 | The tale of an increasingly secure relationship as told by seating. |
There's something to be said about the use of seating in Signed, Sealed, Delivered, particularly when it comes to porches and pews. The story of Shane and Oliver's coming together plays out in more ways than one might expect, including where, and in what arrangement, the pair is seated. It's a finespun narrative where their relationship is forged deliberately and incrementally in a manner that coincides with increased emotional freedom and establishes an unmatched stability from which to build.
Separate, But Stable
Something happened in that vault during the Treasure Box. We've discussed it in several contexts, not the least of which was Shane's transition from "dear friend" to "dear lady," which Oliver spoke into being as they exited the vault. A metaphor for the state of their hearts at the time, the vault, like their hearts, contained a lot of love that, while kept in a safe place was still locked inside.
Their experience in the vault not only initiated the process of unlocking their hearts, but also started them on a path to each other. It's a journey that began to find expression in their seating situation on the Walker's front porch.
Their experience in the vault not only initiated the process of unlocking their hearts, but also started them on a path to each other. It's a journey that began to find expression in their seating situation on the Walker's front porch.
 | As they sit across from the recently reconciled husband and wife, Shane and Oliver are seated together, but separately, in two white chairs. Unlike when they're dancing---which I find incredibly fascinating---Shane and Oliver are facing the same direction as they're seated. It flows well with the idea that both parties in a relationship have to be "going to the same direction" to be successful. At the same time, Shane and Oliver seem to still be operating out of the same emotional place that characterized their interactions in the vault. There is optimism in that "[Jonathan and Katherine] lived," that they delivered the box, Oliver even encourages the current Walker generation to "read [the letters] out loud---together." It was an optimism that grew as time passed, and Shane and Oliver got to know each other better, eventually finding expression in more tangible ways. |
A Delicate Balance
The installation of Shane's porch swing in From Paris With Love was the first grand gesture of the post-Holly era. Erected only hours after Holly and Oliver agreed to go their separate ways, Oliver installed the furniture with a clarity of purpose that was unexpectedly refreshing, an expression of the step towards emotional freedom he was experiencing. It was a clarity that found Shane surprised to see Oliver on her porch, let alone gifting her something she expressed such a connection to. From this point forward, the swing begins to stand for Shane and Oliver's budding relationship, which, like spring, "[is] coming." In contrast to their seating arrangement on the Walker porch, Shane and Oliver are no longer seated separately, but together on a single unit.
 | What's interesting about the swing, much like Shane and Oliver's relationship at this stage, is that it's very tenuous and requires a lot of tinkering. Even the slightest things can upset the balance. Just as Shane and Oliver determined in Truth Be Told, "it takes, two people" to stabilize the swing, or a relationship. It's no surprise, then, that when Hazel mistook Oliver for Steve, it sent the swing, and the budding relationship, into a state of unbalance. For the swing, it was only a temporary state of affairs, rectified when Oliver made superficial adjustments with his buzz saw. Shane and Oliver's relationship, however, was not so easily set straight. |
We don't see the swing again until Higher Ground, when we see Oliver preparing it for what we can only assume is the end of their evening. During drinks, Shane reminds Oliver of the unbalance that plagued the swing in Truth Be Told, which has been replaced by a subtle squeak. In many ways the squeak is the unspoken reason underlying what prompted him to purchase and erect the swing to begin with, a reality Oliver is finally forced to explicitly contend with in this latest film.
A Solid Foundation
In the intervening time (Impossible Dream-One In A Million), a significant amount of work had to be done in order to prepare Shane and Oliver for the next step in their relationship and towards emotional freedom. While they were clearly trying to connect in a new way after Oliver's divorce became final, the removed obstacles only served to make connecting more difficult. As a result, each had to become more stable and complete separately before they could be brought together.
One of their most profound exchanges takes place as Shane and Oliver are seated together on a pew in the hospital chapel in Lost Without You. Here it's Shane that appears in an unexpected venue, much to Oliver's surprise. It seems that the step Oliver made towards Shane in From Paris With Love is reciprocated here as Shane meets him somewhere that is close to his heart. It is the evidence of the finished work that took place at El Dorado Canyon, where each express a new piece of themselves, i.e. the spiritual growth that drew Shane to the chapel, the consequence of which would allow her to achieve more emotional freedom overall, and the new level of emotional freedom which Oliver explicitly describes throughout the scene.
One of their most profound exchanges takes place as Shane and Oliver are seated together on a pew in the hospital chapel in Lost Without You. Here it's Shane that appears in an unexpected venue, much to Oliver's surprise. It seems that the step Oliver made towards Shane in From Paris With Love is reciprocated here as Shane meets him somewhere that is close to his heart. It is the evidence of the finished work that took place at El Dorado Canyon, where each express a new piece of themselves, i.e. the spiritual growth that drew Shane to the chapel, the consequence of which would allow her to achieve more emotional freedom overall, and the new level of emotional freedom which Oliver explicitly describes throughout the scene.
 | This is the first time since the porch swing that we see Shane and Oliver seated side-by-side in this way, facing the same direction. They meet each other in a new space, on a firm and already established church pew. Neither have to make the pew they share stable. I like to think that, as discussed in The Father's House, their shared prayers for each other brought them into agreement with God, who tied them together in love, becoming their stable foundation as a result, symbolized by the pew on which they sit. |
By surrendering their relationship in prayer, they also surrendered responsibility for making it "stable"---which we know they struggled with because of the porch swing---establishing themselves in a manner reliant upon faith. And it was out of this place of faith they had to operate in Higher Ground. In this moment God "took responsibility" for making their relationship work because, "two hearts, joined by a Greater One, can withstand anything"---and withstand it they did.
With each step, Shane and Oliver's relationship became established on more and more stable foundations, symbolized by their transition from the separate, but equal, chairs on the Walker porch, to the tenuous porch swing, and ultimately to the divinely established chapel pew on which they sat together, facing the same direction. And it's from this foundation which Shane and Oliver endured their greatest relationship trial to date in Higher Ground.
Securely Seated,
~C
With each step, Shane and Oliver's relationship became established on more and more stable foundations, symbolized by their transition from the separate, but equal, chairs on the Walker porch, to the tenuous porch swing, and ultimately to the divinely established chapel pew on which they sat together, facing the same direction. And it's from this foundation which Shane and Oliver endured their greatest relationship trial to date in Higher Ground.
Securely Seated,
~C
RSS Feed
