I am always amazed at the array of grades that follow an ep
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The usual apologies and warning for length. Much could be put in other threads. But I've been staring at it too long to edit. Meh. It all relates
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Lots said that I agree with
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On the face of it you'd think this week had everything to make it a solid, throwback old school style episode. The whole team was there. It was a wholly crime-based ep, with no other sideline arcs. It stepped outside of Manhattan. It involved ordinary people. It had a very sympathetic victim. It wasn't reliant on ubertech. The case and the characters had every chance within the premise at least to shine. So why wasn't it a great hour of tv that made me relax and say hey, NY's still got it.
The whole team was there but nobody made an impact, they were paper thin and going thru the motions, in montage after montage. They didn't get a lot to say, not until Mac and the closing scene anyways, and when they did, it was rather interchangeable exposition.
It was a crime based ep, but with a rather underwhelming premise and a horribly cliche ending. While I thought the portrayal of Joe was top notch, I didn't feel it matched with the coach, and by that I mean I didn't feel as deep a bond between Joe and the Coach as I'd have liked in order to feel the betrayal as keenly as would have been fitting. That was successful because of Ken Moreno. This was an episode which certainly could have benefited from a B case, even if it turned out to somehow cross paths with the main one. It would even have benefited from a secondary arc, as Danny's badge, for example. This ep was was a bit of a shell game. Lots of shine and distraction, for the small pea underneath.
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Dear Mr. Skip Sudduth. Thanks for stopping by NY. I've enjoyed your other outings as a director, notably on Criminal Minds. I'm very sorry your luck of the draw for scripts here wasn't better. I like bits and pieces of what you did. I suppose there was only so much.
Dear EPs. Please distract your staff with teeshirts and sneak into the writer's room to remove the soapbox/pedestal they're keeping their vision of Mac's character on. While there, confiscate any and all mallets discovered. And the TARDIS. And all MIB Neuralizers. And all reference materials related quantum theory. And orange sweaters.
. I digress. Plz to encourage letting Mac return to the realm of character work that helped lure and entice Gary into signing with the show to begin with, into more challenging and grittier territory for Mac at least professionally, even if his personal side mellows a bit and opens and/or lightens up.
Dear Writers. Please distract your EPs and borrow the TARDIS to visit some of the best of earlier seasons. Or dig out a dvd or your computer. I just thought the TARDIS was more fun.
Dear PV: Mac, an unpredictable soul? I shake my head in your general direction
. Three eps left with which to surprise me. Unpredictable mebbe for not having a word to say about Danny's badge
shifty
, & for the deft and fun interaction with Aubrey
) so far). Otherwise, frustratingly, Mac is predictable. It is starting to make me feel a pit in my stomach. There have been episodes and moments scattered throughout that I've enjoyed, or felt challenged by (in a good way). But I think Mac has very much become two-dimensional for general episodic functionality. I would not ordinarily say this, especially with regards to a crime drama, but the romance with Aubrey has been among the best written things for him this year. If you could translate that kind of precision to his day to day handling you'd be doing well. Perchance worrying about his unpredictable soul could come after excavating his everyday self from the unquestioning unchallenged unpleasant moralistic mudslide that's swamped him?
Do your best to keep the bandwagons from circling and request assistance. Some of you lot have a knack for repeatedly shooting yerselves in the collective foot. Might explain the dance of step 1 forward/2 back
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PS. Thank you for more Hawkes. And if you find traces of the old Messer in there, drag him out too wouldja? I think he's currently in hiding from the wardrobe department
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Dear TPTB. :wtf:. I am at a loss :borg:. The show, for the past, oh, three seasons or so, has become my annual Young Frankenstein
. I want to see how the experiment progresses, what each week's dabble will manage to accomplish, what that means for a season's worth vs. my time. There are other threads available to expand upon this, which I will likely visit soon.
