IVIV20: Wedged under the door when he got back, 350-351 #1

[Paul Nightingale]

We begin Ch20 by going back. On 351 the narrative reminds us of "the shindig
at Channel View Estates" (300+ pages ago), so we can stay, for the time
being with Ch19, and then go back to Ch1.

Ch19 ends on 350 with Doc speculating about Bigfoot and a "weird twisted cop
karma"; his thoughts are interrupted by Denis "passing a smouldering joint".
And there you have it, narrative speculation deferred by the promise of a
high, Doc distancing himself from Bigfoot, courtesy of Denis' timely
intervention.

What is it about Doc and Bigfoot? Well, Bigfoot first appears on TV as a
result of Doc's "extrasensory impulse" (9); and we should consider the way
in which this first appearance is managed. A brief glimpse of him
"moonlighting" forms part of a lengthy introduction that might or might not
be offered from Doc's pov. Hence, "... as Doc suspected ..." and "so many
jangling 'psychedelic' hues that Doc's tube ..." etc are succeeded by
"Bigfoot often reminded viewers ..." etc. Consequently it seems worthy of
note that Bigfoot is introduced in a passage that produces a tension between
'what Doc knows/thinks' and 'what people generally know/think', something we
might return to later.

Over the page: "There was now sudden hammering on the front door, and
briefly Doc flashed that it had to be Bigfoot in person ..." (10). Of course
it isn't; and Denis has arrived to take Doc away. We subsequently discover
(12-13) that this is one of the two moments when "Bigfoot in person" might
have arrived in Doc's absence (the other possible reading is that he turned
up when Doc went out with Shasta on 4-5).

Bigfoot's image on TV "in getups that would have embarrassed the most
unironical hippy" (9) is hardly meant to be 'realistic': cf the news
coverage on 30, where Bigfoot 'plays' law enforcement officer at the crime
scene; or Doc on 32 wondering about "any other Bigfoot, off camera, off
duty". Whatever, his presence here succeeded by an absence that will have to
be narrated by Flaco (12-13). We never discover why Bigfoot visited Doc
somewhere on either 4-5 or 10-12, although the end of Ch2.3 brings the
attempted recruitment and Bigfoot's helpful injunction to "try to drag your
consciousness out of that old-time hard-boiled dick era ..." (33); and the
end of Ch19, bringing us up to date, offers a more convoluted explanation.