RSteele82

Let’s start with what Canon tells about Remington, his childhood and his parents: 1. We assume he was born in Ireland (He doesn’t even know this for certain given the lack of birth certificate); 2. He spent his childhood in Ireland being passed from relative-to-relative (Steele in the New); 3. He lost track of his ‘real name’ as relatives were constantly rename him, sometimes for their own vanity (Steele in the News); 4. His mother may or may not have died in childbirth – never said; he may or may not have memories of his mother if the first isn’t true … Etched in Steele, when he starts awake he mumbles “I’ll be right there, Mother”; 5. He took off on his own when he was young (Steele in the News); 6. He ended up at some point before age 14 in London/Brixton (Sting of Steele); 7. He successfully picked Daniel’s pocket around age 14 in London (Steeled with a Kiss); 8. Daniel took him off the streets and taught him how to be a charming cheat (Sting of Steele); 9. He received an old pocket watch, engraved with ‘To SJ from KL’ from Patrick O’Rourke with a note that stated ‘Your father wanted you to have this’ in Steele Your Heart Away; 10. He admits to Laura he thinks he never even met or saw his father or birth certificate – Steele Your Heart Away; 11. He links KL to Kevin Landers, aka the Earl of Claridge – Steele Searching; 12. He tells Daniel the Earl might be a close relative of his – Steele Searching 13. He assumes, after the Earl denies him, that his father was the thief that stole the watch from O’Rourke – Steele Searching; Now, what Canon tells us about Daniel and his relationship with Remington – excluding those details in season 5 where writers tried to make it fit: 1. He is a conman by trade who prefers the con/sting – Sting of Steele, Blue Blooded Steele 2. He takes Remington in at 14 or thereabouts – Sting of Steele; 3. Because Remington had a bag full of names he used the, Daniel settles on using Harry; 4. He trains Remington to be thief and con – Sting of Steele; 5. He specifically refers to Remington as ‘the son I never had’ – Sting of Steele & Blue Blooded Steele. What we know about that watch: 1. The Earl gave it to a friend to pass on to the Earl’s son when he came of age – Steele Searching; 2. The watch was stolen somewhere along the way from his friend; 3. The watch is left in the Earl’s possession – Steele Searching; 4. The watch is stolen, again, from the Earl by Daniel – Steeled with a Kiss. This is all Canon. To believe Daniel is Remington’s father, we now must also believe all of this to be fact: 1. Remington, raised in Ireland, by chance alone ran away from Ireland as a child and out of the hundreds of cities in Europe, just happens to land in the same city at the same time his father is there; 2. Of the billions of people on earth and the millions living in London, Remington just happened to pick the pocket of his father; 3. Daniel, his father, who was in prison when Remington was born and had never seen him, just happened to know this 14 year old street urchin was his son; 4. In the tradition of father’s everywhere, instead of wanting a better life for his son, teaches him to be a thief and a con, at risk of him one day finding himself in prison; 5. Daniel, sometime between Steele’s birth and thirty-two years of age, steals the pocket watch from the Earl’s friend; 6. Daniel, for some reason, gives that watch to a man in Ireland, of all place, Patrick O’Rourke; 7. Daniel has Patrick O’Rourke send that watch to Remington; 8. Daniel knows Remington believes the Earl to be his father, but says nothing and is unconcerned; 9. Out of all the rich people in Europe, Daniel just so happens devise a plan to commit a robbery during the wedding reception of the man who was a friend to the man who Daniel stole the watch from; 10. Daniel steals to the watch from the Earl yet… 11. The Earl, knowing Daniel is Remington’s father, thereby the thief who stole the watch the first time… who would then have been the most likely suspect for the second them… decides to give Remington a castle to help Daniel, the man who has now stolen from him TWICE, tell his son the truth. Here are more problems with the muck the writers tried to sell us with this contrived plot: 1. Daniel knows Remington better than anyone, except maybe Laura. So he has O’Rourke send Remington the pocket watch… to what end????? He is resistant until almost the time of his death to share this secret with ‘his son’. 2. Remington has been a detective for 2 years now and his partner is this nuisance of a woman who has foiled everyone of Daniel’s plans to date. Daniel also is well aware Remington has a deep, abiding anger towards his father. Daniel didn’t consider Remington and Laura would track him down? And when they did, how furious Remington would be for being forced to search, traipse Europe only to find out it was Daniel? Yes, a son furious with his father for abandoning him would take well to being sent on a wild goose chase to discover a betrayal of 20 years. There is not a bit of this story that works and every detail of it violates Canon. Daniel being Remington’s father is just like all the other shit the writers wrote in season 5 and expected us to suddenly go brain dead and believe. The long and short of it is this: some brainchild said ‘Hey, let’s wrap up the father story. That will make the viewers happy. Does anyone from past episodes work? Oh wait, that Chalmer’s character would be about the write age. Imagine the D.R.A.M.A., imagine the S.H.O.C.K. Too bad, like so many other times during that so-called season, they didn’t consider Canon, if they even knew it, at all.

