Relationship Spotlight: Matt Murdock & Foggy Nelson (Daredevil)

Realizing that Marvel has too much for me to only talk about in periodic write-ups, here’s a new regular feature:  Marvelous Wednesdays!  The MCU has a real way with depicting relationships between a superhero and their nonpowered friend.  Jessica and Trish, Steve and Bucky in the first Captain America, Peggy and Jarvis (although, in their case, the “super” part isn’t required,) and here, Matt and Foggy.  Much love for these two, who might get the deepest examination of this type of relationship.  Some Foggy-Matt-related Daredevil spoilers, including season 2.

The early episodes of the series quickly and clearly set up Matt and Foggy’s dynamic.  They’ve been through the trenches of law school together and are now ready to take on the world as defense attorneys looking out for the little guy.  They’re quite the “little guys” themselves; even though they know their stuff and aren’t afraid to mess with the big dogs, their operation looks decidedly ramshackle, what with their tiny, bare offices, their sole employee, and their zero dollars.  Still, they’re undaunted by what they don’t have and instead focus on what they can do.  Both give each other the sort of hard time that only best friends can, but both also know how to buckle down and give it their all when it comes to helping out someone in trouble.

However, Matt and Foggy are different from the other duos mentioned above in a key way:  at the start of the series, Foggy doesn’t know that Matt puts on a mask at night and fights gangsters.  He’s completely in the dark about Matt’s superpowers, and when he accidentally discovers the truth in the middle of season one, it’s rough.  He’s of course hurt by all the secrets Matt has kept from him, he’s naturally concerned for Matt’s safety, and he worries about the drive within Matt that makes him dish out such a brutal, self-determined brand of justice.  The revelations knock him over, and it takes time for them to get to any sort of good place again.

Even as Foggy struggles to reconcile Matt’s secret life, however, he can’t stop caring.  He gives Matt raw diatribes on how much his ever-present worry for Matt is tearing him up, but he still rushes in whenever Matt is hurt, dragging his bleeding friend home and helping to patch him up.  He puts himself in incredible danger at times to make sure Matt is safe.  Part of it is simply the depth of their friendship, but I imagine that part of it is also the fact that Foggy can’t shake the impression he’s developed over the years of Matt being slightly more in need of looking after.  Not that Foggy ever really patronized Matt or treated him with kid gloves due to his disability, but it’s clear in the little things that he’s accustomed to “helping out.”  Matt holds Foggy’s arm when they walk down busy sidewalks together, and Foggy frequently serves as his informal audio describer, filling him on visual details like someone’s facial reactions.  Although Matt’s powers essentially nullify his blindness and then some, I think Foggy’s gut still thinks of Matt as that guy, the one who needs an extra hand.  (In truth, I think any friend of a superhero would display much the same level of concern, but I think this particular detail gives the show more room to explore it.)

By the end of season two, I’m not quite sure where things will go moving forward with Matt and Foggy.  Their friendship has been put through the ringer, personally and professionally, and as much as Foggy still cares, he realizes he can over take so much of Matt putting himself in danger.  I hope things work out for our favorite avocados at law, and I suspect they probably will in the end, but it might be a long time coming.

Relationship Spotlight: Strika & Agu (Beasts of No Nation)

This is maybe an odd relationship to write about from this movie, since the totally frakked-up, bizarre father-son Stolkholm Syndrome relationship between the Commandant and Agu is clearly the center of the film.  However, as understated as the bond between Agu and Strika is by comparison, for me, it’s the film’s heart (some spoilers.)

In a way, Strika is just one more piece of the paradoxical honey trap that is the Commandant’s forces.  While the Commandant steps forward as a twisted father figure to fill the void of Agu’s recently-murdered father, Strika is offered up as a sort of surrogate brother.  Many of the other soldiers are older than Agu and intimidate him, but with Strika, there’s a chance that he might prove a friend to Agu.  And so, this boy becomes another element luring Agu into a false sense of belong, kinship, even normalcy.  Playing with Strika, fighting alongside him, and seeing how he cares for Agu, the hooks of the rebel army sink deeper into Agu’s skin, making it that much harder to run away.

