I'm sorry but I have to *totally* dissociate myself from the blog copying my style and publishing a replica de facto of my posts. I'm really really upset about this fact, and I hope my followers will be faithful and loyal to mine, which is the original one.

Jarod & Miss Parker - Shadows & Guns - Summary of a OTP

[1.17 - Keys]

Jarod: I have nightmares too. About family I’ve never seen, best friends I’ve lost.

[1.13 - Bazooka Jarod]

Oh, I love this moment. We don’t know about Kyle existence yet, we have no idea that Kenny, Alex and Eddie existed in Jarod’s life. But it looks like Jarod is already talking about *those* friends he has lost. Maybe he is also talking about Angelo or, who knows, Miss Parker. I mean, the *real* Miss Parker…

There are times that I ask myself, was it fair to be left with an OTP whose most intense sexual relationship consisted of a slight hand touch and the most frustrating almost kiss in history? I don't think so.

Saving Luke

Seven months after the release of Rebirth, the first chapter that enchanted and catapulted us into a new adventure undertaken by the authors Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle, Saving Luke, the second awaited book of The Pretender world is finally here. The story follows from what was narrated in Rebirth. Jarod is looking for answers about an imminent terrorist attack and he must thwart it without endangering young Luke’s life, whose father is being threatened to cooperate with the abductors if he wants to see his son ever again. The chameleon is also willing to help his fascinating companion Skylar to detox after the forced permanence at Dr. Bilson’s clinic, where Jarod had been pretending to be a doctor to interrogate Kaj, Luke’s kidnapper. In addition, the runaway pretender is more than ever longing to have answers about his identity, and to find them he doesn’t hesitate to stay in touch with his former protector Sydney who is struggling with a crisis of conscience after Jarod’s escape and yearning to help his protégé to pay off debt for his past mistakes. If that isn’t enough, Miss Parker is always hot on the heels of Jarod, helped by a team composed by the sweet Daphne, whose idol is the Ice Princess herself, and the creepy Cornelius, narcissist and ambitious young genius, selfish lover of his own intelligence to the limits of excess. In an extraordinary succession of events, Jarod finds himself in a rush to manage all the aspects of his existence. The pretender takes a long road that leads him to face his past, present and future, finding fear, anguish and sufferance on his way, but also friendship, love and new discoveries. The adult Jarod approaches life as a young boy experimenting the world for the first time, is it to taste cotton candy or loving a woman. But Jarod’s distinctive feature is always his superior intellect that puts him in the condition to face the bad guys and try to save Luke – and hundreds of people with him. Meanwhile, Miss Parker is more and more tormented by the memories of a young girl who doesn’t exist anymore. She’s back to do one job: Chase Jarod and return him to the Centre. But this assignment puts her vis-à-vis with an agonizing challenge: Defying her emotions and all the feelings she has for him. During the pursuit, specially at those moments when the huntress is in very close contact with her prey, those feelings come to the surface, described in a whole new way, filled with tension and unresolved emotional conflicts. Perhaps the bond between Jarod and Miss Parker is more obvious in Saving Luke than it ever was during the show, also thanks to new revelations on their shared childhood. Not to alarm all the fans of the couple, it must be said that the presence of another woman in Jarod’s life might annoy all of us waiting for a happy ending to this UST, but at the same time it’s finding out about Skylar that exasperate Miss Parker to the point of becoming jealous. So it’s also because of the ‘other woman’ if emotions resurface and Miss Parker feels something for the fleeing ‘monster’, something she didn’t think she still had inside her. To all the fans of the show still waiting for a reconciliation of this wonderful couple, I say: Read Saving Luke in one breath, and you’ll realize it was worth it. The book is nice and writing is fluid. Reading Saving Luke was easy and satisfying. The form was improved compared with the first book, and the authors were certainly aided by the fact that a group of trusty ‘proofreaders’ (many of which recognizable among the fans of the show) helped with the final editing. To express their total devotion to those fans who clung on to The Pretender world even when the fandom was falling into oblivion, the authors included a large group of secondary characters named precisely like those fans. By