Happiest Season’s Riley (Aubrey Plaza) bumps into Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) as they come out of a restaurant bathroom together. Abby and Harper are having a frenzied check-in there because Harper has asked Abby to pretend, while they are visiting her parents in the suburbs of Pittsburgh for Christmas, that she is a) straight, b) Harper’s roommate, and c) generally sort of a sad person, none of which are true. Harper’s mother (Mary Steenburgen) has also sneakily invited Harper’s ex-boyfriend, Connor (Jake McDorman), to the restaurant.
Riley picks up their couple vibes immediately; she also lets through some light-hearted regret that hints at how things ended up with her and Harper (Riley was Harper’s first girlfriend, back in high school). We find out later, Riley tells Abby, that when one of Harper’s friends found one of the love notes the two of them used to write to each other in Harper’s locker, that Harper denied she was gay, instead outing Riley and telling everyone Riley was obsessed with her. Riley was bullied mercilessly. She hasn’t forgotten the experience, though in her case, it’s less of a “what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger” and more of a “Riley became secure in all parts of herself without forming resentments, so she understands Harper’s current situation with Abby from a perspective of being empathetic.” That she reaches out to Abby as a queer ally is an easy revelation.
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The second time Riley and Abby meet is at a festive party, where Harper’s father (Victor Garber) is hoping to win major support for his bid to be the next mayor of their conservative-leaning town. Riley has all these beautiful touchpoints to let Abby knows that she sees her, to let her know that she knows Abby is queer and suffering. Riley is out now, but that’s not to assume she doesn’t have experiences of hiding her sexuality in this small town she is also from, nor that she doesn’t have these experiences in her residency at Johns Hopkins. Outsie of Harper’s hometown, Abby seems grounded and is doing advanced work, a Ph.D. in Art History at Carnegie Mellon. She is an out lesbian in her day-to-day Pittsburgh life with Harper (they also live together), but it’s not far-fetched that Abby experiences prejudice over her sexuality.
So, Riley sees Abby as a fellow professional, a strong-minded, intelligent woman, who is also queer, and in a relationship the other person is denying to most of the outside world. And Riley understands how this last part hurts. When Riley raises her glass to Abby at that party, it’s an indication of, “See this whole charade? I got you, dude.“When she overhears Abby telling her friend John (Dan Levy) to stop shaming her because she’s hiding herself for Harper, she remarks to Abby that she can relate, but Abby doesn’t reciprocate. So, Riley moves on, kindly, poking fun at the health problems people ask her to diagnose, and, in the end, compliments Abby on her blazer. They have the same style, and Plaza is phenomenal at these tiny gestures that speak an ocean.
Their major scene happens when Harper is with her family and Abby wanders around the downtown area alone. She is out of sorts, sad and alienated. She runs into Riley as “Blame It on Christmas” plays, and Riley shows up with her characteristic blend of sharpness, humor, and warmth. When Abby says that she needs a drink, Riley sees that as Abby’s olive branch, and she knows where to take her. In The Oxwood, there’s a drag show on for the holiday, and the mood is happy and queer-positive, and for the first time since arriving in Harper’s family’s town, Abby seems at ease. This is when they have the talk about what went down with Harper and Riley’s relationship.
Harper brings this up to try and assuage Abby’s worries; the similarities between Harper denying that she was with Riley and now denying that she is with Abby are clear to both of them, but Riley isn’t going to rub Abby’s nose in it. Instead, Riley wishes the best for both of them, while being wise and honest. She’s going to let Abby know what happened in the past and will root for them in the present to give each other benefit of the doubt. Riley’s success in her life and focus on her independent success while still going back to her hometown to mingle with those people who mistreated her speaks to her strength as a person. You don’t achieve by being bitter; Riley has become omnivorous in her acceptances.
The last interactions between the two are perhaps the most tender. At Harper’s parents' White Elephant party, Harper flirts with Connor, and Harper and Abby are strained. Abby tells Riley that she has never felt closer to someone and then, the next day, feels like she doesn’t know her at all, seeing her in the plaid-stacked heteronormativity of her family’s wealth and company. Which Harper is real? Riley says, maybe she is both.
Riley’s observation is the wisest in the film and summarizes its core objective. There is no one way to view a situation; there is not, per se, Team Harper or Team Abby (I mean, of course there is, but hear me out). Riley does not invalidate Abby’s experience nor does she come to Harper’s defense. What she does is look widely at what is happening. She sees the greys, the potentials of situations to be messy but also complete in their messiness. When Abby says she planned on asking Harper to marry her, Riley puts a hand on her arm; she’ll get her something stronger than a mulled cider. She sees and knows that things take time.
From then on, Riley’s wisdom has a heartened effect on Abby’s journey. By the film’s end, Abby realizes there is a chance for a new beginning because Harper is no longer, and has never been, a stranger to her.
