What do you think Tino was really like?

General discussion about the nineteen episodes of "My So-Called Life". Note: Our episode guide can be found here.
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What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by NIGHTJESSI » Feb 2nd 2002, 4:31 am

Since he was often spoken of but never seen, I'm wondering what picture everyone formed in his or her head of the elusive Tino.

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Re: What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by RyeBlume » Feb 2nd 2002, 6:13 pm

Tino as I see him:

The ringleader of the typical 90s, alternative band member type group. Very Jordanish in appearance but not quite so gorgeous... maybe a tad bit thinner. Personality wise... much more extroverted than Jordan... the type of person that MAKES things happen... impatient... blunt... always leaves a situation if it doesn't suit him... doesn't form emotional attachments, he's too busy looking for the next big thrill... unreliable (duh-squared!)... and irresistible for those that are desperate not to miss out on anything truly "amazing and wild" (i.e. Rayanne and Jordan). Sure, Jordan seems like he doesn't give a crap about ANYTHING... but I'm thinking of the halloween episode when he expresses his frustration about his annual halloween festivities but tells rickie that he can't stay home because he might MISS something.
Also, I think it's interesting to note that in later episodes, as Jordan and Rayanne form more and more of an emotional attachment to Angela, Tino becomes less of a factor. It is like she is replacing him in importance which is ironic considering how different Angela and Tino are. I think it shows real growth in both Rayanne and Jordan that they begin placing importance on real friendship and love rather than the sometimes empty and lonely adventurous moments that Tino provided them.

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Re: What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by Joanna » Feb 2nd 2002, 7:33 pm

I think he is a cross between Rayanne and Jordan, only not as caring and probably completely ungenuine....definitely an airhead and possibly manipulative....don't think he asked to be popular -- sounds like he is a tougher & less friendly version of Ferris Bueller....the kind of person that everyone knows but nobody really 'knows'!!!! Oh yeah and I think he looks like a tougher, more-with-it version of Jordan...and like Jordan, I think he is probably very irritated by Rayanne...but does things for her because he doesn' know how to say, um, 'go-away'. Don't think Jordan is too bothered about knowing him really but Rayanne sees him as a guy of importance.....I think he is older than Rayanne and Angela - about the same age as Jordan and has probably been 'left-back' too.....if he is even IN school at all!


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Re: What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by NIGHTJESSI » Feb 5th 2002, 5:08 am

Thanx for adding your two cents, RyeBlume and Joanna.

Tino definitely seemed like the life of the party but also a person who overextended himself, partly because he was always trying to please everyone and no one (if that makes any sense). Looks-wise, he would definitely have to be good looking but not in a shallow kind of way because then people like Rayanne wouldn't really be into him. He strikes me as the type of person who has a pretty empty life, even though he might seem like he has it all.

I definitely think Tino has been left back and is in fact, one of those students who is much older than the rest of the student population. That's part of his appeal. He seems so much older and wiser, despite the fact that he is actually probably dumber than most. While it's fun to have that invisible character, it might have been fun to finally see who he was in the final episode. Then again, he really wouldn't have had a place in that one, given the storyline with Angela, Jordan and Brian.

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Tino=Dally?

Post by Nostradamus » Jul 27th 2002, 8:28 am

I recently reread my favorite old teen angst novel, "The Outsiders", and it occurs to me that the character of Dally is very Tino-esque. Dally was always a step apart from his fellow Greasers, but a keystone in the group all the same. Of course he was popular because he had wheels and cash and women and wasn't really bound by society. He'd even watch your back in a fight or bail you out of a tight spot without a second thought, if he was around... but he was just a leeettle too edgy for anyone to ever really get close to him. Then again, he ended up committing suicide-by-cop, and I don't think Tino was that dark... I've known people like that in real life, and while they're good contacts to have, on the whole I'd rather not spend my time with them :?
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Post by KrokRos » Jul 27th 2002, 12:59 pm

If Tino was in school? Maybe the writers should answer that and describe Tino for us.
In my oppinion Tino was in school, and as you say, he probably was older, like Jordan and had "knowledge" because he had been in school for much longer time than Rayanne and Angela. So he knows how to handle things, like, in school. But maybe not the accual studdying.

Quote Rayanne from "On the Wagon":
"What, you think that bothers me that you know? Tino'd be
telling me right now if he was, like, in school."

