CSI 12x08 Crime After Crime

For the entire week leading up to this episode, the title itself had Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” running through my head.

Now after watching the episode, the only thing running through my head is… “Why?”

The only crime (after crime, after crime) for this series is the writers continually taking loved recurring (or even main) characters and turning them into assholes. And not only that… but DEAD assholes. I’m still waiting for Lady Heather to return, so they can turn her into a killer. Oh wait… I forgot that she’s their main GSR plot-mover. Therefore, they can’t do that to her.

If they were going to kill a recurring detective – and make him an ass – why not Detective Cavaliere instead of Vega? I loved Vega. Cavaliere – not so much (or at all). I guess the bright spot is that they didn’t use Sofia as their bait this time… or Vartann...or my beloved Officer Akers (thankfully I know Larry will be in an upcoming episode).

So I repeat… Why did they need to do this to a loved character? Do they really believe that was considered suspense? Have they gotten to the point where the only “suspense” they can generate is to reveal that a familiar, friendly face went to the dark side?

For me, the biggest suspense with this show in its 11 + seasons has been if we’ll ever get to see a great TEAM moment again. They’ve been very few & very, very far between. I’m talking about moments like eating breakfast at the end of season 1, or the get-together just before Warrick was killed, or even the little team bonding diner scene where Nick ate the fly in his soup. I don’t think there’s even enough of those scenes to list one per season. That’s why they bring the most suspense…because they bring the most joy. And with this show, finding “joy” is like searching for Waldo.


As for this episode…

-- it was lovely to see Paul McCrane’s name as director again. He also directed last season’s “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead”. Now I just wish he’d be back in front of the camera, like he was in Season 10’s “world’s end”

-- Jimmy, the Assistant Coroner (or is that assistant to the assitant?) Considering this is officially James Aldridge’s 5th appearance on the show, (and the first time he’s been credited) it’s about time he finally gets a name…and even a line. And wait a minute – Jimmy, the assistant coroner? That is such an NCIS ripoff.

-- Michael Massee as Detective Stan Richardson. Oh, where do I start? He will, forever in my mind, be Jane’s personal boogeyman - the evil serial killer, Charles Hoyt - on Rizzoli & Isles. I’m almost sad that they killed him off on R&I…almost. He’s SO great at playing evil. I think he would have even made a much better Nate Haskell than Bill Irwin.

-- Cooper Huckabee (Rick Fetzer) was in Season 10’s “Appendicitement”. I thought that face looked familiar.


Let’s take a closer look at a few of the best scenes.

-- I knew with cases about “Adults acting like kids again”, that there would be some Greg & Hodges geekiness. We got Greg’s right from the beginning.
DB: he was a entrepreneur. Started a franchise called “Joystick Jungle”? Something like that.
G: the king of Drunken Donkey Kong. Joystick Jungle, it’s a video arcade for adults…Pinball, Pacman, pizza, lots & lots of booze.
C: letting intoxicated adults act like little kids. It’s a surefire investment.
DB: well, new American Dream. Perpetual adolescence, right?
C: maybe that explains the underwear.
G: They’re on backwards. Got dressed in a hurry? Or drunk.
DB: or…killer put them on him. Wanted to turn him into a little boy. Specifically (looks at the candles on top of the big cake) an eight year old. Look at this.
C: Gravitational blood drops where the other candles have been deliberately removed.
G: Candles…redressing.
C: Killer took some time
DB: after he took his life.

I can’t help but laugh at the poor actor lying like that and having everyone focus closely at his crotch, covered in nothing but a pair of kids undies with different colored cars on them. And on the flip side, how did Marg & Eric not crack up while having to focus on that specific part. I’d love to see the outtakes of that scene.


-- Great to see Doc Robbins out at a scene again.
Doc: when I heard ‘tycoon’, I was picturing top hat & monocle… or at least pants.

-- Greg & Cath continue their investigation of the scene
G: Surveillance is pretty thin throughout the club. No eyes in this area, but the bouncer did say there was one ugly incident earlier. Kevin got into it with an uninvited guest. Had him tossed out.
C: Anyone have a name for this ‘uninvited guest’?
G: Kevin called him “dad”.
C: oh. Son gives dad the heave-ho. Maybe dad comes back to remind him who’s the grown up.

Greg & Cath together again. I love seeing these two together. It always seems that Greg can be a little more relaxed & a bit more playful when he’s around Cath.


-- Dave’s having a pity-party moment while having to process a ‘crispy critter’ in the morgue with Nick, Sara, and an assistant.
D: Sure Doc, take the awesome club scene. Classic arcade games, beautiful women…why would I be interested in that.
N: are you whining? That’s not very “Super Dave” of you.
S: maybe we should remember that some people have it worse. (they uncover the crispy critter, who’s got some burnt tires wrapped around him) like this poor John Doe.
D: If there ever was a candidate for “Stop, drop & roll”. (to his assistant) Jimmy, let’s go. We have work to do.
J: (to Nick & Sara) he inhaled fumes at the scene.

Haha. Dave (not so ‘Super’ today) has an assistant to help. Sweet. At least he finally gets a speaking part. It’s cute that Dave gets to be whiny. His normally dry humor becomes quite funny when he’s being seriously irked.

-- Nick & Sara continue processing the crispy critter
N: okay, so what’s this guy’s deal?
S: officer drove up on a fire blazing up an end of an alley. Found him.
N: burning tire around the body, probably slipped down from his throat. Necklacking. South African thugs & cartels south of the border both do this
S: it’s sad at the things the world can agree on.
N: not good seeing this in Vegas.
S: same principle as being burned at the stake. It takes a while for the CO & the smoke inhalation to kill you. Until then, hell on earth. Gang neighborhood. Snakebacks vs LaTierras.
N: ah, let me guess. No witnesses.
S: didn’t hear the screaming. Didn’t even smell the bonfire.
N: these tires are two different treads. They’re probably from a junkyard. They’re not gonna give us anything.
S: hope of any trace or prints from the outside of the tires is up in smoke.
N: well, let’s try to get an ID on this guy.
S: I’d say…we strip the Michelin from the Man.

LOL and she said that with a straight face. Oh, Jorja. You crack me up. I love these two working together as much as I do Cath & Greg. I guess maybe I’ve always had a bit of a thing for ‘SNickers’ through the years.


-- Cath & Doc in the morgue
D: well, one COD – cause of de-pantsing – is still a mystery. No evidence of sexual activity.
C: mmm. So the pants around his ankles was more ‘message’ than ‘make out’. … and the other COD?
D: asphyxiation via fatal vanity. His 2 front porcelain veneers were broken & inhaled. Lacerated the bronchi, caused a bronchial spasm. Teeth weren’t the only body mods. Pec implants, hair plugs…
C: he makes money, remakes himself.
D: you take your new pride & joy for a spin, inevitably somebody dings it up.
C: weapon was a round implement, roughly spherical. Didn’t find anything like that at the scene.
D: booze flowing, games blasting…plenty of opportunity for the killer to sneak out with a weapon.
C: throw a good enough party, people think they can get away with anything.

I always love Cath & Doc together - even if it's a standard morgue scene.

-- Brass is showing his charm to Kevin’s dad with some great one-liners.
B: son of a dead beat, beat dead.
B: you got an alibi…or just your ‘sunshiny’ attitude?

You know how much I love sarcastic Brass…or is it bitchy Brass these days?


-- Hodges gets into the fun of kids games
H: unless your birthday vic was part beaver…the weapon was wooden.
C: trace from his teeth… is varnished oak
H: baseball bat?
C: hmmm well, the wounds are spherical, not cylindrical. Rough extrapolation of the curvature, we’re looking at something with a diameter of… four to five inches?
H: wooden ball. Arcade tycoon, right?
C: yeah.
H: ahhh. (goes to the computer) Arcade Bowl ball
C: excuse me?
H: on the classic game of luck & skill, beloved by children of all ages. My guess, that’s what bashed your vic’s face into a bloody pulp.
C: arcade bowl is not one of the games at the club, so the killer would’ve had to bring the ball in.
H: making the weapon-of-choice significant. No?
C: disgruntled arcade employee. That’s a good place to start

Yes, these two together is love as well. Hodges wasn’t as giddy as he usually is, but this time his geekiness overruled that.


-- DB has another case for Greg
DB: well, maybe you’ll have more luck at your next case. I want you to re-stock your kit & go meet Morgan at the Park Motel.
Greg turns around & grins
DB: it’s a scene, not a date you wacky kid.

ROFL classic Greg.


-- DB checks in with Cath, who’s in her office
DB: Hey, I hear you’re looking for unhappy arcade clerks who might’ve played Whack-a-Boss?
C: I didn’t find any. And Fetzer’s franchises don’t carry Arcade Bowl. But, the weapon is so unusual that I searched online for any connection between Kevin Fetzer & the game…check this out. (works on her laptop) in 1991, an 8-year old boy named Mikey Moran was celebrating his birthday at an arcade. He goes missing. His body is found behind the place. His pants are off, he’s been beaten to death. The weapon – a bloody arcade ball – is lying next to him.
DB: unbelievable. Arcade worker, Kevin Fetzer, age 15 said it was a day that nobody in the arcade would ever forget.
C: And guess what acne-faced future millionaire was questioned as a person of interest?
DB: Kevin Fetzer
C: yeah, I pulled the case file. There was never an arrest made for the boy’s murder.
DB: somebody turned Kevin’s birthday into his judgement day.

Catherine’s office. Yay. But why is she working on her laptop over on the counter in the middle of the room instead of sitting at her desk? Something’s fishy – other than the fact that she’s reading a file and NOT wearing her glasses. Damn.


-- Morgan & Greg processing the motel scene
M: bloody Mary
G: oh yeah, there’s an empty bottle of vodka on the bed
M: no, not the drink – the ghost. See, you stand in front of a mirror, lights out, you say your name three times… then she BURSTS through the glass & kills you
G: are we at a crime scene or 7th grade sleepover?

LOL these two are so fun.


-- Cath & Lou having a discussion in the break room about the old case. Cath gives him a cup of coffee
V: someone beat Kevin Fetzer’s face in with an arcade ball. There’s some justice in that.
C: I’ve got the case file from the original arcade ball murder Mikey Moran. Just to jog your memory
V: yeah, that was one of the first murders I ever worked. A scene like that…your memory gets plenty of miles on its own. We found the body behind the arcade. The weapon was right there. And for my money, so was the killer. That Fetzer kid struck me strange the instant I saw him. He’s hanging around the scene and then he leaves for an hour, comes back carrying two little shoes.
C: ugh. Mikey’s?
V: he said that he found them ditched a half block away, just happened to be looking over there.
C: but there was no physical evidence found that connected Kevin Fetzer to the crime.
V: well, we did find a pubic hair on the little boy, blond like Fetzer, but DNA testing was new and... we didn’t get a result.
C: and it wasn’t retested with improved technology?
V: the uh, sample was consumed on the first test. Then, that was my call. I was new on the job, I went all-in, and then I crapped out. That was the first time I learned the job wasn’t fair. You could have the killer standing right in front of you, you know that he did it, and…it feels like the cuffs are on your own wrists.
C: we’ve all been there, Lou.
V: so, do you have any suspects on Kevin Fetzer’s murder?
C: No, Brass talked to Fetzer’s dad, who had an alibi. We got him on casino surveillance.
V: you should be talking to Mikey Moran’s family. After what Fetzer did to that little boy, if that were my kid, I wouldn’t have waited 20 years.

Hmmm If you hadn’t seen previous episodes to the contrary, you wouldn’t have a clue that these two were once hot & heavy as a couple. I guess it reaffirms my belief that if it isn’t Grissom & Sara, it’ll be a relationship that’s quickly trashed somehow by the writers. Taking their previous relationship out of the equation, this was a very lovely scene between the two. It makes me wish that the writers would have done something with these characters that could take advantage of the great chemistry that Marg & Alex have.


-- Nick & Sara updating Det. Vega that their crispy critter victim was a gang member.
I love the little convo that Vega & Nick had in spanish. It was a nice recall to previous episodes. See, the writers actually know the word “continuity”. Too bad they have a limited supply of it.


-- Doc & Greg going over Darlene Crocker’s COD. Doc’s checking the stomach. He smells something fishy
D: did you & Morgan find any drugs at the scene?
G: just some kind of crystal trace.
D: smell this (holds up the stomach for Greg to smell)
G: Ugh. Room service in hell doesn’t smell that bad. What is it?
D: distinct ether-like odor. Pretty rare these days. PCP
G: well, bad trip, that would explain the self-mutilation. Hallucinatory state, she’s fighting off untold dark forces.
D: not self destruction. In her mind, self defense.
G: well, Henry’s running tox right now. If it is PCP, we’ll get confirmation.

EWW smelling the stomach? Just…EWWW.


-- DB brings Cath up-to-date
DB: it happened again. Again. Morgan & Greg’s case. Darlene Crocker. 1989, her 12 ½ year old daughter, Chelsea, died a pretty gruesome death on PCP. Just like her mother did today.
C: oh. A little girl with that kind of drug?
DB: junkie older brother, Ken Crocker, confessed to having fed it to her, and then…got sent away.
C: 22 years later mom self-destructs on the same drug?
DB: yeah. I’m not so sure that she just happened to choose the day to take that dose.
C: so somebody forced her to take it. Murder.
DB: just like the burning tires, and the arcade bowl. Death by déjà vu.

And in Cath’s office once again. This time WITH the glasses. Sweet. And is the layout of her office different too? I didn’t notice that the first time.


