Grade 'Taxi'

[AppleJack]

Much has already been said. I really liked this episode. Good flow, yummie Flack, no D/L drama and so on.

But...

The killer disappointed me. No shivers down my spine. I think was hoping for the type of killer who had done this just because he could do it or just for the fun of it without a particular reason. Creepy and annoying maybe, but somehow I think that would have been far more exciting then the not so interesting loony he turned out to be.

 

[La_Guera]

I'm likely in the minority, but I was spectacularly unimpressed by "Taxi". When did the show become CSI:NY Anatomy? Jordan Gates' butthurt over the fact that she was "the last to know" Mac's connection to Reed was childish and out of place and more than a little perplexing. Was it TPTB's not-so-skillful way of telling us that Mac is grazing in her hay buffet? If so, I can see why she would be hurt...if I take off my glasses, turn my head, and squint at the screen through a thick bourbon haze. If not, then the remark was inappropriate and inordinately clingy. Maybe she took a page from the D/L courtship handbook.

I liked Quinn in her first appearance. I liked her considerably less here; her role was minimal and gratuitous, and I can't shake the feeling that the original script meant her to do more. Why was she there?

And Reed. Oh, Reed. We knew your zeal and idealism were going to bite you in the ass, and they did, though if it means a return to your previously thoughtful, affable demeanor, I won't begrudge fate its chunk of your ass. Kudos to you for not losing your head, and for being able to feed Mac clues to your whereabouts through your posts. Good boy.

"I'll call her Claire." Oh, Reed.

However, I have a bone to pick with the scene in which Mac deduces Reed is being held in a brewery. Would Mac really know that "Australia" referred to a type of hop or wheat germ, and would he know that corn flaked was really code for flaked corn? Even if he would, would Reed? Did he apprentice as a brewer during high school? That scene would have played better in the hands of the walking Trivial Pursuit known as Hawkes. I could have bought that he knew that. I'd even buy that Sid knew that, but since everything must be all about Mac at all times, Mac made the connection, and lo, it was unbelievable.

The case was secondary to the strawmen drama llamas of Dead Cabbie Cop and Bleeding Reed, and it showed. The capture was anti-climactic at best, with Flack being designated the wielder of the clue-by-four for those who were slow on the uptake.

Mac: "L2729."

Flack: "Leviticus 27:29."

Yes, thank you, Flack. Why do they always saddle you with the exposition for idiots collar when they need to advance the plot? The Biblical connection should have been broached by the team sooner, IMHO, since I think John Doe's medical records mentioned a fascination with the Bible. These people are smart, or should be. Let them act like it. It's embarrassing to watch them lurch around the case like tinfoil-chewing chihuahuas for thirty-nine minutes, only to morph into Whimper from the Clue Club in the last five minutes.

The resolution was made all the cheesier by Mac's Voiceover of We Ran Out of Time and Needed to Wrap This Up. Agh. The writers have given up all pretense of being interested in the cases.

There were a few bright spots, however. Mac and Reed's interaction in the hospital and their subsequent cab ride were elegant and beautifully done.

Angell saving Flack was wonderful, as was their banter about prom night, which gave me delicious daydreams of Teen!Flack awkwardly throwing down his best moves in the back of his Dad's Caddy. I didn't catch what he said about the Pontiac Sunfire, alas.

I'm confused on another point. In S2, Flack mentioned that he worked out of the 35th precinct, but in the opening scene, they were in front of the 73rd. What gives? Do cops rotate precincts according to where they make an arrest, or have the braintrusts bungled continuity again?

All in all, an uninspired episode that was nominally more interesting than the tedious footnotes to Unfinished Tales of Middle-Earth. You know, the notes that are often as pleasant as eating a box of saltines rectally.

C

 

[racefh853629]

ETA: I thought about Reed's parents a few minutes ago when trying to figure out his personal timeline (he's 23? When did he learn Claire was his mother and living in NYC? Before or after he started going to college there? If it was before, why did he wait so long to 'find' Claire? Etc)--it was mentioned that he was born in Chicago, so maybe he grew up there and his parents still live there?

I think that he (at the end of last season) graduated college and moved out of his parents' place into his own (because he had Thanksgiving at their place and Mac told him to stay there after the events in Some Broken Bones).

His parents might have been there when Mac wasn't... it could've been something that was never showed. Maybe he just wanted Mac to be with him... after all, Mac (and his team) saved Reed's life.

I gave the episode an A. Gary Sinese was fantastic- I really think he portrayed Mac amazingly. Through the stress of the case to the stress of having his kinda sorta stepson kidnapped, he was amazing, and I felt for Mac the entire time.

