Classics: Early Edition 2:2 - The Medal

It's an interesting coincidence that I should get around to this episode on this particular weekend. Funny how such things work. :)

Plot Synopsis:

When Gary stops a decorated Vietnam vet - Jim Matthews - from committing suicide down by the lake, he is swept up into the very heart of Matthews' life. As he tries to work out why Matthews would want to end it all, Gary learns that the vet has told no one about the Medal of Honor he won in '69. Indeed, even Matthews' immediate family has been kept completely in the dark. Over the course of the episode, as Gary tries to track Matthews down, we also learn that Matthews volunteers at a children's center -- and that he once rescued a colleague from a fatal fall without fanfare. All signs point to Matthews' strength of character, but as a worker at the children's center observes, he behaves as if he's atoning for some secret sin.

Ultimately, the paper leads Gary to an El platform, where Matthews is once again contemplating taking his own life. Gary offers to be Matthews' confessor, and Matthews reveals what he has been hiding all this time: that he accidentally shot a Vietnamese girl during the war. Gary urges Matthews not to blame himself for such a tragic mistake and tells Matthews that dying will not make things right.

Just then, Chuck rushes onto the platform. You see, in the meantime, Chuck has been occupying himself by flirting with a Vietnamese girl from a local fish market, and in the process, he has run afoul of a couple of thugs who are running your standard protection racket. Chuck interrupts Gary's talk with Matthews because the paper reports that said girl - Mae - is about to be caught in an arson fire down at the market. Gary asks Matthews to come with them, and Matthews, after a moment's hesitation, does. When they come upon the burning warehouse, Matthews goes in and saves Mae. His redemption complete, Matthews returns to his life a new man.

Overall: 8.7

A nice, solid redemption story.

Writing: 8.5

There is the occasional retreat to stereotypes, here - the thugs menacing Mae and her father are cookie-cutter Chicago criminals, for example - but for the most part, this is a script that is written with Early Edition's classic sense of both the human and the humorous - with Chuck bringing in most of the humor, of course. How can you not love Chuck the good-hearted fool storming into Riley's office and giving everyone present the what-for? That's quintessential Chuck right there: rushing in where angels - for good reason - fear to tread. And as for Gary's plot line? Well, I say more on that below.

Acting: 7.5

I wish I could say that I was impressed with Louis Gossett Jr. here. I know he's been absolutely wonderful in other things, as his multiple Academy Awards attest. But for some reason, I felt like there's something missing in Gosset Jr.'s portrayal of Matthews; something in his performance falls oddly flat.

Message: 10.0

As a Catholic, I have to say that what strikes me the most about this episode is the way in which its structure mirrors the process of confession.

When the story begins, Matthews is trapped in his own self-loathing and self-recrimination. He is, in essence, committing the sin of Judas - and by that, I'm not referring to Judas' betrayal of Jesus, but of Judas' refusal to accept God's forgiveness after the deed was done. As do many men, Matthews has decided to hide from his weaknesses and imperfections. In fact, he hasn't even talked about the war - and his tragic mistake - with the woman he loves most, his wife. Bottom line, Matthews has cut himself off from grace; he doesn't allow himself to enjoy the wonderful life and family that God has freely given him. This is precisely the position in which we all find ourselves when we become conscious of having committed a mortal sin. (And, again, just to be clear, I'm not saying that shooting the girl was a sin. That was, as Gary says, a terrible accident. The sin came in when Matthews refused to accept forgiveness.) We want to hide. We want to wallow in our shame. We question God's ability to forgive.

Then Gary stumbles into Matthews' life and offers the vet a chance to make a verbal confession. A lot of people who aren't Catholic question why we Catholics share our sins with a priest. "Why not simply confess to God in your prayers?" they ask. Well, first of all, I would point out that, in fact, we Catholics are confessing to God, who works through the priest. But beyond that bit of technical clarification, it is a simple truth that we humans, being body-persons, benefit from sensory reminders of God's work in the world -- in this case, the presence of a listening ear. And so it is that when Matthews speaks the thing that has been crushing his spirit for the past few decades and Gary, in a sense, absolves him, the old soldier immediately experiences a change. He ultimately decides not to throw his life away.

