The Enneagram in a Movie

Annie Savoy picks one player each season to develop—not for sex, but to feel needed and connected. Mario, TJ Dawe, and TJ Ingrassia track how the Transmitting Two builds intimacy by becoming essential to someone else's success, and what breaks when she meets someone who won't cooperate.
Mario Sikora, TJ Dawe, and TJ Ingrassia examine Annie Savoy in Bull Durham (1988) as a Transmitting Two. Annie invests her knowledge, attention, and sexuality into one young player each season, banking on his improvement to prove her value and secure connection. The hosts trace her core move—striving to feel connected by transmitting things that cost her: sexuality, gifts, superstitions, knowledge. They map the handicap principle (why her gifts signal resources) and contrast her with a Preserving Two, who would hold back. They analyze her eye contact, her seduction of Crash through refusal, how her luck supposedly transfers to Nuke's pitching. The episode also includes Transmitting Twos from other films: Waymond in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Penny Lane in Almost Famous, and Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy.
Chapters
0:00:00 A Different Kind of Groupie
0:04:43 Annie's Season: The Setup
0:14:02 Striving to Connect—The Two-ish Pattern
0:30:56 The Cost of Transmitting
0:45:26 Seduction and Mystery as Strategy
1:01:01 A Preserving Two Would Never
Resources mentioned in this episode
Bull Durham — The 1988 romantic comedy written and directed by Ron Shelton that serves as the focus film for this episode's exploration of the Transmitting Two.
The Handicap Principle — Amotz Zahavi — Referenced by Mario to explain how costly signals—like the peacock's tail—communicate fitness and resources, paralleling Annie's transmitting behavior through jewelry and sexuality.
Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast — The parent podcast in the Awareness to Action network, where listeners can explore more on Enneagram instinctual subtypes and type dynamics.
Thinking Well and Why Podcast — Mario Sikora's companion podcast on clear thinking skills and the Enneagram, available on YouTube and podcast platforms.
How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide — Mario Sikora — Mario's foundational text on the Awareness to Action Enneagram framework and clear thinking principles.

Related resources
Awareness to Action Enneagram on Demand — The official on-demand learning platform for the Awareness to Action Enneagram framework, offering courses and modules on instinctual subtypes and type dynamics.
Mario Sikora — Mario's official site with articles, resources, and information on the Awareness to Action approach to the Enneagram.

Mentioned in this episode:
Awareness to Action Podcast Network
Podcast Network

In this episode of The Enneagram in a Movie podcast, Mario Sikora, TJ Dawe and TJ Ingrassia examine the Preserving Three through Layer Cake, the 2004 crime thriller starring Daniel Craig as X, a cocaine distributor planning his exit. X runs a cocaine operation in London like it's a business – clean, efficient, and built for early retirement. Unlike the Transmitting Three chasing recognition, X stays methodical. He builds rules, manages relationships carefully, avoids violence and flashy moves and prioritizes staying solvent. His cool distance masks something deeper, not deception but a disconnect from real self-expression, hidden behind professionalism. But when that job ends, they have nothing left. The three hosts discuss how a Preserving Three needs the system more than the system needs him.

Chapters
0:00:00 The Layers of Life
0:01:04 A Serious, Measured Take
0:06:27 Into the Double Cross
0:17:43 Three Rules and Process
0:34:18 The Preserving Pattern
0:47:49 Navigators and Comparisons

Connect with us:
Awareness to Action
Enneagram on Demand
The Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast
Mario Sikora:
IG: @mariosikora
TikTok: @mariosikora
Web: mariosikora.com
Substack: mariosikora.substack.com
Book: How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking
TJ Dawe:
Web: tjdawe.ca
TJ Ingrassia:
Web: tjingrassia.com
YouTube: @TypeCast
Mentioned in this episode:
Awareness to Action Podcast Network
Podcast Network

