Grade 'Cuckoo's Nest'

[Meta]

Nice episode IMO. I always thought something was up with the Compass Killer's wife, then we find out she's been dead for two years. Very nice twist. What I want to know is how did he choose his victiams and if they have any ties to the massacre in the flashback. Can't wait to see what happens next week. Another good thing about this episode is that Halyen wasn't around (I hope they forget about her), but sadly no Lindsay (I don't care what other people say about Lindsay, I missed her in this episode).

 

[Ad1991]

but sadly no Lindsay (I don't care what other people say about Lindsay, I missed her in this episode).

Mm yeah I agree. Would be nice to see some continuity with Lindsay's back story next week. The compass killer and Montana essentially went through the same thing. Lindsay reaching out and talking to him would be refreshing.
Highly unlikely to happen...but refreshing :guffaw:

Liked the rest of the ep though! Although I do hope it's not over for Flack's storyline, a gradual recovery would be nice please.

 

[Karlia]

Okay commenting while watching.

Loved Danny&Stella scene! "We jinxed it!"

LoL Sid, that percentage was insane!


Oh Stella looks great with that NYPD cap!:thumbsup:

Okay there's NO WAY just one person would go under when they are looking for something in a size of a gun from the bottom of the river. It's impossible for jut one person to find that specific one item from such widespread area. And of course he finds even smaller item, a compass.

Eeeeeck creepy man staring from the bridge :wtf:

The guy is such a creep! Seriously!

Flack looks hot with unshaven chin :drool:

Oy! You don't just go around beating up Flack who has cute unshaven chin! Excuse me!!!!

Well glad that kid saved him I can enjoy unshaven chin a while longer


SMACKED! She touched him! OMG! So happy!:drool:

Oh oh gang people. I hate gang people!

Mac doesn't look happy!:wtf:
Oh my he is furious! Like wow! Seems like his head is going to explode.

Yes I can see how freedom is important in the psychiatric hospital....not.

Ha! Knew it that the wife was hallucination!

Oh no! Unshaven chin is gone :scream: Darn it!

LMBO! Stella's shirt!:guffaw::guffaw::guffaw: I can't stop laughing!

Wow no wonder the guy is messed up in the head. But still doesn't justify killing those innocent people.



Heheeee there she comes with the shirt again. :lol:

Run Mac run! Get the psycho!

Oh wow! Nice fountain.

Loved it. Giving it A

 

[tobinhr]

Oh man! Finally.. a GREAT episode.

LOVED the Flack scenes. Eddie was brilliant in looking shocked and ashamed when Mac confronted him. I can't wait to watch that part again. Emmy worthy, truly! I really liked Terrance/Nelly. I am hoping TPTB will keep him as a reoccuring character.

I am hoping we will see more Flack angst, but I am resigned to his instant healing.

Stella, Stella. Where did you get that shirt? Is there a Star Trek boutique in Manhatten? All that was missing was the insignia! And she's worried about Mac going into Brooklyn? Sheesh. Flack is missing!

Great episode!!! I give it an A...And the comments here make me laugh. What a day brightener!

Tobin

 

[Karlia]

All that was missing was the insignia! And she's worried about Mac going into Brooklyn? Sheesh. Flack is missing!

I believe she was actually worried about Mac in general not because he went to Brooklyn.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

The good things first:

I saw a bit of old Danny come through in the mental hospital. He needs to get back some of his sarcastic wit that makes him who he is.:thumbsup: Hopefully as they get past the injury he will brighten up a bit. I miss Danny.

I can't wait to find out how all the victims relate to Elkhart's life and the shooting in the surveyors office. That will keep me onboard for the third episode of this story.

Glad to know that Flack is finally facing his demons and is coming out of the funk he has been in for two months. He makes a convincing drunk but I like him better sober and cleaned up.

Loved seeing Nelly back. Flack wearing Nelly's black hoodie was priceless.

