 | You thought you knew, but you don't. This is why. |
Guy meets girl.
Guy falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with guy.
Girl leaves guy in Washington, D.C.
Guy waits years to write her a letter telling her how he feels.
Girl shows back up to find out what she wants.
Sounds like Oliver and Holly, right? I agree!
But what if I told you this is also Shane and Steve's story?
We may have spent the past two days talking about #ShOliver, but get ready to have everything you thought you knew about McInerney/Marek flipped on its head.
Guy falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with guy.
Girl leaves guy in Washington, D.C.
Guy waits years to write her a letter telling her how he feels.
Girl shows back up to find out what she wants.
Sounds like Oliver and Holly, right? I agree!
But what if I told you this is also Shane and Steve's story?
We may have spent the past two days talking about #ShOliver, but get ready to have everything you thought you knew about McInerney/Marek flipped on its head.
The Card
 How Could I Forget Your Birthday? I Can't Forget Anything About You. | It all started with that birthday card, opened, ironically, with Oliver's letter opener. It was from Steve, Shane's ex, left behind in the midst of her transfer to Denver. We see the front of the card, its message captioned above. We know very little about Steve at this point. All we know we've heard from Becky, who seemed to intimate that Steve was a commitment-phobe, which made him a "jerk." But when you read the front of his card, you start to wonder who Steve really is and what if we've got him all wrong? What if we accept the anecdote I presented at the top of this blog post, the idea that Shane and Steve is really a mirrored---but obviously significantly different--- version of Oliver and Holly's story? |
The Other Oliver
 Bare with me for a sec... | If you remember the original transfer report, I made it a point to discuss how Shane seems to have a type. Oliver and Steve share a strong jaw line and a penchant for plaid. But they also seem to find themselves in the same position. Like Holly left Oliver, we could stand to reason that Shane's transfer to Denver was likely as sudden as Holly leaving Oliver. Both men were left in D.C., and both men waited a year or more to write the women who left them behind. From what we've seen of Impossible Dream so far, it would seem Shane is appearing in D.C. as suddenly as Holly reappeared in Denver. Talk about parallels! |
Love, Steve
Much like Oliver's letter to Holly, Shane's letter to Steve warrants as much dissection of text as a Postable can make out. So, much like Holly's letter to Oliver, screenshots were taken and carefully analyzed.
 Thanks for grabbing this, Margaret (@WxMargs24)! |  "Love-Steve" |
Between the two views of the contents of the card we get in Truth Be Told, here's what we can glean, and it speaks volumes:
"...[make you] mine again."
"...all the time... [I] just wanted you to know how I felt. I miss you. And Happy Birthday. Love-Steve"
It seems to me that Steve wants Shane back, and this card, which he filled such that he had to resort to finishing up on the back side, clearly reveals that. Unlike Oliver's letter to Holly, which seemed rather vague and obligation-driven in comparison, time has clearly made Steve's heart grow fonder.
What it doesn't seem to suggest is that he was a player, uncaring, or perhaps any of the plethora of unflattering assumptions we've made about Steve thus far---myself included. In fact, he may be more like Oliver than we thought. Maybe he has some aspects of his past that made it difficult to imagine settling down?
Steve worked at USPS when Shane was in D.C., so their perhaps doomed romance was in plain view for Becky to decide Shane deserved better than a "someday" when it came to tying the knot. Let's remember, Shane specifically mentioned that Steve wasn't married, to which Becky replied "And he's never gonna get married." Given what we know about Shane's transfer, and that Becky played a hand in I---citing Steve as part of the cause--- it may be that Shane left quickly and didn't say goodbye.
But what if she left a forwarding address? Many have asked how Steve got her address, and while the possibilities include him Googling it, or abusing NSA privileges in his new position, she could have also left her new address behind, and he only just now felt compelled to reach out. Why now? We'll leave that for the next movie to explain (or not!).
If there's anything we learned in Truth Be Told, it's that there are two sides to every story. I am happy to reserve judgment until I learn more about his. It would be a lie, however, for me to pretend I haven't been wooed over to Steve's side to some degree. I think it all depends on his side of the story.
