Professor Captain Arm Candy (USMC-Ret): Tim Daly

[kwnyc]

This is the place to talk about the man lucky enough to be married to the Secretary of State.

 

Professor of Theology...fighter pilot...Marine...part-time NSA operative.

 

Two-time winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Here's where the accolades pile up.

[buttersister]

Tim Daly is still adorable, so thanks for being on my TV, but now that I see this CV, is all this supposed to make Madame Secretary look even better?

[shapeshifter]

Tim Daly is still adorable, so thanks for being on my TV, but now that I see this CV, is all this supposed to make Madame Secretary look even better?

IMO, "Madame Secretary," the character? Yes. His awesome catch-ness does enhance her character. But "Madame Secretary," the show? Not as much. If they give him any more unbelievable accomplishments, his character will be--well--unbelieveable.

[buttersister]

shapeshifter, sorry if it wasn't clear that I was 100% referencing the super-cute, super-overachieving, most-amazing-dude-ever character!

[kwnyc]

Yeah, but the guy he was spying on TOTALLY picked up that he bugged the chess set.

[sinkwriter]

Tim Daly broke both legs in a skiing accident at Sundance: http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/madam-secretary-tim-daly-accident-1201968871/  (As I said in the media thread: OUCH.)

They say the writers may need to revamp their plans for his character, including perhaps writing this accident into the episodes. What do you think they should do for Professor Captain Arm Candy?  ;)

[thewhiteowl]

That's horrible! Poor guy. They have made him integral to the show, it would be weird if he was just gone. They could easily write him injured somehow, bravely no doubt. 

[CheshireCat]

Writing it in could be interesting. He could go back to being the man beside the woman. I miss those scenes that they had in the early and later episodes in S1 when he was dealing with the kids like Alison's sleepover.

[sinkwriter]

I suppose it all depends on how many episodes they have already completed and ready for airing versus the remaining episodes of the season to write.

I'd be cool with him going back to being the man beside the woman - plus it would still be angsty for Mr. Professor Captain, because he probably wouldn't like not being able to go out and save the world every week.

[CheshireCat]

Exactly what I was thinking. It could give him something interesting, less action but emotions to explore. And it could also be an interesting family thing since they'd have to adjust to him being home all the time. And he'd depend on others. I broke my foot almost 9 years ago and as a dancer, that meant I was suddenly home all day with nothing to do an nowhere to go and since I wasn't allowed to put weight on it, I also depended on others for a lot of things. That was so not easy to get used to. It's fun to be waited on every now and then but when it happens because it has to, not so much fun anymore. So, as I said, that could be an interesting aspect.

Last year, they must have been filming episode 16/17 right around this time. The blizzard was around this time and they had huge amounts of snow in episode 16 when Bess met with the senator about the refugees. No snow in episode 15. But since there was a lot of Henry in 16 and the Sundance Film Festival was around the same time, too, they were probably either doing all the shots with Leoni and had gotten the one with Daly out of the way before or they were finishing up 16 and moving on to 17. Or they had just started on 16 and done the shots with Leoni first. Either way, somewhere between 16 and 17 ;-)

Edited January 25, 2017 by CheshireCat

[Dowel Jones]

Will he be in a wheelchair?  If so, he'll be (successfully, of course) lobbying right and left for the ADA in every episode.  But then again he'll be finally relegated to the office when the Black Dog ops get off the ground again.

[CheshireCat]

With two broken legs and an injury that requires surgery, I don't see how he could not be in a wheelchair, at least for the first couple of weeks.

Edited January 25, 2017 by CheshireCat

[Driad]

Depends on whether they write some injury into the scripts. If they do not, he might just be sitting in regular chairs or lying in bed, dispensing wise counsel, instead of running around whacking bad guys.

[CheshireCat]

I thought the poster was asking in general. On the show, it definitely depends.