We now have a sense that Mac and Danny have been following Flack's emotional upheaval more closely than portrayed in past ep's. This is good.

Things that bothered me:

Lack of Lindsay. I'm not even going to apologize for liking her or missing her. As someone else said above, when a regular member of the team is not in an episode it would be nice to know why. And besides, if this is a major story for the show, with more than one episode then I believe all the team members should be involved in all of it. It's their case, after all, and all should be present.:scream:

Super Sheldon. He leaps, he runs, he tackles, and now he dives without a buddy. You should never dive without a buddy, I don't care who you are or how many people are on the surface. And I'm also tired of seeing him at every crime scene. I could say a lot more but will move on for the sake of not irritating others.

Angel. I know that some of the people get called by their last name but Flack always called her Jess and I liked that. Him calling her Angel while talking to Mac didn't seem right to me. She wasn't just a cop to him. I've noticed this with others on the show and if they are trying to capitalize on the fact that her last name was Angel and she's dead now....I get it.

As a whole it was a good episode. I really miss the two-crime set up they used in prior seasons, but I realize that Flack was the B case in this one. The scenes with Mac and Flack were okay. I love that Mac didn't want to know any details about Flack's actions. The less he knows the better because we all know Mac doesn't do well keeping secrets. He's way to righteous to let something like that slip away unchallenged.

Oh yeah, I also liked that they took out the line about Flack being a screw-up. That was unnecessary and didn't make sense.

 

[csinynut]

I seem to be in minority, here, but i didn't like the episode at all. Gave it a D.
Only because of Eddie 's acting, i give that grade. The rest was below par.

We have SuperMac episodes and now we have Hawkes the Great episodes. I especially liked the moment when Hawkes spotted the necklace on the railing of bridge. An incredible double-take that was incredibly so unconvincing.

I tought the whole fight scene in the subway felt staged and labored. Altho to be fair, i have to say that CTV seems to have tecnnical problems where the sound goes up and down and completly disapear. It takes a lot away from a scene, i have to say.

Now that Danny seems to be walking, he seems to be grooming himself again. that's always a good thing .

And what's with the StarTrek look for Stella, she looked like Uhura on the old series.

I'm starting to lose faith in this show. This season is not as captivating as the others. Maybe my expectations are too high. We'll see, i guess.

 

[ladyhunter]

The episode had two good things going for it...

Flacks misery and the mystery surrounding the Compass Killer. Both unfortunately blew up towards the end of the episode.

First, Flacks misery. LOVED IT. LOVED to see Flack/Eddie disheveled and unkempt. A very sexy look. You really got the idea that he was struggling. He didn't quite know what to do not only about Angells death but about how exactly to deal with it. When he finally came into work and was with Mac, Mac shut him down. "That's between you and your God," Mac said. I'm sorry but WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???? Mac has been known to reach out to people. Look at all the support he gave Danny when he found out Lindsay was pregnant. Yea, it look a while, but still. Why all of a sudden was Mac so cold to Flack???
It was a good idea, to have Flack floundering, but I really didn't like the fact that he said he had to earn Mac's trust again. AGAIN WTF :wtf: Why couldn't Flack just tell Mac he was hurting and why couldn't Mac sympathize???? UMM HELLO CLAIRE????? Sorry but that whole scene rubbed me the wrong way, either that or I've had too much coffee already this morning.

One good thing about Flacks misery was yes... NELLY!!! Faylinn you are totally on to something with Flack and Terrance. I LOVED, LOVED LOVED IT! I would to have LOVED IT EVEN MORE if Flack confided to Terrance about loosing Angell and then shooting the guy who killed her. Would have made a great scene don't you think?

