So. Teh Premiere. Ramblings. Cos that's all I can manage at the moment. And I'll forget all about the ep by tomorrow.
See. The problem, or a problem, a downside if you will
, of leaving unfinished business at the end of a season, is that it means you'll be shovelling and sorting thru the mess once it starts up again. To re-establish what happened, and then set up where things are at, set up the tone of the season. All that stuff clutters up offices, takes up characters' desk space and whatnot, covers their whiteboards, fills cardboard boxes that they hafta stack and step over, increasingly tricky given that none of them will have slept since we last saw them, and takes up screentime all over again. Which is fine. If it's exciting to watch. What's supposed to happen, in the wait between, is that interest and anticipation make ya wanna tune in. And then, having tuned in, ya feel like ya got some sort of pay off for your interest. That ya got some answers to stuff ya mighta been mulling, and some new things to wonder about.
...I was bored. Bored by the answers to half hearted questions.
Q. Who shot everybody up, put Danno in da chair?
A. Self styled Wanna Be Terrorist Mobster whatevs. Three guys and a girl with innaccurate automatics and a nice car randomly shooting up crowded establishments. The city didn't feel that terrified to me. The press mob seemed more of a gauntlet to run. No, you've not got my attention now, billboard in Times Square notwithstanding.
Q. Will Danno walk again?
A. Of course he will. It always rains in September. It's been raining here all week actually.
Q. Will Haylen Bacall be an annoying presence cheaply introduced?
A. Early indications are yes. Yes she will. She may get better. She may not. She's definitely coming across as a plot device more than a potentially interesting and challenging character. Hope she evolves if she's gonna become a regular of any sort.
Q. Where is everyone's wardrobe?
A. The drycleaners, after being released from evidence. They'll apparently be picking it up again sometime next week, just in time, when Casual Friday isn't every day of the week. Cos people just forget to shave and dress in anything other than polycotton pullovers and the like when Dealing With Shit.
Q. Are we going to continue to be subjected to mass amounts of shiny ubertech and unsubtle soundtracks?
A. Why yes. Funny you should ask.
Sigh.
Alright. Fer real, lessee.
Within five mintues, everyone who had been brooding, preoccupied, away, on leave, in bed, volunteering, meeting strange persons in dimly lit areas in teh wee hours, yada, found their respective ways into the case.
Some nice visuals, nice lighting in the processing scene. Throughout the whole ep it did kinda feel like each character was operating on their own wavelength, and I'm on the fence at the moment if that was a deliberate direction. It could be that the direction overall just felt really deliberate.
I liked a lot of the Stella/Hawkes scenes. They seemed to consistently help a lot with a little thing called plot advancement. Poor Sheldon. Early hints at his money issues. Volunteering as a cure for insomnia, due cash woes in addition to worry for Danny, Flack, grieving for Angell, and a near death experience. As a side note, it would seem that insomnia is a very common side effect the team suffers from. Live and breath the city that never sleeps I guess.
A nice Mac/Don moment, Flack finding his own way into the case. An interesting parallel between the two men. Mac obviously knows what it's like to have little but the Job at points in his life.
Adam was on a bit of a rollercoaster in this one for sure. A little whack at the scene :lol:, but I'm happy he's becoming more involved in general CSI activities and not just in the labs. Think the point was partly to come across as enthusiastic and perhaps even (over?)confident just to be taken down a notch by a Kleen Up Tech.
Had to laugh at one point in the ep pretty early on, after the second shooting. Mac earnestly suggesting "...They know we're onto them." :wtf: Wha, 'scuseme? This was but a short time after "...and despite all this evidence I'm no closer to knowing the identities of the shooters." I know time is relative in teevee, but this nearly made me snort my drink. Still, it's entirely possible that my attention had wandered it had been longer than I'd thought.
Said my piece on Bacall. Not currently enjoying her time onscreen at the moment, not finding the dynamic being established compelling. And that's not hackles on behalf of Adam, that's just waiting for things to kick into gear. Hopefully they will.
Regarding forensics. Flack doesn't wanna step on your territory, but he's got some observations to make :lol: Everybody wants to be a CSI, huh? :lol: Aw, Flack. Was a pretty good scene with him and Stella. And wow, but Albert was one supremely tough & dedicated SOB!
