Body of Proof 2.15: “Occupational Hazards”
“The longer I can tap dance without missing a step, the longer this office can act with autonomy.”
- Kate
We star this episode off with a young couple on their honeymoon. They’re in a cab and just as the cabbie is giving them a rundown all the places they should go, he loses consciousness and crashes into several cars. Meanwhile, Megan returns home from a bagel run to find her mother at the apartment with Lacey. Lacey is introducing Grandma to social media. The Hunt women are going to NY for a little family trip until Megan gets called to the scene of the cab. Turns out the crash uncovered a dead body in the trunk of a guy visiting from Baltimore. Mr. Baltimore denies killing the guy in the trunk. He was trying to drum up business for his restaurant supply business but it didn’t work. Sam tells him to write down every place he parked his car. Over at the lab, Megan learns that the dead body’s name is Kyle and he’s identified by his (pregnant) wife. She says he was an architect and that she got a voicemail from hi the previous day around noon saying he was leaving work early. Bud doesn’t have much luck with the guy’s boss seeing as Kyle had been laid off a year ago. Megan, Ethan and Peter discover a lifting injury as well as a cut on his arm. They figure out that he must have been up against something hard based on the exit wound and the bullet reentered the body.
Kyle’s wife clearly didn’t know that her husband was out of work. She said that when they got pregnant she stopped working but bills always got paid. She doesn’t know about any of the injuries. Back at the lab, Curtis is prepping Gabriella Diaz for autopsy when Kate shows up and boots him from the case. The dead girl is the daughter of a close friend of the Health Commissioner (aka the woman who appointed Kate). Curtis is not happy to be kicked off the case. Megan is also in a bad mood as the cops still haven’t found the crime scene. But Ethan has found yellow reflective paint on the pebble imbedded in the bullet so maybe Kyle was lying on the road. We jump back to the Hunt apartment to find Lacey and Joan discovering Megan’s online profile and they friend a rather cute guy named Aiden and Joan starts chatting with him. I’m not really sure where this is going.
Bud gets back to police HQ and joins the grumpy train (especially since Megan keeps texting him about the primary crime scene). Still nothing on that front but he did find out that a police report was filed with Kyle involved a few days earlier against a guy named Sal (he had priors for drunken disorderly and assault). Bud brings Sal in and we learn what Kyle was doing to make his money. He was part of a moving company that moved people’s stuff out when they were evicted. Sal had been stealing a few things and Kyle called him on it. They fought and Kyle got cut with Sal’s box cutter. Meanwhile, Kate is meeting with Gabriella’s parents. She promises discretion in the case. I’m not really sure why we need this second case but I guess we need to give Kate something to do. Joan is clearly a devious woman (and one who doesn’t think her daughter can get a date on her own) and Aiden shows up at Megan’s office. And he’s got an adorable accent to go with his adorable face and name. At first Megan denies having talked (and makes a veiled threat against whoever was chatting with him) but then relents and agrees to go to dinner. Peter catches the tail end of their conversation and after making a little jibe at her, says that the smudge they found on Kyle’s pants was decomposed human fat. He’d come into contact with a dead body (gross).
Kate is continuing the autopsy on Gabriella when Curtis shows up with the toxic ology report. She did indeed die of an overdose of cocaine. But Megan finds lesions on her skin. Looks like the coke Gabriella used was cut with a veterinary medication that can lead to death in humans. And it’s probably all over the city. Kate is concerned about how many other people could die. Megan pays Bud a visit and Bud says he thinks that Kyle may have gone over to the dark side. He also found that there was no record of him working for a moving company. He’d been collecting unemployment and the checks were being sent to a woman named Vanessa Winters. Bud swings by her place and learns she was Kyle’s ex from college. She let him use her house as an office when he wasn’t doing jobs for quick cash. He was trying to find another architect position. And he was sending his unemployment to her because he was too proud to let his wife know about the lay-off. The next morning Megan gets to the office and Peter nags her about her impending dinner with Aiden. She says he better have news on the case. Nothing yet on the crime scene but they did identify the substance found in Kyle’s teeth; a leaf from a $700 cigar. They head out into the center of the lab to find Kate giving a health advisory about the cocaine. She declines to comment on whether that was what killed Gabriella. That’s not going to bode well for Kate.
Bud and company head out to a pool side where they find a guy who apparently had some dealings with Kyle. Kyle built the guy’s guest house recently. And they smoked cigars. He takes them into his cigar room and Megan quickly picks up on the decomposition smell. Peter takes a sledgehammer to the wall and they discover a skeleton. The guy is pretty wishy-washy on whether he knew the body was in there. He says Kyle wanted to go in to see how the room turned out. Kate gets into the office to find the Health Commissioner sitting at her desk. This is not good at all. She ends up demoting Kate for pausing before declining comment about Gabriella. How stupid is that? She didn’t reveal anything about the investigation. I really don’t like this Commissioner. And she pretty much appoints Curtis as the new Chief of the ME’s office. Kate dives in to Megan’s case (she has a background in forensic facial reconstruction). Sadly, Megan has to find out about the change up in the office when Curtis bursts in telling Kate he didn’t even want the job. Kate doesn’t want to talk about it. She just wants to focus on the case. And she pretty much orders Megan to go on her date with Aiden. Turns out the restaurant he picked is a diner kind of place with really awful burgers. She throws in a story about a gross case but he takes it in stride. We learn that he put in her and Todd’s pool shortly before they divorced. Aiden likes that Megan takes chances and he kisses her. She kisses him back. They’re kind of cute together. Kate is at the lab late into the night reconstructing the corpse’s face. Gotta say, she’s good.
Megan gets in the next morning and Kate is a little snippy with her. But Megan has a flash of brilliance and looks up their current suspect online and they find the woman who was buried in the wall. Her name is Lisa. Their suspect denies killing her. He says last year with all the remodeling of the house and Lisa’s drama, he took off for a while to Vegas and when he came back, Lisa was gone. Curtis is rather cranky his first day as Chief and he wants his first two cases to be closed pronto (and steals Ethan’s hot dog). Things switch up pretty quick when the lab discovers Sal’s print on the sheet wrapped around Lisa’s body. He denies involvement (though he did remember her from the job) and lawyers up. Megan shows up to let Bud and Sam know she found the crime scene.
They go mural hunting because the paint they found on the pebble was both yellow spray paint and a layer of protective coating. They eventually find the right one and the lab pulls prints off the shell casing at the scene. It turns out that Kyle’s boss was responsible for both Lisa’s murder and Kyle’s. Have to say I should have seen it coming but I didn’t. Megan drops by to see Kyle’s widow and delivers a letter that Kyle wrote to her (explaining everything about his job). And she manages to get a rise out of both her mom and Lacey by feeding them a fake story about Aiden to ferret out which of them was responsible. But she was pretty happy about the whole thing. I do hope we see more of him.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Person of Interest - "Blue Code"
Person of Interest 1.15: “Blue Code”
“Your version of a lucky day is being shot and lit on fire?”
- Carter
This week we dive right into the action. The person of interest of the week is a guy named Mike Cahill who at first blush looks to be an upstanding buy but is really part of a smuggling ring run by a guy named Vargas. Somehow, Reese manages to get in as the driver of an ambulance to pick up the latest thing they’re smuggling (diamonds in with a guy supposedly having a heart transplant. They manage to get away without a hitch (save a busted tail light on the ambulance) and make delivery to their boss. Cahill roughs up one of the younger guys in the crew for getting twitchy and then takes off. Naturally, Reese follows him despite the fact it’s 3am and finds out that Cahill is actually an undercover cop.
