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Digest - 22 Oct 2013 to 23 Oct 2013 (#2013-162)

Wed, 23 Oct 2013

There is 1 message totaling 76 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. Discussing "Dying to Know You" and history

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Date:    Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:55:54 -0400
From:    Greer Watson <gwatson2@r.......>
Subject: Discussing "Dying to Know You" and history

It's been a while since I last posted any discussion of Forever Knight
episodes.  The last time, I was looking at "Dying to Know You" in terms of
the paranormal.  This time, I'd like to look at its flashback--or, more
accurately, fans' analysis of the setting.

Time and place, that's "setting" as I understand it.  For some episodes,
this is crystal clear.  Sometimes, it's actually labelled on screen at the
start of the historical scenes.  In others, it's inherent in the story (as
in "Unreality TV", with its flashback to the American Civil War).  In other
episodes, though, there are problematic elements that make dating difficult.

Fans are naturally interested in *when* things happened in Nick's life; and
this has led to two major (and very familiar) timelines being drawn up.  One
of them, on the First Unofficial FK Site, focused more on using costume to
determine the probable date.  The other, on Amy R.'s Bright Knight site,
used external sources.  Mostly, they agree.  Occasionally, they don't.  In
the case of "Dying to Know You", though, the two timelines pretty well
agree.

The historical *date* is likely to be the 17th century, for Nick's friend
Matthew is a Puritan, a religious sect of Protestant Christianity that
flourished at that time; and the clothes the characters wear are consistent
with that date.  In addition, both timelines place events in the United
States--or, more accurately, somewhere in one of the colonies that
eventually became the States (for, of course, the American Revolution didn't
take place until the 18th century).

When I saw the episode, on the other hand, it did not occur to me that the
New World colonies might be the location of the flashback.  It seemed too
early a period for Nick to have crossed the Atlantic.  It would be a long
way to fly into the unknown; and a sea voyage would require heavy
depredation on the crew while limiting the places where he might hide.
Ships back then were small and crowded.

I assumed the flashback to have taken place in England.

In making this assumption, I was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that I
come from recent British immigrants, and grew up on stories of the
Roundheads and Cavaliers.  In kids' books, the Cavaliers were usually the
heroes; but, in fact, my ancestors were mostly Parliamentarian supporters.
At any rate, I knew that Puritans were numerous in England in the 17th
century:  I put the flashback somewhere in mid-century, around the time of
the English Civil War and the Commonwealth.  (If you're curious, you can
read details in the Notes page to the "Puritans" article on the FK Wiki:
http://foreverknight.wikia.com/wiki/Puritans )

No doubt, Gaylin and Amy had their own reasons for assuming that the
inclusion of Puritans had to mean that the flashback was set in the American
colonies.

I wonder how often our own background affects our interpretations of the
episodes.


Greer

gwatson2@r.......
http://www.foreverknight.org/FK4/




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End of FORKNI-L Digest - 22 Oct 2013 to 23 Oct 2013 (#2013-162)
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