I like the concept of this being a Pilot Episode. Now that you put it that way, it feels so true--this book has always seemed the most different from all the others, to me.
There are so many great things to talk about here! Let me start by selecting just one...
Because clearly if he takes his eyes off Wolfe for even a moment, Wolfe will immediately "fall in a hole" or "catch cold" or be lured into a van by a man with candy.
Bwah! So true. You're right, in this book I don't see it quite yet, that obsessive-possessive-protective way that Archie regards Wolfe.
FDL!Archie would never *worry* about Wolfe quite like that.
I would agree in general, but with one exception--an exception which is one of my favorite recurring patterns between them (and which I get to talk about again when we get to The Rubber Band). Already in this Pilot Episode we get a scene of "Wolfe is in imminent physical danger! Archie is intense/frightened/protective!" <3
Here it takes the form of Wolfe calmly implying that the departed visitor must have left something in the office, upon which Archie (the man of action!) starts up with the "For God's sake get out of here, it may go off any second," trying to rush Wolfe out of the room while he himself plans to stay behind in the deadly race to find it. Even after Wolfe has talked him through opening the drawer and they're dealing with the snake, when they can't seem to kill it, Archie's grabbing at Wolfe to try to pull him away from it.
It's true that the typical emotional dynamic is not yet fully developed... for one thing, after the danger is dealt with, Archie does not say something smart-ass & exasperated to hide (and/or tacitly express) his feelings. He very quickly develops that habit; he does it in The Rubber Band, and in Too Many Cooks, and forever after. But in the Pilot Episode, if he does it, we don't get to hear.
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Date: 2010-04-06 01:05 am (UTC)There are so many great things to talk about here! Let me start by selecting just one...
Because clearly if he takes his eyes off Wolfe for even a moment, Wolfe will immediately "fall in a hole" or "catch cold" or be lured into a van by a man with candy.
Bwah! So true. You're right, in this book I don't see it quite yet, that obsessive-possessive-protective way that Archie regards Wolfe.
FDL!Archie would never *worry* about Wolfe quite like that.
I would agree in general, but with one exception--an exception which is one of my favorite recurring patterns between them (and which I get to talk about again when we get to The Rubber Band). Already in this Pilot Episode we get a scene of "Wolfe is in imminent physical danger! Archie is intense/frightened/protective!" <3
Here it takes the form of Wolfe calmly implying that the departed visitor must have left something in the office, upon which Archie (the man of action!) starts up with the "For God's sake get out of here, it may go off any second," trying to rush Wolfe out of the room while he himself plans to stay behind in the deadly race to find it. Even after Wolfe has talked him through opening the drawer and they're dealing with the snake, when they can't seem to kill it, Archie's grabbing at Wolfe to try to pull him away from it.
It's true that the typical emotional dynamic is not yet fully developed... for one thing, after the danger is dealt with, Archie does not say something smart-ass & exasperated to hide (and/or tacitly express) his feelings. He very quickly develops that habit; he does it in The Rubber Band, and in Too Many Cooks, and forever after. But in the Pilot Episode, if he does it, we don't get to hear.