Fridge / Jack The Grey Reef Shark

• Fridge Brilliance:
  • Initially, Jack fears and despises humans, and sees them as dangerous monsters. But as he learns more about them through positive stories told by other sharks, he doesn't get over his fear, but he at least realizes that not all humans are bad. This is a great parallel to humanity’s perception of sharks. Ever since Jaws debuted in 1975, sharks have been seen as dangerous monsters. But over time, as we have learned more about them, that perception has started to change for the better.
  • Jack and Mainda consider each other best friends (And eventually lovers). Some shark species, including gray reef sharks, are known to hang out with the same individuals for years at a time and thus, in a way, have “best friends”
  • Jack confronts a diver who is spearfishing. And while he doesn’t realize that the diver can’t understand what he’s saying, we see he has his pectoral fins pointed down, back arched, and tail sideways. This is a real warning display that gray reef sharks give when they feel threatened.
  • All of the character connections (Such as Ben’s connections to Aidan and Reagan) are never explicitly mentioned, but breadcrumbs are everywhere to let readers figure it out for themselves, so the secrets are basically hidden in plain sight.

• Fridge Horror:
  • Nine times out of ten, the shark is still alive after it's been finned. And Karen’s exact status as she is thrown back in the water is rather ambiguous, so we don’t know for sure if she was already dead or not. But if she was, it was probably a more mercyful fate. Imagine Karen laying there helpless, while David and Tyler have to watch the life fade from her eyes. And to top it all off, Karen’s carcass will likely get eaten by scavengers. Nonetheless, it won’t be an immediate disposal…
  • When Ben kills Sage, his body is just going to sit there until, like Karen, some scavengers come along to dispose of it. And since this is the grey reef sharks' home territory, they're probably going to have to look at that for a while.
  • Even though he had it coming, Ben’s death also has some disturbing layers to it. If he wasn’t crushed by the anchor itself, he most definitely would have been crushed by the immense pressure of being so deep underwater. And with how fast he was sinking, the process must have been excruciatingly painful. Though it is ambiguous as to exactly how far Ben sank, the fact that we cannot see the seafloor leaves plenty of room for interpretation.