Dear NY. I understand you haven't been feeling well. I know you've been trudging on, doing your best to convince everyone that you're fine and that nothing is wrong. You and your siblings. For you, this episode is a case in point. This type of ep, unfettered from other dabblings, used to be your bread and butter. Currently, your dabblings have provided some of the best moments of the season, and others were curtailed before they even got started. I appreciate the effort to branch out either way. This doesn't disguise the fact that something more basic within your core is ailing you, and that it's become a chronic condition. I'm worried about you. I think you might want to see some specialists, but at this point I'm not sure who has the expertise to pinpoint what's not working, and how to treat it. I'm sure you're tired of all the suggestions you've been inundated with by well-meaning people. It's only cos we care.
Mebbe you'll manage a season or two more, to make it to the slowly approaching ten year anniversary marking 9/11. Wouldn't it be great if you returned to a state where going out on your own terms was viable. In the mean time, I hope you get better soon. And if ya need anything, let us know. There's still a handful of us around who are sticking by, even if we sometimes don't understand why.
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Apologies for the tangent. Back to this week's ep, which was just the tipping point for the above sentiment.
The teaser really did have a kind of old-school NY feel to it, with how the murder victim was discovered - by a crowd of men embattled by their own circumstances. I also liked that the typical pun included was not the punctuation mark/punchline but more conversational, from Sheldon (blood from a stone). So far so good.
Here's were the first reflex cringe happened for me. On the usual overused "ambient" sirens/horns fx
. The next thing that became clear was that there were a great many things Da Show thought should be included. Because it seemed to want to include all of them, they were all a bit thin and were largely blasted thru. First among them for example was the treadmarks on scene. I was amazed that Lindsay had already ruled out all the construction vehicles by her first line of dialogue.
The security camera was another thing. Why the hell would a construction site bother with them if the main access point to the site wasn't deemed worthy of pointing one at? Why, to direct the path of inquiries, of course.
Yay. Scenes with Sid and Sheldon
- but wait. ...They didn't get to say a damned word :shifty:
, at least at first. This was the first of what felt an overlarge number of overlong montage sequences, accompanied, no less, by over-imposing abstract scoring. I appreciate the show trying to show us things and not just tell us things. But mebbe one or two of those montage bits coulda been processing scenes with character commentary instead? Something that mighta used who the characters are and not just what they do. Taken as a whole, the sheer volume of extended montage scenes felt rather like shine factor and filler at the expense of interaction for the same one or two evidentiary conclusions drawn. Aside from Adam, just about everything was interchangeable. The flip side of this coin follows below. PS. Dust masks, boys
. Especially when there's no freakin conversational exchange to be concerned about. I suppose I simply feel thwarted in my fondness for Sid/Sheldon scenes
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When the soundtrack finally faded, the first bits of dialogue that were allowed to surface were essentially "come hither and gather round, I must expound and give a lesson in powder coat so thou wouldst all understand the complexities of the case." And this is what I mean. Montage sequences expediting more than showing us things. Dull expositional results meted out. Didn't seem to matter a whole helluvalot who was doing or saying what. There has to be some way to blend plot functionality, time limits, glitz factor (w/ appropriate soundtrack of course) and the individual characters you have at your disposal to illustrate what is going on. Mallets like jack-hammers were everywherez.
Every day is Xmas in Hollis Queens
. Loved Adam, at least he got to exemplify the best of why he's there. No one else had much of a chance. Danny tried, managed a brief glimmer, similarly Flack. Mac was all but swamped, but managed a nice scene later on, that I'll come back to. Everyone else was pretty much invisible this ep.
Briefly. The stoner dude and his apartment. I couldn't tell if he was really bad or really really good and funny :lol:. His humble abode, btw, seemed vaguely reminiscent as an apartment to Scooby's abode. I wonder how many times we've actually seen the same danged apartments over the years
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Another brief comment and rhetorical query. Why the hell is it that every time there is anything remotely hinting at an industrial element in what the team has to process, be it a car or a block of cement, that some Red Shirt #5 must be seen to be grinding something in the background in such a way as to generate abstract and unrelated but yet oh-so-incredibly-impressive and industrially-indicative sparks :lol:. But hey. They
were introducing a showman/gladiator/boxer. More extended montages w/ random scoring ensued, until we found out the gladiator was a
familiar gladiator, who was 48 hours deaded. Glad that took up some time. I wouldn't have cottoned on otherwise.
