In the episode of The Unusuals, "42" that we watched in class, the whole show revolves around fate and the random (or not-so-random) ways in which our choices affect the casts' lives. Even from the opening sequence when bad guy Frank Lutz attempts to kill Detective Walsh, a stray bullet catches Detective Allison Beaumont in the stomach (maybe to show how forces beyond our control affect us too - determinism or chaos theory?) 
We saw how Detective Leo Banks deals with his perceived fate (to die at 42 b/c of his family members who had done so). As a foil to Detective Banks, there was the psychic who wholeheartedly embraced her fate and did just about everything she could to meet it with open arms.
On the other hand, Detective Henry Cole has moved away from his criminal past and reinvented himself as a religious young man and police officer. His former accomplice on the armored car heist, Frank Lutz, appears to be very jealous of Cole's transformation and demands that Cole pay some sort of restitution for this, almost like the Devil demanding his due. In the end, detectives Schraeger and Walsh cover for Cole, and Lutz ends up dead. In essence, they approve of Cole's new life by not turning him in.
And in a superstitious way, Banks, Walsh and Delahoy refused to go into the hospital for various reasons. But, it could all be just a way of avoiding the ever-present danger of death prevelant in their job. If you missed any of the episode, it is available for free on Hulu at: http://www.hulu.com/watch/116321/the-unusuals-42
Or, check it out below:
Questions (please do both):
1. Pick two characters from the episode and contrast how they avoid / fight / accept / change their fate. Use specific examples from the show, and go back to the hulu link above if you need to.
2. If you had a similar fate with one of the characters in the story, pick one and tell us how would you deal with it. Why would you have chosen your path?
250 words minimum for your total answer. Due Thursday, April 14.
1. In the show The Unusuals, it seemed as though Henry was trying to avoid his fate. Since Henry had a past he was not proud of and had reinvented himself he tried to hide it. It was as if his co-workers were meant to know who he really was yet he tried to hide it. Some examples where he did this was when he had done favors for Frank. He thought that the only way that he could be found out was through Frank so he tried to satisfy Franks needs in order to continue on with his new life. Even though he had tried to escape his fate, it still came back to him because his co-workers found out who he was anyways. He really didn't even have to worry about Frank because once they figured it out, they were supportive because they knew he truly had changed for the better. In Leo's case, he had tried to change his fate. When he met the psychic, he thought that if he was able to keep her alive, his fate would change. So, the first time that he tried to keep her alive he was successful and decided to get rid of all of the death preventers. He thought he had changed his fate but soon after he discovered she had died on another bus which showed he really had not been able to change his fate. Just from watching this episode, it shows that Leo had kept trying to change his fate even though he truly knew that he was destined to die at the age of 42. If it is really meant to happen, a bullet proof vest will not help him cheat death.
ReplyDelete2. If i had the same fate as Leo, I would not go about it the same way he had. If i knew that i was destined to die at a certain age, i would not focus my time and energy on trying to prevent it. Instead, i would make sure i lived each day up to it the best i possibly could. I would also make sure I got to do everything that I ever wanted to do. When you spend your time worrying about whats going to happen when theres a good chance that it could happen, you're just wasting time that could be spent in a more beneficial way. I think the way that Leo chose was just childish and not the right way to live your life.
-Natalie G
1.) When compared to Banks, who was constantly fighting fate, Walsh tried to avoid his fate. At the end of the episode we find out that one of Walsh’s old girlfriends died in the hospital and that’s why he doesn’t go in. By not going into the hospital when Beaumont was in there, Walsh was trying to avoid fate; he didn’t want to deal with another loved one dieing. Banks, on the other hand, takes fate into a completely different direction. Banks does not avoid fate; he fights it. He pads his entire desk with foam and wears a bulletproof vest just in case of the event that fate may be fought off. When he meets the psychic, he tries to fight her fate by changing it. In the end, however, he does not succeed.
ReplyDelete2.) If I were the psychic in the episode, I would not have handled my death so peacefully. Had I known that that was my last day, I would have not spent it speaking calmly and getting on buses that I knew were going to blow me up. Even if I knew I couldn’t fight fate, I would still be really scared of it. Death is a scary thing to me and I would not have been able to be as even-tempered as the psychic was. Had I seen the vision she saw, I would be crying and screaming and calling all of my loved ones to say goodbye. She seemed perfectly content with her fate, whereas I would have been scared out of my mind.
-Julia Chesbrough 2nd Hour
1) In this episode, Leo was trying to avoid his fate to die at age 42 by trying the best he could to have nothing happen to him. He did this by wearing a bullet-proof vest all the time and also by frequently using disinfectant and by taping foam around the edge of this desk. Also in this episode, Leo was trying to “kick fate’s ass” by doing the best he could to save the psychic woman from being killed while in a bus at the end of the day. He wanted to keep her alive because then he knew that he could live past 42. We see this at the end of the episode when he thinks that he saved the woman. Leo takes off the foam from his desk, throws away his disinfectants, and even takes off his bullet-proof vest. But in the end, the psychic woman dies in a bus during a traffic accident, thus confirming fate. Speaking of the psychic woman, she accepts her fate during the whole episode. Her reason for accepting her fate was because her husband died and she wanted to join him. The psychic knew that she would die near the end of the day in a bus. So, she traveled on buses during the day to accept her fate.
