Being Human: Yet Another Hal & Rook Thing. Parallels
The parallels between Hal and Rook, although subtle and probably not exactly plot-relevant, are killing me. I've already mentioned their affinity for pedantically arranging things here, but there is obviously so much more.
(c) isleepnow
1. Cleanliness. Hal is obsessed with cleaning (hell, he even determines the complexity of the process by the number of Marigolds needs (nothing will convince it was a joke. XD).
(c) romolas
Meanwhile, Rook appears to have at least a minor obsession too: the first thing he does upon arriving to see Crumb in 5x02 is wash his hands, though, strictly speaking, he doesn't touch anything. He doesn't just wash them with water, but with soap.
Either he's a bit germaphobic or he's a lot vamp-phobic and the mere sight of Crumb makes him want to scrub himnself clean. Which I kind of understand. XD
I don't think he's got some extreme phobia (after all, he stuck a pen into a guy's eyes and he touched Alan's face, and that didn't seem to really disturb him), but some minor issue might be there. I don't think we've seen him shake hands either (and we know Hal doesn't like it: 4x05, 4x06 and 4x08 make a good example of it).
2. Timers. I loved the recurring theme of the stopwatch in many of Rook's scenes. The very first time he appears, we see that he is quite a fan of precise and swift work. He sets the time at 45 seconds and is pleased that his team finishes the clean-up in 37 seconds. The stopwatch later appears when he does more work stuff and finally, when he decides to shoot himself.
(c) arthurdarvill
In the same episode Hal times putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
It might be just wishful thinking, or are they really trying to tell us something? ;)
3. Style. They are both uptight, buttoned up, old-fashioned and potentially have a liking for (or at least knowledge of) poetry: Hal quotes Keats and Rook makes a reference to TS Eliot in his e-mail. This might be a stretch, but then again, maybe not. Also, that awkward moment when I'm pretty sure that Hal is more pop culture savvy than Rook: he knows who Iron Man and Keith Richards are, and I'm pretty sure Rook doesn't know about the former (if he doesn't know about the latter, then he's got problems).
4. Passion. They are both outwardly very composed. But insiiiide... Rook throws two temper tantrums when he realizes that his department is inevitably going to be shut down. Alistair even tells him to "grow up". His e-mails show an obsessive and paranoid nature, extremely dedicated to reaching a set goal. Hal is considerably easy to piss off as well: he is very snappy with Alex in the night club basement (even though she's got every right to bitch at him after he got her killed), he fights with Tom in 4x04, he "needs to vent" in 4x02, he needs to vent again with Larry in 5x03...
(c) jbaggles
Speaking of "growing up", I do believe that Hal should do that too. He needs someone to give him a no-nonsense speech like Nina did to Mitchell about vampires and their "inscrutable bullshit". Before series 5, I had a headcanon that Hal was so vicious in the AU future because he was pissed at Leo dying and Pearl leaving. I'm not sure how consistent that would be with his character in series 5, but I do think that he is the kind of person who is prone to making the world go to hell because of a temper tantrum. And judging by the spoilers for 5x04, Rook is just about to do the same.
(c) isleepnow
1. Cleanliness. Hal is obsessed with cleaning (hell, he even determines the complexity of the process by the number of Marigolds needs (nothing will convince it was a joke. XD).
(c) romolas
Meanwhile, Rook appears to have at least a minor obsession too: the first thing he does upon arriving to see Crumb in 5x02 is wash his hands, though, strictly speaking, he doesn't touch anything. He doesn't just wash them with water, but with soap.
Either he's a bit germaphobic or he's a lot vamp-phobic and the mere sight of Crumb makes him want to scrub himnself clean. Which I kind of understand. XD
I don't think he's got some extreme phobia (after all, he stuck a pen into a guy's eyes and he touched Alan's face, and that didn't seem to really disturb him), but some minor issue might be there. I don't think we've seen him shake hands either (and we know Hal doesn't like it: 4x05, 4x06 and 4x08 make a good example of it).
2. Timers. I loved the recurring theme of the stopwatch in many of Rook's scenes. The very first time he appears, we see that he is quite a fan of precise and swift work. He sets the time at 45 seconds and is pleased that his team finishes the clean-up in 37 seconds. The stopwatch later appears when he does more work stuff and finally, when he decides to shoot himself.
(c) arthurdarvill
In the same episode Hal times putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
It might be just wishful thinking, or are they really trying to tell us something? ;)
3. Style. They are both uptight, buttoned up, old-fashioned and potentially have a liking for (or at least knowledge of) poetry: Hal quotes Keats and Rook makes a reference to TS Eliot in his e-mail. This might be a stretch, but then again, maybe not. Also, that awkward moment when I'm pretty sure that Hal is more pop culture savvy than Rook: he knows who Iron Man and Keith Richards are, and I'm pretty sure Rook doesn't know about the former (if he doesn't know about the latter, then he's got problems).
4. Passion. They are both outwardly very composed. But insiiiide... Rook throws two temper tantrums when he realizes that his department is inevitably going to be shut down. Alistair even tells him to "grow up". His e-mails show an obsessive and paranoid nature, extremely dedicated to reaching a set goal. Hal is considerably easy to piss off as well: he is very snappy with Alex in the night club basement (even though she's got every right to bitch at him after he got her killed), he fights with Tom in 4x04, he "needs to vent" in 4x02, he needs to vent again with Larry in 5x03...
(c) jbaggles
Speaking of "growing up", I do believe that Hal should do that too. He needs someone to give him a no-nonsense speech like Nina did to Mitchell about vampires and their "inscrutable bullshit". Before series 5, I had a headcanon that Hal was so vicious in the AU future because he was pissed at Leo dying and Pearl leaving. I'm not sure how consistent that would be with his character in series 5, but I do think that he is the kind of person who is prone to making the world go to hell because of a temper tantrum. And judging by the spoilers for 5x04, Rook is just about to do the same.