-- suspicious Brass
It’s bad enough what they did to Vega in this whole thing, but I really don’t like the way they were trying to make Brass out to be the suspicious one. I mean, really, they’ve totally wacked-out his character with his cover up for Ray at the end of last season. Are they really going to continue down this road with him? Seriously? This is one big reason why I’m so glad that Marg is leaving after a few more episodes. But there’s still time before she’s actually gone, and I know they’ll find something for her to go down the wrong path for.

-- Cath & Lou on the street
V: Richardson? He retired a year back.
C: did you work with him much?
V: ah, I used to drink with him. A bunch of us did. Bar called the Blue Rail. Richardson would buy rounds and listen to us bitch about the job. If you had a case that was really bothering you, you could talk to him about it. He had a way of putting things in perspective. Make you feel better.
C: did you talk to him about the Mikey Moran case? Kevin Fetzer?
V: that was… 20 years ago, yeah, I might have.
C: talk to him recently?
V: not since I stopped drinking. So, 11 years, 7 months & 14 days.
C: we’ve been trying to reach him & his address & number on file are no good.
V: Like I said, you know, it’s been years.
Cath gives him THE look
V: last I heard, there were still… a few guy’s who’d tip ‘em back with Richardson
C: who?

Oh yes, she gave him THAT look. And then THAT OTHER look. And the guy caved both times. LOL Yes, Lou. You’re still under the woman’s spell. You always will be. Again, why no hint of a relationship between these two …at all? I love that this scene is right outside the lab. That’s a location we’ve only seen a few times through all the years.


-- Cath & Nick find Richardson…in the hospital/hospice
N: detective Richardson?
SR: you finally caught up to me.

Jeez, the guy can play creepy at the drop of a hat.

-- what does Stan the man know?
SR: what more do you want? You’ve got my confession. I made those people pay for their crimes. I’m ready to settle-up
C: well, we’ve talked to your hospice nurses, Stan. End-stage pancreatic cancer. You haven’t been out of bed in a month.
SR: well, and something must be done. The universe has a way of…granting power
N: oh we’re in agreement that you had help, it was just more of the human variety.
C: well, since you’re…so at peace with the universe, you wouldn’t mind us taking a look around your little corner of it?
SR: no, go ahead.
C: thank you.
SR: if you see anything you like…I have no need for it anymore.
Nick sees a pic of Stan’s police academy class.
Cath sees a flower on the table and calls Nick over.
C: there was a trace of lily powder on Darlene Crocker.
N: soil’s been disturbed.
He digs the soil & brings out a lock box

What is it with Michael Massee and roles where he’s dying of cancer? That’s just more Charles Hoyt reminders for me. I can’t decide if I love it or hate it when my shows seem to collide.


-- Nick & Sara open the box & find treasures
after Nick pulls out the knife
N: what do you think, evidence from another cold case?
S: Maybe Richardson’s got more names on his list. … Revenge…cool & serve.

Oh, hello. Now that can’t be a harken back to the “revenge is best served cold” episode, right? I mean, the writers couldn’t be THAT clever, right? At any rate, Jorja’s got the tongue-in-cheek dead-pan humor down to a science these days.


-- Vega meets his demise at Lake Mead
I'm not sure I can even discuss this. How could they break down a favorite character like that? I can see him attempting to drown the guy in order to get a confession. That fits with his character. He stopped in time as well - also fitting in with his character, but drawing his gun while facing a bunch of armed officers aimed at him... come on!

And what's with DB being so concerned about saving the other guy - the real bad guy who did the other murders? maybe that's why Sam decided to go 'suicide by cop'? Because the system has more compassion for the bad guys than it does the good guys?

At the moment, all I know is that I'm pissed.


-- the monologue
I loved hearing Michael Massee reciting the monologue of the letter. He’s got an eerie voice.

-- the ending
I was quite bummed that it was Brass & DB at the end instead of Brass & Catherine. I get the feeling that Cath would have understood Jim much better. I was actually hoping to end with Cath & Brass sharing a drink in his office. That would at least been some continuity. But, of course, DB is the new Grissom – the one that the entire CSI world needs to revolve around now. It’s turning into the same old show… DB -like Grissom & Ray – is the only one that counts. It doesn’t matter that it’s the newbie & the seasoned veteran detective. Brass/Cath, Brass/Nick or Brass/Sara would have made much more sense.

Then again, this show has NEVER made much sense with their stupid decisions.

Sanctuary 4x06 Homecoming review

Sanctuary 4x06 Homecoming

Can we call this the schizophrenic episode?

I’ve never taken Scriptwriting 101, but I’m almost certain that the class doesn’t include anything that says if you’re going to bring a wonderfully funny, witty, and sarcastic story to your viewers, you should pair it with a “B” story that’s dull, lifeless and boring.

That’s pretty much what this episode entailed. It felt like somebody had the remote control and was going between fast-forward and extra slow motion. This is one of those episodes where I wish the “B” story would have included at least a little bit of humor.

Let’s start with the “B” story first –
We’ve got Will being mugged & knocked out, then we discover that because of the trauma, he’s temporary blinded and has to lie still on a bed. This allows him to bring back memories of his estrangement with his father following the death of his mother.

It’s actually a sweet & touching story (if a bit boring since it’s Will we’re talking about).

But when you pair a sweet, touching (and boring) Will & Daddy story with the wonderfully funny, witty, and sarcastic Helen/Henry/Birds story… Will/Daddy is going to feel really out of place.

So, let’s talk about the funny, witty & sarcasm-packed “A” story – with Helen, Henry and the wacky bird abnormal marrieds - Bruno & Sheila.
-- After the “Birds” make a surprise landing on top of the Sanctuary, we notice that this duo seems to have a habit of testing Helen’s patience.
Helen: Bruno, what on earth?
Bruno: you know, that color looks great on you..
Sheila: hey, Casanova, stow the sweet talk & give me a hand.
Bruno: just being polite, sweetie. Ever heard of etiquette?
Shelia: yes, a three syllable word. Careful you don’t hurt yourself.
Helen: Sheila, if you don’t mind…back to my original question
Bruno: yeah, right. My apologies for our unannounced arrival
Henry: You almost got yourselves shot
Sheila: Told him we should have called
Bruno: called… there wasn’t enough time
Sheila: etiquette, he says
Bruno: I’m doing this for you. The woman’s got a busted flap
Sheila: You may have noticed my landing?
Biggie: uuugggly.
Sheila: my left wing. Gives me too much yaw in my pitch
Helen: Might be some tendon damage
Bruno: High tension wire
Sheila: thanks to you
Bruno: I told you “turn left”
Sheila: but you always get your directions reversed
Bruno: well, this time I didn’t
Sheila: you picked a fine time to get it right.
Helen: Oh dear God.
Bruno: listen, cupcake, don’t project your anger on me
Helen: how about I get you both inside?
Sheila: thanks, Doc.
As they leave with Helen, Henry looks to Biggie.
Biggie: and you wonder why I’m still single.

Oy. I’d call them the Bickering Bickersons.

-- Helen & Henry in the office
Helen: Ah, so this is where you’re hiding.
Henry: What? I’m not… hiding.
Helen: haha. Right.
Henry: okay. I’m hiding. A little bit. You’ve got to admit those two are toxic twins.
Helen: oh yeah, they are a handful
Henry: how’s Sheila, though?
Helen: Oh, she’ll be fine.
Henry: But?
Helen: it’s just that the forensic evidence doesn’t match their story of the physical trauma.
Henry: you think they’re lying?
Helen: or at least faked the injury.
Henry: but why?
(alarm sounds)
Henry: attempted breach
Helen: roof?
Henry: armory

LOL okay, maybe Toxic Twins is better than Bickering Bickersons. I love the more personal/intimate scenes like this with these two. No, I don’t mean ‘intimate’ as in sexual. That would just be as bad as thinking of Helen & Will together… both scenarios are just… Cradle-Robbing EWWWWWWWWWWW. Anyway, I mean this cute, in Helen’s office, a bit playful and yet a semi-serious discussion.

-- Helen & Bruno in the office after he gets caught trying to sneak into the armory.
Bruno: I hear your anger. I acknowledge your point of view, and I want to address your concern.
Helen: Bruno, I’m not the police. Whatever penny ante scam you’re running in Old City is none of my concern, just so long as no one gets hurt.
Bruno: please, Doc. Come on.
Helen: but when you’re under my roof, you play by my rules.
Bruno: okay, I’ll admit that we’ve been a little less than straight with you.
Helen: what were you trying to steal from the armory?
Bruno: there’s a shipment of Red List abnormals on its way into town, clearly headed for the black market.
Helen: clearly.
Bruno: clearly I couldn’t let that happen.
Helen: not so clear.
Bruno: okay, well see, Sheila & me, we had a plan. We’re gonna scam our way into the sanctuary, grab a few stunners and then head out to the drop spot.
Helen: and do what? Take down the smugglers & secure the abnormals?
Bruno: way ahead of me, as usual.
Helen: Please. What’s in it for you?
Bruno: okay. That is exactly the reason why I didn’t come to you directly. You don’t believe me.
Helen: and you blame me?
Bruno: you know what I’m gonna do? You’re so positive that I’m scamming, go ahead, call my bluff. I’m not too proud to admit I could use a little help.
Helen: so, you & I…
Bruno: join forces. Yes. … Come on. With my intel & your experience? Love it. You’re gonna love… love it. You’re gonna love that?
Helen: IF…these Red Listers do exist, my priority is to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Bruno: obviously. Sure.
Helen: and I’ll be keeping a VERY tight leash on you.
Bruno: raaarrr.

Hmmm That usually sounds so much cuter coming from Tesla. I really like seeing people/abnormals who have dealt with Helen before and know how to handle her, and in turn, she knows how to handle them. In this case, it’s someone she knows to be wary of, as well as trying to hold her patience with him.

-- Biggie & Sheila
Biggie: healing nicely.
Sheila: I know. Cecele’s been asking about you again.
Biggie grunts
Sheila: so is it too much effort to pick up the phone?
Biggie: Magnus says you should, uh, take it easy for a few days
Sheila: ah, so you just waltz into Old City, break a few hearts, and then you’re gone?
Biggie: no.
Sheila: what, you think you’re too good for a Feralump, is that it?
Henry comes in. Biggie grabs his arm
Biggie: thank goodness you got here.
Henry: Shoooo…oooting. Pain.
Biggie: Huh? Oh. Sorry.
Henry: Magnus wants to see us.
Biggie: Good. Later.
Henry: all of us.
They all start to leave. Sheila turns around to talk to Biggie
Sheila: she still keeps a lock of your fur.
Biggie shivers.

LOL a bit of a Biggie love story. Love it. Now I wonder what a Feralump is.

-- Getting ready to go “hunting”
Biggie: Com sets on channel 1. And NO idle chit chat. (to Helen) what’s going on?
Helen: you know, Bruno, it would help if we knew exactly where we were going.
Bruno: yes, you will know when we get there.
Helen: that’s not how I usually operate.
Bruno: living on the edge. My kind of gal.
Sheila: are you flirting again?
Bruno: Babealicious, never.
Henry: alright, before I choke on my own bile. (Hands Helen a stunner) these are fully charged.
Bruno: perfect. Where’s my stunner?
Sheila: oh yeah, mine too.
Helen: not even gonna have that conversation.
Bruno: wait. You don’t expect us to go in unarmed, do you?
Helen: as far as I’m concerned, the two of you are backseat drivers. You get us there, we’ll do the rest.
Henry: Um, Doc. Can we have a word?
Henry, Helen & Biggie huddle up
Henry: you know I’ve got your back. Always. But tag-team with Hekyll & Jekyll.
Biggie: you don’t actually trust them?
Helen: of course I don’t, but we need their information. However…dubious…the source may be.
Bruno: Okay. Chop chop. Let’s get this party started, huh?

I had to laugh at Henry’s Hekyll & Jekyll mention. Haven’t they had enough Jekyll for a while at least? LOL
I also love Helen’s quip to the Toxic Twins that she’s ‘not having that conversation.’

-- as they get to the site with the container of abnormals
Helen: alright, you two stay here.
Sheila: honey.
Bruno: w-w-w-wait. You’re making a big mistake.
Helen: I’ll live with it.

LOL I love sarcastic Helen. It’s fun to see that the thinner her patience gets, the more her sarcasm increases.

-- After the fight
Helen: Well done Henry.
Henry: I gotcha.

Awwww some Mama Magnus love for the young’un. Isn’t that two weeks in a row for Henry getting some Magnus praise? That’s why I love these two working together. SO much more chemistry than Helen & Will.

-- Finding a “woman’s best friend”
Helen: BRUNO.
Bruno: you. Look at you…your…the way the street light, the lamp
Helen: DON’T... speak.
Bruno: it’s beautiful.
Helen: just hand it over.

Yep. Miss Magnus is really starting to get pissy. How can she still have patience left. This guy is so much more annoying than Tesla. At least Nikola has some “gentleman” qualities that can shine through when needed. Bruno is beyond repair.

-- We continue as Magnus is seriously pissed at being deceived yet again
Helen: YOU LIED TO ME.
Bruno: I promised you Red List’ers, you got Red List’ers.
Helen: yeah, you failed to mention a small fortune in diamonds.
Bruno: details
Henry: that’s a nice haul, dude.
Helen: really moving up in the criminal world.
Sheila: the diamonds aren’t for us.
Bruno: let me explain this, cuddlecakes, okay?
Sheila: yeah, since you’re doing such a great job already.
Bruno: really?
Helen: The diamonds.
Bruno: we need them to buy…weapons.
Helen: can you not see how this is going in the wrong direction?
Sheila: let me explain.
Bruno: no no no no. let me explain
Helen: SOMEONE please explain.
Henry: What are you doing with the weapons?
Bruno: they’re not for us
Sheila: oh, perish the thought
Bruno: no. they’re for the international arms dealer.
Sheila: yeah. Yeah you see, we sell the weapons, make a hefty profit, which we need.
Helen: do you?
Bruno: of course we do. …for the orphans.
Helen: … orphans.
Henry: you’re giving weapons to…orphans?
Sheila: now that’s crazy
Bruno: okay, follow me here. We need the diamonds to buy then guns. We then sell the guns, double our profit
Sheila: and we use that money to pay the black marketeers.
Bruno: and save the orphans from being sold into slavery. … tah-dah. .. cue the violence.
Helen is speechless.
Henry: I got nothing.
Helen: (still a bit speechless) … … it’s STUNNING.
Bruno: so what do ya say, Doc? Hand over the ice & it’s high-fives all around, huh?

