Wow. First new ep in a dog's age. Or two years, for NY
.
I liked it. B+ type realm. And yes, I was freakin exhausted when I tuned in. Not sure how that skews things
. ...It didn't try my patience, and it was entertaining, how's that :lol:.
There wasn't much I didn't really like in this one. I wasn't initially sold on the backwards rewind to start the ep. But, it was a half degree diff from the usual. Guess I gotta call that on the plus side afterall.
There was no Sid. Whaddaya do. Mebbe he'll show up in the next one. At least he was mentioned.
I was slightly baffled by how Mac's wallet was lifted. Very tired indeed. A very small world indeed. But eh, at least it wasn't lifted from a locker. I'll get back to the small world later. Theirs is an island, after all
.
Things I enjoyed and/or was pleasantly surprised by:
- that we got FIT as opposed to the ubiquitous Chelsea University
- Mac being ousted from a crime scene
- Jo being the one to oust Mac from a crime scene
- Jo enlisting Flack to aid and abet her ousting Mac from a crime scene :lol:
- Flack/Mac banter and interaction, not just at the beginning but also later on in the ep.
- Adam presumably doing a Sean Connery impersonation. Fun.
- the NYPD/Fed based bantering with Jo & Danny ("...I heard that Messer..." :lol. Was a fun poke at Jo, was a nice moment of team dynamics, was a flicker the old Danny, and actually, he had a pretty good ep too.
- an old case being tied into a new homicide
- Mac shoving Harris in his office after the stolen wallet was "returned." Intense. Kept the pacing interesting. Gave Mac (and Gary) an unusual variety of things to do all in one ep. Gave Jo a nice moment to have to play off of, and a nice moment of contrast between them, as that's not her style of interaction at all, (aside from the odd dumpster or door used to halt a running perp )
- Mac apologizing to Bill. Mac accusing Bill wasn't a surprise to me. Mac saying he was out of line for doing so was .
- Stella being mentioned. However, did hafta note that the reference was a case that Stella didn't solve... .
- The previously processed crime scene; and that the PI wasn't more involved. Nicely restrained.
- Wild Bill. Thought Peter Fonda was great with the little he got. Loved that Bill, after the improvised alley "chat", also collected his dropped groceries before walking home. Cold, man . Steely. Yep, it really woulda been interesting to see how he and Mac woulda found a way to work together back in the day :lol:. I'm liking the implication that it was a somewhat contentious partnership, and yet one also without apparent regrets
- the cameos; the Jets were a small moment but a fun one. And the pass-rush is spot on :lol:
- the feel of a two-case/tier ep; being the set of up Will Bill's story, and also the regular case, which in itself was a nice step up from the usual. The case was decent, the premise of Harris & Wild Bill's return was well done, and the pacing as a whole felt good. No real lulls or dips, still had the obligatory montages, etc. Nice balance.
- that Jo got a fair bit to do on the profiling and interactive side of things. Acknowledged her background while integrating it into the investigation and scenes at hand.
- that it was a pretty balanced team ep.
- how the end was inter-cut, Harris retrieving an old cache with "...I know what you mean by a little chat... you shouldn't have done that..."
- a whole gad-danged ep with no DL!!! hallefreakinlujah . A nice respite
Case-wise, I thought it was pretty decent. It was interesting to have a serial killer that didn't feature as the main draw in an ep, but played more like it was another case they had to juggle. I also enjoyed how we didn't truly know what happened to Christina till very near the end.
I freakin
loved that the hour had some of the old feel of a two-case ep. Refreshing, and really helped the time feel well used.
The snail paint was the prototypical quirky piece of evidence that NY likes to feature. Same again for the limited edition Jammer sneakers. For me, it was the previously processed scene which was the more interesting twist. I also liked the level at which the ex-cop PI was involved. Not an overt red herring. Just part of the proceedings.
The convenient plot push in this one was the cell being activated, right after they were unsure whether or not Christina was dead. I was not surprised that the husband turned out to be the killer, but it was a decent ride to getting there. The bluffing in interrogation was pretty well done, if also predictable. I also liked the Mac/Flack moment, "you owe me $70 bucks for the suitcase, btw." (I'm also amused by the thought of Flack going out to buy a leopard print suitcase as an interrogation photo prop :lol
.
Just running thru the ep now. During the teaser for the ep, I did have a sec of wondering if it was a rerun, because the scenes in the park seemed so familiar, and also wondered where Jo was. I was happy to get beyond Lindsay's montage to note Sheldon and Mac processing, and then Jo ambushing Mac. She may have been delayed, but she knows how to make an entrance
.