The second thing that went wrong was the Compass Killer storyline. I'm sorry, but how many killers have we seen that are out to 'right the wrong' that has been done to them. I thought when we first saw Hollis Eckhart with his scared face and his perpetual 60's motif that there was something a little more devious interesting about his case. He was living in the 60's. From what Lindsay found during the first Compass Killer case, it was card stock from the World's Fair right? So one would assume that he was wronged somehow during his childhood, possibly a Thalidimide baby? His wife was dressed very much like a 60's housewife. Again way more interesting than his wife dying and he surviving and he has to live with it.
I will say, his hallucinations of he were a nice touch. But the whole premise lost something.

I guess we will have to see next week when SUPER!MAC comes to the rescue. I'm sorry as much as I love Mac, he lost something with me when he didn't want to hear Flack talk about what was going on with him.

That's why I gave it a C.

 

[Messers fan]

I think the reason why Mac doesn't want to hear what's going on with Don is because he knows already.. But if Don confess then he will have to report it, because he definitly crossed the line in shouting this man.

that's why he told him "I'm not your prest" meaning if you need to tell someone choose someone who doesn't get you in more trouble.

 

[FieryRed]

Hello all,
I loved the episode got an A from me. I looveedd Don's & Mac's
interaction! The look in Don's eyes a mix of intensity and regret, it was incredible! this "slap" was indeed his wake up call!
I have few things to keep my brain occupied like:
1. How did Terrence magically appeared in the train? Good for Flack though, but, unless I missed something in the show it seemed weird.
2. Where is Lindsay??
3. Who was Stella's mystery date? Oh by the way if I hear "beam me up Scotty" I will go nuts!!:guffaw: (that was a reference to Stella's blouse!)
4. how a body that dropped from a so high bridge didn't make the boat bounce???
5. CSI:NY heroes have super extra bionic vision to see face details from so far!!! I could hardly see where the killer was before the camera zoomed in!
but I enjoyed the episode and Eddie's acting and found the compass killer storyline interesting although way too far fetched. it was wayyy too major incident to be just background I found it weirdly convinient.

Till next time!

 

[La_Guera]

I have never been so glad to be wrong about an episode in my life.

I fully expected last night's episode to be a clinic in Mactimony, fraught with judgment and self-righteous indignation that would make me want to bludgeon myself with a tire iron to escape the pain. What I got was a Mac who put his stated principles into practice and cared about a friend. He didn't whine and snivel and proclaim himself hard done by because Flack had gone AWOL at an inopportune time; he worried about Flack as a person first and an officer second.

Yes, he ran interference with Flack's lieutenant, but he clearly did it to protect Flack's job security, not for later leverage. As he told the lieutenant when the latter pointed put the risk Mac was taking by openly lying, Mac said simply, "I know, but he'd do the same for me." Clearly, the trust between the two runs deeper than the show has depicted, as evinced by Mac's knowledge of where Flack stashes his service weapon. Mac knows Flack is in bad shape, and even though Flack probably deserves to be professionally reprimanded for missing work, Mac is unwilling to see Flack's previously solid career derailed because Flack is struggling with grief and guilt.

I must pause my uncharacteristic praise of Mac Taylor and my glowing review for this episode to point out that CSI:NY has a dreadful habit of telling, not showing. They're like a gossipy coffee klatch of dotty blue hairs that swap sordid tales over a cuppa without thought to the truth of those tales. There's no proof, no hard evidence, just the assumption that Mrs. Bidwell must be hammering the UPS man like a bent nail because Mrs. Corsa's niece, you know, the one down the beauty shop, said she saw the delivery truck parked outside the Corsa house for thirty minutes, and everyone knows that Mrs. Corsa's a tart because old Ms. Fert in 43C once saw her kissing Tommy Tolliver behind Ferguson's Deli when she was twelve.

The klatch gets rolling with the opening scene and maintains a strong presence for the first third of the episode. Mac asks why Flack isn't on the scene, and Stella tells him that Flack is MIA. Mac doesn't seem terribly surprised, and Stella wearily asks, "How do you want to play it?"

