Question about Covenant

[Who Am I?]

I'm not a seasoned member of the boards, in fact this is my first post - but yeah, that's something I've been wondering myself...

The way I see it, William Garry felt guilty because he had been unfaithful (probably only one night, but it was enough to tear his family apart). Mrs Garry blamed herself for her husband's transgression and began to see the world around her as ugly and tainted. She came to the final, horrible conclusion that she had to 'save' her 'angels' from the ugly world when she fell pregnant again to her husband. It was Reilly's comment about his devotion to Garry - something along the line of 'he'd do anything for him' - and the way the character seemed to have his own guilt about the situation that lead me to believe that he was the one Garry had had the one night stand with.

Though you know, I think the writers deliberately left the ending open to interpretation about who had the affair and what Reilly was going to do with what he knew.

Well then, welcome to the boards. ^_^

The writers/directors of Millennium did have a habit of leaving certain things open/unresolved. I guess the 'Who is to blame' and 'Who cheated on who with who' in Covenant will just be one of those things we will all look back on in another month and start the next discussion on it...

My theory is that they both cheated on each other, but Garry did it with Reilly. In the wifey's eyes, guy on guy is a sin and she didn't want her children's minds to be besmirched by such things... Make the kids live in a proverbial bubble and when it hits the home, you would do anything...

[4th Horseman]

there is a quote from the wife saying she could not live in a world full of adulterers.....remember, a pregnancy test kit was found in the bathroom medicine closet, so she was obviously either with child or thinking she was pregnant. My interpretation is that is was NOT the wife who strayed but the husband with another woman. I dont see any implication that he had a fling with the deputy. The deputy respected and admired him because he was after all a retired policeman and was a mentor to the deputy...

4th Horseman

[Who Am I?]

But then you can interpret that the pregnancy test was hers. She could have cheated on her husband and was worried that she got pregnant with the other guy's kid!

[4th Horseman]

i would not tend to extrapolate the finding of the pregnacy test kit with the theory that it was the wife who was having an affair. When Frank interviews the marriage counselor or psychiatrist lady, it becomes pretty slam-dunk...she clearly indicates that it was not the wife who was having the affair, but would not confirm nor deny whether the husband was, so it clearly points to the husband who was noodlin' around. This issue has been discussed before in other threads and the consensus is always the same, although not as clearly defined as most of us would like or need, that the indescretion came at the hands of the husband and not the wife..

4th Horseman

[Who Am I?]

*scratches head* Maybe I should go read some more... Alright, I'm off to

*giggles* That's too cute that icon...

[Orodromeus]

I saw "Covenant" yesterday, it had been some time I hadn't seen any MM and its mood always strikes me as terrific!

I too wondered whether Garry's affair had been with Reilly. It was not the shrink's "I cannot say the same for Mr Garry" line: for me that just meant that contrary to Mrs, Mr Garry had been unfaithful -- but this did not necessarily refer to Reilly. It was Reilly's "It was one night. I know. One night." that got me thinking. How would Reilly know that it was one night only, nothing more? It sounds as if he's defending himself against an accusation made on Mr Garry. "William Garry's the best man I've ever known. There's nothing I wouldn't do for him." Granted, the respect can be purely professional but this kind of devotion could be interpreted both ways. Mr Garry's adultery would be a secret he would want to keep very close to him; Reilly knowing about it would be weird without him being implicated. And if he respects the man so much, wouldn't the knowledge of adultery be a stain on his image?

This question remains unanswered. So is the outcome of the episode, whether Reilly will vouch for Garry or not. This was a very gutsy move on 1013's behalf, it takes the concept of not nicely wrapping up storylines by the end credits to a whole new level! Leaving the question dangling on Reilly's decision to save somebody from death row or not, it also reflects back to the viewer and the moral legitimacy of the death sentence. Frank: "See, for me, it's real simple: if you like the idea of killing people, you're for it; if you hate the idea of killing people, you're against it."

PS: You know you're obsessed with 1013 when... you know the name of the guest star before his name appears in the opening credits -- John Finn (Garry) was a guest in 5 XF episodes as well!

[Guest Jim McLean]

I must confess I never saw this as a point of topic (though I am interested it is!). To me there is no doubt it was Reilly and Garry. It's the reveal that explains the whole episode and how Garry's wife's world had become so tainted. I certainly don't believe she had an affair - for the same reason as Oro points out. In a story narrative, no line is superfluous, it either dictates plot, motivation or mood. Retrospectively we are to take the cool reply of the shrink as true: the wife had done nothing.

In the end, the one night affair between Reilly and Garry sets up the emotional turmoil in all the characters including the guilt in Garry and the rather distorted reluctance in Reilly.

I agree though, the fact plot reveals itself subtly and doesn't look for a clear fire resolution makes this a very strong episode.

[BillQS]

I got the same vibe as the original poster when I first watched Covenant about Reilly being the person Garry had the affair with. On second viewing I had come to the conclusion that Garry had the affair with someone else. I always knew the wife was not an adulterer and that Mr. Garry was.

Guess, that's what I get for watching too much Torchwood and letting it color my Millennium world!

[Guest tjmasiakowski]

Guess, that's what I get for watching too much Torchwood and letting it color my Millennium world!

Haha, good one. Well, I second BillQS in that.

[Guest WaveCrest]

I resumed watching the first season of Millennium a few nights ago, with "Covenant". A very good episode, although the ending was very open-ended. Was the father saved from Death Row by the deputy?

Also, was the teaser of the episode shot differently to the rest of the episode? I remember when seeing the start of "Covenant" on ITV, that the picture quality looked softer than the previous episodes.

And was there really an 80 minute version of this episode, or was it a myth? I read something on or off the web many years ago that there were scenes filmed cut from the televised version.