The Incomparable LaT's commentary on BiA was just too scrumptious to pass up.
Audra wrote:
>> I believe Betty pointed out that Elaine's graduation was a month after Eclipse.
Um ... that was *me*, thank you kindly ....
I forgive her though, because she also wrote the following:
>>This is classic Benton Fraser taken to new heights in the interaction between Paul Gross and Brent Carver. As LaT and I have noted, there aren't a whole lot of people who can distract our attention from Paul or Callum on screen - Brent Carver is one who can do it without trying, and as LaT said, Paul, consummate professional and gentleman that he is, stood back and let him fly. LaT also informs me that Brent Carver won a Gemini for his turn as Bruce Spender. I'm . impressed anew by the intelligence, discrimination, and good taste of our neighbours to the north.<<
Just to reiterate (and yes, ladies, I did see Brent Carver on Broadway in both Kiss of the Spider Woman and Parade ... your point?), in all four seasons of Due South the only person who ever successfully pulled my focus from Paul Gross -- and in seasons 3 and 4, Callum Keith Rennie -- *was* one-time Etrog (pre-cursor to the Genie, natch), two-time Genie, three-time Gemini, four-time Dora Mavor Moore (the Canadian equivalent of the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award), one-time Tony Award, two-time Drama Desk Award winner (not nominee, gang, *winner*) Brent Carver. I don't know about the rest of you, but in terms of acting quality and ability with regard to Mr. Gross and Mr. Rennie, that ... speaks volumes to me.
So yes, Mr. Carver is in that select group -- along with (quel surprise, Mr. Gross and Mr. Rennie) -- of people who occupy the head table in LaT's Pantheon of Bad-Assedness (what ... you all actually think I don't have a *hierarchy* of bad-ass; Audra can tell you ... I do). What most knocked me out about Mr. Carver's performance here *was* how understated it was. Without ever even *thinking* about coming close to histrionic, or even relying heavily on tics and mannerisms, he seamlessly communicated that something wasn't entirely Right with Bruce, while also making it clear that, as damaged as it might have been, Bruce's intellect was still keen and sharp. Another of my Favorite Moments in this episode is that great, great, *great* scene in Ray's apartment, where Bruce a) reminds Ray and Fraser that he's still *in the room* as Ray talks about him, and, 2) makes it clear that he's well aware of how other people perceive him ("And I can tie my shoes."). I'm fond of the almost-but-not-quite-there smiles on both Ray and Fraser's faces when he says that, as if they both -- but especially Ray -- accept they've just been sort-of, kind-of put in their places.
I was deeply moved by the recounting of the boomerang story. It amazed me that even though he was the one who got beaten up, and even though it happened *years* before, Bruce still felt a sense of shame at both getting beaten up and making Kevin disappointed in him. I was also incredibly moved during their final conversation, when Bruce asked/told Kevin that he could just say Bruce was his brother and that he (Kevin) loved him.So, yeah. There's a reason the man has one wall of his home crammed with acting awards.
>>One of the things I like *best* about this ep - and I like *all* of it, right down to Ray with the gun getting Bruce the hell out of the parking lot - is the climax. There are many many reasons to like the climax - rain, the soundtrack (loud though it may be), Wet!Ray - but the best reason of all is the four amigos: Fraser, Ray, Dief, and . . . Welsh. Welsh. With a gun. In the rain. Running cover for his boys. It don't GET no better, not in *any* ep before or since, although Odds is a very close second.<<
I, too, am very fond of and intrigued by the degree to which Welsh backs Fraser and Kowalski, not just in this episode, but in others, with The Ladies Man springing most vividly and immediately to mind (one can argue that Welsh's sense of justice and fair play is also tweaked by their efforts to prove whether or not Beth Botrelle actually killed her husband, but I still find his tacit approval of those efforts, in the face of everything swirling around her impending execution, to be nothing short of remarkable). Like Audra, I will argue tooth and nail that they're both favorites of his. I mean, that sofa scene between him and Kowalski in Odds is a keeper and a half, and I will forever maintain that the closest we ever see Harding Welsh come to being sentimental is his greeting to Fraser in BDtH: "Ah. Constable, you've returned. Upon reflection, I imagine that pleases me." This man isn't even a member of his District, let alone the Chicago PD, but Welsh admits that he's ... pleased ... Fraser is back. No, he doesn't just "tolerate" him. If Welsh didn't like having him around, he wouldn't ... be around (and please, don't anyone tell me that it's a function of the storytelling of the show; that can be said about every damn relationship in the series, ok?).
