Fraser's Character and Repression

The episode cannot be fully appreciated unless one has previously seen the staid, moral upright, stiff almost simple-in-his outlook Mountie who is thrust into unfamiliar urban territory with no experience to guide him.  He is a good man who believes in being polite and in helping people.  He believes that there is good in almost everyone and he looks for that good in everyone.

He is not totally naive, however, and is tough on criminals.  I love this character.  For all of his moral uprightness, he is human.  He also tries to be a good friend to Ray Vecchio but Fraser will help almost anyone, not just friends. 

I think that Benton Fraser is very repressed and that he seriously believes in the code of chivalry taught to him by his grandmother.  He would, therefore, assiduously seek to avoid situations that might open the floodgates, so to speak.  Even with Victoria, he is more than the perfect gentleman until she becomes accusatory and physically aggressive. 

Fraser, we learn from other episodes, not only does not have a love life but he seems to have trouble relating to women.  Women swoon over him, chase after him and fall in love with him but he rarely shows interest.  In fact, for the most part he runs away or acts intensely obtuse about their attentions.  On occasion, Ray teases him about this situation. 

This man is so repressed that it's almost tragic.  The release from this repression almost ends in tragedy--his encounters with Victoria.  The only sexual experience that he has had in the years that he's been in Chicago has been with Victoria for a period of three days.  This is not normal behavior.  During the series, he has only asked two women out--Victoria and Meg Thatcher.  He even spent an evening with Victoria, the only woman he ever loved.  They were alone in his apartment, had dinner, looked at TV and he didn't touch her.  He didn't even give her a good night kiss in front of her hotel.  It wasn't until she returned later and started physically assaulting him that he started demonstrating some physical passion.  Even then, he was just holding her until she started nuzzling the side of his face. 

Ray asks him in Red, White or Blue, "Are you human, because if you are human beings feel things.  They feel love, lust, fear, etc."  Fraser is trying to live by his own code of honor but it makes him appear odd and strange in addition to being irritating and annoying to people like Ray who care about him.  He says that he envies Ray's freedom but he can't seem to break loose from his own self-constraints.  He is human so he's conflicted when he feels desire.  I think he's attracted to the women around him but he really doesn't know how to handle these situations.  Despite his testosterone levels, I think his superego is overly developed and has him tied up in knots.

Fraser's so-called dark side, I term it human side, emerges every once in a while.  Fraser holds himself to the highest standards, the highest ideals but he is not superman.  He is human and occasionally has to face that fact.

He says to Maggie Mackenzie, in Hunting Season, in reply to her question, that not once did he care about his own safety when pursuing a goal of justice.  He tries to convince Ray that he also has such high ideals but Ray doesn't and tries to tell Fraser this, e.g., in the Vault.  Ray, on the other hand, will sacrifice all for friendship--taking bullets for Fraser in Call of the Wild and Letting Go.  This type of friendship loyalty is described as very American by the Mexican agent in the Edge.

In Call of the Wild, Fraser tells Ray Kowalski that when he first came to Chicago he felt as if he were from another planet.  Ray Kowalski says "Which you are," and Fraser responds "I've come to accept this."  He, at some point, realized that he is odd.  In the Pilot, Gerard points out to him that he was unable to adapt to urban life in Moosejaw, which Fraser acknowledges but he is determined to go to Chicago nevertheless and find his father's killers, even if he has to give up being a Mountie.  He never gives up in his pursuit of justice, he is determined and he is a very good man.  He may be arrogant in his goodness and thoughtless in his goodness but the ideal is always there for which he is striving.  It's the best that a human being can do.  We can't be perfect, we can only try. 

I find the motel scene in Invitation to Romance interesting.  After Miss Burns kisses him, he says, referring to her previous offer of champagne, "Well perhaps just one bottle," although he doesn't drink.  Then, he just lies there, while she attempts to make love to him, until he is "rescued" by the shotgun blast.  In practically any situation with an aggressive female, he seems to be willing to allow himself to be overcome if there is no immediate means of escape.  This seems more to be the reactions of a repressed man who is perhaps very fearful of his own reactions, rather than of one who is disinterested.

I think he is naive, however, and his naivete often leads him to either miss the obvious or to subconsciously repress anything he's not prepared to deal with.  When it is blatant, he is easily embarrassed and confused as to how to proceed.  His embarrassment in the lingerie shop in The Deal was humorous.  His attitude towards things sexual may have been considered highly commendable in the 19th century but it is a difficult path to follow in modern times.

We know from the episode, "You Must Remember This," that Fraser has a mystery love.  "There was a woman once…It ended badly."  During his monologue, he briefly explains the situation, with deep emotion registering in his face and his voice.  The episode ends with a scene showing him in his apartment staring at the photograph of a woman whose face is obscured by her hair.  This woman is Victoria.  He later describes her as the only woman he ever loved.  He still loves her.  We also know that there was "a darkness inside her."

Fraser is vulnerable.  From the Pilot episode on, we see how alone Fraser really is despite having Ray as a friend.  Even in his native Canada he was considered odd and is not welcome there anymore.  His loneliness rarely comes to the fore but it is always present.

Victoria has tapped into his vulnerability.  Fraser normally runs when there's any possibility of getting close to a woman.  He held Victoria in a near death embrace. He put her fingers in his mouth to keep them warm.  The sound of her voice helped keep him alive.  He feels that he has known her "across a thousand lifetimes."  His very innocence and inexperience made him vulnerable to this woman.  She saved his life.  He saved her life.