There's something off with this scene. It suggests that Flack has done this before, even though we've been shown no evidence of dereliction before. Sure, Flack's shown up disheveled and disinterested, but he's shown up and done his job. He hasn't been shown arriving late or leaving colleagues to disappear without explanation or misfiling paperwork. To suggest that he's missed work more than once over the past "few months"(not ten or eleven as Lucy's aging would have us believe) without showing it, even obliquely with a well-placed comment from Mac or Stella or Danny is extremely weak and lazy.

The scene with Danny in Flack's apartment was also sloppy shorthand intended to quickly show us how far Flack has fallen. "He hasn't been paying his bills. And he's been drinking," Danny tells Mac helpfully. It was as though the writers belatedly realized that they needed to show more of Flack's decline in order for the subsequent scenes of a drunken, battered Flack to be effective, and so scrambled to decorate Flack's once tidy apartment with as much sad squalor as possible.

The fact that Flack hasn't been paying his bills and still hasn't been evicted probably puts paid to the ten-month timeline being peddled by the writers. It's possible that Flack only stopped giving a shit about his bills, hygiene, and credit two months ago, but not likely. That and Flack's comment to Mac at the end of the episode about his behavior of the past "few months" leads me to believe that it's been less than four months since "Pay Up", not ten. Otherwise, Flack might have said, "past year", and yes, dammit, there is a difference.

As an aside, that is the ugliest couch I have ever seen. It looked like an artfully arranged dog turd sculpture.

So, Danny has a spare key to Flack's apartment and it's common knowledge? Why? Since when? Does Flack give spare keys to all his friends? The fact that Danny has a key to Flack's apartment, but Flack had to have the super open Danny's in "All in the Family" is a subtle testimony to the imbalance in their friendship. Flack trusts Danny enough to allow him unfettered access to his home, but Danny doesn't trust Flack with the same. It was a nicely-played note.

Eddie Cahill put on a bravura performance as a rock-bottom Flack. Whereas his dishevelment in previous episodes looked rakish, here he looked used up and dirty and sickly. Other passengers on the subway were eyeing him with disdain as he swigged from a bottle of cheap hooch. It should be noted that Flack didn't strike me as a "bad" drunk, the sort to issue threats and start brawls; if anything, he seemed as if he were trying to smile at the other people in the car. It was heartbreaking to watch the other commuters shy away from his feeble attempt to connect with them.

The fact that Flack failed to recognize the threat from the muggers until it was too late speaks to how badly he'd been compromised. The old Flack would've recognized the danger long before they boxed him in. He was so drunk that he couldn't fight back, and part of me suspects that he didn't want to, that he thought he deserved the beating for what he'd done to Simon Cade. I think that if Terrance hadn't turned up and grabbed Flack's gun, Flack would have allowed himself to be stabbed. Yes, he put up a fight, but it was remarkably half-hearted.

I loved watching Terrance protect Flack. I doubt most CIs are so bonded to their former handlers. Flack must have made quite the impression for him to take such huge risks. He could've left Flack there in the subway car once the muggers had fled, but he chose to half-carry him to his apartment instead. It couldn't have been a wise decision for someone so embroiled in the seedy underworld, but Terrance didn't hesitate to make it. Terrance clearly isn't your standard remorseless hood, and if he really is scheduled to appear in five more episodes, I can't wait to see where he goes.

I do, wonder, however, how Terrance just happened to be on hand to save Flack. Was he following Flack? Did he know it was Flack being beaten, or did he decide to help some random victim and then discover it was Flack? I'm glad he was there, and his scene was pure gold, but his appearance was a tad convenient.

