Hank

[mlm828]

As a major character in the series, Hank deserves his own thread. Here it is.

At the outset, let me state that I, like many others, have a major problem with Hank being left in the car repeatedly throughout the series. Living in a warm climate, I am acutely aware of how dangerous that is. I still cringe every time I hear Jim say, “Hank, stay!” This is probably my single biggest criticism of the show.

It has also been pointed out, legitimately I think, that the way Jim uses Hank is not realistic. In the show, Hank usually just seems to know (by doggy ESP?) where Jim wants to go. As I understand it, in real life, the person has to give the dog specific commands, which we don’t see Jim doing. I suspect that one reason for this may be that Hank isn’t a real guide dog and wasn’t trained to respond to the same commands as a guide dog. Perhaps using the “real” commands would have confused him. I hope those more knowledgeable on these subjects can give us some more insights.

Those issues aside, I loved Hank’s presence on the show. So here is an entirely subjective collection of some of his moments.

Hank’s first appearance is at the very beginning of the Pilot. It’s no accident that the first thing Jim does on waking up is to call Hank.



My favorite Hank scene in the Pilot, however, is when Jim is learning his way around the squad room, with Hank attentively watching



. . . and letting out a bark when Jim trips over a chair.



Hank plays an important role in “Four Feet Under,” but the episode doesn’t start off with one of his finer moments, when he trots away momentarily after the bike messenger knocks Jim down.



It has been suggested that a real guide dog wouldn’t have abandoned his master in these circumstances. But perhaps Hank was simply spooked; he is a dog, after all. If Hank needed to redeem himself, he does so later in the episode, when he helps Jim to establish a rapport with Jake Crider, and his presence prompts Jake to mention the death of the Criders’ dog Rocky, a fact which ultimately proves important in solving the case.



In “Marlon’s Brando,” Jim seeks solace from Hank after Condell’s suicide.



Who hasn’t sought and received comfort from a pet in difficult times? When Marty tells Jim he’d have made it his life’s work to see Jim off the job if Karen had been hurt, Jim has no response. He just goes back to scratching Hank’s ears.

In “Seoul Man,” Hank gives Marty further reason to be unhappy with Jim (as if he needed one). After Tom tells Marty he’s not too proud to learn from Jim and is opening up the investigation, Marty looks over at Hank, who seems to be looking at him reproachfully.



“What are you looking at?” Marty demands.



I love the look on Hank’s face when Karen is searching Sam’s apartment in “Leap of Faith” while Jim hangs out on the couch.



The elevator scene in “In Your Face,” where Jim makes a further attempt to patch things up with Karen as Hank looks back and forth, is also cute, maybe a little too cute.





Then there is everyone’s all time favorite Hank scene: the reunion in “Doggone,” complete with wet-dog shake:

[bump]

I loved that part of Doggone. It seemed totally unrehearsed and Ron got a faceful of wet dog. LOL!

[housemouse]

What a great thread to start! I think Flint is one very talented canine actor! He is just so precious and, to the extent it is possible, he and RE had a real chemistry.

When I wandered into a luncheon of guide dog trainers a couple of months back the first thing I did was ask if any had seen Blind Justice and Hank. Most of them had heard of the show and were interested, but none had seen it. They did say that there was no way Hank was an actual trained guide dog (we knew that), because the trained dogs are too valuable to waste for TV or movies. The other interesting thing about the meeting was that there wasn't a German Shepard in the place. They were labs and goldens.

I adore "Hanky" - I loved it when Jim called him that! My personal favorite Hank moment is at the beginning of Marlon's Brando when Jim sends him away. His reaction is awfully cute.

[shmeep]

Thanks, mlm! Great thread.

I don't claim to have an unusual knowlege of the use of guide dogs, but I believe you are absolutely right in your assessment of the inaccuracies of Hank's usage on the show. My belief is that they got this part wrong because their technical advisor, Lynn Manning, is a cane user and therefore did not have the knowledge with which to properly guide the series in this one thing. Also, it just worked out better asthetically the way they did it.

I understand that a lot of blind people were upset by this portrayal. See, one stereotype blind people try to overcome is the one in which the dog knows where to go and is taking the blind person there. In reality, the dog keeps the handler safe enroute, but the handler has to have all the directions memorized in order to properly direct the dog. I'm sure that, in some cases, the handler can tell the dog to go to a place they often go and the dog will know how to get there, but overall, the dog isn't the brains in the operation. This is one stereotype Blind Justice actually made worse, in my opinion.

I love all the Hank moments you so beautifully captured!

I have an opinion about this one, although there is room for debate:

mlm828 said:

Hank plays an important role in “Four Feet Under,” but the episode doesn’t start off with one of his finer moments, when he trots away momentarily after the bike messenger knocks Jim down.



It has been suggested that a real guide dog wouldn’t have abandoned his master in these circumstances. But perhaps Hank was simply spooked; he is a dog, after all.

I was the one who said that so I'll explain. I once saw a documentary about the training of guide dogs. It showed how they were so carefully selected, how they were trained, how they were matched up with their blind handlers, and how the handlers and dogs were trained to work together. One part of the documentary was heartbreaking. One dog had made it almost entirely through the process and had been teamed up with her blind person. They had bonded and were more than halfway through their month-long training together when the dog got slightly spooked while out on a city sidewalk. I didn't think it looked like any big deal, but the people at the school had to make the tough decision not to let this dog go on to be a guide dog after all because a dog who was startled in that way could be a potential danger to the blind handler. The dog was taken away and the blind woman had to go through training all over again with another dog. Very sad.

