Mary Travis and Chris Larabee

Response to a couple things I’ve read about Mary and Chris particularly on the “Chris and Mary” thread. Just felt like making a separate one since there was considerable testiness on the former:

I'm not sure why folks would dislike Mary for being "high and mighty" and "self-righteous." She lived in a rough town barely tamed by, well, barely tamed gunmen hired to protect it. She actively worked for a safer, more civilized place for her son and everyone else to live in so she was outspoken and determined, or stubborn some would say. She was also brave and apparently singlehandedly ran and wrote for a newspaper she inherited. I don’t know about you but I find her admirable.

She was a match for a good yet hardened and bitter man like Chris Larabee – once he saved himself from his demons. I agree it wasn’t Mary’s place to do that. Until then, no he wasn’t planning to court or openly show any interest in Mary, a woman with whom he’d have to “settle down” and be a father to her son. To do that a man like him would have to think he was the best and healthiest person he could be because a family would deserve that; and he knew for all intents and purposes he was a broken man. There was no way he’d go near that situation any closer than he already had by casually befriending Billy. I think even that showed he did have some interest because Chris Larabee didn't do "just being nice" to random townspeople by spending social time with their kids.

He wasn’t ready to replace Sarah and Adam with Mary and Billy, but he did find Mary attractive which was made clear in the 2-part Wagon Train episode. Now some might say I’m reading into the show what I wanted to see and not what was actually there, yet the opposite could also be said of those who think that Chris was mostly indifferent to Mary. To each eye, his own; but I saw subtle signs that Chris thought There’s Something About Mary as early as the pilot episode and throughout the series.

So sure, it was easy for him to openly choose women like Maria and Ella because he didn’t have to change, which he wasn't ready or able to do yet. Maria was for sale, sexually and otherwise. One could point out that he apparently wanted to settle down with Ella. Well, he didn’t have to get rid of his demons with Ella because she was one of them – a throwback to a reckless past that fit right in with his tortured violent present. Even if she actually cared for him in a less toxic way, she wasn't going to inspire or encourage the healing he needed because she hadn't changed either. Someone to sleep with on a regular basis and a change of pace in a fine house on a nice piece of land were offerings dropped in his lap free of charge. It's not something he sought out and worked to get so he wouldn't miss it much if it all ended. Even if she didn’t have the entire sordid backstory she had plotwise, how long would Chris Larabee have played the part of Ella’s gentleman dress-up doll before he got restless and started roaming? Or spending half his time with his friends in town and doing the job again? If the show had lasted, I’d guess two episodes tops.

About Mary’s separation from Billy: Shoot-outs were a regular occurrence even with the Mag 7 there. If other people had a choice to put their kids out of harm’s way by leaving them with loving grandparents for a while, I’m sure some would and it wouldn’t make them bad parents. Why should she give up the business her son’s father worked so hard for and was killed over and with which she could support her family, just to hold Billy’s hand while he constantly had nightmares about “the devil?” Based on the story, her presence wouldn’t have stopped that anyway. It wouldn't change the effects of witnessing his father's murder and the murderer not being caught. In addition Mary would have been financially dependent on her in-laws probably until she got married again, which in that situation she would have felt pressured to do since there weren’t too many jobs available to “respectable” women out west. Personally, I’d have done what she did.

I hope no one thinks she was rude about the hookers because let's face it, their presence would take a barely civilized town back quite a few steps. Their “right” to live where they wanted is irrelevant if they were just going to continue being prostitutes. The group didn't indicate by word or behavior that they wouldn't continue and Lydia asking Mary for a job was by itself no assurance either. Personally, I think she just wanted to mess with Mary a little but more importantly she wanted to know if she was competition romantically involved with Chris. However, Mary did learn to have more compassion for the women’s plight which she was lacking. I hope that her imperfections aren't reasons some don’t like her because not one of the male heroes on the show are perfect either and I find them all interesting and likable in their own way.

Some think Vin Tanner was a better match for Mary. I think the only things between Vin and Mary were the same respect she had for the Magnificent Seven protecting her town; admiration for Vin's poetry; and the compassion to teach him to read and write. It was sweet but it was platonic. There was nothing platonic about what was slowly growing between Chris and Mary from the moment they met.

(Edited days later for a title change and other corrections.)