Fascinating conversation from beginning to end. I have always argued that RS would neither resort to using "Harry" as his moniker, nor would LH feel particularly comfortable using it. There are several arguments for the first: His need to utilize several names and identities interchangeably and often before assuming the mantle, whereas he was content to BE Remington Steele; his very pointed remark that Remington Steele was 'his good name' in Steele At It, and his anger when LH stated 'you don't have a name..."; his remorse that he should have to 'give the name back' in Steele Searching; his joy at receiving a passport bearing what he viewed as 'his name' in Steele Searching, again; and even his pride in holding up his PI credentials and saying a bit puffed chest 'Remington Steele.' Then, of course, there is the fact that the name ties him indelibly to LH, and the life he chose to build in LA, which he had never chosen to do before. Oh, and let's not forget, when Daniel refers to him as Harry, RS makes it very clear to him that his name IS Remington Steele in Blue Blooded Steele. As for LH, Harry is a name tied to RS's past - and we all know how she feels about that. It would not roll easily off her tongue, and would, most likely, leave a distinct distaste. She is aware, from Daniel's old mouth, that Harry is a name RS was dubbed with from the 'bagful of names' he used when first he plucked him off the street. LH accepting RS as Remington Steele and calling him by Remington would be that last brick of defense she had left crumbling to ashes. As for the bit about Daniel being RS's father - sorry, not drinking that Kool Aid. That storyline was as contrived as the entire Anthony Roselli CRAP. Canon, itself, tells us it is really NOT possible for Daniel to be his father. BTW, whoever said the writers for season 5 had been the writers in all prior seasons is dead wrong. Actually, some of the flimsiest episodes with the least amount of Canon honored were written by one of those writers, who wrote once in Season 3, twice in Season 4 and had never bothered to learn the history of these two characters. To wit, at the end of Suburban Steele, LH utters, "The Remington Steele that walked into my life three years ago wouldn't care a fig what happened to my family." WRONG! RS immediately tried to ingratiate himself upon Abigail in Season 1, Episode 5; in Season 1, Episode 21 he is again spends time with Abigail; in Season 2's "Steele Sweet on You" after resolving the issue of who Donald is, he goes out of his way to get to know the Pipers. It's no coincidence, in my eyes, this crappola writer happened to be the head writer for the worst of the worst in Season 5 - and every episode in which Tony/Laura kiss or Laura seems to pant-pant after the man. Hello! We are talking LH here. Yes, she would be attracted to a man who has lied to her from the start, who has used her, abused her trust, blackmailed RS, not to mention sent him off to be possibly murdered? Puleeeeeeese. As for the whole 'they hated one another' spiel, not buying THAT either. They were honest then and have been since, that there were tensions here and there generally spawning from PB's sudden shoot to stardom and SZ's frustrations at not receiving the same publicity. The gossip in the background seemed to far more center on Cassandra Harris's constant presence on the set and even her interference there. I suspect there was also some resentments/concerns re: SZ by Harris, as there is an article out there somewhere where PB candidly admits she was very jealous of his amorous scenes. Co-workers will not always get along and at times it can get UGLY, yes. But there are enough candids out there from the shooting of this series that show SZ and PB often joking around, smiling with one another, having fun. Oh, and of course, PB freely admits directly after the series ended that he and SZ were both thoroughly pissed off for most of Season 5 - not at each other, but because they were both called away from projects they coveted in order to give their fans a horrible season 5, which he calls straight out - 'poxy'. As he pointed out in interview, RS had another solid season in it - one in which he would liked to have seen LH and RS settle down and even start discussing/having a family. I know if I was called away from my future to serve up the pile of crap season 5 was, I would be tee-total pissed off too. :)