>>A digression: Many of us share a love for Fraser's mode of addressing Diefenbaker. It struck me, as I watched this and the two previous eps, that the only other person Fraser addresses in that tone of voice is . . . Ray. I am of course not counting Flashback since he was not in full possession of his senses and, moreover, I would argue that most of his snarkiness was self directed; even when amnesiac he still seemed to have an undercurrent of reserve with Ray Vecchio. I could be wrong: I cheerfully admit I watch few Vecchio eps unless I happen across them. I think that this snarky mode - this level of comfort and familiarity that he has heretofore only demonstrated with his alter ego - is a very subtle Fraseresque indication of the way *he* feels about Ray. (And we can go one step further and extrapolate that attitude right out to "That's my wolf." Heh. "That's my Ray." Not quite as overt as Joe Dick but Benton Fraser is nothing if not subtle.)<<
Well, I would have to include North in this snarkiness assessment, to be fair, but then again, North also represents somewhat extraordinary circumstances. A head injury and subsequent blindness would make *anyone* cranky, I think.
In all seriousness, there is a third person with whom Fraser seems to give his snarkiness full reign -- his father. Of course, I would argue that this further supports, rather than diminishes, Audra's argument that, in a way, Fraser's snarkiness is a mode of expressing affection for those he truly cares about (and to that end, I will spare all of you my thesis on how this translates, vis-á-vis his interactions with Turnbull, except to say that there are actually four entities who get treated to expressions of affectionate exasperation from Fraser to which most of the other inhabitants of the DS universe don't). I don't think anyone could argue with a straight face that Fraser doesn't love his father or that wolf. So, I think the fact that Kowalski gets treated to a certain degree of Fraser snarkiness -- much like Dief and Bob do -- does say something about the level of emotional connection Fraser feels to him.
>>An Audra favourite moment: I will swear on my deathbed that the "Torture. That - that's a good idea," line was a Callum ad-lib and, moreover, that Paul's quick reactions preserved the take but gave us an opportunity to see that delighted, surprised smile.<<
Don't forget "polite cop/bad cop ... it's worth a try."
>>A LaT favourite moment: when Fraser hangs up on Kevin because Fraser simply will not brook belligerence. She calls that a grace note of Fraser snarkiness and I bow to her incisive analysis. That is followed by an Audra favourite moment as Welsh gets snarky with Mr. Deputy Director. This was also a Welsh psychic moment, I think: Fraser would not be rude to anyone but the villain, after all.<<
The first time I saw Brothers in Arms (which I will now forever call the episode, because I Coulda Been a Defendant never quite made sense to me, except as a possible reference to Bruce's having turned federal witness against his cohorts in the robbery), I was *really* struck by Fraser just hanging up like that. Then again, Fraser's not stupid, and he probably 1) recognized that he wasn't going to get any further trying to have a sensible conversation with Kevin, and, b) had been hipped, by Ray, to the hinkiness of the phone call Kevin made right before the shoot-out, and so, like his partner, is now suspicious about Kevin. Furthermore, Kevin was being ... discourteous (to put it mildly). As we all know, Fraser has very little truck with that.
>>A Kellie favourite moment: how cute Ray is with his flip-up shades on that rooftop parking structure. It's a shallow moment, to be sure, but . . . I'm right behind her. "I just adore the fact that a) he has his glasses on preemptively, and b) he's cool enough that he can wear both geeky glasses and flip up shades and *still* be the epitome of cool.<<
Well, for me, that's always been part of the appeal of his glasses. The sweet-dork coolness of them.
