The Norwegian Thing
This is something I don't think we've really discussed in much depth. What was it? What was it doing when it was torched? Why the split head? For example, was it pure 'Thing', i.e. an imitation having a monster session which was then torched (with the head splitting in a similar way to the Palmer-Thing?) Alternatively, was it actually in the process of assimilation, with the split head being perhaps part human, part Thing? This seems to be suggested by its size (possibly much bigger than a man) and the incoherent jumble of limbs. These seem to me to be the most likely possibilities. If we assume that it was an interrupted assimilation, then large portions of it would still have been human when it was torched. However, it was probably all Thing when MacReady discovered it (and undoubtedly was when it took over Bennings.) What implications does this have for our theories of the assimilation process? That long term assimilation (but not of the dog-spittle or single cell variety) is indeed possible? It might then be able to assimilate and reanimate (recently) dead organisms - indeed there is further evidence of this in the Palmer-Thing's assimilation of Windows, who surely died quickly from his injuries before the assimilation could begin. Concerning the alternative possibility, of it being 'all Thing', I mean on a microscopic level. It clearly hadn't reorganized itself into one or more credible imitations. Was it simply unable to do this, or did it choose not to do this, in order to draw attention to itself by anyone who might discover it? Having said that, the results of Blair's autopsy might suggest that the Norwegian Thing was all Thing when it was torched. Although the organs seemed to be normal (as they would in either an imitation or a human) the fact that there were not more organs than there would be in a normal, single human is perhaps evidence against the interrupted assimilation theory. After all, during an assimilation, the combined Thing-human assemblage would contain both imitation and genuine human organs from both The Thing and its prey. Lots of questions. XidiouX
This is something I don't think we've really discussed in much depth. What was it? What was it doing when it was torched? Why the split head? For example, was it pure 'Thing', i.e. an imitation having a monster session which was then torched (with the head splitting in a similar way to the Palmer-Thing?) Alternatively, was it actually in the process of assimilation, with the split head being perhaps part human, part Thing? This seems to be suggested by its size (possibly much bigger than a man) and the incoherent jumble of limbs. These seem to me to be the most likely possibilities. If we assume that it was an interrupted assimilation, then large portions of it would still have been human when it was torched. However, it was probably all Thing when MacReady discovered it (and undoubtedly was when it took over Bennings.) What implications does this have for our theories of the assimilation process? That long term assimilation (but not of the dog-spittle or single cell variety) is indeed possible? It might then be able to assimilate and reanimate (recently) dead organisms - indeed there is further evidence of this in the Palmer-Thing's assimilation of Windows, who surely died quickly from his injuries before the assimilation could begin. Concerning the alternative possibility, of it being 'all Thing', I mean on a microscopic level. It clearly hadn't reorganized itself into one or more credible imitations. Was it simply unable to do this, or did it choose not to do this, in order to draw attention to itself by anyone who might discover it? Having said that, the results of Blair's autopsy might suggest that the Norwegian Thing was all Thing when it was torched. Although the organs seemed to be normal (as they would in either an imitation or a human) the fact that there were not more organs than there would be in a normal, single human is perhaps evidence against the interrupted assimilation theory. After all, during an assimilation, the combined Thing-human assemblage would contain both imitation and genuine human organs from both The Thing and its prey. Lots of questions. XidiouX