I watched the ep in it's entirety a day late, so much of what I want to say has already been said very well by everyone else! I gave it a B+, although my first instinct was to give it a B or B-, I must admit. Mainly because, as some of you mentioned (particularly La Guera, so eloquently as always!
), the pacing seemed a bit off. Made me wonder if it came down to editing problems, initially trying to stuff too much into an hour-long episode, and having problems figuring what to cut? At any rate, it seemed choppy here and there.
The premise was fun, and even an old die-hard Mac Whore like myself was pleased to see that it wasn't "
Our Mac", as Flack said, in the crosshairs, for once. (Yes, even Mac Whores tire of Mac Persecution, once in awhile :lol
. The guest stars, although overdone and unnecessary (
anyone could have performed those small roles), weren't bad at all. Rumer Willis and Scott Foley were very good, Chris Daughtry was much better than I anticipated, and the gentleman who played Daniel Oka (sorry, don't have his name) was excellent, I thought. I thought it was fairly easy to spot Foley as the "guilty" Mac Taylor, after all he was the biggest name of the guest stars, but that didn't bother me much, that's often the case in any crime show.
I often maintain that I find Danny's character much more likeable specifically when he's paired up with Flack, and this ep was no exception. I did enjoy their "Starsky and Hutch" routine with Nelly playing the original S&H's "Snuggy Bear"; Flack's snarky humor, as always, was the stand-out for me. Eddie never hits a sour note, he's so perfect in this role.
Enjoyed Mac's swimming pool scene,
that was very nicely filmed and edited. Didn't find his mild flirtation with Gillian as repelling as I figured I surely would, although it seemed OOC, for him to go from headstrong and argumentive in their first scene together, to friendly and flirtatious in their second scene (although it was a cute bit, them reversing their dialogue from the 1st to 2nd scene with the coffee invitation).
Always wonderful to see Sid, Sheldon and Adam doing what they do best. I just love these guys to pieces. Lindsay was pretty good too, but Wow! even someone who has no idea the real life actress is pregnant, could not fail to see that she was
very pregnant, in this ep. Certainly no attempts to hide it, that's for sure.
Great final scene with Adam and Stella. I didn't get a "Crush" vibe at all, not a serious one anyway, but certainly great affection. It was fun, the type of character interaction scene that NY does very well when the writers want to, and should do more of, IMO, instead of the various romantic angles that they seem doggedly determined to pursue.
Finally, a few posters mentioned all the times they said "Mac" in this ep. :lol: Reminds me of an old college frat/sorority game we played back in "My Old Days",
with reruns of the "Bob Newhart Show" (the first one). You had to drink, every time someone said "Bob" (which was often an impressive 20 or more times in 1 half-hour show, making it a rather popular drinking game
) Wow, that revelation definitely ages me... *sigh*