It’s been a few episodes since we had flashbacks and so now we get some. We jump to 2008 in some likely Eastern European country (it doesn’t say) where we find Reese obsessively cleaning his gun. He’s with his partner (the one the CIA claims he killed) and they are waiting on orders for what to do with the package they have. Agent Snow shows up and tells them they don’t ask questions or care where they’re dropping the package (turns out to be a government official who tried to sell American tech to the Chinese) or who he is. Reese gets booted for some R&R and he ends up outside staring at the cityscape.
Back in 2012, Reese is still following Cahill (aka Tully). Reese follows him to a meet up with his handler. They’re a day away from taking down Vargas’ higher up (a guy named L.O.S.). Cahill seems pretty confident that L.O.S. will be there at the next shipment. Finch is concerned that the reason the Machine gave them Cahill’s number is because someone has discovered or will soon discover he’s an undercover cop. So he pays Carter a visit (after she runs into Agent Snow) to ask about the system for keeping records on undercovers. The files are only hardcopy and only the handler has access to them in safes kept in a locked room at IAB. So now Finch is going to have to figure a way to get in there and get rid of the file without getting caught. Reese sends Lionel to chat up some of his dirty narcotics cop buddies to see what they know.
Meanwhile, Reese joins the smuggling crew on another pick up but things go south. The guy they’re taking the product from has back up in the way of machine guns. And before the crew heads in, Vargas gets a call and he’s not happy with the news he’s receiving. They manage to get away and hole up in a warehouse. But he orders everyone hand over their weapons and destroy their phones. Obviously Cahill’s handler and Finch aren’t too happy about that, having lost a way to track the deal and to keep tabs on Reese. We jump back to 2008 for a tick where it’s obviously early enough in the year for the bar to be playing Obama’s acceptance speech. Reese orders a beer and sits down next to a guy. They chat a little and Reese tells the guy he’s originally from Washington. The guy goes off to call his wife (also from Washington) and Reese’s partner shows up. She told him to get a drink and he apparently managed to pick the one guy married to his ex.
Back in 2012, Reese convinces the rest of the crew to let him make a tourniquet for the wounded guy (mainly to shut him up). Cahill steals the wounded guy’s phone and lets his handler know that his cover might be blown and where they are. Meanwhile, Lionel meets with an old corrupt cop buddy and says he wants to shake down Vargas. But he’s told he has to go through proper channels. A call from Finch interrupts the meeting and it looks like Lionel is going to have to break into 1PP. Yeah, don’t think he’s going to like that much. We get a little bit of a funny scene where Finch has to juggle both Carter and Lionel on the coms (well only Lionel is on coms) as the two run into each other at 1PP. Lionel almost gets away with destroying Cahill’s file but he gets caught by Vargas’ informant. Back in the warehouse, Reese accuses Cahill of making a call and tackles him to steal the phone to keep the guy’s cover. Reese gets knocked out with a crow bar for his troubles.
Reese gets hit a bunch of times before Cahill talks Vargas into letting him interrogate Reese. Reese reveals what he knows about Cahill and says he can get them both out. Cahill says he can’t go back to his family with L.O.S. still at large but he tells Reese where the shipment is going down. He then shoots Reese. We get another flashback to 2008 where Reese’s partner basically tells him he can’t see his ex and that no one would really understand what he’s done or who he’s become. They leave before Jessica’s new hubby can introduce them. I mean it’s got to be hard on Reese. He loved Jessica but he kind of is stuck in the CIA still.
Things aren’t going much better in 2012 either. Reese gets locked in the trunk of a car and set on fire. Luckily Cahill left him a knife to get free and Carter’s waiting on the outside to give him a lift. They have to race against time to save both Cahill and Lionel. The meet is about to go to hell when Carter and Reese show up guns literally a blazing and take pretty much everybody down. L.O.S. is CIA and Reese knows charges won’t stick. But Cahill wants to arrest him anyway. Reese shows up just in time to Lionel’s life but things aren’t going to be any fun for Lionel for a while. He has to go back to being dirty to be useful to Reese. Agent Snow bails L.O.S. out and then has him taken out in a car while Reese keeps an eye on Cahill to make sure nothing happens to him or his family.
“Your version of a lucky day is being shot and lit on fire?”
- Carter
This week we dive right into the action. The person of interest of the week is a guy named Mike Cahill who at first blush looks to be an upstanding buy but is really part of a smuggling ring run by a guy named Vargas. Somehow, Reese manages to get in as the driver of an ambulance to pick up the latest thing they’re smuggling (diamonds in with a guy supposedly having a heart transplant. They manage to get away without a hitch (save a busted tail light on the ambulance) and make delivery to their boss. Cahill roughs up one of the younger guys in the crew for getting twitchy and then takes off. Naturally, Reese follows him despite the fact it’s 3am and finds out that Cahill is actually an undercover cop.
It’s been a few episodes since we had flashbacks and so now we get some. We jump to 2008 in some likely Eastern European country (it doesn’t say) where we find Reese obsessively cleaning his gun. He’s with his partner (the one the CIA claims he killed) and they are waiting on orders for what to do with the package they have. Agent Snow shows up and tells them they don’t ask questions or care where they’re dropping the package (turns out to be a government official who tried to sell American tech to the Chinese) or who he is. Reese gets booted for some R&R and he ends up outside staring at the cityscape.
Back in 2012, Reese is still following Cahill (aka Tully). Reese follows him to a meet up with his handler. They’re a day away from taking down Vargas’ higher up (a guy named L.O.S.). Cahill seems pretty confident that L.O.S. will be there at the next shipment. Finch is concerned that the reason the Machine gave them Cahill’s number is because someone has discovered or will soon discover he’s an undercover cop. So he pays Carter a visit (after she runs into Agent Snow) to ask about the system for keeping records on undercovers. The files are only hardcopy and only the handler has access to them in safes kept in a locked room at IAB. So now Finch is going to have to figure a way to get in there and get rid of the file without getting caught. Reese sends Lionel to chat up some of his dirty narcotics cop buddies to see what they know.
Meanwhile, Reese joins the smuggling crew on another pick up but things go south. The guy they’re taking the product from has back up in the way of machine guns. And before the crew heads in, Vargas gets a call and he’s not happy with the news he’s receiving. They manage to get away and hole up in a warehouse. But he orders everyone hand over their weapons and destroy their phones. Obviously Cahill’s handler and Finch aren’t too happy about that, having lost a way to track the deal and to keep tabs on Reese. We jump back to 2008 for a tick where it’s obviously early enough in the year for the bar to be playing Obama’s acceptance speech. Reese orders a beer and sits down next to a guy. They chat a little and Reese tells the guy he’s originally from Washington. The guy goes off to call his wife (also from Washington) and Reese’s partner shows up. She told him to get a drink and he apparently managed to pick the one guy married to his ex.
