M.T. Gari

*"Znam da ste vi, gospodo, prošli kroz mnogo toga, ali kad nađete za shodno, ja bih, ako može, da ne provedem ostatak zime VEZAN ZA OVAJ \*EBENI KAUČ"*

— Gari, kada se pokaže da je još uvek čovek

M.T. Gari je bio glavnokomandujući istraživačke postaje u Ispostavi 31, SAD na Američkim teritorijalnim pretenzijama na Antarktiku.

## **Sled događaja**

On i Benings se znaju od ranije. Od mnogo mnogo ranije. Još 1972. Preko deceniju. Niko ne zna odakle, vrlo sumnjivo. Ko zna kad je ovo sve počelo. I ko je ko ovde. Ko je vanzemaljac a ko radi za Vladu. Rasa je svakako napredna, barem interstelarno, iako su izgledali kao strahotne zveri. Koji im je cilj kolonizacije, nepoznato je. Da li su samo proždirali/isisavali resurse, ili su i oni samo potrošili svoje pa su došli da uzmu naše, ili nam je došlo vreme da nas kao intergalaktički zaostali narod, porobe. A naivni iz tajne službe misle da će oni njih nadmudriti, rob gospodara, da će mu uzeti tehnologiju, sam je replikovati, obrnutim inžinjeringom, i postati najrazvijeniji u svemiru. A znamo kako se to završava. Sa našim kolonijama. Isteraju kolonizatora pa plaču gladni da se vrati. Gari je definitivno bio umešan. U polako ispitivanje,okolišanje oko broda, ko zna otkad, i ovo nije prvi susret sa tim. Samo se prevario jer je mislio da će subjekt biti u hibernaciji. A on se baš zbog tog njihovog čačkanja probudio. Otkud je pas znao u kom pravcu da se kreće do Amerikanaca, čak ni ljudi sa svim tim tehnologijama pa nisu uvek sigurni kuda? Znači da je znao za Garija. Ali zašto je svog prijatelja uvukao u to?

Možda se kao prijatelj (možda i intimni, malo su mi čudni ovi "momci", koji su otišli na kraj sveta u izolaciju, bez žena, iako druge stanice imaju žene, il su pederi il su tu po kazni, jer gde će pobeći, neki kao zatvor, bez žena. Nols je i zvanično gej, jedino MekRidi ima lutku na naduvavanje), previše (intimno) približio i saznao šta i gde M.T. Gari radi. A pošto je u toj branši, rešio je da ga povede. Sa sobom \*1. Verovatno je mislio ma šta će da se desi meteorologu. Kad on....prvi nastrada.

Kada malamut, inače već uveliko emulat, bežeći od Norvežana, konkretno od Larsa i Matijasa, jedinih preživelih iz Tule stanice (možda je i Kejt Lojd živa i stigla do Rusa), koji je možda već i zaražen, pa je zato i "nevešto" bacio bombu, Lars, vešti i prekaljeni vojnik skače i izbegava šrapnele. Ustaje i kada vidi da je strahotni vanzemaljski organizam, koji se namerio da ubije sav život na ovoj planeti, naročito ljude, izmenjen u slatkog i ranjivog psa koji kao neki jadničak, zna taj šta radi, beži u naručje Beningsa, da ga zaštiti, ali i lizne (mada se pljuvačkom ne može zaraziti, ne znači da mu nije krvava), pronašao novi način da nastavi da širi zarazu, do tada najsmireniji član posade obe stanice gubi pribranost i počinje da puca nasumice, znate ono, poslednjim trzajem da proba da ubije smrt ljudske rase, u očaju. Pogađa Beningsa u nogu, balava kuca pljuca mu silazi baš na tu stranu, verovatno da baci pljucu na ranu. M.T. , ne znamo tačno za šta je skraćenica, za razliku od Ridija, koji je samo junior, možda MekFarlan Teodor \* uplašen za svog... intimusa, a i da ne ubije možda poslednji živi primerak vanzemaljskog organizma, znao je on dobro o čemu se ovde radi, Vladin čovek, iskoristio je priliku, kao da upuca "manijaka" i zaustavi pretnju oružjem. Lars im jeste rekao, bežite budale, to nije pas, to je Stvor, pobiće nas sve, ali na Norveškom, pa ga niko nije razumeo od Amerikanaca, iako je mogao za toliko da zna Engleski jer je u svojoj stanici radio sa Englezima, a borio se i širom sveta kao plaćenik. Ubio ga je jednim hicem. Vojnik, kome je to bukvalno posao već decenijama, iz užasavajućeg straha i tremora, pošto zna da je ovo kraj čovečanstva, ultimativna žrtva, promašuje i to više puta, a ovaj, navodno običan naučnik, iz prve.

Amerikanci su udomili "potresenog" garija, garonju (originalni pas, glumac koji glumi ostalo, jer je dobar glumac, je mešanac vuka i malamuta, pa su ovog, kaskadera, morali malo da ofarbaju, da nagare) i glavnokomandujući Gari naređuje radio-operateru Vindouzu da dojavi situaciju i novosti o napadu MekMurdo stanici, ne znam zašto, kad su skoro na suprotnoj strani Antarktika, bliže Novom Zelandu, skoro 1.000 kilometara daleko. Međutim, snažna snežna oluja, sprečila je i omela radio kontakt. Kao da je hteo da ne dođu brzo. Kao što je i hteo.

Kada mu doktor Koper predlaže nameru da bi najbolje bilo da odu da vide šta se desilo sa Norvežanima i da pomognu, MTGari se cinično smeje. Zna taj tačno šta se desilo. Da li još uvek nije znao da mogu da uđu u pse, pa je pomislio da je Larš možda taj koji je zaražen pa pokušava da ih poubija, ili uopšte u ljude?? Bilo kako bilo, pas se slobodno šeta po stanici, dok ne reše da ga zatvore. U jednom trenutku, dok su igrali poker u sobi za rekreaciju, prišao je da onjuši ranu ispod stola, da ubrza prenos infekcije.