ReplyDelete2) If I had Leo’s fate, I would not run away from it. I would make the best of my life and live it. Living your life worried about what is going to happen to you when you reach 42 isn’t a very good life to live.
- Ariel M
1.) The concept of fate plays a crucial role in the character and plot development of the television show "The Unusuals", the episode seen in class was certainly no exception. While each character deals with fate in a compelling manner, I believe the most fascinating comparison can be made between Leo Banks, and the psychic he questions. In comparison, both characters are consumed with the idea of fate, however the way in which they each process it is on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Banks is obsessed with the recurring coincidences in which "42" appears throughout his work as he believes he will never reach 43 years of age. His superstitions have manifested in a persona which takes on the arduous task of altering his destiny, whether it be through incorporating a bullet proof vest into his everyday wardrobe, or covering his workspace in foam. In direct contrast, instead of running from fate, the psychic he interrogates is infatuated with it and strongly believes in allowing destiny to be fulfilled regardless of its results (her mortality in her specific case).
ReplyDelete2.) If I was faced with the same fate as the psychic (witnessing her own imminent death) I would accept that if it was indeed my time, it is my time. In my opinion, we are all tied to the same eventual fate (death) and if it is meant to come sooner than we intend, who are we to alter destiny? Our lives are short, and spending our limited time on earth obsessing over prolonging our lives past our time, that is not living.
-Christopher R.
In the show The Unusuals, Leo Banks tried to avoid his fate. Leo was afraid of dying at the age of 42 like his father, grandfather and uncle did. He wears a bulletproof vest, uses santizers and protects his desk to avoid dying. It would be a sad way to live life being afraid and paranoid of dying at 42. It seems like he wasn't able to accept his fate, no matter what it is. When he meets the psychic, he believes that he could change her fate by avoiding death from the bus accident. The psychic survives the first potential death, which convinces Leo he can change fate, like his. Then, the psychic ends up dying on another bus and Leo is left confused. The other character, Frank Lutz doesn't try to fight or change his fate. He accepts the fact that he is a criminal and a bad person. Which was different from his ex-partner, Henry Cole. Frank doesn't mind living the way he is and doesn't want to change his fate. He accepted his place in life, unlike Cole. Cole wanted to change his fate and character into a better person and cop. The scene at the end which Frank has Cole at gunpoint is the perfect example where Cole could either accept his so-called fate as a criminal or shoot Frank, who won't accept that Cole changed.
ReplyDeleteIf I had the same fate as Leo Banks, I think I would be as paranoid as he was. I think that it would be really hard to grasp the idea of living any longer. I would try avoiding the number 42 in any way possible. At the same time, I think that I couldn't live my life avoiding everything and I would try to live my life not knowing if I would die at 42 or not. My life would go to waste if I spent every minute afraid of my fate. Leo, on the otherhand, wasn't able to accept his fate which caused him to allows be afraid of his fate.
Riam K.
1.In the “Unusuals”, we witness two main characters Leo Banks and Henry Cole who have extreme problems with fate. Leo tends to fight his fear of the age “42” by fighting his fate. He wears a bullet proof vest to work every day and he has an extremely padded desk in case he falls. On the other hand, Henry Cole is trying to escape his fate. Cole has a dark past that involved him and an accomplice stealing an armored car. Cole tries to escape his fate by moving to a new city, changing his name, getting engaged, and he becomes a police offer. Leo’s life seems to be filled with “42”. The number 42 appears often throughout the episode but Leo doesn’t really let the number effect him too much.
ReplyDelete2.I think it would be extremely difficult living in this world if I knew my fate. When the physic reveals that she knows she is going to die on the bus route she seems to be okay with that. If that were me, my ass would be nowhere near a bus. I would hide out somewhere. I have accepted the fact that I will eventually die someday (Hopefully later in my life) but I do not want to know when that day will be. I think it would be too hard to live a “normal” life if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, a week from now, or two years from now. In my opinion life is too short to worry about dying.
-K.Luyckx
Blob #45
ReplyDelete1) In The Unusuals, many characters had to deal with fate and each individual dealt with it in their own way. One example of this is Leo Banks, and his “fate” to die at the age of 42 thru whatever means someone can die in. This thought seems to really upset and worry him, so Leo attempts to change his fate by doing some extremely weird and almost insane things to avoid any possible mishaps. For example, Leo is inclined to ALWAYS wear a bullet proof vest no matter where he is. Also he had put protective foam around his desk and filled his office with air cleaners and anti-bacterial apparatus. Similarly, Officer Henry Cole also tried to change his destiny but by fighting it opposed to avoiding it like Leo. According to the show, Cole was an ex- convict and was accused of several crimes about ten years prior to this event. Also back in the days, Cole had worked with the bad guy in this episode, Frank Lutz, on several crimes back in the old days. To change his life, Cole changed his name and instead of causing crime, and he decided to change teams and fight crime, and that in itself changed his fate (hopefully it improved what was in store for him). Although Cole had changed his life to physically, spiritually and socially improve himself, Lutz was a parasite constant that leeched out his potential for change. After not really dealing with Lutz in this episode and even previously, Cole finally worked up the courage to fight is fate by getting rid of the one negative constant. The action of killing Lutz finally erased the old chapter and fate of Cole’s life and now he could truly begin on his new path towards enrichment and perfection.