Back in 2012, Reese convinces the rest of the crew to let him make a tourniquet for the wounded guy (mainly to shut him up). Cahill steals the wounded guy’s phone and lets his handler know that his cover might be blown and where they are. Meanwhile, Lionel meets with an old corrupt cop buddy and says he wants to shake down Vargas. But he’s told he has to go through proper channels. A call from Finch interrupts the meeting and it looks like Lionel is going to have to break into 1PP. Yeah, don’t think he’s going to like that much. We get a little bit of a funny scene where Finch has to juggle both Carter and Lionel on the coms (well only Lionel is on coms) as the two run into each other at 1PP. Lionel almost gets away with destroying Cahill’s file but he gets caught by Vargas’ informant. Back in the warehouse, Reese accuses Cahill of making a call and tackles him to steal the phone to keep the guy’s cover. Reese gets knocked out with a crow bar for his troubles.
Reese gets hit a bunch of times before Cahill talks Vargas into letting him interrogate Reese. Reese reveals what he knows about Cahill and says he can get them both out. Cahill says he can’t go back to his family with L.O.S. still at large but he tells Reese where the shipment is going down. He then shoots Reese. We get another flashback to 2008 where Reese’s partner basically tells him he can’t see his ex and that no one would really understand what he’s done or who he’s become. They leave before Jessica’s new hubby can introduce them. I mean it’s got to be hard on Reese. He loved Jessica but he kind of is stuck in the CIA still.
Things aren’t going much better in 2012 either. Reese gets locked in the trunk of a car and set on fire. Luckily Cahill left him a knife to get free and Carter’s waiting on the outside to give him a lift. They have to race against time to save both Cahill and Lionel. The meet is about to go to hell when Carter and Reese show up guns literally a blazing and take pretty much everybody down. L.O.S. is CIA and Reese knows charges won’t stick. But Cahill wants to arrest him anyway. Reese shows up just in time to Lionel’s life but things aren’t going to be any fun for Lionel for a while. He has to go back to being dirty to be useful to Reese. Agent Snow bails L.O.S. out and then has him taken out in a car while Reese keeps an eye on Cahill to make sure nothing happens to him or his family.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Person of Interest - "Wolf and Cub"
Person of Interest 1.14: “Wolf and Cub”
“In other words, the idea of letting a fourteen-year-old hire you to avenge his brother has backfired?”
- Finch
Since the New Year, we’ve gotten more things from the Machine’s perspective and this week is no different. It is filtering through 911 calls when it picks up on this week’s person of interest. His name is Darren McGrady and he’s 14. Reese gets his number after sweeping the library and finding no one in it. Finch is going to be spending most of the episode rebuilding his systems. Reese heads out to Darren’s last known address to find out his older brother Travis had been shot in a home invasion about a week earlier. Reese gets the file from Carter and he’s going to try to hunt down Darren while she follows up with the cop who is investigating the case. Turns out Travis defended a co-worker when three guys started harassing her and they probably followed Travis home. Darren showed up right after it happened and said one of the guys stole his brother’s work hat.
Reese manages to get a little information out of the waitress that Travis stood up for and finds one of the guys leaving a comic book shop a few blocks away. He follows the guy only to find Darren with a gun. Carter pulls up before things can get too hairy and arrests Brick (the guy who stole Travis’s hat). She arrests Brick but Reese makes off with Darren and Carter’s car before she can do much else. It was rather funny. Even funnier is when Reese drops Darren off at a youth shelter with Lionel and calls Lionel his friend. He really struggled with that one. He’s going to return Carter’s car so he needs Lionel to watch Darren until he gets back. Over at the precinct, Carter is talking with Brick in interrogation. He’s not too worried as he spouts back stuff about police procedure and the length of time it takes for DNA results to get back. So Carter just leaves him there. Meanwhile, Reese has found Brick’s compatriots and snaps a few photos. They’ve got expensive cars and cash in envelopes. They aren’t just your common street thugs.
Finch tells Reese he can’t run the plates for a few hours as he had to make a hardware run. In truth, he’s meeting Will. Will says he’s nearly done sorting through his dad’s things but found something that’s odd. A champagne cork and a napkin with a reference to the Machine and a date. He managed to track down the government liaison (Alicia) but it wasn’t easy. She moved the only place in the country with no cell phones or wireless internet. I guess she got spooked after the demonstration of what the Machine could pull together from disparate bits of information. Anyway, Finch and Will head out for lunch and Lionel is dutifully photographing them when he gets a call. Darren’s run off from the group home. He calls Reese with the information and Reese is obviously not thrilled. He’s got a book of Darren’s drawings and figures out where Darren went. He saves the kid from a beat down in a bar and ends up letting Darren hire him for a quarter (and a promise of no killing). This isn’t going to be good.
Now that Reese is working for Darren, they’re trying to figure out how to hurt the guys that killed Travis. Darren isn’t too keen on waiting around but Reese makes quick work of things. He observes the two remaining thugs on the street shaking down business owners for the money they make selling lotto tickets and then steals their car to shake them up. He gets Finch to track the GPS on their phones and they overhear that they need to get a ride to Andre’s for a big money run that night. They follow the guys back to the comic book store where it turns out the guy who owns the shop is actually Andre. Of course they had to make the seemingly nice guy who is trying to show kids right from wrong into a jerk and a thief. Carter is trying to hold Brick as long as she can but her Captain tells her to cut him loose if he isn’t arraigned by 5pm.
Reese’s plan continues to get increasingly violent even without killing people. He slams the stolen car into the beat up one the thugs are driving (with $500,000 of Andre’s money in it) and leaves one of the guys in the back of s quad car at the precinct surrounded by bottles and naked. He’s got the other guy tied up with the money and goes all kinds of crazy ass creepy with a blow torch. Carter calls him to rip him a new one about ramming the car even though he says Darren wasn’t there. She tells him that she still has Brick even though her Captain thinks she cut him loose already. Reese is pretty damn convincing by burning piles of cash to get his captive to spill about the murder.
Meanwhile, Finch follows Will to his meeting with Alicia. Luckily she doesn’t share anything about the Machine. She convinces Will that the stuff about the Machine and the contract for $1 were about patents held by his dad’s company. Finch is clearly relieved that she kept the secret. I really do have to wonder what happened to Nathan. Will brings up Finch (as Harold) and Alicia kind of bolts. There’s definitely something going on there. That night, Andre meets with the corrupt Captain to try and sort things out about his missing money and couriers. Carter’s superior gets a reprimand for not actually cutting Brick loose. Reese and Darren are on the roof of one of the couriers’ grandma’s building. They find the gun and Reese realizes that Darren wants to go after everyone who is corrupt and linked to Andre and the thugs. And of course, Darren slips away while Reese is on the phone with Carter.
Things get dicey when Carter, Lionel and Reese all show up at the comic book store after Darren. He’s got the gun used in his brother’s murder and he’s looking for some revenge. But he can’t do it. Reese busts in with night vision goggles (he had Finch bring his “Plan B” bag and had Finch cut the power to the building) and shoots some of the guys with beanbag rounds. Carter tries to take Andre out while he’s using Darren as a shield but Darren manages to get away and Lionel takes a bullet in the butt to save the kid. Reese of course hits Andre with like four rounds in rapid succession. Guess he had a point to make.
Finch sees Will off. It appears he’s satisfied with what he’s discovered about his father and he’s going off to explore the world a bit. I guess that’s a good way to wrap up that bit of storyline, even if I would like more backstory on Finch and what he and Nathan were doing that led to Nathan’s death. Reese ends up meeting with Lionel later on and learns that Finch has lots of aliases and the one that goes back the farthest was Harold Wren at MIT in the late 70s. But even that is clearly an alias as he didn’t exist before the late 1970s. Maybe he was in WITSEC? Anyway, it seems that storyline is concluded for now as well. And Darren seems fairly happy with the foster care placement. Plus he’s got a trumpet and a scholarship to the music school his brother wanted him to attend. So things turned out okay.
