Tom and Chris: Twins Or Not

[wes]

  If Chris and Tom were twins, it would have been mentioned on the series.  That's not something that would have gone unmentioned, when introducing Chris to the other characters.  They were lookalike brothers.

[Joeytrom]

In Joe Haskell's last episode, he has a dream where he believes he is talking to Chris when it turns out to be Tom.  Tom tells him "You never were able to tell us apart".  I thought that implies that they are twins.

[wes]

  If I had to bet, and I only had that 1/1/69 episode, I would bet they were identical twins, yep.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If I had to bet, and I only had that 1/1/69 episode, I would bet they were identical twins, yep.

That's why it's a good thing that Ep #658 isn't the only one we have to go by. 

[Cassandra Blair]

Excuse my ignorance, but since it's never stated explicitly that those yummy Jennings boys were identical twins, does that necessarily mean that they weren't?

I mean, I've known some siblings who look very much like each other, but not THAT much, unless they were twins.  Just saying.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Excuse my ignorance

Well, since you asked nicely - OK.

(   Just kidding, of course.  )

I've known some siblings who look very much like each other, but not THAT much, unless they were twins.

By that premise we could say that since Jeff Clark and Ned Stuart look so much alike, they couldn't possibly be anything but twins. (What a horrifying thought!    But it might possibly explain why both seemed to behave so equally irrationally.  )

Well, OK - that's taking your premise to an absurd conclusion because Jeff and Ned weren't related (so far as we know, anyway). But the point is that as part of our original discussion we'd ruled out Don Briscoe having played both Tom and Chris as a factor in determining whether or not they were twins simply for the fact that they would look identical and instead relied solely on how the show's dialogue described them. It would have been perfectly natural for the show to have explained away the brothers' resemblance by explicitly stating that Tom and Chris were twins. But the fact that they didn't and merely inferred that they looked remarkably alike might actually be more telling evidence that they weren't twins.

[Cassandra Blair]

Or, one could infer that because they were totally identical, what else would they be but twins? 

But I get your point, MB.  Guess the world of DS fandom has many unanswered questions, and always will...

[Raineypark]

Are you people all envisioning the entire group of writers sitting around a table, arguing long into the night about the plot imperatives that might decide whether or not the boys must be twins?

Please.  Like so many other details about this show it was almost certainly a detail utterly over-looked on everyone's part.  I'd bet they didn't say one way or the other simply because it never came up in a meeting.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'd bet they didn't say one way or the other simply because it never came up in a meeting.[/font]

The original discussion didn't actually hinge on whether or not they used the word "twin" - but that they seeming went out of their way not to use it when using it would have been so much simpler (not to mention a staple of soap convention), but rather just inferred that the brothers had an extraordinary resmblance to each other. That's what makes the debate so fun and interesting. 

[Midnite]

In ep #564, Joe is visiting Tom's grave, and the headstone reads:

Thomas Jennings 1944 - 1968

In ep #676 which taped/aired in January, 1969, Chris tells Barnabas that his first transformation occurred right after his 21st birthday, 7 years before.

These events indicate that Chris is older than Tom by a few years.

[Julia99]

I'd bet they didn't say one way or the other simply because it never came up in a meeting.

The original discussion didn't actually hinge on whether or not they used the word "twin" - but that they seeming went out of their way not to use it when using it would have been so much simpler (not to mention a staple of soap convention), but rather just inferred that the brothers had an extraordinary resmblance to each other. That's what makes the debate so fun and interesting. 

Well Julia did scream when she saw Chris .. . I take that as an affirmation that they were identical even though it's not stated. . .

[Mysterious Benefactor]

These events indicate that Chris is older than Tom by a few years.

How did we ever miss those details when we first had this discussion back in 1999?! But I suppose it's proof positive once again that no matter how often we watch DS there's always something new to learn. 

Excellent work, Midnite! 


And tsk, tsk, tsk, editors of the PomPress books. Or should we just say par for the course...