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return to Due South: season 2 episode 9 "The Edge"
The Edge
air date February 15, 1996
Scene 1
A team of commandos are running through a snowy woods. Some of them take positions behind trees. Others keep running, carrying an aluminum briefcase. They all have headsets. They are sighting on a big stone house. One guy crouches down, peers through some evergreen foliage, and signals to some others. A dozen or so of these team members scramble toward the house, some carrying cases, at least one with a messenger bag, all with guns. The forward team begins working on the door hardware. Other teams approach the place with blast shields and other equipment. A guy throws a grappling hook up to a balcony. The forward team has taken the door off its hinges and rushes in. They move quietly through the house. Another room is full of recording equipment; someone comes through the window of that room boots first. The forward team heads up the stairs; Vecchio is the first one to reach the landing. He turns a corner and sees a man holding a woman prisoner with a syringe pressed to her neck.
VECCHIO: Freeze!
KIDNAPPER: Shoot me, and my hand squeezes three cc's of Lake Michigan into her neck. PCBs will cause cancer. The other toxins will cause meningitis, leprosy, dementia, and internal hemorrhaging and ultimately a very agonizing death.
VECCHIO: Fraser?
Fraser comes in, gun drawn, at the other end of the hallway leading another team. The kidnapper swings the woman around to look at him. She cries out.
FRASER: Well, the threat of leprosy's probably overstated. There's only been seven known cases in this area —
KIDNAPPER: Back off!
VECCHIO: Any ideas?
FRASER: If you take a shot, he stabs her. If I take a shot, he stabs her.
WOMAN: ¡Alguien, algo! ¡Agono!—
KIDNAPPER: Shut up!
Someone else, possibly the person wearing the boots that came in through the other window, is creeping around and has a sight through a slightly open door.
FRASER: Between the shot and the time it will take him to depress the plunger, we have a half-second window of opportunity. Not enough time.
WOMAN: ¡Dispare! Shoot him!
VECCHIO: I don't have a shot.
FRASER: Neither do I.
WOMAN: Mia doso, shoot him!
VECCHIO: Any other ideas?
KIDNAPPER: The idea is that we're gonna move straight ahead together, and then we're going to walk out of here.
VECCHIO: Bad idea.
KIDNAPPER: Time's up, boys.
The woman bites his arm; he yells. She runs. Vecchio fires; he hits Fraser in the neck. As Fraser is falling, the kidnapper catches the woman; Vecchio tackles him and takes them both down.
VECCHIO: Fraser?
The woman and the kidnapper start to pick themselves up off the floor. The guy who signaled the forward team when they were all outside is standing over them with the syringe. Vecchio gets up also, and some of the guys on Fraser's team are helping him up.
LEADER: Ladies and gentlemen, what you have just seen is a perfect example of what not to do in a training exercise. If this was a real hostage situation, you would have just killed the Secretary of State. [He nods to the kidnapper and the woman.] Thanks, Nick. Thanks, Agent Cortez.
KIDNAPPER (NICK): [to Fraser's team as he leaves] Thanks, guys.
GUYS ON FRASER'S TEAM: [slapping Nick on the back] You got it going, Nick.
LEADER: I can only hope that the cooperation between our three nations will be more productive at the summit conference. Or God help us all.
He stomps off down the hall. Fraser, Vecchio, and the woman (Agent Cortez) look at one another. Meanwhile, someone wearing black leather gloves pries a filing cabinet open with a big hunting knife and pulls out a file with a printed label reading "Summit Security Access | Canadian team" and a handwritten name: FRASER, BENTON.
Okay, so this isn't a real operation, and Vecchio didn't just shoot Fraser again. Apparently a summit conference is coming up, and there's some concern someone will threaten the U.S. Secretary of State with lake water (which probably does contain cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls, that is, PCBs; those chemicals were banned in the United States in 1979, but the Great Lakes continue to be badly polluted and Lake Michigan is the worst of the lot, despite Lake Erie's reputation as basically one big sludge puddle—its issues are or were more to do with petrochemicals and actual literal garbage, I guess)?
I'm confident about "dispare" and about 80% confident on the rest of Agent Cortez's lines, which I think translate as "Someone [do] something, [I'm in] agony" and "My two [that is, the pair of you]," but I'm more than willing to be overruled by someone whose Spanish is better than mine.
Credits roll.
Paul Gross
David Marciano
Beau Starr
Tony Craig
Catherine Bruhier
(plus Lincoln the dog)
Now Kash is out of the credits, and Tony Craig's spotlight clip is where Fraser and Vecchio are pulling him back from trying to get to the burning car. Conclusion: "One Good Man" was an extra episode? But it had to go after the Riv blew up because otherwise why would it involve another replacement Riv. In short: The credits on that episode are a stumper.
Camilla Scott, Maria Therese Rangel, Ken Foree, and Gordon Pinsent as Fraser Sr.
Scene 2
Fraser, Vecchio, Cortez, and Inspector Thatcher are in Welsh's office.
VECCHIO: In what manual does it say you bite the assassin?
CORTEZ: Well, I had to do something. You weren't going to.
VECCHIO: But you're the hostage.
CORTEZ: Oh, so we are just a Third World country, we are not supposed to fight back? ¡Gringo barboso!
VECCHIO: Barboso?
FRASER: A Spanish explorer.
VECCHIO: That's not what she said. I know what you said. That is not what she said. You did not say "Spanish explorer."
FRASER: Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, please. Please? Please. This entire situation was my fault.
CORTEZ: The American shot him. Why is he apologizing?
WELSH: He's Canadian.
THATCHER: People, enough. It is imperative that the North American Free Trade Summit operates without incident. This conference is a milestone in the relations between our three countries. It's about cooperation. It's about growth. It's about —
VECCHIO: Money?
She glares at him. A bunch of suits knock on Welsh's door and come in.
WELSH: Ah, Mr. Bennett.
BENNETT: Lieutenant.
WELSH: Mr. Bennett is the U.S. trade official in charge of this summit. Uh, and I don't believe I've had the pleasure.
FIRST GUY: Helms.
SECOND GUY: Bush.
THIRD GUY: Casey.
VECCHIO: Secret Service?
FIRST GUY (HELMS): That's need-to-know, Detective . . . Vecchio? Now, Washington has received some very scary, very believable threats to the safety of this summit. Due to the large crowds of press and demonstrators expected, security consideration has become a nightmare. Let me just say, nothing will interfere with the security and safety of this summit conference.
BENNETT: Special Agent Helms will be heading up security. Now, our respective countries are all counting on this joint task force to be, ah, an example of international cooperation. I trust I can count on you? [The four of them split.]
WELSH: Meaning, if you screw up we're all toast.
VECCHIO: Look, this could be a problem, sir. I don't think we're really bonding. Perhaps Fraser and I should be the ones —
WELSH: Listen, Vecchio, the three of you have less than seventy-two hours to, uh, bond.
VECCHIO: This is not enough time, sir.
WELSH: Vecchio, are you familiar with that old Spanish expression "el gardio del traffico?"
VECCHIO: Understood, sir. We will be a well oiled machine by tomorrow. [He starts to leave Welsh's office.]
