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Post by Patcat on Jul 19, 2007 9:35:13 GMT -5
Will air 7pm (EST) on the USA Network, Tuesday, July 24.
Episode 18 of Season 5, originally aired April 16, 2006
Directed by Jean de Segonzac
Written by Gina Gionfrido and Rene Balcer
Guest Actors: Desmond Harrington (Tim Rainey); Emily Bergl (Alice)
Synopsis: The brutal beating death of a young woman in a transient hotel lead Goren and Eames to the victim's reluctant acquaintance and then to an actor working as a cabbie.
Quote:
Goren: The search for the truth...It's not for the faint hearted.
An apology for the slight delay in the posting of this EOTW, and for the inclusion of a fairly recent episode.
This episode inspired several lively lines of discussion. One involved the story's use of and references to the actor's working methods. Was this too self indulgent on the writers and actors' parts? Or a nod to the show's and Vincent D'Onofrio's fans?
Eames has a more prominent role in this episode, both in the investigation and the background story. How does this work?
How does Goren react to playing the supporting role in his relationship with Eames?
Alice. Reactions to her? Did she narrowly miss being the victim? There was a fair amount of discussion about Eames' reaction to her, but what about Goren's?
Tim Rainey is another of LOCI's characters who don't appear to know who they are. The initial postings on this episode tended to center on Rainey as an actor who didn't know his own character. But did Rainey become a killer because he was an actor, or because of his childhood? And did he kill because of a tragic confluence of characters and events? By that I mean, if the two women and their conversations and personalities hadn't triggered his rage, would Rainey have killed anyone?
Another example of Goren and Eames acknowledging a mistake and fighting to correct it. There are several examples of this in LOCI, and yet Carver won't accept the detectives' admissions of mistakes. Why is the ADA so stubborn?
The repeats on USA and Bravo are both moving into the earlier seasons soon, so I promise some First and Second season shows in future installments.
Patcat
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Post by DonnaJo on Jul 20, 2007 14:21:19 GMT -5
This isn't one of my favorite episodes, but I will try to answer Patcat's questions objectively: This episode inspired several lively lines of discussion. One involved the story's use of and references to the actor's working methods. Was this too self indulgent on the writers and actors' parts? Or a nod to the show's and Vincent D'Onofrio's fans?I wasn't comfortable with the scene at the cabbie's house, being forced out of my fictional world & having to watch D'Onofrio playing Goren. I guess I know too much about Vincent's method acting techniques. At one point I half expected VDO to wink at the camera. To me, it was self-indulgent. But Vincent didn't write the episode, so who is to blame for that? Who was indulging who? Eames has a more prominent role in this episode, both in the investigation and the background story. How does this work? Yes, way back in Season 5 it was a novelty to have Eames be prominent. It was great having Eames get used by a perp & push a suspect too hard. How does Goren react to playing the supporting role in his relationship with Eames?I really liked that she finally felt she could ask Bobby for help & support. He was obvious in his discomfort about offering her advice. He isn't used to her asking him for reassurance, and it showed in his face & mannerism. I also remember thinking at the time that the info on the drunk aunt shouldn't have been new to Goren. After 5 years, people who work that closely together usually know everything important about each other's past. Alice. Reactions to her? Did she narrowly miss being the victim? There was a fair amount of discussion about Eames' reaction to her, but what about Goren's?I forget how Summerfield selected the friend as opposed to selecting Alice. It had something to do with what he saw at that bar that night. Favorite part was when Alice pleads with Goren to "save" her from her plight when they are interviewing her in the squadroom. Love when he gets all flustered & keeps clearing his throat when he's explaining victim's services to her. And her all wide eyed & eager to please. Goren could have easily scored with Alice that night .....  Tim Rainey is another of LOCI's characters who don't appear to know who they are. The initial postings on this episode tended to center on Rainey as an actor who didn't know his own character. But did Rainey become a killer because he was an actor, or because of his childhood? And did he kill because of a tragic confluence of characters and events? By that I mean, if the two women and their conversations and personalities hadn't triggered his rage, would Rainey have killed anyone?Summerfield was a ticking time bomb who killed because of a both his past & his method acting. It's an example of what can happen when an actor takes method too deep, combined with deep psychological issues. It didn't help that the FBI agent let this crazy guy listen to a 911 murder in progress. That was very disturbing to me, when Goren described the victim's final dying "baby talk." Are we to assume that's what VDO had to listen to when researching The Cell?" Another example of Goren and Eames acknowledging a mistake and fighting to correct it. There are several examples of this in LOCI, and yet Carver won't accept the detectives' admissions of mistakes. Why is the ADA so stubborn?This episode made Carver look like a real sleaze - accepting Alice's obviously coerced confession by Eames so easily. It's as if he couldn't care less that Alice wasn't the killer, he just wanted another easy feather in his cap. That wasn't fair to the Carver character, IMO. |
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Post by Techguy on Jul 21, 2007 0:37:00 GMT -5
As I noted in the original discussion of this episode, I was very uncomfortable with the obvious Method acting angle and its connection to Vincent D'Onofrio. I won't go so far as to call it self-indulgent on his part, I just felt the line between fiction and reality had been crossed which totally disrupted my involvement in the CI world by immersing me so deeply in Mr. D'Onofrio's acting style. It was a jarring experience from which I never recovered as the episode wore on, and so my understanding and appreciation of the story on its own merits was destroyed. For this reason, this is not at all one of my favorite episodes or one that I would choose to watch again to re-live the viewing experience.
