Thursday night TV babble

[ealgylden]

I was supposed to have my car fixed today (well, yesterday, since it's now 4am), since it's deer-damaged and all, but they didn't have the right part, so I have to bring it in tomorrow (er, today). Which means... no M&C until Saturday. Wah! I hate waiting, I'm not good at it, I want my movie now! Thank god I don't live elsewhere in the world- if I had to wait weeks or months instead of a day, I'd go nuts. It wouldn't be pretty.

Oh right, "pretty", Nick and Martin were on tonight. Well, let's talk about them.



Invisible Evidence

Gil has mellowed a lot this season when it comes to his team. It's freaking me out. If he doesn't yell at Nick or something soon, I'm going to think he's a pod person. Actually, pod!Gil sounds okay, considering what a jerk he was last season.

Ha! Catherine thinks Gil/Sara is a bad idea too! I knew she wasn't just a pretty face with a fierce attitude. Her "not enough" is totally the equivalent of Brass telling Gil to get a sports car rather than a dominatrix (probably good advice, considering how badly Gil screwed that up in the end). Sara keeps trying and Gil keeps being either uncomfortable or oblivious. I'm sure the G/S 'shippers are ticked, and I don't blame them at all, but selfishly, I'm pleased. Now Sara needs to move on to someone good for her. Like David.

Yay, more "cops are incompetant jerks" stuff! Here I was just thinking, "Gee, I sure hope CSI has a scene where a cop screws something up and blames it on the CSIs tonight," and hey, we did! Cool! Seriously, why are we doing this? I think carolinecrane nailed it with her theory that one of the writers twigged to the idea and the rest just can't let it go. Really though, guys, there are recurring themes that work nicely and there are ones that are dumb, random, and irritating. Guess which one this is. On the plus side, this ep was out of order, so it's possible "Jackpot" was the last we'll see of that particular theme. Ahahahahaha. Ha. Ha.

I did like the cop in the scene where Catherine was investigating the apartment, though. She was competent, smart, pleasant, and cute, and not coincidentally related to a CSI. I guess that's why Nick's okay, too- he saw the error of his cop ways and converted to the True Faith. Sheesh.

As for my favorite cop, I get a kick out of Brass calling Warrick "Rick." It's cute, not the least because he's the only one who does it (with one exception- Nick, once. Which figures, because Nick is more like Brass than anyone else on the team. A more innocent, less cynical version of Brass, yeah, but similar worldviews and instincts. But anyway). Not a lot of Brass otherwise, but that's okay, I like seeing him snarl at jerk lawyers. Rrarr.

No Archie and almost no Jacqui, but it was a festival of Hodges being smacked down. Yay! Swat that bug! I'm wondering with Warrick- why did he leave LA? And I loved Gil telling him to talk to the psychologist and calling him "whatshisname." Ha! Hodges, boychick, you're never gonna be Greg. Let Gil go, okay? He already has a protege (two, if you count heir apparent Warrick).

I'm not sure why "Warrick episode" always means "Warrick is a grumpy, depressed pill episode," but he had some nice moments with Catherine. Warrick's far from my favorite character, and while I like Catherine, she can get on my nerves really quickly. Still, I really like them together. And did he call her "sassy" in the carwash? Keen.

Gil vs. political animals is always interesting, so Sheriff Xander Berkley caught my attention. I particularly liked the deep, deep sigh when Berkley (what's the character's name anyway?) showed up at the team meeting. And the comment about having the fish. Heh. Gil is such a smartass sometimes. Nice to see that he remembers that he's the night shift, though. If only the writers did once in a while.

'Kay, Nick with big, scary power tools is right up there with Archie moving furniture. Pretty. More of that, please. Nick and Sara were in sibling-mode again, which makes me happy (as you know). I snorted when they were looking at the car and she gave him a look, and he gave this cute, annoying, brotherly "ahahahahahaha" (the shot is in his credit shots, no doubt 'cause he looks really cute there). I also liked their "Know what pisses me off?" "Lots of things," exchange. I wonder if Sara reminds him one of his sisters specifically, or if he just treats all of his female friends like that, because he really does have a filial approach toward her. She reciprocates, but not as obviously- she's not a people person, really, even with friends (and I bet she's an only child, but I'm just guessing there).

Speaking of the people person thing... I worry about Nick. Not because his need to please can get him in trouble in plotty ways, necessarily- it has in the past, it probably will in the future, the writers like to beat on him and I can't stop them no matter how many voodoo dolls I make. No, I worry because he can get a little desperate about keeping everyone happy, and that's not healthy (case in point- Helen Girardi. Gotta write about Joan, gotta write about Joan...). I can see places it might come from- youngest in a large family of achievers (and is he the only son? I know he has sisters, but I forget if there's a brother or not), sexually abused as a child, doesn't/can't always trust in his abilities at work, has been the target/victim of several violent acts, etc. He has a savior streak a mile wide, and he's often headlong in applying it. He needs people to be safe, he needs those happy endings, and considering his job, there aren't a lot of opportunities for him to make that happen. So instead he wields that formidable charm of his to soothe victims' families (though I do understand Warrick not wanting to deal with it), winkle information from suspects, and so on. Problem is, it doesn't work about as often as it does work, and like I said, I worry about the cost to him.