A speechless Helen Magnus. Never thought I’d see the day. It’s even funnier after you’ve seen the full episode and realize that their “outrageous story” is actually the truth.

-- after their “highly unbelievable” story, the Toxic Twins get put into the isolation room.
Helen: (closes the door) and…peace.

LOL yes Helen, my sentiments exactly.

-- Henry’s doing his computer magic
Henry: Holy Crap.
Helen: Pray tell.
Henry: I was poking around where I shouldn’t be poking around.
Helen: Ah, good lad.
Henry: NSA, Homeland Security, real back door wet job stuff here.
Helen: and the bottom line is…
Henry: looks like maybe Bruno’s telling the truth. At least about the weapons. Seems there really is a shipment.
Helen: anti-abnormal prototypes.
Henry: Specially designed by SCIU.
Helen: Oh, dear lord.
Henry: there’s some really cool stuff here…. Except for the fact that it’s designed to kill abnormals.
Helen: then we’d better intercept that shipment. (she leaves)
Henry: Define “WE”?

More Helen praise for Henry. I love it. And may I say just how HOT Helen looks in the jeans & leather jacket?

-- up on the rooftop, where the birdies flew
Sheila: (to Bruno) oh you look incredible
Helen & Henry arrive
Helen: you are BOTH incredible
Bruno: how did you? Did you take the stairs?
Helen: start talking. I welcomed you into my home & you manipulated the entire situation.
Henry: shame on both of you.
Bruno: I can see why you’re angry, but I can promise you this wasn’t a double-cross.
Helen: Really? Then what would you call it?
Sheila: a mixup? And I don’t like your tone
Bruno: I got this one, lovemuffin. Okay, here’s the thing: we needed to make sure the weapons were secure.
Sheila: he was actually very heroic.
Bruno: it was pure instinct, but thank you, darling.
Helen: before I vomit.
Bruno: those government agents, who are they working for again?
Henry: SCIU
Bruno: cool. Anyway, they compromised our contact before we arrived. It was all happening in real time, I needed to do something to protect the mission.
Helen: so you flew off & left us to fend for ourselves.
Bruno: you…wanted us to stay & help?
Sheila: they had guns
Bruno: no, we fly & you guys kick ass, it’s the law of the universe. And then, hey, it all worked out in the end.
Helen: except for the part where you…stole the weapons & tried to hide them from us.
Bruno: … I was about to call you.
Henry: my head is about to explode
Helen: wow.
Bruno: I appreciate, Doc, how this all may look, but, we were both set up.

I think I really love the “Law of the universe”. Helen has certainly kicked a lot of ass in her 270+ years now. It’s about time it became a law. LOL

-- Helen’s lost her patience
Helen: according to you, we were both set up, so none of this is your fault, in which case, we should confiscate the weapons & return the gems to their rightful owners.
Bruno: w-w-what is this, a Hallmark moment? You need to see the bigger picture here.
Sheila: we need this stuff.
Helen: so you ARE in this for the money?
Bruno: for good reason
Henry: whoa, if you say ‘orphans’.
Sheila: these kids need our help, yes. And you’re taking food from their little mouths.
Henry: now that…that’s a Hallmark moment.
Bruno: we are doing all of this for children in need, if you think helping the needy is a worthless venture, then go ahead, take it. Take it. Take it all. Here (gives Helen the diamonds) here you go.
Sheila: oh, you are a nasty woman.
Henry: angry birds…there are no orphans.
Helen: (looks unsure) what choice do we have? Our trust has been betrayed at every turn. I’m sorry, to both of you. But this is the end of us working together.
Henry: Oh, amen.
Bruno: I understand. I want to thank both of you for all you’ve done. It didn’t work out, that’s life, right? Onward.

Watching this the second time around & knowing their story is real, I kind of want to cry – and yell at Magnus. Just a little bit.

-- Helen seems to be having doubts
Helen: what if they’re telling the truth?
Henry: about the orphans?
Helen: if they do exist, can we afford to turn our backs?
Henry: Doc, I looked into it, okay. There is nothing on any boatload of missing kids, oh, and wait, the flying Bickersons have screwed us over twice.
Helen: think back over recent events, something about this isn’t right.
Henry: yeah, the fact that they’re lying thieves.
Helen: thieves maybe, but liars? Not deliberately. They might have filtered the truth or been a bit selective with the information…
Henry: which is commonly known as lying.
Helen: the intel they supplied is essentially correct. The red list shipment, the weapons buy
Henry: stash of diamonds, the stealing
Helen: it’s an imperfect world. Being flexible with our allies gives us more than condemning them. Days of judging things at face value are over.

Yep. Her gut instinct is tried & true. I loved her final line there about not judging things at face value.

-- Henry’s not convinced yet
Henry: okay, so we’ve gone rogue, and now we have to hang with the dead beats. I get that, Doc, but we don’t have to trust them.
Helen: Maybe we need to stop being so judgmental.
Henry: this is that whole 113 years of zen philosophy, isn’t it?
Helen: you know what I mean.
Henry: I really don’t, but I do know what you’re gonna say
Helen: there’s something I need you to check for me, Henry.
Henry: course there is.

Ah, I love how Mama Magnus has to re-teach the children the new rules of the sanctuary now. Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE Helen & Henry together?

-- Henry’s doing his geeky computer thing in the van
Helen: Henry.
Henry: I am colating here.
Helen: well either do it silently, or tell me something.
Henry: wow, what happened to the zen patience? Hmm found something. Interpol warrants for red list supplier out of Dublin. Finn Noland.
Helen: warrants for what? (looks at the computer) Child slave trading.
Henry: yeah, keep reading the encrypted data.
Helen: Abnormal child slave trading. Dear god.
Henry: yeah. Noland is an extremely bad dude. The rumor mill puts him in town tonight with cargo at the docks. …orphans.
Helen: If Bruno & Sheila try to intercept the shipment alone.
Henry: oh, that could go very badly.

LOL Helen’s lost her zen patience now? These two are just…


-- Henry blowing the surprise for Will. LOL Guess it’s Helen & Henry going to Alfredo’s again this time.


I love all of the Helen/Henry moments both in this episode and the previous one. It’s so great to finally get more of the Helen/Henry interaction and keep Will off on his own. Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind if Will got totally lost for a few episodes….or seasons.

It seems that Bruno is the poor-man’s version (or maybe it’s the Bird-Man version) of Nikola Tesla. We see that Helen’s patience gets tested with Nikola on occasion, but I think too much exposure to Bruno would turn anyone insane in quick order. Those poor orphan kids. I hope they find someone else to live with than Bruno & Sheila.

On a technical note – since this was Robin Dunne’s directorial debut, I have to say that he did a pretty nice job. Also, big kudos to Anthem for the wonderful VFX again. Great views from the rooftop, and of course the scenes where Will morphs back in his mind.

I had to laugh – after the rerun of this episode aired on SyFy, they played a rerun of Stargate SG1’s “Icon” (which for the record is one of the most boring SG1 eps ever. Just saying.), which began with Daniel getting his eyes unwrapped after being injured. It was so similar to Will getting his eyes unwrapped a few moments before in Sanctuary. Did anyone else think of Daniel when we first saw young Will with glasses in tonight’s episode. Okay, so maybe the real young Will looked a bit more like Harry Potter, but college-age Will looked like Daniel Jackson.

Finally, watching the promo for next week’s episode, I almost got a feeling of season 1’s “Kush”, with the snow, cold and not knowing who’s real. Are they really recycling storylines already for this series?

CSI 12x07 Brain Doe review

First of all, who really needs a rundown of the entire episode this week?

Let’s skip the boring stuff and get to the question first & foremost on my mind. If Cath goes to DC, will we eventually see her hook up with Gibbs somewhere, somehow? I’d love to see Cath & Abby in the lab together (after Cath first gets over her shock that Abby looks very eerily like the “pink haired girl” who killed her ex-husband and left her daughter in a car filling with water.)

Okay. Okay. I know. Cart before the horse. And since it involves a character from CSI, anything I wish for I can almost be guaranteed that it will never happen. Just let me dream, okay?

If you haven’t a clue as to what I’m rambling about, let us look at the scene from tonight’s episode of CSI.

-- Cath & Greg walk into the locker room, just coming back from testifying in court.

G: is it just me, or are defense attorneys getting smarter?
C: oh, NO... slimier. Don’t worry. We still have the truth on our side.
G: I still don’t like that guy. There was nothing wrong with my evidence collection.
C: at least he didn’t ask you if it was Dr Willows.

Let’s stop there for a moment. I always love scenes with Catherine & Greg. (and isn’t Greggo quite handsome in his suit and tie?) Their talk here makes me think back to Season 3’s “The accused is entitled”, where Cath was on the stand and her past as a stripper was brought up in an attempt to discredit her testimony. Strangely enough (NOT), I’m not a big fan of that episode.

-- Anyway…continuing with the scene, Sheriff Sherry Liston comes to the doorway of the locker room.
SL: Sanders. Willows. Coming or going?
C: we are just returning from court, Sheriff.
SL: Sanders, you look like you could use a cup of coffee.
G: (chuckles & starts to leave) nice seeing you too, Sheriff.

Okay, now I’m flashing back to the early days with Greg & his very expensive coffee. I wonder if he still has his secret stash at work, considering he’s not stuck in the lab these days.

-- as Greg leaves, the Sheriff comes in to the room to talk with Catherine.
C: you in the neighborhood?
SL: not really. (they both sit down on the benches) So uh, how are things going?
C: no complaints.
SL: really? I’d complain. You were a supervisor, now you’re not. No advancement on the horizon. I’d be pissed.
C: I work with some good people. It takes the sting off.
SL: well, maybe I can do a little better than that. I’ve been spending a lot of time on The Hill. Senate Judiciary Committee’s exploring establishing a forensic science commission. They need a full-time staffer, expert in the field. I recommended you. … I hope you’re good with that.
C: uh…wow…I don’t know what to say.
SL: do you really wanna be processing used condoms & dirty panties the rest of your career? Go to DC. Pay’s good. The hours are great. You get to travel. … sometimes you have to move out to move up. (takes a card from her pocket) If you’re interested, don’t take too long.
C: thank you, Sheriff. Thank you, I appreciate the confidence.
SL: it’s not easy for us, not in law enforcement. That’s a man’s world.

Well…didn’t really see that scenario coming. I was really hoping for Cath getting back into Sam’s world with the casinos, but…like I said before, this gives me great fodder for bringing Catherine into Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ world. At least they’d be in the same city. Now, if only I could write fanfic, there would be endless story possibilities.

I also love how Cath never saw this coming, either. It seems that after her blowup with Nick at the end of the Season 12 premiere, Catherine decided to go back to enjoying her job again, even if she wasn’t the one in charge.

-- After DB says “Hi” to the Sheriff in the hallway, he talks to Catherine when he sees her walking out of the same room that the Sheriff had just left.
DB: hey Catherine, everything alright?
C: yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?
DB: no reason. No reason at all. (looks at his piece of paper) um, just got a call-out, a 406 at a mortuary, and you’re gonna love this part… comes with an NRS 200.033. Have no idea what the hell that is. You ever seen so many numbers in a sentence before.
C: is this an assignment or an observation?
DB: uh, yeah. Sorry. Both.
C: got it.

You know, if I knew I’d keep watching the show when Marg leaves, I might try to get invested in DB’s character, but at this point, I can’t. He does have some cute, quirky traits, though. At least the “family” references have stopped coming up in every scene he’s in. Thank goodness.


-- Cath arrives at the crime scene. Vartann is the detective on the case.
L: Hey
C: Hi Lou.
L: You okay?
C: why does everybody keep asking me that?
L: Okay. Lieutenant Theodore Seligson. 30. On leave from Afghanistan. Cutting trees in his backyard, fell & he broke his neck.
C: guy survived the war
L: yeah. Family’s jewish. Now they had to get him in the ground by this morning. Someone was supposed to remain with the body, but the mortuary night guy stayed with his girlfriend last night instead. Came in this morning & he called it in. … That’s Mrs Seligson, the widow, she came by as soon as she heard
C: how bad is it?
L: you need to see for yourself.
(they go inside)
L: I didn’t think corpses bled.
C: enbalming is considered desecration.
L: oh, really? … what about cutting the guy’s head open & taking his brain? … this guy was a war hero. I heard you guys found a brain outside a Tasty Time. That’s gotta be his, right?
C: it better be, otherwise we got a brain collector on the loose in Vegas.


Hey everybody, it’s Detective Vartann. You know, Lou. As in, Cath’s former or present or do-we-even-have-a-clue-anymore lover/boyfriend. I’d have to say that by this point the writers have totally forgotten that these two were, at least at one point, a HOT item ( remember the opening of “Blood Moon”? ) And we haven’t really heard anything since “the list” from last season. I KNEW the writers would screw up a good thing.