CORTEZ: [grabs a tissue from Welsh's desk] The American shot you. [She wipes blood off Fraser's neck.]
FRASER: I don't think he intended to.
THATCHER: Thank you. We clean our own personnel here.
Cortez goes to stand by Vecchio in Welsh's office door. Fraser stands still and awkwardly while Thatcher carries on dabbing blood off his neck. She realizes everyone is looking at her; Welsh raises an eyebrow and goes back to a report he was reading. Thatcher leaves Fraser be. Vecchio and Cortez exchange glances.
Are Fraser, Vecchio, and Cortez just one of several tri-country teams who are going to be working under Special Agent Helms on this thing? Like, at least one in each CPD precinct, and Vecchio happens to be the one in the 27th? If so, where are they getting the other Mounties—by which I mean, how many people does Thatcher have in her liaison office? Assuming the answer to these questions is no, why aren't Fraser and Cortez working with a fed (FBI or Secret Service or something) rather than with a (forgive me, Detective) random member of the local police department? I guess it's probably because Fraser already has a strong working relationship with Vecchio? But how long have they been training together, who are all those other guys, who was the one who was yelling at them at the exercise, why is Helms only coming in three days before the event—I have many more questions. (In addition to my usual questions about international trade events taking place in Chicago.)
Welsh's phony/Spanglish "el gardio del traffico" crack is (a) racist and (b) emblematic of the trouble with police departments in most jurisdictions (aside from the racism in those departments). The "joke" is that traffic direction and crowd control aren't as exciting as "real" police work, ha ha ha. But they are public safety, and they are law enforcement, and those things are every bit as important as solving (or, here's a novel concept, preventing) crimes. Arguably more so, because ensuring the safety of the general public affects way more people than anything to do with most of your violent or property crimes that involve much smaller numbers of perpetrators and victims both. I'm certainly prepared to agree that it's excessive to have armed officers doing that kind of work, but the solution isn't to bust armed officers (uniforms or plainclothes) down to traffic duty as some sort of punishment; the solution is to reassign huge parts of the police department's remit to other agencies (community safety, social work, etc.) and adjust their budgets accordingly.
Scene 3
Vecchio, Fraser, and Cortez are in the car.
VECCHIO: Look, it was a simple mistake.
FRASER: No, it was a miscalculation, and I haven't made a miscalculation since —
VECCHIO: Since when?
FRASER: Well, since the last time you shot me. I'm just grateful you had the presence of mind to shoot me again.
VECCHIO: Well, it wasn't my fault. She jumped the gun.
CORTEZ: She heard that.
VECCHIO: We know.
They have arrived at a service window somewhere, which is almost entirely covered by a blind. Vecchio rings a bell.
VECCHIO: Police, anybody home?
Someone comes to the window; we see him flipping through papers on a clipboard but don't see his face.
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: ID?
FRASER: Ah, it's, uh, Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I'm here on behalf of the, uh, joint security task force to pick up the telephone security codes for the trade summit. I believe you were expecting us?
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: Your health insurance number.
FRASER: Ah, five-five-nine, seven-six-four, nine-two-one.
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: Mother's maiden name?
FRASER: Pinsent.
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: Code word of the day?
FRASER: "Manatee."
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: Sign here, please.
Fraser signs a form. The guy rubber-stamps an envelope and hands it to him.
FRASER: Thank you kindly.
GUY WITH CLIPBOARD: Thank you.
VECCHIO: [as they are leaving] What's with all this security hocus-pocus for a trade meeting?
CORTEZ: Not any trade meeting. Top NAFTA representatives.
VECCHIO: Yeah, well, in my country, nobody knows what NAFTA is, or cares.
FRASER: Somebody does, apparently, enough to — [He stops and looks at the envelope.]
VECCHIO: What?
FRASER: When that security official stamped this document, he did it rather hard.
VECCHIO: Yeah, well, those phone company boys are tough.
FRASER: Yeah, but if you stamp documents all day long, and you do it that hard, Ray, you develop tendonitis. So you start to use a — a rolling motion.
He heads back toward the window and peers under the blind. Now he and the others can see the guy they should have got the codes from; he is behind a desk in the back of the room, bound hand and foot, and his mouth is taped. Fraser and Cortez rush through the service door and go to him.
CORTEZ: Are you all right? [The guy nods. She unties his hands and helps him sit up.] Okay.
Fraser looks around the area and sees an envelope with his name typed on it. He pulls out a typewritten note.
I want to talk about Cortez "jumping the gun," first of all. She was role playing as a hostage, right, and isn't it safe to assume you can't predict what the hostage will do in a given situation? So she "jumped the gun" or missed a cue or who knows what—Vecchio and Fraser's job was to roll with that. Her assignment should have been not do X action at Y time but rather surprise them. So Vecchio is, not for the first time I'm afraid, being kind of an ass to and about a female colleague. Sigh.
And why was he shooting anyway? I am not a Gun Person but I'm pretty sure it's a bad idea to shoot at anything or anyone if you don't know what's behind them can take it. There's been a certain amount of TV-level hand-waving that kind of stuff in the season and a half of this show that we've seen (and of course bad guys will shoot into crowds no problem; that's part of what makes them bad guys), but one of the reasons neither Fraser nor Vecchio had a good shot while Nick-the-kidnapper was holding Cortez-the-hostage was that they were 180 degrees apart, looking right at each other, backstopping each other's field of aim. If he didn't have a good shot when everyone was holding still, why the fuck did Vecchio fire his gun when everyone was moving?
Fraser's national health insurance number is his nine-digit Social Insurance Number, which is the Canadian equivalent of a Social Security Number, and he shouldn't just be reading it out in its entirety to this dude behind the window—but I guess in the mid-90s we were doing that, weren't we. I definitely put mine on all my college applications in the fall of 1994, and it had been on on my driver's license since 1993 and was my student ID number starting in 1995. It wasn't until quite a bit later that most if not all states allowed people to request alternate ID numbers on their drivers' licenses or state ID cards; by now I assume they all use DMV-specific numbers rather than even allowing SSNs to be plastered all over everything in sight. I haven't given anyone anything but the last four digits of my SSN in years. But this was early 1996, before we were all hooked up to Al Gore's internet, a much more (especially w/r/t identity theft) innocent time. (Giving Fraser's late mother the original surname Pinsent is a nod to Gordon Pinsent, I guess? Although he's made of and/as credits and you wouldn't think he'd need an extra nod? So maybe it's just an odd choice?)
It's a bit much that Fraser becomes suspicious because the dude at the window stamped his document (a) hard and (b) straight up and down but wasn't suspicious when the guy asked him for his full SIN and mother's maiden name. I suppose he might have a lot of experience stamping documents himself and know that eventually you'd use a rolling motion? I've definitely had jobs where I had to do repetitive tasks and would recognize a fellow sufferer adopting the same muscle-memory coping techniques I developed. But maybe the guy at the window was new, you know? I just don't feel like the stamping should be what made him feel like the whole business was fishy.
