Surviving Garrett

A look at the relationship between Ward and Garrett.

[@SreyaIJ]

LOVE this look at Ward and Garrett. You wove things together very well. I particularly liked how you edited together the scene of Fitz and Simmons being dropped out of the plane with the clip of Grant lowering the rope to his brother in the well. I don't know if it'll ever be clarified one way or the other, but a growing theory is that Grant knew the medical pod was supposed to float, the way Leo claimed later, and so he took it as a chance to get them off the plane without killing them, using the only wiggle room allowable in the circumstances. That would certainly line up with lowering the rope as soon as he felt it was safe to do so out of Maynard's watch. Overall, it's a very powerful video.

[@FallingUP8]

I agree with you. I think he saw it as a chance for them to survive. Throughout the season you can see Ward start to develop bonds with everyone, and I think being on the bus was the first time in his life he has actually been happy and felt any kind of real kinship with anyone.

[@SummerDay]

P Coffman That's my opinion too. Although, I also think his brother drowned in the well, so it wasn't just Buddy that he failed to save. Ward was trained to be a killer, but his motives have always seemed to be more about trying to protect those closest to him. I hope next season he starts to get a little more successful.

[@SreyaIJ]

Summer Day I don't know if the writers intend for his younger brother to be dead or not, but he died in my own head canon because it seems to make the most sense with Ward's later behavior and being sent off to military school - parents shipping off the kid that's all messed up over witnessing his little brother's death. And I agree, he needs to start having a little success again before that protective streak is snuffed out!

[@SummerDay]

SreyaIJ It also makes sense as a motive for Ward commiting Arson. I admit my head canon also has Ward never meeting his sister as it was her birth that provoked the action.Roll on Season 2 is all I can say.

[@kit9638]

Summer Day you just broke my heart with that.

[@elenasalvatore832]

They say, the first sign of becoming a sociopath/serial killer is torturing or killing animals - and Ward didn't kill his dog so I guess that doesn't make him a complete sociopath / serial killer. Love the video BTW.

[@thetuesdaynext]

If I could like this a hundred times, I would. Juxtaposing the well with the already-juxtaposed Buddy and Fitzsimmons scenes is brilliant. As other reviewers have pointed out, his first instinct is to protect-I mean, the writers named him Ward, how much more obvious could they be about that idea-but time after time, abusers in his life have forced him to hurt the very people (and animals) he wants to save. Also, the scene where Garrett pulls a gun on little Ward-watching that without dialog to distract me, I was struck but how frightened Ward looks, even when Garrett turns the gun away and starts shooting up the camp. We don't know about the physical abuse that may have gone on there (if I'm remembering correctly, the only time we see Garrett hit Ward, it's to keep his cover story about having been in a fight) but Garrett absolutely used intimidation to keep Ward in line. Also, can we talk about Ward's face after he didn't shoot Buddy? The absolute heart-breaking sadness after he fired into the air? It's still ambiguous what happened at the end, but Brett Dalton seems to think that Ward didn't shoot Buddy. Which means that for all Ward knew, he was letting Buddy live. Which means that the look of desperation right there? That was quite possibly from Ward contemplating the fact he'd disobeyed Garrett. Maybe it's that he's so thoroughly under Garrett's spell that he regrets disobeying a man who cruelly ordered him to shoot his only friend. Or maybe he was contemplating what was going to happen to him because he'd disobeyed. Whatever the reason, it's heartbreaking. Also, that song is gorgeous. I am absolutely going to have to look up Delta Rae.

[@SummerDay]

Thank you so much. This vid wasn't originally going to be about these two, but as I started work and listening to the song, it just was impossible to tell any other story. And the acting of both Paxton and Dalton meant once I made the choice to focus on their relationship, everything else fell into place really quickly. It's awesome getting feedback that lets you know the ideas you were trying to communicate have come through, so thank you again. Your comment was the icing on top of the awesome cake that was SDCC. ;)

[@rlavender9684]

Ward and Garret: great example of an abusive relationship.

[@wforwakanda]

Haunting, scary... and a truly powerful video