Repost--Highlander Character Seminar: Gabriel Piton in Eye of the Beholder 6/6
Shomeret
to leave Richie alone, he would challenge Piton. Piton agrees not to
hurt Richie, but he lure Richie to his studio by threatening Maya over
the phone. When Richie arrives with a gun he'd stolen from a cop,
Piton has Richie arrested. He identifies Richie as the man who broke
into his residence. Richie shouts "Maya, tell them about the
earring!" as he's arrested. Piton looks at Maya with suspicion. We
next see Piton dressing Maya. He asks her why she didn't tell him
about finding the earring. Mays says that the earring isn't
important. She claims that she didn't know anything about Cynthia's
relationship with Piton. Piton says that Cynthia had bad luck and
that now so did Maya. Maya tells Piton that he can trust her. "Trust
is a very fragile thing," says Piton. Maya stabs Piton and runs.
Piton comes after her with his sword. Duncan jumps down toward Piton
and urges Maya to leave. He then announces that he and Piton are no
longer friends. "Breaking up is hard to do," says Piton. They fight
and Duncan takes Piton's head.
Questions For Further Study
1)In the fairy tale about Bluebeard, Bluebeard forbids each of his
wives from entering a secret room. Each of them defies him and is
killed by Bluebeard. Do you think Piton is familiar with this story?
Does Piton remind you of Bluebeard?
2)Amanda is also a thief who frequently steals jewels. Compare the
motivations of Amana and Piton for stealing.
3)Compare the attitudes of Piton and Kristin toward their models.
Which of them would be a more dangerous employer?
4)Armand Thorne/John Durgin also collected objects that he hadn't
obtained legitimately. What are the differences between Piton and
Thorne/Durgin?
5)Faith in Endgame is also a fashion designer. Do you think Piton was
too arrogant about his talent or could Faith benefit from Piton's
self-confidence?
6)Was Piton in the habit of sending Duncan backstage passes for his
shows? If not, why would he have done so this time?
7)Piton tells Duncan in 1786 that he wants to make women happy and
that stealing their jewels is secondary. Do you think Piton ever
really wanted to make women happy? If so, what would have caused
Piton to become so ruthless toward women over time? Did he change or
was Piton always this way?
8)When Piton returns home after receiving warning of an intruder from
his alarm system, why does he proceed unerringly to the room where
Richie is hiding? Does he sense Richie's pre-immortal buzz? Was he
intending to take Richie's head?
9)What did Piton hope to accomplish by having Richie arrested?
10)Would Piton have continued to trust Maya if Richie hadn't shouted
"Maya, tell them about the earring!" while he was being arrested?
This lecture and questions are longer than my original notes on Eye of
the Beholder! I will re-post about Richie in this episode next.
Professor Shomeret
John Biltz
"Shomeret" <JDChro...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:ff7d41e.03011...@posting.google.com...
> 1)In the fairy tale about Bluebeard, Bluebeard forbids each of his
> wives from entering a secret room. Each of them defies him and is
> killed by Bluebeard. Do you think Piton is familiar with this story?
> Does Piton remind you of Bluebeard?
I was not familiar with the story so no he did not.
>
> 2)Amanda is also a thief who frequently steals jewels. Compare the
> motivations of Amana and Piton for stealing.
Amanda steals for the challenge and the money. Piton steals because he
wants to possess the object. On the face of that I would say Amanda has the
poorer quality motivation but Piton has the kind of motivation that would
lead to murder. Its cumpulsive, he can't contorl it, it controls him.
>
> 3)Compare the attitudes of Piton and Kristin toward their models.
> Which of them would be a more dangerous employer?
I would guess Kristen. She was just nuts and what got you killed would come
totally out of nowhere.
>
> 4)Armand Thorne/John Durgin also collected objects that he hadn't
> obtained legitimately. What are the differences between Piton and
> Thorne/Durgin?
Not a lot really. Never noticed that before. Durgin was more dangerous
though.
>
> 5)Faith in Endgame is also a fashion designer. Do you think Piton was
> too arrogant about his talent or could Faith benefit from Piton's
> self-confidence?
They were both nuts.
>
> 6)Was Piton in the habit of sending Duncan backstage passes for his
> shows? If not, why would he have done so this time?
I don't think it was unprecedented but he probably did not do it everytime.
Mac had been out of the country he may have thought it a good time to
socialize. Mac also had money and a stylish SO so he may have just thought
he could make a sale or two.
>
> 7)Piton tells Duncan in 1786 that he wants to make women happy and
> that stealing their jewels is secondary. Do you think Piton ever
> really wanted to make women happy? If so, what would have caused
> Piton to become so ruthless toward women over time? Did he change or
> was Piton always this way?
I thought he was always this way.
>
> 8)When Piton returns home after receiving warning of an intruder from
> his alarm system, why does he proceed unerringly to the room where
> Richie is hiding? Does he sense Richie's pre-immortal buzz? Was he
> intending to take Richie's head?
I puzzled over this at the time but it seems clear in hindsight that it was
the buzz.
>
> 9)What did Piton hope to accomplish by having Richie arrested?
Harrassement, it threw obstacles in Richie's and Mac's path.
>
> 10)Would Piton have continued to trust Maya if Richie hadn't shouted
> "Maya, tell them about the earring!" while he was being arrested?
I don't think he trusted any woman, ever, at anytime.
Moose Who Missed It.