Anyway, NAFTA was the North American Free Trade Agreement, in effect from January 1, 1994, to June 30, 2020. I'm not sure what there would have been for "top NAFTA representatives" (which would be, what, the U.S. Secretary of State and their Canadian and Mexican counterparts?) to talk about in Chicago in February 1996, but I'm not especially informed on international trade issues except to feel like Toby Ziegler made sense when he said "free trade stops wars." (I mean of course I feel that way, because nine-tenths of the point of that monologue is that he knows how to be convincing, and only one-tenth is what he's actually saying. So I don't know if he's right! I just know that I feel like he makes sense.)
Scene 4
Special Agent Helms is reading Fraser's typewritten note.
HELMS: "You know what it is to love your home and lose it. I am losing mine. Canadian forests are being destroyed to build houses in America. American forests are being destroyed to build houses in Mexico. Trade representatives Sinclair, Franklin, and Tedesco have betrayed us. I will see them die before they are allowed to betray their countries again." Lunatic. And you say you don't know this man?
FRASER: Not to my knowledge, no.
HELMS: But he knows you.
FRASER: It would appear so, yes.
HELMS: Yes, it would.
BUSH: You didn't get a look at his face?
FRASER: The blinds were down. The room was dark.
CASEY: [rattling a tin of breath mints] The room was dark, or your eyes weren't sharp, Constable?
FRASER: My eyesight is fine, thank you.
HELMS: Just not today.
FRASER: No.
CASEY: You've been working in law enforcement for some time, haven't you, Constable?
FRASER: For some time, yes.
HELMS: Is there anything going on either physically or emotionally that could be putting you off your game?
FRASER: No.
BUSH: Did you observe anything about this person, Constable?
FRASER: I observed many things. His most salient feature was his hands. He spent a lot of time out of doors. He worked with his hands.
HELMS: Somebody walked away with top secret copies of the summit telephone codes right under your nose, Constable, and the only thing that you can recall is that perhaps he spent a lot of time out of doors. You weren't on the detail at the Prime Minister's residence during the break-in last year, were you?
FRASER: No.
HELMS: Keep in touch.
Again with the feds being very suspicious and dickish to local law enforcement in general and Fraser in particular. Notice Helms introducing the word "perhaps," for example, and Fraser not calling him on it. But my main question about this bit is, if those telephone codes (whatever that is) are top secret, why are they just being handed around in the open like this? I mean even assuming they were in a locked file cabinet in the room presided over by the guy who got tied up, and the bad guy jimmied it open with a knife the way he did to get Fraser's file in the first place, why is the room with the locked file cabinet just there where anyone at all can walk in off the street and ring a bell and (a) see the file cabinets and (b) reach through the service window to open the door if, for example, they're trying to get in to help out a guy who's been bound and gagged? I guess telephone codes are probably not sensitive compartmented information, but I still feel like probably top secret stuff should have a little more access restriction protecting it than this seems to have had.
Anyway, of course Fraser wasn't on the detail at the PM's residence during the break-in last year, because he's been here in Chicago for a year and a half and not really welcome back in Canada, hasn't he? Honestly.
Scene 5
Fraser is in his kitchen talking to Diefenbaker.
FRASER: I made a mistake. No, I made two mistakes. Oh, boy. You know, they say your muscle tone and reflexes start to go in your early twenties. Of course, in your case, that would be in your early threes. But we've made up for it, haven't we? We have increased knowledge, we have increased skill. Yes, eat, eat up quickly. We have to go to bed early.
He's dished up something with what looks like red sauce for himself; we don't see what he put in Diefenbaker's bowl, but maybe another share of whatever he's eating. Probably pasta. Anyway, when he sits at the table, he starts out with a green salad, fair enough, but it looks like it's mostly iceberg lettuce. Tsk. And a big glass of milk. Bless.
"Your early threes" is good.
Scene 6
Fraser is sleeping. His heart is beating loudly. He's restless. In his dream, a light is swinging from the ceiling. He is sitting in an office chair in his red long johns and fuzzy socks, clutching his pillow. He is facing a table with three chairs where a parole board or similar panel might sit. Weird eerie music and strange noises are playing. A clock is ticking loudly. Several clocks. Three children are sitting at the table. They are wearing dark business suits and canvas sneakers: one red, one white, one blue. One of them has his hair slicked back like Special Agent Helms; one of them is Black like Special Agent Bush; one of them is wearing glasses like Special Agent Casey. They are talking amongst themselves. There are toys on the table in front of them: Kid Helms has a pop gun, Kid Bush has a Rubik's cube, and Kid Casey has some baseball cards. The light keeps swinging. They look at Fraser.
KID BUSH: A burglar got inside the Prime Minister's residence, Constable. While the PM was at home. And where were you?
FRASER: In Chicago, sir.
KID HELMS: You think it was appropriate for you to be hundreds of miles away in a foreign country when your PM was facing that kind of threat?
FRASER: Of course not.
KID CASEY: Fitness is not just about strength and reflexes. It's about judgment.
FRASER: Yes, sir.
KID BUSH: [coming up behind him] I can't hear you!
FRASER: [like he's in inspection] Yes, sir!
KID HELMS: [under the swinging light] Over here, Constable.
FRASER: Yes, sir!
KID BUSH: [all three of them back at the table] Eyesight. I understand it's the first thing to go.
The kid Secret Service agents laugh. Clock bells are tolling. The light is swinging. Fraser is nervous. A cuckoo clock is chirping. Fraser sits bolt upright in bed.
FRASER: Yes, sir! [His forehead is beaded with sweat. Diefenbaker whines.] Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep.
Fraser lies back down. Diefenbaker settles his head between his paws. They both try to go back to sleep. Creepy calliope music plays. Dogs are barking. Diefenbaker is the lead on a team of dogs harnessed to a sled. A woman bundled up against the cold comes and unclips him.
SLED DRIVER: Come on, old timer. You're out of here.
She leads him away. The dogs continue to yip. She puts a little puppy in Diefenbaker's spot and clips him to the line as lead dog. Diefenbaker sits and watches the team pull the sled away. The calliope is still playing, and the wind begins to howl. On Fraser's braided rug, Diefenbaker whimpers in his sleep.
Aw, Diefenbaker! 💔
The reaction time and eyesight stuff in Fraser's nightmare is about his losing his edge, but the hundreds of miles away in a foreign country stuff is an interesting thumb on the bruise of his not being all that well liked in pretty much all of Canada, isn't it? I've noted before that they didn't seem to make much of a big deal about his wanting to go back to Canada in season 1, so it struck me as slightly odd that they made as much of a deal as they did about his not wanting to leave Chicago in the beginning of season 2; but now here's his subconscious mind suggesting it's irresponsible of him to be working in the United States? Shows bad judgment? Hmmm.
Scene 7
At the airport. Fraser is walking with Thatcher.
THATCHER: We'll have our trade representative stay on the plane an extra five minutes. Then you'll meet up with the others. Go out the back entrance. No need to tell the Americans or the Mexicans.
Helms, Bush, and Casey are on an escalator.
HELMS: The American trade representative will come out of the hatch second. The guy in the front will be a lookalike. Our guy will wait five minutes, then enter the terminal.
CASEY: Don't tell the Mexicans or the Canadians.