I love how Cath is already annoyed that both DB & Lou asked if she was okay. We know she’s got lots to think about now. My hope is that she gets to talk out or discuss her life-changing scenarios with either Sara or Brass. Brass would be great because those two have been together the longest, but Sara would be the obvious choice (then again, we’re talking CSI writers here) because she already went through her life-changing “leave CSI to find your happiness” phase.

Like I said, this is CSI, so who knows, they’ll probably have Cath call up Ray Langston and ask for his advice. *head desk*

Yes, that’s major sarcasm, folks. You know how much I really LOVED Ray. Not.

-- Cath is processing the scene. Sara arrives as well.
S: heard you could use a little help
C: yeah, Thanks. Our mortuary owner said that when they close at 10, the last thing they do is mop the floors. Compressions have got to belong to our brain thief.
S: you haven’t heard?
C: heard what?
S: Henry ran the DNA of our mystery brain against Lieutenant Seligson’s DNA in the military database,
C: no match?
S: (shakes her head) somebody breaks into a mortuary & steals a brain, meanwhile across town, another brain flies out of a convertible during a TC.
C: I mean, what are the odds? The two events have to be related.
Sara notices yellow marks on the back door & sees yellow powder on the ground.
S: this powder here says that they are. Nick & I processed Claig’s car, we found a crowbar & yellow powder that looked like this.
C: so Claig is the connection?
S: maybe.
Cath calls Hodges
C: Hodges, I’m sending you a photo of a shoe impression, I need you to compare it to our convertible driver Claig’s shoes….coming at’cha. (takes a pic on her phone & sends it to him)

Okay, I know you’re all waiting for it…

SQUEEEEE.

Yessirreee. It’s my two girls working together again. Hey, the scene was only just over a minute in length, but it was the second-best scene of the episode. Give me a break, scenes between these two have been very few and very, very far between for 11+ seasons. I’ll take my squee moments whenever I can get them.

-- okay, so we are not quite halfway into the show…and it seems that Catherine now goes *poof* Yep. That’s it for her for this episode. But I guess I can’t complain. I got Cath/Greg, Cath/Lou, and Cath/Sara. In all, that makes this episode a rousing success.

-- I guess that means I need to switch my attention back to the Sara Sidle goodness that I’ve missed. It was great to see both Sara/Nick and Sara/Greg scenes in this one. Both pairings have always been great to watch through the years. It’s what was missing during the Ray Langston years, as Sara got paired with Ray a lot. That became annoying.

Anyway, starting with Sara/Nick :
S: (looking at a bag of pills) well, he was definitely into medicine, but I wouldn’t trust him to drive my brain around.
N: yeah, why’s that?
S: oxy
N: oh.

S: there’s some yellow powder on the crowbar. Got some, uh, yellow powder in the bag too.
N: I have seen crappy cocaine that color
S: I’ve never seen a drug addict waste this much product.
N: (looks at the trunk) you know, we are down one body.
S: Trunk’s where I’d hide it.
N: pop it for me, will ya?
They open the trunk to find only a football with “17” on it.
S: pigskin? That’s it?
N: no, this is strange
S: why?
N: I’m starting to think Russell’s a psychic.
S: how come?
N: cuz he asked what Claig ordered at the drive thru window, it was a Number 17.
S: or it’s a coincidence maybe.
N: hmmm he hadn’t opened the trunk yet.

Isn’t it great to have these two working so wonderfully together again? Yes, I’m bringing back memories of the Good Old Days (like season 6’s “Gum Drops”)

-- As for Sara/Greg…
lovely scenes between the two. First when they’re going through Tasty Time receipts and watching the video of the brain-swapping in the parking lot, and then when they’re going through the video of Ryan Dempsey’s fights. And I loved the scene where the two go to the gym to talk to Pernin.
G: would you buy a membership off that guy?
S: not a lifetime one.

And she even gets some time with Brass as they interview Pernin. In all, a great episode for Sara.

-- dare I mention even a great Sara/Hodges scene?
Sara comes in to the break room where Hodges is eating some chicken nuggets.
S: Hodges, what are you doing?
H: um, it’s a break room. I’m on a break.
S: you know chicken’s nuggets don’t really look like that, right?
H: please don’t ruin my lunch.
S: fine. … uh, yellow powder. Trace. Give.
H: receive. … you know, I’ve been trying to text you for over an hour. (he gives her the file)
S: talcum powder.
H: in Claig’s duffle bag, on the crowbar, at the mortuary. In my report, powder’s made with a special formulation with five essential oils, used in high-end gyms, including my own.
S: you…go to the gym?
H: Mhm. Under this shirt, ripped. (goes to unbutton his shirt)
S: I – I believe you. …yeah. (she starts to leave)
H: page four. It’s a list of gyms.
Sara walks away as Hodges continues to eat
S: not even real chicken in there.

Wonderfully. Classic. Sara/Hodges. At least Sara didn’t have a vegetarian reference, and just stuck to the digs about the chicken.


-- It was great to see Robyn Lively as Mrs Dempsey. I first saw Robyn back in the early 90s in an after-school special called “The Less Than Perfect Daughter”, where she was great as the daughter who could never live up to the extremely high standards set by her mother (played by the always wonderfully evil Jenny O’Hara). And Marg fans might remember that Robyn was also with Marg in the tv movie, “In sickness & in Health”. It sucks that there were no Marg/Robyn scenes here. Thanks again for nothing, stupid CSI writers.


-- I forgot to mention the Russell Family Drama. Methinks Cath & DB should compare notes on the rebellious ways of teenage kids. I loved the scene in DB’s office where Charlie is playing the guitar.
CR: it’s just…the other players don’t really get me. It’s different here, dad.
DB: hey, you’re the new kid on the team. Everybody thinks you’re a little weird, right? Well, join the club. *laughs* We are weird.

-- There was some great Brass sarcasm too.
B: you know what they say – fast-food kills ya.
DB: not usually quite so fast.

DB: alright, we got a math problem here.
B: never very good at math.

And how great was Brass at the end with the young (but tragically abused) boy. It’s scenes like that where Paul really shines.

-- speaking of the kid…
first of all, this is the first time I’ve seen Kai Caster. He did a great job. He looks like he’s got a great future ahead of him.

-- as for the episode/story…I didn’t really connect the dots for this one, mainly because I fast-forwarded through the boring stuff ( i.e. anything that didn’t include Cath, Sara, Greg or Robyn's character, Mrs Dempsey)


-- It’s interesting how this episode was like a bologna & cheese sandwich.
- You had the fluffy pieces of bread on the top & bottom (the beginning & ending of the episode) that are really just there to hold things together, even though it’s not the part of the sandwich that you really are looking forward to eating.
- Then, there’s the mayo that goes on the inside of the bread to give it that little extra moisture so it’s not dry & unappetizing (the DB/Charlie parts)
- Then you add the cheese to each slice of bread (that would be the Sara, Greg & Morgan parts in this episode)
- Finally, you add a few slices of bologna in the middle to give it that meaty substance & filling. (that, of course, is the Catherine goodness that was all scrunched into the middle of this episode)
- Oh, and I think this time around, I also added some honey mustard to my bologna & cheese sandwich (the nice & sweetly spiced performance by Robyn Lively)

So, there you have it, folks. I’ve compared a CSI episode to a sandwich.

My life has MUCH purpose & meaning now.

Sanctuary 4x05 'Resistance' review

Forget the phrase “resistance is futile”.

When it comes to Sanctuary (and especially Helen Magnus & Nikola Tesla together), “Resistance” is so darn much fun – as witnessed by tonight’s episode.

* We start off with Biggie “taking one for the team” as a plan to capture an abnormal goes awry (which seems to happen a lot lately) and when they finally get the capture, the new governmental abnormal-catching agency steps in & takes him away. I’m not sure I like the way Helen Magnus seems to have been ‘demoted’ in the power ranks of the world as she & the Sanctuary have decided to go rogue, and not “play well with others”. I would love to see Helen “take it up with the President” as one of the SCIU guys suggested. I do like that Helen is still one step ahead on many things, including having a tracking device on the abnormal. She obviously expected the government guys to show up and included the tracking device so they could track them back to their facilities.

* I really love all of the new establishing shots of the Sanctuary that we’ve seen so far this season. They’re so much better than the standard “from above” shots we constantly saw in the first three seasons. I love the upgrade.

* Back to Biggie again, I love when he gets involved in a storyline. We really haven’t seen much of his backstory, other than when he got shot & saved by Father Jensen and was brought to the Sanctuary. I loved how we see him a bit melancholy over the continued loss of abnormals.

* I loved the scene with Biggie & Helen in the office where he’s telling her that trying to infiltrate the “Area 51” was not a good idea and she could be charged with espionage…again.
B: this isn’t a good idea
H: oh, come on. I’ve infiltrated secret compounds before.
B: Come on, baby. This is Area 51
H: it’s simple recon. Get information so we can plan our strategy.
B: if you’re caught, you could be charged with espionage.
H: *chuckles* that never sticks
B: *growls*
H: look, I appreciate your concern, but what choice do I have? If indeed this…SCIU, or whatever they’re calling themselves, are experimenting on captured abnormals, I can’t allow that to continue.
B: well, at least wait until Will comes back.
H: From Hollow Earth?
B: yeah
H: that could take days. We need to strike before they discover our tracking beacon. … Henry & I can handle it.
B: I’ve heard that before

These types of Helen/Biggie scenes are rare, but so wonderful to watch. Again, I’d love to see more of the Helen/Biggie backstory, as well as scenes like this, where he gets to talk back to her as an equal, and not a subordinate like Will, Henry, Kate, or even Declan do.

* And then there’s Nikola Tesla. I love how there always seems to be some kind of wine reference – and this time it was the wine that was the indicator that we’d be seeing Tesla. I loved the reference back to “Normandy” when Tesla says, “the last time that I cooperated with the US Government, you may recall the assistant they gave me turned out to be a nazi spy? ”

* another great thing about Tesla/Magnus scenes is that these two characters are not afraid to talk frankly to each other. Helen always seems to be giving Nikola a piece of her mind, and it’s usually to berate him about something that he’s done wrong while trying to create his “wonderful” experiments. With those experiments, he always seem to forget about the “human” factor, until Helen has to remind him just why it isn’t such a great idea to begin with.

* another thing with Tesla in this episode, it was fun to hear him speak in “simple” non-Tesla terms, like “POOF” and he even said “I can’t”, which is so unlike him.

*This episode also brought out what seems to be the mother/son undercurrent of the Helen/Henry relationship. Right after Henry gets taken by the inter-dimensional abnormal, we see Helen react in a mother-losing-her-child kind of way. Thankfully, she was able to turn her focus to Nikola and let him know it was his fault. It seemed that his apology was in the information he gave to Henry just before he left.

* The reverse is true as well with Henry telling Tesla “You just betrayed the best friend you ever had”.

* “Hello, Beastie” LOL Beasties should learn one day that you don’t underestimate Helen Magnus, even if she has gone rogue from the mainstream world.

* It’s interesting to note that I didn’t even roll my eyes at the scenes with Will, mainly because Biggie and Galvo were always with him as well. I liked Galvo (probably because he annoyed both Biggie & Will) and was a bit bummed that he was a baddie.

* is it just me, or have they made Helen look a bit older? I’m guessing it’s to keep continuity with her additional 113 years that she’s recently gone through. Amanda certainly doesn’t look any older off camera than before.

* oh, and who doesn’t love Henry’s man-purse? LOL And what’s with Henry getting the “Bloody Hell” line this time? That was cute.

* it was great to see Biggie sitting up on the ledge of the roof, and I loved how he felt he needed to get better instincts. I really wish that had been a scene with Helen instead.



Some great quotes and conversations:


* * *
Tesla: (to Magnus) you seem to have forgotten you’re not on everyone’s speed dial anymore.

* * *
Henry: I’m about to be a father. How am I supposed to teach my kid the back-door hacks to Final Fantasy from a penitentiary?
Helen: They won’t lock us up. We know too much.
Henry: really?
Helen: we’re more likely to be convicted at a military tribunal and then executed in secret.
Henry: well, that’s very comforting. Thank you.

It seems like Helen’s been there/done that.

* * *
Helen: after all I’ve done to help you. All the times I’ve come to your aid. I revamped you, for goodness sake. And this is how you repay me? By aligning with my enemies. By becoming a shill for a paranoid government hell-bent on exploiting abnormals for God knows what depraved purposes.

It’s great to see Helen giving her wrath to Nikola.

* * *
Helen: did you notice anything unusual about Nikola’s behavior?
Henry: other than the knife in your back with his fingerprints on it?
Helen: he’s hiding something. He needs our help & he’s too stubborn to ask.
Henry: wh…I did not get that.
Helen: I’ve known him for over a hundred years. He only acts this way when he’s really rattled. No, something’s going on here, and whatever it is, it’s big.

I love how Helen noticed that very subtle part of Nikola’s personality and Henry had absolutely no clue.

* * *
Helen: out with it
Nikola: I may be partly responsible for the appearance of that creature
Helen: you don’t say.

Ah, yes. Helen loves hearing Nikola admitting his mistakes.

* * *
Helen (to Tesla) You’re our own personal Robin Hood

LOL

* * *
Nikola: If a rat gets loose in my house, I don’t destroy the house, I kill the rat.

Ha. I think I’d eventually find a new house.

* * *
Helen: Luckily, I’ve brought the world’s foremost expert in taking things apart…Henry.
Henry: I’m on it.
Nikola: are you kidding me…him?

It’s cute how, in her own subtle way, Helen is telling Nikola that Henry is better than him.

