Ginger and Lou essay
May. 29th, 2014 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveI love to write essays, but haven't for a while. Here's one I just finished on Ginger and Lou, my favorite creative subjects at the moment.
An exploration in determining whether there is sufficient canon evidence that Ginger Townsend and Lou Trevino could be friends
By Lucky_Ladybug
Introduction
Ginger Townsend and Lou Trevino are characters from a season 4 episode of The Rockford Files entitled The Queen of Peru. They are jewel thieves, with Ginger as the cold and dangerous leader and Lou as his wheelman and sometimes-enforcer. There is no actual dialogue between them to show without a doubt that they are more than just partners in crime, so we must turn to subtext and silent signals.
They are very different in personality. While Ginger is an aloof British man who can be charming when he wants to and vicious when his temper runs out, Lou is alternately quiet and talkative, becoming frustrated over little things but never absolutely exploding with rage. Although Lou seems to disagree with Ginger on some of his methods, and isn’t afraid to outright say so, he doesn’t ever abandon Ginger or even threaten to do so. In turn, Ginger can be critical, yet seems to believe Lou will stay faithful.
I have both read the script and repeatedly watched the episode. The script feels very flat in comparison to the filmed episode, largely thanks to the wonderful acting by Christopher Cary as Ginger and Luke Andreas as Lou. They bring the characters to life, giving them expressions and quirks and vocal tones that the script just can’t convey. And it’s mainly the filmed episode that has the meatiest evidence for their possible friendship.
Mike
The first time we see them is in a parking garage. Two others working with them on their caper, one of who is Lou’s brother, betray them and are trying to escape. The two express no fear of Lou, but are both terrified of Ginger. And apparently with good reason—Ginger shoots the brother when he tries to run.
Here we arrive at the dilemma of what happens next. A sub-question is whether Lou cares about his brother Mike, even after the betrayal. If he does, how can he continue to want to be around Ginger? And if he doesn’t, why does he keep Mike around?
Lou certainly seems to care. When Mike is first shot, Lou gets out of the car and rushes to his side. Upon Ginger’s approach, Lou looks up and says, “I think Mike’s dead.” While the script describes him as shaken, the anger is obvious in his face and eyes and voice in the episode.
Later on, Lou rants about Mike’s betrayal, clearly upset and hurt by it and indicates an understanding for why Ginger might possibly want to just leave Mike behind because of it. But once Lou has the ranting out of his system, he turns to the wounded Mike in the back seat and looks concerned as he asks, “So how is it?” Mike tries to be optimistic and says, “Actually, I think I feel better today,” and Lou turns away, shaking his head and looking sad. He knows Mike is badly hurt.
Still later, Lou shows that even after the betrayal, he still wants to include Mike in their plans and asks Mike what he thinks they should do to try to get the diamond back.
At the end of the episode, when they’re all captured, Jim Rockford asks National Guard soldier Stephen Kalifer how Mike is. Lou remains slumped over their upside-down car, tired and discouraged after their failure. But as soon as Kalifer says that Mike will be okay, Lou perks right up. It’s adorable and unscripted and shows just how much Luke Andreas really gets into the minds of his characters.
Perhaps Lou is only staying with Ginger because he wants his share of the profits from selling the diamond. There is nothing to fully indicate this could not be case. But there is also nothing to fully indicate that it is. What if Lou stays because seriously hurting Mike wasn’t actually what Ginger was trying to do and Lou is willing to try to forgive him?
Ginger angrily fires at Mike and the other betrayer, Donny Waugh, with a shotgun. Later, he matter-of-factly threatens Mike while they’re sitting in the car (albeit we honestly don’t know if he would go through with it). He also becomes irritated when Mike is coughing. Definitely, he is furious about the betrayal and Mike is not one of his favorite people.
Nevertheless, he does do something curious. When Lou expresses concern that Mike is dead, Ginger stiffens for a split-second before barking to get him in the car. For whatever reason, Ginger had not planned to kill and is upset by the news.
The most logical explanation is that he wanted Mike alive to tell what was done with the diamond. Hence, he may have been trying to make Mike stop, perhaps intending to graze him with the gun or hitting near him but not actually hitting him. But there’s nothing to say it isn’t also possible that he didn’t want to kill Mike because he’s Lou’s brother and Ginger wouldn’t want to hurt Lou that way.
It’s even slightly possible that Ginger has never killed and has only used guns for intimidation and warnings and making people stop, and is upset to think that he might have killed anyone. He handles his guns so expertly and is so cold to Mike that this doesn’t seem very possible. But without any outright proof that it isn’t true, it still remains one explanation worth considering as to why Lou stays with him.
So what about Mike? If Lou cares, and Ginger didn’t want to kill, how do they try to keep Mike alive? The episode itself doesn’t say. The script has a few lines of dialogue that show that Ginger and Lou tried to doctor Mike themselves after the shooting (which is kind of cute even though not practical). Ginger doesn’t feel that they can take him to a hospital because too many questions will be asked. But since this was removed from the filmed version, we don’t know that it’s for certain what was done.
It’s also possible that they took him to a crooked doctor who wouldn’t report the shooting. This seems more logical if Lou cares about his brother, but since all of these characters have more or less a criminal mindset, it’s also possible that Lou would have agreed to try to doctor Mike himself due to not wanting detection from the police.