doing so, Steven and Craig are pushing the concept of relationship between authors and end-users of a fandom to an integration and cooperation levels never seen before. If the plot in Rebirth was basically a reinterpretation of the Pilot of the tv show, Saving Luke is a completely different story. After reading the book it’s pretty obvious that scenes coming directly from episodes of the show are missing, and if there are any references to specific moments of the first season they have been totally revised, even the dialogues – to the delight of the fans, who are finally able to read fresh Parkerisms and Jarodisms. This choice allows Saving Luke to be much more interesting and addictive than Rebirth. Rebirth bad habit to combine the TV past and the literary present would annoy the long-standing fans and confuse the new readers. With the second chapter a whole different way forward is recognizable: Laying the foundations, then departing from the original TV show. The result is a path that will probably lead towards the same direction, but by following a different route. As a first hour fan, I can say that I’m really satisfied with the breath of fresh hair provided by Saving Luke, with the new scenes and the new characters, always very well detailed. Following the rule that a good team shouldn’t change, Steven and Craig maintained all the main characters alike, with their traumas, physical description, behavior and personal life. What changes, are the means to reach the main goal. Jarod is still looking for his family, but he gets information about his past in a different way. Miss Parker still wants to know the truth about her mother’s death, but Jarod gives it to her differently. Sydney is still in pain for the pretender’s escape and feels responsible for stealing his life, but he’s also struggling with the guilt for his wife and son’s death (characters never mentioned during the show). The lack of some main characters (Broots, Lyle, Angelo and Raines) is much evident and undeniable. You must be patient though, and be careful while reading, because among those lines you may find Easter eggs aimed to tell us that their absence might be only temporary… Saving Luke is a perfect union of what the TV show lovers appreciated the most in the series and something wonderfully new that modernized not only the characters, but also the narrated themes. In the show, Jarod is kidnapped in 1963 and runs from the Centre in 1996, he is 36/37 (his birth date is still unknown). In the “new” pretender, Jarod is abducted in 1983 and escapes in 2013, so the characters are still the same age, but they are suddenly thrown into a more contemporary era, at least for what concerns technologies. If in the show Jarod used red notebooks, today he has a tablet; if he used a huge medicine textbook to learn how to pretend to be a doctor, today it is enough to watch videos on YouTube, let alone the continuous mentioning of Google, Wikipedia, actual singers… All that goes pretty well with a character that became more shrewd and aware of his own potential. While the TV-Jarod was definitely timid and almost clumsy in his attitude, the written-Jarod is much more violent and determined, even cruel at times. With his omnipresent weird sense of justice, employed in an exquisitely arbitrary way, Jarod reminds us of Michael Westen in Burn Notice (whose main features certainly retraced the pretender’s one), a ‘Robin Hood of our times’ helping the little guy to outwit the bad guys. But if in the show Jarod did it in a more theatrical way, in Saving Luke his method of persuasion reaches more exasperated levels of physical and psychological torture. At the same time, we are dealing with a more dynamic Jarod, using advanced technological gadgets to accomplish amazing and almost unrealistic missions, like Sydney Bristow used to do in Alias. Whether it is jumping off a plane to ‘catch a train’ or putting electro-magnets in his gloves and boots to lock on the train roof, this Jarod seems to have acquired also a tactical mind that has nothing to envy to Ethan Hunt’s (Mission: Impossible). Take the TV-Jarod, add a little bit of Michael Westen’s determination, a bunch of Ethan Hunt’s unbelievable action sequences, a handful of Sydney Bristow’s disguising techniques, mix them up and the result is a brand new Jarod. A swirling cocktail of unprecedented adrenaline that doesn’t divert attention from the main news: the TV show becomes a book, reinventing itself – and it does it pretty well. Now the authors have the difficult task to continue Jarod’s saga in the best possible way, maybe also by providing the lifetime fans with a series of answers to still unresolved issues, without omitting the narrative necessity to keep them waiting with bated breath until the very end of the race.

