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Post by deathroe on Aug 17, 2008 22:22:42 GMT -5
So thoughts about Mikey's last stand? I thought it was fine a performance as any I've seen Noth give (including on the Mothership). But all the Wheeler soap, and all the rest of it? When are they ever going to find time to explain it. I really hope there are fewer loose ends next week, when the dust clears from "Frame" ...
On a different note, JN gets better and better. I'm liking her more with each episode.
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Post by Moonbeam on Aug 17, 2008 22:37:05 GMT -5
Loose ends is right! I don't know why I'd expect L&O to wrap it in a neat little package, but come on. As I posted elsewhere, I was expecting Jack McCoy at the forty-five minute mark.
Tom Santini goes undercover as a squeegie guy...film at eleven.
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Post by diablodeblanco on Aug 17, 2008 22:42:10 GMT -5
The ending was lacking. He just walked out....no explanation.....no clue as to what he was going to do now.....no anything. Throw us a bone here, please. Wheeler hooks a rich guy and now he is pinched for major crimes. Looks like Wheeler is not going to ride off into the sunset with her knight in shining armor. Gotta hate the woman ADA. She plays rough. Had Ross wetting his tidy whities.
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Post by Techguy on Aug 17, 2008 22:50:28 GMT -5
Deathroe, you beat me to it, starting this thread.
I thought Chris Noth was outstanding. He really looked tired and haggard from his ongoing battles with the ADA and the cumulative effect of his experiences as a cop. I'm relieved his character Mike Logan wasn't killed off, and that there wasn't a cheesy melodramatic ending with him tossing his badge at Ross and turning in his gun. But I wanted something more between him and Wheeler, despite his difficulties making connections to other people as the priest suggested. If all the soap involving Wheeler and her fiance is going to be used as a plot device, then please give some resolution, or at least the suggestion, that Logan is capable of making connection with other people by offering some explanation to his partner about why he's leaving. Wheeler is devastated about what went down with her fiance taken into custody by the FBI, and Logan is nowhere to be seen. This is disappointing and frustrating.
Actually, Logan is somewhere to be seen. He's at the bedside of the priest who put him on to 16-year-old homicides. The good father must have an inside track with his Boss, because I thought getting stabbed 12 times surely finished him off. Then again, the priest had to survive just so he could tell Logan all about his failings and advise him to get out and find about life. This is a bit too convenient. If Logan is really going to be pressed to leave NYPD, I would find it more believable if the priest died, taking with him all hope of clearing the innocent Nichols in prison. The b****y ADA stands her ground, vowing to let Nichols rot, and Logan decides to leave the force because he can only help Nichols privately, as an ex-cop. He has to burn his bridges and go out on his own, determined to help Nichols get justice. A final scene with the prisoner would have been appropriate. Logan pooh poohs oaths and vows with the priest, but realizes their importance when he visits Nichols to tell him he won't give up until Nichols gets justice, even if he has to take the ADA down to do so. Logan is a pariah with NYPD, he has nothing to lose at this point, except perhaps his honor if he doesn't move heaven and earth on Nichols' behalf.
I have a question. Who orchestrated the attack on the priest in prison? If I understood correctly, Logan believed the ADA was behind it although Ross thought he was being paranoid. Was there a plot or was the priest randomly attacked by one of the prisoners? I have to watch again to clarify, but if someone has the heads-up, please enlighten me.
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Post by deathroe on Aug 17, 2008 22:51:10 GMT -5
Ross did not come across as Mr. Simpatico in this ep. As to the end, I'm sure they meant well, and maybe we'll get another bone later, but 'twasn't exactly "I'm clear as a bell." Or even Deakins' more confusing premise for leaving MCS. Oh, well. I guess they shot their wad with that whole "I'm not deaaaaaaaaad" thing last year. I really think they thought they were going to be axed while they were writing that. Fine acting in all of these essays, but now that we've had two years to dwell on it, do we feel illuminated by all this angst, do we feel like it's a net gain? I'm not so sure. All I'm getting out of all this angst is an ulcer week to week
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Post by deathroe on Aug 17, 2008 22:54:22 GMT -5
Addendum on reading Tech Guy's post:
I don't see why they needed to make Logan a pariah. That was not his role on the Mother Ship. He was a normal, young guy with a strong personality. I'm kind of sad about how bitter he became. The way they've written him lately, he doesn't even remind me of the man who reminded the young soldier in "The Good" of why he became a cop--to serve the greater good. Still and all, a very fine character. Every bit as strong a portrayal as VDO's Goren.
