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The Magnificent Seven: An Overview
This is by no means a comprehensive overview. It's as best as I can do but there will probably be a lot more I'll bring up in the following days.
Fandom Overview:
To understand the show that was The Magnificent Seven one has to understand the fans themselves. I've been in a lot of fandoms over the years but M7 was one of my first. I was seventeen when the show premiered and that was one of the most tumultous years of my life. A few weeks after the show premiered, my father - who I had watched the premiere with and shared a love of the show with - passed away. One of the only times during those first few days that my family left me to myself was when I watched the show. So, you can understand that the show, and the actors behind it, will always hold a very special place in my heart. But not just me. Millions of people in the US, Canada, and overseas took to the boys like nothing anyone had ever seen before. The series premiered at a bad time - they were a mid season replacement who ran smack up against the winter Olympics of that year - and CBS wasn't of a mind to give it that much of a chance. There hadn't been a Western on tv in a while and thus some people didn't quite know what to make of it. But some people did. The cancellation of the show made television history. For the first time, fans had a new tool at their disposal to fight back. The internet. Fans from every corner of the globe banded together and took CBS by surprise. Though ultimately, the show didn't make it past a second season...it wouldn't have had a second season were it not for those fans. It was that effort that created a special connection between the cast and production staff and that group of fans. It also set a precedent that a lot of other fandoms have followed since, some to even greater success, and it's something none of us will ever regret.
The Characters:
Chris Larabee - Every Western needs one. The dark-garbed gunslinger with a tortured past. They are a cliche of the Western. Some are very cliche and some are notable. But few take it to a new level and usually the actor is the reason why. Chris is no exception. Michael Biehn took this character and made him his own with the perfect mix of rage, grief, and just the finest edge of danger that lends the impression of barely contained savagery lurking beneath the surface. It was hinted early on that Chris had lost his family but it wasn't until Witness in Season One - when Mary Travis' son Billy was introduced - that was saw the man Chris Larabee had been. A loving husband and doting father. The lion had been a lamb. For the most part. Chris, happy, tortured, insane...has a wild streak in him that will never quite die.
Buck Wilmington - Again...Every Western needs one. Shameless ladies man. But Buck Wilmington....well, Buck's Buck. Being angry with him for being who he is would be tantamount to kicking a puppy with a steel-toed boot. Buck's never met a woman he didn't like. Raised in a brothel, he is completely and absolutely in love with women. All women. And all women love Buck. Especially when they see him motherhenning young JD Dunne. With JD, Buck assumes the role of the seasoned veteran shepherding the young rookie along which - of course - makes for great comedic moments. With all that comedy, Buck is not to be written off as the comic relief of the group. Far from it. Buck loves women and he is fiercely protective of them. Raised to respect them by his mother...he does so. Wholeheartedly and woe betide the man who doesn't. Brought to life by Dale Midkiff, Buck is a treat. Dale's tall, lean physique, dark hair and incredible eyes are the perfect asset to his talented portrayal of Buck. With just a smile...Dale can make you fall in love.
Vin Tanner - Ah, Vin. Without a Trace fans will recognize that face right off. This is where Eric Close became known to a certain extent. Vin was one of the breakout characters of the show. The one that still sends hearts racing. Vin was the survivor. His father is a virtual nonentity in his life as it is his mother who made the true impact. Never named, she was the one who impressed upon him the importance of his name. He's a Tanner and he'll never forget that fact. Vin is a bounty hunter, a buffalo hunter, a shopworker, a gentleman and a hundred things in between. He is a wanted man, having been framed by a man named Eli Joe, in the State of Texas and has a bounty of $500 on his own head. In the pilot, Vin told Chris if he was killed to take his body back to the town - Tascosa - where he is wanted to collect. In his terms "I figure, if a friend collects...I get the last laugh."
Ezra Standish - Why use a cheater? Because you might need one. Ezra Standish, conman, cheater, southern gentleman and all around sneak. Ezra loves money. Ezra loves having it. Ezra loves taking it from others. Particularly those who are foolish with it. Raised by his equally larcenous mother Maude - who instilled in her boy the skills he now plies so smoothly - Ezra has a strained relationship with her and the only true family he seems to have his his six compatriots. However, asking him to *say* that...now that would be another story entirely. Ezra prefers to play the role of conman but at times...that role tends to slip. Such as in the season two episode "Chinatown" where he inadvertantly won a young Chinese girl in a game of dominos. Despite having no trouble allowing his friends to believe he'd taken the young girl as his servant, Ezra was nothing but the perfect gentleman. As long as no one was looking.
