Nine years ago, a man crossed some of the remotest and least hospitable parts of Canada's Northwest Territories, to find a lost woman and bring her back. By the time he found her, he was little better off than she... but both were tough, and determined, and the only way they could survive was to huddle close together, to share warmth, and keep talking to each other, to avoid drifting off into sleep and hypothermia. Of course they fell in love.
Fraser: "And it snowed for a day and a night and a day; and when I couldn't talk anymore, I took her fingers and I put them in my mouth to keep them warm... I don't remember losing consciousness, but I do remember being aware that I was dying. And then I heard her voice. She was reciting a poem." |
But Victoria was a fugitive from a bank robbery turned fatal, and Fraser was the Mountie sent to arrest her. She asked him to let her go. He wouldn't. She served nine years in prison for the robbery, and never forgave him. He never forgave himself, either.
It's another ordinary day in Chicago for Fraser when he sees a familiar woman's shape. Impossible! But there she is, Fraser's sure of it, just for a moment before she melts into the crowd. He tries to shrug it off, but his mind won't let go; he keeps imagining her... seeing her turn, and face him, and ask him why he betrayed her. And he still doesn't have an answer for her, and the snow is falling fast and thick around them... shutting them in together, or maybe apart forever.
Tropes
- Confessional
- Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: "Hey, Benny--not in your lifetime."
- Dating Catwoman: Deconstructed
- Intimate Healing
- Rashomon Style: From Fraser's perspective, Victoria is holding out an open hand to him. From Ray's perspective, we can briefly see her holding a gun pointed at him.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Victoria Metcalf or Metcalfe? The script uses the first spelling, without the 'e'.
- Tear Jerker
- Train Station Goodbye: Subverted: Fraser was going to join Victoria after all, but Ray, thinking she was pointing a gun at Fraser, tried to shoot her, accidentally shooting his partner in the back.