Re: "The Fugitive" (1963): Season 1; Volume 1 Rumored To Be In The Works!
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Originally Posted by Joe Karlosi
Even though I'm 45 I have never watched an episode of THE FUGITIVE, However, last night I watched two from a VHS which a friend lent me, and I was hooked! The episodes were "Nightmare at Northoak" and "Escape Into Black". I now want to see the entire series! I'll be buying the new half-season DVD.
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I just want to clarify the nature of the series to some of you first time viewers. THE FUGITIVE comes from a simpler time, so anyone expecting a series with continuing intensity like say 24 or LOST might feel a bit let down.
THE FUGITIVE chronicles the wanderings of a man who is searching for the murderer of his wife, all while eluding the law himself. Society has branded him a criminal and sentenced him to death, and he must do whatever he can with his new-found freedom to change the situation.
As he drifts from town to town, he becomes involved in the loves of the people he meets. As such, the series often plays like an anthology, as we meet new people every week and watch Dr. Kimble either help them out with their own problems, or allow them to help him with his.
Kimble's persuer, Lt. Gerard is not a factor in every episode, indeed he doesn't even appear in all of them. Generally, whenever Gerard is present, the situation tends to get more intense, but even that isn't always the case. Sometimes the threat for Dr. Kimble comes from local law-enforcement people, or those around them. You just never know where each episode is headed when you start watching.
There are a few episodes where the threat to Kimble is fairly light, even allowing him to rest and become comfortable with his surroundings and the new people he's become involved with. And there are others, like the aforementioned "Nightmare at Northoak" where Kimble finds himself in deep trouble.
Each hour is its own self-contained little drama within the larger framework of Kimble trying to prove his innocence. His larger quest is for the one-armed man, who rarely appears at all, particularly in the first couple of seasons.
So watch these episodes in the context of them being great little dramas in their own right, not as any kind of continuing story. There are seldom, if ever, references to prior characters or situations that Kimble has been in, so you don't need to remember the names and faces of the people he meets. They aren't clues to some larger mystery like you might find on LOST or HEROES. They're just people - everyday people with the same kinds of problems that you and I might encounter in our daily lives.
The only continuing characters are Kimble himself, of course; Lt. Gerard; Kimble's sister and brother-in-law and their family in a few episodes; and the fact that Gerard has a wife and child who we meet along the way (though the actress playing Mrs. Gerard changes); and the mysterious one-armed man. We meet Kimble's wife only through flashbacks a few times over the course of the series. Gerard himself has a recurring boss in the early episodes but later acts more autonimously.
Everyone else in the series is really just a character-of-the-week, unimportant to the larger drama at hand, but like all of us, facing our own problems as we work our way though life. That's what makes THE FUGITIVE seem so real to many who've viewed it. It's an authentic slice-of-life each week, and while we're always interested in the larger puzzle, putting together the smaller pieces each week can be nearly just as rewarding.
Colin, I can't wait for your full review. I'll be watching this space daily as I count down the days to the release of THE FUGITIVE - now just 23 days away!
Harry
