Marco and Vera

"I know a thing or two about you, Vera. But all I've been able to see lately is the mess I've let this war make of my life. I've been either too blind or too stupid to tell, that all this time, Vera, I'm looking at the best thing that ever happened to me." - Marco Moretti

Marco Moretti and Vera Burr are a couple with both a tragic beginning and end from the Canadian series Bomb Girls. Vera was a Bomb Girl working at the Victory Munitions factory during World War 2, and Marco was the supply manager who longed to be able to become a soldier like all of the other able-bodied men, but couldn't because of his Italian descent. When the series began, Vera and Marco had a mutual attraction to one another, but their playful flirting turned deadly as it distracted Vera as she was working the line in the factory. She was rushed to the hospital where the doctors did all they could for her, but there was no way to prevent the external scarring of her face or the internal strife she suffered due to the accident. Marco felt responsible, and while he was the only one to treat her as a normal person and make her feel beautiful again while she was in the hospital, his romantic pursuits laid elsewhere for the remainder of season 1.

Once Vera left the hospital, she began to regain her old sparkle and confidence, but Marco was one of the only people to see how much she was still struggling. She slept her way off the line and into the receptionist pool, and spent her nights entertaining soldiers before they were shipped out to war because they gave her gifts and made her feel beautiful again. As Marco began to focus more attention on her and their friendship blossomed into new territories, Vera's confidence became less of an act and she was able to put her considerable other talents to good use at both the factory and within social circles that normally wouldn't associate with a girl of her status. As for Marco, his new found relationship with Vera was one of the only things that prevented him from making a huge mistake in order to retaliate against the Canadian government for treating him and his family like second class citizens just because they were Italian. He ended up working with the police to turn in his supposed best friend in order to stop an explosion at the bomb factory.

Marco and Vera's relationship was one of the constant bright spots in Bomb Girls from the beginning, and especially as the other characters and storylines fell into disarray throughout season 2. It evolved organically from the pilot and never seemed forced in the slightest. They were cute together as friends and then cute together as a couple, and as most of the other relationships in the show were destroyed, Marco and Vera's seemed that it would only get better. In the final wrap up movie for the show, Marco and Vera were casually talking about their wedding plans in conversations to both each other and others without even being properly engaged. They were planning to spend their lives devoted to one another, but then Vera decided that she could do even more for the war effort if she joined the services herself. Marco proposed amidst a tearful goodbye, and that was it. Vera was killed in action, and her death propelled Marco to enlist himself once the government decided to allow Italian soldiers, likely leading to his eventual death in battle as well.

It was a heartbreaking end for this wonderful couple that didn't feel necessary in the slightest. In a wrap up movie for the series, it would have been more impactful to show what happened to the characters a few years in the future once the war was over. No one came out of the movie looking particularly good except for Marco and Vera (and Lorna and Bob, the only couple that actually made it to the end), but their storyline just seemed like an unnecessary ploy for a reaction from the audience. Yes, a lot of people died unfairly in the war, but it would have been a better send off for the characters if their ending wasn't so defined in black and white. We would have preferred if Marco and Vera enlisted together and the movie ended with them going off to the war with at least the hope that they might have made it back alive together. As it stands, the movie only succeeded in leaving us with a bad taste in our mouths about the series as a whole - one of the only good things being everything about Marco and Vera's relationship up until their tragic end.

Quotes

1x01: Jumping Tracks

Vera: "That eye must smart something awful."

Marco: "I admit, my noggin was the last place I thought the blood to be rushing last night. But one day we'll have that dance."

Vera: "Oh, I don't think that would be impossible."

1x06: Elements of Surprise

Vera: "Ugh! I'm still a tea girl."

Marco: "You're never gonna marry an Italian if you can't learn to drink espresso. Try it with sugar."

Vera: "The only one getting married is you, meatball."

Vera: "I've got a face only a mother could love."

Marco: "That isn't true. Don't think like that. You're still beautiful."

Vera: "Yeah, yeah."

2x05: The Harder We Fight

Marco: "Donald's an idiot. Don't pay him any mind."

Vera: "Those gifts, they're like love letters. They help me remember those nights when somebody made me feel beautiful."

[Marco pulls Vera into a hug]

Vera: "I'm not ashamed of any of it."

Marco: "Then why are you crying?"

Marco: "Hi, Beautiful."

Vera: "Packing it in?"

Marco: "Yeah. Heading downtown?"

Vera: "What's it to you?"

Marco: "Thought I'd buy you an ice-cream at Fran's."

2x06: Where There's Smoke

Marco: "You celebrating tonight?"

Vera: "Maybe."

Marco: "Yeah? Off to break some lonely hearts?"

Vera: "Wouldn't you like to know."

Marco: "Actually, I would."

2x07: Party Line

Marco: "It's just, you know, like I said. Men and women working together? It's a powder-keg." [he kisses her]

Vera: "Kaboom."

Marco: "Sorry."

Vera: "Just...don't do it again. We're friends, right?"

Marco: "Friends, yeah of course."

2x09: Something Fierce

Vera: "Marco, I just wanted to say I hope you don't quit the plant. Because I would miss you. Something fierce."

Marco: "Aww, I'd miss you too, kid."

2x10: Romeo Foxtrot

Marco: "Sometimes you just need something to hold on to."

Vera: "Is that all I am to you?"

Marco: "Hey, Vera. Hey, Vera, being with you is incredible." [touching her scar] "Does it hurt?"

Vera: "Don't."

Marco: "Hey, I want to know. Nobody ever talks about what happened to you."

Vera: "I don't feel anything."

Marco: [touching her heart] "What about here?"

Vera: "Don't. You're only going to run off with some beautiful woman."

Marco: "I already have."

3x01: Facing the Enemy

Marco: "When we get married, I am never gonna lie to you. An Italian wife is to be treated with respect."

Vera: "He actually thinks I'm gonna be some typical Italian wife."

Vera: "I'm sure this isn't easy for you, Marco, but I've been thinking about this for a while. Don't worry! We'll still get married. Just not yet. I need to do this... for me, for our country. I hope you can understand. Your father just came back. You need to be all together, and I'll just get in the way. Please, say something."

Marco: "Vera, you do what you have to do."

Marco: "I know you need to do this...but I need to do this." [he puts a ring on her finger] "It was my grandmother's."

Vera: "Oh, I wish I could stay, I do, but-"

Marco: "It's okay. I'll wait for you. Come here" [they kiss] "I love you."

Vera: "Ti voglio bene."

Photos

Season 1