So anyway, remarks like his one about washing the boss's car tie into that worry. It's lucky that he has a boss who wouldn't abuse that sort of too-eager-to-please mindset, even though I'm sure he doesn't feel lucky when Gil's swatting him yet again. It's also lucky that he has Greg, who's a stable, together guy in flake's clothing. (And I'm amused at myself and my consistent weakness for characters who are completely screwed up in very repressed ways, but oh well.)


A Tree Falls

Speaking of screwed up characters, oh Martin. Good god.

So, the guests. Good casting on Nelson (very cute kid) and Theo- they could have been brothers. Good casting with that whole family, actually. It was also nice to see the priest from "Revelations" back, though it was a little odd to see Jack making small talk with him at the beginning. Not that I think Jack's incapable of social graces or anything, but we don't get to see him trying very often. I'm glad he decided to talk to Priest Whose Name Escapes Me in the end, though I don't know how much it'll help him. I have no hope of a Helen/Father Ken moment here.

Random observation- Danny uses Martin's name a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I may have mentioned that before, because it strikes me every episode. Normally, I'd say it's a power thing or a confidence thing or some other psychological doohickey, and that may well be part of it, I don't know. All I know is, Danny uses Martin's name a lot.

Martin doesn't speak Spanish. At all. Seriously, his accent was a horror show. Danny, on the other hand, sound very sexy speaking Spanish. Very much a "Tish! That's French!" moment for me, and I'm not a Danny girl (he's cute and I like him, but obviously my heart belongs to his boyfriend).

Another detail I liked- the mother speaking Spanish and the kid answering in English. Pretty accurate as far as I've ever seen (with friends' families).

Nice performance from Enrique, though I bet he'll have some light episodes coming up after this one, since he was in about 85% of the scenes (rather more than usual). He had a confident but restrained vibe, which isn't necessarily his usual thing. Danny is our go-to guy for throwing suspects into walls, after all. He had some interesting moments, like his exchange with Martin over child prostitution, or his expressions in reaction to the owner of the chopshop/garage. Much better centerpiece episode than Jack's two weeks ago, I think, and Enrique (and Danny) acquitted himself well.

I have to pick on his clothes though. He wore one suit in the first scene when they'd just gotten the case, had changed to a second by his next (not much later) scene, wore a third in the factory scene where they first met Nelson's mother and had changed to a fourth by the time they got her into the office. How much time is elapsing here? Or does Danny run to the men's room and change every couple of hours? Such a clothes horse. On a related note, I liked Martin's blue shirt/gold tie ensemble in the scene where it all fell apart. Stylishly preppy without being too stiff or dorky. Also, no Checked Shirt of Doom this week. I await its return next week.

So, my boy. Well he just came apart with a bang, didn't he? Honestly, I was waiting for the meltdown after his first scene with the dead kid in the morgue. He has a weak spot where kids are involved, and that was written all over his tormented face as he realized that A) this kid had been tortured, and B) it wasn't even the "right" kid. How many other kids, kids he didn't even know about, were in this very same danger, unreported, overlooked, because of their parents' (understandable) fears? He was already on a downward spiral before confronting Alberto's parents, and being hit with all their pain and anger and grief right then was... bad. Very bad. So bad that he immediately started growing the Stubble of Angst. Heh. Seriously, though, Martin looked like he was about two steps from tears in that scene, and I'm not at all surprised he cracked. I was surprised that he did so so violently and physically (I was more surprised by the punch than the shooting, actually), but finding another tortured child was a big straw on an already broken camel.

Vivian covering up what really happened was, again, interesting (my word of the night, apparently). It had less to do with Martin's mistakes than her own, I think, but still, interesting. I wonder how this'll play out for both of them.

I have mixed feelings about the final Martin/Sam scene. It made the anti-shipper in me glad, but I wouldn't mind them being friends. He's extended support to her in the past, and has been both brushed off and welcomed, but this is the first time she's extended a hand first (as far as I remember), so I wonder how she'll react in the future after such a strong refusal. Basically, I take that scene as an example of how little they know each other. I wasn't at all surprised that Martin wanted to be alone with his pain, guilt, anger, etc.- it was exactly the reaction I was expecting, and had I been in Sam's shoes, I would have also been expecting the firm brush-off. But Sam isn't very good at reading him yet (actually, her sensitivity toward others is fairly type-specific) and she looked a bit startled (and hurt) by his reaction. Danny wouldn't have been, I don't think, but I also don't think he would have made the offer in the first place, and I'm not sure that's better. Anyway, strong ep in general for both the guys. I'm not looking forward to the fallout.

Oh, and both shows had terrible music choices for their final scenes. CSI had this horrible, cheesy "hero music" score bit. Awful, awful choice. And whatever song was playing when Danny took Nelson home was the wrong one. Gorgeous overhead shot of the city, terrible musical choice. Blech.

One last thing before I hie myself off to bed. Here's a general review of WaT- flattering and enthusiastic (no spoilers, but the reviewer favors WaT over CSI, if that will upset you), but nothing groundbreaking. So why am I posting it? Look at the pic with Jack and Viv. My Nameless Tech Guy is in it! Yay! Go Nameless Tech Guy!

Speaking of tech guys, check out Archie pre-CSI. Yes, he was a Power Ranger. Aw. I need an Archie icon.