“In other words, the idea of letting a fourteen-year-old hire you to avenge his brother has backfired?”
- Finch
Since the New Year, we’ve gotten more things from the Machine’s perspective and this week is no different. It is filtering through 911 calls when it picks up on this week’s person of interest. His name is Darren McGrady and he’s 14. Reese gets his number after sweeping the library and finding no one in it. Finch is going to be spending most of the episode rebuilding his systems. Reese heads out to Darren’s last known address to find out his older brother Travis had been shot in a home invasion about a week earlier. Reese gets the file from Carter and he’s going to try to hunt down Darren while she follows up with the cop who is investigating the case. Turns out Travis defended a co-worker when three guys started harassing her and they probably followed Travis home. Darren showed up right after it happened and said one of the guys stole his brother’s work hat.
Reese manages to get a little information out of the waitress that Travis stood up for and finds one of the guys leaving a comic book shop a few blocks away. He follows the guy only to find Darren with a gun. Carter pulls up before things can get too hairy and arrests Brick (the guy who stole Travis’s hat). She arrests Brick but Reese makes off with Darren and Carter’s car before she can do much else. It was rather funny. Even funnier is when Reese drops Darren off at a youth shelter with Lionel and calls Lionel his friend. He really struggled with that one. He’s going to return Carter’s car so he needs Lionel to watch Darren until he gets back. Over at the precinct, Carter is talking with Brick in interrogation. He’s not too worried as he spouts back stuff about police procedure and the length of time it takes for DNA results to get back. So Carter just leaves him there. Meanwhile, Reese has found Brick’s compatriots and snaps a few photos. They’ve got expensive cars and cash in envelopes. They aren’t just your common street thugs.
Finch tells Reese he can’t run the plates for a few hours as he had to make a hardware run. In truth, he’s meeting Will. Will says he’s nearly done sorting through his dad’s things but found something that’s odd. A champagne cork and a napkin with a reference to the Machine and a date. He managed to track down the government liaison (Alicia) but it wasn’t easy. She moved the only place in the country with no cell phones or wireless internet. I guess she got spooked after the demonstration of what the Machine could pull together from disparate bits of information. Anyway, Finch and Will head out for lunch and Lionel is dutifully photographing them when he gets a call. Darren’s run off from the group home. He calls Reese with the information and Reese is obviously not thrilled. He’s got a book of Darren’s drawings and figures out where Darren went. He saves the kid from a beat down in a bar and ends up letting Darren hire him for a quarter (and a promise of no killing). This isn’t going to be good.
Now that Reese is working for Darren, they’re trying to figure out how to hurt the guys that killed Travis. Darren isn’t too keen on waiting around but Reese makes quick work of things. He observes the two remaining thugs on the street shaking down business owners for the money they make selling lotto tickets and then steals their car to shake them up. He gets Finch to track the GPS on their phones and they overhear that they need to get a ride to Andre’s for a big money run that night. They follow the guys back to the comic book store where it turns out the guy who owns the shop is actually Andre. Of course they had to make the seemingly nice guy who is trying to show kids right from wrong into a jerk and a thief. Carter is trying to hold Brick as long as she can but her Captain tells her to cut him loose if he isn’t arraigned by 5pm.
Reese’s plan continues to get increasingly violent even without killing people. He slams the stolen car into the beat up one the thugs are driving (with $500,000 of Andre’s money in it) and leaves one of the guys in the back of s quad car at the precinct surrounded by bottles and naked. He’s got the other guy tied up with the money and goes all kinds of crazy ass creepy with a blow torch. Carter calls him to rip him a new one about ramming the car even though he says Darren wasn’t there. She tells him that she still has Brick even though her Captain thinks she cut him loose already. Reese is pretty damn convincing by burning piles of cash to get his captive to spill about the murder.
Meanwhile, Finch follows Will to his meeting with Alicia. Luckily she doesn’t share anything about the Machine. She convinces Will that the stuff about the Machine and the contract for $1 were about patents held by his dad’s company. Finch is clearly relieved that she kept the secret. I really do have to wonder what happened to Nathan. Will brings up Finch (as Harold) and Alicia kind of bolts. There’s definitely something going on there. That night, Andre meets with the corrupt Captain to try and sort things out about his missing money and couriers. Carter’s superior gets a reprimand for not actually cutting Brick loose. Reese and Darren are on the roof of one of the couriers’ grandma’s building. They find the gun and Reese realizes that Darren wants to go after everyone who is corrupt and linked to Andre and the thugs. And of course, Darren slips away while Reese is on the phone with Carter.
Things get dicey when Carter, Lionel and Reese all show up at the comic book store after Darren. He’s got the gun used in his brother’s murder and he’s looking for some revenge. But he can’t do it. Reese busts in with night vision goggles (he had Finch bring his “Plan B” bag and had Finch cut the power to the building) and shoots some of the guys with beanbag rounds. Carter tries to take Andre out while he’s using Darren as a shield but Darren manages to get away and Lionel takes a bullet in the butt to save the kid. Reese of course hits Andre with like four rounds in rapid succession. Guess he had a point to make.
Finch sees Will off. It appears he’s satisfied with what he’s discovered about his father and he’s going off to explore the world a bit. I guess that’s a good way to wrap up that bit of storyline, even if I would like more backstory on Finch and what he and Nathan were doing that led to Nathan’s death. Reese ends up meeting with Lionel later on and learns that Finch has lots of aliases and the one that goes back the farthest was Harold Wren at MIT in the late 70s. But even that is clearly an alias as he didn’t exist before the late 1970s. Maybe he was in WITSEC? Anyway, it seems that storyline is concluded for now as well. And Darren seems fairly happy with the foster care placement. Plus he’s got a trumpet and a scholarship to the music school his brother wanted him to attend. So things turned out okay.
Body of Proof - "Cold Blooded"
Body of Proof 2.14: “Cold Blooded”
“We can do this any way you want or not at all. But I just wanted to give you this.”
- James Cranston
This week we find ourselves in a restaurant before opening with a young woman just getting in on her shift. She shocks herself on a live wire in the kitchen and when she looks up and into the big walk-in freezer, she sees a dead body. Megan shows up to the scene to find out the dead body is a guy named Joe and he owned the restaurant. She and Peter head in to the scene and Megan tells Peter to take lots of photos because once they get the body out of the cold it will decompose quickly. There are obvious signs of blunt force trauma to the head and he was alive when he was put in the freezer because he was curled in the fetal position. Megan accompanies the body back to the lab where they’ve got the autopsy room at a balmy 38 degrees. They’ll need to let the body thaw out over the next 48 hours but they can still do some x-rays. Back at the scene, Bud’s found an industrial sized meat tenderizer but it’s been through the dish washer. Peter (at Bud’s prompting) checks for blood outside the freezer and they find footprints leading out of the restaurant and up a set of stairs to an apartment where they find a man, Henry, (Robert Picardo, aka The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager) hurriedly trying to scrub blood off his shoes.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Henry is going to be an easy conviction. Megan thinks he has early stage Alzheimer’s and that even if he was guilty, he likely wouldn’t remember the crime at all. Ethan matches the meat tenderizer from the restaurant to the head wound on Joe and makes a little snarky comment to Peter about Dani (he really needs to move on and grow up) but then notices something actually pertinent to the case. A single blood drop on Joe’s pants and it might be from the killer. Speaking of Dani, she catches Peter as he’s leaving the office to go meet Henry’s son and daughter-in-law at the police station. She spots the letter from the adoption hunting agency from earlier this season and we find out that Peter’s biological father lives only a couple miles away. Dani urges him to call but he says he’s not ready yet. Megan meets with Joe’s wife briefly to find out that Joe had taken on more of the financial aspects of the business since Henry’s diagnosis but that he let Henry stay on to keep Henry happy.