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Post by sandy on Aug 17, 2008 23:36:49 GMT -5
It is sad how bitter and disillusioned Logan has become. But I don't believe that's an uncommon reaction to a job that exposes you to the worst of human behavior. Cops see things everyday, that most of us could never dream of in our worst nightmares. It takes it's toll on their lives.
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Post by deathroe on Aug 17, 2008 23:47:48 GMT -5
mauigirl, your point is VERY well taken.
I guess I'm still digesting "Last Rites," despite having hastened to start the thread ... feeling a little CI fatigue, tbh, and wondering if "Frame" is going to pull me out of it ...
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Post by gratzqq on Aug 18, 2008 5:24:15 GMT -5
I am very glad they wrote in the fact that these detectives see the worst every day. (My cousin became an NYPD detective and has never been the same since~I think that is very realistic.) I believe we should have been treated to a scene where Mike finally comes to terms with his years on the force and acknowledges his need to move on. I'm also hoping that Chris Noth himself is taking time to enjoy his new son (if he had to leave, I hope it was for a good reason) Mike Logan was such a great character and will be missed terribly! (I'm not interested in Jeff G. being hired as another addition to the cast. ) Looking forward to next week's Vincent episode!
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Post by djcifan on Aug 18, 2008 6:05:19 GMT -5
So, I missed the first half of the episode because of getting back late from an all day outing with friends, but one comment - as soon as I realized that Wheeler's fiance was suspected of wrongdoing, I thought 'so that's why they changed his nationality from French to English! Too obviously related to the Anne Hathaway thing with the French boyfriend arrested for a multitude of sins!' Even the main characters are being treated to the ripped from the headlines experience.
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Ladyheather
Detective
An acquired taste.....
Posts: 441
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Post by Ladyheather on Aug 18, 2008 8:04:53 GMT -5
Well, I was disappointed in the ending. It did leave an opening for Mike to come back if the need arises or Jeff doesn't work out. Glad they didn't kill him off or discredit him. He had honor and honesty. I liked that.
I thought that the DA was the one who arraigned the hit on the priest. Get him out of the way, he was the link to all of this and was the one who started the ball rolling.
Wheeler was incredible in that little black dress !!!
The preview for next week. Oh my goodness......
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Post by annabelleleigh on Aug 18, 2008 9:10:16 GMT -5
Like D-Roe. I'm still digesting.
The consensus of this household -- at least about the ending -- is "shades of 'The Sopranos'" and quite dissatisfying in the same way.
AL
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Post by Patcat on Aug 18, 2008 9:22:49 GMT -5
Confession time (well, with the priest and I'm a nominal Catholic)--I got home just in time to catch the very end. Pleased to see they didn't kill him off, but very confused.
I did want to post that I though the writing off of Deakins was actually very strong and true to the character.
Ross better get his act together or he's not going to have any detectives left and no one will want to work for him.
Patcat
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Post by deathroe on Aug 18, 2008 9:33:29 GMT -5
Lazywebbism defined, but I thought a comment from a livejournal friend raised some very good points. Was no one else bothered by all the flashbacks, so very much a rip off of Cold Case? I hope that trend stops, tbph.
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Post by deathroe on Aug 18, 2008 9:51:13 GMT -5
One last question to throw out: what do you guys think of the continuity of Logan's exit, and of his behavior on the MCS in general, with his role on Major Case? I can't help feeling like they dropped the ball on this in the Leight years for the sake of over-simplification and of a newer viewership. Whereas one of the things I liked most about classic Law and Order was puzzling out all the continuities. That's one thing that seems to make a real cult classic.
Just fwiw. I haven't had anything resembling coffee yet, so I'm way too lazy to flesh it out *g*
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