There's been great debate over just how perky Tracy Vetter really is. Some people just don't see it. Others think of Tracy as some excessively jubilant bouncing ball of energy, swilling coffee at the speed of light. I'm in the middle of the road.

I know how the idea came about that Tracy was perky. It's in her smile. She's genuine and bright when she turns it on; she's a master at the happy grin. In those instants, I agree, oh yes, Tracy is perky.

Another telling sign of perkiness is that cutesy whine she can get in her voice. It's a kid-sister 'quit picking on me!' attitude that can easily fall under the shroud of the P-word. Tracy really doesn't do it that often, but just enough where it sticks out in my mind, like when Captain Reese orders her to appear on 'The Jerry Show' in My Boyfriend Is A Vampire. Her first response is "Nooo! Wait a minute!", intoned in such a way that it's hard to seriously consider her an adult. Then there are some of her word choices. In the same episode, how does Tracy express her dread of a makeover by 'The Jerry Show'? "I'll look goofy." Yeah, right...that's an assertive, tough-cop turn of phrase.

But there's the other side to this coin, the Tracy who is tough, who is as far removed from a sweet, bouncy young thing as LaCroix is removed from Lawrence Welk. Take, for example, Avenging Angel, a stellar episode in terms of Tracy's dark side. Who can forget the moment when Tracy becomes fed up with her mother and slaps her? (Want to relive it? Here's the sound one Vetter hand clapping.) Another classic scene comes when Tracy chases down an abusive husband suspected of killing his wife. She tackles him, beats him down, holds her weapon to his head and threatens to pull the trigger. "Go ahead, you son of a bitch! Give me a reason!" No, no, this is not the act of a perky person.

What this means is Tracy is a complex character. She's not a Barbie[tm] doll, pretty, but with very little substance. She's a confident adult, yet plagued with a father who wants her to be 'Daddy's little girl.' She's intelligent, she's lived around cops all her life, yet she's a neophyte, being introduced to the violence of her profession first-hand. She kills a perp in self-defence for the first time in Trophy Girl, and it affects her. She's thrust into a world where blood, mutilation and bodily decay become daily experiences, and it bothers her. She's human, both weak and strong, lost somewhere between realism and the supernatural.

The way I see it, Tracy's perkiness isn't so much a bouncines or cuteness, but liveliness and spirit. It's her likeability, and there are many moments on Forever Knight where I really liked Tracy's addition to the series, things that I just got a kick out of. Here's some of them:

Tracy's relationship with Natalie. Some folks would say that this was an antagonistic relationship, but I really feel that Natalie mentored the younger woman. One strong instance of this was in Trophy Girl, where Natalie makes a point of telling Captain Reese and Nick that she thinks they're treating Tracy differently because she's a woman. Natalie also seeks to lend her support after Tracy is made to take time off after her first kill in the line of duty.

Human Factor contained what I thought of as an important sign of Tracy's respect for Natalie's opinion. When Tracy has doubts about Nick's involvement with a murder suspect, she goes to Natalie for advice. What's more, she listens to what Natalie has to say.

My absolute favorite episode in terms of Tracy and Natalie's relationship is Jane Doe. Having to assist Natalie in the autopsy of an unidentified victim was an important growing experience for Tracy's character. Natalie displayed herself to be sympathetic, patient, then expressed praise and respect when Tracy made positive advancements in their task. That strongly smacks of mentorship to me.

Then comes one of my favorite scenes of the entire third season: Tracy becomes woozy after a period of digging around in the body cavity of the victim, which happens to be in an advanced, and very smelly, state of decomposition. After a few minutes under an oxygen mask, Tracy starts to discuss their clinical findings with Natalie, then has a brainstorm that leads them to the identity of the victim. Natalie then motions to the oxygen mask, joking, "Have another hit, it seems to be working." That situation summed up the whole issue of Tracy's character to me: on the surface, she's labeled a dumb, annoying blonde, but given the opportunity, Tracy demonstrates that she is intelligent and has good investigative instincts. To me, Jane Doe was an acknowledgment of that ability.

Another bit I love is the aforementioned makeover 'The Jerry Show' gives Tracy in My Boyfriend Is A Vampire. How hilariously horrendous! Am I the only one who thought they made her look like an Angie Dickenson as Police Woman wanna-be? That big hair! The pale pink lipstick! Those raccoon eyes! The sheer disbelief as to how she could chase a kitten down, much less a criminal, in those heels! If I was in her shoes, I would have had trouble walking, too, and I definitely would have shot someone for putting me up to that fiasco. Tracy was very wise to be worried about 'looking goofy'!

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