Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brightknightie) wrote2020-12-23 08:01 am
brightknightie) wrote2020-12-23 08:01 am
Entry tags:
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?
OK, I actually have thoughts on this, but it's not what you think it is.
For Highlander, they were all characters with a semi-nomadic existence who traveled between Paris and Seacouver twice a year, at least, and who made jet-setting trips across the world at a moment's notice like the Highlander characters did, pets were a non-starter and the fans would have noticed that they were constantly being abandoned for adventures. Even the humans moved around continually. Can you see a Watcher trying to take care of a pet and feeding/watering them regularly while tailing an Immortal?
Plus the quarantine requirements for getting a pet across country borders would be difficult - not impossible, given that virtually every lead character except Richie and Amanda seemed to have gobs of money built up and could pay their way through every obstacle. (And Amanda just stole Duncan's credit card or stole the money for that.) Logistically speaking, it was a lot to write around and have HL characters who were able to maintain their pets with actual empathy and feeling.
The Forever Knight characters who had pets were all human (to the best of my memory) and were rooted in one place, able to care for pets easily without needing to move them around and deal with immigration/emigration issues or matters of international law regarding animal importation/exportation on a regular basis. The regular vampire characters didn't have pets either - and if there were secondary vampires who had them (maybe someone had rats and didn't eat them? I don't remember), they might have been more rooted in place. Even the vampires were less nomadic than the Highlander characters - it's easier to hide from the daylight when you stick around in one corner of the world and build up your hidey-hole, only interacting with your own kind. But also for some vampires, there's maybe the urge to eat your pets.
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! :-)