Another lite week for me. Graded 'B-' realm. That seems to remain the "average" standard. Which is still also a step up from the low C's of season 5 & 6 etc. Meh. Given the turnaround and potential unearthed and nudged at in S7, I've been quietly hoping for more of the same or better. Not really getting it so far.
What do I remember about the ep? Not as much as I'd like. Alla your reviews & comments definitely help
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Hm.
The hour was surprisingly better than I was hoping for given the promos. That said, the case didn't have me enthralled nor challenged. Uber car thieves cross uber villain and uber csi's take them all down? I'd therefore hope that the ride was at least fun, but while there were some good moments, it felt like the overall balance of material, momentum & flow were uneven. If I were to use an automotive analogy for an automotive ep, I'd say folks were having trouble with the clutch, and stalled things a few times.
I dunno if that happened thru editing or whatever, but it felt like a lot of the exposition sequences were mallet heavy - they reeaaaaally musta thought we'd have a tough time following the plot, and surprisingly, also the various personal revelations, to the point where the characters suffered for being used to keep us all on track. Even some of the personal & humorous moments were heavy handed or oddly weighted. Contrast that with a few scenes which were a bit more concise and moved a bit more swiftly. Just not an ep that was knitted together very well.
I guess I generally prefer more illustration and less narration.
The family of thieves was mixed for me. The design of an uber-villain being the true twizt was not very twisty, and I was kinda disappointed that Tim Guinnee didn't get more or better to do. Still, the scene in the parking garage was more brutal than I expected, and was the only true glimpse of the man they were hunting. I'm not calling for more violence to be depicted, but despite the team being a step behind and finding other family members killed, somehow a malevolence underlying the momentum & pulse of the episode was lacking. How that can be, i don't know. On the page, it should have worked. On screen, IMO less successful for whatever reasons.
I wonder too if NY may have relied too heavily on mystique and allusions when they could have made better use of the actor they had. Always that balance of trying to avoid tipping off the plot, but avoiding those they've bothered to cast doesn't always help. So little time to divvy out too. I have no answers, just a bit of dissatisfaction with the past coupla eps in that regard.
Adam had some nice moments in the episode, the car keys being one :lol: and especially Mac's order of retrieval afterwards. The general dynamic between Mac, Adam, & Jo was again a pleasure to watch, and even amid forward exposition, the characters were fun and exemplified in the best way. That's a mix I hope we see more often.
The later scene with Sheldon and Adam, well, I get what NY were going for. It was certainly fun
, ...but. This one had a "but." This was a bit of an oddly weighted scene, like they weren't sure how or at what distance to frame it, or what to cut or keep.
In an effort to push Hawkes against his typical mold while still in keeping with it, and same again for Adam, I also couldn't help but think it could have been fun had it been Adam attempting to learn/demonstrate the initial hold technique on Sheldon :lol: - even if, after Mac arrived, Sheldon then went on to do the more specific demonstration about the assault's points of impact on Adam after that, letting both revert to how each are typically used.
It would have been a gentle way to poke at Sheldon's poise and general aura of knowledge, while still in keeping with his expertise via instructing Adam, and let Adam have another tongue in cheek "I'm the man" type moment where he's just about anything other than a typical expert in things combat & warrioresque.
Not a lot of memorable stuff for Flack this week.
Not a lot for Lindsay either, other than the scene that actually had me laughing out loud in startled surprise - yes, that of Montana vaulting out of the squad car with a shot gun :lol:
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(For me, the discussion on who should be doing what, & reality vs. teevee is a bit sideways, given we're talking about prime time, and in particular CSINY, where verisimilitude is most often particular to it's own realm and TARDIS chronology :lol
. I guess for me it comes down to believing what I'm shown of the character within the context of the show.
I'm not disputing that Monroe's inclusion in the scene was pretty much a way to give her face time outside the lab, and a seeming attempt to use her more in her S2 incarnation. I'm not suggesting Jo going undercover was somehow more appropriate than Lindsay literally riding shotgun on a raid. (Like others, I do note that Lindsay has also done the undercover bit too, and so Jo participating in the sting as she did is hardly an issue with regards who should do what).
