"By the nature of his military background and training,
his attitude to killing is different than that of say Sam,
whose background is more geared towards undercover work
and keeping a low profile! He's much more pragmatic about it.
This doesn't mean his automatic reaction is to 'shoot to kill'
- in fact if it can be avoided he will.

In the opening scenes of 'Back to Business'
he shoots the Mafia boss in the arm, in Glory Days during the shoot
out on the ship when he and Sam have the upper hand
he holds his fire so the remaining men can surrender,
and in Tusk Force he settles for knocking out the man covering Sam at Mavoy's
rather than using the shotgun more aggressively!

His SEAL's training must have covered many methods of killing barehanded
as well, but in hand to hand fights (such as the police in Hostage,
the Mafia thugs in Back to Business, the bad guy [Spider?]
in the caravan fight in Orbit, etc.) he aims to disarm first then disable
rather than kill. But if it's a case of 'them or us'
and the chances are by pulling his shots one of his team (particularly Sam!)
or himself - or someone he is responsible for,
like Franco in Miss Hit - will get hurt or killed, he doesn't hesitate.
It doesn't mean he likes it - the little look on his face when Sam
conveys to him with a shake of the head that Abby is dead in Miss Hit
shows he regrets what he had to do - but if he knows it's necessary
he can live with it better than he could if he got, say,
Sam killed by not taking the shot."
Jill 28.03.2000

 

"What is with the "other side" of the fighting, killing other human beings?
I don't believe that Sam really enjoys all the killing.
He is doing his job, he is a professional and has to put aside
his emotions in order to do the job.
He only kills when his life is threatened
and doesn't seem to take any pleasure out of having to do so.
He likes to think of himself as a "bastion of justice" (Back to Business).
It is his job to protect the innocent and clean up the world of the bad guys".
Julia 18.03.2000

Sam and Chris try to stay emotionally detached when fighting.
They try to keep the 1st rule of never getting emotionally involved.
We see this very clearly in "First Strike".
They focus on Malone's birthday present.
Even after they are obviously affected by the deaths of the people in the fishing camp
and having just had a major gun fight
they come back to Malone's present and even joke about it.
It is their way of dealing with all that death and unpleasantness.
They shut it out, to get emotional would have a detrimental effect
on their job and they just couldn't keep doing what they do,
they would burn out very quickly.
They are professionals they have to stay focused.
They don't get any pleasure out of killing
it is just part of their job and they have to do it.
Julia 27.03.2000

There was this man, the controller, powerful. Like all leaders, he had enemies. So he needed a strong police, reliable co-workers Military, Bodyguards. But he didn't await, that the attack would come from very nearby. One of his own men made the assasination attempt. As it happened, it wasn't successful. The traitor was caught and executed.

The name of the one man: Hitler. The name of the other: Stauffenberg..

There was this man, officer, sworn to his leader. Like all soldiers, he had to follow his orders. But he saw, what happened. His "Führer" made a slaughterhouse out of Europe, his victims men, women, children, egal. The war he began one of the most desastrous in history. The officer became a member of the Resistance and made the valiant attempt, to kill the dictator. He failed. He died. Today he is called a hero.

What are the reasons to fight? To win? What is there to win, when the enemy is a criminal, a monster? When the outcome will be hurt, pain, death?

CHRIS: "Hang in there calvalry'll be here soon."
SAM: " D'you promise"
CHRIS: "You know Malone"
SAM: "Oh c'mon Malone'll be thinking about the population of Tokyo somewhere out there on the Samurai Wind. I'm just a blip"
CHRIS: "That's the pain talking"
SAM: "Oh c'mon Chris get real. We're paid to do a job. If we happen to get blown up along the way we'd be lucky to get a memorial service."
("Samurai Wind")

Is fighting only the profession of a few? Of a cast: The Professionals, specialists? How does it touch our own everydays lifes?

From a research in the internet:

Time: 18. Juli 2000, 15.59 h
URL: www.newsnow.co.uk
search for word: "Fight"
Timeframe: last 30 days
result: 818 hits
the first 20 of them:

       1.Militia fighting intensifies near Solomons capital  Yahoo UK 09:47 3-Jul-00
       2.Fighting breaks out around Solomons capital  Yahoo UK 07:59 3-Jul-00
       3.Chechens claim Russian deaths in outbreak of fighting  AFP on Voila 06:40 3-Jul-00
       4.McLeod fights back with Commonwealth mission  The Scotsman 00:32 3-Jul-00
       5.Spin row scuppers Blair fightback  The Independent 21:10 2-Jul-00

       6.Mayor fights to keep Fan Fair in town  The Tennessean 11:43 2-Jul-00
       7.Sri Lanka fighting kills 49: report  AFP on Voila 06:17 2-Jul-00
       8.Fighting to keep F-15 on line  Sun Sentinel 05:17 2-Jul-00
       9.Casket seller fights to survive in own niche  Houston Chronicle 04:37 2-Jul-00
      10.Davenport fights for shaky win  SportLive 21:24 1-Jul-00

      11.New fighting rages just north of the Afghan capital  Miami Herald 16:00 1-Jul-00
      12.Last-gasp fightback  Realfooty 14:32 1-Jul-00
      13.Fierce fighting breaks out in Afghanistan  AFP on Voila 13:49 1-Jul-00
      14.Scots fightback fails to stop the All Blacks  The Scotsman 11:49 1-Jul-00
      15.Taleban fighters launch new offensive  BBC 10:50 1-Jul-00

      16.2 Agassi The Fighter Earns His Reward  Total Wales (Sport) 10:26 1-Jul-00
      17.Agassi lives on the edge to fashion amazing fightback  The Irish Times (Sport) 07:46 1-Jul-00
      18.Caddick leads the incredible fightback  SportLive 20:23 30-Jun-00
      19.Trader fights alone against stock charges  Financial Post 14:34 30-Jun-00
      20.Roasting Process to Pump Up Cancer Fighting Properties of Coffee Unveiled By Oncology Sciences
         Corporation  PR Newswire - US Biotech 14:00 30-Jun-00 
 

Is fight really only the profession of a few?
Isn't perhaps the big part, the word alone plays
in our everydays speech an indicator for it's importance for all of us?
We tend to move away from its implications:
pain, dirt, hurt, death - for both sides. The more so I have respect for the people,
who take the responsibilty, who don't move away, but stand there, and fight - for us.
And a TV-Series like "The New Professionals" gives us in its best moments
a hint of the reality behind it, which is always there.

SAM: "Oh Chris you're a slob"

CHRIS: "My housekeeper died"

SAM: "Pigs live better than this"

CHRIS: "Yeah well in some people's eyes I am a pig Y'know cop, pig and all that"

SAM: "We're not cops"

CHRIS: "Sometimes I'm not sure what we are anymore. Cops, clean up men, legalized thugs"

SAM: "Try bastions of freedom and justice"

CHRIS: "Yeah well you may be a bit of a bastion but me I gotta get some shuteye"

("Back to Business")

rg 2000-07-19
© of the photo: DWTV, UK