Henry’s son isn’t too pleased that his father is being accused of murder. His wife shares with Peter that he’s still looking for his father but his father’s long gone. She also shares that she saw Henry throw a chair at his son. It looks like the daughter-in-law’s comment is enough to push Peter to call his biological father. Unfortunately we cut away to the next day at the lab when Curtis tracks Megan down with the blood drop results. It belongs to an African American female and I’m guessing Megan is going to look at the worker who found Joe as she fits the description. Bud and Peter head over to talk to Delia but she says she cut her finger Sunday night and Joe patched her up. She also tells them that Henry’s son didn’t want to come back to the restaurant. During the conversation, Bud gets a call with information about the print near the live wire. It belonged to a young woman (who I swear is Rachel from Alphas) and so he goes to meet with her. She tried to buy out the restaurant to turn it into a franchise but Joe turned her down.
Back at the lab, Megan and Kate are continuing the autopsy and things are getting confusing. Given the frostbite and fetal position they thought cause of death was hypothermia but they also find signs that he may have died of asphyxiation. Time to head back to the crime scene and she drags Ethan and Curtis along for the ride. They figure out that Joe was sitting up for a while based on the blood pooling around his waist and the only way for that to happen while he was unconscious is if the killer held him up. They think the killer dragged Joe into the freezer and stayed there because Henry showed up and he was waiting for Henry to leave.
Meanwhile, Peter meets his birth father, James Cranston. He starts to tell Peter about his mother (Katie) who died the day after Peter was born but it’s clear Peter isn’t ready for all the connection. I feel for Peter. I really do. He’s been struggling with this for a long time. At least James seems like a nice guy. Megan and Bud talk to Henry again and he gets frustrated by the fact he can’t remember (though he does say he saw his dead wife running from the scene). Ethan lets Megan know that the trace Kate found on Joe’s hand earlier is toner and it matches ink from a franchise spec found in the dumpster. So back to the franchise lady. She says she never gave the specs to Joe. But she did give them to Henry’s son because he thought he could convince his uncle to buy in. So now we get to visit Anthony again. He denies killing his uncle and says he never went to the restaurant that night. Before Bud can get much farther, Anthony says the magic words (“I want a lawyer”).
Megan and Ethan are doing the autopsy now that Joe has thawed out and Megan finds a piece of what looks like sausage covered in bacteria in Joe’s lung. They deduce he was eating when struck over the head and the killer covered Joe’s mouth to keep him quiet so he wouldn’t draw Henry’s attention. Ethan sends the food to the lab to hopefully identify the bacteria. They may be closer to their killer. Megan drops off the report about the bacteria with Kate and says she wants to test Henry because he might not have Alzheimer’s. Kate isn’t thrilled with the idea, especially since Anthony is their prime suspect. And Kate is not wrong. Joe’s wife refuses to give Megan consent to send Henry for an MRI. And later that day, Kate storms in to tell Megan that Henry overdosed on his meds trying to remember who killed Joe.
Megan shows up at the hospital and as she’s looking at Henry to figure out what happened to him, his ER doctor shows up with the results of the CT scan. Henry doesn’t have Alzheimer’s. He has a condition where excess spinal fluid builds up and it is treatable. Meanwhile, Peter shows Dani the photo of his mother and Ethan interrupts a little make out sessions with good news. He identified the bacteria and it was found most often in compost. Turns out it was Anthony’s wife Karen who killed Joe. She wanted him to sell the restaurant so they could all have their own lives. She didn’t know that he wasn’t dead when she left him in the freezer. Joe’s wife finally gets some closure and so does the rest of the family. The draining of the excess fluid was enough to return Henry to normal. And it looks like Peter isn’t going to give up on trying to connect with his birth father.
“We can do this any way you want or not at all. But I just wanted to give you this.”
- James Cranston
This week we find ourselves in a restaurant before opening with a young woman just getting in on her shift. She shocks herself on a live wire in the kitchen and when she looks up and into the big walk-in freezer, she sees a dead body. Megan shows up to the scene to find out the dead body is a guy named Joe and he owned the restaurant. She and Peter head in to the scene and Megan tells Peter to take lots of photos because once they get the body out of the cold it will decompose quickly. There are obvious signs of blunt force trauma to the head and he was alive when he was put in the freezer because he was curled in the fetal position. Megan accompanies the body back to the lab where they’ve got the autopsy room at a balmy 38 degrees. They’ll need to let the body thaw out over the next 48 hours but they can still do some x-rays. Back at the scene, Bud’s found an industrial sized meat tenderizer but it’s been through the dish washer. Peter (at Bud’s prompting) checks for blood outside the freezer and they find footprints leading out of the restaurant and up a set of stairs to an apartment where they find a man, Henry, (Robert Picardo, aka The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager) hurriedly trying to scrub blood off his shoes.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Henry is going to be an easy conviction. Megan thinks he has early stage Alzheimer’s and that even if he was guilty, he likely wouldn’t remember the crime at all. Ethan matches the meat tenderizer from the restaurant to the head wound on Joe and makes a little snarky comment to Peter about Dani (he really needs to move on and grow up) but then notices something actually pertinent to the case. A single blood drop on Joe’s pants and it might be from the killer. Speaking of Dani, she catches Peter as he’s leaving the office to go meet Henry’s son and daughter-in-law at the police station. She spots the letter from the adoption hunting agency from earlier this season and we find out that Peter’s biological father lives only a couple miles away. Dani urges him to call but he says he’s not ready yet. Megan meets with Joe’s wife briefly to find out that Joe had taken on more of the financial aspects of the business since Henry’s diagnosis but that he let Henry stay on to keep Henry happy.
Henry’s son isn’t too pleased that his father is being accused of murder. His wife shares with Peter that he’s still looking for his father but his father’s long gone. She also shares that she saw Henry throw a chair at his son. It looks like the daughter-in-law’s comment is enough to push Peter to call his biological father. Unfortunately we cut away to the next day at the lab when Curtis tracks Megan down with the blood drop results. It belongs to an African American female and I’m guessing Megan is going to look at the worker who found Joe as she fits the description. Bud and Peter head over to talk to Delia but she says she cut her finger Sunday night and Joe patched her up. She also tells them that Henry’s son didn’t want to come back to the restaurant. During the conversation, Bud gets a call with information about the print near the live wire. It belonged to a young woman (who I swear is Rachel from Alphas) and so he goes to meet with her. She tried to buy out the restaurant to turn it into a franchise but Joe turned her down.