I am saying that Jo's moment was directly tied into the plot's resolution. The undercover bit was also not really about Jo, but drawn up to indicate that the team was able to outwit and ensnare teh uber evil mastermind with their own masterful trickery and sleight of hand. Lindsay's moment was undeniably about giving Lindsay an I'm A Tough Cop moment in a manner less-typically seen of her in recent seasons. Fine & dandy, but I can't deny the scene struck a funny bone.
Some Jo/Lindsay points of comparisons do run parallel - for a bit. As with Lindsay's shot gun, Jo going undercover was a bit of a way to demonstrate that Jo too has street chops beyond sticky tabs and profiling, and happily a way to thwart her being pigeon holed. ...And yes, it is likely that there was a bit of showing that Jo the co-supervisor and team's mama bear is lithe and hawt and can be easily mistaken for a beautiful uber brunette car thief
. I'd say Jo being yet another high-end car expert on the team would be more of a verisimilitude issue than going undercover :lol:.
I guess in chatting about Jo & Lindsay here, a few other things did come to mind. In addition to showing "tough," this wee tiny scene with the great big shot gun did seem a bit of a way to ensure that Monroe is not out-shined by Danny being a sergeant, that she too is on the streets, doing her thing. At least she didn't riddle-me-this solve the case with some tidbit this week. With the accumulated baggage of aweomosity reinforcement over the years, it is kinda hard for me to take some moments for Lindsay seriously.
(And I do honestly hope the rape-case arc provides something a bit more significant and specific for Lindsay's character than "I'm Kick Ass" face-time participation in a raid).
No matter how potentially stretched a scenario, I still also believe what SW is selling and telling within them. Her performance doesn't take me out of them. I just didn't believe AB more than I was surprised (and amused) by her & the contrast of Lindsay popping out amid all the usual screaming sirens & squealing cars etc
. That bit just stuck out in the ep for all the wrong reasons :lol:. It was one of the funniest moments for me, and that it was unintentional was not a good thing.
As for Danny. Mixed feelings on this too. I expect my mileage will differ from most here.
I liked the start, and him handing out assignments, etc. I did find I was a bit irked in how I read his ripping of the rookie for an "inconsequential" bust (if I understood that part correctly). That it sorta came off as being all about him. A waste of his time, and departmental time (in that order). That he wouldn't be able to go home to his wife and his kid. That he does not in fact like being responsible for a squad or team of others.
It just seemed odd to make a mountain out what seemed a molehill of no real consequence, other than Danny not being able to go home. I suppose that's just not the reflection of his character I was hoping to see challenged by being a patrol sergeant before the big shooting incident occurs. *shrug*.
The arc thru the ep had some interesting moments, the chat with Mac was mixed, and another oddly weighted scene. I did like the continuity & acknowledgement of the nature of Danny's early tenure in the labs, and his mulling personal progress, but man did it come across as a staged moment, and Mac's side of the conversation (& the rookie too for that matter) definitely came off as in service to setting that up. Part of that changing gears & mallet problem. The later chat between Messer and Cooper was better, as a matter of both personal reflection, and his actually taking on the responsibility of coaching his rookies.
The bar scene at the end was also kinda meh for me. Again, I get what they were going for, but it mighta had more impact had we seen more of Messer's team, more than his frustration with one member, or some other indication that the decision to actually join them for a drink later on meant something. He'd already mended fences with Cooper, and he'd kicked up dust over not being able to go home, but is then out for a drink, presumably to bond with his new work family. (I guess Lucy's studying for her SATs already
). It partly came off as something he felt he should do rather than him being where he wanted in his time off. I shrug again. I guess part of the problem for me is that Where Danny Wants To Be rather remains questionable.
I'm not getting either way from Messer that he loves his new job or that he hates it. Mebbe I'd hoped to see that he really loves his new gig so that the time it requires of him has him torn. Mebbe I'd hoped to see him really disliking his new gig (more than just giving Mac a CSI-version rundown of a scene to suggest he misses his old gig instead). At best, Messer seems ambivalent - except when a rookie decision gives him extra paperwork.
