Some Meta on Murdock and mental illness
Generally speakig, The A-Team is a dumbass, light-hearted comedy with action on the same level as youtube poop videos. Obviously there isnβt alot of depth to be found here. The show had tons of different writers, all with their own take on Murdock and none of them offer any clear info or a proper backstory for the character. Itβs basically up to the audience to fill in the blanks and thatβs exactly what Iβm gonna do by overanalyzing the mess that is the showβs canon.
The question of whether Murdock is βββreally crazy or just fakingβββ has been around for over 30 years, but Iβm gonna argue that heβs both.
When Kelly visits Murdock in the psychiatric hospital and confronts him about why heβs living there in the first place he gets instantly uncomfortable.
He really didnβt want her to ask, itβs why heβs been avoiding her. Joking about how youβre hashtag crazyβ’ is easy; having to admit that youβve been institutionalized for over 10 years because you have legitimate problems is much harder. (Sure, the VA also gives him a convenient cover from the military police, but if that was the only reason for him to stay he wouldnβt react to Kellyβs question in this way). βItβs a long storyβ, is all he says. There are clearly some painful memories here that heβd rather not delve into.
Heβd have to explain how he got committed in the first place. We know that after the gang was arrested for war crimes in β71, Murdock was still serving as a pilot in β72. They never clarified when and how Murdock was sent home, but iβm guessing without his only friends around and it being, you knowβ¦war, his mental health eventually deteriorated until he received a medical discharge straight into the VA hospital.
After Murdock gets wrongly released in season 1, instead of his friends being worried about his supposed cover getting blown they just shrug it off and go βOh well!β (This could all be due to the showβs inconsistent writing, but you know)
No longer being an inpatient would finally allow Murdock to be employed as a pilot again (his #1 passion), and yet he seems really disheartened about the situation. Even though the hospital gives him no privacy, the staff barely respects him and he spends most of his time there by himself, he still prefers to stay.
For a character whoβs allegedly cheery comic relief, he sure gets his feelings hurt alot, mainly when dealing with other peopleβs ableism towards him. B.A. and Face are obviously just palling around, just guys beinβ dudes, they donβt want to hurt Murdock for real, they probably donβt realize how sensitive Murdock is about the subject. Usually he plays along or shrugs it off, but sometimes he gets genuinely upset. In the first half of In Plane Sight heβs so fed up with it he tries to ββact normalββ until #Woke #Queen Hannibal reassures him that they love him the way he is.
PTSD was barely starting to become a diagnosis when the show first aired, but I think itβs fair to say he suffers from it. The pilot episode states that he has anxiety, paranoia and memory loss, so that checks out.
With PTSD you donβt just have to deal with flashbacks and nightmares, but also intrusive thoughts, images and memories about your trauma. Murdock copes with it by getting hyperfixated on a new activity or pretending heβs someone else. This is were alot of people will go ββhaha wow look how wacky and insane he is! Heβs talking to his sock πββ. But Murdock knows itβs all made up nonsense, he just needs his mind to focus on something else. Whatβs important here is that he never lets his coping mechanisms distract him when heβs flying, first of all heβs already focused and also he doesnβt wanna crash (lol). Thereβs a believability to his actions thatβs missing in the 2010 reboot.
In the episode where the gang helps out the vietnamese cook from the POW camp where theyβve been tortured, Murdock tries to distract himself with some golfballs. He soon starts projecting his trauma on them however.
I think this is the only time in the show where Hannibal tears up, so this scene is kinda significant. As the leader, he probably blames himself for getting his team captured and tortured, and seeing that Murdock is still so strongly affected by it gotta hurt.Β
Compared to the rest of the gang, Murdockβs alot more fucked up over the war. There are subtle changes in his voice whenever he talks about it. In the ep about their old war buddy Ray, Face was reminiscing about how cool of a guy Ray was for borrowing him his helmet, Murdockβs memories meanwhile are much less upbeat. βMy bird was the only one left in the skyβ he remembers while we see an image of a field filled with shot down helicopters. His experiences are bound to be different from the other three as a huey medevac pilot. Murdock did have one off-screen breakdown in the present timeline, after collecting every newspaper article about the upcoming execution of the team in Firing Line. Apparently it was bad enough that he had to be restrained. Itβs been 10 years, so heβs recovering and getting better, but heβs still not all there yet.