But we're not done yet. After you have confessed and the priest has absolved you in Jesus' name, you must do penance. That is the function of the fire in Smitty's warehouse. In the Bible after the Resurrection, there is one scene in which Jesus meets some of the Apostles on the shore of the lake. In said scene, Jesus has built a fire, and when the men come in with their catch, He prepares breakfast. During the meal, He turns around and asks Peter, "Do you love me?" This question the Lord repeats to a mystified Peter two more times before He finally accepts the first pope's affirmative answer. Why? Because Jesus wants to give Peter a chance to do penance for the three times he denied Jesus during the Passion. In a similar fashion, God provides Matthews here with an opportunity to succeed where once he failed.

Finally, after Matthews saves Mae - after he has done his penance - he is shot through with a sense that he has "come home." This is the feeling of grace that, ideally, we should all feel once we've completed our confessions. In the final scenes, we see that a new peace has settled into Matthews' soul; indeed, he says that he finally understands why God would shower him with the blessings of a loving wife and fine son. He doesn't elaborate on his new understanding, but my Catholic mind fills in the blanks with the truth that God's grace is a gift that comes to us undeserved. What is wonderful in our lives is wonderful because of God's love for us and not because of anything we have or haven't done.

Overall, there is something magnificently sacramental in the way this episode unfolds. I don't know if Sean Clark intended that or not, but I find such subtext incredibly compelling.

The Benevolent Hand:

The strange confluence of events - from Gary's urge to turn around at just the right moment at the beginning of the episode to Chuck's foolish attempts to protect Mae - that allows Matthews to lift the weight that has been holding him down for so long is, of course, the work of God, this show's ever-present yet invisible main character.

Highlights:

(Gary sees a gentleman - Matthews - walk up to the edge of the lake. For a moment, he hesitates, unsure what to say. Then, when something comes to him, he speaks up.)
GARY: Excuse me. (Matthews turns.) I-I-I'm with the city's pier inspection unit, and, uh... well, I'm out inspecting the piers, and, uh... this pier... this pier is unsafe because the pilings are unstable and, uh... what I'm gonna have to do is if I could just ask you to step off...
MATTHEWS: (hostile) Why don't you step off?
(Gary is taken aback.)
GARY: Well, uh... I-I'm the pier inspector, and... well, if anything happens to you...
MATTHEWS: That's my business, isn't it? Isn't it... Mr. Inspector?
GARY: Yeah, I guess it is...
(Gary backs off. When he's a few yards away, though, he has a second thought and turns. He sees Matthews pull out a gun.)
GARY: Hey! HEY!
(Gary barrels towards Matthews.)
GARY: Don't do it!
MATTHEWS: Are you crazy? Get off me!
(They struggle. Matthews overcomes Gary, but not before his gun has been knocked into the lake. Matthews holds his fist above Gary's face.)
MATTHEWS: You had no right! Stay out of my life!
GARY: I-I'm sorry, I... I don't know what's bothering you...
MATTHEWS: What do you care? It's my life!
GARY: Look, I...
MATTHEWS: Butt. Out. Period.
(Matthews gets up and moves to leave.)
GARY: Look, I just don't like to see a good life wasted, that's all.
MATTHEWS: That makes two of us.
GARY: Mister, I'm just trying to help.
MATTHEWS: You think you did me a favor just now? Think again.

MAE: Oh no!
(Mae runs out into the street. Chuck follows.)
CHUCK: Uh oh.
MAE: They slashed our tires!
CHUCK: Your security service at work.
MAE: I knew something like this would happen!
CHUCK: Those punks. I'll take care of this.
(Determined, Chuck walks towards his car. Mae tries to stop him.)
MAE: Chuck. Chuck!
CHUCK: You gotta know how to deal with these people.
MAE: That's what you said last time!
CHUCK: (getting into his car) Obviously I was too subtle! Now they're gonna get Fishman Unchained! (ROTFL!)

FOREMAN: You know, a couple years ago, we're working an office tower job. He's welding some beams twenty eight stories up. The wind kicks up, this guy next to him starts to slip, and Matthews reaches down, grabs him by the belt, and pulls the guy back. I mean, the guy would've been a grease spot on the sidewalk if it hadn't been for Matthews. We tried to thank him - tried to make a fuss - but he wouldn't let us. He turns around, he goes back to work, and he never mentions it again. I don't get it.
GARY: I don't know...

CHILDWATCH WORKER: He's not okay, is he?
GARY: No, he, uh... well, he's disappeared.
CHILDWATCH WORKER: I was afraid this might happen.
GARY: What's that?
CHILDWATCH WORKER: People volunteer here for all sorts of reasons, Mr. Hobson. After a while, you get to recognize the patterns. With Jim, it was guilt. (A beat.) He's a lovely man. He's great with the kids, but I don't think he believed that. I got the sense that he was always trying to make up for something. I tried to talk to him about it once, but he just froze me out.

