One subtle thing I like about Hank and Gavin’s relationship is that despite Gavin’s opinion and open disdain for Hank’s behaviour, Hank never retaliates.
We’ve seen Hank get physical with people who piss him off/talk shit to him (punching Perkins and grabbing Connor by the collar) so it’s well within his personality to assault or manhandle Gavin if he pisses him off but he never does.
Gavin’s main gripe with Hank is his drinking. We know from the story that his addiction has not been the norm for him and that it’s come with his grief from losing Cole.
Neil Newbon has said that he headcanons that that Gavin had once looked up to Hank and that Gavin fears that one day he may end up jaded like Hank so seeing someone he admired fall from grace would have cut Gavin deeply.
It’s not also just the drinking but the showing up to work as a police officer drunk, pulling his weapon on fellow officers as well (which Gavin has heavily implied wasn’t a one time thing) and being shown leniency through it all mostly because the Captain of the DPD is Hank’s friend that would also piss Gavin off.
Given all of this and Gavin’s tendency to be honest and upfront, it’s no wonder he treats Hank the way he does. Gavin’s dislike of Hank does not come from nowhere.
Now back to the original point.
That’s why I like the detail of Hank never telling Gavin to fuck himself because Hank is not stupid. He is capable of being very introspective of his thoughts and realises that him blaming androids, his behaviour and the way he handled his grief were all wrong and he wants to be better.
Hank never gets mad at Gavin cause he knows what Gavin says is true.
Gavin only brings up Hank’s negative actions, his constant drinking, being intoxicated at work and Fowler’s bias towards him.
If Gavin were truly an unrepentant asshole who just despised Hank, he would have mentioned Cole and mocked Hank about his death but that never happens. Connor is actually shown to be more mocking about Cole’s death (when he says little Cole didn’t make it)
Hank could tell Gavin to shove it or keep his opinions to himself but again, I think it shows that deep down, Hank knows how he’s behaving is wrong but he just can’t help it and that’s why he never says a word.
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