Also interesting is the fact that even after the betrayal, they’re still keeping Mike with them at all. Perhaps it’s Lou’s influence, not wanting Ginger to “dump him out on the road,” as Mike is terrified of. Perhaps Ginger doesn’t want to let go of Mike because dead or alive, his wounded presence will start an investigation and make it worse for them. He may also think Mike can still tell them something useful. And perhaps, since Ginger hadn’t wanted to kill Mike, he might not in actual fact want to do anything else cruel to him, in spite of his threats. Mike is sure Ginger means what he says, but I’m not at all sure he does.
In the end, however, we only know two things for sure: Lou does care about Mike in spite of the betrayal, and Ginger had not intended to kill him.
Interaction
Ginger is clearly the leader in their plans, and often Lou will let him lead without protest, following him and doing what Ginger wants of him. Other times Lou will strongly object. Lou seems to know when to speak and when to stay quiet or back off.
The day following the shooting, Ginger gets out of their car and heads towards the police station to make an inquiry. Lou asks where he’s going and if he’s sure he doesn’t want Lou to come. Upon receiving a silent stare as an answer, Lou relents and replies, “You’ve got it covered, huh, Buddy?” and gets back in the car to wait.
The script indicates that this is not a usual occurrence and that Lou is fretting over Ginger’s silence. The episode gives no real indication one way or the other, although Lou does look worried when he gets in the car. Ginger might go into states of silence only when he is boiling under the surface and is trying not to lose his temper. Or it might be a more frequent happening, just part of his usual personality. Either way, Lou knows when to stop talking and just let Ginger be.
Also quite possibly telling is that Lou calls him “Buddy.” It’s true that it’s become a casual term to throw around even by people who aren’t close at all, but with their personalities and the context of the situation, it’s more likely that Lou meant it. He knows Ginger is a wild card and will snap if pushed. And he knows when to back off. If he said “Buddy” insincerely, Ginger might very well not like it. Lou is trying to defuse a potentially concerning situation. Hence, he might call Ginger “Buddy” because that’s exactly what he is. Lou might hope that if Ginger is upset, calling back to their friendship could sooth the savage beast, so to speak.
Later, they begin having a spell of car trouble and the engine refuses to turn over. Ginger flatly says, “Don’t flood it.” Instead of accepting that as the truth of what’s happening, Lou immediately shoots back, “I’m not flooding it! I don’t even have my foot on the gas pedal!” The car continues to refuse cooperation, and Ginger insists, “You are flooding it,” still speaking in the same matter-of-fact tone while staring ahead. Lou presses his lips together tightly to keep from exploding in frustration and continues wrestling with the car.
We don’t know if Lou really was flooding the engine or if he was telling the truth. In any case, the car never did cooperate and they had to get a different one. Up to that point, it had been a whitish-silver color. After this scene, it’s blue.
The most important things about the scene are: 1, Lou isn’t afraid to speak up when he really doesn’t like Ginger’s comments or actions (as also shown earlier when he is angry over the shooting), and 2, The actors’ delivery of the lines makes it sound like they have argued like this before, that they know each other well and are having a petty disagreement, like many friends and family members do. The very fact that Ginger doesn’t even bother to look over indicates that Lou may be notorious for flooding the engine in the past and Ginger is positive it’s happening again.
The scene on the beach, where they interrogate a lifeguard, is also an intriguing one. They don’t have to speak to each other to know what is wanted. As soon as Ginger asks if he can go up on the lifeguard stand, Lou walks off to the side, knowing exactly what Ginger is up to. The lifeguard isn’t being forthcoming with free information and Ginger has no intention of paying. Suddenly he elbows the guy and sends him off the stand several feet to the ground. Lou promptly jumps into action, grabbing the lifeguard by the hair while Ginger questions him. At the conclusion, Ginger silently signals Lou with his eyes to come. Lou leaves the guy alone and gets up to follow Ginger.
Lou again expresses dislike of one of Ginger’s plans when Ginger decides they have to go through every camper park looking for the RV that last had the diamond. As the voice of reason, Lou thinks it’s an impossible task and asks Mike for his opinion, but Mike is unable to focus on the question. Ginger says, “There is no simple way. None.” And they go through with Ginger’s plan, eventually investigating 37 parks before finding the camper on the freeway.
Lou is the first to notice it and tells Ginger, who replies, “Well, use your loaf! Turn around!” Again Lou presses his lips into a thin line. This is not something he likes being told, either. But instead of arguing this time, he does as wanted and turns around without protest. They both want the diamond back, although Ginger is more obsessive about it. After the driver of the RV refuses to pull over, Ginger tells Lou to fall back and he will try to shoot a tire to force the vehicle to stop. Lou complies.
The end of the episode, when they’re captured after Jim Rockford overturns their car, brings one final and unscripted bit of frustration from Ginger. He exclaims, “I told you not to cut the wheel, didn’t I?!” Lou doesn’t answer. Again it sounds like something a friend or family member might say when arguing with another. Ginger sounds exasperated rather than furious, as he did when Mike and Donny betrayed them and tried to run. And it’s the only time he actually snaps at Lou for something Lou has or has not done; earlier, when he yells for Lou to get Mike in the car, he is upset about the betrayal and the shooting and not at Lou. And when he is irritated about the flooding of the engine and later thinks Lou should think more carefully about what he’s doing, he doesn’t raise his voice.
Since Ginger is capable of absolutely exploding with rage, as he does concerning the betrayal, it’s curious that his reaction to capture is mere exasperation. Perhaps he’s just worn-out and resigned, as Lou is. Or perhaps he can’t bring himself to be too angry with Lou. With Mike, yes, but not Lou.
Is Ginger often critical of Lou? We have three canon instances: the supposed flooding of the car engine, Ginger basically telling Lou to use his head via Cockney rhyming slang, and one final, frustrated snap when they’re captured. One time Lou protests and two times he doesn’t, but both of the earlier times he is clearly not pleased. The third time he is too worn-out to reply.