Cortez is walking with a couple of Mexican officials.
MEXICAN OFFICIAL: Nuestro hombre se quedará por los cinco minutos más en el avión. El canadiense sale por atrás. Y el gringo es un doble. [subtitle: Our man will stay for five more minutes in the plane. The Canadian comes in the back. The American is a double.]
CORTEZ: ¿Como sabes esto? [subtitle: How do you know this?]
MEXICAN OFFICIAL: [chuckles] La ventaja de ser mexicano. Siempre piensan que estamos durmiendo. [Cortez smiles.] Pero no le digas a los gringos, eh? O los canadienses. [subtitle: That's the advantage of being Mexican, they always think we're sleeping . . . but don't tell the Americans or the Canadians.]
Someone in a leather jacket with a camera around his neck goes into a restroom. He sets his baseball cap and camera gear on the counter. Suddenly someone grabs him from behind, holding a cloth over his nose and mouth. The leather jacket guy drops to the floor; the assailant takes his camera and leaves the restroom.
Good to see all three security teams trust one another so completely, huh? After all that lip service in the first couple-few scenes. I don't entirely understand why Cortez says "sabes" rather than "sabe" to her colleague, but what do I know, maybe they're peers and have a more familiar relationship than I'd expect. I feel like Fraser and Thatcher would both use "vous" rather than "tu" if they happened to be speaking French to each other at work, don't you? But I could be wrong about that, and my Spanish is way rustier than my French. I'm also a little surprised at "gringo," but I have a vague high school Spanish memory that Latin Americans (maybe Mexicans in particular? maybe not?) have a particular reluctance to call USians "americanos" because aren't we all; at the time we were taught "estadounidenses," but that's a mouthful, isn't it, and I have no idea if it is or ever was in actual common use.
The important analysis of this scene is that Fraser is out of uniform in a black suit with a narrow black necktie and looks terrific. Like, unexpectedly so.
Scene 8
At the gate, all the Secret Service dudes are lurking. The gate opens, and business-suited people start disembarking, meeting the people waiting for them, smiling, shaking hands.
BUSH: [into a radio] Blue Jay is on the gangway. On your toes.
VECCHIO: They're on the move.
Fraser and Cortez nod. The three of them are at the escalators. There are reporters behind a rope line waiting for the delegates to emerge; there are protesters with signs gathered behind them. The Secret Service guys and airport security are accompanying a herd of delegates down the concourse. Fraser is scanning.
VECCHIO: You see anything?
FRASER: Nothing.
The group is coming down the stairs, picking up Cortez as they go by. She continues scanning. Fraser and Vecchio are at the bottom of the stairs. Reporters start taking pictures. Protesters are yelling. Flashes are going off. Fraser isn't sure if he sees something he doesn't like. The group reaches them, and Fraser and Vecchio lead the way through the crowd, who are not contained behind the rope line anymore. More pictures, more yelling. Fraser is scanning. Cortez is scanning. Helms and Bush and Casey are scanning. Others are scanning. Vecchio is shunting photographers out of the way.
VECCHIO: Move aside, please. Move aside, come on.
Everyone is scanning. Everyone is walking. Ordinary passengers are coming the other way along the corridors. Fraser sees something.
FRASER: [into his jacket lapel] Gun. Left.
BUSH: Gun, left! Get down!
VECCHIO: Get down! Everybody down, down! Everybody down!
Everyone who is armed draws their gun. Everyone who is not armed hits the floor. Lots of people are screaming. Fraser vaults over the handrail onto the moving walkway going the other direction and chases the person he's sure he saw with a gun.
CORTEZ: Moving!
She and Vecchio struggle through the crowd to follow Fraser. He reaches the top of the stairs and looks around; nobody seems suspicious. Cortez and Vecchio join him.
CORTEZ: What happened?
VECCHIO: You see anything?
FRASER: I don't know.
Fraser is carrying a gun in this scene. I suppose he's permitted for the occasion. At this point, my question is, if security is such a situation, why are these delegates flying commercial? And if they have to, why not move them through closed parts of the airport? Are you really going to have two dozen armed officers just shoving civilians out of the way in this manner?
Mainly I'm still distracted by the dark suit.
Scene 9
Fraser is at a desk addressing envelopes. Vecchio is reading the list of names.
VECCHIO: Bruce Cabot. C-A-B-O-T. Enid Cabot. C-A-B-O-T. Jacques Camdessus. C-A-M-D-E-S-S-U-S. Boy, we're making a difference for democracy here.
CORTEZ: [comes in and sits on the desk] They called the airport. No one saw a gunman. No one saw anything. Nothing. Nada. [to Fraser] Sometimes a camera lens, if you look at it from a different angle, possibly —
VECCHIO: He saw his hands. Right?
FRASER: Yes.
VECCHIO: He saw a gun. Right?
FRASER: Yes.
VECCHIO: Read the report. There's a Spanish translation.
CORTEZ: You believe your friend. How touching. Also very American.
VECCHIO: You know, I'm getting a little sick and tired of your disrespect. You are a visitor in this country.
CORTEZ: Ah, thank you, Vecchio. I had forgotten the Alamo.
VECCHIO: Is that a slam against Davy Crockett?
CORTEZ: Do you make an effort to be obnoxious, or is it just a gift?
VECCHIO: It's just a gift.
FRASER: He was here.
VECCHIO: Who was here?
FRASER: The assassin. During the training exercise. He saw me miscalculate.
CORTEZ: Well, he would look for a weak spot.
VECCHIO: Oh, come on, this place was crawling with SWAT. He couldn't get within a mile.
FRASER: He could if he was one of them. My security clearance. It was in with the task force files.
The Secret Service guys come in.
HELMS: Okay, listen up. The psych boys in Washington have been working overtime. We got a profile on our man based on his letter. First, he's a woman. [Vecchio laughs.]
CORTEZ: What?
CASEY: One of those retro-sixties types. You know, ban the bomb, kiss a whale. Your typical sandal-wearing, lavender-smelling —
BUSH: Granola-crunching, tree-hugging —
HELMS: Subversive.
VECCHIO: Who happens to be armed to the teeth.
HELMS: That's what the profile says.
CORTEZ: Do you have a list of suspects?
HELMS: The moment we've got something definite, I'll let you know.
BUSH: You find out if and when.
CORTEZ: What happened to all of us being in this together?
HELMS: Some of us are in it more than others. Now, Cortez, you and Vecchio take over for Montoya and Brewster on the first floor, east wing. [to Fraser] You, you stick to your strengths.
Everyone leaves the room. Fraser sits down and addresses one more envelope, then puts the stack away, looks around, and gets up and leaves. He passes the Secret Service guys on the stairs; they don't notice him because they are all getting breath mints from Casey's box.