2) If I had a similar fate to someone like Leo, I believe that I would have acted much like him. Although I personally don’t believe that fate exists, it would be really freaky if a certain number kept on popping up everywhere I went (like my ancestors death age, bus numbers, street names, and if creepy psychic ladies knew about it). I don’t think I would be as worried as Leo was, but I still think that somewhere in the back of my mind that thought would lurk until I reach the age of 43. For example, I might be a lot more cautious by driving more safely, eating better or working out to improve my chances of lving. I wouldn’t want that thought to consume my daily thoughts and dreams, but I don’t think that something as coincidental as that could be ignored so easily as some people tend to think. Maybe it’s not true, but it seems like humans (or at least mine) tend to be scared easily if history seems to be going against them like it was to Leo but at the same time I don’t like to accept negative things like my life ending so I would do what I can to change that fate.
-Braxton Allred
1. Leo Banks spends most of his life fighting fate – he constantly wears a bulletproof vest, foaming his desk and is always on the lookout for the number 42. In contrast, a psychic is portrayed as having a similar destiny but wholeheartedly accepts her fate. I found it interesting that both characters kept seeing their fate as though they were searching for it. At one point, Banks says “If you know there is something wrong with the bus, don’t get on the bus!” yet he not only gets on the bus in the final scene but goes looking for the bus, looking for the numbers (Lost reference?) and even more interestingly, he pursues a career in an obviously dangerous career. Why didn’t he take a nice, quiet job with little to no exposure to danger? Not only do we see parallels between the psychic and Leo, we see what could be the two outcomes of fighting fate. Henry Cole had a notorious past as a thief, but changes his life for the better and even averts his seemingly destined partnership with Frank Lutz. He too fights his destiny yet he is more composed than Henry and succeeds. It seems it was Henry’s destiny too overcome Frank Lutz whereas it is Leo’s destiny to die.
ReplyDelete2. Had I been Leo, I wouldn’t react any differently to life than as I do now. Fact is, I will die someday and it could be any day, so why obsess about it? And if I was told I would die at 42 – well, good to know, but couldn’t I die equally as much when I’m twenty? As far as I see it, I just got insured at least 42 years instead of hoping for 42.
-Nasir Sharaf
Even though one can’t be totally certain what their fate will be; Detective Banks thinks that his fate will have him end up being dead at the age of 42. He often tries to change his fate by wearing a bullet proof vest and taking other precautions to prevent his lose of life. Detective Banks also tries to prove to the psychic that one can change their fate. Detective Banks made this clear when he speaking to the psychic and says said “if you think you are going to die on a bus…you don’t get on the damn bus.” Although by the end of the episode we find out the psychic does die on a bus we have a brief period where we believe that Detective Banks “kicks fates ass” by proving to her that he can prevent someone from dieing on a 5:00 bus. The psychic accepts her fate. She foresees that she will die on a bus. Through the episode we find her turning up on these buses that don’t kill her but at the very end she travels onto a bus that turns over and she dies. She said earlier in the story that she has a “date with destiny” and she was certainly right.
ReplyDeleteRecently I got into a little trouble and I knew when I returned home I would have to reveal this problematic story to my parents before an adult called about it. I knew that my destiny would hold me getting into some trouble like Detective Banks knew he might get killed at the age of 42. Like him, I took precautions by planning out what I am going to say and how I am going to say it. Destiny is something that I have always found to be tricky because it really depends on whether you believe in fate or not. As a Christian I am supposed to believe that everything is already predetermined but I have the right to my own views on that. I think that things happen randomly and you can change your surroundings to fit what you want.
-Timothy Moore
2nd Hour
1.) In the show the Unusuals the character Banks is always trying to fight his fate. Everyone in his family has not made it past the age of 42. So now since he is that age he constantly tries to fight his fate. He wears a bullet proof vest, and puts padding everywhere around his desk. He goes to extreme measures to fight what he thinks is his fate, which is to die at the age of 42. In contrast the character Henry Cole starts off trying to change his fate and then at the end comes to accept it. Cole is running from a dark past which involved jail time. He decided to change who he is by becoming religious. He desperately tried to forget about his past by changing his fate. By changing who he was and his personality he was changing his fate. However Cole gets mixed up in some criminal affairs again as an accomplice to his friend Frank Lutz. As his old habits come back to haunt him he ends up deciding this is not who he wants to be and decides to take down Frank. This is where he accepts his fate. Taking down Frank almost guarantees Cole is going to go to jail as well because he was an accomplice. But he accepts the fat because he realized what he did was wrong and he deserved what was going to happen to him. Luckily though in a turn of event his coworker Walsh gives Cole a second chance.
