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brightknightie) wrote2020-12-23 08:01 am
brightknightie) wrote2020-12-23 08:01 am
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Pets in FK and HL
Something that leela_cat said made me realize for the very first time: There are no pets in all 6+ seasons of HL, but there are fairly many pets in 3 seasons of FK, for a TV show.
To be more precise, except for those with the K-immie in "Leader of the Pack," I remember no named or otherwise non-utilitarian animals in all of HL. We have many horses, of course, but the horses are strictly transportation, less thought-of than the characters' modern-day cars.
Granted that the animals in FK are also less thought-of than some of the characters' cars -- ahem, Caddy ;-) -- nevertheless, Natalie has her cat, Sidney, who appears in one episode and is referenced in 2 more (if I remember correctly). While Perry is a working dog, he is named and a character unto himself, and Nick's Ralegh is surely a pet. Tracy refers to getting a puppy as a gift for someone else. Schanke makes a joking reference to a pet dog (the line is something like, "gotta get home, kiss the wife, kick the dog").
Animals are difficult to have on set. Movies, TV shows, theaters all tend to avoid animals when not absolutely necessary to a story. And neither HL nor (much more so) FK were rolling in funding in '90s syndication. But FK's writers repeatedly referred to pets in their story universe. HL's did not.
Interesting! What do you think?
leela_cat said made me realize for the very first time: There are no pets in all 6+ seasons of HL, but there are fairly many pets in 3 seasons of FK, for a TV show.To be more precise, except for those with the K-immie in "Leader of the Pack," I remember no named or otherwise non-utilitarian animals in all of HL. We have many horses, of course, but the horses are strictly transportation, less thought-of than the characters' modern-day cars.
Granted that the animals in FK are also less thought-of than some of the characters' cars -- ahem, Caddy ;-) -- nevertheless, Natalie has her cat, Sidney, who appears in one episode and is referenced in 2 more (if I remember correctly). While Perry is a working dog, he is named and a character unto himself, and Nick's Ralegh is surely a pet. Tracy refers to getting a puppy as a gift for someone else. Schanke makes a joking reference to a pet dog (the line is something like, "gotta get home, kiss the wife, kick the dog").
Animals are difficult to have on set. Movies, TV shows, theaters all tend to avoid animals when not absolutely necessary to a story. And neither HL nor (much more so) FK were rolling in funding in '90s syndication. But FK's writers repeatedly referred to pets in their story universe. HL's did not.
Interesting! What do you think?
Re: OK, I actually have thoughts on this, but it's not what you think it is.
Now that my attention has been drawn to the presence/absence of animals in the on-screen story universe, I also keep thinking of the past, of hundreds of years of flashbacks without any cat, dog, or named horse. Not even guest stars, supporting cast, or plot points (compared to the horses that reared in FK's "Let No Man Tear Asunder," Matthew's horse Princess in FK's "Dying to Know You," and Nick's dog Ralegh in "Blind Faith," off the top of my head).
I'm not saying that the HL story universe needs more animals! Only that I'm now seeing some places where animals could have been... and where we could place them in fanfic, if we like. Darius was defined by staying put; perhaps he would have had some pets at some times? Tessa and Duncan had apparently been in Seacouver for some time and did not regularly hop continents until she took the curator job in "Band of Brothers;" I wonder if either of them ever wanted a pet in those years. And Duncan has periodically spent very long stretches alone in various wildernesses, plus his island; perhaps an animal's company could have been welcome.
Anyway, just thinking! :-)