Here I gave in to my wondering. In S2 there was an ep wherein Sheldon had hinted at being a fan of the sweet science. I remember it because it was one of the earliest and few tidbits that ever hinted he had some personal history at all. So I was hoping that Sheldon might get a bit more play that way.
One way I was able to partially reconcile Mac's being a fan of yet something else in this episode is because it was ultimately more about Joe as a damaged man/cultural icon who'd fallen from glory than it was about boxing. It wasn't necessarily about being a fan so much as being familiar. Yah, it only partially worked :lol:. And It still doesn't negate a horrible ending.
Mac's better moments. The first was walking into the gym for the first time. He walked in for once not looking like he owned the premises, or like he already knew what was there and what he'd find. It was a decent follow up to have once they'd made him the case's hub. The other scene was where Mac was in Joe's apartment; here the episode's trend for non-dialogue wasn't overwhelmed by it's score, and the scene didn't feel it needed any words. Watching Mac internally watch Joe was well played, and contributed to making Joe a very sympathetic victim, who also in turn made Mac less cardboard. I could buy Mac feeling for him and for a man who put himself on the line and lost it all, even as a result of having won the fight, for the cost and the waste of it all. It wasn't about boxing or being a fan of the spectacle, it was more human than that. It was also a scene that contrasted nicely in terms of pace as well.
The wise-guy wannabees were suitably obnoxious, and at least gave Danny a small glimmer of energy.
Shiny of the Week: the fancy remote controlled glass. By that point I was incredibly bored, and so I don't know what it is or is called and don't really care.
Hmm. Stella and Lindsay walkNtalk. Some lame dialogue ("...he wound up in the fight of his life" / "time to find out"). Stella and Danny walkNtalk. Later on in the warehouse, Stella and Flack walkNtalk. Stella put some serious mileage on her high heeled boots this ep. No wonder I don't recall her much. She never stood still
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Nice to see Adam on scene. Too bad it was just a snippet in another montage. *!Montage!*. Sorry. Uncontrollable flash of Team America :lol:. Mac inundated by everyone reporting their findings in a show of one-upmanship: shoulda been more fun than it was. And of course Adam can't win for Lindsay one-upping the poor boy. Sheesh
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So. Perp is a viking. Would make for some interesting paperwork and reports
. (They should try to get more mileage outta stuff like that :lol
. I did like the half-twist way of having Joe find (and be convinced that) there was some way for him to get back in the ring, so to speak. The web-broadcast fighting bit felt a little reminiscent of earlier seasons as well. Can't pinpoint why that is yet
. Hmm.
Having the coach be in on it all, well, let's say there wasn't much "golleeeee! never saw
that coming" in my response :lol:. Who knew he also moonlighted as a cement mason. That site was seamless :lol:.
I'll also say that mallets were landing some serious body blows and headshots to wrap up the episode in terms of dialogue and moralizing. What was depicted throughout the episode certainly made that kind of verbal synopsis redundant. That was another scene that easily could have (and should have) spoken for itself.
Not NY's strongest airing. Their version of par. Had the whole gang, only minor ubertech, no Curvatures of Lettuce (which I admit to missing actually :lol
, had vintage Adam, had nuthin but case, had every shot at taking everything that some people say they want the show to focus on ...and still managed to make a forgettable hour of teevee. Torn how to grade it. Disappointed again, but really don't want to lower my standards. Well, I had no real expectations for this one. And it certainly wasn't hyped to be anything special or out of the ordinary for the series. It's only my own hopes that are tired. On the plus side, instead of a great villain we got a really well-played victim to care about. Guess all that pushes it to a C-.