What tP fans can't forgive the authors for

I know this may sound silly and anachronistic, but I'm going to write this post even if nobody will read it. There's so much to say about the incredible show that "The Pretender" was, its untimely ending was something that really destroyed the fans' expectations and hopes, especially for the Miss Parker and Jarod OTP. It still hurts, even if it's been almost 15 years. Whenever I think about Miss Parker & Jarod's last conversation, I can't help but feel...neglected, even distressed, like if I was still suffering for an unwanted grief.

1. The Third Movie

As we all know, the story didn't have a real conclusion. It's history, my tP fellows. I think we all agree when I say that one more movie would have been enough to give an ending to the show. Ok, probably they didn't do it for many reasons. Maybe there wasn't enough money, neither attention to the show, neither useful contacts with other producers. What I really can't stand is the fact that they didn't involve the fans BEFORE. Just think about it, what if S. and C. had started this little adventure *sooner* than 2013? I know, 12 years ago the web wasn't as evolved as it is today, especially in Europe (and the show was always more loved in Europe than in the U.S.). In Italy, for example, we hardly knew what surfing the web meant, in 2002. But within the years (and I think especially about 2007, when during an interview the creators asked the fans to be patient) things had changed. We were ready, and petitions were already traveling around the whole world. We could have made it. They really should have done something *then*, when the actors were still "young" and not so many years had passed. Let's face it: now, even if they are ever going to make it to tv or Netflix, we can expect a reboot at most, maybe with old actors appearing as different characters, or cameos, or not appearing at all - which I really wouldn't love. So tP would probably be like Nikita.

2. The Almost Kiss

That atrociuos-unbearable-almost kiss. I mean, what kind of sick mind would create such a lovely scene, such a lovely moment, such a lovely ambience, such a lovely mood...Just for an "almost-kiss"?! I'm sure that should you ask anyone used to watch the show back then what he remembers of it, he would answer something like, 'Oh, Yeah, Jarod, Miss Parker, it was such fun to watch their you-run-I-chase. They were the almost-kiss couple, weren't they?'. Once I read that it was probably the most frustrating "almost-kiss" in history. And as a shipper, I would *erase* the probably. Make it a *surely*. If only they had let Miss Parker and Jarod kiss, everything would have been different. Let me expose my POV. My guess is that the authors wanted to instill a very accurate concept in the audience, that Miss Parker would see that "almost-kiss" as a mistake, something to deny later, while to Jarod it would be like a starting point to change things, to make Parker understand that he'd always been in love with her and they could have a future together, if she wanted to. A moment of weakness to Miss Parker vs. A moment of revelation to Jarod. Well, I'm pretty sure that THIS CONCEPT wouldn't have changed, if the two of them had actually *kissed*.

They should have let the kiss happen, even for a few seconds, even a slight touch of lips would have been enough! And our beloved Ocee would have come in to interrupt it, as she did with the *almost* kiss. Nothing would have changed for the plot purposes of the show: the concept mentioned before would still be there, Miss Parker would still see it as a mistake and she would be even more justified, because she would have *done* it! What would have really changed is the VISUAL impact of the scene for the fans! We would have had a lovely wallpaper with MPJ kissing for real, it wouldn't have been "the most frustrating almost-kiss" in history, we would have had a very different image pictured in our minds. Just - a - KISS. They wanted to close the show with Jarod and Parker parted, calling each other in pain and sorrow? Well, ok, it would have been fine *then*, because we could at least have imagined that they would find each other again, that Parker would surrender to him, that she would decide to leave the Centre and stay with Jarod. It would have been ok, because at least we would have had THE KISS! You know when you search for videos on YouTube and you happen to find collections of the "best tv shows kisses"? Well, it's terrible when you realize the author put Jarod and Parker in the video - AND THEY DON'T ACTUALLY KISS! (I swear I found this video once, I don't know if it still exists, though.) As I said, it's just a matter of VISUAL IMPACT, this is why they really made the wrongest choice ever for a tv couple.

