At the Official dS website the Personnel File on BF says: "…however, more often than not, Fraser gets involved with people and incidents he encounters in everyday life." So far we can list a purse-snatcher that led to some bond thieves, insurance frauds, wild horse thieves, stolen car dealers, and Asian ganglords. All because OFM happened to be where he was and who he is, not because he was required or asked to get involved. Again in this ep, OFM and RV are simply going about their day – and the event, the discovery of a baby in the back seat of the Riv – sends them on their mission. But what I found remaining with me about ACAMaaB was less about the event and more about our guys.
After the opening scene where we’re privy to the little bundle and its circumstances our duo will encounter, we find them in yet another eating establishment, having a good-buddy-type conversation. I need to print the dialogue because it’s the accompanying body language that intrigued me:
RV: "We’re not talkin’ about just a haircut here Fraser we’re talkin’ about a change in lifestyle." (Our man Ray knows what he’s talkin’ about…)
BF: "There’s something wrong with your life Ray?" (Notice BF’s facial expression and reserved, sardonic tone. He’s trying to accept how something, usually covered by 5 layers of hats where he used to live and therefore not a visible or usable tool for judgment of character, can be a major determinant of fate in his new surroundings. He’s almost sarcastic but restrains himself; it’s Ray’s moment, and BF is after all, our polite Mountie.)
RV: "No, there’s something wrong with my hair and that reflects on my life. Your hair is who you are Fraser, it makes a statement." (Ray ever so confident that this is the way it is.)
BF: "Oh – I see. (Waitress interrupts with coffee pot.) What does it say?" (Notice his expression again and how he leans in toward Ray – discussing someone’s personal appearance is usually considered a no-no, so he is trying to keep within the boundaries of etiquette and respect RV’s ‘hair issue’ at the same time.)
RV: "What?!"
BF: "Your hair – what’s it saying?" (OFM trying to keep his voice down, the conversation private.)
And as Ray holds up the shiny chrome napkin dispenser - impromptu mirror - and gives a totally humorous play-by-play of his hairstyle, OFM is leaning in even more intently, trying to watch along from underneath the dispenser as the various points of interest of RV’s coif are intoned. Then as Ray delivers his concise summation, BF resumes sitting upright:
BF: "Really…?"
Then comes a trademark of dS, OFM taking those few milliseconds (PG is so good at this) to mentally process the data, then picks up the dispenser himself – he’s going to try and fit in, even if the premise is nonsensical –
BF: "Well – (slight sputter) – what does my hair say?" (Examining his reflection every which way in the dispenser.)
RV: "Oh that’s not hair Fraser thatsa pelt." (DM is also artful at the ‘let me have my issue, please’ stance, nice timing and elocution.)
BF: "Oh…" And an almost-glare from OFM as he suppresses an impulse to show Ray he didn’t appreciate the sarcasm, especially when he withheld it himself earlier.
Accuse me of a vivid imagination but I think this is a notable exchange for OFM – and significant enough as it takes place immediately after the ep that has him undressed by the hands of hotel staff at the request of a teenage girl. Parts of himself he’s in the practice of keeping private, he’s beginning to let show – and you know how I mean that.
So the rest of ACAMaaB has them discover the baby in the back seat and go on a search for the parents to some really great music by Dave Wall. We see the actress portraying the mother convey everything we need to know about how she feels by twiddling her hair as she waits crouched on the floor in OFM’s lobby. We see the varying degrees of reactivity to the baby’s situation, notably higher on the part of BF, especially at Ray’s suggestion of taking the child to a shelter. (Had BF’s grandparents not been an option, might he have wound up in an Igloo for Orphans?) There comes the haunting tension created by Sarah McLachlan’s song FEAR as the father drives in the night to do what he must do. And a really cool moment, after BF has used his Inuit skills as silent tracker and storyteller to try and influence the baby’s father to reconsider (or be at risk for becoming a meal for Dief):
(BF returns to the Riv to join RV in the unofficial stakeout.)
RV: "Inuit story?" (Posed with the minutest hint of cynicism.)
BF: "Yep." ( A clipped response, half-waiting for the mockery he has come to expect when he invokes Inuit stories.)
RV: "Let’s hope it works." (A change in RV’s demeanor, heavy in exhale, implying that he’s heard OFM in the past, listened and got the point, even if he didn’t let it show.)
And then, after our good guys have dealt with the bad guys (cool Semko music and a funny collapse by stunt man Kevin Rushton, dS bad-guy-in-residence) – the hair talk mood resumes. OFM’s body language becomes even more casual and even theatrical when leaning back to assess RV’s "je ne sais qois" and actually makes the gentlest joke at RV’s expense. He knows it’s a gesture RV will understand, the kind that RV wouldn’t put up with from anybody else but a true friend. A friend worthy of embracing with one arm and laughing as they walk out the end of an event-filled day. A day, an episode, worth noting.
PUFFIN FACE!!!!
I think, you´ll understand.:)
( And he DIDN`T look ridicilus...)