Rewatch: S1E09 "I Will Repay" (September 15, 1992) by Brad Wright

[brightknightie]

"I Will Repay" overflows with noteworthy content to the point that it's awkward to discuss. Every scene - almost every line - merits examination. We rely on this episode; it pervades fanfic. IWR underpins our collective understanding of Natalie. It marks a boundary of our consensus on physical FK vampirism. It cross-references other episodes! Most

Comments

[wiliqueen]

I have not enough brain/energy this evening to respond properly, but I very much enjoyed reading this.

Of note: "fledgling" is a Rice-ism that is inevitably imported into all vampire fandoms. It puzzles me; I listen sharply for canon terms for such relationships in any new universe, to the point of being slightly anxious until I have them. Once we do have them, it irritates me probably more than is reasonable when fic authors ignore them. :-)

[brightknightie]

Thank you for letting me know that you're reading!

Thank you also for the Rice-ism origin of "fledgling." (Possibly, you've told me that before, and I'd forgotten. ~grin~)

[greerwatson]

It irritates me, too. I mean, I can see how people might substitute Rice's term because they couldn't remember the details of FK usage. However, it would have been easy enough to ask on list: plenty of people did have the whole series on tape, after all.

some random thoughts

[waltd]

On Control

•After Janette claims to be "too much the glutton," Nick says, "I can control my urges." Janette agrees, but disapprovingly, "Yes, too well, I should say. Few of us are like you." Some interpretations relying on later canon (like "Dead of Night" and "Trophy Girl") assert that Nick has chronically poor control. I always come back to IWR for Janette's authority on the matter.

-- I think the situation is that when Nick is just feeding, he can control himself enough to not take a person's life, but when he is trying to bring someone across, that's where he has little if any control -- he doesn't know where the line to draw is.

On Theology

[waltd]

"Daddy's death is something God wanted," Sara plans to tell her daughter.

I can't find the words for how strongly I disagree with that plan.

-- I agree with you basically, but there are people who firmly believe that this is the right thing to do / tell a child. People like that are not, and will not be, friends of mine.

Take a Closer Look

[waltd]

But did you notice that the nurse at the hospital is one of the two from "Last Act," and that the young uniformed officer from "False Witness" is one of the extras here?

Wow! you've got a sharp eye.

[tamlover]

Interesting reading these. I wasn't aware of the all the different cuts and versions. I mean, I expect to lose footage for syndication, but these aren't always that.

[brightknightie]

Thank you for reading and for replying! Yep, Forever Knight comes sliced in many, many ways. :-)

As soon as the fandom first coalesced in the early days of the public Internet, people discovered that US, Canadian, and German fans were seeing different lengths of the first-season episodes. The second and third-season episodes were the same everywhere the first time that they showed, but subsequent airings saw them re-edited shorter and shorter. As far as I know, there are, total: 1 German cut of each episode, 2-3 Canadian cuts, and 3-4 US cuts.

(As you may know, when FK's first season first aired on CBS in the US -- real network broadcasts! not yet syndication! :-) -- it was crammed into the truncated "Crimetime After Primetime" late-night timeslot. With less than an hour allotted them, the "Crimetime" shows were still obliged to show a full hour's worth of commercials. And so it began... ~grin~)

[tamlover]

I was a latecomer - discovered the show on Sci-Fi channel. That and US DVDs are the only versions I'm familiar with and I don't recall all the specifics of what was lost on SF. So the endgame is that I find all this backstory and info quite interesting.