The Redemption of Ray Kowalski
Hello, everyone, I am mrsronweasley and I am here to kick off this new and delightful Due South Community! I will be talking about Ray Kowalski.
...
Please spare this moment for shock.
Good. Moving on.
There are many, many things that one could say about Ray Kowalski. These things include, but are certainly not limited to:
1) Ray is wicked hot.
2) Ray is wicked awesome.
3) Ray is wicked queer.
4) Ray is wicked funny.
5) Ray is wicked. Period.
But this is a community where we're supposed to sound all smrt and whatnot, so I am here to talk about how Ray's character changes throughout the two seasons that we see him, and what it all means.
"Me, I leave the city, I come down with a skin condition."
When we first meet Ray, he perplexes and discomfits Fraser, and annoys almost everybody else. He's a total mystery to the audience, and only at the end of "Burning Down The House" do we find out what the hell he's doing there in the first place.
This new "Ray" is undercover, posing as Ray Vecchio. This means that, from that time on, Ray will be an integral part of Fraser's world. And for Fraser, that means that he must play along.
Pretty soon, these are the known facts about Ray Kowalski:
- his first name is actually Stanley, but he goes by Ray
- he is divorced
- he's burnt out on being a cop
- he's lonely
- he dances (even has dancing feet in his apartment)
- he can't shoot without his glasses on
- he's a damn good cop, with several citations for bravery already under his belt
He's also pretty damn good at blending in. Sure, he looks nothing like Vecchio, he's jerky and hostile at times, but by the time Fraser meets him, Ray's managed to worm his way into the precinct to the extent where people start owing him money. Hey, that ain't nothin', you know?
As the show progresses, we see more and more chips on his shoulders. We see that this is a man who wanted to have children, we see that this is a man who is capable of loving very deeply, and hurting even deeper. He's quirky, he's odd, he's defensive. He's Ray Kowalski.
So, here is this guy, who seems to want nothing more than to run away from his past, as much as he wants to hang onto some of its aspects. He still seems pretty in love with his ex-wife, who happens to be a lawyer that Ray sees on a weekly basis, and appears to be in conflict about it. Mostly, that conflict is not internal - it's with Stella herself.
And here he is with his partner. Fraser is not at all like Ray. I won't list out the ways in which he is not at all like Ray, because they're pretty obvious. So, he's big and red and a stand-up guy, and Ray is still Ray and he seems to almost like it that way.
Except for the parts where he doesn't. Because, sure, he makes fun of Fraser, he can't believe the guy sometimes - listening to symphonies in his head, talking to his half-wolf in public, talking like he's got a stick up his butt - but all the same, we see Fraser's influence slowly rubbing off on Ray. They get into a certain groove, they click, and they start to work well together. They've got different ends covered - Fraser's the demented brains of the operation, Ray's the demented force behind it - and they're partners who trust each other. Fraser goes so far as to hide Ray from the law when he needs it, and Ray, through a certain struggle, accepts that trust - even if he doesn't have it himself.
(Because he can't remember, see? It may have very well been his his finger on the trigger.)
"But the problem is, we're stale. Like bread, or something."
Then, things come to a head. Because, sure, they work well and they have a groove, but Fraser also has a way of getting under Ray's skin, where he eats away at his edges and drives him crazy. Niggling, correcting - Ray's tired of it.
Fast-forward through "Mountie on the Bounty" and you see something tested and you see it succeed. Having come this close do dissolving their partnership (which would force both of them to return to the places they, apparently, wanted to go - Ray and his old life, Fraser and Canada), they change their minds. Why?
(If you watch their faces after Ray punches Fraser, I think it's damn clear, but, you know. That may just be me.)
Because they're not quite done yet.
And Ray has yet to go through the journey of taking his life and rebuilding the broken bridges, and severing those that need it.
"There's nothing like a long Arizona highway to keep an engine running clean."
Step by step, through Fraser as a conduit, Ray takes the mistakes of his life and turns them around.
Through Fraser, he learns to love being a cop again. He, once more, begins to take pride in his work. When Fraser tells him of the Robert MacKenzie, Ray goes with him with very little convincing. He hems and he haws and he bitches, but he goes, and he helps, and he succeeds.
