Warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 7, ‘These Fragile Lives.’Of Season 3, Episode 7, “These Fragile Lives” continues the ongoing mystery of restaurant jukeboxes with a fitting song choice. As shown from the first season, the jukeboxes in the town’s diner have a habit of playing songs by themselves. This strange phenomenon understandably unnerves newcomers to the city, but the more time passes, the more Ofthe characters get used to it, as they accept this as another strange and inexplicable event in their daily lives.
In addition to playing random music, the diner’s jukeboxes have a way of playing music that is particularly upsetting to hear during some of the residents’ most difficult moments. One of the most memorable examples of this occurs in Of season 3, episode 2, when one of the jukeboxes played the song “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang while Kenny Liu (Ricky He) mourned the death of his motherTian-Chen Liu (Elizabeth Moy). Now, the jukeboxes have played another song that apparently teases a different resident in “These Fragile Lives.”
‘Ooh Child’ by Five Stairsteps plays at the restaurant in season 3, episode 7
The jukebox plays a certain song at a cruel moment during Acosta and Kenny’s conversation
When Acosta (Samantha Brown) is at the restaurant with Kenny, the song “Ooh Child” by Five Stairsteps starts playing in one of Ofjukeboxes. While trying to calm her down and explain the importance of adapting to new circumstances, Acosta loses control and starts yelling at Kenny. She emphasizes that she doesn’t want tea or his offer of clean clothes and that she rejects his philosophy of adaptation as she doesn’t want to get used to life in the City.
It is at this moment that “Ooh Child” starts playing on one of the restaurant’s jukeboxes, the first time that Acosta has experienced this phenomenon since his arrival. Kenny tells her that the jukeboxes”do this sometimes”, echoing what Boyd Stevens (Harold Perrineau) said about them in a previous season. The music proves to be more than Acosta can handle as she leaves the diner and heads to the sheriff’s station to try and retrieve her gun.
What “Ooh Child” means and how the song connects to Acosta and Kenny’s conversation
‘Ooh Child’ is part of the city that torments Acosta
“Ooh Child” brings a message of hope about things getting better despite life’s difficult challenges. While this message is uplifting in most contexts, it’s more ironic during Acosta and Kenny’s conversation. Acosta refuses to accept the situation she finds herself in and remains adamant that she will find a way out of town, while Kenny encourages her to accept her new reality, including the idea that many of her questions may never be answered.
The letters “Things will get easier” and “Things are going to get brighter” They’re not inspiring, but they’re just a way for the city to laugh at Acosta’s attitude, sending her spiraling further.
The song appears to insult Acosta and mock her insistence that she will succeed where Kenny and others failed. The letter “Things will get easier” and “Things will get brighter“are not inspiring, but they are a way for the town to laugh at Acosta, sending her spiraling further. When the jukeboxes taunt Kenny after his mother’s death, he recovers, largely due to his philosophy of acceptance and adaptation. However, the same may not be true for Acosta, who is on the verge of a dangerous breaking point in Of season 3.