Rhodes - All the Gold

[byslantedlight]

Ohmigodses! Why did nobody tell me? You've let me leave Rhodes sitting on my shelf all this time without a single mention, anywhere on my flist, of Rhodes/Pickering! Rhodes/Pickering!

I'm just... there was Rhodes/Pickering! And in the most tragic, heart-tearing of circumstances! I mean - what if Pickering hadn't died? Would history be different? Maybe it wouldn't be, but...

Oh, and MS plays it just gorgeously! Who would have thought it of a man with a moustache? I mean, I really hate moustaches, but I swear MS could carry off... oh, I dunno, a really bad one!

Okay - some pic spam. Beware for scenes of wrenchingness aimed at your heart... *sniffs*

So - to set the scene, Rhodes and Pickering meet and have dinner...


Pickering moves in (MS gets to throw furniture around in a tantrum cos he's peeved when Pickering says it might be too "cramped" for him after all - the furniture throwing is to make room for a bed, and Pickering is amused enough by it all to say yes...


And they just... get on really well, and Pickering makes MS Rhodes laugh and laugh...



But wouldn't you give it all up for someone who looked at you like this?


And oh but wouldn't you look like that for an MS who looked like this?


Except... just... (prepare yourself...) tragedy strikes - Pickering is thrown from a horse, breaks his leg, and scepticemia sets in... And Rhodes looks after him, but... but...



...it's just... *sniffs*... it's just not good...


And...and... just... ohhhh, more tissues please... Rhodes doesn't want them to take Pickering away for the funeral... See his face, oh see his face!




At the funeral...


Really, I was so not ready for that to happen - for Rhodes to fall in love with Pickering (I know, I know, not historically proven, but they did share a house together, and Rhodes did ride hundreds of miles on top of the mail coach, amidst the mail bags, to get back to him when he found out he'd had a relapse, and he did break down at the funeral...) and then for Pickering to... oh, and just when they were looking so happy, you know?

*sighs sadly*

"Rhodes" in happier times...





And oh, I know I need to catch up on replies and drabbles too, but... sometimes I forget how relaxing, and how good it is to just watch telly of an evening... *vbg*

(PS - I'm up to four placement offers... *headdesk*)

Comments

[empty-mirrors.livejournal.com]

I knew the history history, but I didn't realise they'd actually tackled the relationship in the programme. They make a lovely couple. Such tragedy. Maybe explains why Rhodes became such an arsehole in his later years, perhaps.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

They did - I'm looking forward to seeing what they make of the rest of it all now. I guess I wasn't expecting so much personal stuff, so that impressed me too!

It's funny, the series makes it sound as if he started out with ever such good principles, and treating everyone including native Africans fairly and well - even standing up for them at risk to himself - but changed his ideas/thoughts etc to the point that the man who'd been his best friend and supporter - a native African who'd been educated in the UK (I think!) - left him completely... Only we're not really given a reason for this change - yet - it's just presented as some sort of deep change in him, and seemed to have been happening before he met Pickering, or during the time they were together, or...

Shall have to watch the next ep to find out more!

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

*LOL* I did post about 'Rhodes' ages ago - and yay for actually tagging things because I found it.

Have to admit I was more caught up in all the history than I was with Rhodes/Pickering - maybe 'cos I knew Pickering died, so I didn't want to get too invested in the relationship, maybe because Rhodes wasn't the nicest man - although MS did brilliantly with the character!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yeay - well done you! And gosh I wasn't even on lj when you wrote that post! *g* Very interesting... I shall have to watch the rest of the series and let you know what I think about the impis!

I was really surprised to find out that Rhodes appears to have been quiet a decent chap when he was young - or at least that's the way he's been portrayed so far... I really want to find out why he changed too - I've always been led to believe that he was a thorough rotter...

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

I'd had my journal for about 3 months - and I was still pretty self-conscious about writing in it *g*.

I'm not sure if there is much evidence of a change - he seems to have always been a dedicated and very driven imperialist, although later in life he had more money, and therefore power, to throw around. Interesting though, innit?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the massive reply-delay...

And yet the series makes him out as someone who stands up for the native Africans at first, virtually risking his life so that they'll be paid and treated fairly. I've not read any histories of his life, so I don't know how accurate this is - and there's perhaps a hint that he's really doing it for the power he knows it will give him over the other diamond miners if he's the one with the most willing workforce, but...

They do emphasise his early dedication to Britain and imperialism though...

[sunray45.livejournal.com]

MS did a fantastic job in Rhodes. That heartbreaking scene at the funeral always sticks in my mind and the way the others shunned him, except for Dr. Jamieson.

Rhodes flirting with Pickering was awesome. Can't remember where it came in, but we get a great tongue display from Rhodes. Will have to check my screencaps, which should all be on MP as well.

[sunray45.livejournal.com]

P.S. The tongue bit is in Part 6. :0

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - got to admit, I don't go particularly wild over all the little bits of MS (like tongue, chest etc!) that some people do, I like the package best when it's all together! But I do remember a few tongue-y shots, it's true! *g*

And MS did a brilliant job as Rhodes, didn't he?! He deserves to be proud of it - and Joe too, I thought he was also really good!

Looking forward to ep 3 now... *g*

Maybe spoilers for other people

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I've said more elsewhere but I did mention this to you ages ago! Do you remember me talking about the scene where Pickering has temporarily recovered from his illness and comes into the boardroom meeting? And the way Rhodes welcome him back? The mixture of emotions on his face? Honestly, I've never seen MS act so well - it almost seemed as though he really *was* in love with this young actor, you know, in real life and I thought he should have got an award for the part.

