Thinking
about the excellent television specimen that is Kings naturally lead me to think about this character. In a show populated with complex,
richly-drawn people, Jack is maybe the most interesting to watch.
The
only son of King Silas, Jack couldn’t be too much further from his biblical
counterpoint. While the Jonathan of the
Old Testament is defined by his love for David and the endless, selfless aid he
gives his friend in difficult times, Jack isn’t exactly a big David fan. At every turn, the new golden boy of Gilboa
seems to undermine Jack’s already-tenuous position – he comes seemingly out of
nowhere to gain the people’s acclaim, coveted military posts, and the heart of
Jack’s sister Michelle (who could
potentially succeed their father on the throne, depending on Silas’s whim.)
As
such, Jack feels threatened by David, and various points of the season find him
at odds with everyone’s favorite hero.
His desperate attempts to outshine David often come frustratingly to
nothing, and his unsure claim on the future crown leaves him vicious and
bitter. But then, Jack has a lot to feel
vicious and bitter about. Despite the
skirt-chasing antics Jack performs for the paparazzi, Silas knows about his
secret boyfriend. He tells Jack in no
uncertain terms that, if he wants to be king, he “cannot be what God made [him]”
and has to cut Joseph out of his heart.
In
other words, Jack has been living with the pressure of staying closeted when he’s
the most photographed eligible bachelor in Gilboa, his own father calls him a
disgrace (literally, “disgrace” is the word he uses – it’s disgusting,) he’s
forced to give up the man he loves in order to become what he’s been wanted
since birth, and some aw-shucks kid from the sticks has just breezed into town,
seemingly replacing him before his eyes.
Jack is “fighting for [his] right to exist,” and given his moral
upbringing at the Machiavellian hand of Silas, this leads him to do some
unscrupulous and downright despicable things.
He’s a
great character because there are so many forces at work in him. He’s frequently self-serving, and that often
expresses itself in at least borderline villainy, but over the course of the
season, he also grows and makes small steps toward being a truer person (it has
to be said that these steps forward are usually followed by three or four steps
backward – Jack will be Jack.) He’s a
character forever in flux, and he always brings good drama. On the more sympathetic side, his moments of
pain and self-loathing are almost shockingly searing, and the show, to its
credit, deftly makes sure that they explain his behavior without justifying it
I
remember when the show first aired, rumblings were made online about the tired
insensitively of the only gay main character being nefarious. However, while a good portion of Jack’s anger
and mistrustfulness comes from feeling forced to live a lie, there’s no
indication that his sexuality makes him inherently immoral. Other characters make sneering remarks about
his “boys,” insinuating something dirty in his orientation, when in actually, he
wants nothing more than his loving monogamous relationship. Furthermore, as the series goes on, we see
that Jack’s love for Joseph is perhaps his best chance for redemption. The romantic scenes between them give us our
most genuine look at Jack, and his bravest and most altruistic actions come as
a response to Joseph, “the only real thing [he] ever touched.” I really appreciate that.
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