Bring on Flack. Bring on a good case and set of circumstances to unravel with the young boy. Bring on Aubrey if it means part of an hour where Mac doesn't hafta shovel the usual. Bring on some snappy scenes and dialogue and interaction with everyone. Bring on pace with real content. Then stop at 5.22 or 5.23 :lol:. I still don't know if I want to see either, I hold a certain dread for what awaits in both
. Mebbe .22, if there's enough case as context to make Peyton's return less than simply gratuitous for Bermuda Mac issues. Leave Lucy and the Lighthouse alone. Mebbe .23 if Casey can borrow the TARDIS to get in touch with his earlier NY incarnation. So much for anticipation :lol:. For me the season felt like it always took forever to get a new episode. Now it feels like it's taking forever to end. I dunno what it means. Perhaps already peeking ahead to a semi-blank slate.
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And here I just wanna sidestep one last time.
I would hope any actor is a utility player and grateful for work, like everybody else. I'd hope Gary is as much of a utility player as Carmine in dealing with whatever he's asked to shovel. That includes being the moral mouthpiece along with Stella in the likes of Green Piece, or being used to sanction DL in S5, where it went so far as Mac invoking God no less and in a way that ran counter to his earlier illustrated challenges with faith. That includes increasingly formulaic soapbox moments because that's the function and role that Mac seems to be viewed as The One to use for.
Re: pandering. A particular photo as a prop in one's office could be a nod. Having some friends from your band make a thirty second appearance to end an episode could be a nod. Or, mebbe someone wears their own jewellery or has one of their band's songs or a piece of one's artwork in an ep, those could all be nods. Being invited to write an episode a nod. That's the sort of thing I could see more in that light.
I don't blame actors in general for what they are asked to do. Sometimes they are asked to do absolutely ridiculous things. And sometimes they in turn focus on ridiculous things to ask for or take issue with. Blame them for a poor performance? Without question or hesitation. Even and especially if that resulted from catering to a whim, no matter who's it was. It's their job to make whatever it is believable. Blame them for the scripted content of a scene or the quality of it's writing? Not unless also credited as a writer for whatever is in question.
I don't take Stella being perpetually put into the thick of the action and used as a punching bag as the show's way of somehow pandering to Melina in demonstrating hers is a strong leading female character. I don't blame Anna or Carmine for the material they've been shovelling either, whether I like what I see or not. Why should I view anyone's prototypical material as such. If Gary, as one of a plethora of titled producers, does have any artistic input and philosophical sway for the direction or tone of his character, he still doesn't write the words he's asked to say. The same goes for the open-door policy between the writers and the whole cast in general. The extent of exchange between them is unknown to me, but I'd think the path from A to B is wide open. Subpar writing is subpar writing, and I've long lost the handle on what the standards are for this show. (IMO I'd also think any actor would be keener to change things up, not request more of the same).
Between network/studio notes, various levels of internal notes, etc, there's no way, barring being there, to decipher who's agenda (or ego) is feeding what, or what agenda is feeding whom. I'd think snits and fits could erupt from any quarter, but there is always someone who has the last say, and I highly doubt that's typically the cast, no matter what their slot on the callsheet is. Bottom dollar sez there's always a bigger fish, or monkey (don't look 'em in the eyes), to deal with.
I've never met any of the cast, or executives, producers, writers. I don't know how prodigious an ego any one of them may or may not have. I don't ultimately care. Or, bluntly, I don't give a flying monkeyf*ck, unless of course someday paths cross. Certainly none of them need defense from the likes of me. My point is that the show is staffed by hundreds of professionals, including the cast, it simply doesn't function even on a baseline level over the course of six seasons if they and all their egos don't have it in them to take a great deal of shit over very long hours and continue to do their jobs no matter what it relates to on any given day. My mileage does vary here. Not that it matters in the end. WTF do I know.
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Last. The show's long been among those I see when I can but can live w/o. That's mostly a matter of not having time to watch much of anything to begin with. But yeah, this forum was a great show-related discovery, and does broaden how I enjoy the franchise. It wouldn't be as much fun or as interesting without it.
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For all that, I'm willing to fill my glass half full again. The same goes for the industry as a whole. Upfronts will be interesting this year. Lots of things going on. The next two weeks will tell a great deal. These really are very exciting days after some very lean times.