A fun Adam/Hawkes moment, the fist bump, when talking about Albert with Stella.
And then. It hadda happen some day. Sigh. Plz. Tell me. Tell me I did not just hear Lindsay Monroe go "....boom?" She did? You're supposed to tell me she didn't, to deny the existence of such a thing. PTB, wtf ru doing. No. No no no no no. AAAAAAAAAaaaaghrl. No. :lol: F*ck. Just. F*ck. No. When. When will it end. Stilll wringing mileage from it.
Oo. More treats. Broody Lindsay. More DL. Math. 10% vs. 60%, and a forecast of rain. Words I always wanted to hear from her: "Now I'm here to stay, and nothing will ever change that."
The joy. And geez. Now she's all up in optimism? Where the hell was that last season? Her faith in Danny and in their relationship and all that? :lol: I don't care. I'm jus' pointing it out. The magic of Lucy. Unimpressed and waiting to be. Well. I would be waiting. If I cared. I'll just be pleasantly surprised one day mebbe.
And what else.
Q. What are the odds. Of the cops showing up on scene at a suspect's house in the middle of an armed stand-off. What are the odds of Flack being in a situation to watch a guy shoot another in vengeance, just like he did before he started bar hopping, and not being able to talk him down?
A. High. Very high, when ya really want a scene of Flack being in a situation of watching a guy shoot another in vengeance, just like he did, before he started bar hopping, and not being able to talk him down.
More brooding music. More frowning, intense team members. Unexpected mild amusement at the slo mo lab montages, a teeny tiny segment within it, of a uniformed cop walking in the hallway behind Mac's office and doing the finger-point greeting at someone. In slo mo. I'm sorry. But I was bored, and I happened to notice that and it amused me.
So. A voicemail confession. All that done in a hugely and stupidly misguided attempt by a handful of amateurs to hold the city hostage. After a finale that showcased utter professionals. Nice contrast in efforts at ransom I suppose, but not terribly engaging. Epilogue for Pay Up indeed.
Show ends on yet another round of slo mo scenes and a soundtrack. Yawning in my beer. But, look, it's Stella helping Mac, to clear up the last of the clutter in his office, on his desk, the bulletin boards, the (transparent) white boards, the walls, the boxes, all the now-answered questions left over from shovelling thru the mess and unfinished business of last season.
And rain. Powerful stuff. Golly I wish I could control the weather thru my digits too.
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I don't want to see more of Stella and Adam. Not together anyways. Dealing with the fact that they were, if it comes up at some point, fair game. But really, not interested, not sure what it brings.
I would rather any Adam drama stem from his job security (or job insecurity) than from getting together with Stella. That said, I won't begrudge either one possibly smiling at a certain inner thought from time to time. :lol:
I hope Stella gets better material as the season gets underway. Rather, gets more and different kinds of material then, as far as giving her new character revelations, and things to do. Gets used better by the show. Cos I think she often has been, past and present. And I was
:lol: at the first montage, the flashbacks, the slo mo adjusment of a high heel while in her bra and a man in her bed. So typical of NY and tptbs in general.
Mac wasn't an overbearing presence. Was about all I can really say tonight. Ep's already fading. Nothing new or different or oustanding for him or from him, just helped steer the show.
Hawkes similarly kept the train rolling. He often seems to, while the show runs others about in various directions. He had some good moments tonight though.
Sid. We got some scenes with Sid. Not enough.
Hope I don't hafta seen any more interiors of the Messer-Montana residence. AB, Lindsay and the writing for Lindsay didn't sway me particularly. It was predictable. DL was predictable. Would have been leaped on if they
hadn't had scenes, hadn't had an obligatory combating of doubt etc. Do I want to see more of them? No. Do I expect to? Yes. Cos she's here to stay and that isn't ever going to change. :shifty::lol:
Hope that the show, having gotten all that out of the way, or at least established what's underway for people, can get into a rhythm for the season. And now I really am rambling and feeling it. Apologies.
Disappointing episode. Especially for a premiere.
C. Average teevee.
Looking forward to next week.
nypdflackie, I'm quite liking your banner.
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