Sometimes, a TV show is so jarring and takes you so far downward to the worst of humanity that you can’t help searching for levity. It’s an irresistible prospect when you’re a) a fan of femslash and b) watching The Fall, which is essentially a dual character study of a serial killer and the lead detective assigned to his case. There’s a lot to say in praise of the show’s treatment of women, how it turns the clichéd landscape of a typical cop show on its ear by making Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) more of an Action Hero than a Strong Female Character. She’s calculating and brilliant and coolly detached; her no-strings-attached sexual relationships far outnumber her long-term romances, and all she needs to do to scare off a band of hooligans is step forward and clack her heel against the ground. Stella is more than a match for aforementioned murderer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) and deserves only the best partner, both in the field and off the clock. And she has one in Dr. Reed Smith (Archie Panjabi), the pathologist on the Spector case.
Throughout The Fall, there are allusions to Stella’s romantic past alongside the flirtations and affairs in which she takes part in the present day. She’s not one to be tied down, as she clearly demonstrates to one-night stand James Olson (Ben Peel), pretty face Tom Anderson (Colin Morgan, someone I previously recognized as “that guy from Merlin with the ears”), and Jim Burns (John Lynch), who cheated on his spouse with Stella during their previous acquaintance. Reed doesn’t threaten Stella’s single-and-happy status, but she clearly captures Stella’s attention as the detective comes back to her time and again for insight on the case and what makes a killer tick.
Having watched the entirety of The X-Files (including the absolutely abysmal ninth season, which I in no way recommend), I have a great deal of affection for Gillian Anderson. However, watching her play Dana Scully—just as calculating and brilliant as Stella, but substantially less detached and not nearly as frank about sexuality—made me twitchy and uncomfortable, largely because I was always worried about whether or not she’d make it through to the end of an episode. (Pay no mind to “Tithonus” or any other X-Files that implied she was immortal. I was able to ignore that due to the heavy dose of vulnerability Anderson injected into the character.) There’s never that concern with Stella, who’s more than capable of taking care of herself and, for the most part, keeping tabs on everyone around her—even Burns, who comes on to her when drunk and prompts her to punch him in the face. (If you choose not to watch The Fall, you should at least seek out this scene. It’s incredibly cathartic.) Whenever Reed rolls up on her motorcycle in her leather jacket, Stella’s there to meet her, take her through the crime scene, accompany her during the pathological exam, and treat her to a drink when it’s all over. In return, Reed becomes one of Stella’s only confidants as Spector continues to elude them.
It doesn’t feel forced, or even as though it’s been a long time coming, when the two of them kiss and toy with the idea of spending a night together late in the show’s second season. It’s just the next step in the natural progression of their relationship: keeping each other’s secrets, leaning on each other as the case hits closer to home than ever before (a friend of Reed’s is abducted by Spector after she does some non-confidential informing for the police), and going on what is, by all accounts, a date at a hotel bar.
Granted, it’s disappointing when Reed opts out for an overnight visit with Stella, and even worse when Stella takes up with fellow detective Anderson. But it’s immediately clear that he’s another dalliance, an insecure man uncomfortable with Stella’s devotion to her work and lack of commitment to any kind of exclusive relationship. By the close of the second season, it’s apparent that there isn’t much of a future in store for Stella and Tom—convenient, considering Reed’s still a crucial part of the investigation and on the case at whichever crime scene requires her analysis.
Any X-Files fan can attest that one of the most enjoyable things about the show, all mytharc episodes and in-jokes aside, was watching the push and pull between Scully and Mulder. And personally, I think Anderson is more responsible for this than David Duchovny. Duchovny was, at least in his younger years, affable and effortlessly charming, but Anderson’s appeal sneaks up on you. She’s not overtly sexy and she’s rarely flirtatious, but her sly sense of humor and razor-sharp intelligence make her a perfect verbal sparring partner for Mulder. Ultimately, Scully is simply a more captivating character.
I don’t find that this is the case with The Fall. Yes, Stella is captivating, but Reed is downright fascinating, far less of an open book than Mulder ever was. In addition to her pathology work, she’s a devoted mother, though we never learn about her children or whether or not a woman Can Really Have It All. We know nothing of her daughters’ father, and we’re never really sure exactly what Reed is doing off the clock. She’s intentionally mysterious, and Stella’s effort to break through that mystery is mesmerizing to watch. When they kiss, we see Reed vulnerable for the first time as Stella leads her to the elevator. (Unfortunately, they never get further than that. But let’s push that aside for a moment.) Other than the obvious, I like to think that Stella and Reed would kick back in Stella’s room with an EastEnders rerun and a bottle of whiskey, effectively taking a reprieve from the ongoing investigation. There’d be idle chitchat and a relaxed feeling that Stella so rarely experiences; if she does relax, we never see it. All she needs is Reed and her motorcycle to whisk her away. Is that so much to ask?