[kwnyc]

I totally think it will be written in as a "line of duty" accident. He's already been in a dirty bomb explosion, had radiation poisoning, been whacked in the head over his son's laptop, and more. I say: hit by a car full of baddies, because they can do it with a body double. Bets? Anyone? Should we put a pool together? ;-)

[Dowel Jones]

I put $5 down and  say he slips on the ice covered sidewalk while taking out the garbage.  Nothing like completely ordinary to ruin your day.

[CheshireCat]

Falling down the stairs could also be an option.

[VinceW]

14 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

With two broken legs and an injury that requires surgery, I don't see how he could not be in a wheelchair, at least for the first couple of weeks.

The Tim Daly tweet clarified his actual injuries which is good news for a quick recovery. A broken ankle and some level of ACL damage is a heck of lot different than two broken legs especially given his age. Not a very smart move for someone whose carefree activity could effect future show production and result in cast and crew losing their jobs.  Something like this happening at this point in time to one of the leads could result in the network ending the series. IMHO.

Edited January 25, 2017 by VinceW

[CheshireCat]

32 minutes ago, VinceW said:

The Tim Daly tweet clarified his actual injuries which is good news for a quick recovery. A broken ankle and some level of ACL damage is a heck of lot different than two broken legs especially given his age. Not a very smart move for someone whose carefree activity could effect future show production and result in cast and crew losing their jobs.  Something like this happening at this point in time to one of the leads could result in the network ending the series. IMHO.

Where'd you get the ACL damage from? His tweet said he broke his ankle and his knee. As odd as it sounds, you can actually break your knee. I think one of the US ski ladies broke their knees not too long ago, though I'm not 100% sure it was them or someone else.

Why would they end the show when he's scheduled to continue to appear?

Edited January 25, 2017 by CheshireCat

[VinceW]

6 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

Where'd you get the ACL damage from? His tweet said he broke his ankle and his knee. As odd as it sounds, you can actually break your knee. I think one of the US ski ladies broke their knees not too long ago, though I'm not 100% sure it was them or someone else.

Why would they end the show when he's scheduled to continue to appear?

Broken knee(kneecap) surgery primarily aims at preventing any shortening of the leg and achieving a rigid fixation with orthopedic screws which is a serious injury especially for someone his age with a long rehab. A broken ankle can be accommodated with a walking boot, but he will need crutches for a long time just for normal activity. He must have already filmed the majority of his remaining scenes for the season else production would have been halted or he will be written out of lot of remaining few episodes.

Edited January 26, 2017 by VinceW

[secnarf]

I don't think he is important enough to warrant halting production. IMO only Elizabeth/Tea Leoni is important enough to warrant halting production in the event that she was unable to film. Everyone else can be explained-away or spoken to over the phone and not actually seen.

If Tim Daly is able to do scenes sitting (with his extended leg hidden by cleverly placed tables and camera angles) or lying down in bed, that's even better. They even have the option of writing in his injury, if need be. They can either do something like an on-screen car accident as someone suggested, or start off an episode with Bess bringing Henry home from the hospital, legs in casts, lamenting his clumsiness or daredevil behaviour while skiing.

There are a plethora of options available to the writers - they will likely not be able to film everything exactly as they had originally planned, but that doesn't mean production would be halted, even with a substantial amount of the season left. It will just require some creativity and accommodations on their part. Heck, if Criminal Minds could keep going after the top-billed actor was (rather suddenly) fired, I can't see Tim Daly being temporarily and partially out of commission as being a major issue.

[CheshireCat]

54 minutes ago, VinceW said:

Broken knee(kneecap) surgery primarily aims at preventing any shortening of the leg and achieving a rigid fixation with orthopedic screws which is a serious injury for someone his age with a long rehab. A broken ankle can be accommodated with a walking boot, but he will need crutches for a long time just for normal activity. He must have already filmed the majority of his remaining scenes for the season else production would have been halted.

What secnarf said. The Variety article did say that they were thinking of how to handle the injury, if they'll try to shoot around it and include it. It doesn't sound like they'll halt production.