Blah blah, feds are incompetent, Vecchio may be racist and sexist, international cooperation is a joke, epithets are always funny ("What plaid flannel–wearing, cheese-eating yahoo of a milkman governor signed that idiot bill into state law? . . . It was me, wasn't it?" . . . Like the Toby Ziegler clip I referenced earlier, that line is also from "Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail," which is West Wing s2e16. I don't know why I have that episode on the brain today.) Never mind any of that. The important thing is this:
Fraser has three, repeat, three stars on his left sleeve, which means some time between February 8 and February 15, he passed his 15-year mark of service in the RCMP (or at least got around to adding the third star if he earned it earlier, but both he and Thatcher seem like why-put-it-off-when-it-can-be-done-now sorts, don't they?, so I don't guess he had the star and only just got around to sewing it onto his uniform, do you?).
Scene 10
Fraser and Diefenbaker go outside to have a look around. Inside, Cortez sneaks into a dark room by herself. She opens a file drawer and chooses a file with one page in it; she goes to the copier to make a copy of that page.
🤨
Scene 11
Diefenbaker is sniffing around in the snow. Fraser is looking at footprints.
BOB FRASER: Same boots. Army issue.
FRASER: Oh, hi.
BOB FRASER: Hi. And these have been resoled with used rubber. Michelins. Man knows his tires.
FRASER: What kind of man soles his own shoes?
BOB FRASER: A thrifty one. Look at the way he walks. The curl from the ball of his foot to the outside. Light. Careful. Like a predator. He'll be seen when he wants to be seen.
FRASER: [getting up] Military training, combat experience.
BOB FRASER: Indeed.
FRASER: [as they walk off together] Is this a dream, or are you still dead?
BOB FRASER: Still dead, son. Thanks for asking.
Same boots as what?
Scene 12
Cortez is still making copies. She hears something at the door, snatches her copies and the original off the machine, and is hurrying to get behind a curtain when the door opens.
VECCHIO: And what do you think you're doing in here?
CORTEZ: Probably the same thing you are.
VECCHIO: Oh, I'm here on official business.
CORTEZ: Oh. Is that why you had to pick the lock?
VECCHIO: I'm not the one who was caught red-handed. Do you know that the contents of that file are American government property?
CORTEZ: What's in this file could help save a Mexican diplomat's life. I'm not going to allow him to die over some American need-to-know power game.
VECCHIO: Well, then, you better be prepared to share. [grabs the file]
CORTEZ: [grabs it back] I don't share with people I don't trust.
VECCHIO: [grabs it back again] Me neither.
CORTEZ: Fine. Make your own copies.
She leaves. Vecchio watches her go and then probably does go to make his own copies.
OPSEC, PEOPLE, HOLY CRAP
Scene 13
Bob and Ben Fraser are strolling in the woods.
FRASER: Our man is one hundred and ninety-two point five centimeters in height and weighs . . . a hundred and nineteen kilos.
BOB FRASER: And fifty-two grams.
FRASER: You can't possibly know that.
BOB FRASER: There's nothing wrong with my eyes, son.
FRASER: There's nothing wrong with mine.
BOB FRASER: You know, this could be the one.
FRASER: The one what?
BOB FRASER: Your match, son. Someone who's stronger than you. Faster. Smarter.
FRASER: Dad.
BOB FRASER: First you see one. Than you start to notice more. Before you know, you — you're struggling to keep up with 'em.
FRASER: Dad.
BOB FRASER: See it as a challenge, son. I'd relish the chance.
FRASER: Completely unstable. [as he walks on]
BOB FRASER: Huh?
FRASER: [back over his shoulder] Nothing.
BOB FRASER: You'd do well to listen you your father, son.
FRASER: Dad? [Bob is not with him anymore.] He comes. He goes. Never a word of warning.
Someone is lurking behind a tree watching Fraser track through the forest and mutter to himself about Bob.
For those of us who are less fluent in the metric system, their man is almost 6'4" and weighs 262 lbs 7.5 oz.
Scene 14
It is nighttime. Fraser is sleeping fitfully again. Something startles him; he looks up.
FRASER: Oh, great.
BOB FRASER: [sitting on the end of his bed] Move over. [Bob lies down next to Ben. There is not room in the bed for both of them, and there's some overlap.] The eyes are the first to go.
FRASER: Huh?
BOB FRASER: You start to miss things that you used to be able to see. Worse still, you start to see things that aren't there anymore.
FRASER: Well, I'm not seeing you, I'm dreaming. And would you move your shoulder?
BOB FRASER: Are you asleep?
FRASER: I'm dead to the world.
BOB FRASER: Are you sure?
FRASER: I'm a log.
BOB FRASER: You don't look asleep.
FRASER: Well, I am. So if you wouldn't mind, I could really use a decent night's rest.
BOB FRASER: Oh, look out, son.
FRASER: Huh?
Fraser's heart is beating loudly. In his dream, he is crawling through the snowy woods, holding onto a branch to pull himself up a steep hill. The trees are tall. He is standing in the woods looking around.
VOICE OF KID BUSH: Hurry! The prime minister needs you!
Fraser sees himself lose his grip and slide down the hill in the snow.
VOICE OF KID HELMS: Come on. Piece of cake.
Fraser is running in the snowy woods.
VOICE OF KID CASEY: You used to be able to do it.
Fraser is running. He is holding onto the branch. He loses his grip and slides down the hill in the snow. He is holding onto the branch; it breaks and he slides down the hill. He is holding onto the branch. It breaks. He slides down the hill. He is sliding down the hill.
VOICES OF THE KID SECRET SERVICE AGENTS: Watch out!
Fraser tumbles to the floor. The broken branch is still in his hand. He sees the kid Secret Service agents' red, white, and blue sneakers. The kids are chewing gum.
KID HELMS: You lost him.
KID BUSH: You failed.
FRASER: But the Prime Minister —
KID HELMS: Don't worry. His wife saved him.
KID BUSH: With an Eskimo sculpture.
KID CASEY: No trip to Disneyland for you, babe.
KID BUSH: You lost your edge.
KID SECRET SERVICE AGENTS: Lost your edge. Lost your edge. Lost your edge. Lost your edge. [Kid Helms shoots Fraser with his toy gun.] Lost your edge. [Kid Helms chambers another round and shoots again.] Lost your edge. [Kid Helms reloads and shoots again.] Lost your edge. Lost your edge. [Kid Helms reloads and shoots again.] Lost your edge. Lost your edge. [Kid Helms reloads and shoots again.] Lost your edge. Lost your edge. [Kid Helms reloads and shoots again.] Lost your edge. Lost your edge.
Fraser wakes up suddenly. Someone is sitting on his bed holding a hunting knife.
GUY WITH KNIFE: You were dreaming. [He chuckles. Fraser nods.] You know who I am.
FRASER: You were at the airport.
GUY WITH KNIFE: I read your file. You and me, we know each other. Don't see how you can sleep in here.
FRASER: It isn't easy sometimes.
GUY WITH KNIFE: I tried sleeping inside once. When I came back. My mother's house. Couldn't get used to it. [Fraser sees Diefenbaker lying on the rug.] Woods is better. Blankets you like the night.
FRASER: My wolf?
GUY WITH KNIFE: He's a beauty. But he's got a sweet tooth. Candy bar, couple drops of ether. [chuckles] You should keep him away from junk food. [He laughs again and pats Diefenbaker.]
FRASER: How long?
GUY WITH KNIFE: Two tours.
FRASER: Infantry?