I’d be surprised if the writers didn’t revisit Stella and Reed’s chemistry and further explore it in the third and final season of The Fall. Panjabi herself has pinpointed the kiss she shared with Anderson as one of the reasons she left the The Good Wife:
“When I was kissing her, Allan Cubitt, the show’s creator and director, had to say, ‘Archie, can you hold back?’, because Gillian was supposed to take me by complete surprise. I didn’t think that I was very forward in [the scene], but obviously after a while a character starts to affect you. I thought, ‘Okay, I think it’s time to go now.’”
Granted, just because Panjabi is open to the possibilities of the character, that doesn’t mean it’s the path Cubitt and his writing staff will take. But judging from the number of GIFs of that one kiss you can find on Tumblr, if that does end up being the case, fans of the show will welcome it with open arms, myself included.
One thing worthy of note is how free of awkwardness they both were after almost sleeping together. Totally professional yet also casual, clearly happy to stay friends. Television characters behaving like adults: turns out it IS possible.
“So, about that sexual tension that’s in no way interfering with this professional conversation we’re having.”
Goood I need to watch this show already!
My favorite fact in the world is that Gillian Anderson kissed Archie Panjabi so good it made her quit her job.
I found that out when I was researching this and was so giddy and gleeful that I probably literally applauded.
I mean, wouldn’t you?
It’s moments like that (being kissed by Gillian Anderson) when you realize you really can’t care anymore about anything but continuing to kiss Gillian Anderson.
Wouldn’t we ALL?
GOSH I miss Archie on The Good Wife (although hey Jeffrey Dean Morgan hey) but it is a huge relief that I can still look at her while I stress myself out rewatching The Fall.
HERE FOR THIS
YAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I am forever telling people about this show. My love of Gillian Anderson is deep and pure, and I think this might be my favorite role of hers.
Now I need to watch The Fall…
Love The Fall. Love Anderson. Love Panjabi.
I also really liked how Stella got to have NSA sex. Like a man would. Without being punished or killed off.
Except. I watched it a while back, so details are hazy, but I got the impression that a parallel was being drawn between Gibson and Spector. Apparently, other people thought so too: http://blytherippon.blogspot.ca/2015/02/gender-po…
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheFallTV/comments/3ao56…
I feel like there would have never been a comparison made between a horndog dude and a serial killer. Nobody would be thinking, “Hey, do you notice the similarities between how you treat women and how that killer you’re chasing treats women? I mean, you’re not a monster or anything, and you don’t kill ’em when you’re done with ’em, but still.” So there’s this implication that there’s something not quite right about having NSA sex, or I should say a woman having NSA sex, and while Stella isn’t punished in the storyline, she is being punished by the writers’ disapproval of her sex-having ways.
Oh, I think the parallels between them are almost too much at times. I also thought that Stella was more demonized for her ambition than for her sex life, and that’s in some ways just as patriarchal. But I loved the moment near the end when Ears implies she’s attracted to Spector and she outlines all the reasons that’s ridiculous. That helped me cope with the similarities between cop and killer.
I also found that little speech very refreshing. I was really hoping that the writers were genuinely flouting the whole “stare at the (evil) abyss and it stares back” trope. And I also loved the interrogation scenes for that reason – when Fifty Shades of Serial Killer was trying to get under Stella’s skin in the most obvious ways, he (it seemed to me) failed utterly.
BUT, MAJOR SPOILERS
The last scene of the second season indicated that Stella HAD fallen into a twisted sort of obsession with the killer dude. And the writers hadn’t been avoiding the trope at all. So I’ve decided to ignore the ending completely and remember Stella as the cool cucumber she really is.
“I feel like there would have never been a comparison made between a horndog dude and a serial killer.”
Maybe this is just the connoisseur of Male Tears (somMALEier?) in me, but I would love to see some dillweed bro PUA detective (who is also “dark” and “mysterious” and “intense” and “emotionally constipated”) be put up against someone like Spector (ETA:) and then have his trash worldview pointedly compared with Spector’s.
Although in the face-punching scene, Stella basically does that with her coworker, tells him that it’s all a spectrum from forced kissing to rape to being Spector.
Man, if I hadn’t already loved the series by that point, that scene would’ve sealed the deal for me. It lays out everything that appeals to me and haunts me about the show in short and brilliant order.
And then shuts down his male tears with a healthy dose of misandry, which he completely accepts. It’s beautiful, and Gillian Anderson is perfection.