I doubt he'll have pre-filmed scenes. The episode currently filmed is probably Daly-light, just like episode 17 was last year, but other than that, I imagine the writers to be very busy and cursing him right now ;-) Though depending on what exactly they have planned, including the injury seems like it would be the easiest. That way, they don't have to find alternative solutions of how to film him and they can give him a story that accomdates his injures.

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

They can either do something like an on-screen car accident as someone suggested, or start off an episode with Bess bringing Henry home from the hospital, legs in casts, lamenting his clumsiness or daredevil behaviour while skiing.

Are you kidding?!??

His injuries were caused when during his normal shift as a parajumper, he had to jump without a chute in order to save an orphanage full of special-needs children.  It had to be him, because he's the only one who speaks fluent, idiomatic, accent-free serbo-croatian, can perform brain surgery in total darkness with a pitchfork and a pair of garden shears, and knows the tenets of the local religious sect better than the shaman who invented it.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Netfoot

[CheshireCat]

34 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Are you kidding?!??

His injuries were caused when during his normal shift as a parajumper, he had to jump without a chute in order to save an orphanage full of special-needs children.  It had to be him, because he's the only one who speaks fluent, idiomatic, accent-free serbo-croatian, can perform brain surgery in total darkness with a pitchfork and a pair of garden shears, and knows the tenets of the local religious sect better than the shaman who invented it.

While I do think that Henry was the worst mid season 2, this made me laugh. Thanks :-)

Edited January 26, 2017 by CheshireCat

[VinceW]

5 hours ago, secnarf said:

I don't think he is important enough to warrant halting production. IMO only Elizabeth/Tea Leoni is important enough to warrant halting production in the event that she was unable to film. Everyone else can be explained-away or spoken to over the phone and not actually seen.

If Tim Daly is able to do scenes sitting (with his extended leg hidden by cleverly placed tables and camera angles) or lying down in bed, that's even better. They even have the option of writing in his injury, if need be. They can either do something like an on-screen car accident as someone suggested, or start off an episode with Bess bringing Henry home from the hospital, legs in casts, lamenting his clumsiness or daredevil behaviour while skiing.

There are a plethora of options available to the writers - they will likely not be able to film everything exactly as they had originally planned, but that doesn't mean production would be halted, even with a substantial amount of the season left. It will just require some creativity and accommodations on their part. Heck, if Criminal Minds could keep going after the top-billed actor was (rather suddenly) fired, I can't see Tim Daly being temporarily and partially out of commission as being a major issue.

It was noted in the original reporting articles that production will not be halted. The issue seems to be whether he will be written out of most of the remaining few episodes (many here would enjoy that) or will the writers give him some kind of homebound injury story. It depends on what happens with his surgery. IMO

Edited January 26, 2017 by VinceW

[secnarf]

21 minutes ago, VinceW said:

It was noted in the original reporting articles that production will not be halted. The issue seems to be whether he will be written out of most of the remaining few episodes (many here would enjoy that) or will the writers give him some kind of homebound injury story. It depends on what happens with his surgery. IMO

Yes I saw that later on - but I was responding to speculation from people here that they must be nearly done the season in order for this to not halt production, or lead to cancellation of the series. Both of which would be gross overreactions IMO.

[CheshireCat]

What the issue is seems to be a bit fuzzy as the original article states that they're considering "shooting around him" but in the next sentence it says that despite his broken legs, he's still scheduled to appear in all episodes and a source close to the production supposedly said that they're far enough along in the shooting schedule so that few changes may be needed.

When they're at episode 17 now and had planned for a Henry-light episode anyway then they only have six left. I doubt that they're ending Henry's story early though. Last season it basically started with episode 16, so they would have to do some re-writing one way or another.

While Henry the SuperHero is annoying, I really love him and Bess, so I really hope they're not excluding him from all of the episodes. Matt Meinsen tweeted that he heard that things had gone well and Daly himself already thanked everyone for the well wishes at a time that I would assume was after surgery.