I think that means he is in school but probably cuts class as often as Jordan, or even more often. He seem not to care about school, but about not missing anything that happens around him. Accually he do miss things but that would be only because he wouldn't like to miss anything more interesting somewhere else. I don't think Rayanne would have said that if he wasn't in school at all.

Tino is still, not really that important. In the scenes of band practise, he was obviousley a big part of the band but still. I don't get the feeling that he's more than a guy that knows how to make people listen to him and knows how to organize things.

Btw, what do you guys think of this website:
http://www.siweb.com/staff/grimmdav/mscl/tino.htm ?

/KrokRos

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Post by Nostradamus » Jul 27th 2002, 7:45 pm

KrokRos wrote: Btw, what do you guys think of this website:
http://www.siweb.com/staff/grimmdav/mscl/tino.htm ?
Interesting... but somehow I always thought that Tino was Rickie's cousin, not Rayanne's. It would be better if the bloke who claims he was slated for Tino in season 2 had a picture of himself, or some independant verification of his claim. Still, a rare find from KrokRos :) Makes you wonder what other MSCL trivia is floating around in cyberspace, waiting to be found...
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What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by Tyler Durden » Jul 28th 2002, 5:55 pm

Tino was SO NOT Ricky or Rayannes cousin, in my not so humble opinion. There is no reason to think that. Surely if he was Rickys cousin, he would have been mentioned when Ricky was looking for a place to stay and was homeless. There is definatly sexual tension between Rayanne and Tino. She wants him to be her Jordan Catalano, eg when she says Tino would be telling her right now if he was in school, she is making out that she is as close to Tino as Angela is to Jordan. Well, thats what i think anyway.
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Post by dTheater » Jul 28th 2002, 8:21 pm

Tino is nobody's cousin. And casting someone to play him in season 2 would've been Tino suicide. I don't believe that guy for a second that he was "slated to play Tino." They knew there might not be a second season; no one would have gone to the trouble of casting it.

And why did that Tino count stop at the 17th episode. Certainly he was mentioned in the last 2.
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The Last Days of Tino

Post by Nostradamus » Jul 29th 2002, 12:54 am

dTheater wrote:Tino is nobody's cousin. And casting someone to play him in season 2 would've been Tino suicide. I don't believe that guy for a second that he was "slated to play Tino." They knew there might not be a second season; no one would have gone to the trouble of casting it.

And why did that Tino count stop at the 17th episode. Certainly he was mentioned in the last 2.
Yeah, that guy was about as credible as Dr. Evil's father claiming he invented the question mark. Besides, actually casting a real person to play Tino would have been such a letdown. Like when someone turns an old novel into a blockbuster movie, there's always some fans of the book that groan about the casting because it doesn't fit their mental pictures of the characters. "They used Gwyneth Paltrow?!!! EEEEWWWWW!!!" :wink:
For the record, the transcripts indicate three mentions of Tino in the final two episodes. In #18, Rayanne says he's got something going on that she needs money for. In #19, Rayanne tells Sharon that Tino is too unreliable to be her friend. The final Tino mention toward the end of #19 is a classic Jordan line: (upon hearing the phone ring in the Chase house) "If that's a guy named Tino, I'm not here."
I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.
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I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
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Post by Jody Barsch* » Aug 17th 2007, 10:59 pm

KrokRos wrote:Quote Rayanne from "On the Wagon":
"What, you think that bothers me that you know? Tino'd be
telling me right now if he was, like, in school."

I think that means he is in school but probably cuts class as often as Jordan, or even more often. He seem not to care about school, but about not missing anything that happens around him. Accually he do miss things but that would be only because he wouldn't like to miss anything more interesting somewhere else. I don't think Rayanne would have said that if he wasn't in school at all.
Ah... I have found KrokRos' answer to my question! http://www.mscl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=248&start=15
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Post by Jody Barsch* » Aug 17th 2007, 11:26 pm

I like the comparisons of Tino to a Ferris Bueller / Dallas Winston type character; a mixture of the two sounds kind of right on (maybe with some Two-Bit Matthews thrown in). I definitely think Tino has got to be much more lively and extroverted than Jordan -- with a quick sense of humor, but that's all I can really deduce from what's given to us in the show. I imagine him as smart, not necessarily academically successful, but quite able to be if he so chose. I take him to be a bit of a prankster, and with some amount of insight and empathy (giving people rides isn't the best example of this, but it's a part), with a bit of a temper (trashing the drum set), and impulsive (quitting the band, leaving Rayanne, always breaking plans). (It’s funny that you brought up Dally from The Outsiders Nostradamus, because every time I see the scene in Halloween when Jordan says finding the guy who egged Tino's car is something he just can't get out of, it always reminds me of the scene at the drive-in when Tim Sheppard is looking for Dally for slashing his tires.)
Last edited by Jody Barsch* on Sep 1st 2019, 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by Cami A. » Aug 5th 2008, 5:03 am

In my fanfic Between Names, I cast Justin Baldoni.