Nathan Jackson - Some would call Nathan the token character of colour. I wouldn't. There's nothing token about Nathan Jackson. A former slave, Nathan served in the Civil War as a stretcher bearer for the Union army. Picking up what medical skills he could along the way in a field hospital. Since the end of the war, he has settled into the town fans call Four Corners to make his living providing what medical aid he can. Nathan never pretends to be a doctor, he's quite upfront about what he does and does not know. He has a big heart and champions others whenever he can. From the daughter of a safecracker to his own father in season two. Nathan, played masterfully by the wonderful Rick Worthy, is the kind of man who would inadvertantly steal your heart and then apologize for it. (Carl Lumbly's appearance as Nathan's longlost father in season 2? Is not to be missed. Both men...the episode will break your heart)
Josiah Sanchez - Ron Perlman is known to most as the face - and the voice - behind Vincent in Beauty and the Beast. Freed from the makeup as Josiah, he hit the ground running. Josiah is a man of faith but that faith has taken serious beatings over the years. From his harsh missionary father's treatement of himself and his fragile sister Hannah to his own mistakes over the years...Josiah is a man at odds with his God but still seeks that relationship nonetheless. In his way, Josiah shows the true heart of Christianity better than any evangelist ever could. He is the conscience of his friends. The counselor, the intercessor, the man to whom they all go for that comfort. But he is a man not without demons and those demons are constantly nipping at his heels. One can't help but hope he finds a way to fight beyond them.
Last but not least...
JD Dunne - JD is the baby of the group. The rookie. The boy who read dimestore novels and and wanted nothing more than a chance to be Bat Masterson or Jesse James...He came to the West to make his name as a famous gunfighter and became living proof of be careful what you wish for. A member of the Seven, JD has paid for his lesson with innocent blood. He is well on his way to being a famous gunfighter along with the rest of the Seven but he does so with the face of a young mother in the back of his mind. In a season two episode, Achilles, JD inadvertantly shot a young woman named Annie in the midst of a bank robbery. It was a lesson he learned well and will never forget.
As with most westerns...women are few and far between but there are a few worthy of note.
Mary Travis - A beautiful young widow, Mary runs the town's only newspaper, The Clarion, after her husband Steven (or Frank depending on what ep you watch. Oops) was murdered. A mother, her young son Billy lives primarily with his grandparents (his father's parents) back east. Mary does see her father-in-law, Orrin, on a fairly regular basis as Orrin is the Federal District Court Judge and the man who hired the Seven to watch over the town. She shares a contentious relationship with Chris as leaders in the community. In a town without a mayor, Mary is the one Chris often finds himself discussing matters with. Something which has proven to be troublesome for them both. Mary is a strong-willed woman determined to do things for herself, including molding the town into a more safer place to live, and she doesn't much like the idea of a protector. She has battled back from the loss of her husband to make herself a pillar in the community and is hellbent on making the town a safer place to live so that she might bring her son home.
Nettie Wells - A widow living on the outskirts with her niece, Casey, Nettie is a fiesty older woman Vin met and took a liking to. Vin seems to see in Nettie the woman his mother might have been if she had survived and, in his way, has formed an attachment to her. While Nettie allows Vin to dote on her, she's also quite capable of taking care of herself and heaven help the person who forgets it.
Maude Standish - Ezra's mother in the loosest of senses, she taught him the tricks of the conman trade growing up and saw little wrong with using him as a 'prop' in her schemes. She drinks hard, plays hard, can't be trusted for a second, acts the perfect lady while being perfectly not but...beneath it all - like her son - there seems to lurk a geniuinely good woman. Maude just doesn't see the need in letting her out all that much.
Casey Wells - JD's lady love....excepting the lady part. Raised by her aunt Nettie, Casey's more boyish than JD. Hard talking, hard acting, badly dressing, Casey has next to no feminine thoughts in her head. Unless they've been put there by her feelings for JD. Their budding romance is played in the series for laughs but does have it's moments of tenderness and heart. Neither one of them has the slightest clue about how to go about their feelings...but they're trying and that's the hard part.
