Trust ∞
TRUST CAN KILL YOU OR SET YOU FREE. This is what tP taught us. I believe that, through the years, Miss Parker eventually came to the realization that her mother was right. But it was really hard for Jarod to change her mind and make her accepting the truth about Mr Parker’s lies. Someone recently told me that trust is often an overrated word. And in the Parker Family, this was a dogma. Especially when this word was coming from Mr. Parker…
In Keys (1x17), Jarod tries to destroy Parker’s beliefs about her father. This is the very first time that she doubts him. And at the end of season one (Dragon House Pt.1 & Pt.2, 1x22 - 1x22), she’s very angry at Mr. Parker because he dosen’t tell her the truth about Catherine’s death. She doesn’t seem very happy about that…
In Season 2, Miss Parker has a very different attitude towards her father and Jarod. In the first three episodes, Mr. Parker is missing and when he comes back he doesn’t even explain to his daughter where he has been (Exposed, 2x04). Another reason for Miss Parker not to trust him. Later, he takes advantage of her rivalry with Lyle to regain power at the Centre, appealing to the ‘trust’ his daughter should have in him or to the fact that Miss Parker is 'the only person’ he can trust (Past Sim, 2x06 - A Stand Up Guy, 2x13). What father would put a daughter in such situation by asking her to kill a man!?
In Amnesia a.k.a. Unforgotten (2x14), Miss Parker is subjected to a T-Board (led by Brigitte) aimed to find out if the pursuit team is too connected to Jarod in an emotional way. In this occasion, she definitely opens her eyes about her father. The last flashback scene, when she remembers all the times her father asked her to trust him in parallel to Jarod wondering how can she still trust him, is really great. A turning point in Miss Parker’s sense of trust.
Bank (2x20) is probably the best episode of tP. It’s also a milestone for Miss Parker’s change of course. Jarod manages to convince her that he’s the one she needs to trust. At the end of the episode she even lies to her father and clearly admits to herself (and to us) that she trusts the pretender to help her finding the truth… ('like father like daughter’). When we are talking about trust, this episode is a masterpiece.
Of course when we talk about *TRUST*, the most important episode is Someone to trust (3x04). This is another turning point in Miss Parker’s life. As soon as she finds out that she has a brother, she also has to face the fact that her twin is a sadistic insane criminal with a dark past. Lyle isn’t definitely 'someone to trust’ and Jarod wants to open Parker’s eyes and making her realize that she should always trust him over Lyle or her father. I adore this episode, this quote contains all I loved in The Pretender: intrigue, suspense and a lot of MPJ passion.
As time goes by, Miss Parker learns that the less she has faith in her family, the less she gets disappointed. Like in Donoterase Pt.1 (3x21), when Mr. Parker asks Brigitte to find Major Charles and kill him while he knows how much Parker would have wanted to do it on her own. Later in Season 4, when her father disappears, Parker also has to face her brother (Survival, 4x02), who really wants to conquer her trust (to no avail). In spite of everything, Miss Parker is still too stubborn or proud to follow Jarod’s advice, because she still believes Mr. Parker when he asks for her help during his isolation (Rules of Engagement, 4x08). And then, when she still doesn’t believe Jarod, it’s up to Tommy’s ghost to make Parker change her mind ('Til Death Do Us Part, 4x09). [That scene is really touching, by the way…]
In Spin Doctor (4x10) Mr. Parker tries again to conquer his daughter’s trust by helping Sydney finding a woman he thought to be dead. Again, he’s so arrogant to define Jarod like the one who’s telling lies. Later in season 4, Jarod helps Miss Parker with Edna Raines, another woman who knew secrets of the Centre only to take them into her grave. They have this wonderful conversation (Corn Man A Comin’, 4x18) when Miss Parker looks so vulnerable and tired of all the lies perpetuated by her family. And then I love how she refers to Angelo as 'someone she can trust’, it shows how much she’s really changed since the beginning of this insane pursuit.
The Inner Sense (Part 2) (4x20) is certainly another turning point in Miss Parker and Jarod’s relationship. She finally manages to catch him only to ask his collaboration to recover the lost memory of his meeting with Catherine Parker. Jarod is willing to cooperate because they both need to know about Ethan’s birth. And this is the moment Miss Parker realizes that not only she needs to trust Jarod, but also that her father isn’t reliable whenever she asks about her mother. Discovering the truth about the real death of Catherine Parker is like an Epiphany to her daughter. She no longer sees Jarod as a liar (if she ever did) and she accepts his help from here on.
In the first movie (The Pretender 2001) is pretty evident how much Miss Parker really despises her brother…
And last but not least, in Island of the Haunted, we all know what happens. Miss Parker eventually realizes that the very person she’s been trained to distrust, hate and capture, is also the very same person that she trusts the most and that cares for her the most. About time too, Miss Parker!
