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andrasteSo people seem to be grooving on the due South reactions, and who am I to deny my audience? Here's another one.
When you get to know a bit about a show via vids long before you see it, there are certain things you're bound to be wondering as you watch. Like 'but why is Fraser wearing a dress?' (I don't want to know the answer, by the way - I'm looking forward to finding out for myself *g*.) Another thing I'd wondered was 'why is Ray carrying Fraser through the woods?' And now I know!
North is worlds away in setting and tone from Victoria's Secret/Letting Go - nobody mentions Victoria or getting shot for the entire forty-five minutes, and the consequences aren't directly dealt with until Vault. But without the events of last season, North would have no context.
You can tell that things between Fraser and Ray almost back to normal from the moment Ray starts complaining about the tiny Canadian airport and almost denying that the whole trip was his idea. "As I recall it, I said maybe [...] You, on the other hand, could have said no." (I went back and checked the relevant conversation, and there's no maybe about it. Fraser even tells him he doesn't have to do this, and he replies "believe me, Benny, I do.") I guess he's less guilt-ridden since he got in front of that bullet *g*. But, you know, there are still a few wrinkles to iron out.
One of the things that makes me love Vecchio so is that, he'll do whatever crazy thing Benny asks him to do, but he'll usually bitch and moan about it the entire time. He certainly has a lot to complain about in North, what with being lost in the woods with a blind Mountie who can't walk and still insists on chasing after an escaped criminal. With Fraser impaired, the weight falls on Ray's shoulders both figuratively and literally. (This is actually the fourth episode in a row with a non-standard characterisation of Fraser on display. After the EmotionalRollercoaster!Fraser of Victoria's Secret and the MopeyHospital!Fraser of Letting Go, we get HilariouslyConcussed!Fraser to balance out all the angst.) Eating bugs and getting shot at would be bad enough without the ghost of his dad hanging around.
It's up for debate whether the ghosts in due South are imaginary or the actual spirits of the dead. Either way, in North they represent Fraser and Ray's more selfish impulses. This is where the tensions from the end of the previous season come through. Fraser's father tells him that Ray is holding him back, preventing him from getting his man - as he prevented Fraser from getting his woman at the end of Victoria's Secret? Ray's father has an apparently more reasonable point, that the wounded Fraser is slowing Ray down.
Both sons reject this fatherly advice from beyond the grave - Fraser may be confused, but even he isn't going to try chasing a criminal alone when he can't even stand up. (Fraser not being able to get very far without Ray is one of the central themes of their whole relationship - think of the way he's always driving him everywhere.) Ray, meanwhile, would never want to be the kind of man who'd protect himself by leaving his best friend to die. As we saw in The Deal, one of his major motivations is his twenty-year-old anger at himself for standing by and doing nothing when he should have acted. Moreover, even blind and dazed, Fraser's far from useless in this environment - it's not like Ray would know what bugs to eat, how to navigate or how to build a raft. Fraser can figure out all of those things with his eyes shut, because he is just that awesome.
Ray wanted to go north with Fraser as a re-bonding experience after Victoria, and despite everything, it more or less works. Not only do they not die, they even have a couple of good moments in there. The scene where they're singing together? Unbearably adorable. (Where Ray finds the energy to sing while carrying a dazed Mountie over his shoulder, I do not know.) And I just about died from awwwwwwww when they found the river and the guy who previously described the beauty of the Canadian wilderness as 'green, mostly' actually appreciated the landscape. As near-death experiences go, it's pretty positive. (Which is, I think, what Ray is trying to tell Fraser when he confesses that his dad never took him camping while the bad guy is firing on them. "Is this a particularly long story, Ray?")
So North instantly ends up on my list of Great Comfort Television, along with the likes of A Late Delivery From Avalon and Tapestry. Love!
... I would try to think of something to say about Vault, but I just start giggling every time. "And we do all of this with a tuning fork? Look, Fraser, if I had a choice between one of their plans, and one of yours, I'd choose theirs - it's probably safer." Oh, that's right: I quite liked Fraser's uniform (sans dead animal) although I do like the brown on better.
When you get to know a bit about a show via vids long before you see it, there are certain things you're bound to be wondering as you watch. Like 'but why is Fraser wearing a dress?' (I don't want to know the answer, by the way - I'm looking forward to finding out for myself *g*.) Another thing I'd wondered was 'why is Ray carrying Fraser through the woods?' And now I know!
