FORKNI-L
Digest - 3 Aug 2013 to 5 Aug 2013 (#2013-122)
Mon, 5 Aug 2013
There are 3 messages totaling 179 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Discussing "Last Act" - more thoughts (2)
2. FKFicFest 2013: Day 7
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Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 17:51:33 -0400
From: Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>
Subject: Discussing "Last Act" - more thoughts
Whereas "For I Have Sinned" proffered the joys of heaven, "Last Act" instead
suggests that eternity is found through progeny--the immortality of the gene
rather than the soul. It is in this light that Nick sees Dr. Marilyn
Siegel's pregnancy, especially after he discovers that the father of her
unborn child is a terminal cancer patient, Dean Simmons. Clearly, doctor
and dying man had become friends--perhaps because she did a rotation in
Oncology (for she is, remember, still in training), or perhaps through
Dean's volunteer work with pediatric cancer patients (enteraining them as a
clown). At any rate, she offered Dean a future, of a sort, in the form of a
child of his own.
In the show, this is interpreted as an act of great charity and friendship.
Let's look at it more closely.
Marilyn Siegel is engaged to be married. Her fiance, Carl Janns, is
introduced early in the episode when he comes to the hospital to pick her up
only to be intercepted by Nick and Schanke, who have been called to her
apparent suicide. Understandably enough, Carl presents as distraught. Ex
post facto, of course, it is clear that he is actually steering the
detectives to the conclusion that Marilyn has killed herself. However, this
is not obvious until we learn, much later in the story, that he is actually
the killer.
No one can doubt Carl's villainy. However....
Fly on the wall time. Go back a few days, and try this on for size:
MARILYN: Darling, I've something to tell you. I'm having
a baby.
CARL: Oh, my God! I thought we were taking precautions!
(hasty) But it's wonderful news, of course.
MARILYN: Well, um...I guess you probably ought to know
that...well, actually the baby's not *yours*.
CARL: What!
MARILYN: You see, there's this poor, poor patient--
CARL: Where? When?
MARILYN: The hospital, darling. And a couple of months
ago. (I wanted to be sure before telling you.)
CARL: *Why?*
MARILYN: He has cancer, and doesn't have long to live.
I thought--and I'm sure you agree with me, darling--I
thought it would be so wonderful to give him a child, a
future, a life after death.
CARL: **Who?!!**
Is prospective parenthood not a matter for discussion between *all* the
affected parties? Sure, "accidents happen"; but there is clearly nothing
accidental about *this* pregnancy. Furthermore, having Dean's baby was a
decision that would inevitably affect more than the biological parents and
the infant--at any rate if Marilyn were expecting Carl to act as father to
the baby. Yet there is no indication in the episode that Marilyn and Carl
made the decision *together* to offer Dean a baby. It seems to have been
Marilyn's unilateral choice. She simply presented her fiance with a fait
accompli, only belatedly telling him of the cuckoo in the prospective
marital nest.
While engaged to one man, Marilyn decided to have a child by another.
Clearly, Carl wasn't as thrilled as she was.
Quite apart from anything else, there is no indication in the episode that
the child was conceived by artificial insemination. We (and Carl) are left
with the impression that Marilyn has been sexually unfaithful. How should
he have taken the pregnancy except as proof of betrayal?
Judging by Nick's response, the audience is supposed to applaud Marilyn's
decision to have Dean's child. By corollary, the audience is presumably
supposed to consider Carl's anger as inappropriate. He should embrace her
infidelity and its offspring, because her motivation is charity.
The episode loads the dice, of course. Carl is a killer; and there can be
no excuse for murder. However, that merely obscures the ethical issues
raised by the plot. Should Marilyn really be treated as so saintly a figure
in her charity to Dean?
Greer
gwatson2@r.......
http://www.foreverknight.org/FK4/
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Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 15:09:30 -0700
From: Andrew Caruthers <slinter@j.......>
Subject: Re: Discussing "Last Act" - more thoughts
On Sun, 4 Aug 2013 17:51:33 -0400 Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>
writes:
The episode loads the dice, of course. Carl is a killer; and there can
be no excuse for murder. However, that merely obscures the ethical
issues raised by the plot. Should Marilyn really be treated as so
saintly a figure in her charity to Dean?
Greer
================================
It is a great study in Human weakness. Sure, Marilyn shouldn't have done
what she did without all three parties being in the loop, yet neither
should her finacee have allowed his wounded pride to sink to the level of
murder. In the end, considering that the solver of this cime is a
vampire, a "momster and killer", we are left to wonder, who is the more
moral, here? Who is the really evil figure, in this whole mess?
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Date: Sun, 4 Aug 2013 17:47:19 -0700
From: "Amy R." <akr@l.......>
Subject: FKFicFest 2013: Day 7
Today, Sunday, is the seventh and last day of FKFicFest 2013! Today
brings us this year's last all-new story, a "what if?" branching off
canon between first and second seasons, and also an invitation to the
casual after-party on FKCommentFic! Come one, come all! (You *don't*
have to have played in FKFicFest to play in the after-party on FKCommentFic.)
"By Light of Day" by Skieswideopen (PG13, gen)
http://archiveofourown.org/works/911703
Prompt: "a promising cure that does not fulfill its promise"
Length: ~4,200 words
Characters: Nick, Feliks, Natalie, Schanke, Janette
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/None
The 2013 FKFicFest Closing Ceremonies Post
(with linked Table of Contents / Masterlist)
http://fkficfest.dreamwidth.org/28346.html
The 2013 FKFicFest/FKCommentFic After-Party Invitation
http://fkficfest.dreamwidth.org/28664.html
It's never too late to enjoy FK fanfiction! And the authors would
love to hear from a reader at any time! (You *don't* need an account
to read or to comment.)
Want to catch up? Use the "Table of Contents" linked above, or check
us out via the AO3
(http://archiveofourown.org/collections/2013_FKFicFest/works), LJ
(http://fkficfest.livejournal.com/) or DW (http://fkficfest.dreamwidth.org/).
Yay, new FK fanfiction! Yay, loyal FK fans! Three cheers for all the
wonderful people who have written, drawn, beta-read, read and
commented so far this year!
Amy R.
akr@l.......
"Brightknightie" on AO3/LJ/DW
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End of FORKNI-L Digest - 3 Aug 2013 to 5 Aug 2013 (#2013-122)
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