Re: mike wallace
Timothy Keirnan (tim@denver.net)
Tue, 27 Jul 1999 20:56:14 -0600
>Paul wrote:
>
>I have mixed feelings about him. I like the character but he doesn't
>seem to
>fit too well. Despite several years (TV time) the character never seemed
>to
>grow more assured. He always seemed to stay the junior Sandbagger no
>matter
>what.
>
>Yes, but wasn't that the point of his character? He was the baby
>Sandbagger. He was "muggins", always getting to do the dirty work, never
>trusted with all the information. In terms of the narrative, he allowed
>Neil and Willie to have "tete a tetes" in Neil's office. I would also
>say that despite this, he was shown to grow. Think of "My Name is Anna
>Wiseman", where he's "on his bike" because he's a better shot than
>Willie; or how Neil looks to him for advice because of his SAS
>experience; or his harrowing trip to the Soviet Union to rescue the CIA
>agent and how calmly he pulls it off; or the bust out in Warsaw with his
>best line of the series "Sorry to spoil your day." I'd say Mike did
>pretty well, although he kept Neil and Willie both on a pedestal.
>
>Mark
I really liked Mike. I agree with Mark's assessment and think Mike had
skills the section needed, especially under the temporary manning standard.
He and Willie seemed a balanced team within the constraints of the
mentor/trainee roles. Something I always wondered about is how Willie's
situation at the end of the final ep would have affected Mike. Would he
"wise up" and get out or would he become the next Willie, a really decent
guy who lets his personal loyalties to people or ideals lead him into
unhealthy occupational choices? He seemed like a younger version of Willie
who could have chosen either way. We'll never know, of course. My guess is
that Burnside would have been sacked and Mike would have become Sandbagger
1, feeling a debt to the service to stay on until more Sandbaggers could be
trained and perhaps, like Willie, hanging on too long for his own good...
Tim