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fridaythe13ththeseries · 1 year ago

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My Wife as a Dog

Episode Recap #68: My Wife as a Dog Original Airdate: March 3, 1990

Starring: Louise Robey as Micki Foster Steve Monarque as Johnny Ventura (as Steven Monarque) Chris Wiggins as Jack Marshak

Guest cast: Denis Forest as Aubrey Daniel Ross Kim Nelles as Lea Ross Jayne Eastwood as Joni Ken James as Capt. Channing Layne Coleman as Baldwin Vincent Dale as Keith Steele Alan Powell as Mitchell Charles Kerr as Dr. McGibbon Diana Rowland as Delia Cox Jennifer Griffin as Tricia Martin L. Evans as Boy (uncredited)

Written by Jim Henshaw Directed by Armand Mastroianni

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A man, Aubrey Daniel Ross, returns home in his truck. He is visibly upset and crying. He gets out and goes to the back of the truck and his dog is there looking old and sad. He carries the animal inside, putting her on her bed, telling her to ignore the vet and that she'll be fine soon.

Cut to night at a bar called Soupy's. Aubrey arrives and goes up to Lea, a waitress, who is unhappy to see him. Seems they are in the midst of a divorce. He tells her Kelly, the dog, is dying. Lea is not surprised since the dog is old. He begs Lea to come back to him and she drops her tray. He continues to push her, and the woman who runs the bar comes over and reminds him he's be banned. Lea tells him she doesn't care about him anymore. A man restrains Aubrey, telling him they will be late for work.

We go to a firehouse and the man, Keith, is talking with other firefighters about what to do about Aubrey. The others seem a bit frustrated, but Keith says soon they'll be all Aubrey has. He goes to talk to him and Aubrey accuses him of seeing Lea. Keith reminds Aubrey that Lea left because of him. There is a fire alarm.

At the fire, Aubrey and Keith are searching for anyone inside and Keith leaves to check upstairs. Aubrey is still seething about the affair he believes is happening and attacks the man and they fight in the fire. Aubrey grabs a dog leash on the floor and chokes Keith to death. He then drags him outside, acting like he saved him. They try to revive him, but it is too late.

Cut to credits.

Aubrey goes home, and Kelly is laying in her bed. He remembers the dog leash in his pocket and connects it to Kelly's collar. He notices she stands on her own and seems to have more energy.

Jack and Micki are getting an inspection from the fire chief. He sees lots of problems with the layout of the store and all the odd items. He threatens to shut them down. Johnny shows him a letter from someone offering more antiques, commenting that they are always in a state of flux with inventory. The chief isn't impressed and gives them 30 days to clean up. Before leaving, he mentions that the address on the letter burnt down, and a firefighter was killed, hence why he's being strict with their shop. Johnny wonders if one of their objects caused the fire and Jack leaves to find out.

The vet calls Aubrey, to remind him about their appointment to put Kelly to sleep. Aubrey says she's better, but the vet says she is terminal. Aubrey scoffs and says he'll take care of her himself.

Jack is getting a tour of the burned home by the woman who lives there. She says the dog barked and her and her children were able to get out. Seems old wiring caused the fire. She says they managed to save all but one of the items from Curious Goods that she wrote about. Seems the dog leash is missing, presumably burnt up. Jack isn't buying that and looks around on his own.

Aubrey leaves Kelly, saying he'll tell Lea about her improvement and maybe she'll come home.

At Soupy's, Lea is feeling ill. Aubrey comes in and he tells her about the dog improving. She just wants to know if he signed the divorce papers. He says they can now concentrate on their marriage and Lea yells at him. The entire bar listens. She says she doesn't care anymore, but Aubrey is in denial. The owner tells him again to leave.

Jack tells Micki he had no luck at the burned house, but Micki found something when cleaning up, the article about the firefighter's death. He didn't die of smoke inhalation, but had marks on his neck and they assume he got tangled in air hoses.

At the station, the chief informs them about Keith's funeral. He takes donations for the family. The guys talk about ex-wives and alimony, and Aubrey says wives should be more like dogs. The other guys are creeped out.

At night, Kelly barks, waking Aubrey. He reattaches the leash, but it isn't helping. He takes her to the vet, saying she was doing better. The vet wants to put her to sleep and fills a syringe. But Aubrey snaps, knocks the syringe away and chokes and kills the vet with the leash. As soon as he puts it on Kelly's collar, she stands up.

At the bar, Lea is attempting to make change and is struggling to remember how. Her boss helps and tells her she needs a vacation, but Lea is reluctant to go anywhere until Aubrey signs the divorce papers. She wonders what is happening to her.

Next morning, an energetic Kelly wakes up Aubrey with his slippers. He is surprised. Then he remembers Keith's funeral, which Kelly seems to have also remembered and woke him up. Kelly also brought in the paper and opened the fridge. Aubrey spots the leash and begins to connect the dots.