GUY WITH KNIFE: Yeah. You a good tracker?
FRASER: Sometimes.
GUY WITH KNIFE: It's going quick, you know. The cover. Used to be I could hike through the woods fifty clicks, never see a can or candy wrapper. Then it's forty clicks. Now it's ten.
FRASER: Not in these parts.
GUY WITH KNIFE: No, no. Not in these parts. They raped these woods a long time ago. We gotta take 'em out quick and clean. If we don't, they gonna take away every piece of wood, every bush, then us. One at a time. Me, you, all of us. But we know. We been here before.
FRASER: Who's they?
GUY WITH KNIFE: Them! The suits. They keep taking it away from us. A man just needs to get from one day to the next. One day he's in his own bed, then he's in the jungle, then it's nothing. Jungle was safer. A man knew what to expect. Listen, you're on the inside. You could do this easier than me. I'll cover you.
FRASER: I'm charged with protecting these men.
GUY WITH KNIFE: That's too bad. 'Cause they're closing in. They gonna get you. Just like they got me. Think about it.
He leaves the apartment.
Whoo. Fraser does a nice job not shitting himself when he wakes up and a stranger with a knife is sitting on his bed. Sounds like this poor guy did a few years in Vietnam and lost his grip a little bit—losing his mind but not his "edge," as the kid Secret Service agents are saying in Fraser's dream; isn't 35ish too young for Fraser to be having a midlife crisis?
I like Bob-the-subconscious warning Ben that another dream is incoming.
Scene 15
Fraser is sitting in a chair in a hallway. Diefenbaker is next to him.
FRASER: Shouldn't you be on guard duty? [Diefenbaker grumbles but heads out to do guard duty.] Oh, I will bring him in, you can count on that. [Vecchio comes by and keeps walking. Fraser gets up and walks with him.] They didn't believe me.
VECCHIO: In a word? No.
FRASER: They think I miscalculated.
VECCHIO: In a word? Yes.
FRASER: So they're pursuing their own line of suspects?
VECCHIO: Yeah, the granola lady. They're gonna have every health food store in the country surrounded by five o'clock.
FRASER: And he'll have a clear shot.
VECCHIO: What?
FRASER: What time's the reception?
VECCHIO: Seven-thirty.
FRASER: We'd better hurry.
This looks like they were leaving the Canadian consulate, but why the Secret Service guys would be having their meeting there is a mystery to me.
Scene 16
Fraser and Vecchio and Diefenbaker are in the woods.
VECCHIO: Are you sure he's out here?
FRASER: He's an experienced infantryman and an expert in reconnaissance. He's camped out here somewhere.
The guy with the knife is feeding his dogs canned tomato soup. Once the dogs are eating, he starts digging with a trowel.
FRASER: Shouldn't we invite Ms. Cortez?
VECCHIO: Ah, she's busy. [Fraser gives him a look.] She's only going to slow us down.
They keep walking. Cortez hurries up behind a tree and watches where they're going.
VECCHIO: [as Fraser starts down a path] No. He knows we're coming after him. If we take that path, we are walking into a booby trap. [He starts to go around the hilly side of the path.]
FRASER: Ah, Ray. [Vecchio stops. There is a trip wire on the ground in front of him.] I think you should step back. Easy. [Vecchio steps back carefully. Fraser picks up an evergreen twig and dusts snow off the end of the trip wire; it is a tomato soup can. He and Vecchio move a safe distance away, and Fraser tosses a stone at the can: It is a land mine. It blows up.]
VECCHIO: Okay, let's take the path.
FRASER: I think that's a good idea.
They walk on. Cortez is also walking through the woods looking for them. She's been through it; she's covered with smudges. She hears a sound behind her and whirls around with her gun drawn; a rabbit is eating some greenery. She rolls her eyes. Fraser and Vecchio are walking; Fraser is stepping carefully, and Vecchio is stepping like the ground might fall away under him at any moment.
FRASER: Ray, come on.
VECCHIO: Are you kidding me? One false step and I'm an extra in an Indiana Jones movie.
FRASER: You just have to be aware, keep your eyes open. Ray. Duck. [Vecchio dives for cover. A duck quacks.] Anas platyrhynchos. Very unusual sighting for this time of year.
VECCHIO: [getting up and dusting snow off himself] Duck. Duck. "Duck" means [diving gesture] duck. "Duck" doesn't mean [flying gesture] duck. I hate my life.
Fraser and Diefenbaker are looking at some snow.
VECCHIO: Whattaya got?
FRASER: [smells the snow] Coffee. French roast.
CORTEZ: [coming up behind them] At least he's a connoisseur.
VECCHIO: Hey, don't be sneaking up on somebody like that or you're gonna get yourself hurt.
CORTEZ: I could take you out in a second in a fight.
VECCHIO: I'll consider that.
CORTEZ: This is where he lives?
VECCHIO: Yeah. He led us here.
They are at a hollow under a tree. Cortez picks up a photo of Fraser at the airport. Fraser hears something.
FRASER: Step back.
Vecchio and Cortez immediately step back just in time to avoid Knife Guy's knife, which flies past them and lands in the tree trunk. Knife guy takes off. Fraser runs after him; Diefenbaker barks and runs after Fraser. Vecchio and Cortez hurry to follow, but they don't get far.
CORTEZ: Vecchio! [She has stopped a little way behind him.]
VECCHIO: What?
CORTEZ: My foot. [He comes back and dusts off the snow under her foot: She is standing on a coffee can.]
VECCHIO: Land mine.
CORTEZ: Yeah.
VECCHIO: Don't move.
CORTEZ: Wasn't planning on it.
Last part first: Having been a jerk to her this whole time, when Cortez is in danger, Vecchio shakes the assholery right off and takes her and her situation seriously. So that's a little bit okay (and not out of character, considering how he was when he and Fraser first met). Other than that: Vecchio's concern about being "an extra in an Indiana Jones movie" is not misplaced—
—but it's pretty specific, isn't it? (That's a grab from the about-to-open-the-ark scene at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), of course, and all the extras in the background are about to meet a nasty end. I couldn't quickly get similar shots from Temple of Doom (1984) or Last Crusade (1989), but the extras in those films don't fare any better.) I appreciate that there's not a visible puffy spot on the tree trunk where we can tell the knife is going to land. And finally, A. platyrhynchos is a Mallard duck, but (a) it sounds to me like Fraser says "platyrhinos" or something other than "platyrhynchos" (broad-billed, that is, flat-nosed) and (b) the duck we are shown on the screen does not look like a Mallard to me. (I'll allow "unusual sighting for this time of year" because the Mallard is migratory and doesn't care for snow, but look, the things are everywhere, it's not like the Mallard is a rare breed that you'd be surprised to see except that it's the middle of winter.)
Scene 17
Fraser is running through the woods. Knife Guy is running through the woods ahead of him. Diefenbaker is chasing, too. Knife Guy is running. Fraser is running. He comes out of the woods into a plowed field; he doesn't see Knife Guy. Suddenly Knife Guy comes by from behind him, on skis, being towed by his dogs. He knocks Fraser down. Fraser hears more dogs barking and looks around. Bob is hurrying up in a dogsled.
