due South: Victoria's Secret

[butterfly]

I hooked a friend of ours (thegrungediva) on due South and she's now watching it in order. Tonight, she was on the last disc of S1, so I watched Invitation to Romance, the very end of Heaven and Earth, and then all of Victoria's Secret and Letting Go with her (and roomie jic).

God, the Victoria arc guts me. And thegrungediva's never seen the show before, so I got to watch her go through the extreme rollercoaster of being so thrilled and happy to seeing Fraser in love to being devastated at where it all ends up. They did such a fantastic job with everything in this episode -- the lighting is spectacular (the contrasts and how incredibly intense the reds are), the casting is amazing (Melina is so wonderful as Victoria -- I always come out of the episode helplessly adoring her while I hate how she twists up Fraser), and the acting is... phenomenal. On the whole, it's breathtaking.

And I always... watching this always makes me so glad that Fraser will get RayK. Because RayV is a wonderful friend; Fraser couldn't have a better friend than RayV, but what Fraser talks about here, about love...

"You never saw her. You never saw who she was. You never saw her when she was angry, you never saw her when she was frightened, you never saw her when she was brave or when she was petty. You never saw her."

I think the thing that hooks me deepest in the Fraser/RayK relationship is that Fraser lets Ray see him (and Ray notices). He's angry and frightened and petty in front of Ray and Ray both sees that and calls him on it.

For all that RayV and Fraser love each other... there is an idealization going on from RayV's side ("guys like him don't marry girls like you"). And Fraser very deliberately feeds into it and encourages RayV to believe that he's more innocent than he actually is. For the most part, he keeps walls up around RayV, walls that RayK refuses to allow to stand. "We're in a rut," RayK insists in Mountie on the Bounty. The same relationship that worked for Fraser and RayV is something that RayK finds confining and not enough. He wants behind that mask of Fraser's, wants to see him dirty and real. And he lets Fraser see him that way, too.

RayK gives Fraser all the good things that he got from Victoria without any of the bad, fucked-up stuff.

Rewatching that left me with the intense urge to go read some due South fic and meta, so if there's any cool new stuff out there, I'd love to know.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of "Victoria's Secret" as some of the best television out there. Certainly in my top ten episodes of all time. And you're right about the difference between Fraser around RayV versus RayK. I'm going to express an unpopular opinion here, but I've always thought due South was a much better show the first two seasons--much better written, always walking the line between drama and humor. The later seasons things just went all zany. However, if it had only been two seasons, I would have loved it, but I'd never have joined the fandom. Fraser/RayK is pretty explicit subtext.

I've been in the mood for new due South fic, too. Let me know if you find any. :)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of "Victoria's Secret" as some of the best television out there. Certainly in my top ten episodes of all time.

It's such great television. Reaches right into you and just tugs out your heart.

I'm going to express an unpopular opinion here, but I've always thought due South was a much better show the first two seasons--much better written, always walking the line between drama and humor. The later seasons things just went all zany.

I'm not actually sure that that's an unpopular opinion, or at least it didn't used to be -- the impression that I got, entering fandom a few years back, was that while some people liked S3/4 more, everyone thought that S1/2 were better.

I think that it mostly depends on what you like in a show. The quality of plotting goes, as you say, even zanier in S3/4, but I really love the expansion in the characters (particularly those beyond Ray and Fraser). I love that fewer random women fall in love with/sexually harass Fraser. And apparently, Paul Gross is a good exec producer, because there was so much praise for him on that level (and the surprise expressed in people saying things like, "scripts actually came in on time! we stayed under budget!" really emphasize that this wasn't happening before).

However, if it had only been two seasons, I would have loved it, but I'd never have joined the fandom. Fraser/RayK is pretty explicit subtext.

Yeah, it's the Fraser/RayK vibe that makes me want to read fic. They have such an explosive and fascinating dynamic.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

FYI, right after I commented, new fic showed up on ds_flashfiction. Haven't read it, but it still seems like an active community.

I came into the fandom long after the show ended, so found the fandom overwhelmingly seasons 3/4 centric. Since I never was in on the episode meta, my impression was that most fans preferred those seasons (though there's been a resurgence of RayV, I know).

As a viewer, seasons 3 and 4 are great subtext. Seasons 1 and 2 are great text. Even the episodes in 3 and 4 that are feasts of subtext have gaping plot holes that make my brain hurt, and there are a few episodes I just find painful to watch. Not that there are no bad episodes in seasons 1 and 2, but I feel like the show had a clearer identity those seasons and, though it had its weirdness, still managed to tell compelling dramatic stories.

I hadn't thought about the portrayal of women in the early seasons, but it's definitely true. Is this a reaction to "Invitation to Romance"? Cause I'm not going to defend that one. :)

(Also--my favorite due South episode? "The Man Who Knew Too Little." And I know that's an unpopular opinion.)

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

My Victoria-related recs would all be F/V. Let me know if you're interested. (:

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

My biggest issue with F/V is that (with the exception of Frank Zuko), Vecchio vibes as so straight to me. But it's been a couple of years since I tried reading any, so sure, I'll go for it.

*grins*

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

*nod, nod*

I also have the superficial reaction of not wanting to picture Vecchio in the sack.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

In Your Corner (http://www.kormantic.com/ds/corner.html) by kormantic. Set after The Duel, but all about Victoria.

If you dig her writing, you might also enjoy the story she and I wrote together, This Error (http://www.kormantic.com/ds/error.html). Post-North, but again, all about Victoria (sensing a theme here?).

I have more, but not handy at work. (: I'll get back to you!

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

I really need to get around to watching dS, don't I? I'm a bad, bad Canadian.

But I had to grin at your icon, cuz I use that same passage from Ruth for my LJ header (only it's SPN, not dS).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I really need to get around to watching dS, don't I? I'm a bad, bad Canadian.

Hee. It's a wonderful show. Plus, the show clearly cares about both racial and gender issues, even if they don't have answers. And then there's the part where, after Paul Gross took over as exec. producer, he ramped up the slashiness between his character and the second male lead because he'd discovered slash over the summer and thought it was neat.

But I had to grin at your icon, cuz I use that same passage from Ruth for my LJ header (only it's SPN, not dS).

It fits the Fraser/RayK relationship so well (and it does totally fit the SPN boys as well).

Your icon is also adorable (and reminds me of a due South line -- after a women learns that Fraser is from Canada, she says, "Now there's a country that knows what to export.").

[anoel.livejournal.com]

I LOVE the Victoria's Secret episodes. Definitely my favorites. Seeing Fraser lose control and god, that crying scene just kills me.

And yeah I agree with you completely about Fraser and RayK. That's why I loved Mountie on the Bounty so much.

[nostariel]

Very late to the party here, 'cause I got all depressed this winter and stopped reading my flist (bad fangirl!), but I had to comment on this:

"You never saw her. You never saw who she was. You never saw her when she was angry, you never saw her when she was frightened, you never saw her when she was brave or when she was petty. You never saw her."

I don't own the DVDs ('cause I could never find a place that sold them and I'm too poor anyway), so I haven't seem this episode in nearly ten years(!), but you know what? I could still remember that quote word for word. I can still hear his voice saying it. Every syllable, every inflection. THAT'S how amazing those episodes were.