Thoughts about the character changes from S1 to S2 with reference to Connor's techie skills

[deinonychus_1]

Recently I've been having some quite intersting discussions with Munchkinofdoom re the change between S1 and S2 with Connor, and the sudden appearance of his techie computer and engineering skills. Leaving aside how much you take canon at face value for the use of these skills (which myself and Munchkin do entirely disagree about), I've been thinking about the reasons behind the changes, and why they were so radical.

In S1 Connor was largely just a dino-geek, and with his database he was clearly set up to be the character that provided information about the creatures and the time periods. However, I have a feeling that the writers dropped a bit of a clanger, because that role, to a great extent, was already taken by Cutter, who is clearly the star of the show, and Connor's knowledge merely duplicates Cutter's, and Cutter is also better at it.  See, for example, 1.2, where Cutter got trapped in the underground and without him the others had to resort to consulting Connor and his database to identify the arthropleurid. On emerging from the underground, Cutter himself then demonstates that he has come to exactly the same conclusions re the identification, without any reference to Connor or his database - he simply knew it. It could be taken as bad editing, or if you chose to take canon at face value it can also be taken as an example that Cutter is simply better and knows more than Connor - not surprising considering one is a professor and the other his student.

The problem here is that in ensemble shows, it generally works better if each team member has something different to bring to the mix. Okay, certain things, such as action and fighting, tend to be across the board to some extent (although there are usually a couple of specialist characters in the actions roles - see Ryan and Stephen), but in terms of skills and knowledge there's usually a bit more of a distribution, with very little overlap or duplication. This then gives the opportunity for episodes where each individual member of the team can shine in their own unique area. Hence the problem with Connor. In S1 he had nothing unique to bring to the team. Anything he could do, Cutter could do better, so Connor was fequently just used as the comic relief character.

It has been said in interviews that the writers to some extent used the timeline shift in S2 to re-work the characters a little, and to rectify where things didn't quite work in S1. I suspect they realised what they had done with the duplication of skills, and that was why they made such a radical change to Connor. They expanded and extraploated from the database that we saw in S1, and gave him previously unseen computer/electronics/enginering skills, and at the same time they subtly shuffled the dino-geekery to one side. This kills two birds with one stone - it gives Connor a skill set that is unique to him, and it stops him stealing any of the limelight from Cutter, the star of the show, when it comes to palaeontological info-dumping.

It will be interesting to see what they do in S3, given the rumours of the potential... absence... of Cutter in S3 and beyond, and whether or not they quietly shuffle Connor back in to the role of dino-geek, should the position become vacant.

Now all they need to do is give Abby some decent opportunities to use her animal skills and we will all be happy.
 
These are just my thoughts, and I thought it would be interesting to throw them out for discussion. What do you guys think?

Comments

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

I think to an extent his being a dino-geek made sense in series 1, because after all, he was Cutter's student, and presumably studying/interested in such things. So it would be logical for him to know a fair bit about them, and for him to show off these skills - Cutter is teaching him; he may know everything Connor knows and more, but he'll let Connor have some of that limelight in order to help in learn/refine his skills.

In series two he's presumably no longer a student, and they've toned down the geekery a little, though not entirely eliminated it - Cutter will still expect Connor to make a suggestion as to waht a creature or a habitat might be, still maintaining a certain amount of teacher-student relationship with him.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that to some extent we saw more of the student/teacher dynamic in S2 when they were no longer at university than we did in S1 when they were. In S1 Cutter almost seems to see Connor as an annoyance, at least until 1.4 when he persuades him to stay after Tom dies. In S2 there seemed to be a lot more instances of Cutter directly encouraging Connor to think and work things out, such as when they first discover the radio interference in the shopping centre, and when Connor introduces the ADD in 2.3 Cutter is the one telling him to calm down and showing confidence while the others (Leek and Jenny) make jokes at Connor's expense.

It's a dynamic that I absolutely love between the two of them, but I wonder how much we'll see of it in S3, and as they move further and further away from the university days of S1. Whether Connor will still look to Cutter as a mentor and seek his approval, and whether Cutter will still see Connor as his protege almost, and continue to encourage him professionally, if not academically. It may depend a lot on how Stephen's death affects Cutter's relationships with the remaining members of the team.

[reggietate.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that to some extent we saw more of the student/teacher dynamic in S2 when they were no longer at university than we did in S1 when they were. In S1 Cutter almost seems to see Connor as an annoyance, at least until 1.4 when he persuades him to stay after Tom dies. In S2 there seemed to be a lot more instances of Cutter directly encouraging Connor to think and work things out, such as when they first discover the radio interference in the shopping centre, and when Connor introduces the ADD in 2.3 Cutter is the one telling him to calm down and showing confidence while the others (Leek and Jenny) make jokes at Connor's expense.

Possibly as a result of Connor's willingness to believe him in 2.01, when no one else did. And of course, his move away from Stephen, to whom he must have been to a large extent and mentor as well as a friend.

It's true he often seems to find Connor a bit of a trial in S1, but I think this is partly because he knows Connor should be capable of better. When he's larking about in from of the anomaly in the underground, he says to Lester, 'he looks like an idiot, but he has a good brain'. He may be hard on Connor in person, but he'll defend him to others.

It's a dynamic that I absolutely love between the two of them, but I wonder how much we'll see of it in S3, and as they move further and further away from the university days of S1. Whether Connor will still look to Cutter as a mentor and seek his approval, and whether Cutter will still see Connor as his protege almost, and continue to encourage him professionally, if not academically. It may depend a lot on how Stephen's death affects Cutter's relationships with the remaining members of the team.

Yes. It kind of depends if they're going to pair Cutter up more with Jenny or Abby, or with Connor, or with one of the new people. We've had very little hint of what the new relationships-dynamic is going to be like - particularly anything about Sarah. Now that it looks like we might get the new series in a month, it's time they started giving us some idea.

[deinonychus-1.livejournal.com]

I think this is partly because he knows Connor should be capable of better.... He may be hard on Connor in person, but he'll defend him to others.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with Cutter's feelings about Connor right there. Right from the start he saw Connor's potential, and knew he was capable of being an outstanding student if he applied himself to it, but was then constantly irritated by Connor's attitude.

Cutter's change in how he deals with Connor certainly does coincide with both his estrangement from Stephen, and Connor being the only one willing to believe him, so there's certainly an element of both those things coming into play in S2. The fact that Connor seemed to mature a bit in S2 probably helped a lot as well. Cutter is very much the tpye who wouldn't suffer fools, which is probably why S1 Connor rubbed him up the wrong way so much!