Inez Recillos - introduced in Season Two, Inez is a fiery Mexican woman who blows into town being pursued by the son of a Don whom she humiliated before fleeing from. She lands in town and immediately draws the eye of Buck Wilmington. Inez, however, quite has Buck's number and hasn't any time for him. Ending up running the saloon which Ezra has purchased - though the story surrounding *that* is long - Inez becomes quite the fixture in town and even shares surprisingly strong chemistry with both the characters of Ezra and Vin.
Overview of the show:
It's a few years after the end of the Civil War and slavery (the actual number's somewhat debated. Or, at least, it was :-p)...the old west is still wild and violent and mostly untamed. At least, in the little area we stumble upon in the pilot.
The town which the fandom dubbed Four Corners is particularly lawless. So much so, in the pilot, we see the only law - the sherriff and his deputy - riding out of town as if the devil hiimself were on their heels. The sherriff riding a stolen horse at the time.
Two things Four Corners does have going for it are Mary Travis...and Judge Orrin Travis. The father of her deceased husband, Orrin is a district court judge and it is he who decides to hire the Seven as the town's protectors. One of the themes of the show is the Seven's influence in the area. Under them, the town stabilizes and grows which is both a blessing and a curse. Chris, having cast himself in the role of the troubled outsider, doesn't much like the tendrils of civilization making their way into his town.
He need not worry. Though growing and stabilizing, the town doesn't quite want to let go of it's troubles. With the railway a potential arrival, stubborn cattle barons wanting their way, and the just general riffraff who show up wanting to take on the famous "Magnificent Seven"...Four Corners won't be civilized for quite some time.
This never so true as in the premiere of Season Two "The New Law". A US Marshal is assigned to the town, a sign that the town supposedly matured to a respectable level, and the Seven disbanded. Lost, the group splinters apart. Each going their seperate ways with seeming ease. Everyone, save JD Dunne. JD's identity is, for the most part, wrapped up in the group he has become a part of. He has trouble looking beyond the Kid of the group and seeing himself as anything else. When Mary offers him a job at the newspaper - in an attempt to keep him in town for Casey's sake - JD looks at her blankly and states, "Ma'am, I'm a gunslinger, not an inkslinger."
The Marshal, as you can imagine, doesn't last long. He assigns a litany of new laws to the town, not the least of which is no guns within the town limits, and ends up arresting poor Buck for public urination. (I kid you not.) Predictably, the Marshal meets a bad end when the cattle barons decide to burn the town to the ground to make room for their expanding business. Without the Seven to stand in their way, the barons feel they have little opposition.
What follows is the town's attempt to save itself, rallied by the determined Mary Travis who even rides into the dangerous town of Purgatorio to fetch Chris. A town where a single, reputable woman wouldn't dare set foot without risking her virtue...or her life. The town is infamous in the show, one where according to Vin anybody wearing a silver star wouldn't dare come within a bullet's distance of. Needless to say, he's quite familiar with it from his bounty hunting days. Indeed, many of the towns inhabitants are people Vin once brought in.
He doesn't go to Purgatorio much. What with the liking his head all nice and still on his shoulders and all.
The town, of course, is saved and the Seven reinstalled as its infamous protectors...making all right with the world.
If, that is, you ignore the bullets which occasionally fly about.
The show didn't last beyond the second season but with it's strong characters, a cast who geniunely loved being together and loved their fans, fans who loved them just as fiercely...
It's not going anywhere for a long time to come.
Ships, Fandom, and Fanfic Archives...
It's been a number of years since the show went off the air and the extremely strong fandom that existed in that time has largely gone the way of the dinosaur. The fandom exists but the people of that day, the people I knew so very well, aren't really involved anymore. But that fandom has not been forgotten and none of the shows which have followed have ever managed the camraderie the fans of the Seven had.
But, before I talk fandom, I'll talk 'ships.
With a show heavy in men, surprise surprise that slash was the order of the day. *BUT* the best part about the Seven?
There really weren't any slash versus het battles. Seriously. The two groups coexisted and intermingled with a minimum of drama. But then, the fans of the show recognized their adversaries weren't each other. They were Les Moonves and the rest of the CBS gang.
