Post by notuagain on Jun 29, 2010 19:58:59 GMT -5
I always loved this show, but re-watching years later, it is a bit astounding to catch things that didn't really hit you initially. You realize how brilliant it really was. Glenn Caron was such a genius that I think he actually constructed that whole, silly clock tower sequence in part to expose a fundamental truth about Maddie: she is afraid of letting go-- and not just when hanging from a ladder while suspended stories above the ground--she's afraid of letting go in life--in general. It's her biggest problem. She has to be in control at all times--especially of her emotions. The reason David scares the hell out of her ( and she admits to him she may be scared in the "Spouse" episode)
is he elicits and arouses all these feelings and desires she can't just put a lid on. He impels her to act in ways she would prefer not to . For example, her assertion in the "Father" episode that she never lies, completely goes out the window when David is trouble with the police in the following episode. She is loath to act spontaneously, but impulsively hops a flight at the last minute to be with him in the "Mulberry" episode. Of course she is acting like someone in love, and I think this is new for her.
I really believe David is the first man she's been in love with. She loved Sam and knew him since she was child, but I don't think she was in love with him. Sam was an ideal; in a perfect world (something she could control) she saw herself ending up with someone like Sam (at least until "Curious" and perhaps even past it; I'm thinking of "Heiress" when she tells David-- after they make love-- that he is not person she is suppose to be with. ) It seems like Maddie is always fighting the fact that you can't plan and control who you fall in love with.
I think part of her wants David to take more control in the relationship. (Remember her Body Heat fantasy where David just comes crashing in and takes her?) at the same time letting go or losing control really scares her. I think that is why she reacted the way she did the morning after they made love. It may explain why she felt she had to get out of David's life for her own sanity and why she married that dweeb on the train. Her passion for David makes her feel like her life is careening out of control (like the speeding train in that dream again) and it scares the hell out of her.
I would like to think that if Glenn had continued to write the show, David eventually would have felt safe enough to say what he really meant and Maddie would have learned to trust him enough to enjoy letting go (sometimes, at least). And we all would have gotten the happy ending we wanted and these characters deserved.
is he elicits and arouses all these feelings and desires she can't just put a lid on. He impels her to act in ways she would prefer not to . For example, her assertion in the "Father" episode that she never lies, completely goes out the window when David is trouble with the police in the following episode. She is loath to act spontaneously, but impulsively hops a flight at the last minute to be with him in the "Mulberry" episode. Of course she is acting like someone in love, and I think this is new for her.
I really believe David is the first man she's been in love with. She loved Sam and knew him since she was child, but I don't think she was in love with him. Sam was an ideal; in a perfect world (something she could control) she saw herself ending up with someone like Sam (at least until "Curious" and perhaps even past it; I'm thinking of "Heiress" when she tells David-- after they make love-- that he is not person she is suppose to be with. ) It seems like Maddie is always fighting the fact that you can't plan and control who you fall in love with.
I think part of her wants David to take more control in the relationship. (Remember her Body Heat fantasy where David just comes crashing in and takes her?) at the same time letting go or losing control really scares her. I think that is why she reacted the way she did the morning after they made love. It may explain why she felt she had to get out of David's life for her own sanity and why she married that dweeb on the train. Her passion for David makes her feel like her life is careening out of control (like the speeding train in that dream again) and it scares the hell out of her.
I would like to think that if Glenn had continued to write the show, David eventually would have felt safe enough to say what he really meant and Maddie would have learned to trust him enough to enjoy letting go (sometimes, at least). And we all would have gotten the happy ending we wanted and these characters deserved.
if anything, a tragedy like that brings a couple closer, not apart.