Kyle Gallner did an awesome job as Reed, also. His acting was wonderful, and I really could feel his emotions with him. Also, Reed was good at leading Mac to the place with subtlety. He knew Mac would understand, and I loved it!

Flack/Angell in the beginning of the episode was delicious. I'm glad she can kick ass and save Flack's life. I think he owes her a date now... hahaha.

All in all, I really loved this episode.

 

[nattybatty55]

Ok I havent got much time so I wont be able to post a big review but.... I loved this episode and gave it an A+. I think it rounded off the whole taxi cab killer storyline off perfectly and it was nice to see casual Mac again :devil: I agree that Kyle did a great job of playing Reed and it'd be good to see him again but without him being in danger of course

But the only downer was the dissappearence of adam

 

[Ticamo77]

It was a pretty good episode where everyone in the main cast made an appearance. I can't complain about that. Not happy about Hawkes being underused, but it's nothing new anymore.

I can't add to what was all ready said, but what stood out to me was:

The killer disappointed me. No shivers down my spine. I think was hoping for the type of killer who had done this just because he could do it or just for the fun of it without a particular reason. Creepy and annoying maybe, but somehow I think that would have been far more exciting then the not so interesting loony he turned out to be.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who felt this way. He reminded me of Chris Angel when he was in SOOH. You know, when you say 'Wow! He's really screwed up,' but you can't take him seriously despite the fact that his murders were quite innovative and sadistic. :wtf: I was more creeped out by him when he was just an eyeball in the rearview mirror. :lol: The build up was so much better than the reveal.

 

[MacsLady]

I give it an A.
-The action packed scene at the start was great. It was awesome to see Angell kick some bad guy ass and then shove Flack out of the way. Seeing Flack chase after the cab was hot!:drool:

-Mac was giving Flack a bit of a hard time over the cab, but then Flack gave him a bit of a hard time re the tarps a couple of eps ago.

-It was great to see Quinn back. I loved her interaction with Stella - Stella seems to have stopped sticking her nose into the issue of how Quinn knows Mac, and they worked well together. I liked that Quinn told Mac she needed to know what the connection was between him and Reed, but also how she gave him that hour to go find him. She seemed surprised when Mac told her the truth about Reed, I think it was because she learned that Claire wasn't perfect. I hope she's back next season.

-The Mac/Reed confrontation was puzzling as I too thought Reed was kidnapped at the end of the last ep. I loved it though. It was good to see Mac get called out on his always sticking to the code of his office, but still Reed should have been able to see that people's lives should come before his work or a story. He did come off as bratty in that scene. Pissy!Mac is always nice to see. Mac was right to call Reed out on naming the cab driver as the killer. I think Stella was right though to tell him not to let his pride get in the way.

-Loved the Mac/Stella interaction. I loved how Stella made Mac see it from Reed's POV, and pointed out that both of them were like that at his age. I loved how she comforted Mac when he was blaming himself for what happened, and her concern over Reed and Mac - she gave him a concerned look when she left his office after talking to him about his arguement with Reed.

-Jordan...she came off as a hardass in her first scene, and in the second one, but she was just doing her job. I liked that she said she was on their side. She seemed very bothered by the fact Mac hadn't told her about who Reed was, and I'm not sure whether that was all political or whether there was something personal there too, like she wants Mac to open up to her more. Loved it when Stella stood up to her! Go Stella!

-I really felt for Mac in this ep. He's getting it from all sides still, and then Reed gets taken, poor Mac. We really saw a range of emotions: frustration - that scene when he was walking through the lab checking what evidence everyone had, pissy, and deeply worried about Reed. I loved those scenes in the hospital between them, Mac sitting by Reed's bed, getting him to 'talk' about what he saw, and that scene at the end when he wheeled Reed out of the hospital and they rode away in a cab together was adorable *hugs Mac*. I really felt for both Mac and Reed when Reed used the name 'Claire' in his blog to send Mac a message. It was clear to see that mention of her name still hurts him. Poor Mac. And also when he was saying to Reed 'Don't die on me', that was amazing, so much emotion in his voice. He was pretty close to losing it there.

-Reed - in the confrontation scene he came off as bratty, but later I really felt for him. He was so scared when the Cabbie Killer had him, and he looked really vulnerable in the hospital. The cocksure young journalist with a hot new story was gone, and he was like a little boy who was very relieved to have Daddy Mac there with him. And kudos to him for using the code to tell Mac and the team where he was. Excellent acting by KG, and I seriously hope they bring back Reed next season, a bit more mature. While his gung-ho attitude was understandable, realistic, and cute, he's learned now that such an attitude can cost lives. He reminds me rather a lot of Danny in s1 with that gung-ho attitude that gets him in trouble. It's nice to see a 'minor' character developed so well.