The big het ship of the Magnificent Seven was Chris and Mary. Mary was a character who was, typically, unevenly written but thank God she was brilliantly cast. Laurie Holden is best known as Marita Covarrubias on the X-Files but her portrayal of Mary was as far from Marita as you could get. Proper and strong, the character of Mary maddened and attracted Chris in equal levels. It was her son, Billy, who smoothed over many of the bumps.
The main site for the Chris and Mary relationship seems to have gone to website heaven but the list, albeit quiet, still exists. You can find that at YahooGroups Chris-Mary.
The stories that existed for this pairing ranged from G to NC-17 and back again. I don't recall a whole lot of cliches surrounding them. Thankfully, M7 wasn't really cursed with a lot of sugary, teenybopper writing a lot of fandoms bemoan. (No, it really wasn't as perfect as it seems but....*grin* it was close)
The big slash ship was, unsurprisingly, Chris and Vin. Eric Close and Michael Biehn clicked very well as actors and their performances drew the eye of many a slash fan. The show was loaded with moments which could be taken for slash but...rather than take my word for it, we have lucked out in that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ship_manifesto has already had someone do an essay for these guys. If you want to really get a feel for Chris & Vin and for the stories and moments which surround them, go read their essay At First Sight and see for yourself.
When it came to 'ship sites, Mag Seven didn't have them but over the month I will bring up a few odd 'ship fics which have stuck in my brain over the years. But 'ship was not what M7 was known for.
The Magnificent Seven...is all about the alternate universes. It is the envy of fandoms everywhere for the loose, live and let live system that evolved within the fandom. Alternate Universes were willingly shared or, if the author chose not to share, were respected as such. Any M7 fan looking at the notes for an alternate universe fiction story would automatically check to see if the AU was Open or Closed before considering writing in that same AU. Open: Anyone could take the events of the story and write a version. Closed: That particular AU was off limits for writing. (But, of course, if someone wrote a fic with the Seven as cops on Mars and declared the AU Closed...that meant you could not write the AU with the background and character details identical to the writer's. But, if you also wanted to write the M7 on Mars...you could.)
The boys and concepts of the M7 easily translated to other fandoms and original concepts. The most famous of the M7 Alternate Universes was the ATF AU. Dropping the boys into modern day Colorado as agents of the ATF it was easily a runaway hit and even developed (courtesy of the original author) a 'bible' of sorts. There is easily as much Alternate Universe fiction as there is for the original concepts. Some authors have never written OW (Old West) M7. Choosing to make the AUs their perview...
And that's just the way we like it.
Links:
A lot of the old sites (which were the best) have gone the way of the Dodo but there are some goodies left.
The Magnificent Seven.Com which is arguably one of the oldest and biggest sites in fandom. If you want to find something? Start here. If this site doesn't have it...it may not be in fandom anymore. We've got messages from the cast and crew from the days of battling to save the show, links to everything from fanfiction to screen caps to RPGs to the infamous M7 Milk Mustaches (okay not so infamous that was me but shush *G*) and the ever present .wav file of the M7 theme. *happy sigh*
Magnifiction: An archive of various fics. Many and varied Alternate Universes. You will need a PDF reader like Adobe however. The fics are downloadable but not readable from the site.
The Magnificent Seven Fanfic Archive exactly what it says. This is mostly Old West but has other Aus mixed in and links to it's sister sites. The Adult version and the ATF version.
Blackraptor: oh sweet holy grail of M7 sites. This covers just about *EVERYTHING* and I do mean everything. Features listings in every possible arrangement (including Character and has a handy dandy coding system for AUs. Luff BlackRaptor we does)
and THE site for primers on the ATF AU? The amazing Mog's ATF AU Bible
Tar n' Feathers: an Ezra/Vin archive. (Oh the memories the site name brings back. Poor Ezra...*grin*)
Drinkin' 'n Fightin' - Buck/Chris.
there's also M7 Slash an Automated Archive for the boys with the boys. (And like I said with 7 men? My word the potential pairings...it boggles the mind and the libido.)
and for the Bad element himself? Chris Larabee .Com: no doubt he'd complain about being civilized but we're not listening. :-p
Like I said, this is by no means a comprehensive overview...
