge ahead of him: Shane.

Remember how Oliver emphasizes with Shane on her porch that she does, in fact, have a future with him? He takes great care to emphasize that it will take time for them to get to know “each other’s strengths and weaknesses... to see of they have the right chemistry to work together.”

I don’t know about you, but in the year ShOliver has spent together, I would say they’ve had more opportunity---in time, depth and quality---to assess those things than most couples ever bother to. Sure, Oliver needs time to get divorced, shift his focus, and prepare to approach a courtship with Shane the right way. But can you understand why I might feel like “the friend zone” is ShOliver’s next battle frontier?

He’s not going to drag either of their hearts into something serious without a considerable amount of due diligence, but what if he decides they could make it work, but hesitates because he’s afraid he’ll get hurt again by the woman on whom his heart is set? Will he find it in himself to take push past the fear and take the risk? This is definitely something to keep an eye on---I certainly will! 

Overall, when he stepped out and took the risk, Oliver got closer and closer to the peace he was so desperately seeking, ultimately finding hope and peace on the other side of finally saying goodbye to Holly. Even though the road was rough, he stayed the course, and can face the future with certainty as a result. When it comes to Shane, Oliver will have to maintain that momentum or “risk” putting all his progress in jeopardy.

Always Rooting For Him,
~C


Houes Rules: Introduction | Rita | Norman | Shane | Oliver