Back at the lab, Megan and Kate are continuing the autopsy and things are getting confusing. Given the frostbite and fetal position they thought cause of death was hypothermia but they also find signs that he may have died of asphyxiation. Time to head back to the crime scene and she drags Ethan and Curtis along for the ride. They figure out that Joe was sitting up for a while based on the blood pooling around his waist and the only way for that to happen while he was unconscious is if the killer held him up. They think the killer dragged Joe into the freezer and stayed there because Henry showed up and he was waiting for Henry to leave.
Meanwhile, Peter meets his birth father, James Cranston. He starts to tell Peter about his mother (Katie) who died the day after Peter was born but it’s clear Peter isn’t ready for all the connection. I feel for Peter. I really do. He’s been struggling with this for a long time. At least James seems like a nice guy. Megan and Bud talk to Henry again and he gets frustrated by the fact he can’t remember (though he does say he saw his dead wife running from the scene). Ethan lets Megan know that the trace Kate found on Joe’s hand earlier is toner and it matches ink from a franchise spec found in the dumpster. So back to the franchise lady. She says she never gave the specs to Joe. But she did give them to Henry’s son because he thought he could convince his uncle to buy in. So now we get to visit Anthony again. He denies killing his uncle and says he never went to the restaurant that night. Before Bud can get much farther, Anthony says the magic words (“I want a lawyer”).
Megan and Ethan are doing the autopsy now that Joe has thawed out and Megan finds a piece of what looks like sausage covered in bacteria in Joe’s lung. They deduce he was eating when struck over the head and the killer covered Joe’s mouth to keep him quiet so he wouldn’t draw Henry’s attention. Ethan sends the food to the lab to hopefully identify the bacteria. They may be closer to their killer. Megan drops off the report about the bacteria with Kate and says she wants to test Henry because he might not have Alzheimer’s. Kate isn’t thrilled with the idea, especially since Anthony is their prime suspect. And Kate is not wrong. Joe’s wife refuses to give Megan consent to send Henry for an MRI. And later that day, Kate storms in to tell Megan that Henry overdosed on his meds trying to remember who killed Joe.
Megan shows up at the hospital and as she’s looking at Henry to figure out what happened to him, his ER doctor shows up with the results of the CT scan. Henry doesn’t have Alzheimer’s. He has a condition where excess spinal fluid builds up and it is treatable. Meanwhile, Peter shows Dani the photo of his mother and Ethan interrupts a little make out sessions with good news. He identified the bacteria and it was found most often in compost. Turns out it was Anthony’s wife Karen who killed Joe. She wanted him to sell the restaurant so they could all have their own lives. She didn’t know that he wasn’t dead when she left him in the freezer. Joe’s wife finally gets some closure and so does the rest of the family. The draining of the excess fluid was enough to return Henry to normal. And it looks like Peter isn’t going to give up on trying to connect with his birth father.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Person of Interest - "Root Cause"
Person of Interest 1.13: “Root Cause”
“There are no bathrooms on a stakeout, Finch.”
- Reese
This week we begin with the Machine going a bit crazy picking up chatter on a traitor. Next we find Finch getting to HQ and pouring himself a cup of morning tea before calling Reese. In quite a comedic scene we find Reese still dealing with a different number (aka Reese is kicking the crap out of the guy while Finch stands making hilarious eye twitches at the sounds). Of course, there’s a new number; Scott Powell. Husband and father of two, he looks pretty normal and he works in construction. Reese follows him to a park where he makes calls for want ads. Apparently Scott’s been out of work for eight months and has been selling stuff at pawn shops to get money to make it look like he’s been working. Reese tells Finch he needs Carter to do a background check on Scott while he continues to tail him. Lionel is still tailing Finch (though he doesn’t know it). And since Finch needs access to Scott’s home computer, he’s joining Reese on the stakeout. This is going to be good.
On the stakeout we learn a little something about Pringle cans. They’re aluminum and the perfect dimension to pick up Wi-Fi radio signals. Yay for MacGyver-ing stuff. They find a big encrypted file as well as Scott’s blog on politics. They also hear him get a call for a 2-day staff position at an event which turns out to be for a Congressman (same one who pushed for the budget cutbacks that put Scott out of work). Finch decrypted the file to find an anonymous email account sending death threats to the Congressman. Carter also finds out he applied for a firearms license for a rifle. Looks like he’s going to assassinate the Congressman. Reese and Finch manage to get into the event (though Reese has to toss his gun in the trash to get through security) but things start going wonky. Finch’s system alerts him to discrepancies in the death threat emails and Reese tackles Scott to find he has a confetti canon only to see another man shoot the Congressman. Reese chases after the shooter but loses him and Scott gets arrested. Someone has set him up.
Reese calls Carter to see what’s going on with Scott and she tells him the Feds have swooped in and are taking him into interrogation. She manages to slip in to watch (with her phone still on the call) and they hear the Scott denies owning a rifle or shooting the Congressman. Whoever set him up did really well (they weren’t even on the surveillance cameras. Unfortunately, everyone in the room gets a text from the hospital saying the Congressman died. Scott’s facing a murder I charge. The Feds let Scott call his wife and he tells her to cooperatie and to take the kids away from the house for a while. Poor guy. I really do feel bad for him, especially knowing that he hasn’t been completely straight with his wife about the job situation.
Finch thinks he’s gotten into the hacker’s system and finds blueprints of the federal courthouse. Whoever set Scott up is going to more than likely take him out there and so Reese heads off to do a little rescuing. Yes, he actually kidnaps a guy in federal custody from the FBI. Just as Reese lets Finch know of the success, Finch realizes they’ve been played. The hacker let them in and is now monitoring all of their communication. Time to go off the grid.
Finch picks up a burn phone and leaves a message at the hotel Reese is heading to with the new number. Finch is now holed up at the public library where he’s meeting a specialist. Zoe Morgan (the POI from “The Fix”) is back to help our boys out of this jam. While Finch is explaining the situation to Zoe, the Feds are talking to Scott’s wife and they dish out the cold truth about his unemployment and maxed out credit cards. Back in the hotel room, Scott is watching news footage of reporters trying to hound his wife. He doesn’t understand why someone would set him up but Reese doesn’t have much time to explain or console. They’ve got company in the form of a hit man. Reese takes him out long enough for them to get away but the guy is by no means out of the game. Zoe works her magic on Mr. Matheson (the dead Congressman’s business partner and campaign manager). She tells him she knows about how he’s been cutting corners and paying off inspectors and that he is going to lay all the blame on the Congressman. Right after Zoe leaves, Matheson calls his hacker and she threatens to expose him of he doesn’t do what she wants. She then gets in contact with the hit man to send him after Reese and Scott in the subway.
Reese is trying to give Scott a pep talk on the train after realizing the hit man probably planted a tracker on Scott earlier that day at his house but Scott is pretty dejected. He wants to talk to his wife to explain he didn’t do it. Reese agrees and calls Carter to set it up. He tells his wife he’s going to fix the situation but Reese cuts the call short when he spots the hit man. The hit man follows who he thinks is Scott into the men’s room only to be beaten down by Reese. Scott’s made it to the precinct to turn himself in. Reese gets into a cab where Finch is waiting and the hit man’s phone rings. The hacker is calling to see if the job’s done. Finch answers that it’s not quite done but will be soon and sends Carter the recorded conversation between Matheson and the hacker. Cops show up at Matheson’s house to find him dead with a suicide note on his computer.