Edited January 26, 2017 by CheshireCat

[VinceW]

15 hours ago, secnarf said:

Yes I saw that later on - but I was responding to speculation from people here that they must be nearly done the season in order for this to not halt production, or lead to cancellation of the series. Both of which would be gross overreactions IMO.

I posted that the series might not be renewed which is not a gross overreaction. The original reporting that he had suffered two broken legs was an exaggeration and it would be a serious injury for someone his age and it would require a long rehab.  A broken ankle is not a broken leg.

Edited January 26, 2017 by VinceW

[CheshireCat]

7 minutes ago, VinceW said:

I posted that the series might not be renewed not cancelled which is not a gross overreaction.

What is the difference between cancellation and not being renewed?

[VinceW]

12 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

What is the difference between cancellation and not being renewed?

You must be kidding. TV media outlets continually report on what ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CW networks have cancelled, renewed or which have been given a full episode order depending on weekly ratings. Tim Daly's role on MS is sizable and the series would be very different if the character were cut out or not around as much. The original reports about his skiing accident were much exaggerated, but if he required a long absence from the show, it could impact any CBS decision to continue next season. However, the show is not going to shut down or go on hiatus while he recuperates which is great news for the rest of Season 3.

[CooperTV]

56 minutes ago, VinceW said:

Tim Daly's role on MS is sizable and the series would be very different if the character were cut out or not around as much.

The show would look exactly how it looked in season 1 when Prof. Capt. Arm Candy was just an Arm Candy and was writing a book on St. Augustine. Because the main character of the show is Elizabeth McCord, the titular Madam Secretary, not her Gary Stu of a husband.

[Netfoot]

9 minutes ago, CooperTV said:

Because the main character of the show is Elizabeth McCord, the titular Madam Secretary, not her Gary Stu of a husband.

Agreed!

[VinceW]

33 minutes ago, CooperTV said:

The show would look exactly how it looked in season 1 when Prof. Capt. Arm Candy was just an Arm Candy and was writing a book on St. Augustine. Because the main character of the show is Elizabeth McCord, the titular Madam Secretary, not her Gary Stu of a husband.

Here we go again. There is no question that Elizabeth(Mary Sue) McCord is the lead of the show. Still, Tim Daly's role on MS is sizable and the series would be very different if the character were cut out or not around as much.

[Netfoot]

12 minutes ago, VinceW said:

Still, Tim Daly's role on MS is sizable and the series would be very different if the character were cut out or not around as much.

The role became more sizable after the earliest episodes of the show.  I, for one, lamented the fact that the show ceased to be about the secretary herself, and instead became about how awesome her husband was.  I am not suggesting that we would be best served without his presence.  But if they dialed back on the super-human awesomeness of Madam Secretary's Better Half, and instead had him return to a supporting, rather than dominating role, I don't know that the change wouldn't be for the better.

[sinkwriter]

Yes, but "cancelled" and "not renewed" are the same thing, aren't they, VinceW? That's what CheshireCat was asking when you said "the series might not be renewed not cancelled," which is confusing wording. 

[CheshireCat]

2 hours ago, VinceW said:

You must be kidding. TV media outlets continually report on what ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CW networks have cancelled, renewed or which have been given a full episode order depending on weekly ratings. 

I didn't ask what renewal and cancellation were. I asked where the difference is because this is your quote:

15 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I posted that the series might not be renewed not cancelled which is not a gross overreaction.

So, you obviously say not being renewed isn't the same as being cancelled and I wondered where the difference is because, in my understanding, not being renewed means a show is cancelled.

 

As far as Henry is concerned - yes, his role became more sizeable but I think the point is that he is essential to the show. Many love that we get the McCords at home and many love that they have a functioning marriage and you cannot do that without Henry. You can do that with Henry in a limited capacity and that would be fine. His role does not need to be sizeable, but he does need to be there.  

Edited January 26, 2017 by CheshireCat

[VinceW]

17 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

I didn't ask what renewal and cancellation were. I asked where the difference is because this is your quote:

So, you obviously say not being renewed isn't the same as being cancelled and I wondered where the difference is because, in my understanding, not being renewed means a show is cancelled.

