Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
08:00 The Six Million Dollar Man
09:00 Californication
09:30 The Knights Of Prosperity
One of the best things about the early Six Million Dollar Man is the characterisation of Steve and Oscar, and their growing friendship. This episode, from late in the first season, begins when Steve sees a hitman trying to kill a prosecutor. Steve wants to help track the hit-man, and stop the killing, but Oscar - his superior - argues that this kind of case isn't really for them to solve. It's a nice couple of scenes and it's a reminder that in it's early seasons SMDM was a serious drama series.
The story itself is one of the strongest from the first season. Steve saw the hitman with his bionic eye and can't explain this to local law enforcement. Also, when he eventually catches the baddie, it turns out that he has an iron clad alibi. Nice mystery element with a satisfying resolution.
Californication, the third episode, finds Hank back with the woman he insulted back in the first episode. For the first time in the series we see him in a slightly better light. When the woman reveals that she's been badly treated by her lover, Hank tells her that she deserves better. And he's sincere, too. Hmm. Interesting guy. To get revenge he breaks into the guy's house and steals back her dog (plus a very expensive painting). The episode ends with a killer voice-over from David Duchovny and I'm more hooked than ever.
The 8th episode of The Knights Of Prosperity, finds the gang of inept thieves trapped in Mick Jagger's Panic Room during a mis-fired robbery attempt. A few good laughs, solid character writing and a nice twist to get them out makes for a satisfying episode. Best bit? As the gang calculate, and re-calculate, the amount of time they have left until discovery, the on-screen counter keeps changing back and forth. Finally, it gives up and shows two times simultaneously.
The Six Million Dollar Man, Californication, The Knights Of Prosperity