Scott has obviously been released and he’s home with his wife. They’re being hounded by reporters and both Zoe and Reese are watching. I was a little disappointed they only had one scene together and it was the very end. But there’s still a hint she could come back again. She wants a drink with him as compensation for her work. Finch is back at the library and he gets an incoming IRC chat from the hacker. I’ll be honest, at first I thought it might be Zoe but all the timing of when the hacker showed up didn’t fit. But now, it looks like Finch has got himself a new foil and foe. This is going to be very interesting.
“There are no bathrooms on a stakeout, Finch.”
- Reese
This week we begin with the Machine going a bit crazy picking up chatter on a traitor. Next we find Finch getting to HQ and pouring himself a cup of morning tea before calling Reese. In quite a comedic scene we find Reese still dealing with a different number (aka Reese is kicking the crap out of the guy while Finch stands making hilarious eye twitches at the sounds). Of course, there’s a new number; Scott Powell. Husband and father of two, he looks pretty normal and he works in construction. Reese follows him to a park where he makes calls for want ads. Apparently Scott’s been out of work for eight months and has been selling stuff at pawn shops to get money to make it look like he’s been working. Reese tells Finch he needs Carter to do a background check on Scott while he continues to tail him. Lionel is still tailing Finch (though he doesn’t know it). And since Finch needs access to Scott’s home computer, he’s joining Reese on the stakeout. This is going to be good.
On the stakeout we learn a little something about Pringle cans. They’re aluminum and the perfect dimension to pick up Wi-Fi radio signals. Yay for MacGyver-ing stuff. They find a big encrypted file as well as Scott’s blog on politics. They also hear him get a call for a 2-day staff position at an event which turns out to be for a Congressman (same one who pushed for the budget cutbacks that put Scott out of work). Finch decrypted the file to find an anonymous email account sending death threats to the Congressman. Carter also finds out he applied for a firearms license for a rifle. Looks like he’s going to assassinate the Congressman. Reese and Finch manage to get into the event (though Reese has to toss his gun in the trash to get through security) but things start going wonky. Finch’s system alerts him to discrepancies in the death threat emails and Reese tackles Scott to find he has a confetti canon only to see another man shoot the Congressman. Reese chases after the shooter but loses him and Scott gets arrested. Someone has set him up.
Reese calls Carter to see what’s going on with Scott and she tells him the Feds have swooped in and are taking him into interrogation. She manages to slip in to watch (with her phone still on the call) and they hear the Scott denies owning a rifle or shooting the Congressman. Whoever set him up did really well (they weren’t even on the surveillance cameras. Unfortunately, everyone in the room gets a text from the hospital saying the Congressman died. Scott’s facing a murder I charge. The Feds let Scott call his wife and he tells her to cooperatie and to take the kids away from the house for a while. Poor guy. I really do feel bad for him, especially knowing that he hasn’t been completely straight with his wife about the job situation.
Finch thinks he’s gotten into the hacker’s system and finds blueprints of the federal courthouse. Whoever set Scott up is going to more than likely take him out there and so Reese heads off to do a little rescuing. Yes, he actually kidnaps a guy in federal custody from the FBI. Just as Reese lets Finch know of the success, Finch realizes they’ve been played. The hacker let them in and is now monitoring all of their communication. Time to go off the grid.
Finch picks up a burn phone and leaves a message at the hotel Reese is heading to with the new number. Finch is now holed up at the public library where he’s meeting a specialist. Zoe Morgan (the POI from “The Fix”) is back to help our boys out of this jam. While Finch is explaining the situation to Zoe, the Feds are talking to Scott’s wife and they dish out the cold truth about his unemployment and maxed out credit cards. Back in the hotel room, Scott is watching news footage of reporters trying to hound his wife. He doesn’t understand why someone would set him up but Reese doesn’t have much time to explain or console. They’ve got company in the form of a hit man. Reese takes him out long enough for them to get away but the guy is by no means out of the game. Zoe works her magic on Mr. Matheson (the dead Congressman’s business partner and campaign manager). She tells him she knows about how he’s been cutting corners and paying off inspectors and that he is going to lay all the blame on the Congressman. Right after Zoe leaves, Matheson calls his hacker and she threatens to expose him of he doesn’t do what she wants. She then gets in contact with the hit man to send him after Reese and Scott in the subway.
Reese is trying to give Scott a pep talk on the train after realizing the hit man probably planted a tracker on Scott earlier that day at his house but Scott is pretty dejected. He wants to talk to his wife to explain he didn’t do it. Reese agrees and calls Carter to set it up. He tells his wife he’s going to fix the situation but Reese cuts the call short when he spots the hit man. The hit man follows who he thinks is Scott into the men’s room only to be beaten down by Reese. Scott’s made it to the precinct to turn himself in. Reese gets into a cab where Finch is waiting and the hit man’s phone rings. The hacker is calling to see if the job’s done. Finch answers that it’s not quite done but will be soon and sends Carter the recorded conversation between Matheson and the hacker. Cops show up at Matheson’s house to find him dead with a suicide note on his computer.
Scott has obviously been released and he’s home with his wife. They’re being hounded by reporters and both Zoe and Reese are watching. I was a little disappointed they only had one scene together and it was the very end. But there’s still a hint she could come back again. She wants a drink with him as compensation for her work. Finch is back at the library and he gets an incoming IRC chat from the hacker. I’ll be honest, at first I thought it might be Zoe but all the timing of when the hacker showed up didn’t fit. But now, it looks like Finch has got himself a new foil and foe. This is going to be very interesting.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Pilot Season and a Look Back at 2011's New Shows
So it's been a while since I posted something other than an episode recap. I also know I'm a little behind on the latest Person of Interest. No worries it will go up tomorrow as soon as I write it. I wanted to spend a little time chatting about the prospects for the 2012-2013 season as well as some of the shows I've really enjoyed (and some not so much) from the 2011-2012 season.
2012 Pilot Prospects
Revolution (NBC) - This is the only show on the docket that has any potential interest for me. First of all, it's a JJ Abrams production and I am becoming a fan of his work. He does genre well and makes it interesting, even if he is in love big mythology-based stuff that you have to wait seasons to get the answers (and in some cases you don't ever know) but the basic premise sounds intriguing at least. It supposedly follows a group of characters as they struggle to survive and reconnect with loved ones in a future were all forms of energy no longer exist. It could be awful, too. Who knows. But of all the cheesy stuff other networks are touting and the reboots (yes I'm looking at you Bryan Fuller), I will not be changing my weekly viewing schedule too much.
2011-2012 New Shows
New Girl - I have really enjoyed Zooey's new show. I am not normally a sit-com person but I enjoyed Zooey when she was on Bones back in season 5 and I've seen a few movies she's been in. Plus how can you not like Max Greenfield (Deputy Leo for those of you Veronica Mars junkies). I'm pretty confident this show is going to see a second season. it's quirky enough and has held up decently against the competition that I think Fox would be kind of stupid not to bring it along for a sophomore run.
Ringer - I was psyched to see SMG back on the small screen even though I never watched Buffy when it actually aired (I know...I came to the Whedon party a little late). It is a soapy bit of fun but I have to say the mysteries are enough to keep me coming back for more. And the eye candy that is Ioan Gruffudds is not a bad thing eiither. I'm not entirely positive about the longevity of the show but I think the writers could eek out at least a second season. Given the fact that CW doesn't really cancel too many shows, I'm hopeful we'll get a sophomore run out of this show too. Besides, with things ramping up int he back half right now, next season has to be just as intense.
