In which I rave against the cruelty of fate - or of television scriptwriters!

[rosiespark]

I knew we were going to lose Archie, damnit! I just bloody knew. But I was still hoping that the reason that there'd be no more Archie in the last two films was because he'd been posted to a different ship, or invalided out of the Navy, maybe. Poor brave Archie, who was "prone to panic" but not when it mattered. Oh damnit, I've got tears in my eyes.

And I don't think Captain Sawyer was pushed at all. Three of them were there - Horatio, Archie and the midshipman, Wellard. Buckland only accuses Horatio out of spite, it's obvious after he tries to get him killed blowing up the fort. Wellard tells Hobbs (the gunner) something before he dies, but we don't hear what he says, and Hobbs doesn't accuse Horatio when he has the chance to do so at the court martial - ergo, it wasn't Horatio. Quite apart from the fact that it's not in his nature to do something like that. And Archie didn't do it either - he knew he was dying and his "confession" was intended to remove the cloud of suspicion from Horatio.

BUT - but, I can't understand why there is any doubt about what Horatio's answer will be when Archie asks him what he will say when the court martial asks him whether he pushed Captain Sawyer? I do understand that Captain Hammond was looking for a scapegoat, and that Archie (*sob*) stepped into this role, but why the mystery about what Horatio's answer would have been? Was he planning to clear Archie's name by taking the blame himself?

And on a lighter note, I came across this in a review online:

Unfortunately brief sexual content and backside nudity is also thrown into the mix. We briefly observe Horatio's backside as he has the crew hose him off with seawater after one of his escapades......Totally unnecessary and derailing to an otherwise good storyline.

*snort* I loved the shower scene, and not just for the rear view of Ioan (droolworthy though he is from every angle). That scene gives us a rare sight of Horatio laughing - and he's adorable. *g*

ETA: The sexual content referred to above, however brief, did not involve Horatio, Archie or Bush, neither singly nor in pairs. Unfortunately. ;)

Comments

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

I never realised before that you didn't know what happened to Archie. That's why I value the fan fiction that allows Archie to live on, as he should have done.

I don't think anyone pushed Sawyer, and I think that's what Wellard told Hobbs (other than "I love you, Hobbsy"). And, yes, I think Horatio was going to take the blame just as, in the event, Archie did. It was so horribly contrived as to be simply unbelievable. It seemed obvious to me that Horatio would have gotten off if he'd told the truth--i.e. that he hadn't done it. Archie would still have died, but.... Oh, I don't know. That ending really ticked me off. I hate it when they quite unnecessarily kill characters for the sake of a soppy ending. That's why I'm not interested in owning the DVDs for the subsequent parts. They're such a farce.

That quote is a hoot. I don't think it was at all unnecessary or derailing. Besides, there have been some great icons based on it, especially when you think of the look on Archie's face when...well, never mind.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Hah! The shower scene is canon, too - well, the actual shower is, but the book lacks the reappearance of Captain Sawyer at the crucial point. I thought the whole scene was very well done - and will have to pay special attention next time to Archie's face when...when what exactly? *g* I can forsee lots of fun watching again - and then again...

On to plot holes or not: if the writers wanted it to be plausible to have Horatio planning to take the blame, and then Archie stepping in as he in fact did, I feel the script should have made a stronger case for for what would have been gained by Horatio doing this. It didn't look like anyone was trying to pin the blame on Archie, so who exactly was Horatio trying to save by taking the blame himself? It seems a bit far-fetched that he would do it just to save Pellew the (admittedly considerable) difficulties of heading such a difficult court martial... Although I'm not sure I agree with you that Horatio would have gotten off merely by telling the truth - I'm not sure that Pellew could have had him acquitted if the other two captains weren't of the same mind - and Hammond certainly wasn't.

I happened across this fic (http://members.tripod.com/SarahB1/vind.html) earlier this evening - it explores the charming conceit of having Stephen Maturin in Kingston at the time of Horatio's trial. It's extremely plausible, and there are some inspired touches, such as Maturin's familiarity with laudanum, his readiness to dissect cadavers, his producing the grisly evidence in court, and the way he is ready to call out Captain Hammond at the slightest offence. Wonderful characterisation of Pellew as well, and with Archie under Stephen's care, well, let's just say that an unnecessary death is averted. :D

I haven't watched the last two episodes yet - do you mean they're a farce in themselves, or just that you find them unrealistic becasue they carry on from the unsatisfactory ending of Retribution? I was feeling cheered by the fact that I still ahd two more to watch - now I'm not so sure!

PS Fanfic recs, if you please. To save me wading through a vast sea of mediocrity in search of a few pearls. *g*

PPS I realised Archie had been shot during the battle to retake the Renown. So while everyone else was being seen to and tidied away, I was perched on the edge of my seat swearing at the screen and trying not to scream in frustration. Sometimes it's an advantage to be watching stuff like this on one's own!

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that Horatio would have gotten off, but it didn't strike me as horribly obvious that he wouldn't, either. I've felt this more strongly the more I see the episode, but it's been a few months since I've watched it, so I'll have to think about it further. I agree with you that it's unclear as to why Horatio thought there was a compelling reason to take the blame, unless one is to assume that, to Horatio, Archie's guilt seemed very transparent.

That's not the only fic that brings Stephen into the story as the deus ex machina.

I don't think the most recent episodes are as good; Bush is lovely but not a substitute for Archie, and as for Horatio's romantic entanglements--I go pale at the very thought. I would much rather the writers had gone wildly au and given the books a final heave ho.

Recs: Jan Cortese, who had a LJ but I don't know where it's gone; however, she has a site at http://www.io.com/~cortese/stories; cimmerianwillow who has a site at http://cw96.tripod.com/1.html; misskittie79 who has a website at http://www.geocities.com/miss_kittie79; mzcalypso, who doesn't have a website as far as I know, but she's archived at http://slashcity.org/hh/introductions.html; Anais who is at versaphile.com/anais/; and Widget who is at http://www.widgeteria.co.uk.

In addition to the slashcity archive, there's also http://www.frolixers.com and http://www.hornblowerfic.com. I don't know the quality of the latter as I tend to just keep up with the authors that I especially like. There could be others coming along that I don't know about.

And if I got all those links right it will be a miracle.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Wow, what riches! Thanks for the links. Watch my bedtime recede into the early hours of the morning, and my alertness at work disppear down the plughole... *g* And I think the Almighty (or someone!) was guiding your hand while you typed. ;)

I haven't watched the last two episodes yet - I may watch one of them today. If I can steel myself to accept that Archie is dead. And as you say, Horatio's romantic entaglements with Maria - oh dear! That was something I was never happy with in the books.