He learns to live with the fact that he and Stella are over. He doesn't like it at first, he doesn't want to accept it, but in the end, he steps back and allows life to move on - and he moves on with it. (He even rekindles his love of boxing, which he had to give up after marrying Stella.)
Having - most likely - lost any hope of ever reconnecting with his parents ever again, Ray does. The same father that moved away after Ray dropped out of college and joined the Police Academy, brings him back his old car, and gives them the chance to make amends - and, slowly, they do.
Again and again, Ray's life takes on a shape that is not at all the shape of Vecchio, and Fraser watches, and he helps.
The biggest redemption of all is, of course, the case of Beth Botrelle. That particular mistake of his career is reversed, and the innocence of Beth Botrelle is proven in the nick of time. Again, this is done with thanks to Fraser, but I would argue that the main driver here is still Ray: Fraser simply helps with the directions. And that, of course, is key.
"So, what, we still partners?"
"If you'll have me."
After that, it seems like Ray regains a confidence he had been lacking. He is finally separating from the life he thought he ought to be leading (either married to Stella, or with a new woman, a potential wife) and is making amends, enjoying his new life.
And then, Ray, who wears his heart on his sleeve and can't hide anything for the life of him, follows Fraser into the north of Canada in the pursuit of a criminal who has done nothing wrong to Ray, but who had flipped Fraser's life upside down while he was still a young boy.
Together, they hop on a plane (literally!) and jump out in Canada (ditto!), into thirty feet of snow in the middle of nowhere. And Ray complains, and he almost freezes to death, and he blathers on about green ships and red ships, and, in the end, he stays. He stays pretty indefinitely, and he does it because of Fraser.
Because, when all is said and done, Ray decides that maybe this new life - this new, post-Stella, Fraser, life - is the life that he wants. Having gone through his rough times, and having made amends with all the aspects of his life that were lacking, Ray moves forward. And, of course, the beautiful part of this is, Fraser moves forward with him.
"And off we went to find the hand of Franklin. Reaching for the Beaufort Sea. And if we do find his hand... The reaching out one... We'll let you know."
And now, come on! Share your thoughts! Alternate takes! Anything! Let's talk Ray Kowalski. He is, after all, the conclusion.
...
Please spare this moment for shock.
Good. Moving on.
There are many, many things that one could say about Ray Kowalski. These things include, but are certainly not limited to:
1) Ray is wicked hot.
2) Ray is wicked awesome.
3) Ray is wicked queer.
4) Ray is wicked funny.
5) Ray is wicked. Period.
But this is a community where we're supposed to sound all smrt and whatnot, so I am here to talk about how Ray's character changes throughout the two seasons that we see him, and what it all means.
"Me, I leave the city, I come down with a skin condition."
When we first meet Ray, he perplexes and discomfits Fraser, and annoys almost everybody else. He's a total mystery to the audience, and only at the end of "Burning Down The House" do we find out what the hell he's doing there in the first place.
This new "Ray" is undercover, posing as Ray Vecchio. This means that, from that time on, Ray will be an integral part of Fraser's world. And for Fraser, that means that he must play along.
Pretty soon, these are the known facts about Ray Kowalski:
- his first name is actually Stanley, but he goes by Ray
- he is divorced
- he's burnt out on being a cop
- he's lonely
- he dances (even has dancing feet in his apartment)
- he can't shoot without his glasses on
- he's a damn good cop, with several citations for bravery already under his belt
He's also pretty damn good at blending in. Sure, he looks nothing like Vecchio, he's jerky and hostile at times, but by the time Fraser meets him, Ray's managed to worm his way into the precinct to the extent where people start owing him money. Hey, that ain't nothin', you know?
As the show progresses, we see more and more chips on his shoulders. We see that this is a man who wanted to have children, we see that this is a man who is capable of loving very deeply, and hurting even deeper. He's quirky, he's odd, he's defensive. He's Ray Kowalski.
So, here is this guy, who seems to want nothing more than to run away from his past, as much as he wants to hang onto some of its aspects. He still seems pretty in love with his ex-wife, who happens to be a lawyer that Ray sees on a weekly basis, and appears to be in conflict about it. Mostly, that conflict is not internal - it's with Stella herself.