It may be something he puts up with a lot. Or maybe Ginger is only that way when hell-bent on a quest. That is really the only way we see Ginger; we don’t know what he’s like at other times. If Lou stays with him for friendship and not only profit, there must be value in him that Lou sees. Unlike fellow Rockford criminal Tony Gagglio, Lou doesn’t seem wanting for companionship and be desperate enough to have it that he will do anything either to keep it or to force his friend to stay with him. Lou seems to be levelheaded and mentally balanced.
Ginger, too, doesn’t seem to be like Tony. If anything, he may be taking Lou for granted, believing that there’s no need to force Lou to remain and that for whatever reason, Lou will stay of his own free will, no matter what Ginger says or does.
Will Lou ever get completely fed up? That is a question the episode does not answer. It’s possible that by the episode’s end he is heading in that direction. Alternately, if he and Ginger have any problems between them, they may be able to patch them up and stay together. The episode certainly hints that they’ve been through more adventures than only this one.
Personalities
With a name like Ginger, even though it initially might elicit a few giggles, this fellow can’t be a pushover. While a given name for girls, it has been given as a nickname to certain men, and none of those men—a baseball player, a wrestler, and a motorcycle racer, to name a few—could ever be considered pushovers.
The question remains as to whether it’s a nickname for Mr. Townsend or possibly a given name. It isn’t impossible that it could be a given name, considering all the far stranger names people are bestowing on their offspring these days. And the script indicates that Ginger may not like nicknames, as he refuses to address Lou’s brother as anything other than Michael. (In the episode, he doesn’t address Mike by name at all.) Of course, that could also simply be showing that Ginger does not feel close enough to Mike or like him enough to consider calling him something so informal. Or all of the above could be true at once.
One curious thing about the name is that when given as a nickname, it is of course generally to people with red hair. Ginger’s hair is very blond and was always going to be blond; the script describes him in great physical detail, right down to the blond hair. So what was the real reason the name was chosen for the character? Outside of contacting writer David Chase (yes, the David Chase), there is likely no way to know. But when thinking of the name as fitting someone who is spunky, defiant, unique, and determined, it’s perfect.
Ginger is described as having a working-class British accent. What, exactly, does this entail? It indicates that perhaps he originated from a poorer walk of life. It’s possible that he can’t stand being poor and that now that he’s somehow managed to become fairly well-off (either through legal or illegal channels, or both), he cannot bear to give it up. That could help to explain his near-obsession with recovering the diamond.
As far as his speech pattern is concerned, while he retains some of the vernacular of his old neighborhood, overall his choice of words is nowhere as colorful as his counterpart Dutch Ingram, another Rockford character played by Christopher Cary. The easy-going Dutch embodies more of the more well-known speech stereotypes of working-class British characters, whereas Ginger, despite the occasional insertion of improper grammar or British curses or Cockney rhyming slang, seems to prefer to mainly speak in a less informal and more educated manner. He is colorful in other ways.
Ginger is a very quiet sort, able to intimidate while not raising his voice or even while smiling. The script describes him as a small man who is still able to command respect and even fear, which is certainly shown in the episode. Both Mike and Donny are terrified of him, with Mike asking Donny, “Is it just Lou, or is he here too?” When Donny says he doesn’t see “him”, but “he’s” surely around, Mike’s expression is cringing, unbridled fright. Donny then decides they should run for it, a decision that gets Mike shot while Donny then abandons him.
It’s interesting to note how convinced Donny is that Ginger is around despite not seeing him. It could simply be that Donny knows Ginger is a bulldog who will never give up on catching those who have betrayed him and taken the diamond for themselves. But additionally, perhaps Donny knows that Ginger and Lou are really quite inseparable. Where one is, the other is also likely to be.
Ginger shoots Mike and threatens him later, but a key question is, Does Mike fear Ginger because of things he sees, or things he does not see?
The shooting is the only major act of violence Ginger commits in the episode. He elbows the lifeguard and pushes him to the soft ground not far below, and he fires on the moving RV, but the former doesn’t cause serious injury and the latter is when he is desperate not to let go of the lead to the diamond that they have finally tracked down. He tried to get the RV to pull over without violence before resorting to trying to force its halt.
It would seem that Ginger’s normal state of mind is utter and complete calmness and smoothness, such as how he holds a gun on Stephen Kalifer and threatens him with a smile. He only snaps when he has absolutely had enough. Mike’s real fear may be either in wondering what he does when Mike doesn’t see or in not knowing what will set him off. Or both. Or possibly it’s more that Mike knows Ginger won’t let anything stand in his way, whether it’s one of his beloved overcoats or Mike himself. It’s always the quiet ones.
Ginger doesn’t appear to be psychotic or insane, nor are his smiles the disturbing smiles of a madman who is gleefully enjoying his work. He smiles to put on a façade of politeness and congeniality and fires his gun when he is furious or desperate. He is never seen doing it just for satisfaction or pleasure.
Around Lou and Mike, Ginger never applies one of his facades. They see his true personality—the cold, matter-of-fact fellow determined to get what they came for. With Mike, whom Ginger clearly dislikes, he probably doesn’t care if Mike sees his true nature. Perhaps he wants it so that Mike will know all the more he has reason to be afraid. With Lou, they are arguably long-time partners if not friends. They have to trust and rely on each other. Ginger does both with Lou, albeit he is sometimes a passenger driver making commentary on how Lou drives.
