Just finished watching the episode (and now finally understanding some of the conversations as I previously responded blindly) as I was busy traveling yesterday (beaches here I come 🤩🤩). I caught the tail end of yesterday's EDT discussions so I thought it was a troll worthy episode (thought Bahubali Shiva would be seen 😆) so I prepared my popcorn today to enjoy the episode while snarking... but man was I fooled. I LOVED the episode! Even with the Mast Magan song placement.
Here are my unfiltered thoughts... some will make sense and some will not as usual 😆
Shiva and Gaumbi's Relationship
Absolutely loved the scene. This reminded me of their pre-haveli relationship, and it solidifies the idea that Shiva sees a bit of his father in Gaumbi--hence the guilt and sadness whenever he sees Gaumbi, in particular, struggling. I am still within the boat that Shiva has never properly grieved after his father's passing, and I have a strong feeling that when his father was alive, Shiva and him shared a bond like no other. So perhaps his father's passing struck him differently and more personally compared to the others--hence his desperation to get the kangans back. This may be totally unrelated (we always talk about seeing happy childhood scenes), but I wish for a childhood scene during the father's funeral or last rites. I think it would be poignant to show Gaumbi hugging child Shiva, and Shiva tearfully looking up to Gaumbi and realizing that his brother's hug has the same warmth as hugs from his father--thus the fatherly association.
I also enjoyed the moment when Gaumbi tells Shiva it is okay to do whatever he wishes with the land papers as that is his birthright. Gaumbi approached the situation with poise. Had he scolded Shiva for being secretive, Shiva would've closed off even further. But, by validating his actions somewhat, he allowed Shiva to explain his side of the story. That's typically what therapists do in my experience. Even if we don't agree personally with the patient, we have to see it from the patient's perspective, and that's exactly what Gaumbi did today! And I love him for it! Even Dhara's comment of Shiva's stubbornness made sense to me as that is exactly what is being portrayed in the show.
Dev's "Should be More Truthful" Dialogue
This was perhaps the most troll worthy scene of the entire episode 😆. Loved how Dev spent 2 years hiding Rishita's existence and continued to play the whole "Woe is me" stunt even after learning about his upcoming marriage with Raavi, yet Shiva spending 2 days hiding his plans is a disaster scenario. Dev only cares about himself is what I understand 😆. He's probably scared all this money will cause Rishimendra to activate--causing him to sell his property and wipe his funds for Rishi's clothes. Hence the anger for Shiva. Regardless, just like Shiva is clueless about his plans, the writer's seem clueless with how to write Dev's character.
Enjoyed seeing Dev's excitement during Raavi's party though. He seemed like the cute, fancy, "let me buy flowers, chocolate, and candles for our romantic night" type lover boy there. I was briefly able to see why Rishita was able to fall for Dev, and why even Raavi fell for Dev. It's his good looks. Other than that, I still don't see the hype for kumbhakarna 2.0. Since these past few episodes have been ShiVi centric, I'm thinking the storyline will move to focus on DevTa once they return to Somnath. It will be interesting to see how Dev's character is fleshed out from here on out.
Raavi and the Birthday Wishes
As I am typing this, I just realized @Sakmen made the perfect post about this. I agree with what was spoken, everything said on the post actually. Raavi does not expect a "Happy Birthday" because she forgives Shiva. Far from it. She expects a "Happy Birthday" because that's the minimum Shiva could do considering their new husband-wife relationship. She's a pure soul who expects a no-strings attached type of love. Considering how Dev always extended warmth to her growing up, I think she saw this "no-strings attached" love and fell for him. Whereas Shiva's care was more subtle. He says mean things, but he is always there to protect her. During their last NDE, she probably realized this, hence, her willingness to establish her haq more strongly on their relationship.
I know we always talk about how simple and pure Raavi is, but in today's episode, I realized how similar her wishes were to mine. I've always dreamed of marrying a man who could extend all his love, trust, happiness, and feelings for me. I've always believed in "soulmates" (call it the pure romantic in me), and I have a feeling that Raavi wishes for the same. She just wants a man who will stand by her side if all else in the world fails. Someone who will show the patience to listen to her. Someone who will smile at her as if she means the world to him. Shiva is not that person, not yet at least, but Raavi can't help but wish for that. And I think that's why she was all the more disappointed when she noticed that Shiva was not there at the birthday celebrations. It wasn't because she forgave him, but that her expectations for her dream husband are not matching what Shiva is giving her.