ReplyDelete2.) If I had the same fate as Banks where you would die young and not make it pass the middle of your life I would decide to fight it. Maybe not in the extreme way of putting padding everywhere and wearing a bullet proof vest, but I would try hard to fight it. This is because I would feel like although I have lived a wonderful life so far, I would feel like it isn’t my time to come and there is more I can accomplish and see in my lifetime.
Brett G.
1. Leo Banks tries to avoid his fate and isn’t hiding it from anyone. He wears a bullet proof vest and his desk is covered in foam just in case he falls. In the The Unusuals he deals with the psychic who has seen his and her own fate. When the psychic tells him she is going to die on the bus because of a bomber, she sees it in her vision and it is fate. Banks at first doesn’t know what to think, but in the end he makes the decision to not let the psychic vision come true by trying to cover the grenade and survives (nothing happens). After this happens he sees that you can control and change your own fate and decides that everything is going to be ok. He takes off his vest and undoes the foam around his desk. Just as he finishes doing this, he finds out that the psychic ended up dying in a subway accident. He goes back to his old ways.
ReplyDeleteHenry Cole has changed his fate for the better. He used to be a criminal in Texas and moved away and changed his name so he could start anew. He fights against his old partner, Frank Lutz, who blackmails him by saying he is going to reveal his past life if he, Cole, doesn’t give him money at the docks. When Cole gets to the dock he gives Lutz a backpack that has the money in it. When Lutz finds out its empty he threatens to expose Cole for what he really is. Cole comes to accept what he has done in the past and is willing to go to jail for what he has done. Lutz ends up getting shot by Schraeger and Walsh decides to accept that Cole is a criminal who has decided to start over and decides to not tell anybody what he has done.
2. If I had a similar fate as one of the characters in the story I would pick the psychic because she was so nonchalant about how she felt about her fate. She was supposed to die in the bus bombing that Banks saved. She knows that she is going to die and she accepts it. If I knew how I was going to die I would try to avoid any possibilities of how it might happen, but I also feel that when it’s your time to go it’s your time. If I was going to die in a bus bombing and I knew ahead of time I probably would avoid riding the bus, but I think that something else might get me, if it is my time. It would be really difficult if you knew how and when you were going to die, but I feel I would have to accept it and let it happen.
-Melanie E. 2nd hr
1) In the Unusuals the Detective Leo Banks tried to fight his fight, while detective Henry Cole tries to change it.
ReplyDeleteDetective Leo Banks had a ridiculous notion that he was going to die at 42. He saw the number 42 everywhere he looked, and it caused him a lot of problems, including the problem of wearing a bullet proof vest everywhere and surrounding his desk with foam rubber. He was a cop and he was afraid of his desk. That's shows a desperate fight of fate, and definitely not an acceptance of it.
As for Henry Cole, he saw his fight, and changed it. He had a criminal past, and realized he was fated to a life he didn't want. He did everything he could to change that fate, by going to extent of changing his name. Even though he went through all that effort to change his fate, it came back to haunt him.
2) If I had the same fate as Henry Cole, I probably would have done nothing. I would have probably accepted that this is the way I am, and this is the way I'll always be. I know, it sounds depressing, but to completely honest, I would've been screwed regardless. I couldn't live with the guilt of the past, I couldn't live with the present, and I'd be too scared for prison. I'd probably feel it was too much to do for prison, and too much to go through, to much loss to change my identity completely, and would've been stuck in the life as a criminal. Again, it's depressing, but, in truth, it's reality, and to be honest, I really doubt most people in the philosophy class would do anything different, even if they say they would.
Jeremy Kazdan Second hour
1) in comparing Cole to schraeger, Cole was facing the fate of being sucked back into a life of crime with Lutz, and schraeger was facing her own suspicion of not being able to handle a case being the most inexperienced on the team. These two have a vast difference in the fact that Cole was facing a very real obstacle, and schraeger faced one she was potentially making for herself. She was the only real factor determining her fate; if she was extremely confident in her ability the idea that she may not be capable would not have been present. In just the opposite Cole had an outside element affecting his position, Lutz. He could do everything in his power to stay with the force and keep to his new and improved lifestyle, but if Lutz says, tried to hold his fiancé captive, he could not sway the actions of that outside force. Schraeger showed in the end she was capable by taking charge of the case instead of watching from afar (good example when she’s holding that meeting about Lutz and really commands the force, over time etc.) In contrast Cole changed his fate by yes, making the decision to stay good, but also by in the end shooting Lutz. If he hadn’t gotten rid of the external party then who’s to say he wouldn’t be back into a life of crime, or that something terrible wouldn’t have happened to the people close to him.