* * *
Nikola: every time she shows up…

LOL finish the sentence please, Nikola. It should be – “every time she shows up, she ends up being right and having to bail me out of a mess”

* * *
Henry: you’re working for Magnus’ enemies after everything she’s done for you. That’s not cool dude.
Nikola: would you rather I left the position vacant for someone else fill in, I don’t know, General Villanova, perhaps?
Henry: Come on. It’s blood money & you know it.
Nikola: listen, I’m not experimenting on abnormals & nor do I intend to. By the time those dunderheads in Washington find out, I’ll be on my own private island.
Henry: I hope you’re happy there, cuz you’ll be all alone. You just betrayed the best friend you ever had.

Oh, I love Henry sticking up for his mama.

* * *
Nikola: you know what this means?
Helen: it won’t be long before it extends beyond this facility
Nikola: yes, yes. But more importantly, I did it. I invented wireless electricity.

Ha. Oh dude, you are just one of a kind.

* * *
Helen: what’s the status of the rift?
Henry: it’s still growing. At the rate it’s going, it’ll reach Alamagorda by morning. That would be a horrible country song.
Helen: and him?
Henry: him? Oh, he’s working on his Nobel speech. He wants to call his invention Tesla-tricity.

Oh Nikola. If there’s one major deficiency in his character, it’s naming his inventions. Remember the “devamper”?

* * *
Nikola: what I wouldn’t do for a glass of fine red.
Helen: well I’m sure there’s another bottle of ’95 Margaux in your office, just a…short skip across the feeding ground.
Nikola: still sore at me, I see.
Helen: do you blame me?
Nikola: you know, this could have been a banner year for you. In the current climate, a woman with your expertise, not to mention arresting good looks, you would have been in high demand, but you chose to cut yourself off from the world.
Helen: oh, silly me. Missing the chance to play patsy to a government gone mad.
Nikola: please. Get over yourself. You know very well these directives changes with the weather. And besides, there’s more than one way to skin a system. You chose to fight from the outside, I choose to fight from within.
Helen: OH. Oh is that what you’re doing? Right, and the abnormals under your care…are they in on it too? … tell me, what happens when the government realizes that their research into abnormal-based weaponry has fallen behind on your watch? Better yet, what happens when you leave to start your own utility company? Planning on taking the abnormals with you as an advisory board?
Nikola: you’re unpleasant when you use rhetoricals.
Helen: do you think I want to be left out in the cold…fighting world powers at every turn? I had no choice. This was the only way I could continue to without betraying everything that the sanctuary stands for.
Nikola: yeah, how’s that working for ya? … I’m just saying, Helen, there’s a fine line between passion & fanaticism.
Helen: and there’s a fine line between compliance and surrender. Let’s just hope we’re both on the right side of it. … Nikki.

Oh, this is what I love with these two. They can let it all hang out and not hold anything back when having a discussion. They’ve been in each other’s lives for so long that they’re not afraid of losing that friendship if they don’t censor their words.

* * *
Helen: Henry. Oh dear Lord.
Nikola: Helen
Helen: don’t. This is all your doing. You’re selfish and base desire to meddle in things you don’t understand. Still comfortable with the human toll, are we?

Nikola, don’t get in the way of mama bear when she’s just lost a cub.

* * *
Helen: then we’ve no choice.
Nikola: what? You’re not seriously considering…
Helen: when Adam Worth trapped me in that warehouse, he traveled through the rift using a series of pre-determined exit points
Nikola: yes. And emphasis on pre-determined. You’re talking about locking onto a tracking signal through an interdimensional void. If I’m off by even the slightest margin…
Helen: I have faith in you.
Nikola: fine. But you’re not going, I am. The burns & radiation sickness won’t affect me. Vampire.
Helen: Yes. I blame myself for that.
Nikola: however, I am going to need someone on the outside to distract the creature long enough for me to get in, grab Wolfgang, and get out…just in case you thought you were getting off easy.

This is what we call a Helen/Nikola make-up session. It’s Nikola’s way of saying “sorry”. I love it.

* * *
Nikola: that’s six months of my life I’ll never get back.
Helen: well, lucky for you there’s a lot more where that came from.
Nikola: huh?
Helen: vampire. Remember?

Hmmm. So does Helen still blame herself for re-vamping him now? Methinks not.

* * *
Helen: ah Nikola. You are full of surprises.

I love how it ended on that note.
So overall – this was a pretty decent episode.
- I love the Magnus/Tesla angst (and makeup sessions).
- I love that we got to see a bit more of Biggie this time. I’ve missed him.
- The episode was fairly Will-light (which is ALWAYS a good thing, IMO)
- And I still think Helen spent her 113 year exile in Hollow Earth and is on some kind of secret mission to get to the bottom of the abnormal uprising in HE.

A Finally Friday This N That

Yay. Friday is finally here.

To make things even better, there are actually 49 hours in this two-day weekend, thanks to the switch back to Standard Time. So, I guess for everyone who's been wishing there were more hours in a day to get things done, then Sunday is a day especially for you.

There are a few things to talk about for this weekend for your tv viewing.

* The first is "John Sandford's Certain Prey" that airs Sunday night on USA network, featuring the adorable Mark Harmon. From the promos, his character doesn't seem much different than Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS, but I still can't wait to watch. And did you catch the great NCIS episode this week with Gibbs, Fornell and their mutual ex-wife?


While we're on the subject of Mark Harmon, I saw Cote de Pablo was on ET yesterday, talking about her list of top hunky Latino guys. I also saw this short Q&A with Cote in a recent issue of People. I like that she loves to get "Down & Dirty".


* Something else to check out this weekend is the series premiere of Hell on Wheels on AMC. I've heard that Christopher Heyerdahl and Ian Tracey are both making appearances in this. That would get me to tune in -- if I actually got that channel, but I don't, so I'll have to hunt that series down the hard way.


* on a final note for this time around, I saw a little blurb about actors doing double duty on different shows, like Ted Danson and Kenny Johnson.

CSI 12x06 Freaks & Geeks

I think this could be considered my least-favorite episode of season 12 so far.

No, it wasn’t the “freaks” or the “geeks” that turned me off. It was the lack of riveting story and substance to go with the intrigue of the "freaks and geeks". I liked the Elephant Man; I liked Zodiac; For some reason, Major Willie reminded me of "the man behind the curtain" in The Wizard of Oz. I liked seeing the other attractions as the CSIs were watching some of the sideshows. Too bad that the story itself had to pale in comparison to the intrigue of the "freak & geek" community.

* what bugged me the most here is that there was no appearance by Sara. The whole "dead body at a 'freak' carnival" seemed very much like a Cath/Sara fanfic story that I’ve read – where the two are at a carnival similar to this one (with a bearded woman, contortionist, sword swallower, etc) and encounter a dead body and investigated the case. That story just stuck too much in my mind as I was trying to watch this one – which didn’t have Sara. Did the writer of this episode take that fanfic story and change out Cath/Sara for Cath/DB? Sure seems like it.

* I think that’s also what bugged me about the Catherine/Morgan scenes. As nice as those scenes were, I was missing Sara’s presence greatly.

* Every time Nick shows up in a scene during this episode, I can’t help but giggle because all that goes through my brain is his comment to Catherine in the Season 2 episode, Slaves of Las Vegas – "Catherine, do you really think that those freaks out there, running around with their little dog collars on getting spanked are the same as you and me?" After all this time, I still can’t see Nick in a place with a deviant nature or lifestyle and not giggle. And I cringed every time Nick said "freak show". Is that really PC? It just sounds so rude when he says it, for some reason.

* Dr Grier – as soon as I heard the daughter met secretly with her aunt, I knew the ending of the whole story. Access to medical supplies/hypodermics…dead giveaway.

Some brighter points –

* strangely enough, I liked Hodges’ excitement in discovering the extra painted layers and hoping to discover a Rembrandt.

* and I totally had to ROFLMAO when Greg picked up the pierced nipple bitten off that was in Willie’s stomach contents. Ewwwww.

* I like Cath/DB together, but wasn’t there a bit of the duo overload in this one? The opening Cath/DB scene was great, though.
C: what are you looking at?
DB: the view. I’ve never seen the city from this perspective before . It’s beautiful. Takes your breath away.
C: yeah. It can take more than that. We used to call this place “the missile base”
DB: The missile base? Care to share why?
C: why did I bring that up? Ugh.
DB: alright, I’ll tell ya what. I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll go first. I met my wife freshman year in college. She was my first & only love.
C: Oh. … seriously? You lost your virginity to your wife?
DB: yep, yep. Life is simple sometimes. Meet the right person & know it’s forever. And that was a boring story, so it’s your turn.
C: Tony Anthopolous, I was 16, too many beers, too little romance, seemed like a good idea at the time.
DB: ah, that’s better. Swept away by the passion of the moment.
C: something like that. Tony was a bad boy, first of many. I liked being wanted, til that got old
DB: you’re a very smart woman, you probably just wanted to be appreciated for that too.
C: yeah.

Yay. We get more about Cath’s "bad boy" phase growing up. I think the last time we heard about one of them was the motorcycle bad boy that she ended up recognizing on the autopsy table.

When they roll the tarp off her, and we see all of the needles in her arms, I got flashes of a scene in one of the Saw movies (Saw II, I think), where the one girl gets thrown into the pit of hypodermic needles and has to scrounge around in that pit and find a hidden key to help them escape. That still makes me shudder even thinking about it.

* as for the Cath/Morgan scenes – I liked the one where we first see Morgan and there’s some continuity and a little wrap-up from the last episode where Morgan was hijacked on the helicopter.
C: Morgan. I heard Russell cleared you to come back. If you need more time…
M: oh, I’m good. I might put off that helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon for a while.
C: that’d probably be smart.

Yes, we can give the writer a Gold Star for bringing continuity & tying up story lines.

* as the scene continues, Cath’s line – "you’d think after all these years, I wouldn’t be surprised by what people are capable of" - brought me back again to the scene with Cath & Nick in Slaves of Las Vegas, where she said basically the same – "There's one thing you learn on this job is that human beings are capable of anything."


* I loved Cath being at the zoo and interrupting Dr Grier’s seminar. It was nice to finally see nice green trees & bushes in the background. You don’t get much of that on this show.

* in the “family meeting” scene (that’s what we’re calling the talk-through-the-evidence scenes with the whole gang scenes – formerly known as the Pow-wows) I like how, on a hunch, Morgan goes to the computer and searches for “human candelabra” while all the rest of the gang are talking out scenarios.

* it’s all about the coffee
DB: do you mind? (shows Cath his coffee mug)
C: I thought you were a coffee snob?
DB: the machine in my office is broke & I’m waiting for parts.
Cath is on the computer researching “Proteus Syndrome”
DB: light reading, I see?
C: satisfying my curiosity.
DB: Nick & I found a whole pharmacy in Rachel Grier’s tent, including lydocane. Henry’s sourcing the stuff for me, also running an expanded tox panel. Maybe one of the other drugs killed her.
C: and we thought some sick bastard tortured the girl. Maybe she OD’d.
DB: Nah, you know, I don’t think so, actually. I mean she certainly wouldn’t have wrapped up her own body & dumped it.
C: no.
DB: there’s something about this Major Willie, he reminds me of…I told you about my parents being singers, right?
C: yeah.
DB: performers, really. When I was a kid, they were part of this traveling show & we went around the country in our van. Anyway, the leader of this group was a guy who called himself Durga Joe, he was a real charismatic, kind of like this Willie guy. He could make people …he could make people do pretty much anything he wanted. That was the problem, at least for my parents. So one day they decided they wanted to leave, and Durga Joe did not like that at all.
C: what happened?
DB: in the middle of the night, we got in our van & we just took off, never really looked back. Anyway, the point is, that this Rachel Grier, she wanted to leave too, you know. She wanted to go home
C: maybe this is about control
DB: Major Willie’s Rambling Carnival, one big happy family.
C: Until somebody wants to leave.

a coffee scene without mention of Greg’s extra-special coffee brew? Shame. It makes me wonder if DB goes down to the morgue on occasion and has a cup or two with Doc and his wonderful coffee machine. (what episode was that again?) Okay, you know I really wasn’t paying much attention to anything other than Cath & her mesmerizing glasses.

* I loved Catherine’s interview with the Elephant Man.
C: You do tell a good story.
EM: Is that what you think this is?
C: I’ve already seen the show, and I’m familiar with the story – girl hates her life, is searching for something, thinks she finds it in a man, a man who needs her, and then…it all goes wrong.

So…is that any kind of hint for a story about Catherine’s life? Is she telling her own story? Maybe she’s comparing her story to Elephant Man’s? Because it does kind of sound like a story of Catherine’s background, searching for something (doing the cocaine & stripping), thinks she finds it in a man (Eddie) and it all goes wrong (yeah, we know how Cath/Eddie turned out).

Elephant Man’s reply was interesting too.
EM: you can’t imagine how the love we had for each other existed, because you’ve never known it. And you never will.

* Cath & DB together again
DB: I don’t know what to believe anymore. I made a mistake about Major Willie. Think I let my past cloud my thinking?
C: well, we’re all guilty of that.
DB: woah, what do you mean? You’re not having doubts about our Elephant Man, are ya?
C: No. No, I mean I don’t like being called out about my lack of romance, but it’s no argument for innocence.
DB: you still think Elephant Man had motive to kill Rachel?
C: yes. Yes, and I think Sylvia was sincere about feeling a connection towards her aunt, which says to me that she wouldn’t do her any harm.
DB: okay, but that doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t go after the man she believed did.
C: Major Willie? But why would she suspect that he killed Rachel? We’re not even convinced ourselves.
DB: Maybe somebody whispered Willie’s name in her ear. Maybe our real killer

They do have a nice rapport between them, don’t they? With these two, I get more of a sense of "equals" than I did with Cath/Gil. It always seemed that through the years, either Cath was one-up on Gil or vice versa. With Cath/DB, they seem to be coming at things from the same side instead of opposite sides like C/G.