-Loved Flack and Stella interrogating the guy who killed the cop. Flack really was pissed off, and Pissy!Flack is always good.:devil: Flack has always cared very much about cops, and he always seems much more bothered when a cop is a vic or a suspect in a case than when it's a civilian.

-I felt a bit sorry for that cabbie who killed the cop, vigilante justice is never right, but he genuinely thought he was killing a bad guy, not a cop.

-The Cabbie Killer was good, the actor who played him played his craziness well. But still, the craziness didn't quite fit with the careful planning he showed earlier. But maybe he just finally went 'over the edge.' Odd, though, he seemed almost logical at the end. I did like the religious angle, though because of Fay I saw it coming (well done, Fay!) But it would have been cool if he was killing people just to kill people - more chilling.

-Hawkes actually got some screen time, yay!

The only things I disliked about this ep were -

-No Adam!:scream: I was really pissed off when Lindsay started going on about doing techno stuff, I though, 'Oi, that's Adam's job, and he'd have found where Reed was a damn sight faster than you ever could because he is Super!Adam when it comes to All Things Tech!'

-Hawkes said that dreaded 'M' word. I hate the 'M' word.:scream:

-Dear Anna's hairdresser, what are you trying to do to the woman? That haircut looked uglier than ever. If there was a barfing smiley, it would be inserted here.

-Jordan and Quinn were interesting in this ep, but I'd rather have had Adam, as they didn't really seem essential to the storyline.

Really looking forward to the finale. More Mac is always good.

 

[ClarkF1]

Mac: "L2729."

Flack: "Leviticus 27:29."

Yes, thank you, Flack. Why do they always saddle you with the exposition for idiots collar when they need to advance the plot?

What they said was the other way round but that aside not everyone might have made the connection. I'd completely forgotten what the carvings actually said

 

[kinehelene]

I gave it an A.

I just love bad ass Angell..:thumbsup:
my god, she is hot that woman, :drool:
and being a Hero too. Saving Flacks butt.. :thumbsup: You go girl

Mac and Stella was great..

And is it just me but what a hell is danny got in his mouth?
after read is taken by the cabbi killer. he has a scene with hawkes..
he got a black spot in his mouth..
thats not good.. thats just nasty.. :wtf:

And NO ADAM...

The killer was a disapontment.. He was just boring..

The 2 new people i dont like..

Its nice 2 see mac and read connect, to bad its had to be and injuri that made them do it..

Read had an apartment so he didnt live with his parents.
mac found his back pack on the floor and the keys in the door..

overall the ep. was ok..
I'd give it an B but i gave it an A for having sexxy Det. Angell back..:angel:

 

[La_Guera]

Mac: "L2729."

Flack: "Leviticus 27:29."

Yes, thank you, Flack. Why do they always saddle you with the exposition for idiots collar when they need to advance the plot?

What they said was the other way round but that aside not everyone might have made the connection. I'd completely forgotten what the carvings actually said

Everyone, no, but given that Super!Mac had earlier MacGuyvered a brewery connection out of typos and rambling blog posts, it's not unreasonable to assume that someone should have made the connection earlier.

 

[Wolf359]

Some more thoughts on the episode. Flack/Angell and Flack/Stella scenes! Flack/Danny/Angell working together! Flack/Mac and Flack/Danny! We needed Adam! I wanted more Hawkes and Sid, I love them both. Also, Protective!Worried!Frustrated!Mac. Gary Sinise was excellent in this episode. I love the Mac/Reed relationship and hope Reed comes back in Season 5.

 

[PalmettoHunna]

I gave it an A- I liked the story, but with serious mental illness it only (to me) gets really scary after the convictions when they sit down and explore the full spectrum of what their message is. The Cabi killer was definitly unstable, but their was just not enough time at the end of the episode to show how realy crazy his ideas were.

But I did love Danny reasurring Flack...it was so cute.

 

[Mrs.RyanWolfe]

I loved the Cabbie Killer episode last night. I cried when they found Reed with his throat slit. I didn't think that the Cabbie Killer did anything to him, I thought he was going to dump the body and then come back for Reed. It was an AWESOME episode. I gave it an A+!:thumbsup:

 

[Faylinn]

^^Yeah, I was kind of shocked to see that his throat was slit. I was pretty confident that they wouldn't kill him, but that was just

 

[flackfan_82]

I'm likely in the minority, but I was spectacularly unimpressed by "Taxi".

