Katia
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Post by Katia on Mar 17, 2023 20:52:42 GMT -5
Erica worked at the place that I think was called the Puppy Platter. A very evocative name... evocative enough (for more than one reason) that I would pass on eating there, lol. |
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 14, 2023 18:23:49 GMT -5
I totally 'ship Maggie and Hannibal, but I never felt she was shown to be especially special for him. Yeah, she does show up in a later episode, but only because they get into a snag and need her; there didn't seem to be anything between them at that time, nor any indication that they'd seen/talked to each other since "Black Day"... Hm. Going back to this for a moment... I'm trying to remember; in that episode, was there any more romance between Hannibal and Maggie after the "locking her in the closet" incident? Or did that turn her off to him? (Understandably. Because despite the little lecture she gets from Amy-- and okay, Amy, I get it, but I still think Maggie had a right to be mad about it-- he did show a big lack of respect for her. "I am attracted to you, but I don't trust you to help us," is basically what that little move said. Ouch. I'd be mad, too, besides the fact that in locking her up, he treated her like a naughty puppy or bad child or unsightly vacuum cleaner, rather than a grown-arse adult.) Between this and the woman who's a fire chief, it would seem that even women Hannibal respects, he doesn't really respect. Ouch.
Erica was someone Murdock worked with at a restaurant, but not *that* restaurant. She came earlier in the season. (And I actually find that aspect a bit weird anyway, that she just... randomly shows up as a coworker {though I guess we can assume she was the one who got him the job}, and is on-screen for like a minute total.) Hm. And... if he works at one restaurant in one episode, and another one in the next... I wonder if that says anything about Erica. As in, did he switch because they split up? Or if he just went somewhere else because he wanted to, did it put a strain on their relationship if he decided to go work somewhere else and they weren't working together anymore (some people would be offended by that), especially if she *did* get him the job (some people would be offended by that, too)? (Or I suppose it could be that they were finally told "no fraternizing" and decided to stay together and one of them would go work somewhere else...) Or was this just the usual "Murdock's a job hopper" thing (though it would seem he's starting to gravitate toward restaurant work, eh?)? (I know. I am reading WAY more into this than the writers ever intended, lol.) Sort of an aside, on the topic of "Hannibal is always with women way younger than he is." I was watching old Frasier rerun clips and remembered that Martin (Frasier's dad) also tends to hook up with women younger than him-- sometimes he and Frasier are even competing for the same woman (at least twice that I can remember). One of them is Frasier's old babysitter, which makes it sort of creepy for both (Frasier because she knew him as a little kid, and Martin because she was a teenager when he knew her before and it makes you wonder...). And that always sort of annoyed me. Especially because Martin is *not* put across as a lech. (They did parody that at least once, where Martin's trying to go out with a younger woman so he dyes his gray hair brown to try to look younger, with hilarious results when it starts to run...) |
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 15, 2023 17:40:37 GMT -5
I think Erica was the one who was watching Murdock's hamster in FAMILY REUNION (if Murdock even really had a hamster, or maybe that whole thing was made up). I don't know if they said this in the show, but for some reason I was thinking that Erica and Murdock lived in the same apartment building, so they could have met in that way and then she got him the job. Since Erica is in THE GREY TEAM, which I consider to come after WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, I don't think Murdock left working at the Puppy Platter to go work at the Italian restaurant. It seems the last job we know Murdock has is the one at the Puppy Platter. In my headcanon, he did not stay working there real long and also he did not continue his romantic relationship with Erica for long.
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 16, 2023 10:14:49 GMT -5
I think Erica was the one who was watching Murdock's hamster in FAMILY REUNION (if Murdock even really had a hamster, or maybe that whole thing was made up). I don't know if they said this in the show, but for some reason I was thinking that Erica and Murdock lived in the same apartment building, so they could have met in that way and then she got him the job. Since Erica is in THE GREY TEAM, which I consider to come after WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, I don't think Murdock left working at the Puppy Platter to go work at the Italian restaurant. It seems the last job we know Murdock has is the one at the Puppy Platter. In my headcanon, he did not stay working there real long and also he did not continue his romantic relationship with Erica for long. Yes. Erica was the one he tried to call, and then I think it was Face who said she was his girlfriend, and then I think he said she was more someone who lived in his building... I think they met at the mailboxes... and she was watching his hamster. But then later, he said something that made it sound like she was his girlfriend again. Since she shows up later, she must've been. (That's why I'm still sort of thinking it's odd we never see much of her. The first woman any of them is with long-term, and she's a passing mention.)