3. The last scene

When the authors (and producers, and actors, and writers...) found out that they were risking not to do a third movie (which I'm pretty sure they knew BEFORE IOTH), the should have taken a different direction and give IOTH a different ending. I read that this is what happened for Crossing Jordan: when the authors realized that the show would be canceled, they changed the script of the finale. They can't tell us they didn't know, the situation was risky and they *knew* it. That's why they should have chosen a different end. Ok, there wasn't enough time to answer all the unanswered questions (God only knows how many they are, still), maybe there wasn't time to destroy the Centre or to let Miss Parker and Jarod run away together, I'm aware of the fact that there weren't enough premises to turn the MPJ otp into a "real couple". Not so suddenly. Not in those 30 minutes of movie that they still had after the "almost-kiss". But what if they had chosen to end the show not without a phone call, but with an encounter?! A face-to-face meeting between Jarod and Parker, not in her office, but at her home. Instead of making Jarod say that suffering line, 'What about us?' at the phone, why didn't they choose to make him show up by surprise, one of his umpteenth Houdini-acts of appearance, just to ask her IN PERSON? I know, this show was founded on late-night phone conversations, which I'm particularly fond of. Come on, guys, who cared about Jarod's pretends when there would always be a phone call between him and Parker (or Sydney!) to be waiting for since the beginning of the episode? But in IOTH things were different. We had the first phone call (which is just *great*!) at the beginning of the movie, so we deserved at least a "live" conversation at the end. Jarod would have showed up, Parker would have asked, 'Why did you come?' and he would have answered with his question, 'What about us'. Try to picture it in your heads, tP fellows, isn't it TOTALLY DIFFERENT?! They should have made it *different*, there were premises for at least a last encounter! I can already imagine the scene: Jarod arriving, begging Miss Parker to get away with him, Parker replying that she can't because she still needs to find answers. Jarod making matters worse by saying that they can look for the truth together. And after this, if you really want to end with a pending finale, then Jarod would mark out his never letting Parker go, his never surrendering, by saying something like, 'I won't give up on us' - (A passionate kiss would be really appreciated at this point!). And then they could also say that line on the Scrolls, about finding what their future would hold - if they are real.

Then I picture Parker watching Jarod going away, maybe with tears at the corner of her eyes, and he would disappear with a smile, maybe even with a devilish line like, 'Still catch me, if you can'. And she would whisper a Parkerism to herself, something like, 'Just wait 'till I catch you, Boy Genius' or 'You can bet your sorry ass I will' or 'Just wait 'till I catch you alone, Boy Wonder'. You see? In 5 minutes I wrote a total different ending that would have been much more satisfying, how many minutes it would have added to the real IOTH? Three minutes? Four tops? 4 minutes and they could have achieved a total different ending. And this is where they were wrong. This is what fans don't forgive them for.

4. Ethan

To make minor characters disappear *abruptly* was always this show flaw. I'm thinking about Mr. Cox, Zoe, Margaret, Major Charles, Emily, Gemini... The Zoe-Mr. Cox situation was acceptable, we can only assume that Zoe was sent away by Jarod, maybe because he realized his life was far too dangerous for including also the risk of losing her. And I'm sure that after the Alex-affair he was enough aware of the fact it was Miss Parker the woman he actually was in love with, not Zoe. Maybe he simply dumped her. And maybe Cox went back to Africa, who knows? The most unwanted disappearance ever was Ethan's.

It was absolutely disappointing to make him disappear into thin air after the first movie. After being a main character in TP 2001, he can't be "deleted" like if he never existed, without telling us where the hell he went or what happened to him! We were attached to Ethan, he was a "turning point" for Jarod and Parker. She was starting to tolerate Jarod's presence, she was becoming accustomed to have a brother that she really liked around her. And all of a sudden, PUFF, Ethan's gone, it's over, kaput. Why??? For what concerns Mr. Parker we weren't told if he was dead or alive, but you know what? I don't care. He could be dead or alive, it doesn't matter.

