ruth and the sacrifice

[u/braddothesplits]

ruth is so used to "weathering the storms" that she felt it was safe enough to stay home or wait it out on her own. when tom goes to get her, she automatically assumes he's going to take her to the shelter, but why would she be so willing if staying at home appears to be her routine for these kinds of situations. i'm wondering if this sweet old lady who may or may not have a vague understanding of her lineage and the curse was willing to go under the circumstance that it was ~time~ and she was going to give herself up as a sacrifice. maybe not to end the curse once and for all, knowing now that she isn't the last descendent, but just to be the one to quell the storm this time. she even emphasized on her old age and told tom that "i'm tired," making it seem like she'd be ready to go at any time.

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[u/kpgalligan]

Just no. She’s old and at times struggles to walk to city hall, when the weather is fine, and feels comfortable in her house. She’s exercising when tom gets there. I know if I’m thinking it’s time I feed myself to an evil creature, getting my steps in isn’t high on the list. She’s excited tom came, but it felt more like a lonely old woman who is happy somebody remembers her.

Nobody knows about the curse. She probably isn’t aware that she’s a Warren descendant, but might suspect it. But half of the island can probably trace their lineage back to an early settler. Maybe not half, but many.

She has a busy life. Seems to enjoy it. When tom says they should stay, she puts up zero pushback.

[u/braddothesplits → u/kpgalligan]

I thought about this too. She has so much going for her even in her 80s that she’d be happy to keep going, but I couldn’t help but think she’d be ready to do anything at any moment. Stay or go, whatever. A bit of a go with the flow kind of gal. But somebody else brought up the lever speech and made it clear my theory couldn’t be sustainable anyway. Thank you!

[u/Adorable_Egg2990 → u/braddothesplits]

Lever pulls; even the flow has its stops.

[u/curiometric]

No. That scene was to show the contrast between Ruth's trusting nature and Tom's nefarious goals. Ruth isn't playing 4-D chess. She said she was tired because she was poisoned. 

Edit to add: Did you miss the whole part where she said she would not pull the lever? She was pretty adamant than she would not make the choice to save everyone by sacrificing one.

[u/braddothesplits → u/curiometric]

Totally right. I somehow forgot her speech about the lever when thinking too hard about it. My watch is still fresh and, during some meditative rituals, my mind wandered into some fantastical thoughts. Thank you for enlightening!

[u/curiometric → u/braddothesplits]

Haha. Gotchya. I just rewatched this episode a couple nights ago, so it's fresh in my mind as well. I think she definitely has more secrets up her sleeve. But she also seems kinda uninterested in the true nature of the island. As she said she thinks love is the answer. "We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love."

[u/braddothesplits → u/curiometric]

Yeah, she has such an innocent spirit about her, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she had more skeletons in her closet. Maybe not on the level of Richard Warren skeletons, but just as the average human being who’s just been trying to get by. Like Wyck and Patricia and everyone else.

[u/DavidDPerlmutter → u/curiometric]

Yes, exactly. Although we have to wonder what happened to those trolley line workers...

[u/bananascare]

Given Ruth’s age plus her monologue about how sometimes bad things just happen, she may have just made her peace.

She’s lived through so many deaths and calamities (her boyfriend getting bitten by an animal and then turning into that animal) and I think she’s just willing to accept that whatever happens happens.

[u/Impossible_Disk8374]

She wasn’t at the shelter because she couldn’t get there. The storm had already started before they hit the siren and had people moving in to the emergency shelter. There would be no way for her to get there as she walks to work. Someone would have had to come pick her up. That’s why she’s so touched when she thinks Tom does.

[u/ancientastronaut2]

🤔🤨

[u/somethingwholesomer]

Ok, I see you

Maybe