I Thought I Could Just Shut Up About The New Episode But I Can Not Get Over How Incredibly Gentle The

I thought I could just shut up about the new episode but I can not get over how incredibly gentle the Interviewer handled Raven.

TW for mentions/descriptions of mental illness.

First, he tries humor - the whole 'Anyone who's tried to make a chalk and tomato sandwich can tell you that.' Thing. But it doesn't work. Then he tries to change her mind about it and we get that beautiful and wonderful paintbrush-scene - but that can't last for long because this is not how mental illness works. This is not how trauma and fear works. You can not rationalize it away - you can't say 'it's wrong' and your brain just accepts that. So of course it only lasts so long, and after Alvina comes in (who has no clue about it, and I am kind of glad she came in and therefore accidentally showed that it's not that easy) we see that the Interviewer gets it too. Yes he is annoyed with Alvina but I can't shake the feeling he is annoyed with himself too. So he changes strategy *without* going the way he could have gone - the way Amelia talked about, saying she would have told Raven to hold it together. And he goes on and says the most important thing ever - 'Now I won't try to tell you that you're not responsible (...) Not because I believe you are, but because I know you believe you are, and I respect your beliefs. Even if I think they're hurting you.' - and this was the moment that absolutely and utterly broke me. You can't rationalize it away. You can't prove it's wrong and that fixes it all. The only thing you can do is say 'I respect that, I hear you, I take you serious' without going the 'you are therefore right' way. She is wrong, he knows it, but humor won't fix this, facts won't fix this. She has to see it herself. She has to *understand* it herself. This is a process not made in an office. It's one that can take days and years. And one that nobody can do for you, you can only do it yourself - with help. And he takes that step, he nudges her in the direction. Doesn't pity her, doesn’t ridicule her. He leaves everything out - family, revenge, all the ways he could have gone. And he chose to be gentle instead.

I know we joke about him being somewhat of an entity fed up with humans and immortal and maybe not human. But this was the most incredible human moment. It shows the Interviewer knows not only his work - he has empathy & sympathy. So no matter what the onionitis turns out to be, no matter what is actually wrong with him - he is so, so human and I find that beautiful.