Your pictures are a beautiful reminder of this series and how good MS looks in the part. Thank you.

Re: Maybe spoilers for other people

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

....in fact, dare I say it....that I think the emotions MS showed on his face with this friend were much stronger than anything he's showed when acting with women, honest....

Re: Maybe spoilers for other people

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know what my memory's like - I'm sorry, I don't remember! But I totally agree with you! MS does a fabulous job in this, and he really does look so lovingly at Pickering - and yes, I agree about his passions seeming so much more when he's acting with men as well... interesting, innit! I never quite believed JJD and Jenny Seagrove (can't remember her character's name!) or even the woman in Adam Dalgleish - but I totally believed Pickering!

Re: Maybe spoilers for other people

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I did, too! I think the characters and their relationhips in JJD are nearly all pretty unreal e.g. a judge facing a court which contained his lover, his ex-wife and his daughter?....pleeeease (Although I think the writing of the legal jousting and the development of the cases were very good).

But MS and Pickering....it was so real and intimate that at times I did actually feel like a voyeur watching them - jealous of them. Left out. And it's so refreshing to see Shaw in a part which, for a lot of the time, wasn't blustering, authoritative etc like so many of his other parts have been (not pros). It was his labour of love and to his credit it shows (again) how he doesn't shy away from playing characters with questionable sexualities.

Re: Maybe spoilers for other people

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sorry, later than a late thing replying to your comment, I do apologise!

It is good to see MS in that sort of part, isn't it! I suppose he actually has done quite alot of that sort of acting, but what we remember him most for are his sort of superhero roles - The Chief, JJD, Pros, even as a surgeon in A&E. And he is very equal opps about the characters he plays, isn't he?

I've just had a book in the post today about the making of The Scarlet Pimpernel, and he says somewhere in there that he likes playing villains because it's interesting - to do it well you have to like the villain yourself, because villains don't get out of bed and say "Right, what can I do that's evil today?" - they genuinely think they're right to do what they do, which is absolutely true... Mickey Hamilton, for instance! *g*

Re: Maybe spoilers for other people

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

I suppose he actually has done quite alot of that sort of acting, but what we remember him most for are his sort of superhero roles - The Chief, JJD, Pros, even as a surgeon in A&E.

They're the ones he's done on TV but if he'd done more classical stuff on TV like Shakespeare or something then I'm sure I'd remember that as well (as I do his role in Macbeth), but he hasn't! And I'm not sure why he didn't do stuff with the RSC, for example, he's certainly good enough. And yes, I really wish he'd done more baddy roles rather than some of the other roles which I think have tended towards self-righteousness and suchlike characteristics. (And so many roles where's he wearing some kind of uniform!) Still, anything's better than nothing and it's great to see him at all, unlike poor old Lew.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the thing about tv isn't it - it's not the controversial stuff, cos most people want the heroes and the uniforms...

I wonder about the RSC thing too - although... the landlady of the B&B I stayed in, in Windsor, was involved with the stage, and had been involved obliquely with MS in plays etc - I hope we're buried far enough down here that this won't be picked up by anyone! - and she reckoned that Murder on Air, the play I was there to see, would suit him down to the ground, because the actors read from scripts while on stage, as they were playing actors reading a radio play (still with me?!). The "business" insiders-thing was that he was really bad at learning lines - so presumably RSC wouldn't suit him at all? Or of course it could be complete bunkum! *g*

And yeah, I'm just happy to see him around still, and I wish Lew was too - wish he'd never gone away! *sniffs sadly*

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the thing about tv isn't it - it's not the controversial stuff, cos most people want the heroes and the uniforms...

Yeah, I don't know if classical is controversial, but he doesn't seem to have done much in the way of classical (non shakespeare) serialisations etc. either, which the BBC do so well. (I could see him in so many fine roles e.g. Rochester in Jane Eyre). And not many series, like Cranford, where he hasn't headed the cast but has just been one part of the ensemble.

Finds it hard to learn lines? That's very interesting and would certainly explain why he hasn't done much Shakespeare! (Or maybe he just doesn't like Shakespeare?!)

Spoilers?

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Now that I'm sure you've watched it all(!) the bit I really loved was the scene when Pickering returns after he's been ill and comes into a boardroom meeting where Rhodes fusses over him and helps him to sit down. etc. Honestly, I swear, I've never seen MS acting so well, so touchingly, it was absolutely *amazing*....the look of love on his face, the tenderness he shows for Pickering and the way the rest of the room spotted it and felt slightly ill-at-ease... and you can see *why* Rhodes loves Pickering - he's just so beautiful, sweet and vulnerable-looking! A fantastic scene.

[dragongirl3745.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, now this sounds good. And slashy. *wonders about currency conversion* Anyway, this really looks interesting, I may just have to buy this. I love the pics and the commentary.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, you should so get hold of Rhodes - I think it's absolutely wonderful, and MS does the most brilliant job! He's so right to be proud of it! I really want to do another post of it, reviewing the whole thing, but I couldn't quite - not straight away, cos it really got me... *g*

[dragongirl3745.livejournal.com]

Yes, please post more, when you feel like it and you get the time. It will hold me until I can get the dvd. I think that will be a Christmas present to me from me!!