With Ethan it's totally different. I realize that they wanted to focus IOTH on the MPJ OTP - and we're really thankful for that - but Ethan's disappearance it's something we can't accept, and I'm sure that Miss Parker and Jarod wouldn't either! They would do *anything* to find their little brother! How come Jarod didn't look for him??!! Guys, you should have told us if Ethan was safe, if Jarod ever found him and maybe take him to see his family. In this case, I think they should have added just one scene of Ethan's whereabouts a the end of the first movie. Just to see what happened to him. It would have certainly be much more comfortable that watching an almost-naked-Mr.Wiggles-Raines sending that picture to his "children". Maybe Ethan had something to do with the Scrolls too, but I guess we'll never know. And this is something really unacceptable.

5. The different turn of events - The Scrolls

Last but not least, the abrupt turn of events of the main plot. I'm fond of sci-fi, and I loved the paranormal in Alias. But let's face it, you can't develop a total different theme in, how much, 80 minutes? The authors decided to create a diversion, so they started to talk about Scrolls and Prophecies. This wasn't fair. They'd never mentioned them before, there was just two slight clues in 4.20 (Catherine speaking to Ethan and mentioning that 'Jarod is the One' - which kind of reminded me of The Matrix) and Jarod's conversation with Alex at the end of TP 2001, when Alex said that 'Jarod didn't really know who he really was'. I don't know if they were trying to gain attention by changing the subject to something more paranormal, but this was an EPIC FAIL. I think this is also the main reason why the show was canceled. You drag prophecies and curses into a show that was *already* tagged as sci-fi. I know, The Pretender became more and more paranormal during the seasons, just think about how different are the season finales. We started with Jarod discovering he had a brother (which was real and not so unbelievable), then we found out that Miss Parker had a twin brother (again, believable, but creepy), then a CLONE arrived to mess everything up again (which was daring, even if a great idea) and last we got Miss Parker discovering her 'Inner sense' and Catherine being undead and then dead again...And then the movies and the Scrolls. When you use a clone, it's sci-fi. When you choose prophecies we talk about unbelief, almost religion, paranormal ESPers. So if you want this, you must act differently and your show must START towards that direction.

Just look at Alias - and I already mentioned how much it reminds me of TP. It started filled with paranormal things since the first episode. We were thrown inside that whole Rambaldi-stuff since the beginning, and also the Prophecies and Page 47 appeared in Season 1. In this case it wasn't unfair, just surreal, WELL WRITTEN and suited to the time. Maybe TP wasn't so lucky because it was ahead of times, it already talked about cloning and coming back from death even BEFORE Alias and Lost came around, even before JJ. And yet, this choice wasn't totally understood. And these changes didn't make things better, because also the most loyal fans didn't like the different direction the show was taking.

And now, shoot me if you want to, but I really needed to put these thoughts to paper. And I hope you are going to reply to me soon!

∞Miss Roxy∞

Parker: He’s locked us in, Jarod! These barrels are gonna blow. There’s no way out... Jarod: There’s one. Come on! [Island of the Haunted] Oh, yes, I was really looking forward for uploading this photoset. I've got things to say, as usual! =) 1. Something 'technical': Jarod wasn't wearing gloves when they found Angel's leather pouch. Now he is. So two things. Or he put on his gloves while he and Parker were running after Brother Menenicus, or it was an obvious mistake ;) I don't care, anyway, but it's always a pity not to see his hands (which I not-so-secretly-worship). 2. Something 'lovely': Miss Parker moves her free hand and tries to reach Jarod as soon as the fire flares up. She's scared and I can only assume she wants to reach him for support. I'm not sure she actually touches him, but I love to think that she really wanted to. And it's like she's protecting him from the fire, again. 3. Something 'personal': Jarod and Parker's reaction to the fire is pretty different. She's in a panic and already hopeless, she looks ready to surrender. Jarod, instead, does what he does best. He thinks like a pretender, looking around to find a way out. And he does! He couldn't let Miss Parker die just now that they were getting closer, could he? =) 4. Something 'relational': Jarod grabs Parker and throws her out of the window, fast but carefully. I love the way he puts his hand on her back to push her through the glasses. This scene was pretty cool.