At Curious Goods, Micki and Johnny are repairing steps. Jack asks Micki to go to the vet clinic, since the vet died with abrasions on his neck, as well. They wonder if its connected, and Micki mentions the curse might involve animals. Jack looks in the manifest and finds an Aboriginal Leash of Dreams listed. He says the Aborigines didn't distinguish as much from dreams and reality as much. Micki speculates that maybe it is making someone's fondest dream come true. Jack tells Micki to go to the clinic, and he'll see if the fire chief recalls anything else.

At the station, the chief is addressing the men after Keith's funeral. He also says he is putting Aubrey up for a commendation. Another firefighter tells Aubrey to come to his place for a party tonight. He has a woman in mind for him. Jack asks the chief if anyone could have stolen the leash, but the chief scoffs. The chief says good-bye to Aubrey, then mentions to Jack that Aubrey's string of bad luck might be turning, since his dog's health is improving.

At home, Aubrey is cooking dinner and Kelly is sitting at the table with a napkin around his neck. Aubrey puts two plates down and they eat together. Lea calls, telling him she wants the papers signed. She mentions not feeling well and hangs up. Aubrey says all he needs is Kelly.

Later, after his friend's party ends, the woman he'd hope to set up with Aubrey leaves. Walking, she feels like she's being followed. Aubrey approaches her, offering to walk her to her car. He pulls out the leash and we hear her choking off screen.

At home, he attaches it to Kelly's collar and her eyes change, looking more like human eyes. At the bar, Lea looks in the mirror and screams at the change in her own eyes.

Aubrey lies on the bed with Kelly, wondering how much longer it will take and hoping this is what Kelly wants, as well. There is a knock on the door. Aubrey keeps Kelly in the bedroom. Jack is there and asks if Aubrey saw a braided dog leash at the fire. Aubrey says no, but Jack asks to talk more. Aubrey invites him in. Jack explains about the unique quality of the leash, leaving out the curse. Kelly keeps trying to get out of the bedroom, and Aubrey yells once at her, surprising Jack, who asks about his dog. Aubrey says he doesn't have her anymore, then tries to cover by saying he's tired. Jack is suspicious, but leaves. Aubrey yells at Kelly for not listening, telling her they need to be careful. He thinks he has to kill Lea so Kelly can become her.

Jack tells Johnny he thinks Aubrey was hiding someone in his apartment. Micki says the vet assistant told her Aubrey didn't show for his appointment to put his dog down. They wonder what Aubrey wants the leash to do for him.

At the firehouse, Aubrey calls Lea at work. She is wearing sunglasses and has no patience for him. He tells her he signed the papers and will bring them later. Lea has trouble hanging up the phone and whines. His buddy says he should have shown up last night, but Aubrey says him and Lea are getting back together.

Lea cries to her boss about Aubrey and feeling so confused. Her boss gives her a plate of dinner to eat, and when she leaves Lea eats, using just her mouth.

Aubrey spots Jack watching outside the firehouse. He calls in a fake fire, so the men all have to take off. Jack follows the firetrucks, and Aubrey heads to Soupy's. The boss tells him she sent Lea home. She takes the divorce papers from him to check them and Aubrey strangles her from behind with the leash.

The firefighters arrive back at the station, as does a confused Jack. Aubrey says he was in the bathroom, and the chief says it was a false alarm anyway.

Later, Micki and Johnny are staking out Aubrey's house when he comes home. Jack pulls up, as well. Johnny tells Micki to go home with Jack, he'll keep watching Aubrey. Jack thinks Aubrey was with the firefighters all night. Aubrey puts the leash on Kelly. At her home, Lea freaks out now that her teeth are also changing into fangs.

In the morning, Johnny calls Jack who tells him to go home and sleep. Micki wonders what their next move is, since Aubrey just goes to work and back. Micki says she is going to call the chief to get a new inspection.

Aubrey is trying to get ahold of Lea with no luck. He wonders if he should have signed the papers then realized he couldn't do that.

The chief signs off on Curious Goods meeting codes, and mentions a meeting with police. Seems a woman is missing from a party held by one of his firefighters. He also mentions Aubrey and his wife reconciling, and that the woman works at Soupy's bar. Micki thinks Aubrey could be using the leash to somehow rekindle Lea's love for him.

Lea calls another waitress to cover the bar, since Joni, her boss is missing, and she isn't up to it. She hangs up when she notices her fingernails are becoming claws. The phone rings and it's Aubrey. He says he signed the papers and that Joni is there, too. Lea says she'll be right there. Aubrey tells Kelly that Lea is coming home.

At Soupy's, Johnny tells Micki and Jack that Lea just left and that the owner Joni is missing. They take off.