Despite Strika’s youth, he’s a more “seasoned” soldier than Agu is and is therefore a good choice to further indoctrinate him into the army.  Strika has already been pulled under the Commandant’s riptide, and he’s hardened himself to the blood that’s stained his hands.  He can show Agu the ropes and watch his back when they’re in a hot spot.  It would be hard for Agu to compare himself to the older, bigger soldiers, but looking at Strika, you can see how Agu might think, “I could be like him.”  It’s certainly in the Commandant’s best interests that Agu and Strika become friends.

But it’s more than that, because no matter how advantageous it is for the Commandant’s machinations, the friendship that forms between Agu and Strika is true, and the Commandant can’t touch that.  In some stories, Agu and Strika might have given one another the will they needed to break free and escape the army, but here, they’re instead one another’s means of clinging on.  They talk – or rather, Agu talks, while the mute Strika communicates in other ways – skirting around the enormity of the issues that have upended their lives.  They doplay, finding flashes of moments in which they can feel like children and, maybe just for a minute or two, forget the horror of their existence.  They protect each other, both physically and emotionally.  After the abuse Agu suffers, you know that he needs more than the quiet, non-judging companionship Strika gives him, but it’s all either of them have, and so they figure out how to sustain Agu with it.

Beasts of No Nation is a heavy film with many hard-hitting scenes, but the one that gets to me the most is easily the last scene shared between Agu and Strika.  In a cruel, violent, unjust world in which people exploit them and risk their lives in the name of someone else’s agenda, in which no one cares whether they live or die, they care about each other.  In the midst of all the darkness, brief points of light.

Relationship Spotlight: Adan & Laila (A Stray)

If I recall correctly, the only other Relationship Spotlight I’ve done on a human-animal duo was Friendless and Brown Eyes from Go West.  I’ve gotta figure that, once I’ve done “a boy and his cow,” it’s only logical to circle back and do “a boy and his dog.”  Of course, in this case, we don’t see the “man’s best friend” dynamic at work in the typical way (some spoilers.)

Right from the start, Adan wants nothing to do with the dog that will eventually come to be known as Laila.  Not that he means her any harm – it’s a complete accident that he runs into her with his car, but if it weren’t the passing pedestrian who sees what happened urging him to do his Christian duty (figuratively speaking,) it’s hard to say what he would have done.  Would he still have taken her to the vet and then wound up getting stuck with her?  As it is, he at first argues to the pedestrian, “I’m not touching that!” and even as he begrudgingly acquiesces to helping Laila, he makes good on his initial claim:  he throws a spare shirt over her so he can retrieve her from beneath the car without touching her with his bare skin.

Because of dogs being unclean in Somali culture, this use of makeshift “barriers” whenever Adan has to touch Laila is a recurring theme.  He uses the shirt a lot, either specifically to pick her up or try and hide her when he doesn’t want someone to know he has a dog with him.  He also takes to carrying her around in a small duffel bag with only her head poking out, and even then, he has words with her when he thinks her head is too close to him, twisting the duffel bag around and exhorting her to “face that way!”  Eventually, he gets a leash for her and lets her run around at a dog park, but he freaks when he sits down on the grass to rest and she comes running up to him.

Laila, of course, is blissfully devoted to Adan.  No matter how clearly he conveys his alternating digust, wariness, and alarm, she adores him.  When he tries to drop her off somewhere, she trots after him until he gives in, and she deploys her puppy eyes with ruthless efficiency.  It’s such a great depiction of unconditional dog love, and it’s really sweet to see her gradually wear down his defenses.

But the operative word here is “gradual.”  Adan goes through a lot on Laila’s behalf and every fed-up “I’m done!” moment always ends with him taking her back, but that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and roses.  This might sound really awful, but I love that he continues to bag on her even as he finds himself caring for her, very tentatively starting to play with her, and even naming her.  In a casual, offhand tone, he keeps up a running commentary reminding her that she’s ugly, has no brain, and is completely useless as a pet.  It’s something about that curmudgeon/softie dichotomy, because although he does take care of her and gets his life turned completely upside down on her behalf, it’s not because she’s won him over, not entirely.  Maybe it’s Adan clinging to his last vestiges of distance, putting her down to remind himself that he doesn’t like dogs.  It’s also worth noting that, while his words aren’t nice, his tone is fine.  He’s conversational, talking to her like a person even as he complains that dogs are stupid and have no language, and she doesn’t hear anything amiss in the sound of his voice.  I don’t know, but for whatever reason, it’s weirdly charming to me.