Person of Interest - I am so happy this show got made. Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson make an awesome team and the show is full of mystery and procedural fun stuff, too. That shouldn't really surprise anyone since it is another Abrams production. Though I'm not sure if he's really involved int he writing. Still, it's taken CSI's old slot on Thursday nights and kicked some serious butt. consistently pulling in over 10 million viewers per episode. I need a new procedural really in the line up as much as I love the staples like NCIS and CSI. We need something strong when the solid performers finally go off the air (though with both CSI and SVU revitalized by new casting, it may be a while). But yeah, this will definitely be returning to the airwaves next fall.
Grimm - I have to say I was hoping to like Grimm more than I do. The procedural element should have been enough to keep my interest but it really hasn't been. I'm not sure if it's just the way they incorporate the fantasy element or the fact that aside from Monroe, the characters are rather dull but something just doesn't work for me. It might get renewed. For Friday night, it has decent ratings. But even if it is back next year, I doubt I'll be watching. I'm trying to give it the full season to finish out its freshman run but I have to say I'm not too bothered if I miss it or have to watch it several days after initial airing.
A Gifted Man - I'm not normally a fan of medical shows (the last medical pilot I watched crashed and burned quite painfully. But hey at least we got Hawaii Five-O and Alex O'Loughlin kicking ass out of it). But I like this show. Unfortunately I don't think CBS likes it enough to renew it. Hell, it only gave the show an additional 4 episodes to bring it's freshman run to 16 episodes and they'll be done by the end of March. I think I like this show because the charaqcters are decently drawn and there is that paranormal element.
Once Upon a Time - Talk about fairy tales for grown ups. While not associated with Abrams' production company, it has LOST writers and it shows. They know how to craft the mythology and blend two worlds (granted it's not flash forwards and backwards and sideways but it works). The acting is great, the story is unfolding piece by piece and I just can't wait for the next episodes. It is seriously good TV and ABC would be foolish not to renew it.
Alcatraz - Yet another JJ Abrams production. Honestly, if it manages to make it to season 2 (It might. This, along with Ringer is probably one of the bubbles), Abrams will have 3 shows on 3 networks in the fall. Crazy! I like the sort of "character of the week" format of the episode and the creepy mystery. I think using such an iconic place as Alcatraz to set this show was superb craft on the writers' part. I think Fox could hang on this show since it is doing pretty well on Monday nights. I also think it could stand a chance at renewal since things aren't looking good for a lot fo the network's other pilots.
Awake - This hasn't aired yet, though it's coming. I was really looking forward to this at mid-season when it was supposed to premiere but because of some behind-the-scenes issues, ti stalled production after only 4 episodes. I'm assuming they've sorted it out enough to give us 13 episodes for a freshman run. The premise really drew me to the show and I am hoping it doesn't disappoint. It has the potential to be awesome.
2012 Pilot Prospects
Revolution (NBC) - This is the only show on the docket that has any potential interest for me. First of all, it's a JJ Abrams production and I am becoming a fan of his work. He does genre well and makes it interesting, even if he is in love big mythology-based stuff that you have to wait seasons to get the answers (and in some cases you don't ever know) but the basic premise sounds intriguing at least. It supposedly follows a group of characters as they struggle to survive and reconnect with loved ones in a future were all forms of energy no longer exist. It could be awful, too. Who knows. But of all the cheesy stuff other networks are touting and the reboots (yes I'm looking at you Bryan Fuller), I will not be changing my weekly viewing schedule too much.
2011-2012 New Shows
New Girl - I have really enjoyed Zooey's new show. I am not normally a sit-com person but I enjoyed Zooey when she was on Bones back in season 5 and I've seen a few movies she's been in. Plus how can you not like Max Greenfield (Deputy Leo for those of you Veronica Mars junkies). I'm pretty confident this show is going to see a second season. it's quirky enough and has held up decently against the competition that I think Fox would be kind of stupid not to bring it along for a sophomore run.
Ringer - I was psyched to see SMG back on the small screen even though I never watched Buffy when it actually aired (I know...I came to the Whedon party a little late). It is a soapy bit of fun but I have to say the mysteries are enough to keep me coming back for more. And the eye candy that is Ioan Gruffudds is not a bad thing eiither. I'm not entirely positive about the longevity of the show but I think the writers could eek out at least a second season. Given the fact that CW doesn't really cancel too many shows, I'm hopeful we'll get a sophomore run out of this show too. Besides, with things ramping up int he back half right now, next season has to be just as intense.
Person of Interest - I am so happy this show got made. Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson make an awesome team and the show is full of mystery and procedural fun stuff, too. That shouldn't really surprise anyone since it is another Abrams production. Though I'm not sure if he's really involved int he writing. Still, it's taken CSI's old slot on Thursday nights and kicked some serious butt. consistently pulling in over 10 million viewers per episode. I need a new procedural really in the line up as much as I love the staples like NCIS and CSI. We need something strong when the solid performers finally go off the air (though with both CSI and SVU revitalized by new casting, it may be a while). But yeah, this will definitely be returning to the airwaves next fall.
Grimm - I have to say I was hoping to like Grimm more than I do. The procedural element should have been enough to keep my interest but it really hasn't been. I'm not sure if it's just the way they incorporate the fantasy element or the fact that aside from Monroe, the characters are rather dull but something just doesn't work for me. It might get renewed. For Friday night, it has decent ratings. But even if it is back next year, I doubt I'll be watching. I'm trying to give it the full season to finish out its freshman run but I have to say I'm not too bothered if I miss it or have to watch it several days after initial airing.
A Gifted Man - I'm not normally a fan of medical shows (the last medical pilot I watched crashed and burned quite painfully. But hey at least we got Hawaii Five-O and Alex O'Loughlin kicking ass out of it). But I like this show. Unfortunately I don't think CBS likes it enough to renew it. Hell, it only gave the show an additional 4 episodes to bring it's freshman run to 16 episodes and they'll be done by the end of March. I think I like this show because the charaqcters are decently drawn and there is that paranormal element.
Once Upon a Time - Talk about fairy tales for grown ups. While not associated with Abrams' production company, it has LOST writers and it shows. They know how to craft the mythology and blend two worlds (granted it's not flash forwards and backwards and sideways but it works). The acting is great, the story is unfolding piece by piece and I just can't wait for the next episodes. It is seriously good TV and ABC would be foolish not to renew it.
Alcatraz - Yet another JJ Abrams production. Honestly, if it manages to make it to season 2 (It might. This, along with Ringer is probably one of the bubbles), Abrams will have 3 shows on 3 networks in the fall. Crazy! I like the sort of "character of the week" format of the episode and the creepy mystery. I think using such an iconic place as Alcatraz to set this show was superb craft on the writers' part. I think Fox could hang on this show since it is doing pretty well on Monday nights. I also think it could stand a chance at renewal since things aren't looking good for a lot fo the network's other pilots.
Awake - This hasn't aired yet, though it's coming. I was really looking forward to this at mid-season when it was supposed to premiere but because of some behind-the-scenes issues, ti stalled production after only 4 episodes. I'm assuming they've sorted it out enough to give us 13 episodes for a freshman run. The premise really drew me to the show and I am hoping it doesn't disappoint. It has the potential to be awesome.
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