Excerpts from "Ask Greg" at Station Eight

What sort of things did you plan on doing with the Goliath/Elisa relationship?

Well, first of all, I'd have them discuss it.

Then come to the conclusion that it was impossible.

The I was going to send them on a Halloween double date. Goliath with Delilah. Elisa with either Morgan or Jason (I hadn't decided). The date would've made it clear that no matter how impossible their relationship seemed, they would just have to find a way to make it work.

Eventually, there would have been some kind of commitment ceremony. I don't know if you'd call it a wedding per se, but the purpose would have been clear enough.

These are my questions: Am I right? Was it decided upon conception that there would be a "Lois and Clark-ish" relationship between Goliath and Elisa (that even carried over part your "The Journey")? If so, was there any latent aversion on the censors' part? If Mr. Weisman is reading this, I'd like to thank him for his time.

People love to toss around incendiary terms. We had no "censor".

Yes, of course, the romantic relationship between Goliath and Elisa was planned from the start. I'm sure that's self-evident. I wouldn't call it "Lois and Clark-ish" though; I don't really see the parallel there.

I wanted to play their "courtship" realistically. I had two individuals who were destined for each other. But that didn't mean things would progress quickly. Elisa is an extremely guarded woman in many ways. She's had to be. She's succeeded in a career that is traditionally male. Dating fellow cops is a dangerous move for a female detective. Double standards, sexual harrassment claims, precinct harmony, etc. make it less than ideal. Dating crooks isn't too appealing either, for obvious reasons. Who else does she meet working the night shift as she does? You'll notice that the person who was always putting the breaks on any romantic discussion that Goliath tried to initiate was Elisa. She has trouble admitting her feelings, even to her mother. She's fairly secretive.

In addition, Elisa had, and still has, a keen sense of the situation's impossibility. I think Elisa would like to have kids someday. Not necessarily right away, but someday. That's not possible with Goliath. At least not in the traditional way. I hope "High Noon" revealed that Elisa is not Fox Mulder. She was never looking weirdness to enter her life. She wanted, and to some extent still wants, a normal life. She could never have that with Goliath.

Goliath had an entirely different problem. He had a wounded heart. Gargoyles mate for life. Mates die, but it was beyond his understanding that his mate was still alive, and they would not be together. That's why Goliath was still trying to win Demona back as late as "Vows". That's why he never quite knows what to do with her. What to make of her. That was a huge distraction from Elisa. His feelings for Elisa were already present, as early as "Awakening Part Three". But it took him a while to recognize them. And when he did, he was ashamed. He felt that he shouldn't be able to fall in love again.

Certainly not with a human. (Don't believe for a minute that Goliath is immune to prejudice. No one is. At least no one I've ever met.) What's interesting is that Goliath fell in love with Elisa even before he understood how physically attractive she was. He didn't realize that until "The Mirror". He tried to talk to her about his feelings on numerous occasions.

She always cut him off. And maybe, he thought, that was for the best. But that's also why the events of "Sentinel" were so painful to him. She didn't remember him or their life together. She didn't trust him. She even tried to shoot him. It broke his heart. (Again) Of course, it wasn't her fault, and he knew it. And when push came to shove, she instinctively knew they were connected and so saved him from Nokkar.

And that's the problem they were both faced with. Not having anything more than a platonic friendship made sense to both of them. But that wasn't possible. They didn't have a choice. They loved each other. It was almost a curse.

That's what was going on with Elisa in "Hunter's Moon". Jason and Goliath actually have a number of things in common. Jason's the kind of guy she goes for, and gee whiz, he was human. (Of course, he was also a hunter, but she didn't know that at first.) She really liked him. And if she had never met Goliath... who knows? I think Officer Morgan is another who could have made Elisa very happy -- if she had never met Goliath. But she had. And her love for Goliath transcends their differences. That's why she kissed Goliath at the end of "Hunter's Moon". That's what was going on between them at the end of "The Journey".

But that didn't solve the problem. Eventually, they'd have to TALK about it. Really talk about it. They have to discuss the pragmatic aspects of it. Not to get too crude, but how does a gargoyle make love? (I know the answer to that, by the way, but lets try to keep things clean.) What about children? Goliath has Angela and a whole clan of rookery kids on Avalon, but Elisa's never going to be a mother to Angela. And what about their future?

If I had continued on the show, I would have dramatized this conversation, with end result being that they would have decided once and for all NOT to have a romantic relationship. The realities of he discussion would temorarily overwhelm their feelings for each other.

That break-up wouldn't last long. Because, ultimately, they have no choice. They love each other with one of those great mythic loves of song and story. But again, that dosen't solve any problems. (Well, actually it does, but not the problems I'm talking about.) They'd have dealt with each issue as it came up.

Now back to your original question about censorship. Who knows what problems we might or might not have run into down the line? I can't answer that. But we had ZERO problems on the 66 episodes that I worked on. Elisa and Goliath loved each other. That was a given. But the characters we created weren't about to jump into interspecies sex, so there was nothing to object to. Heck, it took 65 episodes for them to kiss on the lips. What I'm getting at is that the slow pace was intentional. It suited the characters to go slow. But that dove-tailed nicely with the fact that there was nothing for anyone to object to.

We also had the added help that Disney's Beauty and the Beast had just come out and raised everyone's consciousness. The animated lesson not to judge a book by its cover was well-learned throughout the halls of Disney.

I believe that some things are eternal.

I'm not entirely sure. We were a long way from any equivalent to Goliath being an "in-law". Goliath and Elisa han not even discussed their relationship. They'd never even gone out on a date (though they'd certainly had some romantic moments). I don't like to plan characters' emotional responses too far in advance, but my gut reaction is that the guy who would have the most trouble with it would be Derek. Beth would get it. Peter would be wary. Diane would want to make sure Elisa fully understood what she was sacrificing. But I think Derek might have a real problem with it.

Eventually, way, way down the line, I see Goliath and Elisa addressing the issue of children. All sorts of options are available, except natural procreation between two widely and wildly divergent species. Elisa could never be pregnant with Goliath's child without assistance from science or magic. I've already stated that I don't see them going that way. But I do see them raising a child together. But not without serendipity (and some tragedy) playing a role. I don't want to say anymore right now.

Friends and relatives will be in attendance.

I'd say it was progress, though aborted progress. You'll notice Elisa does dress up for it.

Well, you saw most of it. And as I've stated, step two (the Halloween double date) might not have even included Jason. The Triangle pretty much concluded with Hunter's Moon.

romantics have veiwed Greg Weisman's Thoughts on Goliath and Elisa since 6-1-98.