Relationship Spotlight: Pietro & Wanda Maximoff (The Avengers)

The addition of the Maximoff twins was one of my favorite parts of Avengers:  Age of Ultron.  There’s their cool powers – amazing mental abilities including mind manipulation and telekinesis for Wanda (the Scarlet Witch) and super-speed for Pietro (Quicksilver) – and both are compelling characters who make a big impact despite limited screentime.  Best of all, though, I think is the relationship they have with one another.  The MCU has brought some really stellar relationships to life, and these two are a particularly prime example (big Maximoff-related spoilers for Age of Ultron.)

The first thing you notice about Pietro and Wanda is how closely they’re entwined.  They come by it honestly, having lost their parents at a young age in brutal, tragic circumstances; they’ve survived the same traumas together, and each is the other’s only family.  They cling to one another, look to one another in making decisions, and protect one another before all else.  Now, their bond has grown deeper, as both have undergone the same experiments to give them their respective enhanced abilities.

Their shared loss (courtesy of a Stark Industries bomb) has placed both of them on a path toward revenge, although their anger manifests in different ways.  We see this in the twins’ demeanor as well as how they operate in the field.  Pietro has a quick temper, and he attacks his enemies (or perceived enemies) head-on, relying on his speed to get him out of danger if he finds himself in over his head.  Wanda, meanwhile, tends to be a lot subtler.  Her anger simmers beneath the surface, and she similarly attacks from the shadows, getting into the heads of her opponents when they’re not looking.

But while they come at things in different ways, both move toward the same goals.  It’s interesting to watch them as they decide where they stand at various points of the film.  Whether it’s making the choice to enter the field, join Ultron, or ally with the Avengers, they rarely discuss anything.  Instead, they more often seem to silently confer and one can announce the decision for both of them with few words exchanged.  Sure, there are little things – Wanda chiding Pietro to be more cautious, Pietro teasing Wanda about being the younger twin – but on everything that matters, they’re perfectly aligned from the get-go.  (In general, I feel like Wanda runs the show a little bit, but not in the sense that Pietro goes along with her even if he doesn’t want do.  I don’t know; it’s kind of hard to articulate.  Maybe it’s that he just implicitly trusts that what Wanda wants is what he wants?)

Their protectiveness of one another is so central to both characters.  This is both in a physical sense – Pietro appears at Wanda’s side out of nowhere, always ready to bring her to safety – and an emotional one – the two orphans seem to parent one another.  For me, the absolute heart of the entire film can be found in Wanda’s reaction to Pietro’s death during the final battle.  They’re separated from one another, halfway across the city, but Wanda knows immediately, and her powers explode out as her grief overwhelms her.  Then, when Ultron warns Wanda that she’ll die if she doesn’t leave the city, she tells him that she’s already died and offers to show him how it felt, tearing his metal “heart” out of his chest.  I mean, holy crap.  This franchise has done sharp work with numerous romances, friendships, and familial relationships, but I don’t think anything compares to the rawness and love of that moment.

Relationship Spotlight: Alex Udinov & Nikita Mears (Nikita)

Yep, more Nikita!  This time, we’re hearing it for the girls; the wonderfully complex relationship between Nikita and Alex was one of the first things that hooked me about the show.  As with most Nikita-related things, massive spoilers to follow.

There are a lot of layers to Nikita-Alex, so I’ll try to unpack them one at a time.  The most obvious is the mentor/mentee angle, with Nikita initially training and prepping Alex to infiltrate Division and then guiding her through life on the inside.  She helps Alex to be strong – physically, mentally, and emotionally – and Alex proves herself time and again to be a worthy apprentice, working as Nikita’s mole within Division.  Many of the significant ties between these two begin here.  Alex often idealizes Nikita’s skills and strategies and wants to emulate her/do right by her, and Nikita is proud of Alex’s growing proficiency.