Lea arrives at Aubrey's. She is jumpy, and looks for Joni. Aubrey picks up the leash. Lea sees Joni's dead body and Aubrey tries to choke her with the leash. She bites him, he grabs her again and chokes her. As he is killing her, Kelly is transforming, the Lea is transfoming, as well. As she becomes a dog and Kelly becomes human. Micki and Jack come in a window and find both the missing woman and Joni's bodies. Johnny breaks in the door and pulls Aubrey off Kelly, who they think is Lea. As Micki tends to "Lea", she sees a dead dog in a trenchcoat.

At the store, Jack thinks Aubrey went insane, Micki thinks he was heartbroken. But they don't know what Aubrey was getting from the leash. Micki thinks they will never know. Johnny goes to put the leash in the vault.

At the prison, "Lea" brings Aubrey his slippers and the newspaper. As he praises her, she pants in happiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My thoughts:

Wow. This has always stood out to me as one of the more bizarre episodes of the series. Turning your dog into your wife? And vice versa? An off-the-wall idea, at best.

And Aubrey gets away with it! Well, with the curse part. We see him in prison for the murders, but no one is aware of what happened with Kelly and Lea.

How is Kelly-as-Lea functioning in the world? Is she smart enough to make it day to day as Lea? We see her panting at Aubrey's praise at the end, but she is also dressed and made it to the prison, so we have to assume she is able to live as a human. Wonder if she'll tire of visiting him in prison.

I like how Jack and crew do all they normally would to get a cursed item back, but are continually left in the dark as to just what was happening with this cursed item. They can't think out there enough to imagine what Aubrey is really up to.

Also liked how Aubrey's co-workers weren't played as all bullies. They might not get Aubrey but they are genuinely concerned for him and his well-being.

Interesting plot, strange for sure, but not just run of the mill.

Next week: Jack-in-the-Box

#friday the 13th: the series #micki foster #80s tv #louise robey #robey #chris wiggins #curious goods #jack marshak #johnny ventura #steven monarque #dog leash #aboriginal leash #leash of dreams #season three #episode recap #denis forest

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reachexceedinggrasp · 7 months ago

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Danny 'I don't do weird' Pink frustrates me as a character, because I'm honestly not sure whether he was supposed to have an arc or not.

His primary role is as a foil for Clara's arc and, in aid of that, as a mirror to the Doctor. A solider with survivor's guilt and a man of action who can't stand by when people need help etc., in some ways he and the Doctor have a lot in common, but he's also a very grounded and circumspect personality versus the Doctor's being fantastical and adventurous. Danny isn't curious and doesn't want to pursue new things or experiences, instead he wants to be fully present with and grateful for what he already has. The Doctor is incorrigibly curious and always interested in new things.

Danny is someone who desires nothing more than an ordinary life, and looks for beauty and satisfaction in the normal things and people around him. He wants his world to be small and quiet, he values the mundane things others might take for granted. He's normal, patient, dependable, simple, honest, etc. His reaction to trauma hasn't been to disavow the things which lead him to that event, or to seek out stimulation to avoid thinking about it, it's to be thoughtful and cautious and somewhat rigid so he can always apply the mindset and skills he retained from before he was traumatised.

He's very firm and unbending in his worldview and in his self-image. He doesn't seem to ever reassess people once he's decided what he thinks of them. He's not unreasonable or unwilling to compromise, he is in fact maybe too reasonable, but he is implastic. He's extremely even-tempered except for around his identity as a soldier, which he's prickly about, but still pretty quick to let it go as long as he's not being deliberately antagonised.

So anyway Danny represents this other path, and this opposite response to the horror of war and making a catastrophic mistake, but he never learns, he never grows and he and Clara are never much on the same wavelength about anything. He's supposed to be stability, the things she 'should' want, the 'person she's supposed to like', the safe choice, the presentable life which Clara feels like she has to have. He's orderly and ordinary and that's what she wants from him. She has to control her image, her future, and her options.

And their simple relationship, once it exists, functions well as the contrast to her complicated and tumultuous relationship with the Doctor while the companion power dynamic is being dismantled and rebuilt so they can be emotional equals. But like, the set up is confusingly executed.

Listen- they have zero chemistry, they have nothing to talk about and have to resort to talking about work, every conversation goes instantly off the rails, they rub each other the wrong way, there is never any reason for them to keep reconciling and trying again to connect. Like. You are not hitting it off! and keep offending each other bc you're not compatible! Quit!!

