Angels of Death

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:41 am

[quote="Frankymole"]Yes, the "ten years earlier" thing does show that the episode "Warlock" wasn't their first meeting. But Cathy wouldn't have spent ten years as a partner to steed - she got fed up of that role in about 2 years! She most likely worked on her own career as an anthropologist and curator. Steed got back in touch with her when he was abandoned by Dr Keel.

Berlin, the divided city, was of course a major nexus of the Cold War - Gambit and Steed, as agents, had to be there, but there's no such need for Cathy or Emma to go there as well.[/quot

interesting scenario

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 12:27 pm

Frankymole wrote:Yes, the "ten years earlier" thing does show that the episode "Warlock" wasn't their first meeting. But Cathy wouldn't have spent ten years as a partner to steed - she got fed up of that role in about 2 years! She most likely worked on her own career as an anthropologist and curator. Steed got back in touch with her when he was abandoned by Dr Keel.

Berlin, the divided city, was of course a major nexus of the Cold War - Gambit and Steed, as agents, had to be there, but there's no such need for Cathy or Emma to go there as well.

Oh, absolutely--she hasn't been working with him all that time. But it's fun to think they met so many years earlier. We don't hear a lot about what went on in the 1950s for the characters, so it's a little morsel at that end. And it explains why Steed would have thought of her when looking for someone to fill Dr. Keel's shoes.

Naturally a lot of the Cold War revolved around the Wall--it'd be strange if none of them went. It never seemed to be the site of their "cleanest" assignments, though.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 12:56 pm

True - its hazardous nature gave Gambit a fantastic comeback to the line "do you have any German blood in you?", though

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:08 pm

Frankymole wrote:True - its hazardous nature gave Gambit a fantastic comeback to the line "do you have any German blood in you?", though

I love that line.

How did it mix with all that hot Irish blood, I wonder?

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:12 pm

Like Irish Stew, Guinness and Sauerkraut probably very nicely

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:23 pm

Frankymole wrote:Like Irish Stew, Guinness and Sauerkraut probably very nicely

Irish Stew and sauerkraut--you've made me hungry now.

I happen to have both as well, but I got mine the boring old conventional way of having German and Irish forebears.

Lhbizness · Post by **Lhbizness** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:29 pm

Timeless A-Peel wrote:
Lhbizness wrote:Which never made any sense to me. I don't get the impression they knew each other for that long. Don't Look Behind You is also one of those instances where she gets incredibly angry with him for nothing - he's even shocked that she thinks he'd abandon her. Though that can be forgiven given what she's been through.

Did they really ever say the 50s, though? I thought the villain just references "you and that man Steed" and their adventure in Berlin, not a date, but I can't remember. Fascinating as apparently Emma went to Berlin with him too! To fight a similar man! Amazing!
They do--1953, to be exact. Emma, in contrast, had her Berlin adventure "not long ago," which probably means within a year or two before The Joker, so well within her tenure with Steed on the show. It doesn't necessarily mean Steed and Cathy hung around each other a great deal, though. Cathy might have gotten involved as one of her humanitarian efforts, and was either put in contact with, or ran into, Steed as part of the operation. They may have parted ways after that and never gotten in touch again until the events of the series. But it's fascinating to imagine them working together way back in the day. '50s Avengers noir. There's a spin-off there.

Given their luck with Berlin, though, Avengers characters should probably steer clear of it. All they seem to do there is get shot or pick up obsessive baddies.

I do like the idea that they knew and interacted with each other long before we first see them on screen together - it gives a new dimension to their relationship. But at the same time, I still want to think of Warlock as their first meeting (despite airtimes). The way they talk gives one the sense that this is the first time they work together - and Cathy goes out of her way to investigate things when she breaks into Neville's apartment.

It makes sense for Emma to have gone to Berlin if she went on assignment with Steed. I always assume that the show doesn't cover all of their work together.

Maybe it's my Gambit prejudice showing once more, but is he that experienced of an agent? I don't know TNA as well as I know the original series; it just seemed that he was kind of wet behind the ears, much like Purdey.

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:05 pm

Lhbizness wrote:Maybe it's my Gambit prejudice showing once more, but is he that experienced of an agent? I don't know TNA as well as I know the original series; it just seemed that he was kind of wet behind the ears, much like Purdey.

There's no real timeline given for Purdey and Gambit's time at the Ministry, but Gambit has a military background in both the navy and the army, has loads of experience in armed and unarmed combat, and is a weapons expert. He's also been on his own for twenty years and travelled to some pretty dangerous places, so he's got loads of life experience. So he's got a pretty good background going in before the Ministry even put him through training.

Lhbizness · Post by **Lhbizness** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:12 pm

Timeless A-Peel wrote:
Lhbizness wrote:Maybe it's my Gambit prejudice showing once more, but is he that experienced of an agent? I don't know TNA as well as I know the original series; it just seemed that he was kind of wet behind the ears, much like Purdey.
There's no real timeline given for Purdey and Gambit's time at the Ministry, but Gambit has a military background in both the navy and the army, has loads of experience in armed and unarmed combat, and is a weapons expert. He's also been on his own for twenty years and travelled to some pretty dangerous places, so he's got loads of life experience. So he's got a pretty good background going in before the Ministry even put him through training.

Ok. I kind of got that he was in the military at some point - not that he was a weapons expert, though. Makes sense, given his obvious physical abilities but his tendency to break down a door first.

Timeless A-Peel · Post by **Timeless A-Peel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:21 pm

Lhbizness wrote:
Timeless A-Peel wrote:
Lhbizness wrote:Maybe it's my Gambit prejudice showing once more, but is he that experienced of an agent? I don't know TNA as well as I know the original series; it just seemed that he was kind of wet behind the ears, much like Purdey.
There's no real timeline given for Purdey and Gambit's time at the Ministry, but Gambit has a military background in both the navy and the army, has loads of experience in armed and unarmed combat, and is a weapons expert. He's also been on his own for twenty years and travelled to some pretty dangerous places, so he's got loads of life experience. So he's got a pretty good background going in before the Ministry even put him through training.
Ok. I kind of got that he was in the military at some point - not that he was a weapons expert, though. Makes sense, given his obvious physical abilities but his tendency to break down a door first.

They touch on it once in awhile--biography is always fed in intermittently in the Avengers. Steed actually says at one point, "Gambit, you're our armoury expert," and consults him when he needs a second opinion on a few occasions. He definitely has a different approach to fights than Steed, but that's why they complement each other so beautifully.