Messer still seems somewhat lost. I had hoped that the promotion would be a vehicle for the character to either run with, or push against, or react to
somehow, something that would help delineate him now - and not just thru how it effects DL. It doesn't seem to have made much of an impact on him, and it's all left me rather ambivalent too. Still a mixed bag.
I liked Mac/Jo, as usual, ...except for another horribly malleted ending. A la: "I always tell my kids that evil exists so that it can be overcome yada" / "yada we'd be out of a job..." (Or was that bit last week? Srsly, it's blurred already, and not for the better:lol
. Anyways, in general, NY as fable is a bit heavy handed at times, and verges on Little Precinct in the City with stuff like this. I'd by far prefer that the plot and performances were strong enough to not require this sort of ongoing commentary, and that the show resist the urge to have that kind of fade to black.
Had a hard time warming up to any of the family of thieves, had to roll my eyes at the one altruistic one being held hostage, and I'm finding that the level of many of guest-cast performances are frustrating for either being rather mediocre, or in the mallet material provided.
Sometimes I think NY really has to re-examine & figure out a way to deal with the semiotics (& symbiosis for that matter) of casting vs. plot & herrings etc. Sometimes unfamiliar guests do great, and sometimes they really don't. Lesser performances from some occassionally seem a trade off for a certain anonymity, and essentially skirting the presence of others, especially the more recognizable names & faces, belies bothering to have them on the show at all. Whatever the mix, they've got to be strong enough to carry what's given, and what's been given has to be strong enough to make their inclusion worthwhile.
The Friday night time slot already makes the show hard to catch. The "average" standard doesn't add to much impetus to do so. Seems a lot that could be tightened up so far this season. A handful of good moments within an ep are not enough.
B-.
erm, difficult one this - on one hand i quite liked it. the case was interesting enough, the interactions were fun etc etc. but i found the really blatant homage (or just plagiarism) of keyser soze really really hard to handle without laughing.
I dunno, I think it woulda been funny as hell to see Mac give his round-table briefing recounting this week's uber villain as having included, "and just like that, *poof*, he was gone." :lol:
(It woulda been too much to hope for a line-up sequence involving keys...
)
some of the scenes seemed really (well, more than usual) contrived, some of the acting was pretty rubbish.
I tried to warn ya about mallets...
it also crossed my mind - could this whole "put danny back in as a cop" thing be an attempt on the producers' part to slightly alter the show's dynamic? a few years ago cop procedurals like csi were all the rage - but now it's the cop shows that are more about beat work and less about procedure that are popular (blue bloods, the sadly short lived chicago code etc) - are csiny aware of this and trying to just ever so slightly shift their dynamic so they can attract that audience too? i mean, good if they are, it's a clever idea, but it does seem a tad... er... blunt.
I wondered, at the end of last season, given the finales of several different episodes, if this was a bit of more general keeping up with teh Jones', in terms of challenging and changing things up for the characters, whatever the vehicle is, and perhaps with less specific intent to include beat cops for the sake of having them. If that is in fact a consideration for them, I'd think NY would be better served to re-focus on grit, and the city as a presence, and the plots/stories within their lens.
I also think that as more and more other shows have forensics as a default inclusion or allusion, that the CSI's wouldn't dilute their own mandate to be more like someone else when the past ten years in front of and behind the camera has increasingly homogenized certain elements.
Who knows :lol:.
at the end when mac and jo were in the car looking for the drugs or ids or whatever, the light made their lab coats look shiny and grey. mac had on a black shirt and the light made that look shiny too - basically the lighting made mac look like some kind of pimp/pusher. bonkers.
:lol:. I'd forgotten about the last scene, aside from wondering, with all the mallets, how they'd not caught onto that before, or for that matter, how experienced car thieves stripping and re-compositing high end vehicles wouldn't have stumbled across the cache. Was a fun moment all the same.