I remember Eames' prominence in this episode, how she and Goren worked together as a team,, and how she relied on him for help, support, and reassurance at a crucial time. It's interesting because this type of involvement was shaken and stirred, and not for the better, as the most recent Season 6 moved along. I was, and still am, baffled and confused about the status of the Goren/Eames partnership and if either or both are OK with themselves and each other as a result of what went down. I'm sure a lot of the vagueness and ambiguity was intentional since the fate of CI's renewal was up in the air for so long, but it still was quite disconcerting to see and hear them as they interacted for the greater part of Season 6. In some very important ways the Goren/Eames partnership regressed last season, and so I hope this issue is addressed satisfactorily when Season 7 rolls around.
This is also not one of my favorite episodes for Carver's involvement in the case. Here he is too much the politician, doing everything to find someone, anyone, to prosecute without regard to who is really guilty. Carver is way too typical a prosecutor here, not one of his finest moments by a long shot.
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Post by DonnaJo on Jul 24, 2007 8:34:31 GMT -5
The worst "O Brother" moment regarding the tongue in cheek method acting angle in this episode took place not only at Rainey's home, but in the interrogation room..... Rainey: "I can't explain method acting in one sitting to non- actors." Goren: (rolls eyes) "Well, I've read a little bit about method acting...."  |
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meggyd
Silver Shield Investigator
Posts: 112
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Post by meggyd on Jul 28, 2007 2:04:05 GMT -5
I've waited to comment on this episode until I rewatched it because I hadn't seen it recently and nothing about it really stood out as positive in my memory, but another rewatching just confirmed what I originally thought. This one really left me cold, I couldn't get involved in it. I couldn't stand the character of Alice, for once it really didn't bother me if a character was treated unjustly, lock her up and throw away the key! Fixating on the guy she met in the bar, then on Goren, not being perceptive enough to see that he just wanted to flee. Urk.
The hotel was made to seem genuinely creepy, a traveller's nightmare. Between the Law and Orders, the CSI's and the other crime shows, sometimes it seems that those who travel to the US, and particularly to New York, are all doomed to end up as either dead bodies or to stumble across them!
The method acting thing just seemed so contrived, and, like DonnaJo I kept expecting VDO to wink at the camera or to turn and address the camera directly. I wonder if it bothered VDO that the line between method acting and complete psychosis was made to seem such a thin one? The passionlessness of the killer, even when confronted with the truth about his mother, made the final denoument seem really flat.
While it was good to have Eames more involved, the exposition of her "weak spot" also seemed contrived. It was as if they suddenly realised that they hadn't fleshed out her character enough, or perhaps realised that the audience loved the episodes where Bobby has to overcome his blind spots, and quickly gave her one. She saw through her prejudices very quickly and outlined them very succintly, and that little hiccup was overcome. Carver was made to seem shallow, looking for the easy ride. It just seemed the opposite of his usual determination to establish the watertight case.
On the other hand, loved Eames' idea of how to get Rainey in custody, posing as the Madam and strolling through handing out her cards. It's always good to see them assuming different characters and they do it very skillfully. The ruse to get into the house at the end was also good, I do wonder how many times Goren has actually talked Eames' ears off about a book or theory.
Overall, not a favourite episode. The basic story, on paper, wasn't bad, but I don't personally feel that it came together very well.
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Post by musicwench on Jul 28, 2007 11:08:14 GMT -5
Wow, I'm really out of it! LOL Been kind of busy on other nonsense and haven't had time to drop in. Seems I missed a few epi discussions and don't have too much to add to this one because I just didn't care for it much.
I didn't mind the method acting stuff and thought it was kind of funny, actually.
Liked Eames getting more prominence and the way Goren and Eames worked well together but I agree with meggyd's criticism about throwing together a blind spot for Eames. Not quite believable enough for me because it was just so contrived.
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Patrick Roy, 2006 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame
