Last night's Sanctuary
In which I blather endlessly talk about my actual slash OTP for this show.
And no, I don't mean Will/Henry. (Or even Biggie/Henry, no matter how wide-eyed my husband goes when there is face-touching.) I liked this episode on the whole, though it was a bit slow. I think it will feel much more important in retrospect after whatever happens next week.
For me, though, the episode was *entirely* about the James/John moments.
When John first walked through the door, I immediately started to cackle. Then I rubbed my hands gleefully in anticipation of what was to come. I had no idea how gleeful I should have been, though.
I was about to make some smartass comment to kagey about...who knows what, when the following started playing out in front of my eyes:
Holy crap. I mean, it was obvious before he started what John was up to, that he was going to expose Watson's suit. But there was absolutely no reason for the slow, seductive undressing that happened before the suit is exposed. None at all.
This is a man who's unbuttoned another man's shirt before. Who has unbuttoned this man's shirt before.
Watson knows what's coming, of course, but there's this look on his face of..."yes, we've done this before, how could I have been so stupid in the past?"
With an answering look from Druitt.
That hand, creeping so low. The look on Watson's face.
John dropping to his knees. Yes, he's a tall man, but there's absolutely no reason for him to drop to his knees. He could have just leaned forward and opened Watson's shirt.
Oh, there we are. That's a more intimate baring than of any skin, and remember, we're talking about Victorians, here.
So, yes. I wasn't even recovered from that bit, when Druitt starts stroking the machine.
(I have so many caps from that sequence, but I'm limiting myself to one here.) Holy crap. What's interesting, beyond the whole petting aspect, is that Druitt obviously knows his way around the contraption. So I think it's pretty safe to say that they were still in contact with each other when James invented it. (I'll go a step further and say that John was intimately (not that way) involved with helping him with it.)
I'm skipping the whole torture bit, mostly because it's just unpleasant to look at in caps. My question is, though, when John turns his back to James and Nazi dude, what is the expression that passes over his face?
Pleasure or pain? I find it hard to believe that it's anything but pleasure, but at the same time it fits with the way the episode plays out that he actually finds it painful--or regretful--that he's having to do this to James.
So, yes. Druitt arranges to be alone with James, and then we get the lovely rescue attempt. With him down on his knees again.
PW gives such beautiful face. The realization of what's going on, that John hasn't betrayed him again, is lovely.
No comment.
Then, once James is free, he takes the opportunity to take control of the situation. Because he *never* forgets what John is.
And oh, hi, I'm taken right back to Highlander's Chivalry, except this time, it's all about anger and the limits of forgiveness. (Also, PW's phallic object is a lot smaller this time around.)
After John spills his truth (LOL, is killing Hitler the secret to redemption for Jack the Ripper? somehow I am not convinced) and takes back control of the knife, then the question of Helen comes up. What I find utterly fascinating about the scene is the way they play it. Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that John and Helen are obsessively in love with each other. But.
"I know you, old friend. Your passion. Your passion for her just comes off you like a bad smell."
"...You are like a pathetic school boy with a crush."
Who exactly is jealous of whom, here? Is it Helen at the heart of any of this? You absolutely can't tell.
And then, OMG. Then.
"John. Do not dig too deeply. You do not know how much you hurt her."
"Hurt her? Or you?"
*loses mind*
As does James:
Look at all that anger on Watson's face. In the curl of his fingers. And yet:
Holy shit. This is what's actually going on. He's fucking cradling John's face.
Oh, James. There's no question that your heart was broken as soundly as Helen's was.
I'm absolutely convinced, given this scene and what Damien Kindler said in one of the commentaries, that James/John is a hairsbreadth away from being canon. And I don't mean that in that bullshit "OMG they're so canon!" way that shippers tend to toss around. (I don't think that word means what you think it means, people.) You can't actually say that yes, absolutely, they were in love and/or in a relationship, given what's on screen. Everything can also be interpreted in friendship terms.
But I think Damien wrote everything between them with the idea that there were romantic feelings there. And I absolutely believe that Peter and Chris played it that way.
(I actually have a lot more caps uploaded than I posted. Starting here in my scrapbook.)
And no, I don't mean Will/Henry. (Or even Biggie/Henry, no matter how wide-eyed my husband goes when there is face-touching.) I liked this episode on the whole, though it was a bit slow. I think it will feel much more important in retrospect after whatever happens next week.
For me, though, the episode was *entirely* about the James/John moments.
When John first walked through the door, I immediately started to cackle. Then I rubbed my hands gleefully in anticipation of what was to come. I had no idea how gleeful I should have been, though.
I was about to make some smartass comment to kagey about...who knows what, when the following started playing out in front of my eyes:
Holy crap. I mean, it was obvious before he started what John was up to, that he was going to expose Watson's suit. But there was absolutely no reason for the slow, seductive undressing that happened before the suit is exposed. None at all.
This is a man who's unbuttoned another man's shirt before. Who has unbuttoned this man's shirt before.
Watson knows what's coming, of course, but there's this look on his face of..."yes, we've done this before, how could I have been so stupid in the past?"
With an answering look from Druitt.
That hand, creeping so low. The look on Watson's face.
John dropping to his knees. Yes, he's a tall man, but there's absolutely no reason for him to drop to his knees. He could have just leaned forward and opened Watson's shirt.
Oh, there we are. That's a more intimate baring than of any skin, and remember, we're talking about Victorians, here.
So, yes. I wasn't even recovered from that bit, when Druitt starts stroking the machine.
(I have so many caps from that sequence, but I'm limiting myself to one here.) Holy crap. What's interesting, beyond the whole petting aspect, is that Druitt obviously knows his way around the contraption. So I think it's pretty safe to say that they were still in contact with each other when James invented it. (I'll go a step further and say that John was intimately (not that way) involved with helping him with it.)
I'm skipping the whole torture bit, mostly because it's just unpleasant to look at in caps. My question is, though, when John turns his back to James and Nazi dude, what is the expression that passes over his face?
Pleasure or pain? I find it hard to believe that it's anything but pleasure, but at the same time it fits with the way the episode plays out that he actually finds it painful--or regretful--that he's having to do this to James.
So, yes. Druitt arranges to be alone with James, and then we get the lovely rescue attempt. With him down on his knees again.
PW gives such beautiful face. The realization of what's going on, that John hasn't betrayed him again, is lovely.
No comment.
Then, once James is free, he takes the opportunity to take control of the situation. Because he *never* forgets what John is.
And oh, hi, I'm taken right back to Highlander's Chivalry, except this time, it's all about anger and the limits of forgiveness. (Also, PW's phallic object is a lot smaller this time around.)
After John spills his truth (LOL, is killing Hitler the secret to redemption for Jack the Ripper? somehow I am not convinced) and takes back control of the knife, then the question of Helen comes up. What I find utterly fascinating about the scene is the way they play it. Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that John and Helen are obsessively in love with each other. But.
"I know you, old friend. Your passion. Your passion for her just comes off you like a bad smell."
"...You are like a pathetic school boy with a crush."
Who exactly is jealous of whom, here? Is it Helen at the heart of any of this? You absolutely can't tell.
And then, OMG. Then.
"John. Do not dig too deeply. You do not know how much you hurt her."
"Hurt her? Or you?"
*loses mind*
As does James:
Look at all that anger on Watson's face. In the curl of his fingers. And yet:
Holy shit. This is what's actually going on. He's fucking cradling John's face.
Oh, James. There's no question that your heart was broken as soundly as Helen's was.
I'm absolutely convinced, given this scene and what Damien Kindler said in one of the commentaries, that James/John is a hairsbreadth away from being canon. And I don't mean that in that bullshit "OMG they're so canon!" way that shippers tend to toss around. (I don't think that word means what you think it means, people.) You can't actually say that yes, absolutely, they were in love and/or in a relationship, given what's on screen. Everything can also be interpreted in friendship terms.
But I think Damien wrote everything between them with the idea that there were romantic feelings there. And I absolutely believe that Peter and Chris played it that way.
(I actually have a lot more caps uploaded than I posted. Starting here in my scrapbook.)