* as for the final scene with Cath & Dr Grier - I was disappointed in Cath.
DrG: Sylvia's safe now. She's safe from the monsters in this world.
C: yes, she is.

So did Cath mean, yes, Sylvia's safe from monsters like her mother? Because if she didn't then, Cath should have mentioned how there are "monsters" more frightening than what they'll find at a "Freak & Geek" show.

This N That Halloween Hodgepodge

Wow. It looks like I’ve been AWOL for a … LONG time.

So where have I been?

*cough* *cough* *sniffle* *cough* (suck on a cough drop) *cough* *sniffle* *cough* *cough* *cough*

yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I don’t think I actually coughed up a lung, but it sure felt like it. It’s the annual “changing of the seasons” fall cold – cough, stuffy nose, then runny nose, cough. Not to mention my voice got all scratchy & hoarse as well. Not good for a voice that needs to talk on the radio.

Actually, in the world of This N That, there really hasn’t been much to gab about lately.

Many shows were doing reruns last week because of the World Series, which finally ended. Did my MN Twins win? Oh right, spring training doesn’t start until February (or is it March?). Either way, it’s still too long to wait.

** One of those shows doing reruns last week was Prime Suspect. What the heck was up with that, NBC? It seemed that every night I turned the tv on – no matter the day – PS was showing a rerun. Hey, I love Maria and her wacky ballsy cop character, but even I was a bit sick of seeing the reruns left & right. I can’t see how it really helped the show.

** One show that didn’t rerun is Sanctuary on Friday. Oh, how I loved “Die-Hard” Magnus – in a dress & wedges, no less. She almost reminded me of Maura Isles wearing her Sunday best to a crime scene.

It’s disheartening to see that homophobia is alive & well for a few Sanctuary fans. An impromptu kiss (or two) doesn’t immediately make the character of Helen Magnus bisexual. (even though I really, really wish it was, and that they'd show more) You don’t have to all-of-a-sudden quit liking the character because of that simple kiss. Hell, if I was that shallow, I would have quit watching CSI at the end of season 6 when Grissom & Sara were shown in the bedroom. Instead, I still love Sara – even though I “eww” and “gag” every time the subject of GSR is brought up.
Check out the kiss here:


So, does that kiss imply that Helen is bisexual? Hardly. (yes, I really wish it did, but I know they won't be going there again for a while) It just shows that Helen is an open-minded woman. It was an impromptu kiss (or two) with a woman whom I’m guessing hasn’t been kissed, or allowed herself to feel that kind of emotion, in a very long time. Was it a gimmick for the show? Hell no. This show has always thought "outside the box" and not followed everyone else. Yes, they've done vampires, zombies, and the other cliche 'abnormals', but they always put a Sanctuary twist on it. Some viewers didn’t see the kiss coming (which is actually a great thing). I did. Even though I knew ahead of time that “the kiss” would be coming (because of a behind-the-scenes promo) I could see it in the story line as things progressed. Charlotte Benoit wasn’t a person used to being in life-and-death situations. Helen Magnus is. Helen became a hero in Charlotte’s eyes because of Helen’s heroic efforts to keep them all alive and foil the bad guys. She even tells Helen that what she did was “Die-Hard” and that she was a doctor of “ass kicking”. At the end, when Helen told Charlotte she wasn’t staying, Charlotte acted on impulse and gave Helen a quick kiss. Helen’s reaction shows that it’s been a very long time since she’s been kissed in such a way. After all, we know Helen recently came back from 113 years of hiding from the world. I can’t imagine she had many kisses during that time, since she couldn’t tell anyone who or where she was as to not change the timeline.

Anyway, I digress…for now.

** Hey y’all, it’s Halloween.

I never seem to get into the spirit of the holiday – mainly because I always work weeknights, so am never home to hand out candy. On years where Halloween is on a weekend, I still keep my lights off & hibernate somewhere that’s away from the ghouls & goblins. I just can’t get into the mood for the holiday anymore, it seems. I used to love it when I was a kid. We’d go trick-or-treating around the whole town, which probably took less than an hour (yes, we’re talking VERY small town of about 100 people). I loved getting the cool candy, but always gave the apples and popcorn balls to someone else. Ewww. Halloween is for CANDY, not health food. Good grief. Now I just buy my favorite candy (with the excuse that they’re usually on sale) so I can eat them myself. There’s Butterfinger, Twix, Nestle Crunch, Reese’s Peanut Butter bars (yes, they come in BARS now) and even some boxes of Cracker Jacks. I’m set for the rest of the…month.

At least after tonight – or maybe the end of the week – all of the scary movies will be shelved for another year. Then we can look forward to the barrage of Holiday movies. Oy. The other day I was looking at a list of upcoming Holiday movies that the Hallmark Channel has planned. I think there’s a new movie premiere each Saturday & Sunday in the next two months.


** I got a small start on my Top Albums of 2011 list so far. I didn’t realize how crappy the music releases were for this year. I’ve got maybe a small handful that I’d put on the top 10, but the rest are mediocre hodgepodge.

Friday This N That

It’s a Friday! You know what that means.

It’s Sanctuary Friday.

Normally, that would make me giddy with excitement. However, the excitement level is toned down a bit this week as I’m anticipating a Magnus-lite episode. Yes, the Catherine Willows Theory will be used to the full extent for this one.

Why, you ask?

Last week’s season opener had us picking up where season 3 ended and following Helen Magnus back in time to 1898, trying to stop Adam Worth from making sure his daughter stays alive – thus altering the timeline in a big way. Excellent episode! I love the ones where we see Helen in the past, especially if she's with other members of The Five. But this week, we also pick up where season 3 ended, except this time, we’re following Will, Kate, Henry & Biggie’s struggle against the invasion of the abnormals from Hollow Earth.

The main reason to watch this episode is that it's being directed by Amanda Tapping. I like getting to see what kind of vision AT has for each scene and how she's going to bring her style to the forefront (i.e. moving cameras and lots of motion) Is it bad that I'm more excited to watch the subtleties of the directing aspect of this episode than the actual story itself? From past experience, (like the episode “one night”, which Amanda also directed) Will-centric episodes basically suck. It's kind of like Nick-centric CSI episodes. They bore me to tears. Will just doesn’t have the strength to carry an episode. He needs to stop his whining and grow a pair. Even in scenes with Magnus, he always comes across as a whiny brat. And the attempted humor just makes things worse. Robin Dunne is good at humor (although the continuous pants-dropping has become very annoying), Will Zimmerman is not. I can only hope that there is lots of Biggie, Kate & Henry, or even Declan, Nikola, or...anyone but Will.


Since today is Friday, that means yesterday was Thursday. Wow. Now how did I figure that out? I guess that college algebra I took a lifetime ago is paying off finally. It was a complex equation to figure out, for sure.

Last night’s schedule started with Charlie’s Angels. Another decent episode, but I still cringe a bit at some of the acting – or “attempted” acting. And Bosley STILL annoys the hell out of me. On the bright side, NEXT WEEK is the episode with Dina Meyer. Finally. I was bummed that I didn’t see her in the previews. I’m also still bummed that they didn’t cast her as one of the Angels to begin with.

(-added-)Just heard the news that the show has now been cancelled. At least they're going to air the remainder of the episodes that have been shot, so I'll get to see Dina's episode next week. You take the good, you take the bad...

The surprise of the night last night was The Secret Circle. There was LOTS of Ashley Crow screen time!! Yay. I wasn't expecting that. It’s about time. And she even got to do some witchy spells. I love that she finally has an idea of what’s going on with the “circle” of teenagers. Now I hope they bring out more about the adult “circle”. I swear that demon thingy slithering just under the skin reminded me so much of the Stargate SG1 episode, “Legacy”. I was almost expecting to see a whitish transparent demon come out of the infected person in last night’s episode as well. That would have been the ultimate ripoff.

The Thursday night schedule ended with the Sarcasm Queen, Jane Timoney, on Prime Suspect. She’s so over-the-top sometimes that it even brings out more of the humor. As I was watching last night, I couldn’t help but think of how cool it would be to have Jane Timoney & Jane Rizzoli (from Rizzoli & Isles) teaming up as partners. Oh, how the sarcasm would roll. We could call them the “Jane Gang.” We’d have J-Tim & J-Rizz.

Thursday This n That

I still haven’t decided if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that there’s now a day between Marg on CSI and Amanda on Sanctuary. That almost makes Thursdays a day of nothing to do (is that EVER possible?)

Okay, so there are a few shows tonight –

* Charlie’s Angels I’m only casually watching yet. And still ANOTHER week to go before the episode with Dina Meyer. Damn, it seems like the wait has been a year instead of a month or two.

* The Secret Circle is the second show on the schedule for tonight. I’m actually kind of enjoying the show (as a casual watcher yet) even though Ashley Crow really isn’t on much at all. I’m still holding hope that will change, but I have my doubts. This show also just got a full-season pickup.

* the final show on tonight’s schedule is Prime Suspect. It’s great to hear that it got the go-ahead for 6 more scripts yesterday. Way to go, Maria!

I think my luck is changing since - so far - my favorite new shows aren't getting cancelled after a couple episodes these days. I don't think my tastes are changing. I think everyone else is finally figuring out the greatness of my taste in shows.

Right.

On to more This n That –

Got the new issue of People in today’s mailbox. I was pleased to see Pauley’s bakery get a bit of attention. I might have to try that Magic Bar recipe.


Ellen & Portia’s home is on the market? Guess I don’t quite have enough money for that sale. I love the big goofy picture they have on the wall. It’s definitely an attention-getter.

CSI 12x04 Maid Man

We're back for another round of the Moonbeam-led CSI gang from the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

Seeing the words “written by: Dustin Lee Abraham” always makes me put the Catherine Willows Theory into full force before starting to watch the episode. Those words bring visions of over-the-top gangsters, nauseating hip-hop references, over-the-top Vegas bluster, and lots of other eye-rolling notions. Thus, expect the worst & hope for the best. That’s the CWT, my friends. And it’s done wonders for many a CSI episode in the past five seasons.

Former Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman was highlighted in the episode, playing himself and getting shot at the museum. I don’t think that really means anything to anyone other than Vegas residents. But again, since it’s a DLA-written episode, I’ve got to expect it. I find myself flashing back to Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles in the “what’s the big whoop?” scene.

So, on to the show :

* We start out at the grand opening of the mob museum. Former Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is in attendance, as are DB and Conrad Ecklie. They’re dressed “to the nines”.
DB: the story of the mob is the story of America. Ellis Island to Brooklyn, Chicago, Kansas City, finally Vegas. Ticket to the American Dream.
CE: ha. My great grandfather came from Wales. He didn’t become a gangster, he drove a bread truck.
DB: (reads from an exhibit) weapons & personal items on loan from the Las Vegas Police Department. That’s one way to empty your evidence vault.
CE: yeah, don’t get me started.

Great to see Conrad to begin things tonight, and looking mighty spiffy as well.

* a reporter is interviewing the former mayor, asking about stereotyping the mob. Catherine (looking mighty fine as well) is looking at an exhibit. Greg comes up to her.
G: congratulations.
C: hmm?
G: Oscar put your dad on the Spilotro exhibit.
We see a pic of Sam with another guy.
C: forgot how handsome he was.
DB comes up to them.
DB: goodfellas daughter turns CSI. That’s an amazing story.
C: No, Sam wasn’t a “goodfella”.
G: no, he was a “playfella”. When a goodfella wanted to party, Sam was the go-to guy, he provided the women, the supplies, the favors, the security…and those same goodfellas hired Sam to run their casinos. He was connected, but no killer.
C: nice spin, Greg. Sam…well, all these guys, they were no angels, but…family did come first and they knew how to provide.
G: No kiddin’. Sam gave her a casino. I didn’t even get the family wagon.
C: (to DB) are you here with your wife?
DB: uh, yeah. Yeah, uh my work wife. Ecklie’s over, uh…

LMAO Ecklie is DB’s “work wife”? That’s hilarious. I figured there’d be a Sam mention (I really still miss not having Scott Wilson on the show anymore) as well as a mention of Cath getting a casino, and Greg rambling on about Vegas mob history. Not two minutes into the episode and we already have them all. And I love how Greg tried to put a positive spin on Sam, to make him sound cooler than a regular “goodfella”, and not make Catherine out to be a mobster’s daughter.

* Greg is geeking out over the fact that three mob widows are all talking with each other.
DB: why are we whispering?
G: out of respect for the pack of mob widows. We’ve got Mrs Tony “Revolvers” Meli, Mrs Vinnie “whack job” Sapphire, and Mrs Stu “Greenbacks” Greenburg. Together. Unbelievable.
DB: why is that unbelievable?
G: Well, “Whackjob” was Lou Gedda’s hit man. He whacked Greenburg while he was at his own diamond anniversary, and popped Meli while he was at the cardiologist.
DB: and Whackjob?
C: got arrested for all that whacking. Jumped bail. No one’s seen him in 20 years
DB: Well, it’s nice to see the wives have stayed in touch.

I love how Cath seems amused listening to Greg ramble on with the mob stories. It makes me wonder how much input he got from Cath’s mom, Lily, for his book. Oh, and from Cath’s comment, who’s expecting “Whackjob” to make a reappearance at some point in this episode? Oh, wait. He’s not in the credits, so I’ll guess his wife will play a major role here.

* fake gunshots rein as an attention-getter for Oscar Goodman’s speech. Sheriff Sherry Liston stands behind him as he speaks. As he ends his speech with a toast, the fake gunshots rein again, this time accompanied by real gunshots, which shoot the glass in his hand, as well as his torso.

Raise your hand if you DIDN’T see that coming. Yeah, I thought so. So predictable, as CSI has become in the past few seasons.