But it is a heck of a place to start.
Fandom Overview:
To understand the show that was The Magnificent Seven one has to understand the fans themselves. I've been in a lot of fandoms over the years but M7 was one of my first. I was seventeen when the show premiered and that was one of the most tumultous years of my life. A few weeks after the show premiered, my father - who I had watched the premiere with and shared a love of the show with - passed away. One of the only times during those first few days that my family left me to myself was when I watched the show. So, you can understand that the show, and the actors behind it, will always hold a very special place in my heart. But not just me. Millions of people in the US, Canada, and overseas took to the boys like nothing anyone had ever seen before. The series premiered at a bad time - they were a mid season replacement who ran smack up against the winter Olympics of that year - and CBS wasn't of a mind to give it that much of a chance. There hadn't been a Western on tv in a while and thus some people didn't quite know what to make of it. But some people did. The cancellation of the show made television history. For the first time, fans had a new tool at their disposal to fight back. The internet. Fans from every corner of the globe banded together and took CBS by surprise. Though ultimately, the show didn't make it past a second season...it wouldn't have had a second season were it not for those fans. It was that effort that created a special connection between the cast and production staff and that group of fans. It also set a precedent that a lot of other fandoms have followed since, some to even greater success, and it's something none of us will ever regret.
The Characters:
Chris Larabee - Every Western needs one. The dark-garbed gunslinger with a tortured past. They are a cliche of the Western. Some are very cliche and some are notable. But few take it to a new level and usually the actor is the reason why. Chris is no exception. Michael Biehn took this character and made him his own with the perfect mix of rage, grief, and just the finest edge of danger that lends the impression of barely contained savagery lurking beneath the surface. It was hinted early on that Chris had lost his family but it wasn't until Witness in Season One - when Mary Travis' son Billy was introduced - that was saw the man Chris Larabee had been. A loving husband and doting father. The lion had been a lamb. For the most part. Chris, happy, tortured, insane...has a wild streak in him that will never quite die.
Buck Wilmington - Again...Every Western needs one. Shameless ladies man. But Buck Wilmington....well, Buck's Buck. Being angry with him for being who he is would be tantamount to kicking a puppy with a steel-toed boot. Buck's never met a woman he didn't like. Raised in a brothel, he is completely and absolutely in love with women. All women. And all women love Buck. Especially when they see him motherhenning young JD Dunne. With JD, Buck assumes the role of the seasoned veteran shepherding the young rookie along which - of course - makes for great comedic moments. With all that comedy, Buck is not to be written off as the comic relief of the group. Far from it. Buck loves women and he is fiercely protective of them. Raised to respect them by his mother...he does so. Wholeheartedly and woe betide the man who doesn't. Brought to life by Dale Midkiff, Buck is a treat. Dale's tall, lean physique, dark hair and incredible eyes are the perfect asset to his talented portrayal of Buck. With just a smile...Dale can make you fall in love.
Vin Tanner - Ah, Vin. Without a Trace fans will recognize that face right off. This is where Eric Close became known to a certain extent. Vin was one of the breakout characters of the show. The one that still sends hearts racing. Vin was the survivor. His father is a virtual nonentity in his life as it is his mother who made the true impact. Never named, she was the one who impressed upon him the importance of his name. He's a Tanner and he'll never forget that fact. Vin is a bounty hunter, a buffalo hunter, a shopworker, a gentleman and a hundred things in between. He is a wanted man, having been framed by a man named Eli Joe, in the State of Texas and has a bounty of $500 on his own head. In the pilot, Vin told Chris if he was killed to take his body back to the town - Tascosa - where he is wanted to collect. In his terms "I figure, if a friend collects...I get the last laugh."
Ezra Standish - Why use a cheater? Because you might need one. Ezra Standish, conman, cheater, southern gentleman and all around sneak. Ezra loves money. Ezra loves having it. Ezra loves taking it from others. Particularly those who are foolish with it. Raised by his equally larcenous mother Maude - who instilled in her boy the skills he now plies so smoothly - Ezra has a strained relationship with her and the only true family he seems to have his his six compatriots. However, asking him to *say* that...now that would be another story entirely. Ezra prefers to play the role of conman but at times...that role tends to slip. Such as in the season two episode "Chinatown" where he inadvertantly won a young Chinese girl in a game of dominos. Despite having no trouble allowing his friends to believe he'd taken the young girl as his servant, Ezra was nothing but the perfect gentleman. As long as no one was looking.