I was dreading the clash between Mac and Flack because I just knew that Mac was going to get his self-righteous on, but both men were pitch-perfect. Flack was by turns embarrassed(that look from that bathroom once he saw Mac in the living room said it all)and defiant. When Mac said he was filing a formal complaint about Flack's behavior, Flack responded like a bratty, sullen teenager. I think it was Flack's indifference that angered Mac more than his conduct. Flack was contemptuous and dismissive of Mac's efforts to help him, and I can understand why Mac wanted to shake him, even though I still wish he hadn't touched him, since he achieved the desired breakthrough, not through physical force, but by pointing out the lengths his friends had gone to to find and help him when they could've written him off. The "Danny calling the hospitals to see if you were dead" punched the snot-nose clear out of him, and I think he finally realized that he was still valued and cared for even if he had stumbled.

My only quibble with Mac's handling of the situation was his snarled, "I'm not your priest! I don't want your confession!" when Flack broke down and started to talk about what happened in the basement. I know he did it to protect Flack. If Flack had openly admitted to shooting Cade in vengeance, Mac's strict moral code would have given him no choice but to arrest him. However, he could've handled it more gently, as he did later in his office. I'm going to assume it was the Mac equivalent of the "LALALA, I can't hear you," panicky reaction.

There was the nominal inclusion of the Compass Killer, but this show was carried by Eddie, Gary, and Nelly, and it was immensely satisfying to see everyone rally around Flack when he needed them.

Crow has never tasted so good. Mmmm. A+

 

[smurfy]

I gave this episode an A+ for the explanation of the compass killer's motivation and disfigurement, an A+ for Skeet (the only reason I started watching NY this season) and I even liked Nelly. However, after the conclusion of this arc next week, I'm sad to say that I have not connected to any of the other characters on the show and find the writing ABYSMAL, contrived and juvenile. I can suspend belief to a degree, but the show is so unrealistic on sooooo many levels that it annoys me.

Suggestions for the writers == you do NOT need to make Mac the hero/clue finder/center of EVERY episode. It is quite annoying. When I first started watching Jericho with Skeet, the writers had his character Jake solving every problem and saving everyone. The fans got tired with that FAST, and the writers adapted by 'sharing the load' and giving other characters more things to do. This is why, I think, the fans of the show connected with so many of the characters -- they were all heroic in their own ways. They also made Skeet's character make mistakes -- sometimes with potentially tragic consequences, this humanized the character so that the viewer could relate. I'm rambling, but I hate shows that have the 'main' star solve EVERYTHING. {That is why House is also annoying to me.} For instance, last night Mac found the note on the bridge. SERIOUSLY? Like, not one other cop walked past and saw it? It would have been far more believable if a random cop found it and pointed it out, or brought it to him. How hard is that? Mac sees CK at the park. Mac turns concrete into gold......STOP already.

And, finding the compass in the murky water without a metal detector......REAAAAAALLY????? and only 5 minutes before they pull him out of the water?

The body falls a hundred feet off of a bridge and just HAPPENS to fall on another guy pointing a gun that is totally unrelated to this case? I'm not asking for a documentary, but at least keep it serious enough that I don't burst out laughing at the lunacy of the writing.

The dialogue is FORCED to the point that they should just have a narrator at the beginning of each episode saying: "It is now 6 months past Danny's shooting, he has been progressing at a superhuman speed and is now walking with slight limp."

Okay, I must have something to say that is positive because it is rude to just complain on a forum that is dedicated to a show that I am not a regular viewer of. Maybe the first few seasons were stronger? That is usually the case.

I did LOVE how they explained the CK motivation and although I predicted he was schizo, I couldn't have predicted the disorder being prompted by Post Traumatic Stress from a mass killing invovling his wife and that his face was disfigured from the shooting. I do enjoy shows where I can not anticipate unfolding plot/story/lines until it is revealed. I also appreciate how they have made the CK multidimensional. He is not strictly a good/bad guy. You want to pity him, but can't condone his actions. What do you do when they catch him? do you want him to be imprisoned in a regular jail, or institutionalized? Should he be permanently institutionalized or with 'therapy' enter the regular world again?

