Banacek 1.3

Joanna Pettet, William Windom, Herb Edelman, Bert Convy, Percy Rodrigues, Peter Mark Richman, John Fiedler, Bruce Kirby. Good fun. It’s the usual talk-to-all-the-suspects stuff, with a very nifty reveal at the end. 7/10

Sat, Oct 18, 08 - Dexter, Banacek

07.00 Dexter
08.00 Banacek

Dexter. Season 2, Episode 6. "Dex, Lies, and Videotape" This is the one with the copycat killer. And both Dexter himself and the FBI are anxious to put an end to his antics. Making Dexter himself the focus on the investigations has certainly made his life-of-crime more interesting this Season, but the focus of the show is always his personal life. Rita dumps him, after (hilariously) overhearing a phone message from Lila. Dexter reacts badly and - to my great surprise - winds up in bed with Lila! Even more surprising he tells Rita about it, just as they are on the verge of getting back together. All these twists continue to make Dexter a fascinating character.

This is also the episode where his (adorable) sister hugs FBI Agent Lundy in a moment of unguarded joy. It's a wonderful scene. Perfectly played and sweet and joyful.

Banacek. Episode 2. "Let's Hear it For a Living Legend" One of the best cases, and one of the ones I remember best. A football player vanishes... during a game... in front of thousands of fans... and nobody knows how he did it. Then a ransom note arrives. What the frak is going on?

Only Banacek can find out. And watching the smug Polish detective do his thing you get the feeling he has most of it figured out before he even starts asking questions. Stefanie Powers is a wonderful guest as the missing man's ex-wife and all her scenes with Banacek are terrific. Banacek isn't like other TV detectives and this comes across in one great scene where he attacks the man who brought him in on the case: Banacek works for nobody, he works for the reward and everybody is a suspect. He's arrogant and alone. And it's pretty cool.

He's not Harry O. There's no weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders. Banacek is a thinking machine, pure and simple.

Highlight? Dexter (surprises)
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Sat, Oct 11, 08 - Worst Week, Cavemen, Banacek

06.00 Worst Week
06.30 Cavemen
07.00 Banacek

Worst Week. Episode 3. "The Monitor" Nick Kroll joins the cast as Sam's friend - Adam - called in to fix the painting damaged in episode 1. Each episode tends to be a lot less funny than the one before it, but the show continues to be ingenious and Sam is still a likable (if very unlucky) hero. Kroll is a standout and so is RonReaco Lee as Melanie's brother who - at one stage - wakes to find Sam standing over him with a pillow. Having written off all of Sam's previous attempts to - as it appears - kill him, he finally freaks out when he sees this. Very funny.



Cavemen. Episode 7. "Nick Work, Andy Jerk" Nick Kroll is usually the best thing about this show, and he's very good in this episode, but the most laughs come from Sam Huntington as Andy gets a really strong storyline. He's gotten himself a job, knee-deep in corporate America, and he doesn't quite fit in. Andy (being Andy) runs around trying to make friends with everyone. Which leads to meetings on "personal space" and so forth. Very funny and (as is often the case with this show) very insightful. Meanwhile, back on the homefront, Joel and Nick have a fight over Kate and Nick's treatment of her. Eventually Joel moves out and Nick becomes a total slob. While it covers ground familiar to anyone who has ever seen a sit-com before - to the show's considerable credit - it manages to raise several good laughs. All in all, with it's dead-on social commentary and successful jokes, this is one of the very strongest episodes.



Banacek. Episode 1. "Detour To Nowhere" An armoured car vanishes from a desert highway! An inexplicable mystery if ever there was one. It can only be a case for... Thomas Banacek! One of the coolest investigators to ever grace a television screen. George Peppard brings his usual smug charm to the role and gives us a TV hero unlike any other. The movie opens with a solid mystery and delivers great characters: the very cool Mr. Banacek, a rival investigator (and romantic interest) and a limo driver who is more than he appears. Christine Belford is beautiful and has great chemistry with Peppard. Their romantic dance is the best thing about the first half-hour of the movie. A location switch (from Boston to the desert) only makes things better and Banacek goes up against various small-town types and uses very impressive logic to hone in on the location of the armoured car. The story delivers one truly great twist (the person listening in on the phone call at the end), misleads you as to the identity of the main bad guy and provides a solution at the end that is genuinely satisfying. Through it all Banacek is arrogant and smug but (thanks to Peppard) 100% likable. One of my favourite detectives.

Highlight? Banacek (cool)
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