BOB FRASER: Come on, son, you're losing him. [Fraser looks at him like one or both of them is nuts.] Anh. I suppose it takes some people longer than others to do a day's work. Go on, boys.
The dogs take off pulling the sled. Fraser sits in the snow and watches them go. Diefenbaker comes out of the woods and joins him. Creepy calliope music plays and a little puppy runs by.
This dude has got about twenty years and more than fifty pounds on Fraser; he shouldn't be getting away as easily as he is. But the Bob Fraser in Ben Fraser's subconscious is no whippersnapper, so it doesn't make a ton of sense that he's what Fraser hallucinates when he's feeling like he might be getting too old for this. Diefenbaker seeing the puppy from his dream makes much more sense.
Scene 18
Vecchio is examining the mine under Cortez's foot.
VECCHIO: Homemade. Coffee can with gunpowder.
CORTEZ: Dismantle it.
VECCHIO: Look, you don't want to set this thing off, okay? Now give me something flat, like a nail file.
CORTEZ: Here. [She pulls something out of her pocket and hands it to him. He raises an eyebrow at her, she raises an eyebrow at him, and he flips it open: a wicked switchblade. He approaches the coffee can from one angle, then another.] You know, I don't think you know what you're doing.
VECCHIO: You want to wait for somebody else? Ah, man. You know, some days I hate this job.
CORTEZ: You know what your problem is? You're spoiled.
VECCHIO: This is not a good time to be insulting me.
CORTEZ: You know, there's this place outside Mexico City where they dump the trash. People live there, and they build shelters with the garbage, burn it for heat; they eat the scraps. And the only people they see there who have money are the cops.
VECCHIO: Anh, nothing wrong with taking a job that pays well. Okay, now, be very careful. And don't move until I say so.
CORTEZ: You know, the job itself, they don't make any money. You make money from la mordida and the payoffs.
VECCHIO: And you know this because?
CORTEZ: Because I grew up there. [He looks up at her.] You know, there was this one cop. His name was El Halcón. The Hawk. He saw everything. And he never once, once took money from nobody. Los federales, everybody else was on the take except for him. It was always underneath his nose and he never, ever took money. I wanted to be a cop to be just like him.
VECCHIO: Ready? I've never lost a partner before. [She smiles slightly.] On three. Uno —
CORTEZ: Dos —
VECCHIO: Tres. [Very slowly, they slide her foot off the top of the can while sliding a rock into its place.] Slow. Very slow. [They tiptoe away from the mine.]
CORTEZ: Gracias.
VECCHIO: Don't mention it.
The rock falls off the can and the coffee can mine explodes.
It's a nice little monologue Cortez has about growing up in what I assume is Nezahualcóyotl, but what of it? She wanted to be a cop like El Halcón, okay; and now she is. Great. I assume she, like him, does not take bribes. (La mordida = bribery.) But what happened to him? And why is this what she talks about while she's having a land mine dismantled under her foot? Is it because she thinks she's going to die? This is just the tiniest sliver of a thing that could have been really interesting and instead is . . . not. It allows Vecchio to go on a journey (from "Give me something flat, like a nail file"—because of course that's what women carry, cosmetics and related items—to being weirdly impressed by her pocket knife to calling her a partner), but since we never knew what his actual problem with her was (I mean, clearly he doubts her competence because she's a woman; does he also doubt her honesty because she's Mexican? It doesn't seem like he knew about the culture of corruption she was describing until she described it, so that's probably not it?), it's hard to know why this is what spurs him to get over it. I don't know, it's a nice moment between them, but I don't really get why.
Scene 19
Our heroes are in the darkened file room at the stone house in the woods. A reel-to-reel tape recorder is running. Vecchio and Cortez are standing near a file cabinet; Fraser is sitting at a table. The Secret Service team is also there.
VECCHIO: Look, this guy's armed to the teeth, okay? He's got hand grenades, he's got land mines, he's got —
CASEY: Look, we got three suspects under round-the-clock surveillance. We've got this place sealed up tighter than a drum.
BUSH: Every door, every window, every crack is covered.
HELMS: A mosquito could not get through.
FRASER: You have to cancel the event.
CASEY: Are you deluded?
FRASER: This man is a highly skilled soldier. Your government trained him, and he will penetrate the guard.
CASEY: It's not an option.
HELMS: Every moment you spend trying to convince us otherwise is taking us off the task at hand. I, I'm taking you off the detail.
VECCHIO: You gotta be kidding me.
HELMS: Hey, if either of you have a problem, you can join him. Put another man on the Canadian trade representative. Parker. He's young. Hand me your tag, Constable. You'll be escorted off the premises.
VECCHIO: We're coming with you.
FRASER: That wouldn't be smart. Do your job.
I don't see how Parker's youth is a relevant factor except if it means he'll listen to Helms and not get ideas of his own.
Scene 20
The event is beginning. Cars are coming through with little flags on their fenders and being met by guys with earpieces. Inside, people are milling around, chatting. Outside, a catering van (Boccara Fratelli, Chicago's Finest Caterers) arrives. A dude in chef's whites, including the hat, gets out of the driver's door. Fraser is watching this happen. Inside, more people are arriving. Schmoozy saxophone music is playing. Vecchio and Cortez are scoping out the crowd.
SOME GUY: Good to see you.
ANOTHER GUY: And you, Mr. Sinclair. May I present my wife, Helen.
OTHER PEOPLE, ELSEWHERE: Piers. Lydia.
CORTEZ: All clear.
VECCHIO: You look great.
CORTEZ: Thank you.
A woman is getting a drink at a bar cart. A waiter goes by with a tray full of glasses of champagne. People take them and thank him. The waiter is Fraser.
FRASER: Agent Helms.
HELMS: You sneaky son of a —
FRASER: Yes, it's quite true, but if I got through your security, so will he.
HELMS: Okay, either you leave here quietly or I'll have my men drag you out, do you understand me?
FRASER: [with his eye on someone across the room] Yes.
WOMAN IN A RECEIVING LINE: I hope things are well in Ottawa.
MAN IN BLACK TIE: Oh, they're going very well.
BENNET: Mr. Pierce, I'd like you to meet Mr. Greenway of Portland, Oregon.
Greenway shakes hands with the man in black tie (Pierce); Greenway is Knife Guy.
MAN IN BLACK TIE (PIERCE): Mr. Greenway.
KNIFE GUY ("GREENWAY"): Mr. Ambassador.
FRASER: Will you excuse me? [He glides through the room and over to Vecchio.] Our man's with Pierce.
VECCHIO: [into his earpiece] Uh, Mexico. [Cortez looks up.] Nine o'clock, our man's with Pierce.
FRASER: On three?
VECCHIO: On three.
CORTEZ: On three.
They start moving toward "Greenway" and Pierce.
"GREENWAY": I sent you some correspondence about three months ago. I hope that you got it and had a chance to read it. Yes, I have something here that you might want to look over tonight. [He starts to reach for something; he is carrying a gun in a holster.]
VECCHIO: Uno.
CORTEZ: Dos.
FRASER: Tres.