ReplyDelete2) If I was the psychic in the show and I knew my fate (in her case death) I don’t think I could just accept it and move on. I would really do everything in my power to avoid said fate. Like if I knew I was going to die on a bus, I wouldn’t get near any until I saw a new fate due to the fact I avoided the first. Maybe this is unrealistic, and maybe you can cheat fate, but you can bet I would try my hardest to get out of that situation.
lauren n.
1) The question of Fate follows the characters throughout this episode of “The Unusuals”. Each character deals with the concept of Fate in different ways. Two characters who deal most differently with their Fate are the Psychic and Banks. Banks fears the fate that something bad will happen to him when he is 42 years old because his father and grandfather both died at the age of 42. He is very superstitious of the number 42 and believes the number, his fate is following him. Banks tries desperately to avoid and fight his fate. He wears a bulletproof vest everywhere, puts cushions on the corners of his desk, and constantly uses anti bacterial agents. The Psychic, however, knows her fate and instead of running from it, goes towards it. She accepts her fate and embraces it. Banks disagrees with the Psychic about fate. He doesn’t understand why if the Psychic knows her fate, why she would not attempt to change it. The Psychic, however, has such a strong belief that you cannot avoid your fate. In the end, the Psychic was unable to avoid her fate whereas Banks began to change his own.
ReplyDelete2) If I were in the shoes of the Psychic I would have acted differently than she did. The Psychic was doing more than just accepting her fate; she was searching for it (the bus). If she had foreseen that she would die on a bus, then she could have avoided taking the bus. Like Banks, she could have taken precautions to try to save her life. Even though it is true that the ultimate reality is that we are human beings and one day we will die, that doesn’t mean it has to happen in our younger years. If I had the opportunity to avoid my own death and live a longer life, I would take that chance.
Rina Edelson 2nd hour
1. Leo Banks is probably one of the most obvious characters who tries to fight and avoid his fate. Plagued by the knowledge that several people have died in his family at the age of 42, he fears this number, and does everything in his will to fight it. He wears a bulletproof vest, sanitizes his office, and remains suspicious of anything that suggests of implies the number 42 in any way. Similarly, Henry Cole, a man with a broken past, tries to fight his fate by killing Lutz before Lutz has the chance to kill him. After a history of crimes (armed robbery), Cole moves to Chicago and restarts his life with a fresh slate, but Lutz comes back to haunt him. At first, Cole tries to avoid Lutz, but after Beaumont is shot, he can no longer avoid him and is forced to confront him. Then, ultimately he is forced to kill him.
ReplyDelete2. If I had the fate of Leo Banks, I would try to find out everything surrounding the cause of my family member’s untimely deaths. And by finding out the cause, I would do everything in my power to avoid it. For instance, if everyone died at forty two years of age from a heart attack, I would be sure to exercise, eat right, and go to the doctor regularly to regulate my cholesterol and blood pressure. If the cause of death was random and there were no obvious correlations between the deaths, I would likely react as Banks did, with fear and desperation.
Krista Dudley Honors Philosophy/ 2nd hour
1. Cole and Banks have very different views on fate. Previously, until this last episode we watched, Banks had been trying to fight him fate by all means possible. He would wear bulletproof vest in case he was shot and sanitized everything in order to avoid any dangerous illness. This proves that Banks strongly believes in fate and this fear of death at 42 looms over him and controls everything he does. Unlike Banks, Cole does not believe in fate. Cole was born into a criminal past but escaped it and found religion and a job as a police officer. Lutz, a friend from his criminal past, finds Cole in his new life and tries to convince Cole that he is still a crook at heart. When Cole shoots Lutz it serves as a symbolic example that he is not fated to do anything. He can control his future and continue to live a moralistic life if he chooses to.
ReplyDelete2. If I could choose any of the characters to live as I would choose Banks. Even though he is 42(which is old) and is consumed by fear of death, he clearly isn’t going to die because it’s a tv show and that would be stupid. On a more serious note, his girl friend he makes out with at the end is also pretty attractive. I would be able to deal with this apparent fate of death at 42 because I don’t believe that any of us our fated to do anything. If we are what’s the point of thoughts or decision if the outcome is already determined?
~Michael Schwartz
1. The characters Leo Banks and the psychic he questioned about the bus crash completely differed in their reactions to fate. Leo Banks spent a large amount of effort fighting fate, while the psychic completely accepted her fate. Banks did not attempt to ‘avoid’ his fate, seeing as he continued his very dangerous job as a police officer; however he did do everything in his power to go against his fate. Because the idea of death was looming over him constantly, he was continually looking for signs that this fate would come true. He was completely over come with a fear of the number 42, and found it in everything he did, and everywhere he went. In contrast the psychic completely accepted her fate, to the point where she would go out of her way to make sure that it came true. While these two people’s methods of coping with fate were polar opposites, I do not believe that either of them had the correct mindset.
ReplyDelete2. Had I been put in Leo Banks situation, I think I would have accepted my predicament much better than he had. I would not waste my time attempting to run away from my fate. The thought of death does not bother me and knowing approximately when I would die may be a scary prospect at first, I believe I could easily come to peace with myself and rather than fighting this fate to the point of insanity. I would not waste my time trying to fight a fate that is set and would rather enjoy the time that I have left.
