Sunject: sexy geekiness

It's a hot button topic at Wheaton's blog today. And I have two cents to throw in. of course we all know the thing I've always had for Mac Gyver. Cute. Geek. Humminna humminna humminna. Add to that the Pretender Jarod. Working on digesting the first two seasons. There was a lot in that show that I missed the first time. Obviously Michael T. Weiss is gorgeous. But he is talented enough to get you passed what he looks like in whatever capacity Jarod espouses for an episode and into the heart of the topic. It would be a good show no matter who you put there because what really stands out is the writing. Especially of you are a geek.
The first episode that I could watch [technical difficulties have been addressed but it was painful to experience at the time] Jarod's persona was a Dr. Holmes. The Way he played it was rather like a grown up Doogie Houser without the "I'm all that" 'tude. Dr. Jarod was trying to find out who and how a patient was killed. Can you say Sherlock? I remembered noticing that when I saw the episode on TV. ButI wasn't always submerged in the plot to pick up all the geek. So now I'm watching for stuff like that.
Firefighter: O'Leary [I can here ACG groan]
Cop: Starr (short for Starsky?)
Pilot: Cocheran
Romance novelist: Heart

I got so into the plot that I forgot to pay attention for as many episodes as I've seen. I've go back and make a compendium. The one that has me stumped is Cocheran. The only "popular" aviator/aerospace pilot I know of is Zepheram Cocheran, engineer of the Pheonix rocket that brough Earth and Vulcan together for the first time. The only way this could be where the reference lies is if the writers were Trek geeks.Of course some one gave him the LL&P thing and Jarod didn't know what it was.
That' the kind of thing. Jarod is always leaving clues for hte people who are hunting him. Then he has to puzzle out the thing itself and then the third puzzle is always how his training fits with what he has been doing in his persona. So the subtleties are easily lost when one is trying to get into the show.
But then there is Jarod's personality. Jarod has all the innocence of a child as he is experiencing for the first time all the things we take for granted. For instance, it took him a whole espisode(6 Jarod days) to figure out the relationship between Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat. But he can be whatever he needs to be to help someone. Jarod is a genious- translate uber ubergeek. Jarod has compassion and a sense of guilt because he feels like all the bad things that happen in the world are his fault. And for someone who was used the way Jarod was, sadly, they probably are.
its a great show with characters that grow and develop over time. In Jarod's case, the more he learns about the world the more he feels for those who are victimised by the upper eschelon. That may be the most unrealistic aspect of the show. He has no fancy car like Stingray. And like MacGyver, his most dangerous weapon is his mind. Jarod, being separted from the world for his entire life, is an innocent wiht the uncanny ability to understand evil. I think that makes him one of the scarriest good guys I've ever seen.