Good point about "Grey Team" being last. I have no idea why that didn't occur to me before. There are four episodes *between* "Family Reunion" and "Grey Team" (if you put "Grey Team" last rather than "Without Reservations"). How much time that means they've been together-- never mind how long they may've been together by the time we hear about her in "Family Reunion"-- I don't know, since I still don't know how much time is supposed to pass between jobs (or, episodes, since we know not all jobs are shown on the show).
(I think we can guess why he left the Italian place, since they blew up the kitchen *and* his friend nearly got killed there...) So maybe yeah, Erica got him the job at Puppy Platter after that, if Murdock decided he liked working in restaurants-- he certainly makes it sound like he's going to be there a while; didn't he say something like he was learning restaurant management or something? Sounds like our Murdock is settling down-- last episode of the show, and he's got a long-term relationship and long-term career plans. Man, I'd love more info about "now-sane Murdock" and his new life...
As far as headcanon... tell me more about yours. I think you've said before that you've done some writing in ignoring-S5-but-Murdock-gets-sprung-from-VA, right? Since I tend to discount S5, in my main storyline he does also eventually decide to leave the VA (though I also have a different storyline where he has his reasons for deciding he's never leaving), but I've never figured out what he does end up doing for employment, though I don't want him job-hopping like he does in the show (as amusing as that is). What does an ex-mil ex-insane pilot who may or may not be on the run from Uncle Sam do for a career?
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 17, 2023 19:30:32 GMT -5
I don't ignore season 5, but me and another former forum participant wrote multiple episodes for what we call "Season Six" which picks up fairly immediately after THE GREY TEAM. At the end of the first episode of our season six, the team is free from Stockwell and headed back to the LA Underground, and we learn that the doctor who had released Murdock from the V.A. falsified the records, so Murdock is actually still "insane" (which, by the way, he is quite happy about). I don't think we mentioned Erica at all in any of our "season six scripts" so I guess we can assume she and Murdock split up. I don't even recall us talking about having to find a way to "get rid of her," so maybe we forgot about her back when we were writing these. (This was years ago that we wrote most of these "scripts.")
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 18, 2023 21:37:44 GMT -5
we learn that the doctor who had released Murdock from the V.A. falsified the records, so Murdock is actually still "insane" (which, by the way, he is quite happy about). You know, that reminds me... there's that episode in S5 (can't remember which), where Hannibal says Murdock might have to pretend to be insane again and Murdock is genuinely upset at the prospect of having to be back in a mental hospital or whatever it is. I thought that was sort of odd for someone who spent more than a whole decade trying very hard to *stay* in a mental hospital. Sort of makes me wonder even more the circumstances of him getting out, if he went from "I'll go to great lengths to never leave here" to "I'm practically having a panic attack at the thought of being back there." I don't think we mentioned Erica at all in any of our "season six scripts" so I guess we can assume she and Murdock split up. I don't even recall us talking about having to find a way to "get rid of her," so maybe we forgot about her back when we were writing these. (This was years ago that we wrote most of these "scripts.") To be fair, I think that would fly with not having them split up, if you decided to go that route. After all, Erica gets a small mention in one episode, then four episodes pass without another mention, then suddenly she spends two minutes on screen, and then we forget her again. So I think it would be very plausible that she could still be in his life without ever being mentioned... because that's sort of how it goes in canon. |
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 19, 2023 17:47:42 GMT -5
Well, there are several more episodes and no word of Erica in my "season six," plus Murdock moved back to the VA hospital in Westwood, California, so in my A-TEAM universe, Erica is no longer involved in Murdock's life after season 5.
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 20, 2023 18:14:05 GMT -5
Makes sense. I do think they'd almost have to call it quits when he moves back into the VA, if nothing else-- it's just probably not a viable situation for a relationship, as I've mentioned before.
Do you write significant others for any of the guys in your episodes?
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 20, 2023 18:58:06 GMT -5
No, not really. Only have six episodes completed. Mostly trying to right the wrongs of season 5 and also tie up some loose ends from previous episodes. And make a Christmas episode! And explore more about Face's background. Just stuff that I liked to think about in my headcanon. It was a lot of fun writing those episodes back in the day, but have not tried to write any fanfiction for years now. I also wrote some MONK fanfiction episodes, as well as epilogues to a lot of the MONK shows several years ago, as well as a prologue to one episode. I liked tying in fanfiction to specific things that happened on the show. To me, that is easier than trying to really come up with a lot of fresh, new ideas. I hate even trying to come up with names for original characters.
