Spoiler Alert: If you've taken my advice, and are currently watching Seasons Two through Four of Hunter, you may wish to wait until you finish Season Four before reading this post.
In Season Four of the TV show Hunter, Lieutenant Ambrose
Finn is torn apart mentally and emotionally by the debilitating illness of his wife. The stress, and the longing for what he
cannot have, lead him to question everything he has always believed in. Her decline and eventual death
twist his psyche until, in the episode “Silver Bullet,” he betrays
his oath and assassinates criminals sheltered by the letter of
the law.
Producer Roy Huggins brought
the character of Ambrose Finn into the series in Season Two, in the episode
“Blow Up,” as a way to soften the antipathy that had previously existed between
Hunter, McCall, and the police department hierarchy. I found him a sympathetic character, and looked
forward to watching his participation in episodes. He cared about his fellow cops, supported
Hunter when others did not, and proved a good friend. Perhaps it was fitting that, for whatever
reason, John Shearin, the actor who played him, decided to quit the show when
Roy Huggins decided to retire. Yet, like
Dorsk 81, his death struck me hard.
Of course, to make way for the new, sometimes the old must
pass away. In the case of Doctor Who,
one of the most enduring characters must be Sarah Jane Smith, who accompanied
the Third and Fourth Doctors on their adventures. When actress Elisabeth Sladen and the
producers agreed that the time had come for her character to leave the Tardis,
she was given a choice: to go out with a bang, or with a whimper. Actors get no greater thrill than in making
their characters face the most trying emotional and physical obstacles
possible. But Elisabeth Sladen eschewed
a great death scene and simply walked out of the Tardis at the end of “The Hand
of Fear.” Her gentle departure allowed Sarah
Jane Smith to live on in fans' imaginations, and her character was brought back
repeatedly: in novels, in reunion shows, in an attempted spin-off, in an
episode of the new Doctor Who series, and finally in her own series, the Sarah
Jane Adventures.
I know my favorite characters in fiction will continue to
die, regardless of whether or not I approve of the writers’ (or the producers’,
or the actors’) decisions. Yet, after
watching “Silver Bullet,” I found I had to go back and review “Blow Up.” Dee Dee McCall heard a joke about Ambrose
Finn before she and Hunter met him.
Why
does Lieutenant Finn wear red suspenders?
The answer: to hold up both of his guns.
When they meet him, Finn says that he’s read about them, and (unlike their
previous superiors) he likes their style and methodology. He gives them more resources to catch the mad
bomber Otto Minski than any of their former superiors would have. Yet we only saw Ambrose Finn sporadically
after “Blow Up,” and he never got the promotion to captain he wanted. So, in terms of storytelling and character
development, it makes sense that a former street cop, who still wore two guns
(even though he spent most of his time at his desk) might grow disillusioned
with the effectiveness of the entire justice system when everything else in his
life starts to fall apart.
Still, I wish Lieutenant Ambrose Finn, like Sarah Jane
Smith, had chosen to quietly leave the police department, and embarked upon
another stage of his life in my imagination.
Still Grieving,
Dragon Dave
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