Ivan Miller/Gerard Stiles

[Philippe Cordier]

Just how evil was Gerard at this point in 1840?

I remember having a bit of a discussion toward the end of 1840 last time, when Happybat and I were butting heads a bit over Gerard's character.

I'm not sure now, but I think I was arguing that Gerard was not too bad a guy before JZ entered the picture, and Happybat said he was awful from the beginning.  I remember referring to a quote from Leticia Faye that had stuck in my mind, when Leticia says "Gerard was an opportunist" but not a murderer (?).  If I was basing my opinions on Leticia's statement, I must have been forgetting this early portrayal of Gerard ...

Let's see, embezzling in Paris, gun running in Sicily, smuggling in North Africa, and held on suspicion of murder in Portugal.  That's quite a track record.  Add to that an interest in the occult, which seems to be a bond between him and Leticia.  (Well, maybe an interest in the occult isn't bad per se.)  It's been established that he and Leticia are after the Collins' money, and he's obviously two-faced in his dealings with Flora and the rest of the family.  Now, he contracts for murder for 10 percent of the Collinwood estate.

Not a very upstanding man even before a certain "head" comes into the picture.  In fact, I could even believe he might have had something to do with the deaths -- or disappearance -- of Quentin and Tad...

[Julia99]

Didn't they say something in Gerard's 1st episode about a "wife"?  He was going to spend some time or something with her?  where'd she go? bigamist?

Or just another DC mindchange. . .like in the upcoming  1840PT . ..originally it was Mrs. Julia Collins then . . .no husband. . .she was referred to as Mrs. Collins at least 4 times in her first few eps . .guess they decided to ditch her spouse too.  Or they decided the Melanie thing needed a potential "hidden/secret" mother thing. . and Julia was the likely option. . .hmmmm .. .when I write a story i try to flesh out the whole thing before writing it. . .just a wild concept!

[Philippe Cordier]

Didn't they say something in Gerard's 1st episode about a "wife"?  He was going to spend some time or something with her?  where'd she go? bigamist?

I've been watching 1840 pretty closely, but if they mentioned a wife of Gerard, I missed the reference.  I missed the last half of 1995 and nearly all of 1970 so I don't know if a wife might have been mentioned there.

[Midnite]

Didn't they say something in Gerard's 1st episode about a "wife"?  He was going to spend some time or something with her?

I've been watching 1840 pretty closely, but if they mentioned a wife of Gerard, I missed the reference.

The following is from RobinV's summary of #1111 (the [corporeal] Gerard's 1st ep):

Gerard continues to massage away Flora's headache.  When you open your eyes, your pain will be gone, he says, and removes his hands and tells her to open them.  Now! she says, now my day will start!  She rises from the sofa and asks Gerard what she ever did without him--she must go see his wife--and your wife, too, of course, Gabriel--come back to Rose Cottage with me after dinner? Asks Flora, handing Gerard the book.  My honor, he says.  Flora leaves.

[Philippe Cordier]

The following is from RobinV's summary of #1111 (the [corporeal] Gerard's 1st ep):

Gerard continues to massage away Flora's headache.  When you open your eyes, your pain will be gone, he says, and removes his hands and tells her to open them.  Now! she says, now my day will start!  She rises from the sofa and asks Gerard what she ever did without him--she must go see his wife--and your wife, too, of course, Gabriel--come back to Rose Cottage with me after dinner? Asks Flora, handing Gerard the book.  My honor, he says.  Flora leaves.

My hearing must be going!   

As I read that excerpt, though, it sounds to me like Joan Bennett was covering for a slip of the tongue.

Surely the writers must have known at this point about Leticia Faye ...  although her relationship with Mr. Stiles is not made explicit, it seems unlikely that they would have written in both Leticia and a wife, but you never know.

[Cassandra]

Didn't they say something in Gerard's 1st episode about a "wife"?  He was going to spend some time or something with her?  where'd she go? bigamist?

You're right Julia. I remember hearing that too and thinking to myself, "wife?" "what wife?"


Gerard seems pretty bad to me at this point.  It's funny how much you catch the second time around.  I remember when I watched this the first time around I had thought that Gerard wasn't all that bad until later on in the story, but seeing all this now again he does have quite a "record" under his belt.

I also believe as someone had mentioned that perhaps he could be responsible for Quentin and Tad's disappearance.   For someone who is suppose to have been Quentin's best friend, he never did seem to be too overly upset about it.

[spoiler]Perhaps, these are the very same character traits that attracted Judah Zachary to take possession of him too.  Although Gabriel isn't too good either, Gerard just seemed perfect for the job.[/spoiler]

Cassandra

[Happybat]

As I read that excerpt, though, it sounds to me like Joan Bennett was covering for a slip of the tongue.

Or maybe Flora, not knowing if Gerard has a wife somewhere, is just digging for information?   

[Gothick]

Agree that the mention of Gerard's "wife" in that scene was darling Joan making one of her slips.  I'll never forget Nancy Barrett telling me of how Joan would turn to her while they were doing one of their scenes in the drawing room and there would be TERROR in her eyes because she had dried on her lines again...

I'll make a vague stab and say that Gerard was "bad, not evil" (to paraphrase the Shangri-las) before his encounter with a certain bodiless head (!).  There were actually a lot of young men like Gerard Stiles running around the world in the 1830s.  And I suppose that there still are a lot of them today, only instead of elegant bows and fancy suits, they tend to inhabit a world of "gangsta chic."

As for Mrs. Julia Collins in PT, if you watch the story, there is a long-running intimation that Julia is Melanie's real Mother--you have to watch to find out, of course!

Steve

[Philippe Cordier]

As I read that excerpt, though, it sounds to me like Joan Bennett was covering for a slip of the tongue.

Or maybe Flora, not knowing if Gerard has a wife somewhere, is just digging for information?   

    

I hadn't remembered that the widowed Mrs. Flora Collins had a crush on Gerard.  I'm surprised at how much I've forgotten about this storyline.  I thought Gerard lived at Rose Cottage, but possibly he moves there.

When I posted the above comment about Gerard not having a wife, I had completely forgotten about the wedding that was waiting in the wings ...

I think Joan Bennett was probably turned to the wrong actor (Gerard) and thereby misdirected her line about going to see his (Gabriel's) wife, then quickly covered for it by adding, "and your wife, too, Gabriel."

And someone has probably written an entire fanfic backstory about this non-existant wife!

[LorraineAAB]

i am withdrawing this post