"...[make you] mine again."
"...all the time... [I] just wanted you to know how I felt. I miss you. And Happy Birthday. Love-Steve"
It seems to me that Steve wants Shane back, and this card, which he filled such that he had to resort to finishing up on the back side, clearly reveals that. Unlike Oliver's letter to Holly, which seemed rather vague and obligation-driven in comparison, time has clearly made Steve's heart grow fonder.
What it doesn't seem to suggest is that he was a player, uncaring, or perhaps any of the plethora of unflattering assumptions we've made about Steve thus far---myself included. In fact, he may be more like Oliver than we thought. Maybe he has some aspects of his past that made it difficult to imagine settling down?
Steve worked at USPS when Shane was in D.C., so their perhaps doomed romance was in plain view for Becky to decide Shane deserved better than a "someday" when it came to tying the knot. Let's remember, Shane specifically mentioned that Steve wasn't married, to which Becky replied "And he's never gonna get married." Given what we know about Shane's transfer, and that Becky played a hand in I---citing Steve as part of the cause--- it may be that Shane left quickly and didn't say goodbye.
But what if she left a forwarding address? Many have asked how Steve got her address, and while the possibilities include him Googling it, or abusing NSA privileges in his new position, she could have also left her new address behind, and he only just now felt compelled to reach out. Why now? We'll leave that for the next movie to explain (or not!).
If there's anything we learned in Truth Be Told, it's that there are two sides to every story. I am happy to reserve judgment until I learn more about his. It would be a lie, however, for me to pretend I haven't been wooed over to Steve's side to some degree. I think it all depends on his side of the story.
The Kiss
Let's start with this, because that's pretty much the gist of what I'm going to say here:
 I now pronounce you... |  ...officially exes. |
At this point I don't think it matters who initiates or how it happens. We know a kiss occurs. If we accept the parallel I presented to start us off in its entirety, then you can be sure that it's simply a goodbye kiss. Makes you feel so much better, doesn't it?
In fact, I'll go ahead and say this: One thing you have to consider in these films is the title in context. The Impossible Dream would suggest that there will be dreams some are wishing for that seem impossible. Some will get theirs, others likely won't.
Steve's dream is probably getting Shane back. And I'm sorry to say there's a higher than 90% chance that Steve is among those who won't have his dream come true. Sorry, Steve.
But, much like Oliver strove to end things well with Holly, I believe Shane should do the same for her sake, for Steve's and even for Oliver's sake in this case. If she needs to kiss him in order to determine if her feelings are really gone or not, then so be it! Closure is what is more important here.
In fact, I'll go ahead and say this: One thing you have to consider in these films is the title in context. The Impossible Dream would suggest that there will be dreams some are wishing for that seem impossible. Some will get theirs, others likely won't.
Steve's dream is probably getting Shane back. And I'm sorry to say there's a higher than 90% chance that Steve is among those who won't have his dream come true. Sorry, Steve.
But, much like Oliver strove to end things well with Holly, I believe Shane should do the same for her sake, for Steve's and even for Oliver's sake in this case. If she needs to kiss him in order to determine if her feelings are really gone or not, then so be it! Closure is what is more important here.
So, Postables, I encourage you to think a bit differently about Steve. He's not Oliver, and ShOliver is so obviously endgame. But consider enjoying the new element, and new sides of Shane that Steve's presence might bring out. I think Oliver's going to learn a lot, too, which will make him an even better partner for Shane!
Also, here's another subtle sign these two won't work out:
Shane McInerney
Steve Marek
Both of them have the initials "SM." Pay attention to see if these two are practically the same person while you watch Impossible Dream---being in a relationship with yourself is never a good idea.
Made you think again, didn't I?
Always Fair And Balanced,
~C
Also, here's another subtle sign these two won't work out:
Shane McInerney
Steve Marek
Both of them have the initials "SM." Pay attention to see if these two are practically the same person while you watch Impossible Dream---being in a relationship with yourself is never a good idea.
Made you think again, didn't I?
Always Fair And Balanced,
~C
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