Honors philosophy blog
ReplyDeleteOf all the characters in the episode, I think it was Leo Banks who did the most to change his fate. Because his grandfather and father died at the age 42, he has become very cautious in his life to prevent the same from happening to him. He thinks it’s his fate that he will die at this young age. He constantly wears a bullet proof vest, covers his desk with protective material and safeguards himself against illnesses. As the number 42 keeps appearing, Leo becomes more and surer that he will meet his fate. When he becomes sure of his impending death, he decides to meet his fate, by lying on an apparent hand grenade, only to discover it was a fake. Leo first tries to change his fate, by being overly cautious, but eventually he decides to meet his fate, when he lies on the grenade.
Although his fate doesn’t seem obvious, I think Henry Cole does a lot to change his. Back in the day, Cole and Frank Lutz were partners in crime. They pulled crimes from here to there, and were involved in a major one when they stole an armored car. Henry reformed his ways, and although he helped Lutz rob a camera store, he beats his former fate, of being a criminal and overall bad man when he arrests Lutz on the pier.
If I had the same fate as Leo, and that I knew I would maybe die soon, I would try to change my fate. I wouldn’t want to die! I would take a lot of steps to protect myself, like driving more carefully, being healthier, not going to dangerous places. Even though I would try to protect myself, I would still tell myself that there are some things that are totally out of my control.
Kyle A. Gray, 2nd Hr.
1.) In the "Unusuals", the main theme carried throughout the show is fate. Fate effects each character in the show, specifically in regards to death. Each character deals with fate in a different, yet honorable way. The comparison between Leo Banks and the psychic he questions is the one that I thought was most interesting. Both have fate in common, but they both take complete different views on the topic. Leo agonizes over this reoccurring number "42", which always seems to appear to him in signs, or his work. He is so scared, and so paranoid, that he takes all action to ensure that he will make it past this deadly age. His occupation helps him have protection, but in truth, he cant run from destiny, which is the one thing he dreads the most. On the other hand, the psychic he questions perceives fate/destiny in a non-threatening way and is willing to face whatever life will bring, head on.
ReplyDelete2.) If I was Leo Banks, I would probably hide in a box for that specific year, but perhaps I would die from lack of air. I would hate knowing that at 42 my life could be over, but if I could find a way to stop it, I would take all necessary action. Then again, this is a TV show, so i'm not that stressed about him and i'm sure he'll live or else this show would get bad reviews..
Becky Yuditsky (Absent)
1)Detective Leo Banks starts out fighting his fate (To die at the age of 42 like other members of his family) by doing things like wearing a bullet-proof vest wherever he goes, child-proofing his desk, and constantly washing his hands. When he meets the psychic from the bus, he begins to change his approach to fate. He concludes that if he can stop the psychic from her fate (getting killed on a bus), then he can change his own fate. When it comes time to get on the bus, he hesitates, especially when he notices that the bus number is 42. Then he does something curious: Instead of walking away like he usually would have done (and which would have been much less risky), he chases after and boards the bus. When the suspect he is chasing drops a grenade, he throws himself on it. In this way, he is accepting his fate. Fortunately for him, the grenade was a dummy.
ReplyDeleteDetective Walsh on the other hand avoids fate, which is demonstrated by him refusing to go into the hospital to see his girlfriend. The reason for his behavior is that a previous girlfriend of his was murdered, and she held out for several days in the hospital before dying. Eventually he overcomes this, and visits his girlfriend in the hospital.
2)If I were in Walsh's position, I would not have attempted to avoid fate. Just because a previous girlfriend of mine was murdered and died in a hospital does not mean that it is going to happen again. Even if it did mean that, then I wouldn't want the woman I love to die thinking that I didn't love her, and I wouldn't want to live the rest of my life in regret.
-Brian Mark, 2nd hour
Detective Leo and the psychic have almost complete opposite reactions towards their own personal fate. Detective Leo tries to change fate and avoid it while the psychic accepts her fate completely. She seems to understand fate and the way it works on its own. Leo knows he has some fate but thinks he can do things in order to prevent it. Both are alright ways to deal with fate, but maybe one could be more comfortable than the other. If i had a similar situation dealing with fate, I would try to understand it before trying to change it ( if it were about me dying at a specific age or time). Usually I don't ever think about fate. I don't even believe everyone has a personal fate. I think things happen based on your own decisions and happenings can change or be one way or another, not one specific set path.
ReplyDeleteBobby Haag
second hour
1) Leo Banks has had relatives who have passed away at the age of 42. He thinks his fate is to die at 42. Banks fights fate by wearing a bullet-proof vest at all times. His desk is padded with foam, and his desk is loaded with anti-bacterial cleaners. He thinks he can protect himself from fate by taking all of these precautions. During the episode of The Unusuals he is sitting down with the Psychic lady and she is telling him that Frank Luz is going to hi jack another bus at 5 p.m and she is going to die. Banks advises her not to go on the bus if you know you are going to die, she says you cant fight fate. He later boards the bus she is on and meets a crazy man who drops a fake grenade. After the situation he sees the psychic and tells her “I just saw fate get its ass kicked". Banks thinks he has escaped his fate and little does he know a few hours later the psychic lady dies in an accident.