As the connection between them deepens, we see a more personal mother/daughter bond develop; Nikita especially looks out for Alex’s well-being.  As much as she respects Alex’s abilities, there’s a sense of wanting to keep Alex close to the nest and protect her.  This means physical danger, of course, but Nikita watches out for Alex in other ways, too.  A former addict herself, Nikita is the one who first helps Alex get clean, and when Alex is deep inside the belly of the Division beast, Nikita does whatever she can to spare Alex from having to go down the same dark paths that Nikita once did.  Alex, meanwhile, understands on one level that Nikita is trying to look out for her, but at the same time, she wants to prove to Nikita than she can stand on her own and doesn’t need protecting.

As time goes by, this dynamic never disappears, but it does soften as Alex matures as an operative.  Their relationship becomes one of slightly more equal footing, with Alex recognizing that Nikita isn’t perfect and Nikita more often trusting Alex to handle herself.  In this way, we’re able to see them as friends and comrades.  Both Nikita and Alex are understandably closed-off and guarded due to their past experiences, but they can open up to one another and provide support.  They can be vulnerable with one another, admitting to fears or confusion and seeking the other’s advice.  They work well in the field together and regularly have each other’s backs. 

None of this means that things always copasetic between them.  Both women come into the relationship with enormous amounts of baggage, some of it mutual, and it causes major rifts between them at different times.  Nikita’s tendencies toward keeping secrets, making decisions for other people “for their own good,” and only listening to outside input on her own terms get her in trouble with most of the cast at some point or another, and the conflicts born out of these issues are usually the most substantial with Alex.  I imagine it’s because these two are both the strongest-willed characters on the show as well as the most damaged.  As Alex gains confidence in her own instincts, she becomes less likely to be dictated to, so her stubbornness clashes with Nikita’s.  And because both have been through so much, every relationship they have is incredibly hard-earned, and any divide between them is sorely felt.  They need one another, a lot, and even though their relationship takes a number of hits along the way, they always return to each other with a greater understanding for the other’s needs and considerations.

Relationship Spotlight: Seymour Birkhoff & Nikita Mears (Nikita)

I knew I’d like Nikita’s relationship with Birkhoff as far back as the pilot.  When she abducts him for mission-related reasons, I love that he still calls her “Niki.”  True, Birkhoff is a bit of a nicknamer in general – he often calls Michael “Mikey” – but “Niki” has such a ring of endearment to it.  Although they’re on opposing sides at the time, there’s clearly affection between them.  They don’t have much screentime together in season 1, since Nikita’s war against Division mostly happens during field operations and Birkhoff doesn’t get topside often, but the interactions they do have are stuffed with potential that more than pays off later.  (Since Nikita’s arcs are so dynamic, any discussion of a series-long element comes with spoilers.)

At the outset, it’s clear that neither wants any real harm to come to the other, despite the fact that they’re technically enemies.  Birkhoff doesn’t hide his admiration for Nikita’s skills when she foils Division operations, and whenever he comes into direct contact with her, she usually lets him off (relatively) unscathed.  The really good stuff, however, doesn’t start until Birkhoff joins the resistance in season 2, so I’ll skip ahead.

It’s an interesting, opposites-attract sort of friendship.  Nikita’s all action and lethal efficiency, driven by a need for justice.  She wrestles frequently with her demons, and the years she regrets are never far from the surface.  Birkhoff, on the other hand, is essential to most operations but usually avoids the fray, preferring to stay behind his computer.  He doesn’t have many moral qualms, and when it comes to his motivations, self-preservation, personal gain, and a strong sense of superiority are major players.  Even his decision to join Nikita and Michael is as much about 1) saving his own skin, 2) boredom, and 3) sticking it to Division, as it is anything nobler.  He’s not a crusader like Nikita – he starts doinggood long before he starts beinggood, if that makes sense, and this gives Nikita plenty of reasons to clash with him, to bolster him when he’s skittish about the risks, and to smack some priorities into him when he’s too opportunistic.

