Things That Are Shiny about due South

Is there anything quite so happiness-inducing as blowing off work to lie on the couch watching the adventures of an exiled Mountie, his abrasive and trigger-happy partner and his deaf wolf [1]? The first season of due South was finally on sale again at JB Hi-Fi, so I've been immersing myself in it for a few days now.

I was briefly introduced to the show a while back by threewalls, who had correctly deduced that I would fall for Benton Fraser like a ton of bricks within short order. However, what with her and her DVDs being in another city, this is the first chance I've had to watch lots of it, in order.

Fandom osmosis had long ago told me that due South was about a Mountie who has sex with two people named Ray, although apparently not at the same time. Also he had sex with a woman called Victoria and was angst-ridden about it for some reason. Plus, there was a dog, who fortunately didn't seem to be involved in anyone's sex life [2].

Now I know much more! Ten things that are shiny about the first ten episodes of due South:

1. Fraser's boots. (Which are shiny in both the literal and the figurative sense.) Also his hat, his brown uniform, his red uniform, his leather jacket ... actually, just Fraser's wardrobe in general.

2. The Riviera. Other people feel the way about the Impala from Supernatural the way I feel about this car, and I'm not usually a car person.

3. Dief, and his love of doughnuts and other things that are bad for wolves. And I'm not usually a dog wolf person, either.

4. Ray's giant phone, which cracks me up every time he pulls it out of his pocket. The height of sophistication in 1994!

5. Fraser fighting crime by tasting things that really shouldn't be tasted. (He should meet the Tenth Doctor, so they can lick things together. Such as each other.) Also the way Ray is loudly disgusted by this every time.

6. Ray attempting to take a private shower while Fraser and the entire Vecchio family stroll in and out of the bathroom. Poor Ray.

7. "I'm stuck in a dark closet with a Mountie and a deaf wolf that keeps licking me. That was the wolf, wasn't it?"

8. Fraser being the most unconvincing undercover cop in the history of anything, ever. (There are plenty of charmingly implausible things in this show, but Fraser as a used car salesman tops the list so far.)

9. Fraser in a fetish club. During a raid. Everyone else's reactions to Fraser being in a fetish club during a raid.

10. Fraser's dead father giving him an imaginary gun. Fraser's dead father in general.

In short, it's a funny, charming, quirky show. You do not have to be wearing the slash goggles to appreciate it. Not that there's anything wrong with the slash goggles! Just thought this should be mentioned, given its reputation in fandom.

Speaking of which, I have not yet seen enough of Ray Kowalski to have a fully-informed opinion on Rays. My not-fully-informed opinion is that people should never say bad things about Vecchio, because he is MADE FROM WIN and a great friend [3]. Whether or not he and Fraser are/should be at it like rabid snow hares is neither here nor there.

[1] Not that I actually took a day off just to lie around watching DVDs. I just called in sick for an extra shift I had said I would work, largely because there's a function on tonight that I really didn't want to go to. If I'd gone to work, I'd have had to go to the party as well.

[2] Now I know that fandom osmosis had misinformed me: Diefenbaker is not a dog.

[3] Because it's Ray who decided to be Fraser's friend, when he apologised for being incredibly tactless by taking him away from the diner where he was sad (don't cry, emo Mountie!) and took him home for dinner. And then when he dragged himself out of the hospital and went to Canada to fight a bunch of heavily-armed men - that's a pretty awesome thing to do for a guy you barely know.