Everyone knows Murdockβs just messing around when heβs being interrogated by the military about his connections to the team, but like what about when the military isnβt there; or NO ONE is. He often talks to himself or just puts weird shit in his mouth for no reason while nobodyβs paying attention to him (eating leaves, paint, an entire raw egg, a frozen sandwich). Sometimes heβs just unhinged like that.
Another thing thatβs brought up a few times in the show is his anxiety. Murdockβs often seen being generally tense, sweaty, uncomfortable or reflective in the background of a scene. (I have no idea if this was a deliberate acting choice but Dwight does have anxiety irl so who knows if that had anything to do with it, I mean who knowsssssss, iβm just observing)
Heβs got a habit of fidgeting with his hands or touching his neck when heβs stressed out. Murdock also does it when heβs telling his psychiatrist Dr. Richter about his dreams βIf you were me, wouldnβt you be terrified to put your head down?β he asks him.
Richter isnβt really paying attention though, because heβs so used to Murdockβs non-stop clownery, he canβt exactly tell when his patient decides to be honest about his feelings for once. He just replies βWell only if it was a bad dreamβ. Which really irritates Murdock because what other dreams besides bad would he have? So he derails the session by rambling some made up bullshit on purpose.
Richter knows that Murdock uses humor and fantasy to cope, but heβs obviously tired of Murdockβs cringe antics, he just wants to help him. But Murdock doesnβt like to open up and be confronted with his traumas again, he just wants to avoid talking about it all together. There are still parts of reality that Murdockβs not ready to deal with, or he wouldnβt always retreat into his fantasies.
Before he can continue messing around a helicopter passes by and Murdock freezes for a second. Richter assures him that the helicopter is real; Murdock nods and starts fidgeting with his hands again, seemingly in deep thought. We know from the season 4 finale that he hears the sound of rotor blades when he dissociates. He wasΒ definitely being sincere here.
After getting drugged by some military goons he has a few brief flashbacks (feat. cheesy 80β²s neon filters): seeing the chopper fly away, getting stuck in a potted plant as if he was walking through the jungle, being surrounded by heavy smoke and sparks from the burning carpet).
Despite being the 2nd highest ranked team member, Murdock dislikes being in charge and gets severly distressed when anything goes wrong that he might even be slightly responsible for. Most notably is the episode where the owners of the diner get kidnapped after Murdock got knocked out by evil cowboys or hill billies or whatever they were. Instead of telling anyone what happened, heβs just lying on the floor, repeatedly calling himself a failure until the others show up.
Seems like Murdock gets startled more easily than the rest of the crew as well. We often see him flinch when guns go off; one time he literally wore fluffy ear muffs to a backalley shootout.
This short moment from Family Reunion always stood out to me. Face opens the van door a little too quickly and it takes Murdock so off-guard he has to take deep breaths to calm down.
Murdock sounds exhausted when he has to remind Face not to sneak up on him. Face also realizes he messed up, he just wanted to check up on Murdock and not trigger him on accident.
When it comes to portrayals of mental illness in fiction thereβs obviously better representation out there than Murdock. But sometimes you just wanna see a mentally ill character have a good time instead of being miserable 24/7. And Murdockβs already got the worst behind him, heβs had therapy for years and friends who love him. I just think thatβs refreshing to see, especially with a character whoβs so kind and openly affectionate.
andulkaphoto
stormborns
yousharknotpass
janainaart
izzy806
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
