Tuesday, March 30, 2010

LO:CI--So long to Bobby and Alex

I never post two posts in one day. Bad karma or something, I think. But today requires a special second post. So without further ado, here it is:

Dear Bobby and Alex,

Well, tonight's the night. The night we begin to say goodbye. The night you'll blow our minds with some sort of massive way out of a show your characters have created and maintained for eight seasons. Eight seasons that I've watched you, laughed with you, cried with you, gasped with you, and felt every emotion that goes along with seeing some of the worst that people can do to one another,and sometimes the best. Remember the doctor who poisoned his poor lovers with zoonotic drugs after making them sleep with his vet friend? That was pretty disgusting. And in "Jones", when Eames got her man just by taking her jacket off. Griffin Dunne's character was more than willing to jump through any hoop laid in front of him. Size 13 shoes, eh, Bobby? What writer came up with that one? Classic.

The desperation of Neil Patrick Harris' character in "Want" is one that has stuck with me for years. What happens when people lose all control over the social norms that make us human? How do we live with the guilt of wanting, more than anything, to avoid loneliness and be loved? Or when Eames was kidnapped by Jo Gage and got out of her own accord, her own wits, despite Goren's desperation to find the one solid cornerstone in his life. Gage's need to be loved, to be needed by her own father, overran all logic. Bobby understood that. He lived it himself. And Eames always returned, no matter what that goofball did. God, Bobby, you may be a genius but you have the common sense of an idiot. Loyalty is something that both of you guys have loads of...more than most people will ever know.

Watching Bobby's self-imposed exile in seasons six and seven was as painful as it was intriguing. Why? When you have people who can and could and will and would love you, why do you keep them away? Questions that we all can relate to. And Eames, facing the death of her husband once again, together but alone. It never goes away. How do you compartmentalize, keep going, despite the pain that haunts every bit of your existence? A loss that has always been there but never known about?

Of course, all fans will remember the episode Frame as it seemed to culminate seven years' worth of storyline. The death of Nicole Wallace, the one woman Bobby probably, as sad as it is, felt worthy to love; the death of his brother; the one person he felt responsible for loving; and the ending of Gage, his mentor, the one he had seen disintegrating before his very eyes...the one he used to love and trust, like a parent. Pain from all sides. How does one recover from that?

My favorite scenes--more snark than I can mention. Alex is the queen of snark. I love it. I would live my life that way if I could. And Bobby, willing to play the wild card to the hilt, living in his brain ninety percent of the time yet unleashing an absolute montage of hilarity just when completely unexpected. What would you have done with a partner who had a bigger ego? One who wasn't willing to let you go through trash cans without bomb squads, who wouldn't let you poke dead bodies and sniff wounds and explore seminal fluids on kitchen floors?

That's why for forever, in my mind, Bobby and Alex go together, like every other famous couple. Yin and Yang, Cheech and Chong, Bonnie and Clyde. You guys made each OTHER work. I know D'Onofrio's a brilliant actor and Erbe has a solid record as well. But the magic you brought together to make this show memorable won't vanish after April 6th.

It doesn't matter if you sleep together or you don't; if you end up going separate ways or not; if someone quits the NYPD and someone is promoted (personally, I would've quit the NYPD a long time ago, but that's just me!). You guys made for fascinating television. Good watching, good thinking. Things I could relate to. You brought ideas to the screen and made a memorable coupling. I will miss you. Armani suits and low rise jeans and tank tops and fancy ties and all. I'd like to say it will be great to see Vince and Kate move on and do other things, but since this is a letter to two fictional characters, that statement is moot.

I hope beyond hope the writers see you out with a fond farewell. Regardless, the fondness I feel when I watch your interactions on screen is deep.

Much love-
A real life fan

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