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!