I think I'll join you in that minority LG...I was equally unimpressed and disappointed by the mess that was last nite's epi. The Cabbie-Killer arc had so much potential that was just tossed aside for some cheap thrills and a few too many leaps of smartass for my liking...

I get that these people are supposed to be smart, and I don't want to dog that...but how can anyone possibly know everything about everything...and yet miss the obvious. Why did they drop or forget about the whole religious angle that they were aiming at over the last two episodes?

The little psych-out at the beginning of the epi pretty much sealed Reed's fate in my mind. There was no need to worry for his safety because they had basically just handed it to us on a silver platter. And the fact that as of late he has been acting like a little douche made me think that a fatal ending would not have been the worst thing for him. Hopefully he learned from his idiotic mistakes and got himself a clue...

The Cabbie-Killer himself was predictably boring. Though I lost track of his behavioural antics as he went from manipulative scumbag to "don't blame me, God and the Devil made me do it"...it was a bit wishy-washy...I had to laugh at one point as he described how the dead need payment to get across the River Sticks...I had a mondo-awesome visual of Homer (as Odysseus) from the Simpsons crossing the River Styx, glamrock blaring in the background. *snortle*...Adam would appreciate that one, eh Fay? :lol:

The ending I found quite lacklustre...Follow the yellow brick road, or in this case, the smell of Candy Corn, all the way to Willy Wonka's house of evil...where the killer lounges in his lazyboy waiting for Flack to come along and cuff him...I can just picture Flack kicking back the oompa loompas as they clamour and doggypile their way up his tall frame to try and bring him down....maybe i've been sniffing my own candy corn:wtf:

Flack and Angell saved the episode for me. Angell drives...tee hee...altho I'm sure just because of the unpredictable, stinky man in the back...and Flack, how close to him were you that you knew how bad his breath stinks?...:wtf: Only Flack can equate sitting in the back of a cop car with a stinky suspect to a prom date gone horribly wrong in the back of his daddy's caddy...me-thinks someone got puked on at their highschool prom...*snortle*:guffaw:

Angell kicks ass, and totally saved Flack...hot...very hot...both of them rollin over the trunk like that...hot...very hot...Flack running after the cab...pointless but valiant - good job *pet pet*

I have images of a teenage Flack workin on a beat up but smexy Sunfire, in a greasy wife-beater...:drool:...i could go to jail for that, lol...maybe Flack should come over here and show me just how good he is at his job:devil:...wow, that line will not get old, ever....:guffaw:

And when he asked for the flashlight and just had to get down on the ground and check out the oil pan for himself is just so typical Flack...lemme wipe off the dirt for you :devil:...and if I am ever stranded again with a flat tire, please oh please will you be there to fix it for me???:lol:

Random - I half-expected Danny to maniacally laugh and call the ants his little minions and send them off to do his bidding...the only person who should be talking to bugs on a personal level is Grissom...:lol:

So all in all...C+ for effort...as lacking as it was...

 

[Lampdor]

Hmm I think Faylinn has the right idea to type while watching cuz I don't remember what happened. :lol:
Soooo let's see. This epi kept me on the edge of my seat and keeping Reed alive at the beginning was a big surprise. I'll give it an 'A-' just because 1) there was no Adam 2) still not enough Hawks 3) this cabbie killer thing was built up and I didn't like the way they caught the killer. Corn flakes? ... Seriously? And the killer is just sitting there on his couch reading a book? Uh huh. How is it that Reed can tell time and knows how long he's been in the trunk? I would be panicking because I am gagged in the trunk with a dead woman.

Other things:
-Flack lets Det. Angell drive? Does she let him stop for food? :lol:
-Det. Angell has never been hotter. THis is the best role for Emmanuelle I think
-What's Flack going to do if he caught the moving car? The whole time he was running after it I was going "shoot the tires!! shoot the tires!!!"
-Don't like Jordan so much. Her hair looked like Kendall. Oh yeah ... Kendall has now disappeared with Adam
-Lurves Quinn. THink she is a bit underused. Totally agree with Top in her review, love to see Quinn be part of the team whether she replaces "her" or not
-THank you writers for no D/L :thumbsup:
-Does TPTB have something against parents? Would have been nice to see Reed's parents, but let me guess, this more about Mac and Reed's relationship???
-Mac tells Reed not to speak, then asks how he's feeling? :lol:
-How come Mac doesn't drive? You'd think Reed doesn't want to get into another cab.