Martin Fitzgerald

[Broni]

It is a very difficult thing to decipher. We could also put down his 'couple of nieces' statement to being a lie just so he could get more information out of Bear (from 'the Line' S2), just to make him feel that he can relate to him, make him more comfortable to give them the proper information. They are FBI agents and they can have a tendency to lie to get what they want, it wouldn't surprise me!

You would think that if he did have a sibling, it would have been mentioned at least around the time he was shot, but only his parents being at the hospital with him and such were mentioned (though at the same time his cousins and uncle weren't mentioned as being there either). I don't know what to think about it! He could have a ton of cousins with young children and babies (like Ava) and like you said Jenni, he could just call them his nieces and nephews or whatever, just brushing it off like that. It's really hard to say!

I personally see him as having an older sister who has the husband, the 2.2 kids, the big house in the 'burbs and the great, high-paying and well-regarded job. I see him as looking up to her, but as he chose to get into the FBI, he is plagued with wanting to pull out of his father's shadow and making a name for himself while at the same time making his dad proud. His sister (IMO) pulled away from the FBI and politics and made a name for herself, and Martin wants to do the same, but the place he chose makes it harder for him to do so.

In a way I can see him as a follower of an older sibling (who I assume would be quite a few years older than him) but also rather independent.

But that's just my way of thinking.

I love that you created these threads Jenni now because everyone can write what they think, and it's so interesting to see how they came to that conclusion! I love it, and it certainly will help in fics

[Greer]

I think the fact the writers are often completely inconsistent makes it difficult to establish backgrounds for any of the characters except maybe for Jack.

I always assumed Martin had an older sister and like Broni, I always imagined she was quite a bit older and already settled with a family of her own.
He's very sensitive and at ease with women and he just strikes me as someone brought up around a group of very strong female figures which is possibly why he fell for Sam. I also think he had a nanny he loved who was a very definite mother figure to him (as well as Bonnie of course)!!

I think his Father's expectations were placed upon him more as the 'only son' than as an only child; carrying on the Fitzgerald name and traditions etc,.
I definitely don't see him as having been brought up with a lot of siblings, (I have 9 siblings...full/half/step so I speak from experience!!) he's too quiet and reserved for that. You grow up with a big family and you learn to be loud and...well, obnoxious!!

I also see his Father as having been absent in his childhood, tied to the office and just generally emotionally detached in a very old-fashioned, 'society family' sort of way and he did tell Sam the men weren't particulary close in his family, but I also see his Mom as having been very proper and reserved and similarly detached.

Maybe this is why having his own family is so important to him?! He's certainly the opposite of his father and seems to be naturally nurturing and caring and unlike Victor, he'd clearly make an amazing father. (hint hint Sam!!)

Anyway...ramble over!! ;D

[sandid]

In Extremis was a great episode and definetly a defining moment for Martin. I have difficulty with everyone in the show saying that Martin jumped to conclusions too quickly. He saw what he saw and presented evidence to Jack stating that 'he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't present these theories'.
Martin did take Anwar's death personally which was evident in later episodes. (Remembering the decision to bring in ATTF and to take the fatal shot was Jack's.)
This all tells me that he is very personable and serious. Probably a reflection of his childhood, with a father like Victor he would have had to stand up for what he believes in and standby his convictions,and face the consiquences. Even though later Victor tries to help Martin but realises his mistake.
One more thing, even though Victor and Martin are not close,in the couple of times Victor has been in episodes, they obviously love each other as a father and son should.

[katydid13]

Where did we find out Martin was raised Catholic? I'm sure it's right, but I'm curious where we heard it.

[Rat]

im pretty sure that danny brought up the fact that martin was catholic in the episode with that girl he knew in seattle. i forgot the name of the episode but she had a priest perform a demonic cleansing on her or something. martin said he didnt believe in what was done to the girl and danny said 'werent you raised catholic?'

[Broni]

Oh was that 'All the Sinners, Saints'? With the girl from Seattle that he couldn't remember? Yeah I remember that! I don't remember the quote but great catch Rat Yeah I've always pictured Martin as being raised a Catholic though I can't explain why and where in the show I came up with that. It just seems that as a child he would have been raised that way and have some small belief in a higher power already.

[katydid13]

Thanks! I missed that episode and haven't caught is since they aren't airing many drama re-runs.

Broni -- I also thought he was raised Catholic too. Fitzgerald is a very Irish Catholic name. I can see him having had a Jesuit education that helped instill the value of public service.

[stephell5969]

Weighing in on the whole, does Martin or does he not have siblings...I see him as an only child which I see makes me very much in the minority on this list. I don't see the line where he says to the guy..."I've got a couple of nieces, tell me about" (something about The Wheels of the Bus Go Round and Round song) as anything more than a way of relating a bit. Very similar type of flippant comment to deflect and relate at the same time as when he did in He Saw/She Saw when the homeless woman offered him some of his ice cream and he said "No thanks, lactose intolerant" lots of people in fanfic have written him as being lactose intolerant yet he puts milk in his coffee and eats cheeseburgers...no, it was just a polite way of saying "I'm not sharing your ice cream"

We never hear any mention of siblings in any visits (the whole two he's had) with his father, never hear him mention sisters when he's talking to Sam about how he spent summers with his aunt and uncle, none of it, also no mention in Showdown.

