A Note on Rub a Tub Tub

[housemouse]

Unlike several others on this board, Rub a Tub Tub is not my least favorite episode, as a matter of fact I quite like it. There is however, one thing that has bothered me since the first time I watched it. Ready? Here goes:



Dunbar, Bettencourt, Sellway, Russo and Fisk all head out to visit the spot where Carl Desmond's body was found. They take stock, have a little discussion and Karen and Jim are ready to run with the case. But... before they do, not one, but all three of Jim's fellow squad members hassle him about the way he might approach the case! Marty says Desmond was a good guy, not mixed up in anything. Sellway says that it is probably just a hit by someone whom he busted. Fisk tells him to tread lightly (or something along those lines) and Karen tells him there are a lot of "messed up cops" around.




They are talking to a cop who took a bullet and sustained a lifelong vision loss, in the course of protecting his fellow officers. Why do these people assume he is going to be on the wrong side of this? Why do they automatically think he is going to look at Desmond as a dirty cop who brought this on himself. I saw no precedent for opinions such as these in the Pilot of Four Feet Under, so why? Yes, he is a tenacious, yes he fights for his beliefs, but immediately thinking the worst of a fellow cop? I don't think so!

[mlm828]

Mouse, you raise some excellent questions, for which I probably don't have any satisfactory answers. I have also wondered about the same issue, and hoosier pointed it out in the earlier thread on this episode. It wasn't thoroughly explored there, so I'm glad you've started this discussion.

My first reaction was that everyone questioning Jim was meant to emphasize that he was still very much an outsider, and no one trusted him. But this doesn't really answer the questions: "Why don't they trust him?" and "Why does everyone assume he won't handle the case appropriately?" After all, he was a cop, and apparently a good one, for a number of years before he was shot. Why didn't that count for anything?

One possibility is that they believed he was simply out to prove he could do the job, at all costs (Karen expressed concern about this in "Four Feet Under"). Another possible factor is the belief that he is not a team player (Marty, at least, believes this). Another possible factor is the fear that he is a "glory hound," based on his having gone public with his fight for reinstatement. Based on these factors, they may think Jim would not be constrained by the same loyalties that other cops might feel.

Edited to add: Or maybe, as maggie says in her post about the Pilot, they just can't see beyond his disability. To them, he's just a blind guy, not a real cop anymore.

Incidentally, the hassling doesn't occur only at the scene. When they are back at the squad and discussing who should talk to our favorite widow, Mary Beth, Marty points at Jim and says, "I'm worried" (about Jim interviewing her). Even though Jim can't see the gesture, I'm sure he got the message.

As stated above, I'm not really satisfied with my "answers," so I hope others will come up with some better ones!

[hoosier]

To say the least that I was also confused by their attitude is putting it mildly! Jim had been in anti-crime,same as Carl Desmond,so he knew what kind of characters they came up against. He also agreed that it was probably a hit. Maybe,they were just protective of one of their own since Jim was new to the precinct but to insinuate that he would be less than respectful to the widow or that he would jump to conclusions about Desmond was plain wrong.Marty, I could understand but Fisk! And when Marty and Tom just walked away while Jim was speaking--how rude!!!

[maggiethecat]

hoosier said:

To say the least that I was also confused by their attitude is putting it mildly! Jim had been in anti-crime,same as Carl Desmond,so he knew what kind of characters they came up against. He also agreed that it was probably a hit. Maybe,they were just protective of one of their own since Jim was new to the precinct but to insinuate that he would be less than respectful to the widow or that he would jump to conclusions about Desmond was plain wrong.Marty, I could understand but Fisk! And when Marty and Tom just walked away while Jim was speaking--how rude!!!

You could, if you wanted to, put all of this under the heading of dramatic construction, i.e. the writers wanting to load Dunbar's plate with as much sturm und drang as possible. And that means sometimes going over the top a bit . . . .

Well, look at what they've heaped on the poor guy! (The list Jim gives Galloway in their first session is a good indication.) He's been shot and blinded in the line of duty, no one -- not even his wife at this point -- thinks he can do the job, his co-workers are all suspicious of his motives in even wanting to remain on the job, he's still at odds with Karen, despite their moments of thinking as a genuine team. So I took is as the writers thinking it would be good if the squad, at least for a while longer, continued to treat Jim as an outsider -- even though he'd been a cop for ten years. I think you can -- if you want to! -- ascribe this to the writers wanting to create as much consflict as possible, even if not entirely warranted by the circumstances.

Sometimes it's all about the drama, and doesn't hold up under close examination . . . but that's just me and my writer's brain thinking fiendishly!!!