Ginger seems to be very good with numbers and memorization; when Lou exaggerates that it feels like they’ve searched a hundred camper parks, Ginger flatly says, “37.”
He is a very quirky fellow who insists on always wearing an overcoat, but keeps it draped over his shoulders instead of putting his arms through the sleeves. And his weapon of choice seems to be a shotgun, even though he also has a handgun at the ready.
Interestingly, while both he and Lou are snazzy dressers, it’s Lou who actually seems more pristine and concerned about cleanliness. Lou always wears a three-piece suit, whereas in Ginger’s first scene he doesn’t have a vest and his suit coat seems rather sloppily buttoned. There is also how Ginger drops his overcoat on the floor when it’s in his way, while Lou seems repulsed by sand. Alternately, however, while Ginger doesn’t mind traveling over sand, he certainly isn’t about to get down in it.
Lou also has an apparent affinity for men’s jewelry; in the lifeguard scene he is wearing a gold chain bracelet and a silver ring. Ginger doesn’t seem to share this interest.
Lou is a curious mixture—an intelligent New York tough guy who usually has pretty good grammar, but can slip to bad grammar when he’s excited. He isn’t afraid to let Ginger know when he doesn’t like something, but he also knows when to be quiet. He’s very capable of being the muscle, as shown when he helps intimidate the lifeguard, but he doesn’t entirely seem to like this ability.
Mike and Donny aren’t apparently afraid of Lou, as Mike asks Donny if it’s “just” Lou who’s there. And Lou certainly doesn’t seem to be someone for them to fear, as Lou rants about Mike’s betrayal with Donny but shows no inclination to want him to actually suffer. While the script says that Lou is grudging when he asks how Mike is feeling after the rant, in the episode he shows definite, genuine concern and love for his brother—a very good change and one that Luke Andreas pulls off beautifully.
During the lifeguard scene, Lou looks a bit like he’s smirking when he first grabs the lifeguard, but he quickly shows that he doesn’t like the task. By the time he releases the lifeguard, he practically flings the guy away, showing distaste. The lifeguard is a lecherous creep, but Lou doesn’t know that, so he has no reason to dislike the guy. He looks like he simply doesn’t like hurting people—and probably doesn’t like kneeling in the sand, either. Lou looks unhappy about going across the beach from the moment he and Ginger start out. And the way he lets go of the lifeguard and gets up with his hands outstretched and the fingers slightly curled could be an indication that he feels repulsed by the sand everywhere as well as what he was doing in it.
This is very different from Syl, another character played by Luke Andreas. While Lou displays some similar traits, including serving as the muscle, expressing dislike of plans, and being the voice of reason, the most glaring difference between them is that in his first episodes, Syl has a sadistic streak. He enjoys watching his hitman friend Tony Gagglio intimidating a female witness and laughs when he remembers how Tony attacked a bookie with a hammer until the guy was dead.
Even with Lou’s slight smirk when he first grabs the lifeguard, he seems worlds apart from Syl. He soon shows he doesn’t like his task. And he doesn’t seem to be the type to laugh over misery inflicted. He never once laughs at anything Ginger does or that they’re both doing. Instead, even though he wants the diamond too, he seems worried by a lot of their actions. He’s more mature than Syl, at least until Syl gains the same maturity in a later episode. Lou seems to be a gentle soul at heart.
One has to wonder what he’s even doing living a criminal life. From his often-reluctant behavior throughout the episode, he seems as though he would be perfectly content going straight. The only indication to the contrary is when he talks of how he, Ginger, Mike, and Donny “worked so hard to steal” the diamond and now Mike and Donny have tried to “ace” him and Ginger “out of the profits.” Despite wanting the diamond back, he seems to feel that Ginger is taking the loss too hard and that they would be better off leaving it alone and getting away.
So does he really want the diamond back so badly that he’s willing to go along with Ginger’s plans, despite not always liking them? Perhaps he feels that he and Mike are in too deep to quit now. It’s unlikely that Ginger has threatened Lou to force him to stay. Ginger seems to just believe Lou will stay, and Lou certainly indicates likewise. From Lou’s personality, if threatened he would likely either not take it at all or take it but show visible resentment and anger. Instead, even when he doesn’t like Ginger’s plans and protests, he usually seems resigned to go along with Ginger anyway and doesn’t ever show anger towards Ginger except after the shooting.
It could be that he’s more into the criminal lifestyle than he appears, at least where it comes to stealing and selling jewels. Or it may be some of that but also that he doesn’t want to abandon Ginger. Loyalty is important to him, judging from his upset and hurt over Mike’s betrayal. He isn’t the type to follow Mike’s example.
Conclusion
So we have a wild card who’s capable of snapping and being very violent when pushed too far and a strongman who would much rather live peacefully. What keeps them united?
Their shared interest in the diamond, certainly. Ginger definitely isn’t forcing Lou to stay with him, as Tony does to Syl in their last episode. Lou is gentle, but tough. He will not be forced. He has shown he isn’t afraid to stand up to Ginger.
Their personalities seem to clash. Sometimes they argue. And yet they stay together. It could just be they want the diamond so badly that they’re willing to work through any conflicts to get it. Or it could be that the diamond is just the latest in a long series of capers and they’ve been though many ups and downs together. It could be that each finds the other to be the best option for what they need in stealing jewels. Or it could be that a bond much stronger than greed keeps them together. It could be that they’re friends.
The episode leaves things open-ended enough that just about any conclusion can be drawn that the viewer wishes. I prefer to see them as friends and have been writing a long series of stories about their adventures following their release from prison. I have it that their time in prison brought them even closer together and made Ginger open up more, although he hasn’t lost his edge and is still a force to be reckoned with. And if anyone tries to hurt Lou, look out.
