They might enjoy having some fun with their chosen field. Doctors and other experts have taken some time out to analyze fictional or past events and come up with some interesting interpretations. (And if they're wrong, nobody gets hurt.)

I have, somewhere, a doctor's diagnosis of Edgar Allan Poe's last days. After looking at the symptoms, he concluded rabies. Not as 'romantic' as alcoholism, but also rescues Poe from the 'degenerate drunk' stereotype that has dogged him since Griswold turned on him.

Retired FBI profiler John Douglas got involved with a Jack the Ripper TV special. Too bad, so sad for the 'Prince Jack' or 'John Druitt' crowd: he pegged Pedachenko, or a very similar sort of loser, for the Ripper.

And someone concluded that the preacher in The Scarlet Letter was actually murdered by Chillingworth.

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Except there's no real evidence for that aside from modern discontent with the old style 'Mysterious Retribution Death' of early fiction.

Chillingworth was a ratbastard anyway, and the reverend wasn't such a great guy, either. Hester and Pearl are the ones who have my sympathy.

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I think one plausible medical explanation for Joe's future demise could be a cerebral aneurysm. Basically, it is when a blood vessel in the brain becomes weakened and enlarges due to normal blood flow. Eventually, this weakened area may burst, causing bleeding into the brain tissue. The combination of the excess pressure in the cranium and the blood itself can cause irreversible brain damage and eventually death, if not treated quickly.

Cerebral aneurysms can be congenital (meaning that you are born with it) or the result of a previous head trauma. Small ones can be relatively assymptomatic, save for the occasional headaches. Larger ones, or ones that grow larger over time, can cause symptoms such as headaches, severe nausea leading to vomitting, dizziness and even loss of consciousness - all things that Joe suffered towards the end. Stress and high blood pressure can exacerbate aneurysms and can cause them to rupture suddenly.

Anerysms are scary things because its symptoms can often be similar to so many other less dangerous things. In this way, people can miss some important warning signs. Or in Joe's case, they can purposely brush them off. Diffinitive diagnosis is usually done using a CT scan or anteriogram, which is an X-ray of blood vessels using radioactive dyes. Given Joe's symptoms, those would be some of the first tests a neurologist would consider. However, unlike in the Gatchaman world, these days having an aneurysm does not automatically lead to rupture or death. There are lots of treatment that allow people to live very normal lives. In Joe's case, perhaps there would have been a restriction on his activities, which is of course what he feared the most. Perhaps that's what the doctors told him and he chose to "finish the job" rather than get treament. Poor Joe!

Terrific episode and terrific writeup and screen caps, LB and Saturn! I have to admit, I usually don't like episodes that don't have all of the team members in the ep, but this one is so interesting and informative! It's heart-warming to see the guys doing some male bonding (and no, not in the yaoi sense!) Although I would've loved to have seen what would happen if Jun got the chance to be alone with Ken for all that time!

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There is no problem that cannot be solved with time, patience, and a judicious amount of high explosives.

It wasn't so awkward for them when they were alone together when the Crescent Base was being flooded...

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To be or not to be a gatchamaniac - that's the dilemma!

Now that would be an interesting scene....

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And the entire team would be moving Heaven and Earth for her. Galactor gets in the way -- big hole in the ground.

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I think Joe would have pushed Ken aside and and tried to go into the machinery in his stead. If they'd talked though, I think Joe would have let Ken go.

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