So I just rewatched this episode and I want to add to @inconclusionray's note that:
that is fraser at his most fucking Dom, not the bird in the hand with the boot and the chair and the bamf, THIS, because he is ANALYZING and he LIKES WHAT HE SEES.
Because they're so bang on about that, and you can see it through the entire runtime.
A Bird in the Hand is NOT Fraser in his most Dom energy, because that is a Fraser who is NOT in full control of himself. Yeah, the scene with the boot and the chair and the bamf is hot (obviously), but Fraser is also thisclose to absolutely losing it. Like he says to his father moments later, "It takes every bit of restraint I have not to walk back in that room and separate his head from his shoulders." That's Fraser just barely holding it together; the edges of the Mountie are bleeding out into Ben Fraser.
In Mountie and Soul, on the other hand, Fraser is in complete control of himself. He is in full observation mode—of the gym, of the competitors, of the coaches—but mostly of Ray. Domming means being as in control as possible at all times; you’ve got to keep your head on straight to keep your partner safe. But that’s okay, because that’s part of what does it for ya, etc.
This is the episode where Ray is thisclose to losing it, to actually having to bare-knuckle fight his way to victory in the end. But Fraser is not so emotionally invested, here, and that is what gives him the space he needs to watch.
What Fraser sees in this episode is:
A Ray who requires some element of pain in order to clear the chatter from his mind
A Ray who enjoys getting hurt, and continues to go back for more
A Ray who feels better, mentally and spiritually, after getting the shit kicked out of him for a while
And in himself, Fraser finds someone who refuses to hurt Ray, despite his bratty demands, until he makes the measured and controlled decision to give Ray exactly what he is asking for, with the associated consequences:
(Immediately, of course, followed by a check-in—and an apology, because he is still a Mountie).
Fraser watches Ray get bruised and beat up over and over again and like it.
And Fraser, also, likes it.
It's the praise at the very end for me, when he says:
jacobvanloon
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