By Lucky_Ladybug
Introduction
Ginger Townsend and Lou Trevino are characters from a season 4 episode of The Rockford Files entitled The Queen of Peru. They are jewel thieves, with Ginger as the cold and dangerous leader and Lou as his wheelman and sometimes-enforcer. There is no actual dialogue between them to show without a doubt that they are more than just partners in crime, so we must turn to subtext and silent signals.
They are very different in personality. While Ginger is an aloof British man who can be charming when he wants to and vicious when his temper runs out, Lou is alternately quiet and talkative, becoming frustrated over little things but never absolutely exploding with rage. Although Lou seems to disagree with Ginger on some of his methods, and isn’t afraid to outright say so, he doesn’t ever abandon Ginger or even threaten to do so. In turn, Ginger can be critical, yet seems to believe Lou will stay faithful.
I have both read the script and repeatedly watched the episode. The script feels very flat in comparison to the filmed episode, largely thanks to the wonderful acting by Christopher Cary as Ginger and Luke Andreas as Lou. They bring the characters to life, giving them expressions and quirks and vocal tones that the script just can’t convey. And it’s mainly the filmed episode that has the meatiest evidence for their possible friendship.
The first time we see them is in a parking garage. Two others working with them on their caper, one of who is Lou’s brother, betray them and are trying to escape. The two express no fear of Lou, but are both terrified of Ginger. And apparently with good reason—Ginger shoots the brother when he tries to run.
Here we arrive at the dilemma of what happens next. A sub-question is whether Lou cares about his brother Mike, even after the betrayal. If he does, how can he continue to want to be around Ginger? And if he doesn’t, why does he keep Mike around?
Lou certainly seems to care. When Mike is first shot, Lou gets out of the car and rushes to his side. Upon Ginger’s approach, Lou looks up and says, “I think Mike’s dead.” While the script describes him as shaken, the anger is obvious in his face and eyes and voice in the episode.
Later on, Lou rants about Mike’s betrayal, clearly upset and hurt by it and indicates an understanding for why Ginger might possibly want to just leave Mike behind because of it. But once Lou has the ranting out of his system, he turns to the wounded Mike in the back seat and looks concerned as he asks, “So how is it?” Mike tries to be optimistic and says, “Actually, I think I feel better today,” and Lou turns away, shaking his head and looking sad. He knows Mike is badly hurt.
Still later, Lou shows that even after the betrayal, he still wants to include Mike in their plans and asks Mike what he thinks they should do to try to get the diamond back.
At the end of the episode, when they’re all captured, Jim Rockford asks National Guard soldier Stephen Kalifer how Mike is. Lou remains slumped over their upside-down car, tired and discouraged after their failure. But as soon as Kalifer says that Mike will be okay, Lou perks right up. It’s adorable and unscripted and shows just how much Luke Andreas really gets into the minds of his characters.
Perhaps Lou is only staying with Ginger because he wants his share of the profits from selling the diamond. There is nothing to fully indicate this could not be case. But there is also nothing to fully indicate that it is. What if Lou stays because seriously hurting Mike wasn’t actually what Ginger was trying to do and Lou is willing to try to forgive him?
Ginger angrily fires at Mike and the other betrayer, Donny Waugh, with a shotgun. Later, he matter-of-factly threatens Mike while they’re sitting in the car (albeit we honestly don’t know if he would go through with it). He also becomes irritated when Mike is coughing. Definitely, he is furious about the betrayal and Mike is not one of his favorite people.
Nevertheless, he does do something curious. When Lou expresses concern that Mike is dead, Ginger stiffens for a split-second before barking to get him in the car. For whatever reason, Ginger had not planned to kill and is upset by the news.
The most logical explanation is that he wanted Mike alive to tell what was done with the diamond. Hence, he may have been trying to make Mike stop, perhaps intending to graze him with the gun or hitting near him but not actually hitting him. But there’s nothing to say it isn’t also possible that he didn’t want to kill Mike because he’s Lou’s brother and Ginger wouldn’t want to hurt Lou that way.
It’s even slightly possible that Ginger has never killed and has only used guns for intimidation and warnings and making people stop, and is upset to think that he might have killed anyone. He handles his guns so expertly and is so cold to Mike that this doesn’t seem very possible. But without any outright proof that it isn’t true, it still remains one explanation worth considering as to why Lou stays with him.
So what about Mike? If Lou cares, and Ginger didn’t want to kill, how do they try to keep Mike alive? The episode itself doesn’t say. The script has a few lines of dialogue that show that Ginger and Lou tried to doctor Mike themselves after the shooting (which is kind of cute even though not practical). Ginger doesn’t feel that they can take him to a hospital because too many questions will be asked. But since this was removed from the filmed version, we don’t know that it’s for certain what was done.
It’s also possible that they took him to a crooked doctor who wouldn’t report the shooting. This seems more logical if Lou cares about his brother, but since all of these characters have more or less a criminal mindset, it’s also possible that Lou would have agreed to try to doctor Mike himself due to not wanting detection from the police.
Also interesting is the fact that even after the betrayal, they’re still keeping Mike with them at all. Perhaps it’s Lou’s influence, not wanting Ginger to “dump him out on the road,” as Mike is terrified of. Perhaps Ginger doesn’t want to let go of Mike because dead or alive, his wounded presence will start an investigation and make it worse for them. He may also think Mike can still tell them something useful. And perhaps, since Ginger hadn’t wanted to kill Mike, he might not in actual fact want to do anything else cruel to him, in spite of his threats. Mike is sure Ginger means what he says, but I’m not at all sure he does.
In the end, however, we only know two things for sure: Lou does care about Mike in spite of the betrayal, and Ginger had not intended to kill him.
Ginger is clearly the leader in their plans, and often Lou will let him lead without protest, following him and doing what Ginger wants of him. Other times Lou will strongly object. Lou seems to know when to speak and when to stay quiet or back off.
The day following the shooting, Ginger gets out of their car and heads towards the police station to make an inquiry. Lou asks where he’s going and if he’s sure he doesn’t want Lou to come. Upon receiving a silent stare as an answer, Lou relents and replies, “You’ve got it covered, huh, Buddy?” and gets back in the car to wait.
The script indicates that this is not a usual occurrence and that Lou is fretting over Ginger’s silence. The episode gives no real indication one way or the other, although Lou does look worried when he gets in the car. Ginger might go into states of silence only when he is boiling under the surface and is trying not to lose his temper. Or it might be a more frequent happening, just part of his usual personality. Either way, Lou knows when to stop talking and just let Ginger be.
Also quite possibly telling is that Lou calls him “Buddy.” It’s true that it’s become a casual term to throw around even by people who aren’t close at all, but with their personalities and the context of the situation, it’s more likely that Lou meant it. He knows Ginger is a wild card and will snap if pushed. And he knows when to back off. If he said “Buddy” insincerely, Ginger might very well not like it. Lou is trying to defuse a potentially concerning situation. Hence, he might call Ginger “Buddy” because that’s exactly what he is. Lou might hope that if Ginger is upset, calling back to their friendship could sooth the savage beast, so to speak.
Later, they begin having a spell of car trouble and the engine refuses to turn over. Ginger flatly says, “Don’t flood it.” Instead of accepting that as the truth of what’s happening, Lou immediately shoots back, “I’m not flooding it! I don’t even have my foot on the gas pedal!” The car continues to refuse cooperation, and Ginger insists, “You are flooding it,” still speaking in the same matter-of-fact tone while staring ahead. Lou presses his lips together tightly to keep from exploding in frustration and continues wrestling with the car.
We don’t know if Lou really was flooding the engine or if he was telling the truth. In any case, the car never did cooperate and they had to get a different one. Up to that point, it had been a whitish-silver color. After this scene, it’s blue.
The most important things about the scene are: 1, Lou isn’t afraid to speak up when he really doesn’t like Ginger’s comments or actions (as also shown earlier when he is angry over the shooting), and 2, The actors’ delivery of the lines makes it sound like they have argued like this before, that they know each other well and are having a petty disagreement, like many friends and family members do. The very fact that Ginger doesn’t even bother to look over indicates that Lou may be notorious for flooding the engine in the past and Ginger is positive it’s happening again.
The scene on the beach, where they interrogate a lifeguard, is also an intriguing one. They don’t have to speak to each other to know what is wanted. As soon as Ginger asks if he can go up on the lifeguard stand, Lou walks off to the side, knowing exactly what Ginger is up to. The lifeguard isn’t being forthcoming with free information and Ginger has no intention of paying. Suddenly he elbows the guy and sends him off the stand several feet to the ground. Lou promptly jumps into action, grabbing the lifeguard by the hair while Ginger questions him. At the conclusion, Ginger silently signals Lou with his eyes to come. Lou leaves the guy alone and gets up to follow Ginger.
Lou again expresses dislike of one of Ginger’s plans when Ginger decides they have to go through every camper park looking for the RV that last had the diamond. As the voice of reason, Lou thinks it’s an impossible task and asks Mike for his opinion, but Mike is unable to focus on the question. Ginger says, “There is no simple way. None.” And they go through with Ginger’s plan, eventually investigating 37 parks before finding the camper on the freeway.
Lou is the first to notice it and tells Ginger, who replies, “Well, use your loaf! Turn around!” Again Lou presses his lips into a thin line. This is not something he likes being told, either. But instead of arguing this time, he does as wanted and turns around without protest. They both want the diamond back, although Ginger is more obsessive about it. After the driver of the RV refuses to pull over, Ginger tells Lou to fall back and he will try to shoot a tire to force the vehicle to stop. Lou complies.
The end of the episode, when they’re captured after Jim Rockford overturns their car, brings one final and unscripted bit of frustration from Ginger. He exclaims, “I told you not to cut the wheel, didn’t I?!” Lou doesn’t answer. Again it sounds like something a friend or family member might say when arguing with another. Ginger sounds exasperated rather than furious, as he did when Mike and Donny betrayed them and tried to run. And it’s the only time he actually snaps at Lou for something Lou has or has not done; earlier, when he yells for Lou to get Mike in the car, he is upset about the betrayal and the shooting and not at Lou. And when he is irritated about the flooding of the engine and later thinks Lou should think more carefully about what he’s doing, he doesn’t raise his voice.
Since Ginger is capable of absolutely exploding with rage, as he does concerning the betrayal, it’s curious that his reaction to capture is mere exasperation. Perhaps he’s just worn-out and resigned, as Lou is. Or perhaps he can’t bring himself to be too angry with Lou. With Mike, yes, but not Lou.
Is Ginger often critical of Lou? We have three canon instances: the supposed flooding of the car engine, Ginger basically telling Lou to use his head via Cockney rhyming slang, and one final, frustrated snap when they’re captured. One time Lou protests and two times he doesn’t, but both of the earlier times he is clearly not pleased. The third time he is too worn-out to reply.
