uman Factor
uman Factor
I saw a commericial for this episode and I thought that it was going to be stupid. They showed the scene where Janette tells Nick she forgot to tell him she was mortal and I just cringed.
I changed my mind after watching it. I didn't really buy the way Janette regained mortality, but it made for a very intense episode. I love how they had the two Raven scenes back to back and we could see how the place had changed. Just having Janette on the show gave it back some of what it lost this season. Too bad she couldn't stick around. For a second there at the end I thought she had died.
One thing I didn't get was why Tracy didn't push Nick about what happened. She let it go way too easily. I mean Janette was a murder suspect, and I don't think Tracy and Nick have been partners long enough to cultivate that deep of trust.
I wasn't real sure what was going on in Nat and Nick's minds in the end. From the dream Nick had I'd say that he really wants to be with Nat. I'd also say that dhe loves him too. So what's the problem??? If Nat agrees to the risk then it should be okay. I can't believe they would let a chance like that (almost a sure thing) go bye and continue to look for some other way. Sigh.
BTW, a friend of mine asked me a question that got me thinking. She wanted to know if the vampire that killed that guy in the end had been Janette. Having just been brought across (again) she would was to feed and maybe she couldn't control it. That would explain why Nick looked the way he did at the end. I mean he has dealt with vampire killings before.
This episode is again proof that Forever Knight has saved the best for last. The perfect irony is that after struggling for all this time to achieve mortality, Janette stumbles across it by accident. Then Nick is afraid to try the possible cure. Is it really not wanting to take the chance with Natalie's life, or is it the realization that he doesn't really want to become mortal again. Then the final question: is Janette a vampire again? Excellent.
I was really glad to see Janette back, although her reason for leaving was a little lame. I mean, come on! She was scared catching Nick's affliction: an endless search for mortality. Weak excuse for an exit. Besides, an earlier episode from the previous season led viewers to believe that Janette and Nick might give love a second try. The only thing that bugs me about this great show is that it leads you on and never follows up on the seed it planted.
-- Brittney
I think Janette, actually Deborah, is an extremely alluring woman. She has all the qualities a female vampire should, I think, have. Having watched most of the shows from the first year on, I believe that her character is indeed dead. It's what she wanted, and I feel Nick believes he will be healed (his soul) somewhat by allowing her to die. A great episode. I admit this is something where a little more effort from the writers would have helped, but hey, so what!
-- Todd K
When I saw the previews for this show, I was extremely excited because I think that no one has been able to made the show nearly so intrigung since Janette left. Don't get me wrong -- I did then and do now absolutely love the show -- but Janette was able to provide a connection (for Nick) to the two worlds in a way that no one else could, as LaCroix values his vampirism so immensely, and as Natalie, despite all her efforts to undertstand Nick, could never truly know what it's like without having been there. That and the fact that, despite his blatantly obvious attraction to Natalie, there will always be some part of him that loves Janette (after all, they were married for 90 years, right?).
Out of all the characters that have left, I miss her the most, and to find out that, in leaving, she came across the one thing Nick had been searching for for so long is indeed a wonderful twist of irony, but I also agree that there are some things about this that bother me. First off, if she truly did leave because "Nickolai" (I've always loved her pet name for him) was confusing her with his noble quest for mortality, how is it possible that she was sdo easily able to fall in love with a human and gain mortality herself, something was not even sure she wanted? Janette is far from being "weak", and yet I just did't see any of her notorious mystique or self-assuredness in this episode, perhaps because she was mortal, but in all honesty, I think that's a cop-out. And, like everyone else, I don't understand why Natalie and Nick didn't agree to try this method of becoming human also, given all the reasons why they should.
Aside from that, however, it was good to see Deborah Duchene in the role of Janette again, and I would love it if they would re-run this episode instead of "Hearts of Darkness", "Let No Man Tear Asunder", or "Trophy Girl" yet another time.
I think I got quite a bit of different stuff out ot this episode than a few of the other people who have commented. For example, I am positive that Janette actually died at the end, having not permitted Nick to bring her across, and equally sure that Nick is the vampire who killed her murderers. I suppose their murderer could have been LaCroix, connected as he is to Nick's moods, but his comment to Nick at the end about losing a daughter but regaining a son seems to support the first conclusion.
Has anyone else noticed the progression that Nick has undergone this season? First, his fragile hold on his humanity, his morality, was threatened a couple of times (somewhat in "Night in Question", and particularly in "Sons of Belial"). Then he has to ingest a small amount of human blood to counteract the HIV- killing virus ("Fever"). Next, his bloodlust is heightened by the VR killings in "Games Vampires Play". Then comes the piece de resistance, when he is compelled to kill again to avenge Janette's death. (I thought it particularly striking that he actually fed on her murderers, as he could have just killed them and left them.) I think it would not be surprising to see him abandon his quest altogether for a short time, and revert to feeding.
I agree with the person who wrote that Nick's ambivalance about his quest is becoming more pronounced. I have to wonder if he is perhaps seeing only two choices, when there are actually several. It seems to me that the inherent attraction of the vampire mythology is immortality, but Nick seems to think that immortality must be spent the way LaCroix spends his, with careless cruelty and ennui. But unlike LaCroix, who is basically the same person as an immortal that he was before being brought across (see "A More Permanent Hell"), Nick's personality has grown, matured, and become very much directed toward helping others, be they vampire or mortal. To my mind, the show's insistence on allowing his character only two choices is becoming just a bit tedious.
-- Nadine Bruce
This once again confirms my thought that Nick truly loves Natalie more than himself. (This is rare for him, he usually puts his needs first.) He refuses to risk her life, or her becoming a vampire. The only other character he has had this strong of a feeling about was his sister, Fleur.
Maybe this is leading us to the final episode?
-- Kim Bowen
The reason that I love this show so much is because I think Nick and Natalie have the greatest love story ever written. (that is, if they get to be together at the end). So I'm sure you can guess im not a Janette fan. To me she seems like she is two faced. One face she shows Nick (the innocent face) and the other face is the one which consists of her true intensions (to torture poor Natalie). Janette's comment that "it's nothing that a mortal can understand" seemed like a comment meant as a dig to Natalie that she will never really have Nick. I wish that I had never watched this episode because Janette really got on my nerves.
-- Meaghen Capello
Please feel free to leave your own comments on this episode.