07.00 Law And Order
08.00 Flashpoint
09.00 It's Your Move
09.30 Keen Eddie
10.30 Night Court
11.00 Adventure Inc.
Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 10. "Tango" Michael Cutter has a hopeless crush on Connie Rubirosa and it's part of the reason I am in love with this show (all over again). This is the one that has Connie getting an email praising her technique in the courtroom. Her technique and her legs. Cutter comments that he agrees. I don't blame him. I would pay good money to see Alana De La Garza walk around a room. She's amazing. And, as a die-hard fan who watched every episode of the Angie Harmon/Jill Hennessy/Carey Lowell seasons, I think De La Garza is the most beautiful woman who has ever sat in the A.D.A. chair on Law And Order. Great then, to see an episode about her appearance and it's effect on the men/man in the jury and the case under trial.
The show slipped up somewhat by getting the guy in the jury to play it like a creep (that wasn't needed to make the story work, and - in fact - kinda damaged it) but it was still a great episode. The final debate scene was superb. Cutter and Rubirosa arguing their respective corners and Jack standing watching. Watching and listening and saying... nothing. Great character work. I feel like I really know and love these two new characters as much as I know and love Jack. And it's a good story idea: the impact a woman's sexuality can have on her success in the workplace. And, unlike many other shows that have touched on this idea, Law And Order gives it just the right amount of screentime and doesn't let it interfere with the case-of-the-week.
Flashpoint. Episode 9. "Planets Aligned" Once again Flashpoint brings tears to my eyes. That's happened quite a few times in this first batch of nine episodes. About half the run have been classics. And this is one of the very best. Who would ever have thought you could take an action show, mix it with heartbreak and tears every week... and make it work? Certainly not me. In the last '80s I was horrified when Bernard L. Kowalski made "More Heart Than Hardware" his credo on Airwolf. It's wrong, wrong, wrong! I cried (without tears). You can't mix gut-wrenching action with stories of peoples emotions and feelings. Well, Airwolf failed to do it, but Flashpoint has totally nailed the idea. Every week we meet with one character in a point of crisis and we learn what led them to that moment. Usually there is a heart-breaking reason for the resorting to violence and this week is no exception: a kidnapped child fights her rescuers after 8 years in captivity. Harrowing.
Tatiana Maslany (like all the guest stars on this show) gave an amazing performance. Series regular Amy Jo Johnson has made Jules one of the coolest heroes I've ever seen in an action show. Gutsy beyond belief, this woman will not give up. We saw in the episode set in the shopping mall and we see it here again in the riveting final acts of this story. It's simply stunning. I love her.
Ed is bad-ass cool, Greg is the nicest guy on the planet (except for Veronica Mars' dad) but I would trust Jules with my life.
Flashpoint is an amazing series. It aired in the Summer and - usually - great Summer shows that I love vanish after their run (yes Hidden Palms and Traveler I'm talking about you!) but Flashpoint beat the odds. It was a ratings hit and it will be back!
Better restock my supply of tissues!
It's Your Move. Episode 2. "Put to the Test" Not quite as good as the pilot, but still completely delightful. The first half shows us Matthew's latest money-making scheme: selling copies of an upcoming test at school. It also shows us the downfall of that plan: Normal getting a job as substitute teacher with Matthew's class. Unlikely, but never mind. The fun is in watching the game of chess that follows. The second half finds Matthew alone in Norman's apartment, finding notes and solving clues and trying to outwit Norman and locate the new test. Ultimately he fails and this second episode is one in the win column for Norman.
Keen Eddie. Episode 10. "The Amazing Larry Dunn" is another Keen Eddie classic. Larry Dunn was a famous child star. He could remember anything. But he was beaten on national TV and his career fell apart. His father turned on him and declared that Larry lacked courage. We meet him many years later, when a bunch of crooks cross his path. Larry has a big book on bank alarms systems. So Larry destroys the book (which he has committed to memory) and forces his way into the gang. It's a wonderful story, with Julian Kerridge giving a great performance as Larry. Keen Eddie had a wacky, crazy style but it told wonderful human stories. And this was one.
Rachael Buckley returns to the show and Miss Moneypenny/Carol Ross shoots another sexual zinger at Eddie as she takes the elevator. As usual Eddie is dazed and confused and his partner - Monty - is not aware that anything has happened.
Also worth noting for hardcore fans: Eddie and Fiona don't fight in this episode. They are on friendly terms from start to finish.
Finally, Eddie trots out his "I'm Eddie, how do you like me so far?" opening line. That's another classic right there.
Night Court. Episode 4. Very funny, but more drama than comedy "Welcome Back, Momma" is the story of the woman who announces that she is Harry's long-lost mother. Is she? Well, that doesn't matter until the very end of the tale... What matters is the way it affects Harry. And, indeed, the woman herself. Lying or not, she is certainly very lonely. Did she really run out on young Harry and his dad? On our our way to the answer, the script does not forget to make us laugh: the case-of-the-week is a collection of bikini-clad beauty contestants who beat the living crap out of the show's lying/cheating organiser. Very few of them speak English and the show makes full use of that for some quality laughs. Bull is smitten by one of the girls and is free to tell her to shut up when she starts babbling at him. His efforts to explain his name (by drawing a bull on paper) gives us the episodes biggest laugh.
Adventure Inc. Episode 5. "Village of the Lost" Nifty story idea finds Judson and Gabriel trapped inside a village that cannot be seen from outside. It has been gone for over ten years and the villagers (a nice group) are happy to keep it that way. Sadly, there are some bad guys trying to find the village and it's secret. This would have been the most enjoyable episode of the run so far (with guest stars like Carlo Rota and Jayne Heitmeyer) but there is a lot of very annoying dubbing, some badly edited scenes and Karen Cliche is relegated to a supporting role. Crazy.
Highlight? Flashpoint (tear-jerking. again.)
Yet Another TV Review Podcast
Yet Another TV Review Book
Yet Another Film Review Blog
Mon, Oct 20, 08 - Law & Order, Flashpoint, It's Your Move, Keen Eddie, Night Court, Adventure Inc.