It may be something he puts up with a lot. Or maybe Ginger is only that way when hell-bent on a quest. That is really the only way we see Ginger; we don’t know what he’s like at other times. If Lou stays with him for friendship and not only profit, there must be value in him that Lou sees. Unlike fellow Rockford criminal Tony Gagglio, Lou doesn’t seem wanting for companionship and be desperate enough to have it that he will do anything either to keep it or to force his friend to stay with him. Lou seems to be levelheaded and mentally balanced.
Ginger, too, doesn’t seem to be like Tony. If anything, he may be taking Lou for granted, believing that there’s no need to force Lou to remain and that for whatever reason, Lou will stay of his own free will, no matter what Ginger says or does.
Will Lou ever get completely fed up? That is a question the episode does not answer. It’s possible that by the episode’s end he is heading in that direction. Alternately, if he and Ginger have any problems between them, they may be able to patch them up and stay together. The episode certainly hints that they’ve been through more adventures than only this one.
With a name like Ginger, even though it initially might elicit a few giggles, this fellow can’t be a pushover. While a given name for girls, it has been given as a nickname to certain men, and none of those men—a baseball player, a wrestler, and a motorcycle racer, to name a few—could ever be considered pushovers.
The question remains as to whether it’s a nickname for Mr. Townsend or possibly a given name. It isn’t impossible that it could be a given name, considering all the far stranger names people are bestowing on their offspring these days. And the script indicates that Ginger may not like nicknames, as he refuses to address Lou’s brother as anything other than Michael. (In the episode, he doesn’t address Mike by name at all.) Of course, that could also simply be showing that Ginger does not feel close enough to Mike or like him enough to consider calling him something so informal. Or all of the above could be true at once.
One curious thing about the name is that when given as a nickname, it is of course generally to people with red hair. Ginger’s hair is very blond and was always going to be blond; the script describes him in great physical detail, right down to the blond hair. So what was the real reason the name was chosen for the character? Outside of contacting writer David Chase (yes, the David Chase), there is likely no way to know. But when thinking of the name as fitting someone who is spunky, defiant, unique, and determined, it’s perfect.
Ginger is described as having a working-class British accent. What, exactly, does this entail? It indicates that perhaps he originated from a poorer walk of life. It’s possible that he can’t stand being poor and that now that he’s somehow managed to become fairly well-off (either through legal or illegal channels, or both), he cannot bear to give it up. That could help to explain his near-obsession with recovering the diamond.
As far as his speech pattern is concerned, while he retains some of the vernacular of his old neighborhood, overall his choice of words is nowhere as colorful as his counterpart Dutch Ingram, another Rockford character played by Christopher Cary. The easy-going Dutch embodies more of the more well-known speech stereotypes of working-class British characters, whereas Ginger, despite the occasional insertion of improper grammar or British curses or Cockney rhyming slang, seems to prefer to mainly speak in a less informal and more educated manner. He is colorful in other ways.
Ginger is a very quiet sort, able to intimidate while not raising his voice or even while smiling. The script describes him as a small man who is still able to command respect and even fear, which is certainly shown in the episode. Both Mike and Donny are terrified of him, with Mike asking Donny, “Is it just Lou, or is he here too?” When Donny says he doesn’t see “him”, but “he’s” surely around, Mike’s expression is cringing, unbridled fright. Donny then decides they should run for it, a decision that gets Mike shot while Donny then abandons him.
It’s interesting to note how convinced Donny is that Ginger is around despite not seeing him. It could simply be that Donny knows Ginger is a bulldog who will never give up on catching those who have betrayed him and taken the diamond for themselves. But additionally, perhaps Donny knows that Ginger and Lou are really quite inseparable. Where one is, the other is also likely to be.
Ginger shoots Mike and threatens him later, but a key question is, Does Mike fear Ginger because of things he sees, or things he does not see?
The shooting is the only major act of violence Ginger commits in the episode. He elbows the lifeguard and pushes him to the soft ground not far below, and he fires on the moving RV, but the former doesn’t cause serious injury and the latter is when he is desperate not to let go of the lead to the diamond that they have finally tracked down. He tried to get the RV to pull over without violence before resorting to trying to force its halt.
It would seem that Ginger’s normal state of mind is utter and complete calmness and smoothness, such as how he holds a gun on Stephen Kalifer and threatens him with a smile. He only snaps when he has absolutely had enough. Mike’s real fear may be either in wondering what he does when Mike doesn’t see or in not knowing what will set him off. Or both. Or possibly it’s more that Mike knows Ginger won’t let anything stand in his way, whether it’s one of his beloved overcoats or Mike himself. It’s always the quiet ones.
Ginger doesn’t appear to be psychotic or insane, nor are his smiles the disturbing smiles of a madman who is gleefully enjoying his work. He smiles to put on a façade of politeness and congeniality and fires his gun when he is furious or desperate. He is never seen doing it just for satisfaction or pleasure.
Around Lou and Mike, Ginger never applies one of his facades. They see his true personality—the cold, matter-of-fact fellow determined to get what they came for. With Mike, whom Ginger clearly dislikes, he probably doesn’t care if Mike sees his true nature. Perhaps he wants it so that Mike will know all the more he has reason to be afraid. With Lou, they are arguably long-time partners if not friends. They have to trust and rely on each other. Ginger does both with Lou, albeit he is sometimes a passenger driver making commentary on how Lou drives.
Ginger seems to be very good with numbers and memorization; when Lou exaggerates that it feels like they’ve searched a hundred camper parks, Ginger flatly says, “37.”
