Favorite Fictional Character --- Charles "Trip" Tucker III

 

I’m going to apologize in advance if this ends up being a little rambling as I’m currently dealing with a medication change from gabapentin to Lyrica. The brain fog is real and I'm ridiculously tired — all I want to do is lie down and watch TV until I fall asleep.

Lately I've been binging Star Trek shows, which is not a series I've ever been all that interested in. I kept reading a certain segment of the fandom is melting down because of Starfleet Academy, so I gave the first two episodes a try, and I'm now hooked. I loved it so much that I decided to watch all of the shows in chronological order. I started with Star Trek: Enterprise, and now I’m finishing up Star Trek: Discovery.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never been an actual fan of the Star Trek universe. I was a sporadic viewer of The Next Generation and Voyager, and I would watch the original series with my mom as a kid, if I couldn't get out of it. I think I watched more episodes of The Animated Series than I did the live-action version.

I absolutely loved Enterprise, and one day I'll do a binge review, and a huge reason I enjoyed it as much as I did was because of today's FFC subject, Charles "Trip" Tucker III, the chief engineer of Enterprise (NX-01).

I don't often describe someone as magnetic, but I can't think of a more fitting descriptor when it comes to Trip. He has a large personality and has more self confidence stored in his blue eyes than I have ever possessed. When he walks into a room, it's impossible not to notice him. He's loyal, yet can be quick to anger and hold a grudge like no other. And yeah, I'm rambling a bit but I really do like this guy.

When he fell in love and eventually had his heart broken, he showed a level of emotional maturity that had me thinking he needs to jump off the screen and start teaching people, and I mean men, how to handle heartache in a way that can't be described as toxic.

He's a complex guy with a strong sense of duty, and he is one of those guys I would have had a hero-worship crush on when I was younger. Now that I'm only a few months shy of fifty, he's the kind of guy I would respect the hell out of — and gravitate toward as someone who would make a great friend.

I think I'm going to pick one character from each show to do one of these on, as I'm curious to see who will end up being my favorite on each show. I just hope whoever I pick from Star Trek: Discovery isn't treated as badly by the writers as Trip was at the end of Star Trek: Enterprise. That was a damn shame, though you'll have to watch the show to find out what I'm talking about.

Midnight Lace (1960)

 

Synopsis From Rotten Tomatoes:

When the American wife of a wealthy London-based financier starts receiving frightening phone calls, she believes her life is in danger, but when she protests to her family following a near-fatal accident, they and the police doubt her claims and even her sanity. 

I'm not sure when I first watched Midnight Lace, but the scene with Doris Day in a fog-filled park while an invisible stalker whispers death threats stayed with me for years. It's one of those scenes that sends chills up your spine, and Doris Day absolutely sold me on her fear and panic as her life was being threatened.

As a kid, I grew up on the Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies, so I wasn't expecting her performance as a woman whose life is slowly unraveling to be so captivating, as I had prejudged the type of actress she was based on my limited knowledge of her. She was mesmerizing — just staying this side of paranoid madness.

The supporting cast is just as good — but what would you expect from Rex Harrison, an actor who can swing between hero and villain effortlessly? Watching Myrna Loy as Aunt Bea reminds me of just how little the studios made use of her gifts as she aged. She was brilliant in the 1930s, and she was just as good here, albeit in a much smaller role than she deserved. John Gavin, despite his politics, was a talented actor who drew an audience in and never let them go. I'm pretty sure it had just as much to do with his good looks as it did with his talent — he was always easy on the eyes. His performance in Midnight Lace as the man who swoops in and saves the day could give some of our current action heroes a point or two.

If you've had the pleasure of watching Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder or Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number — two of my favorite movies — it's not hard to guess who's behind the murderous scheme. But don't let that stop you from watching Midnight Lace — it's a thrilling romp through the streets of London, and Doris Day proves she was more than a brilliant romcom actress. It's just sad that she didn't do more movies like this, because I would have become just as addicted to them as I am to this one.

What I'm Currently Reading

 

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore — A friend of mine sent this to me when it was first released, and while I’m just now getting started, I’m enjoying it so far.

Trust: America’s Best Chance by Pete Buttigieg — With the steady rise of misinformation bombarding us from all directions, this felt like the right moment to revisit it.

The Mage and His Brute by Ava Salinger — A gay Regency romance/mystery series with an intricate magic system. I'm turning to this when everything else feels too heavy.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen — This was one of the selections for the “12 Books from 12 Friends” challenge on Facebook. As much as I want to enjoy it, I’m struggling.