Fraser pulls "Greenway" back from Pierce and rushes forward to get Pierce down. Vecchio and Cortez protect others. People nearby hit the ground; there is some screaming and confusion. Across the room, Helms and Bush draw their guns. "Greenway" grabs Fraser and holds his gun to Fraser's neck.
"GREENWAY": Everybody freeze!
Vecchio and Cortez draw their weapons.
HELMS: Hold your fire!
"GREENWAY": Don't move a muscle. Now we're gonna walk out of here together.
FRASER: I don't think they're prepared to just let you walk out of here.
"GREENWAY": If you move, I'll shoot him. Lower your guns. [Nobody lowers their guns.] Lower your guns! [They all start to lower their guns.]
FRASER: You won't survive.
"GREENWAY": What do you know about survival? [He starts walking Fraser out of the room.]
FRASER: Well, at the moment, very little, it would seem. Although there was a time when I knew everything. I was always right, and I was never wrong. Until one day when I was in the woods with my father. We were tracking a killer in the bush. And then suddenly one set of prints became two. Split right. Split left. My father said the killer had gone left and retraced his steps. I said he'd gone right and retraced his steps.
VECCHIO: There he goes again.
FRASER: So as it turns out, there was a third option.
"GREENWAY": Two killers.
FRASER: Exactly. So, you see, I was both right and I was wrong. And you can never lose sight of that distinction, because if you do, you're beaten. You won't know where you are or who you are. And then the enemy is everywhere and everyone.
"GREENWAY": I haven't lost sight of anything. I know who I am. I spent three years in the jungle in the service of this country. Now they are taking it away from me. The air, the trees, the water. They're taking away my home. Take away a man's home, you take away his honor.
FRASER: They're not taking away your honor, they're taking away your hiding place. And if you know who you are, you don't have to hide.
Helms is watching "Greenway" and Fraser carefully. Vecchio has his gun down but ready with both hands on it. Helms has his gun down. He points to something over to his left. Fraser looks. As Casey pops up from behind the bar cart, Fraser ducks under "Greenway's" arm, wrenches it around behind him, and tackles him to the ground. Casey shoots and hits a lamp. Someone screams. Everyone rushes to Fraser and Greenway.
VECCHIO: Hey. You okay?
FRASER: Yeah, I'm fine.
The Secret Service haul "Greenway" to his feet.
HELMS: Cuff him! What's your name? [He doesn't answer. Everyone still has guns pointed at him.] What's your name?
"GREENWAY": LaCroix. Macon LaCroix.
HELMS: We're traveling.
The people at this party are dressed in a frankly astonishing range of levels of formality, and it's also not clear who the hosts (or guests of honor) actually are. At the beginning there are a couple of men in business suits and a woman in a sharp cocktail suit, but here are a couple of other women in backless evening dresses, and people are going through what seems to be a receiving line featuring three middle-aged men in uniform; the one in the middle appears to be in what we now know is RCMP formal dress uniform, on his left is a White dude in what may be a U.S. Army or other service branch dress uniform, and on his right is a Latin dude in what may be a Mexican military uniform of some sort. Later, all the men are in black tie and the women in spangly evening gowns, and "I hope things are well in Ottawa" lady is speaking to Ambassador (?!) Pierce in what is evidently another receiving line. (Are we busting ambassadors down to "trade representative" now?) Once LaCroix has Fraser under his gun, nobody really flees; people are sitting still, sure, but they seem to be watching as if this were a floor show, hardly looking scared. I'm not super impressed with the extras in this scene, is I guess what I'm saying.
Anyway, Fraser's story is not an Inuit story (despite Vecchio saying "There he goes again"), and he's not signaling anything to Vecchio and Cortez with his "third option" stuff, though it seems from the camera work like that's what he's trying to do. And then he's trying to make LaCroix see that it's important to be aware of the difference between right and wrong—when the whole point of his story was that he was both. This is kind of all over the place? I mean it's true that it's possible to be both right and wrong at the same time. I think in this case LaCroix is right to oppose the destruction of the forests, but wrong in how he's going about protesting it. But rather than be sympathetic to him, Fraser is giving him "if you lose sight of the distinction, you're beaten." Come on, man.
And where does "if you know who you are, you don't have to hide" come from? It's a very useful line to come back to if you happen to want to write a Fraser coming out of any type of closet, but in this scene in this episode, nobody's hiding—this guy just wants to be left alone. (Well, he wants a little more than that, which is why he brings a gun to a black tie reception, but he's not hiding, is my point.)
I do not appreciate Vecchio telling Cortez she looks great. I wanted his journey in the earlier scene to end in a place of professional respect, not in a place of social opportunity.
I want Fraser to look better in white tie than I think he does, but I suspect it's the slightly ill-fitting white jacket that ruins it. Proper white tie, with tails, would probably suit him very well indeed.
Scene 21
The party is apparently over. Vecchio is talking to Cortez; Fraser is talking to Thatcher.
CORTEZ: So is it true you never lost a partner?
VECCHIO: Well, uh . . . no.
CORTEZ: No.
VECCHIO: Well, what I meant was I never lost a partner to a land mine.
CORTEZ: That's not what you said.
VECCHIO: Well, that's what I meant.
CORTEZ: I can't believe you lied to me.
VECCHIO: Well, technically, I didn't lie to you. You see, he was hit by a minivan.
CORTEZ: Oh.
VECCHIO: While I was driving. [He hurries away.]
CORTEZ: Vecchio! [She follows him.]
THATCHER: You saved the trade representative.
FRASER: Yes, sir.
THATCHER: And then you saved the assassin?
FRASER: I'm afraid I did.
THATCHER: If you think you can use this to buy your way onto the Prime Minister's security detail —
FRASER: Well, that wasn't my first thought, sir.
THATCHER: Of course not. I'll see that you receive a commendation.
FRASER: Well, that won't be necessary, sir.
THATCHER: Well what do you want?
FRASER: [thinks about this for a moment] Coffee. Would you care for some coffee?
THATCHER: Um, well, I, I don't think that — [Fraser is ducking his head; he understands.] — All right.
FRASER: Good.
THATCHER: Yes. Um, fine. Get the car.
FRASER: [goes to do this, but pauses and offers her the key] Uh, do you want to drive?
THATCHER: Yes. [takes the key] No. [gives him the key] Uh, you drive. No — [takes the key] — I'll drive. [gives him the key] You.
FRASER: Understood.
He heads out. She follows him. They pass the stairs where the three kid Secret Service agents are blowing bubbles in their gum.
KID HELMS: Not bad.
KID BUSH: I think he's back.
So I don't know where we're supposed to feel like we got to with the Vecchio-and-Cortez thing. And we never did learn what she was making copies of, did we? And meanwhile, I'm sorry, instead of a commendation for valor, what Fraser wants is a COFFEE DATE WITH HIS BOSS? That . . . simply does not compute. I can see that she's pretty and he finds her compelling, but it's the coffee date instead of the commendation that doesn't feel like Fraser to me. The guy whose job is the essence of who he is. When he just finished talking about how important it is to know who you are. Oy vey.
Cumulative body count: 20
Red uniform: Does not appear in this episode