Hmmm, very interesting, Terry. I can see that you are bringing up two popular Terry-themes in this vignette: the righteousness and/or consequences of killing, and what it's like for a woman other than Lois to be in love with Clark.
Well, as a person who so often opposes killing, let me just say that I'm glad that Trask is dead. I don't want him to be in prison, I want him to be dead. He was too dangerous. Too fanatical. And he knew too much. And he was too powerful and deadly, for two reasons: one, because he was trained to kill if necessary, and he had access to Kryptonite and he knew about Clark and he had weird and paranoid ideas about him, and two, because he was an FBI agent, and he had a lot of authority because of his FBI status. This got to me:
“The man I shot was a Federal man. The state of Kansas don't like its local cops killin' Federal guys, even if the victim was totally nuts and it was a righteous shooting.
Unfortunately, I think this is true, and I think Rachel Harris just possibly might have been fired for killing an FBI man. No, I don't think she would
really have been fired, but yes, I think it
could have happened.
This reminds me, very slightly, of something that happened a couple of years ago at a large hospital not for from where I live. An surgery team was carrying out a complicated operation on a patient. The chief surgeon had a very good record at this hospital, he was very well paid, and he had a ton of respect among his colleagues. Well, this time he was really off his head. He wasn't drunk, but maybe he had been popping pills or something, because he made a crazy decision to turn off the patient's circulation for much too long. The assistant surgeons protested, but timidly. They protested again, and again - but they didn't have the courage to
really stand up to the famous surgeon, and so he had his way. And so the patient died. Afterwards the surgeon was fired. Nevertheless, it is interesting that if a person has enough status and charisma, he can get away with murder. I guess that is why Trask's men allowed themselves to be led where Trask would take them.
I think Jason Trask was more dangerous than Lex Luthor, by the way. Yes, because Luthor was driven by greed, but Trask was driven by fear and paranoia. When you are frightened out of your wits, you are literally fighting for your life all the time, and you may be prepared to go to almost any lengths to put an end to that which is scaring the daylights out of you. Do you remember Doctor Strangelove in the movie with Peter Sellers? Doctor Strangelove managed to start the Third World War (and possibly bring an end to all of mankind) because he, doctor Strangelove, just
had to find a way to stop the flouridization of drinking water in America.
So I'm very grateful to Rachel for shooting and killing Jason Trask. Nevertheless, I can very much sympathize with her here:
“My dad spent six years as an Air Force security officer after he left high school. When he got out of the military, he worked for the Kansas Highway Patrol for eight years. Then he joined the sheriff's department as a deputy for six years, then retired as county sheriff after twenty-four years of service.”
She stopped and wiped her eyes with one hand. “In all that time, my father never once discharged his weapon in the field. He drew it a few times, but he never fired it.” She sobbed once. “I'm sheriff for less than three years and I – I kill a man the first time I pull it out of the holster on the job.”
Once I had a dream that I killed. It was horrible. I was cold and shaking when I woke up. I have no idea where that dream came from. I'm so glad that I'm never expected to carry any sort of weapons, and that it is never my job to physically subdue dangerous persons. Nevertheless, some people have that job, and occasionally they have to kill. I just wish, for everybody's safety, that everyone who has that job could be like Rachel Harris - that they would want to avoid killing if it is in any way possible. Unfortunately, people who dislike killing as much as Rachel Harris are also going to agonize over what they have done when they have been forced to kill, even if it was clearly the right and necessary thing to do.
I'm glad that Rachel has some people around her to support her, though. Martha's talk with her was great, and I liked this, too:
“Thanks. Sorry, but I gotta get going. My dad's expecting me to come by and mow his front yard for him. He says his arthritis has been acting up, but I think he just wants to talk to me.” She shrugged again. “Probably wants to tell me the same things you just did.”
I'm glad her father is there for her.
As for Rachel's crush on Clark - well, sorry, Rachel, you are not getting all that much sympathy from me. For two reasons. One, I'm a hopeless Lois and Clark shipper, so I don't want to see Clark with you at all. And two, none of us owns another person. Two days ago I and a number of friends saw an outdoor performance of Carmen. Toward the end of this opera, Don Jose sings that he can't let Carmen go. So what if she is in love with another man now? He has sacrificed too much for her to let her go. She belongs to him. So when she insists on leaving him, he kills her.
Of course Rachel isn't thinking of killing Clark. Interestingly, if she has hung on to a piece of that Kryptonite that Trask used, she would in fact be capable of killing Clark, at least in theory. But of course she wouldn't do it. But refraining from killing someone is one thing, and letting go, allowing the other person to live and love, is another thing. I hope and think that Rachel has that in her. And like Martha said,
of course she must stay on as a sheriff. And
of course the state investigation into the shooting is not going to get Rachel fired.
I liked the mental journey that Martha made during the course of this vignette. In the beginning she was lonely and scared, frightened by the creaking of the house. But when she found out that she needed to be there for Rachel, and that she needed to really appreciate what Rachel had done for her and her family, things changed for Martha:
She watched the younger woman drive away and hoped that Rachel would be able to bear up under her burden without surrendering to her fears. She also hoped that Rachel would decide to continue as sheriff. It would be a shame if Trask won a victory over her from beyond the grave.
For that matter, it would be a shame if that evil man won any victories from the grave.
She squared her shoulders and marched back into her house.
Her house. Hers and her husband's. And she would refuse to be afraid there any longer.
Trask would not win a posthumous victory over Martha Kent, either. She set about straightening up the living room and then started dinner for herself and her husband. And when the expanding kitchen wall creaked from the heat of the stove, she didn't give it a second thought.
I love the tribute you pay to Martha's strength and determination here.
Interesting story, Terry!
Ann
