BotchelorS2 · Night 3
Carson Vallis × Percival Merrick
“The Soggy Canvas Crisis”
A damp campsite where the tent instructions are no help at all, and the rain begins exactly on cue.
- AI-generated
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Carson Vallis wants to find out whether this stranger can appreciate the craft behind ordinary things, and whether he is easy to talk to.
Percival Merrick wants to see whether Carson is genuine, and whether there is enough here to justify a return visit.
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
First impressions
Hello, I'm Carson. The instructions say this tent takes ten minutes. Whoever wrote them has never met a tent. You brought a ledger to a campsite, which I respect and find a little alarming. Is it for accounts, or for recording who's failing at the poles?
Good evening, Carson. Neither, I'm afraid. It holds correspondence for a client who cannot be trusted with a pen. I will admit to a few entries on pole failures, though. As someone who can tie two dozen knots, I take a dim view of a tent that won't cooperate.
A client who can't be trusted with a pen. I'd like to meet them, if only to compare notes. Two dozen knots, though? Which one do you trust least? I've never once trusted a bowline, and I've been tying them for twenty years.
The clove hitch, I'm afraid. It holds beautifully right up until someone asks it to hold something that matters. Your bowline I'd defend as the most honest knot there is: it does precisely what it promises and nothing more.
The challenge
That's a fair defence, and a sharper one than I expected. The clove hitch is a liar that tells the truth right up until it counts. I make my marionettes with the same worry: a joint that looks sound on the bench and gives way under the lights. Who taught you the two dozen?
Carson, a joint that gives way under the lights is simply a joint that was never asked the right question. Ottoline Pell taught me the two dozen on a rope she swore was cursed. She was never wrong about the rope.
Well put. A joint only tells you the truth when someone leans on it. A cursed rope, though. Did Ottoline ever say why, or did she leave the curse for the audience to guess?
Ottoline never explained. She tied the knot, peered at me over her spectacles, and said, 'It will hold until you need it to.' I have since concluded she was describing my career.
The decision
Then I'll stop leaning on my tent and lean on you instead. A career of holding things up until they're needed. I've met that kind of patience before, usually in puppeteers. Show me the knot, though. I'd like to see whether Ottoline's rope is clever or just stubborn.
Hold the guy-line taut for me, Carson, and do not let it go. This is a taut-line hitch. It slides when it must and grips when it should. Ottoline called it the only honest knot, since it admits it can still be negotiated.
Holding it taut, as instructed. Now show me the slide again, slowly. I want to see exactly where it decides to give, and where it decides not to. A knot that negotiates is a rare thing. Most of mine just sulk.
Slowly, then. Watch the collar, not the rope. It gives where the load is shared and grips where it is not. Your knots sulk because nobody has ever asked them to negotiate. You said you make marionettes. Do they ever get the same treatment, or are they allowed to sulk?
Show the written recap (it gives away the ending)Hide the written recap
The date
First impressions
Act 1: Carson arrives wrestling a tent and teasing Percival about his ledger. Percival deflects with dry replies about pole failures, and the two trade knot talk, with Carson admitting he has never trusted a bowline. Carson unclips a small wooden hand, and the mood settles into curious banter.
The challenge
Act 2: Percival defends the bowline and then reveals that Ottoline Pell taught him his two dozen knots on a rope she swore was cursed. Carson responds with interest, asking whether she ever explained the curse. Percival recalls her line, 'It will hold until you need it to,' and says he has since decided she was describing his career.
The decision
Act 3: Carson sets aside the tent and asks to see the knot, tugging the loose guy-line. Percival ties a taut-line hitch and explains it slides when it must and grips when it should. He asks Carson whether his marionettes are allowed to sulk, and the two stay at the guy-line together as the rain keeps falling.
The twist
The tent is still standing when the rain arrives, but only because a cursed-looking knot, tied with genuine care, holds it up. Carson ends up admiring the knot more than the tent.
The finale
As the rain eases, Carson and Percival pack up together and leave the campsite side by side, both having said they want another date. The first date ends warmly, with no hard feelings and a clear wish to meet again.
Ending: A second date
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
A second date: chemistry 77 and attraction 75 carried it (a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry most), and someone's want was met. Endings read where the numbers finished, not how far they moved. By the numbers: a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry 45%, attraction 30% and trust 20%, minus 40% of awkwardness. This one came out +19.6 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“A joint only tells you the truth when someone leans on it.”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A dare.
Carson Vallis: Find someone adventurous
Percival Merrick: Test whether the other is sincere
Diary cam: what they said after
See them again? Yes
See them again? Maybe
Guess the dealbreaker
Carson Vallis's real dealbreaker was Anyone who dismisses puppetry as childish or tries to finish my sentences.. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
Send your own character on a date
Make an original character in a minute and the show writes their blind date. Free to start, no sign-up.