 

As far as Henry is concerned - yes, his role became more sizeable but I think the point is that he is essential to the show. Many love that we get the McCords at home and many love that they have a functioning marriage and you cannot do that without Henry. You can do that with Henry in a limited capacity and that would be fine. His role does not need to be sizeable, but he does need to be there.  

The original post was confusing and I have corrected the post to the following "I posted that the series might not be renewed which is not a gross overreaction".  Any further discussion of Henry's role is just being argumentative because I understand many here don't like his character as defined by the show runner.

[secnarf]

It doesn't have anything to do with not liking his character.

I agree the show would be very different without him, or if his role was cut back, but IMO he is not essential to the show. As I said before, I believe the only character the show could not survive the loss of is Elizabeth herself. Even if Tim Daly died tomorrow, I don't think it would spell the end of the show.

[CheshireCat]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

It doesn't have anything to do with not liking his character.

I agree the show would be very different without him, or if his role was cut back, but IMO he is not essential to the show.

I think that depends on how you apply the word essential. He is essential to making the show work as it is now. He is not essential in the grand scheme of things.
Could they write him out and keep the show going with only Bess/Leoni? Absolutey. Could they do it the other way around? No. Could they replace both Bess and Henry - definitely. It's called Madam Secretary. There are no specifics. As for the chances of survival for a show with Bess and without Henry or a show about a different Madam Secretary... well... I don't know. But the former may actually have a lesser chance than the latter. There are a lot of people who love the show because of the family aspect, so replacing one family with another could work better, depending on who the actors are and what the story is.

That said, I don't want any replacement. As I've said before, I wouldn't mind if they took Henry down a notch again and turn him back into S1 Henry but I definitely want to keep him on the show and I also want to keep most of the others. :-)

Edited January 27, 2017 by CheshireCat

[Netfoot]

4 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

That said, I don't want any replacement. As I've said before, I wouldn't mind if they took Henry down a notch again and turn him back into S1 Henry but I definitely want to keep him on the show and I also want to keep most of the others.

I don't want him replaced, either.  Nor the family replaced en masse.  I like the family aspect of the show; I've even come to like Stevie!  But I also preferred the S1 Henry, who was a part of the family.  Now that he's become a super-hero, I feel he takes away from the star of the show, Madam Secretary herself.  And there is no reason that a show ostensibly about a strong woman, needs her husband upstaging her every minute.

[secnarf]

I agree - I wouldn't like a 're-boot' with a new SoS and family. I don't even want Henry written off the show. He's not as annoying as he was at the height of his superpowers, IMO. I just meant that I don't think it would be the end of the show if circumstances required that he be written off (permanently or temporarily) or in a very reduced capacity. It wouldn't even require eliminating the family aspect of the show.

[VinceW]

6 hours ago, CheshireCat said:

I think that depends on how you apply the word essential. He is essential to making the show work as it is now. He is not essential in the grand scheme of things.
Could they write him out and keep the show going with only Bess/Leoni? Absolutey. Could they do it the other way around? No. Could they replace both Bess and Henry - definitely. It's called Madam Secretary. There are no specifics. As for the chances of survival for a show with Bess and without Henry (Castle without Beckett) or a show about a different Madam Secretary... well... I don't know. But the former may actually have a lesser chance than the latter. There are a lot of people who love the show because of the family aspect, so replacing one family with another could work better, depending on who the actors are and what the story is.

That said, I don't want any replacement. As I've said before, I wouldn't mind if they took Henry down a notch again and turn him back into S1 Henry but I definitely want to keep him on the show and I also want to keep most of the others. :-)

Totally Agree. I overlook the super-hero stuff for the most part and enjoy the family dynamic and the comedy.

Edited January 27, 2017 by VinceW

[kwnyc]

Quote

I don't want him replaced, either.  Nor the family replaced en masse.

