From the perspective of a David/Horatio fan, IMO "Time Bomb" was the worst episode this season. Not only were his reactions, or lack of same, peculiar for Horatio, but the dialogue seemed to be written for a totallly unfamiliar character. Whether scripted by writers or David, they've derailed from the return to the original Horatio of earlier seasons.
Who is this person and what have they done with our Horatio?
I'm not sure what that was all about. It was almost like David/Horatio was a background player and his feelings and reactions to events weren't a primary consideration for the writers. Exactly how much input DOES David have. One has to wonder.
As I said in another thread, the big
push to put Eric front and center (He's everywhere! He's everywhere!) with a take charge persona is annoying on a good day.
To set Horatio back and then write his character in a way that his reactions to situations are not realistic to who he is as a character is very much a concern to me as a fan.
We've waited a long time for Horatio to find himself again. It really looked promising this season. We looked like we were finally coming full circle and the Horatio we met a long time ago was finding his way back - a little beaten, sadder and wiser for his journey, but the humanity, compassion and committment that made him special began to see daylight again.
His reaction to Rebecca's death was completely OOC, IMO. As someone else pointed out, the Horatio that would kiss the head of a fallen police officer, wouldn't dismiss the death of a former lover and colleague like Horatio did.
For me, alarm bells for season 9 are going off in a lot of areas for this show. Horatio is one of the areas of concern. I was hoping we were getting him back. Now I'm not so sure.