Oddly touching, oddly disturbing...
Feb. 10th, 2006 02:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hmpfI'm still in the grip of the Evil Real Life Monster, but occasionally I watch bits and pieces of HL in between. Today I watched the scene in Rev. 6:8 where Kronos and Methos meet Silas in the woods.
I found myself oddly touched by Methos' reunion with Silas, and disturbed on a number of levels. Touched because his joy of meeting Silas after such a long separation is so obvious. (Btw: he says it's been "over a thousand years", which seems to suggest he met Silas again at least once after the parting of the Horsemen. Interesting. Or perhaps it refers to Silas and *Kronos* parting ways then. Yeah, that makes more sense, I think.) Anyway. So, Methos is *really* happy to be seeing Silas again; I don't think that's him pretending. It's hard to fake a laugh like that. Although... who knows. Still. I choose to believe that in that one moment, and probably *only* that one moment, Methos really lets his guard down and gives in to the joy of being reunited with a very old friend.
Which brings me to the disturbing part. On one level I'm disturbed because Silas represents a part of Methos' past that, at some point, Methos was obviously very eager to leave behind, and isn't too thrilled to have catching up with him now. So, how can he be so unequivocally happy, even if he likes Silas a lot? Shouldn't there be a lot of very uneasy feelings, even if there is also happiness? And, from the look and sound of it, it's such a strangely *innocent* happiness, too. Something in my brain says 'does not compute' when I think about (former) mass-murdering psychopaths(?) having a happy, and, for that moment, totally non-sinister, reunion...
And on another level I'm disturbed because, Methos being Methos, he must have plans of playing MacLeod against the Horsemen already. So that means he must at least be considering the option of betraying Silas in the near future (although I'm willing to believe that he fooled himself into believing that perhaps this needn't result in Silas' death). And all the while he's acting like for the past millennium or so he couldn't wait to play happy little Horsemen with Silas again.
Whatever's going on inside Methos in that scene, it has to be a strange, and probably painful mix of emotions. Trying to imagine it only makes my brain go 'does not compute' again, which, frankly, is a result I often get when seriously trying to think about Methos' inner life. (But that's part of the fun, too.)
All of this, of course, brings us to some familiar conclusions: 1.) Methos is probably the greatest double-dealing bastard there ever was, and you shouldn't trust him not to betray you to your death even when he's obviously very happy to see you. And 2.) Methos must have an incredible ability to cope with inner contradictions and conflict.
I found myself oddly touched by Methos' reunion with Silas, and disturbed on a number of levels. Touched because his joy of meeting Silas after such a long separation is so obvious. (Btw: he says it's been "over a thousand years", which seems to suggest he met Silas again at least once after the parting of the Horsemen. Interesting. Or perhaps it refers to Silas and *Kronos* parting ways then. Yeah, that makes more sense, I think.) Anyway. So, Methos is *really* happy to be seeing Silas again; I don't think that's him pretending. It's hard to fake a laugh like that. Although... who knows. Still. I choose to believe that in that one moment, and probably *only* that one moment, Methos really lets his guard down and gives in to the joy of being reunited with a very old friend.
Which brings me to the disturbing part. On one level I'm disturbed because Silas represents a part of Methos' past that, at some point, Methos was obviously very eager to leave behind, and isn't too thrilled to have catching up with him now. So, how can he be so unequivocally happy, even if he likes Silas a lot? Shouldn't there be a lot of very uneasy feelings, even if there is also happiness? And, from the look and sound of it, it's such a strangely *innocent* happiness, too. Something in my brain says 'does not compute' when I think about (former) mass-murdering psychopaths(?) having a happy, and, for that moment, totally non-sinister, reunion...
And on another level I'm disturbed because, Methos being Methos, he must have plans of playing MacLeod against the Horsemen already. So that means he must at least be considering the option of betraying Silas in the near future (although I'm willing to believe that he fooled himself into believing that perhaps this needn't result in Silas' death). And all the while he's acting like for the past millennium or so he couldn't wait to play happy little Horsemen with Silas again.
Whatever's going on inside Methos in that scene, it has to be a strange, and probably painful mix of emotions. Trying to imagine it only makes my brain go 'does not compute' again, which, frankly, is a result I often get when seriously trying to think about Methos' inner life. (But that's part of the fun, too.)
All of this, of course, brings us to some familiar conclusions: 1.) Methos is probably the greatest double-dealing bastard there ever was, and you shouldn't trust him not to betray you to your death even when he's obviously very happy to see you. And 2.) Methos must have an incredible ability to cope with inner contradictions and conflict.
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Trying to phrase what I *really* mean more clearly...
Date: 2006-02-10 08:47 pm (UTC)I think what bothers me is that I *think* Methos is ready to betray pretty much anyone at the drop of a hat if the stakes are high enough. Which, on the one hand, is a very sensible 'skill'... but on the other hand makes him a frelling unpredictable, unreliable friend.
Re: Trying to phrase what I *really* mean more clearly...
Date: 2006-02-11 01:14 am (UTC)If Silas hadn't been sent to kill Cassandra, I'm not sure Methos would have fought him. And until the moment Kronos saw him fighting Silas it seemed to me that Methos was mostly on the defense, holding Silas off rather than actively trying to kill him.
Anyhow, maybe I'm choosing to view him through rose-coloured glasses.
Oh, I think...
Date: 2006-02-11 08:14 am (UTC)>If Silas hadn't been sent to kill Cassandra, I'm not sure Methos would have fought him.
I agree. I think he wouldn't. But I think we both know that Mac would probably have killed Silas, then, and I *don't* think Methos would have stopped him. He probably would have tried, but try convincing Duncan of sparing an unrepenting Horseman of the Apocalypse! The moment you set MacLeod on the trail of some evildoers, we all know what happens. And Methos did set him on that trail.
Anyway... to be a bit more precise about what exactly bothers me: I think it's not so much the fact that sometimes Methos will betray friends but rather, that sometimes he will, and then sometimes he goes and takes downright stupid risks for them. He's so inconsistent in his survival policy! *g*
Re: Oh, I think...
Date: 2006-02-11 04:14 pm (UTC)He's pretty inconsistent about most things, except maybe that he'll do anything to protect his immediate loved ones - even sacrificing those he may have loved in the past.