THUG 1: What's an eight letter word for "expired"? Starts with "d".
CHUCK: Try "deceased" - which is what you clowns are gonna be if you keep bothering my friends!
THUG 2: Ooh, it's a tough guy.
THUG 1: (re: the puzzle) Hey, it works!
CHUCK: Obviously I didn't make myself clear to you mamelukes the last time.
THUG 1: People need security, tough guy.
CHUCK: I'm warning you: if anything else happens down there, I'll have the cops on you so fast, your heads are gonna be spinning! (I love it when Chuck gets these insane urges to play the hero. It's a wonder he hasn't been killed already.)

(On the El platform.)
GARY: Matthews!
MATTHEWS: You get back!
GARY: You don't want to do this! You don't want to throw your life away.
MATTHEWS: What do you know about it?
GARY: I know it matters. Your wife... your son... Madeleine...
MATTHEWS: Stay out of my life!
GARY: I can't do that. I'm part of your life now.
MATTHEWS: I don't even know you. How the hell did you find me? Who the hell are you?
GARY: I can't explain that... but for whatever reason, I did.
MATTHEWS: Get back!
(A train approaches.)
GARY: (pulling out Matthews' medal of honor) Listen... what happened? Please talk to me.
MATTHEWS: Why should I talk to you?
GARY: Because it's your last chance. If you don't talk to me now, no one's ever gonna know. That would be a shame... because you should talk to someone.
(There is a long pause while Matthews considers his options. Eventually, though, he steps away from the edge.)
MATTHEWS: Uh. It was a... a rescue operation. One of our guys was stuck in this tunnel complex. He was hurt bad, and... we had to go in and get him.
(We see flashbacks to that day as Matthews speaks.)
MATTHEWS: I found him okay... patched him up... started bringing him out. It was all pretty routine. We were almost at the top when I heard something. There were reports of enemy troops all around us. I saw that light, and I expected the worst. My only hope was to hold them back long enough for my platoon to get out of there. I took the only shot I could. And that's when I realized... there was only one of them. It was a little girl... maybe twelve years old. Her only weapon was a flashlight. She wasn't a soldier. She was just a kid. And I had taken her life. We headed back to the landing zone. Half hour later, we got hit. It was bad. We were sitting ducks, and they were moving in. Suddenly, I didn't care about living or dying. My only hope was to get out, one way or another.
(In the flashback, Matthews is shot.)
MATTHEWS: I thought to myself: I deserve to die. I'm ready to die. I killed an innocent kid.
FLASHBACK MATTHEWS: (as the helicopter is descending to rescue him) No! NOOO!
(Back in the present, the oncoming train is now passing by.)
MATTHEWS: I wanted them to leave me there. That would've been the best thing. There's not one day that goes by that I don't think about that little girl. Then they gave me that... medal. Don't feel like I ever came home.
GARY: You couldn't have known. You were defending yourself.
MATTHEWS: I killed her.
GARY: Because you wanted to live. That's not a crime.
MATTHEWS: Tell her that.
GARY: Jim, it was a war. You know better than I do what happens, but... killing yourself? What good are you gonna do...?
MATTHEWS: I CAN'T LIVE WITH IT ANYMORE! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?
(There is a pause as Gary regroups.)
GARY: Listen, it may take more courage than it took to save those men, but you can...
MATTHEWS: I can't! I can't.
GARY: Look, what you're doing, you're only punishing the people that love you - the people that you care about.
MATTHEWS: Bah.
GARY: Look, your son needs you! Your wife needs you! If you're gonna honor the memory of this little girl, you... you gotta do it by living. You can't do it by dying!

(After Matthews saves Mae.)
GARY: I know it wasn't easy... what you did. (He holds out his hand.) Welcome home.

MATTHEWS: You know, I feel like I've just come home. But there's been someone here all along, and I know it hasn't been easy. (A long pause.) That's my wife. I'll never let another chance go by without saying I love you.
MRS. MATTHEWS: I love you.
(They kiss.)
MATTHEWS: And to my son, I don't blame him for not being here... but I'm proud of the fine young man he's grown up to be. I was never there the way a father should be, but, uh... that's just because... I didn't think I deserved a young man as fine as he is. You know, I had a nice family and a nice life, and I... I just didn't know why. But I do now. (It's called grace. Wonderful thing, isn't it?)