Josie Davis was a pleasant surprise as well. Though her role is a small one, I found her believable and the acting was strong.

Looking forward to the conclusion next week!

 

[Faylinn]

I have nothing to say to your review, La_Guera, except: Word. I had quibbles about the episode, but Eddie, Gary and Nelly really did amazing things with their scenes.

And I enjoyed your comments, smurfy - I always like reading what people think who don't watch it every week (and therefore who don't put the minor details under a microscope, as I am wont to do ). Clunky exposition is a problem I have with a lot of TV shows, and the scene with Danny and Stella talking about his recovery was definitely guilty of that. And things are often very convenient - it's not just NY that's guilty of this, but it's hard to deny that the show has done this multiple times.

Faylinn you are totally on to something with Flack and Terrance. I LOVED, LOVED LOVED IT! I would to have LOVED IT EVEN MORE if Flack confided to Terrance about loosing Angell and then shooting the guy who killed her. Would have made a great scene don't you think?

Mwuahahahaha! *cough* Uh, yes, I am glad to hear that you felt the same about their interaction. As for Flack talking to Terrence - Nelly implied that he'd be back later this season, so I'm hoping they continue to develop the odd little friendship between them. Mac doesn't want to hear about what Flack did - and I can't see Flack willingly telling Danny or Stella or the others - but Terrence is someone he might feel comfortable talking to about doing something like that. As a cop with cop friends, it might be good to confide in someone who knows all-too-well about the shades of grey and being on the other side of the law. I can't see Terrence doing a 180 and turning on him or anything, so I'd really like to see their friendship explored.

I thought when we first saw Hollis Eckhart with his scared face and his perpetual 60's motif that there was something a little more devious interesting about his case.

The fact that the apartment and the 'wife' looked like they came straight out of the 60s had me wondering if it might be some sort of Oedipal thing with Calliope (aside from the ass-clenchingly lame use of '4 ever' etched on the back of the compass - that seems uniquely modern and annoying) - like maybe she was really his mother and he thought he was his father or something. I guess not.

But I guess they'll explain the fact that he's stuck in the past when the storyline concludes. I have a theory, but we'll see next week.

 

[symbeline]

During the last 15 minutes I kept thinking "please let it be the last Compass Killer episode", but clearly it wasn't my lucky day . What a waste of storyline--boring, predictable and very unoriginal. Everybody had guessed that he was having allucinations and that his wife was dead. It didn't deserve another episode and Skeet Ulrich deserved more than to be a loon. I'm guessing his victims where the survivors of the massacre, since there were 5 injured--including him-- and so far there's been three victims and one that we'll know about in the next episode. Anyway, I couldn't care less. I can't believe they didn't wrap the Compass Killer plot here and gave Flack an entire episode for his big storyline, instead of relegating him to the B case.

I gave the episode a C+ only for Flack, he saved the day, as usual. Some thoughts:

- Flack's MIA. That sounds promising, I thought this was a Compass Killer episode, so anything else is good.

- Danny walking for real. That's a big f*ck off to the fans. Oh, and wait, they ever tried to explain it. Dear writers: there's no need to piss me off more than you've done this season. Please, leave it alone.

- I love how Terrence saved Flack but a little bit convenient that he was there in that precise moment. Anyway, at least that's more interesting that the A case. And like other's have said, I wish it had been Danny instead of Mac who found Flack. He didn't even sound too worried that his dear friend was missing.

- Huh-oh Mac's here. And he looks mad. Flack is in big trouble. :lol:

- I wonder if Mac chews up Hawkes the same way when he doesn't put the toilet seat down. Oh to be a fly in the wall in Mac's apartment. :lol:

- First Danny's storyline was a WASTE. Now Flack's storyline has been glossed over in the same way. Just a couple of mentions and all of a sudden he's a drunk and almost gets kill. And then Daddy!Mac gives him a pep talk and all is good again. Oh well.