Nathan Jackson - Some would call Nathan the token character of colour. I wouldn't. There's nothing token about Nathan Jackson. A former slave, Nathan served in the Civil War as a stretcher bearer for the Union army. Picking up what medical skills he could along the way in a field hospital. Since the end of the war, he has settled into the town fans call Four Corners to make his living providing what medical aid he can. Nathan never pretends to be a doctor, he's quite upfront about what he does and does not know. He has a big heart and champions others whenever he can. From the daughter of a safecracker to his own father in season two. Nathan, played masterfully by the wonderful Rick Worthy, is the kind of man who would inadvertantly steal your heart and then apologize for it. (Carl Lumbly's appearance as Nathan's longlost father in season 2? Is not to be missed. Both men...the episode will break your heart)
Josiah Sanchez - Ron Perlman is known to most as the face - and the voice - behind Vincent in Beauty and the Beast. Freed from the makeup as Josiah, he hit the ground running. Josiah is a man of faith but that faith has taken serious beatings over the years. From his harsh missionary father's treatement of himself and his fragile sister Hannah to his own mistakes over the years...Josiah is a man at odds with his God but still seeks that relationship nonetheless. In his way, Josiah shows the true heart of Christianity better than any evangelist ever could. He is the conscience of his friends. The counselor, the intercessor, the man to whom they all go for that comfort. But he is a man not without demons and those demons are constantly nipping at his heels. One can't help but hope he finds a way to fight beyond them.
Last but not least...
JD Dunne - JD is the baby of the group. The rookie. The boy who read dimestore novels and and wanted nothing more than a chance to be Bat Masterson or Jesse James...He came to the West to make his name as a famous gunfighter and became living proof of be careful what you wish for. A member of the Seven, JD has paid for his lesson with innocent blood. He is well on his way to being a famous gunfighter along with the rest of the Seven but he does so with the face of a young mother in the back of his mind. In a season two episode, Achilles, JD inadvertantly shot a young woman named Annie in the midst of a bank robbery. It was a lesson he learned well and will never forget.
As with most westerns...women are few and far between but there are a few worthy of note.
Mary Travis - A beautiful young widow, Mary runs the town's only newspaper, The Clarion, after her husband Steven (or Frank depending on what ep you watch. Oops) was murdered. A mother, her young son Billy lives primarily with his grandparents (his father's parents) back east. Mary does see her father-in-law, Orrin, on a fairly regular basis as Orrin is the Federal District Court Judge and the man who hired the Seven to watch over the town. She shares a contentious relationship with Chris as leaders in the community. In a town without a mayor, Mary is the one Chris often finds himself discussing matters with. Something which has proven to be troublesome for them both. Mary is a strong-willed woman determined to do things for herself, including molding the town into a more safer place to live, and she doesn't much like the idea of a protector. She has battled back from the loss of her husband to make herself a pillar in the community and is hellbent on making the town a safer place to live so that she might bring her son home.
Nettie Wells - A widow living on the outskirts with her niece, Casey, Nettie is a fiesty older woman Vin met and took a liking to. Vin seems to see in Nettie the woman his mother might have been if she had survived and, in his way, has formed an attachment to her. While Nettie allows Vin to dote on her, she's also quite capable of taking care of herself and heaven help the person who forgets it.
Maude Standish - Ezra's mother in the loosest of senses, she taught him the tricks of the conman trade growing up and saw little wrong with using him as a 'prop' in her schemes. She drinks hard, plays hard, can't be trusted for a second, acts the perfect lady while being perfectly not but...beneath it all - like her son - there seems to lurk a geniuinely good woman. Maude just doesn't see the need in letting her out all that much.
Casey Wells - JD's lady love....excepting the lady part. Raised by her aunt Nettie, Casey's more boyish than JD. Hard talking, hard acting, badly dressing, Casey has next to no feminine thoughts in her head. Unless they've been put there by her feelings for JD. Their budding romance is played in the series for laughs but does have it's moments of tenderness and heart. Neither one of them has the slightest clue about how to go about their feelings...but they're trying and that's the hard part.
