It looks like Jesse Spencer has a Type.
A bit of Casey meta (which took its origins from an interesting tweet from Jesse Spencer) that I'm cross-posting from my Tumblr.
I started watching Chicago Fire because of Jesse Spencer. Even when I wasn’t terribly impressed by the first two episodes, I continued watching because I’d been so taken with Spencer’s portrayal of Chase and the evolution of that character through eight years that I was curious what he’d do with Casey. I’ve since come to love practically everybody on CF, but that original fascination remains-and with every episode, everything that’s revealed about Casey keeps reminding me of Chase. I didn’t even have to dig deep to realise that these two characters are remarkably similar-not, as you might expect, in the way they were portrayed by the actor, but in the way they’ve been written.
So here’s Chase v Casey:
(Spoilers for all of House; upto 1.13 of Chicago Fire)
1. Superficial stuff out of the way, first: Casey and Chase are off just by one letter. Coincidence? Some mannerisms have been imported, too: Casey has a tendency to put things in his mouth (that toothpick), and his favourite thing to do when not on call seems to be lounging around working on a crossword. Sounds awfully familiar (though I wonder if this is all just Spencer being Spencer).
2. Both of them radiate a remarkable sort of aloofness. While Chase was very obvious in the way he tried to emotionally distance himself from his colleagues (with a couple of notable exceptions), Casey’s is apparent despite the fact that he reaches out to the men who work under him and that everybody seems to like him. He’s always the Lieutenant, untouchable in a way-his own crew knows better than to ask him about his personal life. Severide, in comparison, has these impromptu bonding sessions with his Squad members, and they seem to be keeping better tabs on his love-life than he does; Casey conducts drills when he wants his crew to mesh together. It makes him a good leader; the go-to-guy whenever there’s a big problem-but it also means he has no friend he can really confide in.
3. Obviously, their personal lives are huge trigger points for both of them. The otherwise sanguine and laidback Chase became agitated as soon as his father visited; he fell apart when he received news that his father had died, and this led to the death of a patient. Casey seems like a pretty calm guy himself until his family/loved ones are brought into the picture. He went ballistic when Hallie was threatened-and dare I say, overreacted? He couldn’t concentrate on his job-so much so that Boden had to send him home until he could pull himself together. Certainly, for a moment, I was sure he was going to pick up the gun and kill Voight. One of the most disturbing scenes so far on CF is the one where he’s literally stalking Voight, waiting in the shadows to assault him with what looked like the most badass crowbar I’ve ever seen. That’s not heat-of-the-moment madness-that is fucking cold, calculated. What would’ve happened had Boden not showed up?
4. Both Chase and Casey are sneaky, manipulative bastards. Chase owns up to this practically from the beginning-in fact, it’s because Chase doesn’t mind using unscrupulous means toward a good end that House has him as his go-to-guy, particularly in the latter seasons. Chase can read people-and he’s good at being manipulative, which makes him invaluable to House. Casey, however, believes he’s straight-laced-when in fact, he’s as sneaky as they come. Observe how expertly he managed to fool that lady who accused his team of stealing her necklace. Or how he was perfectly aware of Dawson’s attraction toward him the whole time he was with Hallie, how he exulted in it; and how, after breaking up with Hallie and watching Dawson drift to Mills, he tries to make sure she’s still interested in him. I have no doubts that he’s attracted to Dawson, of course, but I think a part of him loved the attention. Look at how resentful he is of Mills-and all he knows is that Mills and Dawson are becoming closer as friends!
5. Their family history is strikingly similar-both of them had parents who separated when they were young; both of them ended up living with their mother. Chase’s mother became an alcoholic (and possibly abused him-I don’t know how much of what he told Adams about his mother locking him in his father’s study is the truth), while Casey’s mother ended up a murderer. Both mothers had pretty crappy husbands-they could be justified, pitied. Both of them have sisters that they were close to in childhood but ended up estranged as adults. (Yeah, Chase’s sister was a weird s8 retcon, but work with me here.)
