Already in this Pilot Episode we get a scene of "Wolfe is in imminent physical danger! Archie is intense/frightened/protective!" <3
Oh, there's that, definitely, but in Black Orchids he's not even in danger. He's not even outside, or lost, or anything! He just isn't where Archie expected him to be, and that's enough to throw him into an INSTANT HISSYFIT. *G* (Although technically now that I think about it, Wolfe *has* wandered off in a building where a murder has been committed and there may or may not be a murderer still on the premises. But there's no reason to think, even if he *was* still there, that he'd go after Wolfe, and anyway I don't think that aspect of it crosses Archie's mind. It's just "DAMMIT WHERE IS WOLFE HE HAS NO MITTENS ON HE'LL DIE.")
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.
That's a good point! Archie should totally have a wisecrack and he doesn't. Huh.
(Closely related, I think, is Archie's habit of always saying something sarcastic to undercut himself after he says something notably loyal or noble or admirable-- I'm thinking particularly of that time where he talks about when he was a kid and saw that picture of the people throwing their baby to the wolves chasing their sleigh and was like "I promised myself that if I was ever in that situation, I would kiss the lady and the baby goodbye and jump to the wolves MYSELF, to save them. But I was a minor then so I couldn't be held to it now." I don't remember what book that's in. Anyway, it's like, ARCHIE, come on, we know you would still do that, you don't have to be embarrassed about it...
And, what I was going to say is, I don't really get that sense of self-aware cynicism kind of masking a cornfed Iowa noble heart from FDL!Archie; he's a little too *sincerely* impressed with himself as a Man Of Action. A lot than he is in later books, I think.)
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Date: 2010-04-06 02:03 am (UTC)Oh, there's that, definitely, but in Black Orchids he's not even in danger. He's not even outside, or lost, or anything! He just isn't where Archie expected him to be, and that's enough to throw him into an INSTANT HISSYFIT. *G* (Although technically now that I think about it, Wolfe *has* wandered off in a building where a murder has been committed and there may or may not be a murderer still on the premises. But there's no reason to think, even if he *was* still there, that he'd go after Wolfe, and anyway I don't think that aspect of it crosses Archie's mind. It's just "DAMMIT WHERE IS WOLFE HE HAS NO MITTENS ON HE'LL DIE.")
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.
That's a good point! Archie should totally have a wisecrack and he doesn't. Huh.
(Closely related, I think, is Archie's habit of always saying something sarcastic to undercut himself after he says something notably loyal or noble or admirable-- I'm thinking particularly of that time where he talks about when he was a kid and saw that picture of the people throwing their baby to the wolves chasing their sleigh and was like "I promised myself that if I was ever in that situation, I would kiss the lady and the baby goodbye and jump to the wolves MYSELF, to save them. But I was a minor then so I couldn't be held to it now." I don't remember what book that's in. Anyway, it's like, ARCHIE, come on, we know you would still do that, you don't have to be embarrassed about it...
And, what I was going to say is, I don't really get that sense of self-aware cynicism kind of masking a cornfed Iowa noble heart from FDL!Archie; he's a little too *sincerely* impressed with himself as a Man Of Action. A lot than he is in later books, I think.)