ReplyDeleteDetective James Walsh dated a girl when he was 22. She was in the hospital for a week and she died. Walsh working the diner and Frank Lutz walks in and attempts to kill Walsh. A stray bullet from Lutz's gun hits Walsh's girlfriend in the stomach. She is quickly taken to the hospital. The doctors say she will be fine. Walsh is outside waiting in a police interceptor scared of going to in to see his girlfriend afraid she might have the fate of dying because his past girlfriend died in the hospital.
I would choose to be Leo Banks. If I were in Leo’s shoes I would not constantly put myself through misery and worrying 24/7. I won’t put myself through loads of stress. I believe that somethings are meant to be, but I don’t believe we have certain destinies that lead to death.
Tony Massad 2nd Philosophy
It was interesting how Detective Leo picked up already from when the cash register said "42:42" that his destiny was calling. All the way from that point he fought and battled with it, and just wouldn't accept it. I felt that it was when the psychic revealed her supernatural powers that it started getting really serious for detective Leo, and it was also then he really started fighting it.
ReplyDeleteHis main "weapon" towards his fate was to try to act against it before it happened. His resource for doing this was the psychic woman telling the future, whom he also tried to save later.
In stark distinction to his way of confronting fate is the psychic woman. It is evident that she has a much deeper knowledge of the nature and reality of fate and this seems to drive her towards accepting it without fighting back. Upon telling detective Leo that about her future of dying on a bus the same day, she has almost a scary calm about her. It is almost as if it is something beautiful or positive she's facing. If detective Leo was on to something when he mentioned that the reason for her apparent lack of fear for her coming death might be due to missing her diseased husband I don't know, but it's definitely clear that she's accepting her fate with open arms.
If I had to chose one of the characters fate I would actually (not joking) choose the psychic's fate. I have one big reason: In today's western society death is something that we don't talk about, something we hide and a lot of times pretend like it doesn't even exist. This is really unrealistic and almost ignorant. (Since it's been proven in recent studies that every man that has walked this earth has died. 100% chance, nothing less.) Therefore I found it fascinating how the middle aged lady didn't fear death at all, how she embraced it. Apparently she knew something about that we don't, something she even seemed to like. I mean, who tells someone that they're going to die the same day with a smile on their face? I don't know if it was because she was a firm believer in heaven or something similar, but fearing her coming end was something she didn't. Therefore I would choose her fate and embrace it, with the knowledge that everything would be better on the other side.
- Rasmus Sundqvist.
Frank was an interesting character, especially in the context we were viewing the show. While he was clearly fighting his fate towards the end of the episode (by pulling his gun on the detectives,) of all the characters on the show he was most in control of his own fate. He could have made a variety of decisions that would have altered the outcome of the show. In that way, Frank was attempting to change his fate. But more than that, he was attempting to control it completely. He wanted to hand write his destiny because he believe he was in control. Although he is a criminal, Frank's outlook is the most admirable of all the characters because he took charge of his own life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a complete juxtaposition with the psychic who was totally accepting of her fate. Even with the ability to see future events, knowing full well that she would die on a bus that day, she continued to ride the bus because she believe it was no use to try and avoid fate. From an objective observer's point of view, the psychic was the most foolish person in the show for believing that some kind of omnipotent force of nature of the Final Destination variety laid out a design that could not be altered by mere mortals. Rather than attempt to change her situation she accepted it and died. I see this as a metaphor for the way that many people lives there lives today, letting the world control their destiny rather than actually altering it for themselves, and this shows that it ultimately always ends badly.
If I had been the Walsh, I would have just gone in the hospital. Im not superstitious at all and I don't believe some underlying force can somehow trigger events to happen because an unrelated event happened (e.g. Beaumont wouldn't straight up and die because Walsh came to be with her in the hospital.) And staying outside the hospital isnt doing any good for anyone. He was simply trying to avoid reality, but reality isn't the type of thing one can just put on pause and come back later, even if it sucks at the moment.
Jake Pawloski, 2nd. Hour
1. Leo Banks tried to seriously avoid what he thought was his fate. He wore bulletproof vests, avoided dangerous activities and had his desk wrapped in foam. Everywhere he went he encountered the number 42. He is attempting to fight his fate. He was horribly afraid to die at the age of 42 because his father and grandfather died at 42. In this episode, he thinks he has prevented the psychic from dying when in reality she just ends up dying on a later bus. He learns that you can't really fight your fate.
ReplyDeleteThe psychic (who's name escapes me) accepted her fate. She had no fear, regret or any negative feelings towards dying. Leo told her "If you know you're going to die on the bus, don't get on the damn bus!" She ended up going on the bus because she was comfortable with her fate.