North is worlds away in setting and tone from Victoria's Secret/Letting Go - nobody mentions Victoria or getting shot for the entire forty-five minutes, and the consequences aren't directly dealt with until Vault. But without the events of last season, North would have no context.
You can tell that things between Fraser and Ray almost back to normal from the moment Ray starts complaining about the tiny Canadian airport and almost denying that the whole trip was his idea. "As I recall it, I said maybe [...] You, on the other hand, could have said no." (I went back and checked the relevant conversation, and there's no maybe about it. Fraser even tells him he doesn't have to do this, and he replies "believe me, Benny, I do.") I guess he's less guilt-ridden since he got in front of that bullet *g*. But, you know, there are still a few wrinkles to iron out.
One of the things that makes me love Vecchio so is that, he'll do whatever crazy thing Benny asks him to do, but he'll usually bitch and moan about it the entire time. He certainly has a lot to complain about in North, what with being lost in the woods with a blind Mountie who can't walk and still insists on chasing after an escaped criminal. With Fraser impaired, the weight falls on Ray's shoulders both figuratively and literally. (This is actually the fourth episode in a row with a non-standard characterisation of Fraser on display. After the EmotionalRollercoaster!Fraser of Victoria's Secret and the MopeyHospital!Fraser of Letting Go, we get HilariouslyConcussed!Fraser to balance out all the angst.) Eating bugs and getting shot at would be bad enough without the ghost of his dad hanging around.
It's up for debate whether the ghosts in due South are imaginary or the actual spirits of the dead. Either way, in North they represent Fraser and Ray's more selfish impulses. This is where the tensions from the end of the previous season come through. Fraser's father tells him that Ray is holding him back, preventing him from getting his man - as he prevented Fraser from getting his woman at the end of Victoria's Secret? Ray's father has an apparently more reasonable point, that the wounded Fraser is slowing Ray down.
Both sons reject this fatherly advice from beyond the grave - Fraser may be confused, but even he isn't going to try chasing a criminal alone when he can't even stand up. (Fraser not being able to get very far without Ray is one of the central themes of their whole relationship - think of the way he's always driving him everywhere.) Ray, meanwhile, would never want to be the kind of man who'd protect himself by leaving his best friend to die. As we saw in The Deal, one of his major motivations is his twenty-year-old anger at himself for standing by and doing nothing when he should have acted. Moreover, even blind and dazed, Fraser's far from useless in this environment - it's not like Ray would know what bugs to eat, how to navigate or how to build a raft. Fraser can figure out all of those things with his eyes shut, because he is just that awesome.
Ray wanted to go north with Fraser as a re-bonding experience after Victoria, and despite everything, it more or less works. Not only do they not die, they even have a couple of good moments in there. The scene where they're singing together? Unbearably adorable. (Where Ray finds the energy to sing while carrying a dazed Mountie over his shoulder, I do not know.) And I just about died from awwwwwwww when they found the river and the guy who previously described the beauty of the Canadian wilderness as 'green, mostly' actually appreciated the landscape. As near-death experiences go, it's pretty positive. (Which is, I think, what Ray is trying to tell Fraser when he confesses that his dad never took him camping while the bad guy is firing on them. "Is this a particularly long story, Ray?")
So North instantly ends up on my list of Great Comfort Television, along with the likes of A Late Delivery From Avalon and Tapestry. Love!
... I would try to think of something to say about Vault, but I just start giggling every time. "And we do all of this with a tuning fork? Look, Fraser, if I had a choice between one of their plans, and one of yours, I'd choose theirs - it's probably safer." Oh, that's right: I quite liked Fraser's uniform (sans dead animal) although I do like the brown on better.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-04-28 03:07 pm (UTC)Which is, I think, what Ray is trying to tell Fraser when he confesses that his dad never took him camping while the bad guy is firing on them.
I like that interpretation. I also think part of that is Ray wanting to finally own up publically to who his father really is. Every time he talks about his dad it's how he was bad at something (usually being a father), but good at something else, like that balances it out. This time, Ray is just saying he's a bad father, and he's finally accepted that and is able to deal with it.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-05 03:33 pm (UTC)It's just so charming and fuzzy. And has California Dreaming in it!
This time, Ray is just saying he's a bad father, and he's finally accepted that and is able to deal with it.
That makes a lot of sense. It does seem that after this his dad goes away, which can only be a good thing. (I think Ray's dad has managed to make my top twenty list of fictional character I'd like to punch in the face, which is kind of impressive given how little he appears.)