Image

and described him as: Tino--a slender and suave Latino with looks that kill, but a personality that burns.

My readers over at DRtv voted on what he should be like, but I gave
these other options for them to chose from:

A beefy black dude, with a natural swagger and a high tolerance for toxic substances
OR
A jerky greasy white guy with nearly black hair and piercings and tattoos too numerous to count

But I agree, casting him in the actual series would have been a mistake.
I also like that they didn't cast Rusty. He was just this annoyance in Rayanne's life
that noone ever saw--making it impossible for him to be any sort of father figure to her.

But I also cast Rusty in my fanfic--Paul McCrane

Image

and described him as: Rusty--Amber's less than friendly, and way less than attractive boyfriend. A small weasel of a dude. Shorter than Amber, and as easy as a twig to snap, but with a commanding personality that makes Amber swoon and call him a man.

^ That was the winning description, but I also gave my readers a vote between:

A pot-bellied pig with a wavy but unwashed mullet
OR
A Hawaiian shirt wearing, ex-hippie with a commitment issue and an ironic Chauvanist side to him, as well as a tendency to keep Amber out late despite her apparent parental duties
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Re:

Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 9th 2008, 8:58 pm

Jody Barsch* wrote:I like the comparisons of Tino to a Ferris Bueller / Dallas Winston type character; a mixture of the two sounds kind of right on (maybe with some Two-Bit Matthews thrown in). I definitely think Tino has got to be much more lively and extroverted than Jordan -- with a quick sense of humor, but that's all I can really deduce from what's given to us in the show. I imagine him as smart, not necessarily academically successful, but quite able to be if he so chose. I take him to be a bit of a prankster, and with some amount of insight and empathy (giving people rides isn't the best example of this, but it's a part), with a bit of a temper (trashing the drum set), and impulsive (quitting the band, leaving Rayanne, always breaking plans). (It’s funny that you brought up Dally from The Outsiders Nostradamus, because every time I see the scene in Halloween when Jordan says finding the guy who egged Tino's car is something he just can't get of, it always reminds me of the scene at the drive-in when Tim Sheppard is looking for Dally for slashing his tires.)
I think that in addition to the Ferris/Dally characterization, Tino is probably on his way to becoming like Wooderson in Dazed and Confused. He is already one of the older kids giving rides to sophomores and getting them into clubs (when he bothers to show up). I could see him becoming the fun-loving, charming (in his own way), older guy who has graduated from high school, working some crappy low paying job that still gives him enough money to provide kegs.
Tyler Durden wrote:Tino was SO NOT Ricky or Rayannes cousin, in my not so humble opinion. There is no reason to think that. Surely if he was Rickys cousin, he would have been mentioned when Ricky was looking for a place to stay and was homeless. There is definatly sexual tension between Rayanne and Tino. She wants him to be her Jordan Catalano, eg when she says Tino would be telling her right now if he was in school, she is making out that she is as close to Tino as Angela is to Jordan. Well, thats what i think anyway.
I never thought that Tino was related to Rickie or Rayanne either. In the pilot, Angela says that Rickie's cousin can give her a ride to Rayanne's and then outside of Let's Bolt they are shown wondering where Tino is. That made me think that Rickie's (nameless) cousin dropped them off at Let's Bolt, where they were supposed to meet Tino. The way that Rayanne spoke about Tino made me think that he was a friend, not a relative. Not a lot to go on there dialogue-wise, but it was more her tone.
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Re: What do you think Tino was really like?

Post by stburr91 » Aug 19th 2008, 10:03 pm

I never really thought too much about what Tino would be like. I like the fact that we don't know too much about him, and that we never see him.

I can never decide if he is someone that is still in school, or out. I think I agree with candygirl, that Tino would be more like Wooderson if he was done with school. But he could still be a student in school.

I like the fact that he can be whatever you think he is.
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