Edie
Shomeret wrote:
>
> Questions For Further Study
>
> 1)In the fairy tale about Bluebeard, Bluebeard forbids each of his
> wives from entering a secret room. Each of them defies him and is
> killed by Bluebeard. Do you think Piton is familiar with this story?
> Does Piton remind you of Bluebeard?
I don't know this story, but this wasn't really the same
circumstance, it seems to me, as Cynthia found the room
accidentally. What was in Bluebeard's room?
>
> 2)Amanda is also a thief who frequently steals jewels. Compare the
> motivations of Amana and Piton for stealing.
Piton steals to possess beauty and rarity, IMO. Amanda
first stole to survive, then continued to steal for
fun and profit and the challenge.
>
> 3)Compare the attitudes of Piton and Kristin toward their models.
> Which of them would be a more dangerous employer?
Hmm- Kristin, I think. Piton was dangerous to
Cynthia because she discovered his possessions.
Kristin was emotionally unstable in a completely
different way, and would be more likely to decide
that it was necessary to kill, IMO.
Kristin viewed her models as her property; IMO, Piton
viewed his models as his harem. Okay, that's a little
harsh :-); he seemed to pick a model, make her the star,
then make her his conquest.
May I request that in your Duncan lecture you ask us to
compare Duncan's and Gabriel's love for women? :-)
>
> 4)Armand Thorne/John Durgin also collected objects that he hadn't
> obtained legitimately. What are the differences between Piton and
> Thorne/Durgin?
Hmm. I think that they were both mesmerized by and driven
to posses what they considered beauty, although Thorne was
more of a sociopath, IMO. He did not find beauty in living
things (and I think that Piton did find women beautiful)
but in objects exclusively. I also think that Thorne was
obsessed by remaking himself outwardly through learning,
but was the embodiment of the phrase a little (in his case
a lot) of learning is a dangerous thing. Piton wanted to
surround himself with beauty, including beautiful women.
But like Thorne, he was willing to kill for his beautiful
and non-transitory objects, even while it meant destroying
a woman he thought beautiful. (Thorne, unlike Piton)
seemed oblivious to the beauty of human beings.)
>
> 5)Faith in Endgame is also a fashion designer. Do you think Piton was
> too arrogant about his talent or could Faith benefit from Piton's
> self-confidence?
I thought he was supremely arrogant, but that his talent
was real. Was Faith not confident in her fashion designing
abilities? I don't remember. IMO, Faith's self loathing
colored everything she did, though, so perhaps not. Piton
could have benefited from some humility and Faith could
have benefited from some feelings of self worth.
>
> 6)Was Piton in the habit of sending Duncan backstage passes for his
> shows? If not, why would he have done so this time?
Perhaps he hadn't seen him in some time (with Duncan
having been in Seacouver for quite a while before this),
found out that he was living there, and decided to invite
him, Tessa, and Richie. My guess is that he wanted to
impress Duncan, and meet Tessa. :-)
>
> 7)Piton tells Duncan in 1786 that he wants to make women happy and
> that stealing their jewels is secondary. Do you think Piton ever
> really wanted to make women happy?
Not in a selfless way no. But I think that he did love
women. And he did make many of them happy, because IMO,
he made it so obvious that he prized their beauty. I think
he actually did enjoy making women happy, because I think
he felt that this made them more susceptible to his
charms. :-)
If so, what would have caused
> Piton to become so ruthless toward women over time? Did he change or
> was Piton always this way?
I think that he was always that way, because of his ego
and his arrogance. He was a ruthless man in general, IMO.
>
> 8)When Piton returns home after receiving warning of an intruder from
> his alarm system, why does he proceed unerringly to the room where
> Richie is hiding? Does he sense Richie's pre-immortal buzz? Was he
> intending to take Richie's head?
I'd say yes and yes.
>
> 9)What did Piton hope to accomplish by having Richie arrested?
Get him out of his hair and teach him a lesson. And I
also think that it wasn't in his character to just sit still
and someone else (Duncan) dictate to him how he should act;
IMO, there was a childish aspect to Piton.
>
> 10)Would Piton have continued to trust Maya if Richie hadn't shouted
> "Maya, tell them about the earring!" while he was being arrested?
Hmm, good question, I'm not sure. But I think not. I
think that Richie's attitude toward her would have made
Piton suspect that at the very least Richie was causing
her to be suspicious of him, and that alone would have
dented his trust in her. That's assuming that he ever
trusted her to begin with. Piton may love women, but
did he trust them (or anyone?) I don't think so.
>
> This lecture and questions are longer than my original notes on Eye of
> the Beholder!
<g> I don't know why, but I really liked this ep. It's
not one of the best, I know, but it's one I re-watch and
enjoy.
Edie
Jette Goldie
"Edie" <ed...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:3E22EB3F...@comcast.net...
> Hi~
>
> Shomeret wrote:
>
> >
> > Questions For Further Study
> >
> > 1)In the fairy tale about Bluebeard, Bluebeard forbids each of his
> > wives from entering a secret room. Each of them defies him and is
> > killed by Bluebeard. Do you think Piton is familiar with this story?
> > Does Piton remind you of Bluebeard?
>
> I don't know this story, but this wasn't really the same
> circumstance, it seems to me, as Cynthia found the room
> accidentally. What was in Bluebeard's room?
>
Bluebeard's previous wives <g> (or their corpses at least)
--
Jette
(aka Vinyaduriel)
"Work for Peace and remain fiercely loving" - Jim Byrnes
je...@blueyonder.co.uk
http://www.jette.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
http://bosslady.tripod.com/fanfic.html