[SPOILERS
for the later seasons of Bernice Summerfield and the eventual fate of
Jason Kane.]
Listening to
these old Bernice Summerfield audios the last few days I've
remembered how much I adore the audio version of Jason Kane. Back in
the day when he was a character in the novels I never really cared
for him. He was introduced rather quickly a whole book before
marrying Bernice in what was meant to be her departure from the
series. The publisher then lost the Doctor Who license and decided
Benny needed to get divorced or risk being an uninteresting
protagonist because...
Well,
because the misogynist belief that marriage is somehow the death of
all fun in a person's life, that's fucking why. Seriously, how is
this a mainstream attitude to marriage and yet so many straight
people want to keep the institution all to themselves?
Anyway,
Jason and why I adore him.
I love his
relationship with Bernice, the on-again off-again thing they have
going for them that even when its on isn't 100% exclusive. That,
Virgin Publishing, is how you allow yourselves to have the
interesting character relationship of marriage (and it is interesting
if you allow it to be) and still have on-off and temporary love
interests when it'll serve the story.
I love that
he is an absolute chancer always out to make a buck but with a heart
of gold. During the occupation storyline and the brilliant short
story collection Life During Wartime
which was about the only Bernice Big Finish novel I ever read, he
appears to have sided with Axis and become a collaborator.
Eventually, though, it turns out he's been using his position to
smuggle food out to an underground railroad for the Collection's
children.
One
thing I will say that actually encompasses the novel version of Jason
is that I appreciate the attempt to portray a male survivor of child
abuse. It rarely landed with any author besides Paul Cornell and Kate
Orman but the effort was there to portray the character with
sensitivity and reference to how he still deals with the memories as
an adult.
That
said, I don't think anyone ever addressed the fate of his sister.
Anyway,
the reason for this post is I know that Jason is going to die. I know
vaguely how it happens, even, since I picked up the box set series of
Bernice Summerfield. I know this character I like is on borrowed time
as I barrel through his remaining appearances.
That
said, if they ever actually address the bloody cliffhanger from
Missing Persons we
might yet hear from him again.
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