Lest we make Nikita the saint to Birkhoff’s sinner, I should note that theirs is definitely a two-way street.  Nikita’s flaws are numerous, and Birkhoff doesn’t keep quiet when he feels she’s in the wrong (which she sometimes is.)  She can be reckless, obsessive, and stubborn, and she tends to shut people out.  Birkhoff’s not the only person who confronts her on these fronts, but he’s usually the most effective.  With Michael and Alex, the ties are too deep, too complicated, and it’s easy for emotions to run too high on both sides.  Birkhoff, though, can reach her.  I’d love know what their relationship was like before Nikita escaped Division, because they both know and understand each other remarkably well.  I wonder how they got that way.

Much of the time, they have a bit of a big sister-kid brother dynamic.  They squabble, they hang out, and they rib each other – it’s a lot of fun, and a nice chance for Nikita to unwind a little.  As I said, however, this also allows for more serious interactions – honest arguments, sympathetic advice, and shared personal moments.  I love that, when Nikita gets back in touch with the group after going off on her own at the end of season 3, Birkhoff has it out with her over the comms, emphasizing that he has just as much right as Michael to be upset about her leaving.  And, when things get intense, you see just how much they mean to one another.  Nikita first beats herself up and then goes on the warpathwhen her actions lead to Birkhoff being endangered, and though he doesn’t always see eye to eye with her, there’s no question he’d follow her into hell.

Relationship Spotlight: Brendon Small, Melissa Robbins & Jason Penopolis (Home Movies)

It’s high time another trio joined the Potter gang as a Relationship Spotlight triple threat.  There are oodles of reasons to love Home Movies, and some of the others – the fantastically bad movies, McGuirk’s ludicrousness, hilarious supporting characters like Erik or Mr. Lynch – may loom a little larger, but the relationship between the core three is a consistently entertaining asset for the show.

We don’t know when or why Brendon, Melissa, and Jason (aged 8, 8, and 7) started making movies together, but by the time the series begins, that’s Their Thing.  It’s what they do – making sets in Brendon’s basement, writing scripts, obsessing over fish-eye lenses, and shooting spy movies mid-soccer game.  Other people sometimes get involved, of course; some are cajoled, others leap at the chance, and still others beg for it but are shut out.  However, it’s clear that they’re just day players – Brendon, Jason, and Melissa are where it’s at.

Even though their dialogue and perspectives are often far more mature than their ages would suggest, I like that the show never quite loses sight of the fact that they’re little kids.  Despite the sophisticated game they talk, they can’t manage conflicts to save their lives, and their movie shoots are plagued with frequent power struggles.  Brendon is tightly wound and tends to perceive any on-set dissent as a knock on his skills as a writer/director/actor.  It’s not unusual for Melissa to solve problems with her fists, and given the smallest shred of authority, Jason goes full-on dictatorial.  Every once in a while, they have earnest blowouts that result in Brendon firing everyone or someone loudly breaking from the group, and these fights occasionally happen while the camera’s running and wind up in the movies themselves (evidently, 8-year-olds “never fix anything in post.”)

The above may seem like an odd reason to enjoy the relationship, but first, it’s endlessly watchable.  I can’t get enough of these kids squabbling and throwing their egos around, and it’s fun to see one of them go off on an especially immature tear when they usually act so grown-up.  Second, it’s a testament to their bond that they continually recover from these rifts and get back together.  All three are simultaneously insecure and conceited to varying degrees, and their feelings bruise easily, but they always make up in the end. 

A big part of it, undoubtedly, is the movies.  For whatever reason, Brendon, Melissa, and Jason have eschewed most typical elementary pastimes and instead devote their time, energy, and imagination to filmmaking.  They reference Truffaut and Das Boot, they know how to write slug lines, and they work in every genre from romantic comedy to wuxia.  They’re friends because they’re the only ones who do what they do.  Even when other kids are cast in extra roles, they’re playing – Brendon, Jason, and Melissa are working.  If they weren’t together, where else would they go?  What else would they do?  Every time they have a temporary falling out, it’s painfully clear that they don’t really know how to fit in anyone else’s company, doing “normal kid things,” and that’s what gets them past any fights or slights.  At some point, they found one another and found their niche, and now, nothing else feels quite as right.  I really love that about them.