Clara is forcing it, that makes complete sense with what she's going through, she's trying to take control of her life and her emotions, trying to prove to herself she's not pining for the Doctor and at the mercy of his whims for her life to be full and complete. She doesn't want to need him or to be dependant on him. She doesn't want to be the heartbroken sadsack whom he abandoned at Christmas or who will take whatever scraps he'll throw her. She wants to control his position in her life and control how she feels about him. Hence her assigning him a specific day and confining their adventures on her own terms. She's trying to keep the Doctor compartmentalised. Having an Appropriate Human Relationship means she's successfully put the Doctor in his box (lol) and neutralised the chaotic power of her feelings for him. I mean, obviously not, but that's what she tells herself.

But what is Danny doing? Why does he keep pursuing this when it's so clearly not a good match?

Again in Listen, and much more so The Caretaker, Danny illustrates that he does not know who Clara is, he's wildly wrong about her and what she's like, and he's very high handed about it as well. He's convinced that the Doctor is taking advantage of her, that the Doctor is domineering in their relationship, that she is not a person who wants to be put into challenging or dangerous positions, that the Doctor is pushing her to takes risks and become a leader where that's not her nature. None of this is true. Clara was always a decisive, assertive, strongly driven person who seeks out new experiences and naturally assumes a leadership role any time that's necessary; she relishes being challenged and facing the unknown. Her blow up with the Doctor wasn't about him 'pushing her too far', it was about him failing to support her when she needed him and condescending to her as a human rather than treating her with the intimacy and equity their bond and history together demands. It's personal and it's about their emotional relationship. It's not about making hard choices, it's about having to make hard choices without her partner being honest with and emotionally available to her.

Clara was always an adventurous person, willing to be spontaneous as long as it's on her terms, and excited by the prospect of authority and responsibility. The danger and challenge isn't an unfortunate side effect or a risk she has to take to see amazing sights, it's part of the appeal. She lied to Danny by omission when she said she went off in the box to 'see wonders', not just because the real reason is that she's in love with Doctor, but also because she doesn't just want to be a tourist. She wants to get involved and save people, she wants things to sometimes go pear shaped. She enjoys and craves that part of it too.

Danny is also wildly wrong about the Doctor, but this is understandable and would be fine except that he's never corrected? He never learns better? What's the point?

In Death in Heaven Danny goes out still wrong about the Doctor, still condemning him cruelly and unfairly while knowing nothing about him. He had a point with some of his original rant, there was actual insight there, but it's buried in assumptions and bitterness and then Danny keeps tripling down on the assumption. The one which doesn't understand that the very thing he's shitting on the Doctor for (being willing to lead and make hard choices that must be made in order to save people) is something the Doctor has in common with Clara. And always has. The Doctor didn't change her or push her into that, that's who she's always been.

What is the point of Danny calling him a blood-soaked general and mocking him, calling him an officer as a pejorative again, and again because the Doctor is trying to save the planet. Like, memory check, that's what Danny is mad about. The Doctor doing everything in his power to save literal billions of lives. Doing it for no reason, out of altruism. Doing it while always trying very hard not to fight or kill anyone. Doing it even at enormous spiritual cost to himself.

I don't understand how we're meant to find Danny sympathetic in that moment, because he comes off like a complete dickhead. And it's all the more frustrating because in the intervening episodes Danny has been eminently reasonable. As I've discussed before, we're exhaustively shown that Danny is 100% okay with what Clara claims is going on, that he doesn't want to get in the way of her friendship with the Doctor, that if it really were only the relationship she's pretending it is, there would be no conflict. He's the one who encourages her to make up with him after Kill the Moon! He tells her to go on travelling and it's fine!

Even when he discovers she's been lying to him and cavorting with the Doctor behind his back (again despite him telling her it was fine with him!), he's calm about it and repeats for the millionth time that all he wants from her is honesty. The truth. Which is the one thing she can't give him because Clara knows their entire relationship is built on the lie, they're only together because of the lie. The truth is, as Moffatt said, that Danny never stood a chance. There is a conflict between the two relationships and she's always going to choose the Doctor.

And that does come out, she gives the whole speech to Danny, not knowing it's him, finally being honest. And he seems unsurprised by it, which makes sense because on some level he definitely always knew ('do you love him?' 'no' 'really had enough of the lies'), but then nothing comes of that. Clara just soldiers on, going right back to pretending this relationship wasn't a façade doomed from the start, and Danny allows her to pretend. He goes off on the Doctor, but not in a way the Doctor actually deserves at all, and just sweeps her confession under the carpet. Letting her get away with it again. True to form, I guess! he always did. But shouldn't we make progress?

And it's like... I hate that he dies on that note. It feels like he dies in denial. I guess you could argue it contributes to his decision to not come back, but that feels like a disservice to the character. Saving the kid is important to Danny, it allows him to atone for his greatest mistake, but he didn't need to change or grow to accomplish that and it doesn't provide any closure to his actual role in the narrative, which was as Clara's foil. Clara is off the hook, free to go on lying to herself about their relationship. It's not addressed in Last Christmas, either, it's only barely hinted at.