|
I never quite connected with the character of Caitlin Byrne in any
meaningful way. To me she is a mass of contradictory traits that were
never really resolved. It is clear that the writers were aiming for a
Lois Lane character when they initially introduced Caitlin. The only
problem is that while Lois kicked ass, Caitlin was painted as the soft
homebody type with her mind on work before play. Add in a hotchpotch of
hang ups, and Caitlin was born.
Instead of being
enchanted by her obvious good nature, I was pretty much just bored by
her. In her first appearance (Prince) she was supposed to be a
relentless news hound, out to pin Julian into a corner but I was never
convinced that she had the ruthlessness or killer instinct to make
Julian bat an eye, let alone make him uncomfortable. Bluntly, she just
wasn't tough enough. The reason soon became apparent, she was to be the
love interest. I enjoy a good romance in a TV show, God
knows I watched Moonlighting for long enough, but with Caitlin and
Julian there was little or no chemistry. All it did was left me
wondering what in the hell Julian saw in her to begin with, let's face
it he's a vampire, he's not going to care whether she's a great cook,
however many compliments he pays her. The only word that really seems to
fit Caitlin is 'nice'. I did find some of their scenes hard to watch,
with this apparently worldly journalist becoming little more than a
simpering doormat in her lover's presence. With a
little work it could have been a very different story; what if the
writers had made the character more edgy, had her really digging into
Julian's world instead of forever being on the periphery? What would
have happened if she'd taken Frank's accusations more seriously, and
made Archon more uncomfortable? It would have been interesting to see
Julian and his sire conflict more over the Caitlin issue. All
in all I find Caitlin a very two dimensional character, and I lay the
blame for that at the feet of the writers. Not having appeared in the
Pilot, it seems that Caitlin was an afterthought, and one that didn't
ever hit it's mark. Like with so many of the other characters, this
might have been dealt with in time. I have nothing but respect for Kelly
Rutherford, who did a really good job with so very little. The only
episode that really seemed to give her anything to play with was Cabin
In The Woods, which at least gave her the opportunity to show her range.
|
