Re: Episode #501 'Rio' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS***
Man. I wrote a full review last night, but before I could post it, we blew a fuse and all my words went byebye. Then, I had to fight a vicious battle with the VCR to rescue my tape when it tried to eat it. Cue moment of absolute panic when the picture flickered out and the horrible squeaking sound began..but I saved it. So: recreating the review. It's still really long.
Most of my original post complained about the lack of emotion. The second time I watched the episode, though, I managed to see it. Especially at Ray's death - I was SO disappointed until I discovered that the trick is tilt your head about 100 degrees in order to actually see Horatio's expression. Once I did that, I thought it was incredibly moving, and watched that part about a dozen more times. All these years, I waited and waited and waited for a scene that would make me finally stop hating Ray, and appreciate the bond between the brothers. Mission accomplished! (come to think of it, I'm not sure there was a way to make that happen without him dying)
Speaking of Ray, my original one-line summary of the episode went like so:
*bashing head into desk* Don't...have...words...to...describe...incomprehensible...stupidity...of...Raymond Caine...
I read all the spoilers and thought there must be a way to explain his involvement in drugs, because that was THE WHOLE REASON his life got screwed up the first time; that's the reason Ray Jr. almost got killed LAST time, and that's the reason they had to flee to Brazil at all! At what point did he think it would be okay to come within a hundred yards of the drug world? I mean...so! Stupid!
Knife fight on the hilltop! (Hey, am I crazy, or did H & Delko not carry guns in Brazil?) When I saw him grab the knife, my hopes for revenge swirled down the drain. I figured there was no way H would be so primitive and violent as to stab someone. I even fell off the bed laughing at the sight of him hunched over, knife in hand.
And then he actually did it. It's a good thing I decided to stay on the floor, or I would have fallen off again in SHOCK. Seriously. My eyes couldn't possibly have opened any wider. I mean, you can call it self-defense, and Riaz pretty much ran into the knife, but...Horatio stabbed him. Now I'm a little scared. And when he slowly turned his head and looked up to the statue, practically mesmerized by it, that was powerful. Possibly sort of cheesy and melodramatic, but I'd rather see it as powerful. Methinks perhaps revenge didn't bring the closure he thought it would.
Um, was it just me, or did Yelina's "Oh my God, where are you? Honey, I'm in Miami..." line sound straight out of a bad fan fiction? Otherwise, I thought she was great. Loved every scene with her in it, especially that first one - "You sent us here to give us a clean start. I'm sorry." Awww...sad.
Now that Yelina's back, I'm pretty sure I can get over mourning Marisol in a hurry, but all the same I liked that opening montage - clever way to do a "previously on."
So: I liked that ending, because it was sweet and simple. Quite pure. I also predict about half a season before the UST kicks back in. And by "predict," I mean "cater to my whims, PTB, just like you did when I begged you to kill Ray and send Yelina back to Miami."
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Lastly: the lab. UGH.
Destiny said:
Overall storyline, honestly it felt compacted to me, if they were to have done it in a two parter or their 90 min way it might have felt differently
Oh God, YES. That's what I felt, more than anything. They WHIPPED through all the scenes. Worse, they took a really great lab storyline, good in both case AND personal ramifications, which would have made a great episode, and smashed it up in about ten minutes. What a waste.
When Ryan was bitching Natalia out, I couldn't help but think, "Hey Ryan, remember the first time you met Erica?" Does he remember how recently HE switched disciplines and joined the team? Even I thought he was out of line, bringing up her husband. But here's what I said as I giggled helplessly: "Oh, the vicious Natalia hate makes me happy! Oh, she absolutely doesn't deserve it...BUT IT'S AWESOME."
I was on the verge of liking her last year, as a glorified lab tech and semi-romantic-interest for Eric, but seeing her as a CSI just gets under my skin and makes me twitch. I don't want her to be on screen this much. It's like...dear God, it's like Sofia on the original CSI. *shudder* It causes me PAIN to hear her step up all bright and chipper and casually announce a case. It just sounds so fake.
Overall rating: 8 (as in "9, but minus 1 point for whole the stupid lab story")