* Ecklie is trying to direct the police in doing their jobs. He’s pressured by the Sheriff to get the case solved quickly. He turns and walks to DB, Cath & Greg. It seems that the mayor will be okay. Greg surmises it may have been a publicity stunt by the mayor. Ecklie dismisses the idea, saying that he would have been informed if it had been so. Ecklie gets a phone call & turns away. DB gathers his two CSIs and they discuss what shots they heard. DB recalls four coming from one side. They walk that way & he finds a .38 Colt revolver. Catherine notes there were two more shots coming from the other side. DB tells Greg to get his kit & start processing, while he & Catherine “take a walk” to the other side. A mobster figure is tipped over from the gunshots.
C: somebody shot Lou Gedda…again.

LOL awww. That makes me miss Warrick all over again.



* Cath takes a bullet out of the Gedda figure. She surmises a .38. They surmise that there were two shooters, who went out through the back door. So, they take another “walk” out the back and find a dead body. The security guard, shot up the nose. Cath checks his gun, which is a Smith & Wesson 38 special.
C: He got two shots off before he snorted a bullet.
DB finds a tire impression in water. He lays a dollar bill beside the tread before taking a pic of it with his phone. Then he takes a pic of Catherine as she’s standing in her dress next to the dead body.
DB: hold still
C: what are you doing?
DB: trust me. You’re gonna wanna remember the night they shot Oscar Goodman. … (looks at his phone) You look great.

And the humor just keeps coming. I love seeing Cath doing CSI stuff while all gussied up and holding a hand purse. DB doesn’t look so bad himself. I was also surprised to see the open lasting 7 minutes. Don’t think we’ve had that for a while.


* Nick & Morgan are coming to a crime scene at a hotel room. Morgan’s grumbling about not being on the “big” case. Nick gives her the “bright side” that she gets to work with him. Brass shows them to the dead body – a housekeeper for that particular suite. She’s got a rod stuck through her eye. Ouch. Super Dave puts TOD three hours ago. Morgan asks who the suite is registered to.
B: Prince Jalil Najib
M: rapper? East coast or west coast
Brass’ phone rings
B: more uh, Middle East (to phone) yeah Brass, go ahead. .. Okay, be right there. (hangs up) Well, my Prince awaits…at the gaming table of course. So, I’ll practice my curtsey on the way to the elevator.

LOL Jimmy Boy, where have you been? I’ve really missed the Brass sarcasm that had to be reigned in for the sake of Raskell for the past 3 seasons. This is quite refreshing.

* Nick & Morgan speculate the Prince raped the housekeeper and didn’t like it when she fought back

* back at the museum, Greg is baffled that he can only find one bullet, the one that went through the mayor’s martini glass. So DB simulates the mayor getting shot. As he’s lying on the floor, he asks Greg for a flashlight. When he finds something, he also asks Greg for a glove. He picks up a ‘mushroom’ bullet under the podium.

Can someone say “bullet proof vest”?

* In the hospital, Goodman is gloating that his “obituary can wait” and that he’s front page – in both of the papers. DB checks the mayor’s suit. It’s made of bullet proof material. DB asks him who he was afraid of. Goodman says he wasn’t afraid, just prepared.

okay, so I was close. Suit, not vest. Same difference.


* as Morgan continues to process her scene, she sees another housekeeper sniffling nearby while working another room. The woman was a friend of Maria, the dead housekeeper – who was a mother, supporting her husband & four kids. The lady said the party was loud and that the Prince was always very demanding. He was always in the same suite and always asking for Maria, calling her up to 20 times.

* Back at the room, Nick is still processing. He sees a small recording box with a camera, rigged to transmit data to a remote location. He tells Morgan to print “His Majesty”. She doesn’t seem too thrilled.


* In the morgue, Doc is slicing through the brain (eww) as Cath walks in.
D: I hear I almost had our mayor on my table.
C: sorry, Doc. Not his time.
D: don’t be sorry. I voted for him three times, four if you count his wife. He’s done great things for our town.
C: oh, I agree… mostly.
Cath looks at the body.
C: So, I can guess COD, gunshot to the nose. Anything else interesting?
D: Yes (peels the head back). Sooting, stippling, lead smoke around the entry point. Shooter was less than a foot away.
C: so the guard almost caught him.
D: well, he definitely caught a bullet.
C: a .38, I presume. Match my growing collection.
Doc takes the bullet from the brain.
D: huh, your .38 put on some weight. (he gives it to Cath)
C: that looks like a .44. … can’t wait to tell Ecklie. We’ve got three shooters.

Dun Dun Dun. Oh, mobster wannabes & their guns – or their wives.


* Brass is talking to the Prince. He says he doesn’t know the woman when Brass shows him the picture of her. Morgan comes in to take his prints. He says he went from the party to the spa to the casino.
M: ready captain.
B: this is CSI Brody.
M: I’m hired to take your prints & DNA.
P: Didn’t I see you at the Marquee Day Club yesterday? Yeah. Topless.
M: remove your watch & jewelry.
P: (to Brass) do you have a male assistant?
M: if it’ll make you feel more comfortable, I’ll let you give me $1,000 when were finished.
He takes off the watch & jewelry. Then Morgan asks him to open his mouth so she can take a DNA swab. He doesn’t move.
M: I get paid by the hour.
The Prince looks at Brass, then back to her and opens his mouth.

Hmmm, so was the topless thing true, or just something to try & rattle Morgan?

* the new weapons tech (what is her name?) comes to DB’s office
XG: word is, you like stories. I’ve got a good one.
DB: I’m on the edge of my seat.
XG: .38 colt dumped at the museum is definitely the gun that shot Oscar Goodman. Ran the test fires through IBIS, gun’s connected to seven prior shootings, and here’s your Mickey Spillane – all seven date back to the ‘80s.
DB: wow. Tough decade for Italian surnames. Will you excuse me for just a second? (he yells) GREG. (now talks softer to the tech) Tell me one more time, how do you pronounce your name?
XG: See-o-mara.
DB: Seeomara.
Greg comes in.
G: What did I do?
DB: Do you know any of these guys? (hands him the folder with the names of the previous murders from the gun)
G: Know ‘em? It’s like a Who’s Who of Who’s Dead. Joey Scarlotta – Sold Gedda his strip joint, capped the day the deal closed; Vinnie “the Moose” Mooseti – Gedda’s mechanic, until the brakes were put on him, Tommy “Capicola” Cappiletti – a butcher, Gedda’s ex-brother-in-law..
DB: I got it, I got it. He was “exed”. Right?
XG: All seven shootings were on the Colt.
G: well, that doesn’t mean that everybody didn’t know who did them. It was Gedda’s hit man, Vinnie Sapphire.
XG: Alright, True Crime, you know so much…what’s his last known?
G: Unknown. Sapphire’s been missing for the last 20 years.
DB: yeah, well, his wife’s not.
G: I’ll tell Brass. Bring her in.
DB: Good work, now go away.


Hey, she finally has a name. Xiomara Garcia. Yeah, okay. That’s a mouthful and I probably won’t remember that very easily. Okay, just a question – the memorabilia that the LVPD gave to the museum ‘on loan’ for the exhibit, did they keep records of what they gave them…and were any of the pieces guns? Just a thought.


* Apparently Mrs Sapphire knows Brass.
JS: So, Brassy, what’s with the sitdown? You finally find Vinnie?
B: no, but we found his gun.
JS: oh, well he always liked them bright & shiny, just like his bimbos.
B: well, this ‘bright & shiny’ shot Oscar Goodman last night. I’m thinking maybe Vinnie came home.
JS: well, if he came home, he didn’t come home to me. But if there’s anything that would bring Vinnie back from the dead, it’s Oscar Goodman’s mob museum. No induction for Vinnie, after all he did.
B: that is a crime. And maybe a motive to put a couple holes in the mayor. But he had help.
JS: well don’t look at me, I like Oscar.
B: yeah
JS: I contributed to his campaigns. Now Vinnie, he felt different. And for good reason, if you remember.
B: Oscar refused to rep him even when Vinnie was facing the needle
JS: gave him some BS excuse about looking for the good in his clients & not seeing any in Vinnie. I mean, what kind of a lawyer is that?
B: you’re right. Good guys don’t need lawyers. … what about you?
JS: look, Vinnie bailed on me and our marriage after 20 years. If he walked in this room right now, I’d tell him the same thing I’d tell you. Just stuff it. …I’ll give you a tip. If that bastard needed help with anything like taking out the mayor, you should do what Vinnie always did…look for a new piece of ass.
B: I just never understood how Vinnie could leave you.
JS: that’s because you’re a gentleman. … look I’ve gotta get back to my crap job. If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Tom’s Bar on the Corbel, why don’t you stop in. I’ll refill that bottle of whiskey you keep in your drawer

Oooh, Brassy, Brassy. He’s got a way with the ladies, doesn’t he? Didn’t Cath say in “the List” that Brass used to be quite the ladies’ man? I like when he’s got someone to play off with history between them. That’s why I miss the great Cath/Brass moments as well. Oh, and remember Greg’s mention of the three mob wives together at the museum? I have a feeling that’ll somehow come up again.


* Cath comes into the AV lab where Hodges is looking at video from the street outside the museum.
C: Hodges.
H: hey. I have a 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. They used one of these in the movie, Goodfellas. This one starred in circling the museum for about an hour last night.
C: Sam used to have one just like it. I took my driving test in it. Couldn’t fail.
H: I failed. Twice. Still get nightmares about all those cones.
C: so, um, what about the…tire impressions in the alley.
H: oh, well here’s where we enter the world of “oddfellas” – or more precisely, Detroit. Tire impressions were made by bias plies, same specs as you would find in factory tires in the ’79 Caddie. Bet you can’t guess what kind of car Vinnie drove.
C: a ’79 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
H: we confirmed that with DMV, and… plate’s a match too.
C: Vinnie’s car, Vinnie’s gun, (sees a person driving the car)
H: Vinnie’s suit & hat?
C: Vinnie’s back.

Hodges is doing A/V now too? Oy. Anyway, I was disappointed that there were no real funny Cath/Hodges one-liners & comebacks. I did love that we got another Sam reference. Now if only Lily would show up. I’m guessing that the person in the car isn’t really Vinnie. One of the mob widows or accomplice?


* Morgan & Nick are going over their evidence. No rape on the housekeeper, Maria. Nick got the results of the small video camera, which was bought at a store in Henderson using cash. He got some partial prints and Mandy is running them. Morgan has her mind sent on the Prince doing the murder.

I hadn’t noticed before, but Nick is wearing a nice purple shirt.

* they go into the lab where Mandy is doing the prints. Nick looks over her shoulder at the screen
Mandy: You’re hovering again.
N: Oh, I’m sorry. We both wore purple today, we’re on the same page.
Mandy: Sweet talk never works on me.
Morgan: I’m not so sweet.
Mandy: oh, I like you.
Mandy types a few more keys & gets a hit on the print.
Mandy (to Nick) you may approach the AFIS.

Ha. Didn’t I just mention the purple shirt? Anyway, sweet talk may not work on Mandy, but we know that singing definitely works on Mandy. I love how territorial she gets of her workspace.

* The hit on the prints is Matthew Lapaz. He was a former valet at the hotel. Quit three weeks ago. Nick interrogates him. He says he isn’t selling drugs anymore. After Nick tries to get him to confess to the tapes, the kid asks for a lawyer.

Oy. Another interrogation with just a CSI and no detective. This has become annoying… and boring with all of the one-on-one interrogations (well, except for Brass’ earlier)


* DB checks in with Greg, who is processing the back entrance where the security guy was killed. Greg surmises that maybe the driver of the getaway car had the .44 and shot the guard. DB gets an idea.
DB: go me a favor. Shoot me in the face.
G: what?
DB: shoot me in the face, pretend gun, you know, about a foot away and don’t miss.
G: you’re the boss.
Greg walks up to him with his hand in “pretend gun” style. Before he gets to ‘shoot’, DB gets the jump on him.
DB: bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
G: wasn’t even ready.
DB: Haha. That’s the point. We’re done here. You can wrap it up. Bullets aren’t out here. They’re not in the next county. They’re not in Vinnie Sapphire either. Or in his car (he walks away) hey, thank you. That was fun.

Oookay. As fun as DB can be, he can also become annoying. So, what’s DB’s big hunch now? I’m gonna guess that the security guard was shot on the assailants’ way out, not the way in, right? I’m guessing those would be the final two shots that Cath heard. Or the security guard was actually the driver, and was capped by the assailants as they ran out to the car & left. I still think the shooters were the ladies – and they didn’t leave the building, right?


* Nick & Morgan discuss findings from the tapes. They all have time & date stamps. The camera is pointed at the nightstand & not the bed. It’s actually pointed at the safe that’s behind the curtain. They see video of a housekeeper opening a safe and taking out a watch that was inside, and returning it with a fake one. So they surmise that Lapaz & Maria were running a counterfeiting scam.

* Back at PD, Brass & Morgan tell the Prince about being scammed with counterfeit watches. He smashes the watch on the table in anger.
M: that’s evidence
B: and that was a lot of anger
P: until this moment, I had no idea that no one had stolen anything from me. Even if I did, do you really think I’d kill the maid over a watch?
B: yes, I do. You know, we checked your, uh, key card logs from the penthouse suite. You came back from the spa at 2:52am. That is four minutes after Maria Garza, the maid, entered to clean it.
P: so I came back to change before going to the casino. I was there for a minute, at most. If the maid was in the suite, maybe she was in another room. I did not see her.
M: I think you did. And I think you saw her hand in the cookie jar. Did something about it.
The Prince looks at the picture of the dead maid with the stick in her eye.
P: I know you think I’m a pig, that I treat those that serve me like dirt, but I’d never take a life. And I’d never leave anyone like this.