And here he is with his partner. Fraser is not at all like Ray. I won't list out the ways in which he is not at all like Ray, because they're pretty obvious. So, he's big and red and a stand-up guy, and Ray is still Ray and he seems to almost like it that way.
Except for the parts where he doesn't. Because, sure, he makes fun of Fraser, he can't believe the guy sometimes - listening to symphonies in his head, talking to his half-wolf in public, talking like he's got a stick up his butt - but all the same, we see Fraser's influence slowly rubbing off on Ray. They get into a certain groove, they click, and they start to work well together. They've got different ends covered - Fraser's the demented brains of the operation, Ray's the demented force behind it - and they're partners who trust each other. Fraser goes so far as to hide Ray from the law when he needs it, and Ray, through a certain struggle, accepts that trust - even if he doesn't have it himself.
(Because he can't remember, see? It may have very well been his his finger on the trigger.)
"But the problem is, we're stale. Like bread, or something."
Then, things come to a head. Because, sure, they work well and they have a groove, but Fraser also has a way of getting under Ray's skin, where he eats away at his edges and drives him crazy. Niggling, correcting - Ray's tired of it.
Fast-forward through "Mountie on the Bounty" and you see something tested and you see it succeed. Having come this close do dissolving their partnership (which would force both of them to return to the places they, apparently, wanted to go - Ray and his old life, Fraser and Canada), they change their minds. Why?
(If you watch their faces after Ray punches Fraser, I think it's damn clear, but, you know. That may just be me.)
Because they're not quite done yet.
And Ray has yet to go through the journey of taking his life and rebuilding the broken bridges, and severing those that need it.
"There's nothing like a long Arizona highway to keep an engine running clean."
Step by step, through Fraser as a conduit, Ray takes the mistakes of his life and turns them around.
Through Fraser, he learns to love being a cop again. He, once more, begins to take pride in his work. When Fraser tells him of the Robert MacKenzie, Ray goes with him with very little convincing. He hems and he haws and he bitches, but he goes, and he helps, and he succeeds.
He learns to live with the fact that he and Stella are over. He doesn't like it at first, he doesn't want to accept it, but in the end, he steps back and allows life to move on - and he moves on with it. (He even rekindles his love of boxing, which he had to give up after marrying Stella.)
Having - most likely - lost any hope of ever reconnecting with his parents ever again, Ray does. The same father that moved away after Ray dropped out of college and joined the Police Academy, brings him back his old car, and gives them the chance to make amends - and, slowly, they do.
Again and again, Ray's life takes on a shape that is not at all the shape of Vecchio, and Fraser watches, and he helps.
The biggest redemption of all is, of course, the case of Beth Botrelle. That particular mistake of his career is reversed, and the innocence of Beth Botrelle is proven in the nick of time. Again, this is done with thanks to Fraser, but I would argue that the main driver here is still Ray: Fraser simply helps with the directions. And that, of course, is key.
"So, what, we still partners?"
"If you'll have me."
After that, it seems like Ray regains a confidence he had been lacking. He is finally separating from the life he thought he ought to be leading (either married to Stella, or with a new woman, a potential wife) and is making amends, enjoying his new life.
And then, Ray, who wears his heart on his sleeve and can't hide anything for the life of him, follows Fraser into the north of Canada in the pursuit of a criminal who has done nothing wrong to Ray, but who had flipped Fraser's life upside down while he was still a young boy.
Together, they hop on a plane (literally!) and jump out in Canada (ditto!), into thirty feet of snow in the middle of nowhere. And Ray complains, and he almost freezes to death, and he blathers on about green ships and red ships, and, in the end, he stays. He stays pretty indefinitely, and he does it because of Fraser.
Because, when all is said and done, Ray decides that maybe this new life - this new, post-Stella, Fraser, life - is the life that he wants. Having gone through his rough times, and having made amends with all the aspects of his life that were lacking, Ray moves forward. And, of course, the beautiful part of this is, Fraser moves forward with him.
"And off we went to find the hand of Franklin. Reaching for the Beaufort Sea. And if we do find his hand... The reaching out one... We'll let you know."
And now, come on! Share your thoughts! Alternate takes! Anything! Let's talk Ray Kowalski. He is, after all, the conclusion.