Inez Recillos - introduced in Season Two, Inez is a fiery Mexican woman who blows into town being pursued by the son of a Don whom she humiliated before fleeing from. She lands in town and immediately draws the eye of Buck Wilmington. Inez, however, quite has Buck's number and hasn't any time for him. Ending up running the saloon which Ezra has purchased - though the story surrounding *that* is long - Inez becomes quite the fixture in town and even shares surprisingly strong chemistry with both the characters of Ezra and Vin.
Overview of the show:
It's a few years after the end of the Civil War and slavery (the actual number's somewhat debated. Or, at least, it was :-p)...the old west is still wild and violent and mostly untamed. At least, in the little area we stumble upon in the pilot.
The town which the fandom dubbed Four Corners is particularly lawless. So much so, in the pilot, we see the only law - the sherriff and his deputy - riding out of town as if the devil hiimself were on their heels. The sherriff riding a stolen horse at the time.
Two things Four Corners does have going for it are Mary Travis...and Judge Orrin Travis. The father of her deceased husband, Orrin is a district court judge and it is he who decides to hire the Seven as the town's protectors. One of the themes of the show is the Seven's influence in the area. Under them, the town stabilizes and grows which is both a blessing and a curse. Chris, having cast himself in the role of the troubled outsider, doesn't much like the tendrils of civilization making their way into his town.
He need not worry. Though growing and stabilizing, the town doesn't quite want to let go of it's troubles. With the railway a potential arrival, stubborn cattle barons wanting their way, and the just general riffraff who show up wanting to take on the famous "Magnificent Seven"...Four Corners won't be civilized for quite some time.
This never so true as in the premiere of Season Two "The New Law". A US Marshal is assigned to the town, a sign that the town supposedly matured to a respectable level, and the Seven disbanded. Lost, the group splinters apart. Each going their seperate ways with seeming ease. Everyone, save JD Dunne. JD's identity is, for the most part, wrapped up in the group he has become a part of. He has trouble looking beyond the Kid of the group and seeing himself as anything else. When Mary offers him a job at the newspaper - in an attempt to keep him in town for Casey's sake - JD looks at her blankly and states, "Ma'am, I'm a gunslinger, not an inkslinger."
The Marshal, as you can imagine, doesn't last long. He assigns a litany of new laws to the town, not the least of which is no guns within the town limits, and ends up arresting poor Buck for public urination. (I kid you not.) Predictably, the Marshal meets a bad end when the cattle barons decide to burn the town to the ground to make room for their expanding business. Without the Seven to stand in their way, the barons feel they have little opposition.
What follows is the town's attempt to save itself, rallied by the determined Mary Travis who even rides into the dangerous town of Purgatorio to fetch Chris. A town where a single, reputable woman wouldn't dare set foot without risking her virtue...or her life. The town is infamous in the show, one where according to Vin anybody wearing a silver star wouldn't dare come within a bullet's distance of. Needless to say, he's quite familiar with it from his bounty hunting days. Indeed, many of the towns inhabitants are people Vin once brought in.
He doesn't go to Purgatorio much. What with the liking his head all nice and still on his shoulders and all.
The town, of course, is saved and the Seven reinstalled as its infamous protectors...making all right with the world.
If, that is, you ignore the bullets which occasionally fly about.
The show didn't last beyond the second season but with it's strong characters, a cast who geniunely loved being together and loved their fans, fans who loved them just as fiercely...
It's not going anywhere for a long time to come.
Ships, Fandom, and Fanfic Archives...
It's been a number of years since the show went off the air and the extremely strong fandom that existed in that time has largely gone the way of the dinosaur. The fandom exists but the people of that day, the people I knew so very well, aren't really involved anymore. But that fandom has not been forgotten and none of the shows which have followed have ever managed the camraderie the fans of the Seven had.
But, before I talk fandom, I'll talk 'ships.
With a show heavy in men, surprise surprise that slash was the order of the day. *BUT* the best part about the Seven?
There really weren't any slash versus het battles. Seriously. The two groups coexisted and intermingled with a minimum of drama. But then, the fans of the show recognized their adversaries weren't each other. They were Les Moonves and the rest of the CBS gang.