Awww he seems so sweet & innocent, doesn’t he? This case is reminding me of Catherine’s case in season 7’s “Toe Tags”, where the cop was found dead in the rich foreign guy’s bathtub. oh, and Brass is on BOTH cases? I guess they're really hard-up for detectives these days, huh? Not that I'm complaining about the extra Brass screen time, mind you.


* DB comes to the weapons lab where Xiomara is processing the gun.
DB: oh hey
XG: oh hey boss, got your results, and another story.
DB: oh no, let me go first this time. So a museum security guard fires two shots from a .38 during an attempt on a mayor. That guard’s found later shot with a .44 outside in the alley. Now the assumption is that he engaged the badguys, but CSIs don’t find any bullets outside. But they do find two unaccounted .38 bullets inside
XG: accounted for now.
DB: exactly. So the .38s in the Gedda exhibit came from the guard’s gun.
XG: nicely done. I got there through ballistics. How’d you get there.
DB: ummm, I shot Greg. I-I gotta go. Sorry. (walks out the door) thank you. That was great. (yells) HEY CATHERINE. CATHERINE.

Oookay. Isn’t that something like what I said a moment ago? Or something close? But darn, I was really looking forward to hearing another story from Xiomara.


* Cath & DB are back at the museum. Cath is taking more pics of the scene as she & DB talk it out.
DB: so our security guard walks right up to the bad guy & lets himself get shot in the face without returning fire. Right? Now that tells me that he knew the shooter. It also tells me he was probably in on it with Vinnie.
C: okay, so while Vinnie was shooting the mayor from over there, the security guard got off two shots from here at an upward angle. The only thing he had a prayer of hitting was Gedda or the ceiling. What was he aiming at? It wasn’t the mayor.
DB: well maybe he hit what he was aiming it.
C: Gedda?
DB: no, two shots would dice up all of the safety glass. I’m thinking maybe this whole thing was a two-fer. Shooting the mayor and shoot out the exhibit. Could be Vinnie or the guard wanted something inside it.
C: but what?
DB: well, whatever it was, it was worth a guard’s life.

Is anyone else still chuckling at seeing the statue of Gedda with two big bullet evidence rods sticking through him? A fitting picture, methinks. I just had a funny thought. Maybe it was Warrick’s ghost coming back to get revenge on Gedda – even if he is just a statue. Okay, sorry. Sorry. Anyway, I do enjoy the more ‘mature’ minds of Cath & DB working together. I can just picture the numerous times Cath has done the amused (or annoyed) eyeroll at things DB has done in his short time here. I’m guessing Greg will be telling them all about being “shot” by DB and how he doesn’t “play fair”.


* Nick & Morgan are once again discussing theories (is this case over yet?) so they go back through the Prince’s list of demands from the hotel staff. Nick does an ALS test on the towels from the crime scene. They weren’t “new” as they had the “Eclipse” mark on them, suggesting they weren’t from Maria’s cart. So they now talk to the other maid that Morgan had talked to earlier – the friend of Maria, Paulette Vasquez. She had reported that she was four towels short in her cart. Nick shows her a picture of the maid’s hand opening the safe. It was her hand, not Maria’s. She said the keycard lock records would show that she never went into that suite. Morgan produces a bag full of jewelry, which was found at her house. She finally tells them the door was already open and she waited until Maria had gone into the other bedroom. Maria caught her taking from the safe. She offered her a cut of the deal, but Maria threatened to go to the head of housekeeping and report her. They fought and she stabbed Maria in the eye.
PV: I clean after people every day. The rich, they don’t see me. They don’t thank me. They only leave nothing but their garbage. The Prince with all his money, all his lawyers, he has people to take care of him. I have no one to take care of me. I have to take care of myself.

Oh, boo-hoo.


* Conrad, Cath, DB and Greg are in the layout room going over the remaining evidence.
CE: the guard got himself killed over this, an old journal?
DB: the journal is the only thing missing from the Gedda exhibit.
CE: mobster journals is good for law enforcement.
CW: well, it’s mostly blank except for the last two pages.
G: Which aren’t exactly “dear diary” entries.
CE: what are they?
G: a ‘to do’ list. “do” as in whack.
CE: I assume a check means ‘done’.
DB: Dead, or presumed dead, yeah.
CE: Alright, so Vinnie Sapphire comes back to town, shoots Oscar Goodman to settle the score, and then steals Gedda’s hitlist. Why? He was Gedda’s hitman, he knows all there names.
DB: all except the last one here.
CE: Cesare Matrontonio
CW: yeah, no birth certificate. Guy never existed. What’s he doing on a hit list?
Ecklie’s phone rings. It’s Brass. They’ve found Vinnie’s car at a motel off Boulder highway.

As much as I’d like to enjoy a scene like this with Cath, Ecklie, Greg & DB, it’s gotten to the point where I’ve become sick of the mention of mobsters & hitlists. Is this done yet?


* So, its Uni’s a plenty, along with Brass, and Cath, who’s holding back while the unis bust open the door. Brass finds a woman dead on the bed. There’s a hat on the bed as well.
B: oh man. Hat on a bed, always bad luck. …all clear Catherine. I’ve got female db and it ain’t Vinnie.
Cath picks up a .44 gun from the floor. There are feathers around as well, so looks like the woman was shot through a pillow. Brass picks up a pillow with a gunshot through it. (Oy, am I super observant tonight, or what?)
C: this looks like the suit that was circling the museum in the Caddie.
B: I’ve got an ID. Monique Roberts.
C: Monique Roberts? I know her, she was a friend of Sam’s. … and a lot of his friends.
B: well, if she was with Vinnie, maybe she was on the lam with him.
C: and if that’s her .44 maybe she was the getaway driver.
B: well, Vinnie obviously wanted us chasing the wrong Vinnie, the girl Vinnie. If we caught her, we wouldn’t catch him.
C: well, he caught her for us.
B: well, looks like Vinnie left in a hurry, he left his suits, his car, and his girlfriend.
C: I don’t see Gedda’s journal.
B: no journal, no Vinnie. Hey, I’m getting a little sick & tired of this clown being two steps ahead of us.

Now THAT’S the Cath/Brass scenes that I love, and that I’ve missed for a long time. And have I mentioned how much I love the lady in red? She always shines in red, even with the vest on. It’s also great to hear a third Sam mention here as well. I wonder how good of a “friend” of Sam’s the lady was. I’m still thinking there’s a mob widow involved in this.

* Morgan brings the prince the bag of his stolen watches.
P: I understand you’ve caught the person responsible for the housekeeper’s murder.
M: that’s right.
P: this…woman, Maria Garza, she lost her life for this. Someone with nothing gave everything…for me. (he pulls out an envelope from his pocket) Please give this to her family.
The prince walks away and Morgan opens the envelope. It’s a check for $100,000.

I think all of the CSIs have had that same moment that Morgan just had. Must be a standard ritual as a character on this show.

* DB is in his office and bouncing a basketball. He hollers for Greg. (That’s really becoming annoying.) As expected, Greg comes running. DB asks Greg, since there was no birth certificate for Cesare Mastrontonio, did he check for a death certificate. He didn’t. DB says if he has a death certificate, they can find out where he’s buried and they can “pay their respects”. So the two go to the crematorium, or…whatever that place is called. They hear glass breaking and a woman screaming. It’s Mrs Sapphire, standing in front of Cesare Mastrontonio’s tomb, shrine, whatever the hell that is. DB takes a feather from her hair.

Yeah, like I didn’t see that coming when Cath found the gun in the motel room floor. Duh. And I’m guessing Cesare Mastrontonio is actually Vinnie, right?

* Brass gets to go another round with Mrs Sapphire. He says they found her prints on the gun from the motel room and GSR on her hands, (don’t remind me of those three letters again, please) and a feather in her hair. Guess that’s the triple threat, huh?
B: why did you kill her, Joanna?
JS: When Vinnie got pinched, he said ‘don’t worry, Oscar will get me off.’ Well, that didn’t happen. So when he ran, he said, ‘don’t worry, there’s plenty of money.’ Yeah, there was…in his suitcase next to him on the lap of that bimbo as his Coupe de Ville flew the coop.
B: So you got her back. Did you get Vinnie back too?
JS: no. God whacked Vinnie. About 5 months ago, I get a call from this bimbo, Monique. I hadn’t talked to the bitch in 20 years, but she calls me & she says that Vinnie just died of cancer. She tossed his body into Lake Meade, because she couldn’t afford a funeral. She was broke. She figured I’d be broke too. So that’s when I got into bed with the bitch.

Never underestimate the power of a woman scorned. Even moreso when it’s a mob widow.

* DB is talking to his “work wife” (that’d be Ecklie) and the lady Sheriff.
DB: So, on his death bed, Vinnie tells Monique, the mistress, all about Lou Gedda’s stash of cash, his “rainy day fund”
CE: and tells her how to find it?
DB: yeah, the last name on the hitlist, right, but of course, that list has been buried in the police evidence vault for, like, years
SL: until Oscar got it out of evidence and put in the museum
CE: and then he goes from being behind bars to being behind glass.
DB: so Joanna starts fishing around for an invite to the museum while Monique starts coming on to the guard. That poor guy, he had no idea they were thinking about killing the mayor. He was just in it for the money.
SL: the wife told you all of this at the mausoleum?
DB: she was in a …pretty vulnerable state.

Mausoleum. Ah. That’s the word I was looking for. It was on the tip of my tongue, but couldn’t spit it out. Thank you for the help.

* Brass & Joanna continue the interrogation
B: why make the move on Oscar?
JS: cuz he ruined my marriage. You know, Vinnie was a good earner. If Oscar’d taken the case, he’d a got Vinnie off and he wouldn’t have run off with his Gamorah. So Oscar got what he deserved. …well, almost. … damn suit.

Don’tcha know ‘almost’ doesn’t count – only in horseshoes & hand grenades… and maybe mobster stories.

* Ecklie still needs some answers.
CE: did she happen to explain why Monique was running around wearing Vinnie’s clothes?
DB: same reason why they got his car & gun out of mothballs, they were setting him up. To quote the wife, “the perfect fall guy is a dead guy”. I mean, that’s brilliant.
SL: well, sure as hell fell for it. So what happened to Gedda’s stash of cash?
DB: kind of hard to say, but the previous manager of the mortuary retired about five years ago to a villa in St Bart’s. So, I’m thinking…
Goodman comes walking through the door. Ecklie addresses him
CE: Mr Mayor
OG: yes?
CE: can I help you?
OG: I’m here to see my client.
SL: your client, who’s that?
OG: Joanna.
DB: but, your honor, she tried to kill you.
OG: I know.
CE: Sir, she tried to KILL you.
OG: I know, but she’s entitled to a defense, isn’t she? This is America.
Oscar walks away.
CE: if I ever get in trouble, I want that guy defending me.
DB: I ever get in trouble, I want his suit.

Nice zinger to end with, but… but… but, this was a mob story, and we spent the final 6 or 7 scenes of the episode with Brass, Joanna, DB, Ecklie, the Sheriff, and Oscar – instead of the ones who should have been highlighted – like Cath & Greg?

How TOTALLY disappointing.

I was going to say that the Catherine Willows Theory worked to perfection again - as I was pleasantly surprised for the first 3/4 of the episode, but the underwhelming ending kind of brought things down into the "fairly disappointed" category.

Thanks, DLA for ruining what was a very promising episode with a very underwhelming ending. Who cares about Oscar? We wanted some resolution with Cath & Greg - being a mob story & all. Sheesh.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Really missed Sara in this one. I know she was featured in the last episode, but we could have at least seen her doing something – even if it was as a lab tech.

I loved the Sam references. I wished we could have had an appearance from Lily at the museum opening. Then again, that would have been continuity. And we all know how that is the achilles heel for this show through the years. Maybe Anita Gillette wasn’t available, but it would have been nice to at least have a reference to the character.

It was also great to hear Greg rambling about the old Vegas mob history. Will we ever hear more about his Vegas book?

All the talk about Gedda, and seeing his statue, made me yearn for the good old Warrick days. I must say, it’s a fitting end for the Gedda “statue”, getting its just rewards.

I loved seeing Conrad in the opening, and even getting a peek at the political BS he has to go through with the Sheriff & being her “whipping boy”.

Hooray for the new weapons tech getting more screen time. The name, I ‘m not too sure about yet, but I LOVE the character.

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard “boss” mentioned so many times in one episode for this show. Did anyone ever call Gil or Cath “boss” when they were in charge? I’m not liking that aspect. Oh, and I really, really hate the shouting he does all the time in the lab. A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G. The lab is a place of business, not the family home where you holler for the kid to come downstairs because dinner’s ready. I get the feeling that, while DB is a fun character – and so much more enjoyable to watch than Ray Langston – the extreme quirkiness of the character might actually get to become annoying after a while.

The Morgan/Nick case - *yawn* hey, at least it gave us more screen time for Morgan, whom I’m enjoying so far. Just wish she would get some time with Catherine

Guest stars:
Marc Vann as Conrad Ecklie
Monique Gabriela Curnen as Xiomara Garcia
Sheeri Rappaport as Mandy Webster
Michele Lainevool as Female Reporter
Frances Fisher as Joanna Sapphire
Barbara Eve Harris as Sheriff Sherry Linson
Vincent Corazza as Stanley Gant
Karen Steele as Paulette Vasquez
Ana Isabel Mercado as Maria Garza
Phillip Rhys as Prince Hamad Al Maktoum
David Del Rio as Matthew Lapaz
Joyce Hyser as Monique Roberts
Oscar Goodman as Oscar Goodman