I see Martin as an only child, had lots of friends but still felt lonely in the crowd and his gentle and sensitive side comes from the time spent with the Tolands and his absolute adoration for his Aunt Bonnie.

I see Martin as marginally in touch with his father but not at all in touch with his mother which is why his father tells him no less than twice (again, the only two times we seem them together -- well, two eps that is) "I'll tell your mother you're looking well." I don't believe he is close to his mother but goes to cousin's weddings and such because either he is close to them or it's 'the right thing to do'

As for his backstory...after six years (okay, we're only three eps into the 6th year) but I'm trying to ignore (really really trying) the inconsistencies in the backstories 'cause TPTB really mess up the timelines so it's impossible for me to believe that Sam was 14 when At Rest happened or that Jack is chasing someone in the CSI cross-over that he's been following for 7 years (as the TV Guide is saying) unless they show that Danny and Sam were on the team as well...since we know it takes two years for agents to get up to speed in the MPU and Danny and Sam were kinda snooty to Martin in S1 for his lack of experience...don't get me started...I'll stop now and you can PM me if you want a more detailed outline (I don't expect any messages...

I'll go back to writing my fanfic...it's a happy place there...well, actually it's an angsty place but at least I'm filling in all the emotional moments I'd have liked to see.

:-)

[Jennifoofighter]

Laurel,

This is where we fill in the blanks. Feel free to offer whatever you want to say.

[mariepaule]

I agree with Laurel that it's possible that Martin was lying when he said he had nieces. I think that we can only take what he says to other team members at face value. Everything else is open to interpretation.

Martin strikes me as someone who has been given many gifts: privileged background, smart, handsome, athletic, successful, and yet, there's something very insecure and vulnerable about him. So, regarding siblings, if I was writing his back story, he would have had an older brother who was the "star" of the family, the apple of his father's eye. As accomplished as Martin was, the older brother always did better. It would explain Martin's apparent lack of confidence, his desire to constantly prove himself and be 'perfect'. In my very fertile imagination, the older brother died when they were teenagers, while they were doing something together, and Victor unconsciously blames Martin and Martin still feels guilty that he's the one who survived. That would also help explain Victor and Martin's uneasy relationship.

I think that Martin needs a bit of drama in his back story, something other than being the poor little rich boy with daddy issues who collects toy trains and reads sci-fi (although I like that part, lol).

[Jennifoofighter]

mariepaule said:

In my very fertile imagination, the older brother died when they were teenagers, while they were doing something together, and Victor unconsciously blames Martin and Martin still feels guilty that he's the one who survived. That would also help explain Victor and Martin's uneasy relationship.

How very Ordinary People. I like it.

I agree with both you and Laurel, which is why I wrote "he claims" instead of actually listing nieces. Oh, if only to have all sorts of those personal storylines addressed...

[annie2000]

liked Marie's theory of the dead brother, but I'd make a change and say Victor was the one that was with his son and Martin blames him, because he really seems upset and resentful whenever his father is around.

[stephell5969]

I guess I go with the idea that Martin resents his father somewhat, or maybe resent is too harsh a word, doesn't understand his father, isn't close to his father, is uncomfortable with his father pick one or all.

We see in the Pilot episode Martin's response to Jack's "I haven't heard from your father (or I've expected to hear from or I'm surprised I haven't) and Martin's response is I told him to stay out of it; I don't want any special treatment."

That tells me that Martin recognizes his father is pushy and will use his position/power to 'move obstacles' and also somewhat obliquely references that Victor doesn't think Martin can do it without some help.

Later on we see in Kam Li Jack commenting on Victor's authoritative, domineering style, "He didn't even wait for me to say, yes, sir." And Martin's response is, "He never does."

To me this speaks of Victor's absolute confidence that no one would question or defy his orders thus he doesn't wait around to see if they've even been acknowedged nor does he assume anything other than absolute submission.

Also quite telling on Martin's upbringing, his father's word/command was the final word and Martin could argue if he chose but Victor was already gone and Martin would be arguing/debating with thin air.

This isn't to say that Martin is a wuss by any means, we also know form the Pilot that Martin has 'told' his father to stay out of it...and to Victor's credit, he does. Victor also listens to Martin in Kam Li when Martin meets up with him at the NYC office and 'weighs in' on the investigation and Victor also warns Martin that perhaps he doesn't know everything that he thinks he knows about Jack (namely Sam...in hindsight, it's obvious Victor knew) again in AYNOHYEB that Victor is willing to pull strings to protect his son when he sees unfair abuse of power (Martin probably deserved the reprimand he eventually got for the Anwar Samir case, but dismissal from the Bureau which seemed to be what Victor was alluding to...that's too much) so he goes to bat and changes the angle of the investigation against Jack who has royally messed up the Andy Deaver case through his abuse of power and in so doing set Martin up to appear as if he committed perjury which in itself would ruin Martin's career and while Victor may or may not have known about that [Van Doren knew of the request for a lawyer so whether or not she reported that to Victor, not sure] Victor already knew about Sam so he made a choice, protect his son from unfair termination and get rid of an agent who had overstepped the bounds once too many times.

