Those are some really good points, and I agree with a lot of what you say!
"Strange Bedfellows" (the episode where he has to bodyguard his ex-wife's new guy) is one of my favourites but I can barely stand to rewatch it because of just how sad and lonely and lost he is in it. The real killer is that he shuts Fraser out at the end because clearly, the cure for feeling heartbroken is making yourself feel even more heartbroken :( (Amen about his mum though. I roll my eyes every time at that.)
One thing that he shares with Clint (not necessarily in the Fraction/Aja 'verse but in almost all other incarnations I know) is the whole undercover deal; pretending to be someone he isn't or maybe trying to be something he isn't; I'm never sure. And he's trying to figure out where he belongs in the scheme of things, he's just as much separated from the rest of the team as Fraser, at least to start with. Definite parallel to Steve and Clint, if you take a fairly new-to-the-21st-century Steve and a jaded Clint who, like Ray, has "done this job for a long time, and for what?"
Especially in those early episodes it's really noticeable how grateful he is for every scrap of affection that Fraser throws his way. Like at the end of the first episode, where Fraser asks him if he wants to get something to eat. His face just lights up like a Christmas tree and it's really sweet but also kind of sad because it makes you realise he's got no one else.
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momijizukamori
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Date: 2013-03-23 12:40 am (UTC)"Strange Bedfellows" (the episode where he has to bodyguard his ex-wife's new guy) is one of my favourites but I can barely stand to rewatch it because of just how sad and lonely and lost he is in it. The real killer is that he shuts Fraser out at the end because clearly, the cure for feeling heartbroken is making yourself feel even more heartbroken :( (Amen about his mum though. I roll my eyes every time at that.)
One thing that he shares with Clint (not necessarily in the Fraction/Aja 'verse but in almost all other incarnations I know) is the whole undercover deal; pretending to be someone he isn't or maybe trying to be something he isn't; I'm never sure. And he's trying to figure out where he belongs in the scheme of things, he's just as much separated from the rest of the team as Fraser, at least to start with. Definite parallel to Steve and Clint, if you take a fairly new-to-the-21st-century Steve and a jaded Clint who, like Ray, has "done this job for a long time, and for what?"
Especially in those early episodes it's really noticeable how grateful he is for every scrap of affection that Fraser throws his way. Like at the end of the first episode, where Fraser asks him if he wants to get something to eat. His face just lights up like a Christmas tree and it's really sweet but also kind of sad because it makes you realise he's got no one else.