I eventually disliked season 1 of True Detective because their failure in this department, but I do think they set up this parallel (compare horndog cop with serial killer of women), they just totally failed to effectively follow through on it. Mostly because the show seemed to care a lot more about exploiting women itself than about exploring the similarities between different levels of exploitation.
I understand the parallels argument in The Fall but I don’t think the writers are trying to punish her or even disapprove of her behavior. The men Stella sleeps with consent (enthusiastically!). Other people within the world disapprove and I think try to draw those lines, which I think is realistic — people DO treat women who have NSA sex like monsters — but I don’t think Stella or the show accepts those arguments. The parallels (for me) are exploring how people view female vs male sexuality, not accepting the argument that Stella is deviant.
In a side note: I watched season 1 of The Fall right after season 1 of True Detective, and wow was it a huge relief to watch a show that was thoughtful about its gender politics and actually cared about women (both those being murdered and those in the rest of the world). Plus I thought the structural innovations of The Fall (it’s not a whodunnit like most cop shows) were ultimately way more interesting than those in True Detective (where the “reveal” was so ultimately disappointing). Wish it got more attention/praise!
I watched them in the opposite order and my response to True Detective was, “people claim this is good?” It was beautifully filmed but it couldn’t even begin to withstand comparison.
First, newbie squeal, really enjoying Femslash Friday so thank you for an interesting and fun discussion of the kind of topics which I often see met with either disgusting voyeurism, a heavy dose of sexism or both.
Second, LOVE The Fall. Love a police show where I am asked to question all of the tropes we get in “regular cop shows” especially about female characters and the nature of the psychological line between cop and criminal (while I detest the crimes of Spector, the actions of the men on the police force are often just as awful if not more because they choose to operate as if they are correct)
<3 The Fall
<3 Stella giving zero fucks about male judgment
<3 Reed Smith too
<3 this article
Since I’ve been meaning to watch both of them, how would (the UK version of) Prime Suspect hold up to this?
That feels like terrible sentence structure, so I must apologize. I just wondered if Helen Mirren’s character gets to have a comparable level of agency/ability and so on and does it have sufficient feminist moments?
Keep in mind that the first season of Prime Suspect aired twenty-five years ago. Tennison’s “level of agency” is shaped by her environment, in which she’s grudgingly given authority and has to grab and play dirty to get ahead. I think the fact that she existed at all, much less for six (six?) seasons, is her Feminist Moment in fireworks and champagne.
If you’re looking for levels of agency and sufficient feminist moments comparable to The Fall, look no further than Scott & Bailey. They’re two female detectives in a homicide department run by a woman. NO ONE expresses surprise at this. It’s as if Tennison did the heavy lifting a generation before, and no one needs to fight those particular battles anymore. There are always new frictions or new ways in which men have problems with women in authority, but that well will probably never go dry.
The Fall is great!
Truly, this is the Femslash Friday I have longed for the most.
Also, as a side note, having been convinced to watch 50 Shades of Grey (“it’ll be fun! You can sneak in booze and laugh at it!”) immediately after having marathoned The Fall, the characters Jamie Dornan plays in each are disturbingly similar.
I fully shock-laughed when Stella said “Enlighten Me” in the last? second-last? episode.
I’m so glad that Femslash Friday is back! (Do you take pitches for it? Does it rotate between the regular writers? How does it work?) I don’t watch this show but I support this post ON PRINCIPLE since Femslash Friday is how I was converted to The Toast.
Me too! For me it was all about Brienne and Sansa. And then later, Rory and Paris clinched it.
Pitch, pitch, pitch! This is my third (Agents of SHIELD and Young Avengers being my previous contributions), but anyone can jump into the fray!
I fully shock-laughed when Stella said "Enlighten Me" in the last? second-last? episode.
Oh yes. 🙂
“Erm, Archie, can you… I mean, the character’s supposed to be surprised. And, you know, she LIKES it and all, but… not THAT much.”
“…mmf.”
“ARCHIE. I KNOW YOU ARE KISSING GILLIAN ANDERSON. I KNOW YOU ARE LIVING THE LIFE GOALS OF MILLIONS. BUT YOU HAVE TO STOP NOW.”
“…no…”
I don’ t know that I could write it (otherwise I’d just send a pitch email), but speaking of Ms. Anderson and Femslash Friday, anyone want to do a Scully/Reyes piece? Because, c’mon, whatever their relationship was was a beacon of light in the darkness that was seasons eight and nine of The X-Files.
Hm. I have trouble with that ship because I’m aggressively anti-Reyes, but the delivery of Scully’s baby does deserve about 1,000 words on its own.