First off, I haven’t done fandom meta in……years. I can’t even remember how long it’s been! So please bear with me as I try to wrangle my thoughts here.
As I’ve been going through episode nine, I’ve been coming back to the parallels of Kinn’s framing when he’s speaking to Tawan in the cell in the opening scene and after Porsche has been taken away by Big and Ken. They aren’t a true 1:1, but the style of the shots are both a distinct departure from the rest of the framing of the show to this point. (They use a similar framing with Yok, but the context of it is separate from Kinn’s framing, and it’s a more expected context to see Yok looking directly at the viewer, because we are meant to be seeing through Porsche’s eyes at that point.)
A squared, solo shot is something that isn’t uncommon in filmmaking, but it’s generally reserved for documentary films, when the director wants the viewer to be drawn in, to sympathize with the story being told. It’s fairly rare in scripted filming, and as above, when it’s used, it’s often in a comedic context. Here we have Kinn confronting Tawan for the first time, decidedly not comedic. We don’t know if Kinn believed he actually killed Tawan or not, but he’s obviously not happy to see him back, for good reason! He has already told Porsche why Tawan being around is not something he would ever welcome or want.
This is a pretty tight shot—we know from the previous shot that Kinn is standing directly in front of Tawan, so the camera is placed as Tawan would see Kinn. Mile is actually looking ever so slightly off to the side here, too—the shot makes you pay attention but you, the viewer, are not being addressed. You know that Kinn is speaking very deliberately to Tawan.
We get Kinn’s order in this same tight shot, directly to the camera, and he leaves saying they’ll discuss things in the morning.
In a near perfect episodic bookend, we then have Tawan confronting Porsche about bugging his room. Interestingly, in the first scene, Kinn is standing opposite to Porsche but Porsche is in uniform, aligning him with Kinn; here, the blocking is similar, but Porsche could not be more visibly separated from Kinn. (Kinn has also changed from wearing white to wearing grey.)
Kinn is staring straight ahead, seemingly at nothing, but at the next cut we see him better.
Compared to his total lack of emotion when confronting Tawan, we see him visibly swallow and take a deep breath before it hits:
He’s not just staring at nothing, he’s staring at you. You are the independent party here. He doesn’t look at Porsche until the second time Porsche says his name, and the shift in eyeline could not be more obvious.
“I trust no one,” he says, accompanied by his little sincere eyebrow raise. He is willing Porsche to understand him when he can’t say it any other way. He is playing a part for Tawan. He never says he will discuss it with Porsche later because he is trying to tell Porsche he is going to come as fast as he can.
Kinn watches Porsche until he’s out of sight, then he looks right back at you as the camera pulls in tight. You, the viewer, are now in this moment with Kinn. You see me, he says. You understand what he could not, he says. You know where my heart lies, he begs you to understand. He holds you there and then he shakes his head a little and lets his eyes drop, ever so slightly, releasing you from bearing witness. The fourth wall slams back in place as Tawan touches Kinn’s shoulder, and he is left hoping that someone has heard him when he couldn’t speak.
