Greetings,
Sometimes I like things that other people do not. Sometimes I like things that other people have not heard of. These "people" of which I speak are the ones I know. And I talk about so many things of which they are so unaware. Maybe it's because I love going against the flow, I'm not sure, but when it comes to television shows, this aspect of my personality leaves me constantly disappointed. I start to watch a show, I like it and it gets cancelled within a year or less. I suppose some people just can't grasp the greatness of some of these series as I do. Of course, there are exceptions, like my beloved Law and Order or Beverly Hills, 90210. And then there are the shows that do last for some time but never become the huge hits that they should be. Rather they tend to develop what has become known as a "cult following". And here lies The Pretender.
The Pretender ran from 1996 to 2000, or 2001 if you count the two TV movies used to wrap everything up. It was a show that would most likely be considered science fiction, but I've always called it "sci-fi with heart". It had a lot of heart. Now this was a series that, if you watched it, you got it. It wasn't confusing to the regular viewer, but trying to explain it to a non-viewer can get a little complicated. Not overwhelmingly so, but if you intend to watch it on DVD reruns, you really have to start from the beginning and not lose the flow. I hate to make watching a TV show seem like work, but it's not. What it is, in fact, is one of the best series ever on television. And I'm going to tell you all about it.
Let's start with our main character, Jarod, played by Michael T. Weiss, a disgustingly underrated actor. He was brilliant. His face could literally go from innocent man child to psycho in about two seconds, an ability that became quite useful here. Not to say that face wasn't extremely attractive. It was. Extremely. What can I say? We girls love a project, and that is what this character was. Now Jarod was a man who, as a child, was stolen from his parents by The Centre (I did not misspell that) which was a think tank of sorts cloaked in a lot of secrecy, and it was in Delaware. Yes, Delaware. The reason that Jarod was taken was because he was a genius and a child prodigy who could easily become whatever he wanted to be. For example, if he read a book on heart surgery, he could flawlessly perform a heart surgery. So The Centre groomed him as a "Pretender". As Jarod became an adult, he realized that his abilities were going to be and had been used for unethical, even dangerous purposes, so he managed to escape from the Centre and the show begins with him on the run. He's kind of like a fugitive who has done nothing wrong. Before I tell you about what he did while on the run, let's discuss some of the other characters.
So any nemesis to the protagonist would be considered the villain of the show. But here we have two types of villains. While they all come from the Centre, they are different from one another. We have ones that are more just opposition who are actually sometimes sympathetic and even compassionate characters. Then we have the serious villainy villains, the real bad guys. Let's start with the nicer crowd.
First, we have Sydney played by Patrick Bauchau, a wonderful character actor who has quite possibly one of the best accents I've ever heard. Sydney was Jarod's mentor and eventual father figure, which we see in regular flashbacks. Despite the objections, he has always been emotionally attached to Jarod, and his desire to bring him back to the Centre is more out of concern for his safety than anything else. Then, we have Miss Parker, played by Andrea Parker. It was apparently destiny. I love this woman so much that I have often been known to say that I want to be Miss Parker when I grow up, and I don't know if I mean fictional or non-fictional. Maybe a little of both. Anyway, Miss Parker also grew up as part of the Centre and was even a childhood friend of Jarod's, but she existed on the other side as her parents were involved in the work there. As an adult, she has become an operative. She can be vicious, wonderfully so, but due to her difficult childhood, which includes the loss of her mother, there are so many times where we feel sympathy for her. I've always seen her as a little girl trapped in a woman's body searching for love and a place to belong. Finally, we have Broots, played by Jon Gries of Napoleon Dynamite fame. He was often comic relief and was constantly given grief by Miss Parker. These three together were a team tasked with finding Jarod and returning him to Centre. Of course, at times, their personal feelings sometimes foiled the plans.
And now for the baddie bads. We have Mr. Parker, played by the late, great Harve Presnell. I miss him so much, if I may say. Mr. Parker was the father of Miss Parker (you'll love the way she calls him "Daddy")and he had a very high position in the Centre. Of all the baddie bads, I think he may have been the least of such. As many secrets as he was keeping and as much as he knew, you always felt like someone always knew more than him. Then, we have Mr. Lyle, played by Jamie Denton, who would later become known as James Denton and rise to fame on Desperate Housewives. Yeah, he was so mean to my Jarod that he is the main reason why I never watched Desperate Housewives. Not the only, but the main. Anyway, Mr. Lyle was a young man who had a checkered past, to put it very mildly. He was quite power hungry and was dangerously determined to get Jarod back. No love lost between these two. Finally, there's Mr. Raines, played by Richard Marcus. Genius actor, by the way. Raines was the big bad, and he was that the entire time, save a fling of "finding God". Yeah, so he was like the Larry Flynt of the show.
So those were the villains and villains not so much on The Pretender who were there on a regular basis. But each week Jarod faced other adversities while trying to make a difference in people's lives. And here's where I can delve more into what he actually did.
While he was constantly on the run, Jarod still found time to aid people in their troubles. So every week he would meet someone who had been wronged in some way, and, since he could fall so easily into any persona, he used that ability to make things right for them. Basically, because he was so innocent after being caged away his entire life and he had this overwhelmingly compassionate heart, his first reaction to seeing someone in trouble was to help them, no questions asked. Of course, he always had fun and interesting ways to give the weekly bad guys their just desserts. If memory serves, he may have used actual desserts to give them their just desserts, a couple of times. That's where the aforementioned psycho face usually came in handy. It was this main aspect of the show that kept it episodic while still having the thread of the ongoing plot.
Now I would be remiss not to mention my favorite thing about this show. See, because Jarod, from childhood, was locked away in the Centre, they only exposed him to things that THEY needed him to know. That was not much in the way of pop culture type things or just the fun things we experience every day. So every week, he would discover some new thing, be it Wheel of Fortune or Silly Putty or ice cream. Man, did he love ice cream! And it was always done in the most hilarious way. Oh, and of course, they never taught him about the sex so we had to have the obligatory, and in my opinion unnecessary "30-something Jarod Loses His Virginity" episode. Why? Now, as to be expected, after the first couple of years this got hard to keep up. I mean, you can only go so long without knowing what Pop-Tarts are, but it was super fun while it lasted.
Over the years, many secrets about the Centre and the people involved with it were revealed, but it was done in a very good way. Questions would be raised and mostly answered in a timely fashion, a skill that perhaps some other shows that shall remain nameless should have learned. And in the end, they did the best thing that could have been done. By the time the fourth season finale came along, the show was still in limbo when it came to renewal, but they still ended on a cliffhanger, complete with a huge explosion. Well, the show did not get picked up for a fifth season, which initially left fans very upset. But they did what every show should do in this situation. They made two TV movies that resolved the cliffhanger and eventually wrapped up the show and the mythology surrounding the ongoing story line and characters. While this probably could not have ended perfectly, and what show does, they really did an amazing job with it. I think so. Now, of course, some fans probably weren't pleased, but I bet that most of us, though sad to see it end, were quite happy with the fact that they took the time and effort to try and reward us for being loyal to them for those four years. It made me feel like they really appreciated their audience, something I rarely feel from a show.
So that was my little tribute to one of my favorite shows, The Pretender. I would recommend this to everyone really. The stories and the characters are so rich and complex, but never overwhelming, and that is exactly what a show like this should be. It keeps your mind going without making it go insane. And, like I said before, it had a lot of heart to it. You actually care about these characters and want to know about them. It's just an amazing show, and I hope everyone checks it out. It is so worth it.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