Ocee: Brother Menenicus was right. This is the devil’s storm. You were lucky to make it back alive. Jarod: It’s not just the storm. We’re not alone here. Ocee: You’re shivering. Give me those wet clothes to dry. Ocee: Then my feeling was justified. Jarod: Feeling? Ocee: My feeling that the only goodness left on the island is the connection between you and Miss Parker. Jarod: No, thank you. Ocee: It’s not for you. Go to her. [Island of the Haunted] This is another exquisite and yet underrated moment in IOTH. I know, as shippers, we all hate Ocee. A few months ago I was talking with my tPSoulSisters about Ocee and this scene. I said something like, "If only she died a couple of hours before". And Nathalie answered, "Ocee...she could feel the connection BUT didn't seem to feel it wasn't tea time" #superpowerfail I think this is one of the most amusing things I've ever heard. And yet, when Ocee gives Jarod that tea cup and he smiles back, it looks like he's thinking, "This might be an old lady going nuts, but she figured it all". I love the fact that this useless old lady is the one pushing Jarod towards Miss Parker. If it wasn't for Ocee, maybe we wouldn't have had that almost kiss. So, let's give her credit at least for *starting* the most frustrating scene ever seen on a tv show.

My Thoughts - What happened between TP2001 & IOTH

Before getting too much involved with the realization of IOTH photosets and gifs, I wanted to share some thoughts about the lapse between the two movies.

1. I believe that a few months passed between the movies. The first was released in January 2001, the second in December 2001. A year passed between the movies and I think this lapse is reflected in both story-lines, too. Maybe not a year, but at least 5-6 months, during which Jarod isolated himself from the Centre to do some research about the symbol (the Crazy Eights) and at the same time to put some distance between himself and Miss Parker. I think he might have been a bit confused after his confrontation with Alex and after hearing his words about Miss Parker being 'the most important person to his world'. I'm also sure that Jarod often thought about it and started to wonder why he was so willing to try and save his huntress' life and why he behaved that way when he realized Parker was in real danger because of Alex.

2. And this leads straight to my second point. I believe that Jarod reunited with Zoe after TP2001. She certainly wanted to know everything about the Centre, Lyle and Cox and perhaps Jarod decided to tell her the truth. I imagine him, saying something like, 'It's complicated', to her. I also think that Jarod warned Zoe and chose to distance himself from her, if nothing else to protect her. Knowing Jarod as we do, he probably "lied" to her, telling that he just wanted to keep her safe, but he actually had at least another good reason to get away from Zoe, Miss Parker. Jarod is a good man, he would never joke with a woman's feelings just to 'have some fun', if he's certain that he's in love with another one. He's used to be alone, it's not loneliness he's afraid of, but to hurt people he loves. And he did love Zoe, just in a different way. So, I'm sure he ended up dumping her and saying something like, 'It was great between us, but I have a complicated-sick-twisted-relationship with another woman and I must understand what I actually feel for her, I can't stay with you if I think I may be in love with someone else'. In fact, nobody can deny that Jarod really understood (remember?) what he felt for Miss Parker after the whole Alex-affair, after Alex told him that she was important to *his* world, that he didn't even know *how much* important she really was.

His reaction to those words (let's face it, he looked like a mad man when he stood up and punched the iron gate!) was evident. He'd always known that Miss Parker was safe and sound at the Centre because of her father's presence. But Jarod realized that Alex had kidnapped Mr. Parker, so the woman he'd always been in love with might have been in danger for the very first time.

3. I already mentioned here what I think about Ethan and the fact that Jarod didn’t look so worried about his disappearance. My other thought, in fact, is that Jarod knew where Ethan was and that after Alex's death his brother called him and went back to his lair. I'd like to think that Jarod sent Ethan to find his dad, his clone and Emily.