Into the Fire

Some of you may remember one of my very favorite series TV programs JAG. From the first time Marine Colonel Sarah MacKenzie (Catherine Bell) was introduced we wanted to see the sparks fly between Mac and Navy pilot and JAG attorney Lt. Harmon Rabb (David James Elliot) and oh how they did ignite. As is the customary trajectory of Donald Bellisario productions, we would be teased unmercifully with their UST until the final episode of JAG when the couple arrived at a coin flip plan to be together.

It took several seasons before Castle's Kate Beckett and Rick Castle joined more than forces on their homicide solving partnerships. Their taunting and teasing mixed with some critical cases that found them trapped together created a silent bond that grew between them and finally resulted in an engagement as the couple found themselves in separate locations until Kate eventually returned to the NYPD. As they planned their wedding, the latest Season Finale ended with a fiery crash before their vows were said. And since then things are definitely different with little spark and much confusion. 

NCIS gave viewers the flippant but dedicated Tony DiNozzo stacked up with the nerdy Timothy McGee and the former no-nonsense Marine LeRoy Jethro Gibbs as their boss. When one of their agents (Kate/Caitlyn) is murdered by a sniper, Israeli Ziva David enters the scene with flash, intensity, and a low-key chemistry between her and Tony. Over time, Ziva and Tony explore moments of closeness and then withdraw until Ziva's final episode when they at long last share a meaningful expression of their feelings for each other and Tony leaves Israel without her.

What we want as we watch these characters pursue their careers and their affections is for them to experience the rush of romance and to fall in love demonstrating that onscreen chemistry isn't always easy to find with co-stars but is sensational when it happens. Included with that must be good and complex stories where their dilemmas are cast aside in order to do their jobs but never eliminated. The methodology often includes other attractions for them, creating conflicts in their relationships. The viewer wants them to be together with each other, but then what?

When the UST is resolved, the tension is released, and there is less romance between them. It's almost as if the air leaks from the balloon and the very thing we thought we wanted isn't it. Because it's very hard to pull off love when all we want to see is romance. The secrecy, the tension, the stolen moments, looks, innuendo, all cease to exist as if falling in love somehow dampens the relationship and takes all the steam out of the attraction. It takes immensely talented writers to pull off love after tantalizing audiences with romance. Love is comfortable while romance is daring. Love brings trust while romance brings intrigue.

It takes amazing writers and good actors to keep the romantic tension going when characters commit. It shouldn't but it does. Probably why romance novels tend to follow a formula with a generally happily-ever-after ending. It seems there's nothing left to say after the couple falls in love. Now that's a shame.

Father, you designed us for both romance and love but not without commitment. Let us experience what you have for us in every arena and seek after all that entails. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.