Character-wise, the Jo/Flack/Mac interaction was a lot of fun. The Mac/Flack stuff that followed was also entertaining, and while Mac may not be a Rangers fan, it would seem both are Jets fans (didn't Mac have a Namath football?), and also fans of food ("let's go get a snack")
. Can't say I ever pictured Mac as a "granola/trail mix" kinda guy. Diner food, yes, ...granola, not so much... :lol: I guess Adam musta got to all the ho-ho's in the vending machine first
. And Flack just seemed
soooo danged happy about the general prospect of milk and cookies, I actually lol'd :lol:.
The NYPD/dog years was a little odd, in terms of pacing in the scene for me, but still fun; same again for the theft of Mac's wallet, but having that be rather low key did allow for a nice contrast with "...that brazen sonofabitch!" The portentious glance at the gun & badge had me wondering what was gonna happen next, not if something was gonna happen, and that it was the wallet being stolen was strangely disappointing. I dunno, It didn't seem ominous enough or something :lol:. But admittedly intriguing, granted. And I think they were right to orchestrate it this way. Bastards
.
I was initially also unclear if it was a case of "of all the diners in all the boroughs yada, you just happened to walk into mine..." Seemed so. I just don't see how Harris, released from Rikers for all of a week or so, could have already been looking for Mac. ...And for Harris to just pop in for some eggs and sit next to Mac, himself only shortly exiled from a crime scene and wouldjabelieveit also inadvertently bumping into da Jets' Ryan & Tannenbaum of all people, well... :lol:. Gotta get the two-part-scenario ball rolling somehow I guess, but Serendipitydoodah it's a small world
.
Seemed the diner was suddenly a very popular place :lol:. I guess it's possible it's just an old fave of Mac & Bill, or mebbe it was just meant to be a cyclical thing, having the old partners meet there to chat too. The Diner as hub is not at all a beef for me, just a fun observation of how the ep was steered. Not the most grievous set of coincidinks NY has utilized by any stretch.
TBH, I also didn't expect to see Mac actually concede to search the cab that he and Flack had taken. That his wallet was not lost but lifted in order to set up the two-part ep was never in question, not for the viewer; I just wouldn't have expected Mac to concede he might be actually wrong, and consider that he might have just misplaced it. Couple that with conceding to leave a crime scene and also apologizing to his former partner, well, I guess Mac does have some semblance of a learning curve
. Or, he musta been really really really frickin tired and not quite hisself
.
(I also bet he won't allow himself to be bribed with milk and cookies to leave a crime scene ever again :lol
.
Not much Adam this week, but as always, memorable no matter how much or how little he gets to participate. While I wish I could have just seen this as a great Adam moment, part of my mind couldn't help flicker that he was channeling his inner diNozzo
. But fun, no matter how the schtudent who ish the mashter schlices it.
And yes, Lindsay was better this week. An increasing rarity, the show didn't follow the in-joke for her character in giving her the one absolute and crucial piece of evidence that turned the tide of the investigation. She got to be part of the team instead. Bloody huzzah, sez I.
I was pleasantly taken aback to hear Stella mentioned. I suppose it was somehow meaningful to have that arise between Jo and Lindsay, given that they were previously used to bookend the transition. A nice and unexpected nod, to the character and also realm of NY continuity.
I wasn't put off by Jo's art knowledge. There is always one character with one piece of evidence every week who is an inexplicable expert on sumthingerother. Quirky, yes. Beyond the pale for NY and it's forensic NYPDian denizens? Not freakin hardly :lol:. This week it was Jo, and at least it also tied into previously mentioned experience. I thought it was a reasonably well done integration of her FBI and personal background. The mention of the art theft cases she'd worked with the bureau was nice, the banter between Jo and Danny on who might have ham-fistedly processed the apartment before NYPD was fun and gave both a chance to show some personality. Her interaction with Charles Martin, both on the rooftop and in interrogation tied in well with her FBI-learned skillz. Add into that her prodding Mac to look after himself, also how she went about it, and her bafflement that swiftly turned into having his back when Mac was decidedly un-thrilled to see Harris in his office, and I thought Jo had a really great ep.
Wasn't sure why Harris bothered to return the wallet, other than presumably getting an inside peek at the labs to better wreak his mayhem in the next ep. It did make for an interesting moment there, with Jo at first being taken aback by Mac tossing Harris against a wall, to her instead being uncomfortable that they couldn't manage to hold Harris on anything.