2. If I were the psychic, I would be incredibly scared. She was way to comfortable with her fate and dying. If I knew I was going to die on a bus, I would have avoided buses. The way the psychic talked about her fate/death while she was being interviewed was really creepy.
(sorry this is so late).
-Ashley D.
“If you don't have any fight in you, you might as well be dead.”
ReplyDelete1.Leo Banks is convinced that he will suffer the same fate both his ancestors did by dying at age 42. He looks for the numbers everywhere, wears a bullet proof vest and has an entirely padded desk. When meeting a psychic, who, on the other hand, knows she will die on a crashing bus and completely resigns herself to it, Leo decides that if he manages to free her from her fate, he can free himself from his. Up until the moment where he decides to risk his life by going on the ill-fated bus, Leo has, like the psychic, been under destiny’s control. Both were not only acknowledging fate, but embracing it by allowing it to become the center of their life. But Leo came higher in my esteem by at least making some attempt to avoid it. Reading other’s responses; it seems that many are saying the psychic is strong for embracing fate. I find her rather weak. It’s a cliché but anyone can die, it takes courage to live. And though Leo starts of as weak as her, him throwing himself on the (fake) grenade, risking his life, symbolizes him finally confronting fate. Walsh goes through a similar triumph over fate when he goes to visit Beaumont in the hospital instead of cowardly staying in a car outside and letting fate dominate life.“Death is nothing, but to live defeated is to die daily.”
2.To me it seems somewhat foolish to fear death. As a human, naturally I do. But through reason I can see the futility of worrying about something that is necessary and will come when it will come. Fate does exist in the sense that each and every one of us must and will die. To die is something everyone must go through, but the state of death itself is nothing; it’s non-existent (this is of course based off the idea that there is nothing after life), so why give it the power to exist and dominate our life? It’s not like you can be nostalgic about life once you’re dead. It’s like worrying about the back cover of a book while you’re still reading it. But realistically, I cannot predict my reaction if I were in Leo or the psychic’s fate. Ultimately I think the fear of death that is embedded in humans from birth would overwhelm reason but I would do my best to not allow it to control my life. Besides, “dying would be an awfully big adventure”… ya gotta love Peter Pan.
sorry for the lateness, it took me a while to organize my thoughts)
-Marie P.
1.Detective Leo Banks whole heartedly believes he is going to die at the age of 42. Since he is now 42, he is extremely paranoid, which is obvious, as he constantly wears a bullet proof vest, has excessive cleanliness habits, and freaks out at any sign of the number “42”. Detective Leo believed that he had to directly fight his fate any way he possibly could, and it was obvious that he tried in situations, such as with the psychic. The woman, who was a psychic, claimed to already know her fate. She believed she was going to die. Unlike Detective Leo, the psychic didn’t take any preventative measures to change her fate in anyway. The psychic believed that if she was going to die, she should let it be, so she rode all the busses when she could.
ReplyDelete2.If Detective Leo and I shared the same fate, I probably would have been paranoid at the age 42 also. If that many people in my life died at the age of 42, I don’t think I would be able to believe that dying at the same age was nothing more than a coincidence. I don’t know if the extent of my paranoia would include constantly wearing a bulletproof vest, but I can definitely see myself getting addicted to cleanliness. I think this paranoia would occur because in my real/normal life I already live in an environment where safety is a priority. Cleanliness is important in my environment, so ican see an ocd developing over it, if I knew I could die at any minute.
Komal Mendiratta
After watching the Unusuals, I have decided to contrast Leo Banks and his partner Eric Delahoy and how both of them deal with fate, and yes in a way Delahoy does deal with his fate in a very low tone. Starting out with Delahoy, he work with his partner Leo Banks, who believes he is close to death with his new age of 42. This leaves Delahoy in my eyes to think about his own fate but in a manner of not really caring. He always flows with what life might throw at him, and he tries to get the stigmas of the number 42 away from Leo. He does how ever fight fate when he was asked to go into the hospital. Hospitals normally brought death, which none of the characters wanted to relate to.
ReplyDeleteLeo Banks has one of the most interesting story on how he fights his fate. He soon will be or has turned forty two (42) and has a strong feeling he will end up dead. Many clues show that a lot of his family and what not have passed away at this age. He over comes his fate or tries to buy wearing bulletproof vests and taping his desk with foam and using help from psychic. It isn’t long until the days passes and he lives. And realizes that fate got “its ass beat” but later finds out his psychic friend was killed. My only problem with this whole scenario was that if fate in this case was death wanted to take Leo away, how could he have fought it. He did as much as he could but what if he wasn’t shot in the chest rather then the head? It seems so silly to me on how characters fought “fate”
If I where to pick a similar fate with one of the characters I would have picked Eric Delahoys fate, which was to just be a detective and live life and follow it as it goes, not change anything or wear things to protect myself. I think I would have chosen this path because I don’t believe in fate, I believe you have the knowledge of creating your own path, not being pre-destined into something silly.
(Sorry that this is late post, I was absent(with the teeth) and was notified about this until later times)
-Nicolas Morgan