The big het ship of the Magnificent Seven was Chris and Mary. Mary was a character who was, typically, unevenly written but thank God she was brilliantly cast. Laurie Holden is best known as Marita Covarrubias on the X-Files but her portrayal of Mary was as far from Marita as you could get. Proper and strong, the character of Mary maddened and attracted Chris in equal levels. It was her son, Billy, who smoothed over many of the bumps.
The main site for the Chris and Mary relationship seems to have gone to website heaven but the list, albeit quiet, still exists. You can find that at YahooGroups Chris-Mary.
The stories that existed for this pairing ranged from G to NC-17 and back again. I don't recall a whole lot of cliches surrounding them. Thankfully, M7 wasn't really cursed with a lot of sugary, teenybopper writing a lot of fandoms bemoan. (No, it really wasn't as perfect as it seems but....*grin* it was close)
The big slash ship was, unsurprisingly, Chris and Vin. Eric Close and Michael Biehn clicked very well as actors and their performances drew the eye of many a slash fan. The show was loaded with moments which could be taken for slash but...rather than take my word for it, we have lucked out in that
ship_manifesto has already had someone do an essay for these guys. If you want to really get a feel for Chris & Vin and for the stories and moments which surround them, go read their essay At First Sight and see for yourself.When it came to 'ship sites, Mag Seven didn't have them but over the month I will bring up a few odd 'ship fics which have stuck in my brain over the years. But 'ship was not what M7 was known for.
The Magnificent Seven...is all about the alternate universes. It is the envy of fandoms everywhere for the loose, live and let live system that evolved within the fandom. Alternate Universes were willingly shared or, if the author chose not to share, were respected as such. Any M7 fan looking at the notes for an alternate universe fiction story would automatically check to see if the AU was Open or Closed before considering writing in that same AU. Open: Anyone could take the events of the story and write a version. Closed: That particular AU was off limits for writing. (But, of course, if someone wrote a fic with the Seven as cops on Mars and declared the AU Closed...that meant you could not write the AU with the background and character details identical to the writer's. But, if you also wanted to write the M7 on Mars...you could.)
The boys and concepts of the M7 easily translated to other fandoms and original concepts. The most famous of the M7 Alternate Universes was the ATF AU. Dropping the boys into modern day Colorado as agents of the ATF it was easily a runaway hit and even developed (courtesy of the original author) a 'bible' of sorts. There is easily as much Alternate Universe fiction as there is for the original concepts. Some authors have never written OW (Old West) M7. Choosing to make the AUs their perview...
And that's just the way we like it.
Links:
A lot of the old sites (which were the best) have gone the way of the Dodo but there are some goodies left.
The Magnificent Seven.Com which is arguably one of the oldest and biggest sites in fandom. If you want to find something? Start here. If this site doesn't have it...it may not be in fandom anymore. We've got messages from the cast and crew from the days of battling to save the show, links to everything from fanfiction to screen caps to RPGs to the infamous M7 Milk Mustaches (okay not so infamous that was me but shush *G*) and the ever present .wav file of the M7 theme. *happy sigh*
Magnifiction: An archive of various fics. Many and varied Alternate Universes. You will need a PDF reader like Adobe however. The fics are downloadable but not readable from the site.
The Magnificent Seven Fanfic Archive exactly what it says. This is mostly Old West but has other Aus mixed in and links to it's sister sites. The Adult version and the ATF version.
Blackraptor: oh sweet holy grail of M7 sites. This covers just about *EVERYTHING* and I do mean everything. Features listings in every possible arrangement (including Character and has a handy dandy coding system for AUs. Luff BlackRaptor we does)
and THE site for primers on the ATF AU? The amazing Mog's ATF AU Bible
Tar n' Feathers: an Ezra/Vin archive. (Oh the memories the site name brings back. Poor Ezra...*grin*)
Drinkin' 'n Fightin' - Buck/Chris.
there's also M7 Slash an Automated Archive for the boys with the boys. (And like I said with 7 men? My word the potential pairings...it boggles the mind and the libido.)
and for the Bad element himself? Chris Larabee .Com: no doubt he'd complain about being civilized but we're not listening. :-p
Like I said, this is by no means a comprehensive overview...
But it is a heck of a place to start.