6. Chase might have loved his parents, but it’s also clear that he deeply resented them-his father for leaving them, his mother for falling apart, even his sister for needing his constant care when he himself was so young. It’s still too early for me to clearly make out what Casey feels about his parents-certainly he’s a lot more charitable towards his mother than Christie, and I get the feeling he resents his Dad for driving his mother to such an extreme. The fact that he reacted so badly to the implication that he may have left his father’s housekey out on purpose, and that he picked this year, only now, to finally speak up for his mother, is very, very interesting. It’s a family history that may be even more tangled up and horrifying than Chase’s-and certainly Casey doesn’t come out of it smelling like roses.
7. The Dibala incident and all of the issues that it raised. It’s interesting that something similar popped up so soon in Chicago Fire-except it was Cruz that left Flaco to die, not Casey. But Casey is the only one besides Cruz and Leon to know-and it’s implied that he suspected what was going on before Cruz told him. I was interested in his reaction because he came so close to a similar situation himself-that moment, when he was going to pick up that gun and blow Voight’s brains out. His advice to Cruz? Tamp it down and don’t talk about it. This is exactly what Chase tried. It blew up in his face, and House finally told him to seek help. Right now? Cruz is desperately in need of help.
8. (Again, it just highlights that false righteousness of his-if he were as straightforward, as black and white as he claims to be, he would’ve dragged Cruz to the station that very second. But he’s kept secrets. He’s kept Cruz’s. Severide’s. Dawson’s. His mother’s. He’s greyer than anything, is Casey. Just like Chase.)
9. And finally-Chase was clearly House’s favourite. :p So is Casey Boden’s.
These points are, of course, mostly my opinion. You are welcome to agree/disagree/dismiss as you please. :)
CF is only 13 episodes old, and there’s so much we’re yet to see of Matthew Casey. I think what Spencer was trying to say is that Casey believes there’s a right way, and honestly tries to choose it every time, but-hey. He’s only human. And therefore fascinating.
I started watching Chicago Fire because of Jesse Spencer. Even when I wasn’t terribly impressed by the first two episodes, I continued watching because I’d been so taken with Spencer’s portrayal of Chase and the evolution of that character through eight years that I was curious what he’d do with Casey. I’ve since come to love practically everybody on CF, but that original fascination remains-and with every episode, everything that’s revealed about Casey keeps reminding me of Chase. I didn’t even have to dig deep to realise that these two characters are remarkably similar-not, as you might expect, in the way they were portrayed by the actor, but in the way they’ve been written.
So here’s Chase v Casey:
(Spoilers for all of House; upto 1.13 of Chicago Fire)
1. Superficial stuff out of the way, first: Casey and Chase are off just by one letter. Coincidence? Some mannerisms have been imported, too: Casey has a tendency to put things in his mouth (that toothpick), and his favourite thing to do when not on call seems to be lounging around working on a crossword. Sounds awfully familiar (though I wonder if this is all just Spencer being Spencer).
2. Both of them radiate a remarkable sort of aloofness. While Chase was very obvious in the way he tried to emotionally distance himself from his colleagues (with a couple of notable exceptions), Casey’s is apparent despite the fact that he reaches out to the men who work under him and that everybody seems to like him. He’s always the Lieutenant, untouchable in a way-his own crew knows better than to ask him about his personal life. Severide, in comparison, has these impromptu bonding sessions with his Squad members, and they seem to be keeping better tabs on his love-life than he does; Casey conducts drills when he wants his crew to mesh together. It makes him a good leader; the go-to-guy whenever there’s a big problem-but it also means he has no friend he can really confide in.
