Station Eleven
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I dont want to live the wrong life and then die, Arthur yells in the direction of Miranda.
As a sentiment, its so harmless as to be universal.
Who doesnt want to spend their years on this planet living the right life, whatever that means?
Shouted in the course of a fight, though, the words sting.
You are the wrong life.
You are giving me the wrong life.
When I die, you will have wasted my life.
When Arthur dies, hell be mostly estranged from Miranda.
If he were to comment on his own death, he might even say he lived the wrong life.
Miranda and Arthur found each other and left each other when they shouldnt have.
By now, we know better than to expect time to progress chronologically onStation Eleven.
Thats not really what happens here.
So instead of tracking the episode faithfully, Im reorganizing the events into their true order.
In 2005, Miranda takes a job with a logistics firm.
I remember everything, she says during the interview its among her strongest qualities.
In 2020, she still has that job, and shes good at it.
Shes smart, capable, and assertive.
She gets things from their point of origin to their end point by whatever path they need to take.
He thinks shes funny.
It turns out to be true.
It turns out shes been drawing Dr. Eleven since before meeting Arthur, which happens soon after.
But Miranda doesnt recognize Arthur as her end point.
When he approaches, she blows him off.
Hes a famous actor already, but Miranda doesnt like movies.
He offers her $1,000.
Their chemistry is easy, and Arthur talks her into joining the party.
On the way, he interprets her work to earn her trust.
Its cheesy, but so is falling in love.
Hes alone, not unhappy.
Shes likable without trying hard.
Always just below the surface of his charm is palpable self-doubt.
Her father was a boat hand, and she grew up outrunning squalls in the Caribbean.
She says again that she has to go but doesnt.
She spends the night again; she threatens to go again.
He feels deserted when hes home, but he deserts her for months on end making shitty movies.
She doesnt sleep, so theyre not even together at rest.
Miranda is a loner, but Arthur is lonely.
They fight about hiding themselves inside their jobs.
Shes still at Leons beck and call, dashing to Perth on a few hours notice.
Thats when Arthur voices his deepest fear: I dont want to live the wrong life and then die.
It goes from bad to over fast.
thatArttook her on a pool-house tour, including Mirandas unfinished work.
The guy either wants the marriage to end or considers it already ended.
I think that book ruined my life.
She packs her rucksack and lights the pool house on fire another flourish.
But sometime between that past and the plague, she starts the book over again.
Like she promised Leon, she remembers everything.
She even leaves a copy for the son he shares with Elizabeth, now another ex-wife.
In Malaysia, the flu is moving fast.
Her pitch meeting is canceled, and people are wearing masks.
En route to the docks, shes clearheaded and methodical in the manner of Jason Bourne.
She calls Arthur to tell him shes made a mistake and shes coming to find him.
Theres still time, on her side of the world, to live the right life.
But as shes about to board the shuttle, Clark calls to tell her Arthurs gone.
Her survival efforts are half-assed from this point.
She searches Instagram for Arthurs name and looks at a post made by Kirsten.
No one knows how to behave, so they try feigning normalcy.
And I went to work instead.
I have found you nine times before, maybe ten, and Ill find you again.
Theres a knock on her door.
When she opens it to Dr. Eleven, its somehow not surprising.
Time loops itself in Mirandas work as it does in the show.
She left Arthur and brought him her book years later.
Not the pandemic, but what about the hurricane?
Arthur is in the eye of our storm.
He mentored Kirsten, and his heart attack connects her to Jeevan.
The book he gives Kirsten connects her to Miranda and the drifter.