And for a guy who had a "different way of doing things" than Wild Bill, I don't think the two men are so far apart :lol:. I guess the difference might be that Mac is more hot-tempered and reactionary and Bill is more ice-cold and deliberate. Mac certainly let that cheeky brass balled brazen wallet-thieving sonofabitch push his buttons
. That was also interesting, to see someone get under Mac's skin. Not so invincible or mighty Mac, from that perspective.
I liked the interaction and history established between Mac and Bill. It was carefully set up in small doses paced throughout. I rather like the idea that Mac had to find a way, as a newbie, to learn how to handle having a partner, one senior to him, with an approach to policing that differed from his own ideals. I also like that each remained unrepentant about how he worked with the other.
I'm also curious how not just Bill but also Mac might be tied into Harris' past, given he is targeting both.
I guess the question will be how Harris fits in. Second to that could be whether or not Bill really did cross any lines, and when. Then, or now. What could those possible lines have been, to inspire such retribution as looks to be played out. Are we talking lines like "chatting" in the alleyway, or lines like Flack shooting Cade. Lines like Mac having an arm against a suspect's throat in interrogation, or accidentally putting an innocent person in prison.
One possible scenario could be that Bill deliberately framed Harris back then. Perhaps one scenario places Mac in Flack's position from days past, of having to turn in a friend. Another scenario could be that Bill and Mac somehow but not maliciously screwed up a case that put a previously innocent man in jail, one now hell bent on extreme vengeance; that could be interesting too. Even Shane Casey never blew up the labs. So what the hell did they do to piss this guy off ?
. Another scenario, if Mac does know general things about Bill in terms of crossing lines in the past "chatting" with suspects that he didn't bring forward, it could also imply an interesting tete-a-tete between him and whistleblower Jo. Mebbe Harris views them as functionaries of a corrupt system, and it wouldna mattered who arrested him years ago. Perhaps the only lines Bill crossed were in the alley, assaulting Harris in the present tense, as opposed to the past. Who knows. Lots of drama the show could mine, depending.
I guess I'm hoping that there may be a few more shades of grey where Mac might have to acknowledge that his black and white ideal may not always be equipped to reconcile. They've already set up the conflict, of Bill and Mac butting heads with different approaches, then and now, but within a partnership that would seem to have still worked. The unknown is still Harris. Grey may not make Mac less squeaky clean, but it might make him less two-dimensional. Interesting, anyways.
I liked Flack's participation as well ("should I be looking for another body?"). I doubt NY intended the irony, but ya never know.
I also liked how the end was put together. That Harris wasn't already breaking into, say, Bill's place or what have you, but the step back from that to show him just retrieving assets he'd stowed away. For a rainy day. Things he will shortly rain down. Yada.
I'm also not miffed that this was part of a Mac arc. I'm not rolling my eyes at the premise either. It may be about Mac being the last good cop :lol:, or it could be more about making Mac the Good Cop question the beliefs he grips onto tightly, including the faith he invests in a select few, which seems a rare enough thing. I believe Zuiker described Mac, as anchor for the series, not so much the moral man in an immoral society but perhaps more the moral man in an amoral city. If that's something they've kept in mind, I'm not surprised NY have kept Mac walking along a certain line, nor as the straight man for the show, the stories and the humor. Something for the others, both cops and criminals, to play against.
I'm also not looking at it as polarized as possible right/wrong, good cop/bad cop. If the show is wrapping up, this arc, coupled with what has been described for the season finale, sounds like NY may be using Mac the Good amid the city that never sleeps, shaking some of the core he holds on to, prodding at the foundations they built him on, testing whatever it is that Mac sustains himself with, as a device. (The idea/image of Mac's office, the NYPD/lab hub, his work files, his photos, medals, commendations, etc., scattered in rubble and ruin is pretty powerful in that sense, btw). Regardless, how they're using or at least presenting Mac seems pretty consistent, par for the course. I shrug.
This ep still managed to be pretty balanced for the whole team. Hopefully the same is achieved in the last two. Keep the soapbox and mallets at bay and I'll likely be reasonably amenable. On a more superficial level, I just hope the last episodes will be engaging and fun.
This will be the second time the labs will have been violently re-modeled :lol:, and if Mac through his old partner Bill is edged into reconciling shades of grey in the aftermath, it could be all the more interesting. The set up was good, and I'm looking forward to the second half of the arc, and Fonda's return in quite an action packed ep. Hope Mac catches up on his sleep before then :lol:.
A good ep, both as a stand alone, and also not overly melodramatic in setting up a two part scenario. Entertaining, and an hour of my time I do not at all begrudge spending on NY.
B+. Mebbe that grade shoulda been higher still. One of the season's better eps.
Lengthy comment I know. Clickied anyways.
