We are two steele-hearted females from the American Midwest ... Miranda and Bad Wolf, 80's & 90's kids respectively ... collaborating to honor our most sacred and "ancient" common ground. Here's to making the relic of Remington Steele REAL again to another generation (or just like five potential readers).Season 1: Episode 1. License to Steele
(see here for summary)
This ambitious dedication to different versions of the long-con ultimately brings international man of mystery Richard Blaine/Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) and detective Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist) together in a common quest to maintain public image status-quo; while they secretly indulge in their mutual addiction to excitement and deception.
Feminism Rating: Episode 1
Feminist Points Awarded: 5/5
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| Laura as the backseat driver. Brilliant visual metaphor. |
1. In an episode with murder and international crime and rampant deception from all sides, it is sexism and that annoying "good-old-boy" mindset which receive the blackest ethical marks.
2. In a merciless fashion, this episode sets up Laura Holt's central (feminist) problem: that she is a genius entrepreneurial private eye going completely unrecognized and unsought-after just because she is a woman. Unrecognized, that is, until she creates a fake, perfect boss called Remington Steele. Then her cases come rolling in. What she doesn't expect is having to deal with a real life person "impersonating" the perfect Mr. Steele . . . an imposter that gets (and will continue to get) all the credit and glory (while she does most of the work). Note: this first episode paints such a frustrating picture of Laura's situation that we found it a hard re-watch.
3. This show did "socially conscious female detective" way, way before Veronica Mars. Even from this first episode, it manages to mix the wit and wisdom of fast-talking dames from the screwball era, the noir tropes of Raymond Chandler & and his ilk, AND the "new" awareness of women's struggles in the workplace. We'll talk a lot about HOW the show does all this in future episode posts.
Fashion Flashback
Laura won in this episode, fashion-wise. Nobody else could hold a candle to her style, especially when she was wearing the red-number at the car-unveiling/Remington Steele unmasking party.
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| Sorry for the blurriness, but this is one of the only full-length moments we get of this fabulous, gravity-defying (how DOES Laura's chest stay up?) dress. |
Also, this smart, Lauren Bacall-reminiscent suit from the beginning of the episode:
Ok, Ok. There was this, too.
Relics!
Steele/Pearson's car. The blue Mercedes.
We don't think it shows up again after this episode (it was probably stolen anyway), but we love it. Not as much as LATER cars that we will document ad nauseum, but a fine beginning nonetheless. [Miranda: My SUV is jealous anyway. . . ]
Also, a makeshift developing room. How quaint.
Classic movie reference of the week:
Wittiest Response
Corporate ass to Remington: I thought you'd be older . . .
Remington: Oh, I can age on demand.
Relationship Road
Ok, so if you've seen this show, you know that it's about feminism, neo-noir, throwback 1930's comedy, and the will-they-won't-they/power struggle-oriented relationship between Remington and Laura.
And this was really a "set-up" episode in every sense of the word. Laura and Remington's future struggles were accurately foreshadowed in a couple of lines like this one:
And this one directed at poor, brotherly Murphy:
Yay for a constant barrage of double entendres! Also, for a pilot episode, the dialogue is first class.
Final Questions
"Is it just me, or were people uglier in the 80's? Or maybe it was just a nationwide Burt Reynolds hangover."
~Miranda
"What the heck is a Magnum?"
~Bad Wolf
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