Older Kelly

I've very much enjoyed reading points of view on this topic of the future Kelly. I guess I am a little surprised that it seems the majority have in their minds a dismal future for Kelly, believing that his problems with alcohol and women overcome him and take over his life, bringing it to ruin, once he leaves the field.

I guess subjects like this really allow one's mind to leap off into the fantasy realm and create numerous plot lines. To be honest, Culp's own view has to be respected, but his focus has always been, and probably always will be, on the bleak side when it comes to his view of heroes and their flawed and troubled lives. So, I take his point of view with a grain of salt.

I am not wholly ready to assign Kelly to a wasted life. I guess there are so many possibilities as to what could have happened to him, it's hard for me to leap onto the most depressive scenario.

Did Scotty leave the spy biz or was Scotty killed? If Scotty left the spy biz, which I'd like to believe more than he died, I cannot fathom him and Kelly losing their connection. After all, Kelly would by no means wish to lose his adopted mom in Philadelphia! I think that aspect of the future is impossible to believe. With Scotty still in his life, there is more chance Kelly would have some solidity on which to remain strong.

Also, he MIGHT like his new partner as much as Scotty. It is possible to conceive.

I do think he would definitely grow tired of spying with its violence, betrayal, injuries and ugliness. Becca said he wasn't a tennis pro, but that's inaccurate, given he was a Davis Cup winner and was on the pro circuit. I don't know what he'd do, true, if he left spying, but I do wonder what would happen if, finally, one of those women, perhaps one he truly did have real affection for, got pregnant. It was bound to happen at some point, one would think, given his promiscuity.
I guess I'm a sentimentalist or a romantic or maybe just living in a Kelly dreamworld, but I wonder if the thought of having a child, (which we know he talked about regularly to Scotty, his son being an astronaut), would be enough to settle him down into some job--perhaps that security consultant flying around to various companies, etc, throughout the world--and a happy family life.

Who knows? I guess none of us, but personally, I'm not ready to give up entirely on Kelly yet.

Mona