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 23, 2023 10:53:42 GMT -5
I like fanfic because the universe and characters are already created for me (I am lazy), but there's also the challenge of keeping my ideas in-canon and in-character. Fanfic is kind of like creativity within an interesting framework. Maybe like a coloring book... the lines are already there, but there's a lot you can still do with them and the spaces in between. And yes, I've written "around" existing material (though in the Tron universe, not A-Team)... filling in existing stuff with my ideas-- like parts of Tron: Legacy where I write "between the lines," or doing the same for a graphic-novel version of that movie (which I actually never finished...). It's one of those things people might not like if they have a definite idea in their heads for how something goes, or want it to stick strictly to canon, but they also can't argue that it *couldn't* have happened that way... That's kind of another fun challenge of fanfic... how do you keep it canon but bend it...
Maybe I need to start a thread about writing fanfic... So I realized during another bout of insomnia last night the kind of women I would want to write for the guys (you get a lot of weird random thoughts running through your head when you're lying there for an hour+ staring at the ceiling and waiting for your brain to turn off). I want them all to meet their match, basically. For Hannibal, I still sort of like him with Maggie Sullivan, but I'd have to develop her further and I'm not sure how it would jive with her letting him shove her into a closet. I'd give him someone tough and capable who takes no crap and challenges him... and he would find out that he likes that (perhaps after a rocky beginning, or maybe not). They would make a formidable team (which might scare Face at times...). Maggie could do tough, I think; she's ex-military so it's plausible (though again, her letting him literally push her around... I'm not sure), and she might be sarcastic. But I also might be okay with him meeting someone totally different.
For Murdock, she'd be smart like him, with a good sense of humor/fun so she can appreciate and roll with his quirks, but also down-to-earth so she grounds him and sort of inspires him to be a better person and make a go of life outside of the VA. For B.A., she'd be sweet and fun but she's got a spine of steel even if you might not realize that at first glance; she always stands by him and vice versa; his mom loves her; she totally supports his work at the youth center. Not sure if she might also be a gearhead of sorts, which might be cute for him to first realize he likes her when he finds out-- maybe she's not exactly mechanically-inclined herself, but had a lot of brothers or her dad was some sort of mechanic or mechanical engineer so she knows something about it.
For Face, she'd also be independent and capable, which might throw him at first but he'd come to greatly respect her, and she'd also see through all his cons but know how to play along and help with them-- she'd have a fun and devious side. Might be interesting for him to end up with someone who's more average-looking than beautiful, but she's so great he thinks she's beautiful anyway. Or, it might be funny if she's a lot like him and so good-looking (or, so charming even if not really good-looking) that she can get what she wants too-- would be funny if she beats him to a scam sometimes (kind of like that guy in "The Grey Team"). (Or maybe it would just funny to have an episode where he meets a woman like that and by the end, he's like, "I'm sort of attracted to/admire her but I'm also sort of afraid of her.") Then again, for Face it might also be fun to throw him into a sort of "opposites attract" situation-- I'm not 100% certain what that would look like-- which has him bewildered the entire time; he can't figure out exactly why he's into this woman or why it works out so well, but he's completely smitten. Oh, Face has so many possibilities, in my mind.
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 23, 2023 18:18:50 GMT -5
I think it would be kind of interesting (although maybe too sappy) for Face to fall for a woman who had significant facial deformity or maybe scarring (perhaps having survived a fire or something?).....something where he would really learn that there are so many things much more important than physical "perfection" when it comes to a romantic partner. I don't think Face is some kind of monster who would ever treat someone like that in a bad way, but I'm not sure he would seriously consider someone like that for a romantic partner. I think he does like to have a "trophy" on his arm and some of that is about keeping up appearances. Could he be romantically / sexually attracted to someone who does not meet conventional standards of beauty (especially in the 1980s)?
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Katia
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Post by Katia on Apr 24, 2023 19:45:39 GMT -5
Yes, that's kind of precisely what I was thinking to have him with someone average-looking. That Face, who you would expect to go for the "arm candy" as well as a woman "in his league," ends up falliing for a woman you wouldn't look at twice but who's great. In "The Heart of Rock N Roll," I thought the lawyer was pretty average-looking, but, she was smart and capable, and he was into her.
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amyk
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Post by amyk on Apr 25, 2023 17:30:55 GMT -5
Yes, and as we have also discussed, Samantha in TIMBER. I think Samantha is even more opposite Face than the lawyer in HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL. The reason being that Samantha is kind of more "rugged" - I feel like she could get out there and even do some lumberjacking herself if need be. And she did go along well with Face's scam about the bugs. She didn't even seem squeamish about the bugs. So it could be interesting if Face had a longer-term relationship with her. I think she's pretty but not what would have been considered kind of "bombshell pretty."
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