Normal People
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What Marianne wants is to be Connells girlfriend and for him to stay here for the summer.
Is it totally plausible that two teenagers would botch their nascent relationship in this way?
I mean, theyre young, but theyre not THAT young.
Consider: We dont really know how far away their hometown is from Trinity.
We know, though, that its a bus or car ride away, not a flight.
We know that Marianne and Connell both have made the trip for weekend visits.
So on the outside, its gotta be, what, three hours?
Mayyybe four, if were allowing for traffic?
And this separation is just for the summer?
No one is having fun.
Marianne is home for her dads anniversary mass when she runs into Connell in the grocery store.
Hes mad she didnt text him that she was going to be in town.
Connell says hes not seeing anyone.
Even though she told him not to come, Connell shows up to mass.
They have to take this exam that will apparently dictate their entire future.
Lotta high-stakes test-taking in this part of the world, I see.
Ugh, shes Jamiesgirlfriendnow, which is a real drag for all of us.
Turns out hes a bit of a sadist.
Marianne is like the girl who comes back from study abroad with an accent.
Clearly she just wants to get a rise out of Connell just so she can call him a prude.
Connell wants specifics, and she reports that he slaps her and uses a belt.
Connell says it sounds fucking horrible.
The glimpse we see of her and Jamie having sex his hand yanking on her (low!)
Like, she looks significantly happier during that Your Future Depends On This!!!
exam, when she and Connell briefly make eye contact.
Where has Connell been living?
We have no idea.
But mazel tov to both of these hardworking nerds.
(Everyones been to fucking Berlin, Peggy.)
Hers is the only number he knows by heart.
He and Jamie cannot be, as Marianne pretended she hoped, civil.
(She obviously loves that they hate each other because of her.)
You could have a different boyfriend, you know?
Guys are consistently falling in love with you, from what I hear.
Oh, but by the way, he has a girlfriend.
Her name is Helen, and shes in medicine.
Marianne gives up on playing it even remotely cool and just bursts into tears.
Marianne realizes with horror that Connelldid not actually break up with herand she lost her boyfriend over nothing.
Because DUH he could have stayed with her!
Always, she says.
Helen, whose number he does not know.
For whatever thats worth.
