#totally not distracting myself from existential dread by analyzing media

[greencheekconure27]

I will try to formulate this better at some later point in time, but:

One of the things I love about Artful Dodger is that they could've very easily looked at the character concept and made Jack Dawkins into a Dr. Asshole a la Gregory House* but they just ... didn't.

The first surgery scene already subverts it.

He may be a snarky, cynical not-so-former thief and an adrenaline junkie, but he's never a jerk to his actual patients (with the brief exception of Sneed after the duel) and is in fact protective of them.

If anything he reminds me more of Dr.McCoy.

And I love it all the more because of his contrast with Belle. Belle who while very well-meaning has a tendency to forget about the patient as a person vs. a steppingstone in the advancement of medical science (which in a way includes herself as well). See their respective reactions to Rotty's surgery or Charlie's infection.

Jack is compassionate and pragmatic and has a greater appreciation for the preciousness of life I think but also has a tendency to settle for less because of this and his past life experiences, whereas Belle is innovative and has excellent theoretical knowledge but has a tendency to rush things in the name of progress.And I think this urgency and ambition and need for distance is also a byproduct of her growing awareness of her own condition and the limited time she has left.

(* and I'm saying this as someone who likes House MD)