#every time I read a fic that insinuates Fraser was actually getting got by her I feel indignant for my boy

[sammaggs]

This is my interpretation of this episode as well; Fraser is on to Lady Shoes from the word go.

He knows she's interested (because everyone is interested in Fraser), and normally he would pretend not to notice or deflect, but instead—as Fraser says at the end of the episode—he's beginning to learn how to bluff. That's the theme of this entire episode:

Fraser is learning how to bluff.

Because not only is he lying to Lady Shoes, he's also lying to Ray.

There is no good reason for Fraser not to tell Ray that he suspects Lady Shoes of foul play from at least as early on as her re-capture in her apartment. In fact, not telling Ray puts Fraser in active danger: He's undercover and relying on Ray to figure out what's happening live while Fraser is already in the room with a bunch of murderers. It doesn't make sense for Fraser to not have filled Ray in on his plan. His passive-aggressive little excuse at the end of the episode ("As you had instructed me, there are certain cards that are better left hidden until they are absolutely needed.") is nonsensical.

He's taking the opportunities presented to him (Lady Shoes trusting him; Ray feeling jealous) and bluffing, running them to their conclusions. He's playing Lady Shoes; he's seeking payback on Ray.

Thematically important to due South as a whole as well is this conversation right off the top:

KOWALSKI: Please. Don't tell me you've got a thing for her. FRASER: For who? KOWALSKI: [smiling, putting on his coat] You know who. Lady Shoes. FRASER: I don't know her. KOWALSKI: Exactly, and you never will. She's a card player. You never get to know a woman like that. FRASER: If you say so.

due South has an obsession with the "love at first sight" narrative, and I think lands firmly in the camp of "love at first sight can only be true in hindsight." You cannot truly love someone until you know them.

Fraser doesn't know Victoria well enough to actually be in love with her, something he realizes with disastrous clarity only long after the fact; the spark ignited a blaze. And Fraser doesn't know Ray well enough to actually be in love with him after Burning Down the House/Eclipse, though he's certainly, deeply in limerence. It's only in Say Amen, almost a year and a half after meeting him and truly coming to know him that Fraser can say that first spark of love grew into something real and sustainable. That spark became part of a hearth.

Timestamp Roulette: Odds

Minutes 2, 14, 16, 19, 24, 29, and 41.