>>Quibble: I hate the circus music in the teaser. Yeah, the acrobatics were OTT but what else is new for this show?<<
Again, and eventually, I will stop harping on this: This is a show where the two main characters plummeted *thirty thousand feet out of an airplane sans parachutes and emerged unscathed*. To my way of thinking, Fraser making like Mitch Gaylord is par for the course, and probably one of the *least* examples of over-the-topness. And yes, the loopiness of it makes me smile, although the circus music *was* unnecessary. I think the visual effect spoke quite nicely for itself.
>>One: having to strain to hear the dialogue puts one, in a sense, in Fraser's and Ray's and Welsh's place. Watching, wishing to hell they'd had Bruce wear a wire, wondering if Kevin was the bad guy, if Bruce would realise it or, more importantly, admit it (to himself) - especially Fraser, wondering that last. (And I *love* that Bruce was given free choice in this matter - treated, by Fraser and by extension, Welsh and Ray, as a freakin' *adult,* Kevin.) And, as Kellie points out, the rain and the distance make it difficult to see as well, as clearly the three men watching are having trouble doing. So. First hypothesis. No?<<
>From a purely stylistic perspective, this hypothesis works for me, and works quite nicely, although I still think the music should have been turned down for *at least* Bruce's conversation with Kevin. Otherwise, really, what's the point? That's the emotional climax of the whole episode, the thing all of the action and interactions have been leading towards, and it seems to me that Bruce's verbal confrontation with Kevin -- which is, btw, fairly terse, so it's not as if turning music down would have significantly diminished the mood -- is a big part of that. I still think we should be able to hear it without having to turn the television volume up full bore.
>>We move on to the second. This is rather lame. But in this scenario, the music is more important than the words. Paul has said in interviews that he discovered fairly early on that music could set the mood more effectively than a hundred words. The music, clearly a deliberate choice, may have been put at that volume simply so that we too felt the upswelling surge of drama and pathos. Because it does, as I mentioned before, cause that reaction in me at times. It gets suddenly louder and overshadows the dialogue at a very specific point. Mood is more important than words. The sound does fade to a manageable level as they move into the woods. No?<<
For me -- no. For all of them facing off at one another in the rain when the scene starts? Great. For the shoot-out after Bruce confronts Kevin? Great. But, for me, during Bruce's actual demand for accountability? Not great. Mood is terrific, and it's always important to set the mood for anything and to set it well, but not, in my mind, at the expense of genuine emotional substance. I thought Bruce confronting his brother was pretty significant and substantive. I would like to have been able to more clearly hear it.
For me (and I hope I don't steal too much of Maxine's reviewing thunder with this next comment), this is almost as bad a directing/editing choice as the way the "you're selfish" scene is shot in Good for the Soul. Yes, we can hear Fraser and Kowalski clearly in that scene, but it might have been nice to actually see their facial expressions as well, since good acting often lies as much in the expressions actors wear as they say their lines as in the way they say their lines. But we can't see them. Why? Because the scene is shot from across the street and every goddamn truck in downtown Toronto that day traveled down the street during that scene.
>>I will also add, on the Shallow!Moments scale, that Wet!Ray, Wet!Welsh, and Wet!Worried!Fraser - the former two with guns, to boot - turn an odd and evidently moist crank for me. And Wet!Bruce just . . . does things to me with that triangulated face and those immense eyes and the rain pouring . . . and the semiautomatic rifle. (Okay, if you hadn't guessed, Men with Guns turn my crank too.)<<
I'm right there with you. It's something about the way the drenching causes them all (including Bruce) to have bangs. Maybe it's that sweet-dork, geek-cool thing that often works for me. (The guns providing the "cool" of course -- except for Fraser, who has in own brand of cool ...)
Another thing I noticed is that this episode represents one of the few times, if not the only time, we ever see the Uniform get dirty. Really dirty. As much as the Scotchguarded From Birth comment has become a part of the DS mythology, I really appreciated them making this one nod to reality and accepting that there was probably no way *anyone* would buy Fraser rolling around in mud ... and coming up clean.
LaT