Lhbizness wrote:Timeless A-Peel wrote:I'd agree with that. I've always thought that it was the idea of Steed that intrigued her, the legend more than Steed himself. I do think she has affection for him, that she cares about him, and that he's a dear friend. But I don't think romantically there's much more than a crush going on, one that would fade with time as the hero-worship wore off. I don't sense an underlying depth to it. I think Purdey hasn't been with Steed as long as Gambit has, either, so he's more of a novelty for her, too.
I'd never thought of it like that. I always assumed that Purdey and Gambit were on pretty much the same level in terms of experience as agents - hence their partnering with Steed, rather than going out on their own.
I mean, even after the walls have ceased to crush them, Purdey and Steed are standing there, pretty close together, staring at each other while Gambit asks them if they're OK. They don't really seem to be paying attention to anything else. So whatever she told him, or if she told him anything, it had an effect.
(But then I think Steed and Mrs. Peel got back together after it was all over anyways, so...)
It's never explicitly stated, but there are lots of little things that suggest Purdey and Steed haven't known each other for very long at the start.
The Eagle's Nest is clearly the first time Steed's seen her fight, and when he asks her where she learned her moves, she tells him about her time in the ballet, so he's clearly not aware of it, and he would be if he'd spent any length of time with her. Whereas Gambit's the first person he contacts on the assignment, and he's the one he had bring in Purdey, rather than call Purdey directly. If you watch the early episodes, there's lots of instances where Steed calls on Gambit to do things almost to the exclusion of Purdey, as though he's more used to them working as partners than a trio. In fact, if you think about it, the only reason Purdey really gets involved in
Eagle's is because Steed wants her "special knowledge" about Stannard. And there's the odd bit here and there where Purdey doesn't seem to be up on her spycraft to the same extent. She seems more familiar with Gambit, though, so I suspect she's known him longer, maybe a few months. They may have worked together in some capacity outside of Steed. Steed seems to be running a lot of agents in TNA, so my guess is Gambit's his number one go-to, he pulls Purdey in as his latest addition, and then starts to work with them more to the exclusion of others as he gets a sense of who he meshes with the best.
Whatever she said, it doesn't seem to have any lasting impact on their relationship, and they seem to smile it off. There's a block of TNA season 2 episodes where the characterisation/scripting feels a bit off to me, and this is one of them. You can feel Patrick's complaint of not getting enough screentime taking effect, and everyone feels a bit shoehorned into awkward positions/interactions that don't really jive with what we saw in season one. Things start to even out towards the middle of the season, but there's a handful in there where everyone seems a bit OOC, so I find it hard to take it at face value.
I like to think Steed and Emma reunited post-TNA, too. I think
K is for Kill gives us hope on that front.
(And apparently it was really Diana on the phone, too, which is a bit mind-blowing!)