Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Joe Who?

spoiler alert: this posts makes reference to the October 13 episode on CBC

Fasten your seatbelts because I'm going to make a bold and perhaps crazy suggestion (underwear should be worn on the outside? - ed). Joe McIntyre reminds me of Richard Hillman. I know what you're thinking: Corrie Heart, you've finally lost it. Bear with me.

Over the past few months, I thought Joe was simply a hapless victim, a poor fellow in bad financial straits because of the recession. But look at the way he acts and reacts. When his tools were stolen, it was like the end of the world. When the Windasses wouldn't pay their bill, he almost lost it. Then he loses his apartment and is homeless. He seems to have a history of being a loser and a victim, a bit like Willy Loman in 'Death of a Salesman'. Tina seems to know this. At one point, she warns him to be careful and he says: "I'm not going to screw this up, not this time."

But of course he is. His business is in tatters, his home is gone and still he is lavishing gifts on Gail and refusing to tell her the truth. At the Platt's Christmas dinner, he seemed completely out of touch with reality, trying to construct that perfect unreal happy family. He betrayed an almost desparate, disturbing mental state and Gail finally sees it.

"You were out of control, Joe," she says. "I didn’t recognize you. You frighten me."
"I wanted today to be perfect, to be everything I know we could be, could have been," says Joe. "But sometimes just wanting something isn’t enough, is it? Too many other things get in the way."

That's something Richard Hillman might say. He too was out of touch with reality and in search of a 'perfect family'. But in his case, he was also a psycho killer (qu'est-ce que c'est? - ed). Now, Joe is no psycho but he's definitely got big problems. That Gail sure can pick 'em.

1 comment:

  1. " psycho killer (qu'est-ce que c'est? - ed). "

    LOL Hilarious.

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