MovieChat Forums > American Gothic (1995) Discussion > Gary Cole

Gary Cole

posted 15 years ago by yeoffthecat
11 replies | jump to latest

BEWARE-SPOILERS BE BELOW!!!

First of all, he is the most kindheartest devil I have ever seen. Oh, sure, he has done his share of misdeeds, a couple that I surely cannot abide, however, has anyone ever noticed that the things he has done to people were justifiable in some ironic way? That they probably had it coming? Even when he broke Merlyn's neck, he did it out of pity and compassion in his own twisted manner? Now, I definitely cannot condone what he did to Caleb's mother. But it appears to me that he has seen to it that the good people did receive his idea of justice and vindication. Everyone can see that he loves Caleb with a passion although he is very immoral at times. Remember how he tried to atone for Gail's nurse friend by finding a good sanitorium for her, and visiting her once a week? He is very delightful in playing the part of the devil, and if they are in the process of thinking of a remake, then Gary Cole should reprise his role as the sheriff. He doesn't look that much older now anyway. Lucas Black would be excellent in dealing with the issues with his father, but on a more mature basis.
Any comments?

I live in a glass house, ergo, I throw no stones.

[–] bogwart-1 15 years ago

Yes, I can imagine the devil (if he was real instead of a fairy story) being a really nice chap. And if people around him died in horrible ways well, stuff happens.

[–] gummitch-2 14 years ago

I'm not even sure he's the devil.
More a fallen angel or a pagan deity.
The Trickster character in Supernatural is quite similar: with more comic relief, but in the end, in Season 5, he utterly reminds me of Sheriff Buck.

Gummitch

[–] paultagonist 14 years ago

I like to think he's a demon, or fallen angel if you prefer. There's little biblical references throughout the series that kind of suggest it has something to do with the Judeo-Christian set of mythos.

The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but to be in the mystery. -Fred Alan Wolf

[–] gummitch-2 14 years ago

He seems to be something similar to Merlyn, as he tries to "help" her in some of her choices. My guess is, he is a spirit that took hold of a soul and never let it go (as opposed to Merlyn who let go the baby's soul). He doesn't play in the same team as Merlyn, but I don't think he's the devil either. Just a misunderstood hero :-)

Leyla
http://garycole.webs.com/

[–] vbel 14 years ago

Best villain ever! Gotta go with the Devil.

[–] dragon_x 13 years ago

What about the son of the devil ... or the legitimate bastard son of the small town devil?

What about the Duke Blue Devils?

[–] Devon_Rex 13 years ago

I always had the feeling that he was a fallen angel.

Sunday school was a long time ago but there was a line in one of the early episodes where he was talking to the Judge about getting custody of Caleb which I thought gave a clue as to his true nature. He's standing in the Judge's garden and the Judge has a little monologue about gardening and then Buck makes an oblique reference to having a lot of experience with gardens made me think he was the snake from the Garden of Eden; tempting people to do what they know they shouldn't do is certainly his forte.

[–] ralpmg 13 years ago

He was a fallen angel . His biggest thing was to make people screw up and take take they own life so they could go to hell . Remember if he did the deed that doesnt count so thats why he had to make the people mess up on their own . He just gave them the temptation .

[–] India_Ana 13 years ago

Ooh. I knew he wasn't the devil himself, but wasn't sure if he was a demon or something else. I'll have to keep this in mind when I watch the DVDs again.

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[–] movieman-232 12 years ago

Great thread. I always knew that there was something demonic, but somewhat caring, in him. So said in the past that the devil was God's favorite angel till he went another way. What if that other way was Lucas Buck...?

[–] catpeople14 9 years ago

*******SPOILERS******
It seems that each time I watch this series (going on number 5, I believe!), I see this in a new light.
This show really did come out ahead of its time, and it was quite edgy for mid-90s television.
Lucas. What was he? I guess now I see him as an arm of Lucifer, or maybe an Earthly projection of the devil.
It may seem that he has a good heart, at the root of it all, or he does things to help people, but on this fifth time around of viewing, all I saw was him doing things which may have looked kind, but were anything but -- everything he did was something to further his hold on things.
He didn't kill Merlyn out of mercy!
No, he killed her because she was the only living witness to him raping her mother. No forgiving his murder of an innocent or the rape. Nope.
He didn't try to stop her from letting go of her hold on the baby's soul because he felt bad for killing her and wanted her to live -- he was tempting her with taking the life of the baby! He wanted her to murder that baby!
No, all is not as it seems, and while Gary Cole was a handsome devil and he had a smile that could melt icebergs, he was pretty much bad to the bone...and he was VERY good at hiding that, most of the time.