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Why not Oscar?
Topic Started: Feb 16 2012, 10:23 PM (1,109 Views)
Inanna
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Tigerlily
Dec 11 2014, 11:25 AM
Well I guess as a kid, Oscar seemed way too old for me to think about as a love interest for Jaime. Steve was certainly no spring chick to me then either. My shipping S & J never came from going gaga over Steve. Of course, now as a middle aged woman, I can certainly appreciate Steve's looks a lot more (and boy, can I)...heck, even Oscar looks a lot better to me now, for that matter.

S & J's story just really grabbed me back then. The whole childhood sweethearts thing, their wonderful chemistry and everything they went through together. You have to admit, it was all pretty melodramatic and quite unusual at that time for an action adventure/sci-fi show mostly aimed at kids...to have Jaime die, then brought back to life with no memory of Steve. Then you throw in her infatuation with the doctor who saved her life. All the while, poor Steve remaining very stoic as he hung around helping Jaime adjust to her bionics again and telling the good doctor, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see which way she goes"...instead of telling him where HE could go! Now if that's not a story to tug at your heartstrings!

At 10 years old, S & J were the very first tv/movie couple that I ever rooted for...and I guess in some cases, your first tv/movie romance is like your own first personal romance in the sense that you never really forget it. I could never see Jaime with anyone other than Steve.

But putting all that aside, watching the series as an adult has given me another perspective on why J & O wouldn't work for me as a couple. While they had a nice rapport with each other, they had very different lifestyles. Oscar had little life outside the OSI (that we saw anyway). For some reason, given my impression of him, I think if he had pulled himself away from the office long enough to have a relationship, it would be a very cultured one at that...museums, opera, ballet and fine dining all the way (Steve did once say that Oscar looks great in a tux). Not that Jaime could never enjoy all those things with Oscar, but I couldn't see her making a habit of it. She's more the adventurous type and enjoyed that kind of life with Steve...jumping out of airplanes, getting launched from a torpedo tube in the ocean, tennis, racquetball, swimming and horseback riding. Then unwinding with some simple pleasures like needlepoint, a walk around the lake and pizza at the Capri. Oh, and Jaime loved to bake pies...which Steve loved to eat while she sat on his lap as Oscar barked over the phone about him getting back to work...because after all...it's all about work with Oscar. 432q18
One thing I wanted to start off with is that I think shipping, which I think is the real subject of the discussion here, is subjective, very much "you say tah-may-toe, I say toe-mat-o". In the end, chances are we both find the red fruit very tasty (or in the case of shipping, the subject of romance) regardless of how we see or pronounce it differently.

When I was little, all of them seemed old, Oscar, Steve, and even Jaime. Heck, my brother was a senior in high school and I kind of viewed him as collecting social security after that LOL. Oscar came off as fatherly sometimes with both Steve and Jaime because I think that was the intention/direction of the writers and showrunner. However, just taking the two characters of Jaime and Oscar, no I did not think that he was too old for Jaime, perhaps because of the fact that my father was the same age as Oscar and since my father was a "daddy", I could see Oscar being a "daddy" with a "mommy" too. Plus, my mom was a huge soap opera fan when I was growing up, so I got to watch those a lot (whether I wanted to or not), so I really didn't ship Steve and Jaime as an OTP. I liked Steve because he was the Six Million Dollar Man and Jaime because she was the Bionic Woman and they were awesome heroes in that aspect, but not because they were a couple. There was a romance between them for the first two seasons, but I'm guessing because of my influence from watching soaps, I knew that may not always be the case and so I don't think I would have been as upset as others may have been if that changed.

And I can see Oscar having some sort of regular exercise regimen outside of work and actually dedicating time to it because of the fact that Richard Anderson was so physically fit. So I could see him playing an hour or half hour of tennis, racquetball, or going for a run a few times a week. No, maybe not jumping out of planes or getting shot out of torpedo tubes, but definitely having some sort of regular exercise. Also, I think all the operas, musuems, and fine restaurants would have a lot to do with his job and so he might not be eager to do them in his down time. I mean, chances are he wasn't going to take some Ambassador to brown bag it on a bench overseeing the reflecting pool, but I could see him doing that to have a little bit of quiet time to himself and going for a walk afterward. I do agree, he does look fantastic in a tux. I shake my head at Bibi Besch in "The Madonna Caper" going for Steve after the opening with Oscar being so utterly charming and droolingly handsome. And an opera or museum would be a great place to meet someone covertly to discuss work under the pretense of taking in a bit of entertainment. Not to knock opera, there are beautiful pieces of music there. I have a fondness for "The Magic Flute" by Mozart and think that Wagner's Ring Cycle is amazing (in spite of the fact that the man himself was a complete tool), but there's almost always at least one point in an opera where the main protagonist or couple are standing there singing for 5 to 10 minutes of Him:"I love you! I don't want to go!" and Her: "I love you! I don't want you to go!" over and over and over (did I mention and over?) again to the point you're thinking "Okay, you're having second thoughts about the long distance relationship thing. We GET it. Can we just move onto the next scene already?" It's like the singing equivalent of the soaps zooming in on an actor at a dramatic point and staying there for a minute before moving onto something else. It just gets annoying after a while. So it makes it hard for me to see someone wanting to voluntarily do that more than two or three times a season.