Kada su otišli MekRidijevim helikopterom, prvo je hteo neko drugi, ali on ne da da mu ga iko vozi (iako je tu zbo tog što su zbog njega njegovi vojnici izginul i u ratu u Vijetnamu), i od tamo se vratili sa spaljenim lešom iz izgorele i ruinirane stanice Tule, za koji su mislili da su dva tela spojena u jedno od toplote metala ili plamenobacača, a ustvari je to bio dvolični (ne mešati sa podeljeno lice), zaustavljen u podeli na dva čoveka, M.T. je jedini od prisutnih koji shvata šta se desilo kada ga stave na sto za autopsiju u staničnoj laboratoriji.

## *Baza*

### *Fusnote i reference*

During the winter of 1982 chased their

During the night, he is awoken by a fire alarm triggered by MacReady and proceeds to the dog kennels to discover what the source of the disturbance is. Along with the other men, he witnesses the dog-thing assimilating the outpost's sled dogs and opens fire on it with his revolver to no avail. After the creature is incinerated by Childs, Garry is present at the autopsy of its charred remains. After performing tests on the organism, Dr. Copper decides to lock its remains in the storage room and after providing Windows with his set of keys, Garry (along with the other men) is drawn outside by the discovery of a half-assimilated Bennings, who is promptly incinerated. Understandably confused by what was happening to his friend, he reluctantly aids MacReady in destroying the rest of it.

Mid-way through the film, Garry assists the other men in overpowering a revolver-wielding Blair, who has destroyed the outpost's helicopter, snowcat, radio and killed the remaining sled dogs, under the pretences of preventing the Thing from escaping. After locking him in the tool shed, the men return to the infirmary to find the blood locker open and its contents destroyed - preventing a possible blood serum test. As the holder of the keys, Garry is accused along with Dr. Copper and paranoia breaks out. Possibly realising that he himself dropped the keys after encountering the Bennings-Thing, Windows flees and acquires a shotgun to arm himself. Garry threatens him at gunpoint to let go of the weapon and the paranoid man complies. His authority shattered beyond repair, Garry decides to hand over his revolver and leadership to someone else - giving the men his word that he did not touch the blood supply. Along with Copper and Clark he is taken to the rec room, drugged with morphine and tied to the couch.

In a bid to determine the identity of the remaining crew, MacReady improvises a rudimentary blood-test involving a heated copper wire and samples taken from the men. Still tied, Garry cynically replies that the test is ridiculous and won't prove anything. MacReady decides to test Garry last, taking his hostility as further confirmation that he is an imposter. Dipping the heated wire into the petri dish containing Palmer's blood, the organism unexpectedly reacts, jumping out of the dish with a shriek and revealing Palmer to be a Thing. Noticing the convulsing Palmer-Thing tied up alongside him, Garry and the others begin to panic and shout. The creature sheds its bonds and fatally mauls Windows before being burnt and destroyed by MacReady. Following the chaos, Nauls assists MacReady in finishing the tests, concluding with Garry's, which harmlessly fizzles upon contact, proving his humanity. Tired and frustrated, he demands that the men release him, yelling that he is not willing to spend the entire winter tied up on a couch.

The surviving crew set out to the tool shed in order to administer the test to the incarcerated Blair, only to find that he has escaped by tunnelling his way underground. They follow the path and discover that not only had Blair been assimilated, but he had been constructing a small flying vehicle of alien design underneath the tool shed. After the facility loses power, MacReady realizes that the creature now wants to freeze again so a future rescue team will find it. The remaining crew acknowledge that they will not survive and set about destroying the facility in hopes of killing the creature. While setting explosives in the outpost's underground generator room, Garry is attacked and assimilated (or straightly killed as the creature had no time for a proper assimilation process) by the Blair-Thing as he stops to fix his flickering flash-light. Pressing him against the wall, it sinks its fingers into his face - fusing the two together and beginning to assimilate him. He is last seen being dragged off screen by his hideously stretched facial tissue.

Although his death is not shown on-screen, it is certain that Garry is dead, since assimilation meant certain death (although not necessarily immediately). Also, before a Garry-Thing could be produced from the Blair-Thing, the base was destroyed, certainly killing both the human Garry and eliminating any possibility of a Garry-Thing. Regardless, Garry's sacrifice prevented any possibility of the Thing reaching and destroying civilization.

Personality

As the Commander of Outpost 31, Garry had a serious and no-nonsense attitude, making him a very adequate leader for a large group of men on a single base in the middle of nowhere in Antarctica. When the Bennings-Thing was discovered and killed, Garry was left shocked, as he had known Bennings for a long time. After everyone became suspicious of him, Garry became a lot more short tempered and willingly handed over his role as leader to any taker, which wound up being MacReady, someone he openly distrusted until the end of the film when the four survivors, including Garry himself, learned they would have to work together and most likely die if they wanted to stop the Thing, a sacrifice Garry was bravely willing to make.

Trivia

Garry carries a .357 magnum Colt Trooper Mark III revolver as his on duty sidearm, which he later gave to MacReady because he did not feel up to being in charge.

According to the character, Garry has been friends with George Bennings for ten years.

In the short story on which The Thing is based (Who Goes There?), the character Garry is revealed to be an imposter.

It is believed Donald Moffat improvised shouting his famous line about being tied to the couch, as the line itself is in lower case with no exclamation mark at the end in the original script. This rumour is unconfirmed.