As an avid fan of Cutty in the Wire, I have been oft-concerned about his low-to-zero blink rate. Could this be a worrying sign of the onset of Parkinson's disease? Or simply a natural response to high-workload conditions, such as prolonged automobile driving in congested areas? It's unlikely to be an indication of dopaminergic hypoactivity caused by recreational cocaine use, since (at least at the time of writing) Cutty has been seen to get Wired only once, and not enough to justify a reduction in dopamine D2 receptors in the striatum, nor to cause hypoactivity dysfunctions in the lateral prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, or the orbitofrontal cortex.
Well fear not fellow Wire pullers, because I can reveal to you exclusively that Cutty's trance-like stare is caused by none of the above. The real truth started to unfold last night when I caught an exceedingly rare event: Dennis "Cutty" Wise actually appeared to blink.
In "Slapstick" (Wire S3E09), approximately 18 and 1/2 minutes in, we witness what may indeed look like a blink. However, on closer inspection and with freeze frame digital enhancing, you can see that it is actually actor Chad Coleman's nictitating membrane protecting his eyeball.
This startling discovery has since been confirmed by Chad's agent, with whom I spoke this morning:
“Chad's eyeballs have upper and lower eyelids, but these lids don't move and don't close over the eye. When biting prey, Chad sometimes protects his eyes with a third eyelid called the nictitating membrane. This is a thin, tough membrane which can be drawn across the eye to protect it from damage.”
Fascinating stuff hey?! Sometimes I feel we could all learn something from Cutty - I for one am never going to blink again. When was the last time you blinked dear reader? Let us know in the comments!