Anyways, when Oscar can get away from the office, I do see him being more of an outdoorsy type, perhaps spending some time at a cabin and fishing and hiking or going to a somewhat exotic locale to indulge his hobby of archeology. I could see him doing something a bit more off the beaten path in order to not be reminded of work than something that he would likely be doing when he was working. It might be a rare occasion that he has an opportunity to do it.

People also see Oscar being a workaholic. Again, my perspective on this is colored by my life. My father was also a workaholic when I was little. He was in the aerospace industry, which was really not the prospective market to be in during most of the 70's, the only thing really bringing it back up on its feet was the Strategic Defense Initiative. So my dad worked 12 hour shifts or longer without even giving it a second thought, despite having a wife and four kids at home. He had to, there was a good three to four years there where people were busting their humps and companies were still handing out pink slips on payday like they were lottery tickets. So Oscar being a workaholic did not exclude him from having a relationship in my eyes. The way I saw it, he just hadn't had the right time or opportunity to get into a relationship because of all the demands and responsibilities on him. I don't think he would have turned away from such an opportunity if we had been shown one being presented to him. Later, I also came to the belief that part of the reason why he was such a workaholic was because he was going home to an empty apartment and throwing himself into his work allowed him not to think about being lonely.
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JNS4Ever
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I agree Kathy, Jaime did have a special place in Oscar's heart, and Oscar had a special place in hers. I even think that Oscar probably had romantic/sexual feelings for Jaime, but if he did, they were unrequited. Oscar did not have the same place in Jaime's heart that Steve did in my opinion, especially after regaining her full memory. If Richard and Lindsay had agreed to play sexual tension between their characters, he did a great job of it, but I don't see where Lindsay was doing that. I don't see where she looked at him the way she looked at Steve/Lee.

I also agree with Tigerlily regarding J & O having different lifestyles. They never really show Oscar doing many things outside of the office (but I can picture Steve, Oscar and Rudy enjoying fishing trips), however even if Oscar had a strict exercise regimen, even a very fit 45-50 year old man would have a hard time keeping up with even a non-bionic professional athlete in her mid twenties. Of course once Jaime became bionic, Steve was the only one who could keep up with her and vice versa.

Also, as for Jaime becoming more suited for Oscar, sorry I don't see it. I don't see Oscar leaving the OSI to live in Ojai with her (or even running the OSI from Ojai if that were possible). I also don't see Jaime giving up her life in Ojai to move to DC and becoming a beurocrat's wife (even though she and Steve apparently eventually moved to DC, maybe because Jaime wanted to specialize in helping burnt out and traumatized government agents). Although Oscar risked his career for Jaime in "On The Run", he stopped short of resigning or going with her to protect her like Steve did in a couple of Beth's stories which I think is entirely within character for them (although he wasn't in the episode HYSEE ). If Steve were written to character, he would absolutely have given up his life to make sure she was safe and happy, unlike either Oscar or Chris (even though Oscar and Chris might have been willing to take a bullet for her). Also, I don't see either Steve or Jaime wanting Oscar's job except on an extremely temporary basis if some emergency arose.

Some of you may disagree, but this is my opinion. I hope you all take it in that spirit.
Edited by JNS4Ever, Jan 27 2015, 12:03 PM.
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Bionic Kathy
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JNS4Ever
Jan 27 2015, 11:41 AM
I agree Kathy, Jaime did have a special place in Oscar's heart, and Oscar had a special place in hers. I even think that Oscar probably had romantic/sexual feelings for Jaime, but if he did, they were unrequited. Oscar did not have the same place in Jaime's heart that Steve did in my opinion, especially after regaining her full memory. If Richard and Lindsay had agreed to play sexual tension between their characters, he did a great job of it, but I don't see where Lindsay was doing that. I don't see where she looked at him the way she looked at Steve/Lee.

I also agree with Tigerlily regarding J & O having different lifestyles. They never really show Oscar doing many things outside of the office (but I can picture Steve, Oscar and Rudy enjoying fishing trips), however even if Oscar had a strict exercise regimen, even a very fit 45-50 year old man would have a hard time keeping up with even a non-bionic professional athlete in her mid twenties. Of course once Jaime became bionic, Steve was the only one who could keep up with her and vice versa.

Also, as for Jaime becoming more suited for Oscar, sorry I don't see it. I don't see Oscar leaving the OSI to live in Ojai with her (or even running the OSI from Ojai if that were possible). I also don't see Jaime giving up her life in Ojai to move to DC and becoming a beurocrat's wife (even though she and Steve apparently eventually moved to DC, maybe because Jaime wanted to specialize in helping burnt out and traumatized government agents). Although Oscar risked his career for Jaime in "On The Run", he stopped short of resigning or going with her to protect her like Steve did in a couple of Beth's stories which I think is entirely within character for them (although he wasn't in the episode HYSEE ). If Steve were written to character, he would absolutely have given up his life to make sure she was safe and happy, unlike either Oscar or Chris (even though Oscar and Chris might have been willing to take a bullet for her). Also, I don't see either Steve or Jaime wanting Oscar's job except on an extremely temporary basis if some emergency arose.

Some of you may disagree, but this is my opinion. I hope you all take it in that spirit.
Very well said, Barbara. yide  8654w73
"Look inside yourself -- say what's in your heart -- even if it is made of teflon." Dr. Jaime Sommers Austin

"Oscar, if you want to find us, don't come looking for us." Colonel Steve Austin
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