In this episode of The Enneagram in a Movie podcast, Mario Sikora, TJ Dawe and TJ Ingrassia talk about the 1993 film, Six Degrees of Separation, starring Will Smith and Stockard Channing. Paul, played by Smith, cons his way into Manhattan's upper crust by absorbing elite codes of conduct. But Ouisa, played by Channing, and Flan Kittredge, played by Donald Sutherland, were born into money and are doing the same thing, just more smoothly. The three hosts examine how Navigating Threes constantly refine their map of how to fit in, why their sense of self depends on external validation and what it means to strive for belonging without losing standing. They also unpack the film's treatment of authenticity, class consciousness and duality.

“Authenticity is a big theme in this – speaking of Type Three, and exactly what you’re talking about – of like who are we really and who’s the version of us that we present to the world.” - TJ Dawe [25:53]
“Let’s keep in mind that the Navigating instinctual bias, again, I don’t call it social, because it’s not about being part of the group. It’s not about wanting to be with people, all this sort of stuff. It’s about understanding group dynamics and where I fit in.” - Mario [29:34]
“Is the Three the ultimate navigator? Because even a Preserving or a Transmitting, in some ways, is still ‘Navigating.’” - TJ Ingrassia [46:26]

TIMESTAMPS
[00:03] Intro
[00:38] Thoughts on this week’s movie
[03:58] About Six Degrees of Separation
[06:04] The movie as Navigating Three
[12:52] Striving to Feel Outstanding in the film
[20:28] Threes find ways to accomplish things
[25:53] Who are we really?
[29:34] Understanding group dynamics
[34:33] Creating a sense of self
[38:40] A series of stories
[43:58] The Navigating Three
[46:26] Is the Three the ultimate Navigator?
[50:30] Awareness to social obligations
[55:08] The children's anger
[59:10] Other characters’ Enneagram types
[1:02:07] Paul as other subtypes
[1:04:43] Other Navigating Threes
Connect with us:
Awareness to Action
Enneagram on Demand
The Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast
Mario Sikora:
IG: @mariosikora
TikTok: @mariosikora
Web: mariosikora.com
Substack: mariosikora.substack.com
Book: How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking
TJ Dawe:
Web: tjdawe.ca
TJ Ingrassia:
Web: tjingrassia.com
YouTube: @TypeCast
Mentioned in this episode:
Awareness to Action Podcast Network
Podcast Network

In this episode of The Enneagram in a Movie podcast, Mario Sikora, TJ Dawe and TJ Ingrassia talk the Navigating Two through the film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. Waymond – played by Ke Huy Quan appears twice in this movie – once quiet and devoted and the other confident and leading – but both versions feel the need to feel connected, to be needed and to matter.

Connect with us:
Awareness to Action
Enneagram on Demand
The Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast
Mario Sikora:
IG: @mariosikora
TikTok: @mariosikora
Web: mariosikora.com
Substack: mariosikora.substack.com
Book: How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking
TJ Dawe:
Web: tjdawe.ca
TJ Ingrassia:
Web: tjingrassia.com
YouTube: @TypeCast
Mentioned in this episode:
Awareness to Action Podcast Network
Podcast Network

In this episode of The Enneagram in a Movie podcast, Mario Sikora, TJ Dawe and TJ Ingrassia talk about the Preserving Two through the film, WALL-E. The film is nearly wordless, yet serves as a study in striving to feel connected.

Connect with us:
Awareness to Action
Enneagram on Demand
The Awareness to Action Enneagram Podcast

Mario Sikora:
IG: @mariosikora
TikTok: @mariosikora
Web: mariosikora.com
Substack: mariosikora.substack.com
Book: How to Think Well, and Why: The Awareness to Action Guide to Clear Thinking

TJ Dawe:
Web: tjdawe.ca

TJ Ingrassia:
Web: tjingrassia.com
YouTube: @TypeCast
Mentioned in this episode:
Awareness to Action Podcast Network
Podcast Network