[The Saucepan Man]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I'm not convinced PJ is overly keen on Merry and Pip as anything but comic relief. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>I hope that you are wrong. Lyra. I must admit that I have been slightly disappointed so far by the portrayal as Merry and Pippin as two rather interchangeable comic stooges. But their roles in RotK demand far more than this. They both become involved in some pretty serious episodes. Pippin and the Palantir, and later his scenes with Denethor and Faramir, not to mention Merry's run in with the Witch King, simply won't work if they continue to be treated solely as the light relief. Perhaps their separation will allow for thier characters to develop separately and with greater substance, but I fear that too little was done in the way of their character development in TTT for this to work fully in RotK.<P>With Merry and Pippin separated and becoming involved in more serious action, and less interaction between Gollum and Frodo/Sam, I wonder whether RotK will be an altogether darker film.<P>Mind you, I suppose there's always "Dwarf tossing" and "short Dwarf" jokes for Jackson to fall back on. Poor Gimli.