He is a very quirky fellow who insists on always wearing an overcoat, but keeps it draped over his shoulders instead of putting his arms through the sleeves. And his weapon of choice seems to be a shotgun, even though he also has a handgun at the ready.
Interestingly, while both he and Lou are snazzy dressers, it’s Lou who actually seems more pristine and concerned about cleanliness. Lou always wears a three-piece suit, whereas in Ginger’s first scene he doesn’t have a vest and his suit coat seems rather sloppily buttoned. There is also how Ginger drops his overcoat on the floor when it’s in his way, while Lou seems repulsed by sand. Alternately, however, while Ginger doesn’t mind traveling over sand, he certainly isn’t about to get down in it.
Lou also has an apparent affinity for men’s jewelry; in the lifeguard scene he is wearing a gold chain bracelet and a silver ring. Ginger doesn’t seem to share this interest.
Lou is a curious mixture—an intelligent New York tough guy who usually has pretty good grammar, but can slip to bad grammar when he’s excited. He isn’t afraid to let Ginger know when he doesn’t like something, but he also knows when to be quiet. He’s very capable of being the muscle, as shown when he helps intimidate the lifeguard, but he doesn’t entirely seem to like this ability.
Mike and Donny aren’t apparently afraid of Lou, as Mike asks Donny if it’s “just” Lou who’s there. And Lou certainly doesn’t seem to be someone for them to fear, as Lou rants about Mike’s betrayal with Donny but shows no inclination to want him to actually suffer. While the script says that Lou is grudging when he asks how Mike is feeling after the rant, in the episode he shows definite, genuine concern and love for his brother—a very good change and one that Luke Andreas pulls off beautifully.
During the lifeguard scene, Lou looks a bit like he’s smirking when he first grabs the lifeguard, but he quickly shows that he doesn’t like the task. By the time he releases the lifeguard, he practically flings the guy away, showing distaste. The lifeguard is a lecherous creep, but Lou doesn’t know that, so he has no reason to dislike the guy. He looks like he simply doesn’t like hurting people—and probably doesn’t like kneeling in the sand, either. Lou looks unhappy about going across the beach from the moment he and Ginger start out. And the way he lets go of the lifeguard and gets up with his hands outstretched and the fingers slightly curled could be an indication that he feels repulsed by the sand everywhere as well as what he was doing in it.
This is very different from Syl, another character played by Luke Andreas. While Lou displays some similar traits, including serving as the muscle, expressing dislike of plans, and being the voice of reason, the most glaring difference between them is that in his first episodes, Syl has a sadistic streak. He enjoys watching his hitman friend Tony Gagglio intimidating a female witness and laughs when he remembers how Tony attacked a bookie with a hammer until the guy was dead.
Even with Lou’s slight smirk when he first grabs the lifeguard, he seems worlds apart from Syl. He soon shows he doesn’t like his task. And he doesn’t seem to be the type to laugh over misery inflicted. He never once laughs at anything Ginger does or that they’re both doing. Instead, even though he wants the diamond too, he seems worried by a lot of their actions. He’s more mature than Syl, at least until Syl gains the same maturity in a later episode. Lou seems to be a gentle soul at heart.
One has to wonder what he’s even doing living a criminal life. From his often-reluctant behavior throughout the episode, he seems as though he would be perfectly content going straight. The only indication to the contrary is when he talks of how he, Ginger, Mike, and Donny “worked so hard to steal” the diamond and now Mike and Donny have tried to “ace” him and Ginger “out of the profits.” Despite wanting the diamond back, he seems to feel that Ginger is taking the loss too hard and that they would be better off leaving it alone and getting away.
So does he really want the diamond back so badly that he’s willing to go along with Ginger’s plans, despite not always liking them? Perhaps he feels that he and Mike are in too deep to quit now. It’s unlikely that Ginger has threatened Lou to force him to stay. Ginger seems to just believe Lou will stay, and Lou certainly indicates likewise. From Lou’s personality, if threatened he would likely either not take it at all or take it but show visible resentment and anger. Instead, even when he doesn’t like Ginger’s plans and protests, he usually seems resigned to go along with Ginger anyway and doesn’t ever show anger towards Ginger except after the shooting.
It could be that he’s more into the criminal lifestyle than he appears, at least where it comes to stealing and selling jewels. Or it may be some of that but also that he doesn’t want to abandon Ginger. Loyalty is important to him, judging from his upset and hurt over Mike’s betrayal. He isn’t the type to follow Mike’s example.
So we have a wild card who’s capable of snapping and being very violent when pushed too far and a strongman who would much rather live peacefully. What keeps them united?
Their shared interest in the diamond, certainly. Ginger definitely isn’t forcing Lou to stay with him, as Tony does to Syl in their last episode. Lou is gentle, but tough. He will not be forced. He has shown he isn’t afraid to stand up to Ginger.
Their personalities seem to clash. Sometimes they argue. And yet they stay together. It could just be they want the diamond so badly that they’re willing to work through any conflicts to get it. Or it could be that the diamond is just the latest in a long series of capers and they’ve been though many ups and downs together. It could be that each finds the other to be the best option for what they need in stealing jewels. Or it could be that a bond much stronger than greed keeps them together. It could be that they’re friends.
The episode leaves things open-ended enough that just about any conclusion can be drawn that the viewer wishes. I prefer to see them as friends and have been writing a long series of stories about their adventures following their release from prison. I have it that their time in prison brought them even closer together and made Ginger open up more, although he hasn’t lost his edge and is still a force to be reckoned with. And if anyone tries to hurt Lou, look out.