The good thing is that Jack vindicated himself in Victor's eyes by taking the rightful blame and Victor also listened to Martin about Jack being a good agent.

Victor and Martin's relationship is complicated and a great backstory, alas, a thread that could continue from time to time and I would welcome it.

I think Martin sees things more sympathetically (the world that is) than his father and while he may have grown up with power and to some extent privilege (Other than Victor's high role in the Bureau, I'm not sure where everyone seems to think he's rich) but power and privilege doesn't seem that important to Martin.

If it was, why would he befriend Danny, orphan, educated himself (as in worked to pay through school I'm assuming) Sam from trailer park in Kenosha..Martin doesn't care about that, he may have his preconceptions but he doesn't see Sam and Danny for all their 'broken childhood and lack of privilege' as beneath him.

I think Martin wants to chose his own path and not blindly follow the path his parents want (politics) and I think he's an only child since his parents seemed to be insistent on the politics and Bonnie was the only one to encourage him to follow his own choice.

I think Martin longs to have a father that paid attention to him for himself and didn't constantly try to decide his path. I imagine Martin grew up being told that sports were a waste of time and that he should study and join the student government and things like that and that he had to go to all the right places and see and be seen by the right people.

Success, good grades were expected, anything less was not tolerated and there weren't many father/son moments other than let me see your report card, what, you got an A-, that's not acceptable

Their relationship should and would grow somewhat after Martin's shooting, we see Victor, always in control and certain of what he is doing as lost at the end, he recognizes that he lost control and actually admits it to Jack as if in apology for taking Paige Hobson and in essence, 'making a deal with the devil' to get Dornvald.

When Jack lets him off the hook (rightfully so, he 'handled' Victor quite well, as well as he could through that episode) we almost see relief in Victor's face as if he recognizes that he should have stepped away from the investigation and that Jack professionally 'handled' him and gave him an out..."He's your son."

I don't think Victor hates Martin, I think Victor is trying to make Martin into his image of what his son should be as if that somehow justifies Victor just a bit more.

I don't think Martin hates his father, I think he is uncomfortable around him as he knows he doesn't 'meet expectation' but he's also his own person and is probably more than a little tired of not meeting expectation.

It's a complicated relationship that sadly is probably quite frequent in life and since he's the only one of the group other than Sam with a parent in his/her life (well, I guess Elena's mom takes care of Sophie from time to time, I forgot) it would be nice to see some more interaction, something. I'd like to see how they changed a bit since Martin's injury.

[smartybear2]

Since we are all baffled by the trime-line issue with danny's back story, I was just wondering...
has anyone here ever wondered how martin's time-line works out?

I mean, we all know that he probably took a business course of some sort in university (college or post-grad?) because of his comment about knowing something about prison art from interning and teaching convicts a business class. Additional supporting info for this background is his first assignment at the FBI being White Collar crime, which is right up his alley as an accounting major of some sort. We know that he worked White Collar in Seattle (was that for 2 or 3 years?).

My question is -- has anyone picked up a tidbit on what he was doing all the years in between school and his job with White Collar? It doesn't make sense for him to have gone into the FBI right after.

I agree, he strikes me as Catholic -- he has the guilt complex (don't get mad at me -- i'm not being insulting as I am born and bred Catholic to the bone, too , he's big on traditional values, and his family name smacks Irish.

As to his being rich -- is there any episode in particular that alludes to his family being wealthy? Is it safe to assume that since his father is a Washington mover and shaker, their family is probably something Kennedy-ish?

[stephell5969]

All great questions Smarybear2, yep Fitzgerald smacks of Irish, love it...he should wear more green (hee hee)

Not sure on his timeline, college, yep I think business as well since that's what he taught in a prison...I wonder when he did that? Perhaps he worked in corrections for a couple of years out of college as a civilian vocational instructor (Hmm, if TPTB can make it up as they go along...why can't we...at least we're keeping tabs

He also said in [The Bus I think it was] that he once hitchhiked/road across country in a container (18 wheeler kind of container) when and why would that be done??? between HS and College yearning for exploration? College summertime rebellion (not likely, probably was working at that time...straightlaced family background sorta dictates that...don't throw things at me either ;)I'm from that type of background)

It's intriguing, I'm not sure how one goes about entering the FBI but from what little I do know (and this goes back a few years) it's not like you graduate HS or College and say...hey, sign me up. They have to choose you and they choose you because you have some kind of background that fits what they need so I'm thinking he had some business and correctional type of background (cause of teaching in prison) and also some type of psychology something somewhere since so much of what they do is profiling of their MP.

It's a mystery but one that's fun exploring.