3. Obviously, their personal lives are huge trigger points for both of them. The otherwise sanguine and laidback Chase became agitated as soon as his father visited; he fell apart when he received news that his father had died, and this led to the death of a patient. Casey seems like a pretty calm guy himself until his family/loved ones are brought into the picture. He went ballistic when Hallie was threatened-and dare I say, overreacted? He couldn’t concentrate on his job-so much so that Boden had to send him home until he could pull himself together. Certainly, for a moment, I was sure he was going to pick up the gun and kill Voight. One of the most disturbing scenes so far on CF is the one where he’s literally stalking Voight, waiting in the shadows to assault him with what looked like the most badass crowbar I’ve ever seen. That’s not heat-of-the-moment madness-that is fucking cold, calculated. What would’ve happened had Boden not showed up?
4. Both Chase and Casey are sneaky, manipulative bastards. Chase owns up to this practically from the beginning-in fact, it’s because Chase doesn’t mind using unscrupulous means toward a good end that House has him as his go-to-guy, particularly in the latter seasons. Chase can read people-and he’s good at being manipulative, which makes him invaluable to House. Casey, however, believes he’s straight-laced-when in fact, he’s as sneaky as they come. Observe how expertly he managed to fool that lady who accused his team of stealing her necklace. Or how he was perfectly aware of Dawson’s attraction toward him the whole time he was with Hallie, how he exulted in it; and how, after breaking up with Hallie and watching Dawson drift to Mills, he tries to make sure she’s still interested in him. I have no doubts that he’s attracted to Dawson, of course, but I think a part of him loved the attention. Look at how resentful he is of Mills-and all he knows is that Mills and Dawson are becoming closer as friends!
5. Their family history is strikingly similar-both of them had parents who separated when they were young; both of them ended up living with their mother. Chase’s mother became an alcoholic (and possibly abused him-I don’t know how much of what he told Adams about his mother locking him in his father’s study is the truth), while Casey’s mother ended up a murderer. Both mothers had pretty crappy husbands-they could be justified, pitied. Both of them have sisters that they were close to in childhood but ended up estranged as adults. (Yeah, Chase’s sister was a weird s8 retcon, but work with me here.)
6. Chase might have loved his parents, but it’s also clear that he deeply resented them-his father for leaving them, his mother for falling apart, even his sister for needing his constant care when he himself was so young. It’s still too early for me to clearly make out what Casey feels about his parents-certainly he’s a lot more charitable towards his mother than Christie, and I get the feeling he resents his Dad for driving his mother to such an extreme. The fact that he reacted so badly to the implication that he may have left his father’s housekey out on purpose, and that he picked this year, only now, to finally speak up for his mother, is very, very interesting. It’s a family history that may be even more tangled up and horrifying than Chase’s-and certainly Casey doesn’t come out of it smelling like roses.
7. The Dibala incident and all of the issues that it raised. It’s interesting that something similar popped up so soon in Chicago Fire-except it was Cruz that left Flaco to die, not Casey. But Casey is the only one besides Cruz and Leon to know-and it’s implied that he suspected what was going on before Cruz told him. I was interested in his reaction because he came so close to a similar situation himself-that moment, when he was going to pick up that gun and blow Voight’s brains out. His advice to Cruz? Tamp it down and don’t talk about it. This is exactly what Chase tried. It blew up in his face, and House finally told him to seek help. Right now? Cruz is desperately in need of help.
8. (Again, it just highlights that false righteousness of his-if he were as straightforward, as black and white as he claims to be, he would’ve dragged Cruz to the station that very second. But he’s kept secrets. He’s kept Cruz’s. Severide’s. Dawson’s. His mother’s. He’s greyer than anything, is Casey. Just like Chase.)
9. And finally-Chase was clearly House’s favourite. :p So is Casey Boden’s.
These points are, of course, mostly my opinion. You are welcome to agree/disagree/dismiss as you please. :)
CF is only 13 episodes old, and there’s so much we’re yet to see of Matthew Casey. I think what Spencer was trying to say is that Casey believes there’s a right way, and honestly tries to choose it every time, but-hey. He’s only human. And therefore fascinating.