So...my belief is that if Hank had shown any signs of not only being startled, but of taking off in the middle of a street like that, he would never have made it through the program.

[mlm828]

admin said:

I once saw a documentary about the training of guide dogs. It showed how they were so carefully selected, how they were trained, how they were matched up with their blind handlers, and how the handlers and dogs were trained to work together. One part of the documentary was heartbreaking. One dog had made it almost entirely through the process and had been teamed up with her blind person. They had bonded and were more than halfway through their month-long training together when the dog got slightly spooked while out on a city sidewalk. I didn't think it looked like any big deal, but the people at the school had to make the tough decision not to let this dog go on to be a guide dog after all because a dog who was startled in that way could be a potential danger to the blind handler. The dog was taken away and the blind woman had to go through training all over again with another dog. Very sad.

So...my belief is that if Hank had shown any signs of not only being startled, but of taking off in the middle of a street like that, he would never have made it through the program.

Fascinating -- and further evidence, if we needed it, of how truly exceptional real guide dogs are. The dangerous position Jim was left in shows why such a difficult decision had to be made.

[anna]

In something I read - maybe the article about the cinematography for Blind Justice - it said that scenes with Flint required an extra run-through just for him right before filming. I assumed that leaving him out of many of the scenes was an unfortunate, but practical, financial decision for the producers.

[mlm828]

anna said:

In something I read - maybe the article about the cinematography for Blind Justice - it said that scenes with Flint required an extra run-through just for him right before filming. I assumed that leaving him out of many of the scenes was an unfortunate, but practical, financial decision for the producers.

Good point. Still, Hank's absence is conspicuous at times, such as:

In "Dance With Me," when Jim visits Pete's apartment for the third time, Hank is nowhere to be seen. Jim goes there by himself. Why wouldn't Hank be with him?

In "Under the Gun," where is Hank when Jim and Christie are at the restaurant? Jim went straight from work, to dance class, to dinner. (This has been mentioned before, and several theories have been advanced about Hank's whereabouts).

[shmeep]

Admit it:



Didn't we all just want to be Hank a little bit?

(Except for being left in the car...)

[kytdunne]

admin said:

See, one stereotype blind people try to overcome is the one in which the dog knows where to go and is taking the blind person there. ...

So...my belief is that if Hank had shown any signs of not only being startled, but of taking off in the middle of a street like that, he would never have made it through the program.

While I think Hank leaving was strictly to heighten the moment's paranoia, it did slam head-on into another stereotype: That guide dogs are flawless.

Hank may have been just winding his way back through the people tide that was carrying him away.

Kyt

[housemouse]

kytdunne said:

admin said:

See, one stereotype blind people try to overcome is the one in which the dog knows where to go and is taking the blind person there. ...

So...my belief is that if Hank had shown any signs of not only being startled, but of taking off in the middle of a street like that, he would never have made it through the program.

While I think Hank leaving was strictly to heighten the moment's paranoia, it did slam head-on into another stereotype: That guide dogs are flawless.

Hank may have been just winding his way back through the people tide that was carrying him away.

Kyt

Having recently been in Manhattan, I can say for certain that when a "people tide" carries you away - which happens quite often - there is really not much you can do about it. Great point Kyt.

[kytdunne]

mlm828 said:

Good point. Still, Hank's absence is conspicuous at times, such as:

In "Dance With Me," when Jim visits Pete's apartment for the third time, Hank is nowhere to be seen. Jim goes there by himself. Why wouldn't Hank be with him?

Since Hank had been relegated to the far background in the earlier visit, I presumed he was there (story-wise if not literally), but it was not necessary to the scene to show him.

Kyt

[hoosier]

I also think Flint did a believable job portraying a guide dog. We all know that it takes months of intensive training for one to be ready to take on the job. He has such a sweet face! It bothered me that he was left in the car so often. I can see the problem with crime scene contamination but was it so Jim would look less handicapped? Or since Hank is such a big dog he could be intimidating? Since there is the topic of deleted scenes floating around, I wonder if one could have been Jim dreaming of his first meeting with Hank while he was asleep on the couch in Doggone? Call me corny but it would have brought a lump to my throat!

An addition--I know they probably left him behind a lot since they had to do a walk through rehearsal with him for each scene so it would be simpler to have Karen lead Jim around. What I was thinking was what do you think the writer's rationale would have been if a character ever wondered why Hank was left behind???

[carl1951]

I would want to be Hank only to be able to "See" Christy in the morning.

Lucky dog, that Hank.

Later, Carl

[mlm828]

mlm828 said:

Hank's absence is conspicuous at times, such as:

In "Dance With Me," when Jim visits Pete's apartment for the third time, Hank is nowhere to be seen. Jim goes there by himself. Why wouldn't Hank be with him?

I have to correct myself. I've just read kenina's recap of "Dance With Me," in which she mentions that Hank is sitting behind the couch when Jim and Pete are cleaning up Pete's apartment. She is absolutely right. Toward the end of the scene, when the apartment is mostly cleaned up, Hank can be seen in the background, sitting behind the couch. The funny thing is that he's not there in a shot of the same area, when Jim and Pete are just beginning to clean up. I wonder where he was then, and for the rest of the scene.

[dogma]

The funny thing is that he's not there in a shot of the same area, when Jim and Pete are just beginning to clean up. I wonder where he was then, and for the rest of the scene.

maybe hank was in the bathroom,, sniffing out the places where pete missed, since he didn't want to pee like a girl