05.30 Law And Order
06.30 Raising The Bar
07.30 Z Rock
08.00 My Own Worst Enemy
Law And Order. Season 18, Episode 11. "Betrayal" The highlight of this episode is a very strong story with a great twist ending. Basically, when you boil it down to essentials: A woman shoots and kills her husband when she finds taped messages from him to a woman he loves. In the end, it is revealed that the messages were to her. The story is a lot more complex than that, but that's the essence of it, and it's a heartbreaking twist. Moira Kelly (who I normally don't like) is very good as the wife whose husband, a therapist, has a history of seducing underage girls (her!) and is suspected of doing it again. The script does a great job of putting forward both sides of the story and (the ever-wonderful) Carolyn McCormick returns to the show for a substantial part in the story. Olivet (always a favourite character of mine) goes head to head with McCoy and comes off worst in the battle when he reveals that she had an affair with (I presume) Mike Logan.
Law And Order has come to life again this season (for me) with a slew of great new characters (Lupo, Cutter, etc.) but I'm glad they are still giving meaty roles to the ones I've always liked (McCoy, Olivet, etc.).
Raising The Bar. Episode 2. "Guatemala Gulfstream" Two strong stories and interesting characters define this second episode, which is a step up from the pilot. While Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Jane Kaczmarek dominated the pilot, it is Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller who impress most in this outing. Plus Gosselaar, who is always very watchable. Woolsey (the one from the rich background) tries everything he can think of to get a young black kid off of an assault charge that will dog his future. Without resorting to the angst of Kellerman we get the impression that Woolsey is a decent guy and it's refreshing to see that "the one with the rich background" isn't being written as an out-of-touch snob.
Michelle, meanwhile, is shown to be anything but decent. Blinded by ambition she tries every dirty trick in the book to stop Kellerman getting a fair defence for his (obviously innocent) client. This gives Kellerman plenty of opportunity to look indignant and rant and - after only tow episodes - I love the guy! Michelle, for all her dirty tricks, isn't written as evil. In fact, I quite like her. You get the impression that she just doesn't see the big picture. She sees a win for herself and isn't thinking about the consequences for the innocent man on trial. A flawed person, yes, but not evil.
Wilson Cruz guests. That's always a good thing. And the whole thing looks like a drama series that dropped through a time warp from 1986. In this case, that may not be a bad thing.
Z Rock. Episode 5 The best episode so far. Very funny. This one has (almost) no jokes that are running on from earlier episodes and it has nothing to do with the world of Children's Birthday Parties. It's all about the life of rock band in New York City, it tells the story of one gig, it's very funny and it's what I assumed the series would be like every week when I first heard of it.
Dina books the guys into a jazz club. Either by mistake, or because she thinks it doesn't really matter. It's hard to know with Dina (my favourite character, by a long way). Anyway, the guys show up, have a very funny conversation with an incredulous bouncer/manager and take to the stage. Where they are booed off! By a large mob of angry black ladies who have no interest in hearing rock and roll in their jazz club. The guys are outside packing when Dina and her aunt (the wonderful Joan Rivers playing herself, once again) arrive. Joan gives a wonderful, inspirational speech and the guys decide to head back in an win the crowd over with their raw talent and honest determination. Cos, you know, everyone loves raw talent and honest determination.
There's a few other bits and bobs happening, but that's the essence of the episode. It's funny and gives the impression that the show has fully found it's legs.
My Own Worst Enemy. Episode 2. "Hummingbird" Disjointed and unenjoyable. We start off with ten minutes devoted to Henry/Edward on a mission. Kidnapping and questioning a terrorist. But there's nothing compelling about the storyline. We know it's filler. So devoting the first ten minutes of the episode to it is a mistake. Focus then switches to Henry, who is attempting to enlist outside aid in his quest to find out about his condition. This, too, is boring since we know how it will end. By the half-way stage, Henry seems to have accepted his lot in life a little better and seems prepared to work with The Good Guys again. There's an action climax (of sorts) that ties back to the terrorist storyline from the start that nobody watching cares about.
I keep thinking of the early episodes of Alias and how cool and mind-blowing they were.
Henry is also obsessed with looking at old home movies of himself. But that, too, is a storyline that goes nowhere.
Christian Slater is great, and manages to rise above the material to deliver two superb performances. Mädchen Amick is wasted as his wife who exists, as far as I can tell, to be repeatedly used for sex by the two men in her husband's body. This is the main focus of all her scenes. Edward (the spy) is much better in bed than Henry (the family man) and she is loving all these new sexual antics. In one scene Henry (who is jealous of his other self's bedroom technique) declares that they will be no more kinky stuff in the bedroom. Her reaction? Passive acceptance with a big cheery smile! Lovely. This is offensive. Not to women. To me personally, because it is deeply stupid and it wastes the considerable talents of Mädchen Amick who I've had a crush on for almost 20 years.
Highlight? Law And Order (great story)
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Mon, Oct 27, 08 - Law & Order, Raising The Bar, Z Rock, My Own Worst Enemy