Well, Jason could go to boarding school. I like Noodle. Stevie's grown bearable. Henry...I come down on the side that he's a little too superhero-like. His best moments, for me, aren't calling in airstrikes, sending collagues to get blowed up real good or tortured, or doing open-heart surgery with a Swiss Army knife, but the intimate moments at home, handling the kids, and even with his own family. I'd like to see him flying a plane. He was a pilot and he NEVER pilots a plane now?

[shapeshifter]

On January 25, 2017 at 6:40 PM, Netfoot said:

Are you kidding?!??

His injuries were caused when during his normal shift as a parajumper, he had to jump without a chute in order to save an orphanage full of special-needs children.  It had to be him, because he's the only one who speaks fluent, idiomatic, accent-free serbo-croatian, can perform brain surgery in total darkness with a pitchfork and a pair of garden shears, and knows the tenets of the local religious sect better than the shaman who invented it.

Hah! I hope Tim Daly reads this post, since I'm sure it would elicit laughter, which is reportedly good for healing. I would also love it if they did write in a similar explanation as a sort of breaking of the fourth wall in acknowledging Captain Henry's super hero-ness. Maybe Noodle could design and make a cape for him (or a "Snuggie" emblazoned with "Professor Captain Arm Candy" or something similar.

[CheshireCat]

I just finished S2 E6 of my rewatch and rewatching all of the episodes without any week-long or longer breaks, suddenly made me notice just how many times Dimitri wanted to get out of the spy job. In basically every episode from episode 2 until 6 he was hesitant or said he couldn't do it, wanted out or something along those lines. And each time Henry just pushed him to do it and I find it really dissatisfying that they never truly dealt with how Henry was justifying it.

One could argue patriotism but wasn't the point of Henry's character to argue that some things outweigh patriotism? Isn't that part of the subject of military ethics that he's so passionate about? Where is the ethics in how he's treated Dimitri over and over again?

It is a complex subject, of course, but I think that instead of turning Henry into SuperHeroActionFigure in the second half of the season, they could have dealt exploring that. I think it could have been interesting if Henry had realized that he wasn't the person anymore who had refused to give someone an A and had been hesitant to give an incomplete to save a life and they had let him deal with that and spent the second half of the season dealing with only the emotional fall-out. I think there would have been plenty that they could have done. I'm under the impression that Bess is a lot more self-aware than Henry is when she compromises her integrity and morality. She was self-aware in S1 E3 in that discussion with Henry, she was self-aware in S2 E6 when she argued with her brother, she was self-aware when they gave up Dimitri, she was self-aware when they signed the Iranian peace deal and she couldn't save the Iranian the Iranians executed and she even doubted her job then.

But Henry, the "moral preacher", the man who condemned his friend's, the priest, actions in S1, he just pushes and pushes and pushes a person into doing something they don't want to do in the name, I assume, of patriotism, then he accuses his wife when the President makes the decision to give up the assest and gets all self-righteous and ignorant of the troubles his marriage had been in earlier that season when he's in a dirty bomb.

I don't mind the action itself, I also don't mind that they made him Dimitri's handler. I mind that it seems that they focused more on the action and didn't milk the material they had for all that it would give them and to me, it looks a little bit like the writers lost sight of the core of the character when they started to give him more action. Maybe someone should have told them that less is often more. Less action for Henry could have amounted to something more interesting.

[CheshireCat]

Another observation from binge-watching S1 and 2 - Henry does not seem to have any problems using his connections to the administration for his own personal gain: episode 6 with the priest, asylum for Ivan, going directly to Russell when the intel Dimitri gave them stalled (though that was the right call), going to Bess when he thought she could help save Dimitri, going to the President after Bess told him she couldn't, throwing the option of getting asylum from Bess for the terrorists wife on the table, and I guess, expecting her to help him save Talia falls into that category, too. There might other things I'm forgetting now.

And then, whenever he doesn't get what he wants, Bess is the bad guy, and when he asked to use his connections, then he can't because of his morals and ethics.