 

[Maya316]

Needed to leave my review for this episode, because I thought it came off really well. I feel almost guilty, but I loved it a lot.

Yeah...no Lindsay, though. Sorry, it loses a full letter-grade from me for that alone. I kept expecting her to show up and being disappointed when she didn't, and I hate watching the show with that kind of negative anticipation; it ruins things. It even seeped into my enjoyment of Flack's story. And I'm so not apologizing for feeling that way It was just sloppy work for no one to at least bring up what she's doing on her day off.

That said, it says a lot about Flack's storyline and Eddie Cahill's acting (and Nelly's, for that matter, because I'm loving that little bromance to an unhealthy degree) that I still enjoyed his scenes and his story in this episode more than I've enjoyed any of them ...since "Pay Up", really. I have my nitpicks: three people on the subway, two of them women, one of them elderly...and those two thugs pick the guy with a gun to rob? Even if he was severely hung over? Found that weird. Flack calling Angell "Angell" (as opposed to Jess, or even Jessica) when talking about how much he's supposedly mourning her? Found that doubly weird. I was no F/A fan, and in fact that little tidbit kind of confirms something I'd always suspected about FA; but it still seemed inappropriate, and it bothered me.

However, I very much believed that Flack was deep in mourning -- there was such pain in his voice the whole time he was talking to Mac, and I was beyond happy to hear him mention that he had no idea what to do with himself. I was also extremely, extremely pleased that they focused his grief (at least in part) on what he did to Simon Cade. I know how this sounds, but I'm so, so glad that he's feeling remorse over that, and it's making me all :adore: over him. That is so Flack; so classically, typically Flack to be wrecking himself over shooting anyone (even if the guy arguably "deserved it"). Because he's not like some of the others in this franchise, who can do the same and barely remember it weeks later; I think the fact that he was able to do that scared him a lot, and it makes perfect sense that he'd be eating himself up about it.

Sorry, I keep going on about it :lol: But that little bit made the entire storyline for me. I can forgive it anything now, even the way-too-neat resolution and/or Mac's less-than-sympathetic response.

Another part of this that I liked was how Mac so obviously had Flack's back, with the lieutenant, and then with not letting him finish what he was about to say on the subject of Cade (confirming that he, too, would never tell anyone). I wasn't surprised by the moral dubiousness of that whole thing, because I never seriously expected Flack to face work-related consequences over the shooting -- although it did get to me. But I was still oddly glad to see it.

However, I'm sorry, I keep looking at it a hundred different ways, and I still can't help but see Mac's response on the less-than-sympathetic side. I get that he was busy and annoyed, but Flack was so obviously wrecked when they were in Terrence's apartment, and would it really have killed him to give Flack more than a "you're on your own, I need to know if I can count on you"? It highlights the fact that no one is actually talking to Flack, because they seem to all just expect him to deal with it on his own. And given Flack's character, I can totally see why they'd all be expecting that, but at a moment when he (for what has to be the first time in history, I think) is the one so obviously reaching out, wanting to talk....it rubbed me wrong. Not in a huge way, because I do think Flack'll be strong enough to get through this on his own (maybe with help from a non-Mac, or maybe even a non-coworker figure). But it still rubbed me wrong.

And then Flack's whole "I realize I need to get it together" at the end...also rubbed me wrong. Again, I forgive them for it, because the first part of the story was so good. But I think the psychotherapy industry would've collapsed long ago if grief and guilt were that easy to get over.

....I feel kind of bad because i don't have half as much to say on the subject of the Compass Killer, or the case :lol: Skeet Ulrich (sp?) played the part excellently, of course, especially in the flashback scenes where his wife was visiting him at the office. But the case itself I kind of lost interest in halfway through -- I was texting by the time I looked up and realized it was going to be a cliffhanger. Gah.

Sorry if I'm repeating things anyone else has said!

Final Grade: B+.