I think, someone in the writer's room has allowed Henry to get a little bit out of control.

And why on earth, if someone realizes that they can't live with the "bigger picture" and having to make the choice between the greater good and one person, do they leave that person in intelligence work? Henry says so in S2 E20 and I find that great because that is SO Henry. But why did they leave him in intelligence work? It doesn't make sense and it makes him less likeable, in my opinion. Admitting that you are doing something that you thought you could handle but can't is not a weakness or a failure. It's strength. And if Henry had just accepted that he wasn't cut out for it - which, in my opinion, no therapy in the world can change if he's really that big on ethics and moral - then that would have been a really, really great step for the character because admitting something like that to yourself is hard. Moving on from it is hard to, but, as I said, it also suggests great strength and it would have been a great example he could have set and probably would have given him valuable experience for teaching. And he could still have done occasional work for the NSA as the asset himself.

[Driad]

Tim Daly was on "Ask Me Another" on NPR today.

http://www.npr.org/programs/ask-me-another/517935278/tim-daly-mr-madam-secretary

[CheshireCat]

On ‎24‎.‎04‎.‎2017 at 7:04 PM, VinceW said:

No Henry;No Show. Tim Daly recently said "Henry is just an every man committed to doing the right thing. He's no 007 or Jason Bourne, but he can sure get himself out of tight spots." His comments are made in the same context that were espoused by the show creator Barbara Hall when the series was created. The super-hero label is just an exaggeration for the most part. IMHO.

Well, of course, he's not actual super hero but I still think that they're sometimes overdoing it a bit. Just like with Sterling who was so obviously the bad guy and whose only purpose was so obviously being the bad guy, I think that Henry's sometimes too much of a good guy as in, he's too perfect. There were instances when Henry just seems to know everything and/or when he then does make mistakes or meets situations he can't handle, it's somebody else's fault. And when things look like they could have gone wrong and he could have been at fault, it turns out that he wasn't at fault. It's not constant, it was mostly present during S2 and it stands in stark contrast to Bess who, as I think many women do, has the tendency to take responsibility for anything and everything. Hence, she comes across as being reflecting and aware of her weaknesses whereas Henry doesn't. But no, he's definitely not literally a super hero.

[andromeda331]

38 minutes ago, CheshireCat said:

Well, of course, he's not actual super hero but I still think that they're sometimes overdoing it a bit. Just like with Sterling who was so obviously the bad guy and whose only purpose was so obviously being the bad guy, I think that Henry's sometimes too much of a good guy as in, he's too perfect. There were instances when Henry just seems to know everything and/or when he then does make mistakes or meets situations he can't handle, it's somebody else's fault. And when things look like they could have gone wrong and he could have been at fault, it turns out that he wasn't at fault. It's not constant, it was mostly present during S2 and it stands in stark contrast to Bess who, as I think many women do, has the tendency to take responsibility for anything and everything. Hence, she comes across as being reflecting and aware of her weaknesses whereas Henry doesn't. But no, he's definitely not literally a super hero.

If they'd keep Henry in just the fields he would know he would make more sense and be less annoying. But the way they write Henry so that he knows everything about everything. Everything is his field. He's the only one who can do everything, figure out everything and always be right, when he's wrong as you pointed out its never his fault. Look at him even after being shot and on crutches he foils a bombing. Its ridiculous. I know I really need to let this part go but what bugs me most about Henry is if the roles were reversed and he was the Secretary of State, his wife would never do any of the stuff he did. She'd be taking care of the kids and house. She wouldn't be trying to take down terrorists, be a handler, or any of the stuff Henry does. 

[VinceW]

If they'd keep Henry in just the fields he would know he would make more sense and be less annoying. But the way they write Henry so that he knows everything about everything. Everything is his field. He's the only one who can do everything, figure out everything and always be right, when he's wrong as you pointed out its never his fault. Look at him even after being shot and on crutches he foils a bombing. Its ridiculous. I know I really need to let this part go..........

Ditto.....

Edited May 11, 2017 by VinceW