2:02 - "Bright Boy" 2002-10-06

[SarahIvy]

I checked and rechecked and did not see a thread for this episode, so I thought since it's one of my alltime favorites I would go ahead and start one. It'll help me sleep at night knowing it's here

I think what really makes this episode for me is the interaction between Goren and Robbie. Goren is so wonderful with this obviously very bright but very sad little boy and their scenes together are just great to watch, they click incredibly well. Generally speaking, Goren is good with kids, but I think this episode really showcases that to the extreme, in that he pretty much becomes an advocate for Robbie when no one else in his life can see the pain he's in.

Watching the scene where Goren discovers Robbie's secret....that he's not a genius, that his notebook is full of vain attempts and doodles...nearly brings me to tears (and sometimes does). The way that little boy's whole identity and happiness is being subjugated by his father's selfish desire for success breaks my heart every time. And his shock and release in having someone finally hear and understand him is very powerful.

It's got some great little gems between Goren and Eames too....her snark about playing twister by himself, and their little exchange about the high school personality indicator test (MMPI? I can't remember) wherein we learn he was sent to his counselor and to see the school shrink (oh how I would have LOVED him in highschool) and Eames was so well adjusted they elected her Prom Queen.

[elizabethbay]

Amen to all you've said about this brilliant ep, SarahIvy. It is one of 8 episodes that I keep permanently on my hard drive for quick access when I need a classic LOCI fix. I think it is exceptionally acted from top to bottom by all the cast, but in particular, the schoolroom aria (and I think it IS the aria of this piece) is a gem, maybe even a whole jewelry box of VDO's gifts, delivered in a matter of perhaps two minutes.

I never tire of watching the kaleidescope of Goren's face in this scene - at least 12 different modulated reactions, all subtly shifting, telling, separate and identifiable, but all expressed with the most elegant economy of variation in facial flex. It's the flip side of the (well-judged) intense, operatic Goren. So quiet, so suspended in time, but so powerful. This is my idea of the actor's art. That the boy was terrific, too, cemented it for me (probably for D'Onofrio as well, because he really needed to have a gifted child playing the scene with him to carry it off minus sentimental goo).

The secondary aria at the end with the father was gorgeous in its own way . It just didn't have a whole lot of logic on its side. Goren's bait: if he confesses, the father will spare his son the knowledge that the boy's lie triggered the social worker's murder. Well Bobby, it worked, but that's only because writers let you win. A confession may spare the boy testifying at his father's trial, but when Dad gets carted off to jail for murder, it won't be much of a stretch for the kid to figure out the motive. Still, I liked the way it was played, how Goren controls the increasingly hysterical father by touch and low voice alone (whereas Alex seems ready to hurl Dad to the floor and cuff him on the spot.) Classic Goren, once you suspend a little bit of disbelief about the logic.

Not to get too arty-farty about it, but this episode is so much about Goren as the Agent of Revelation: Goren to the boy, the boy to himself, the boy to the father, the father to himself. Even the Head of School gets a (seriously coercive) dose of revelation about her motives ;-)

[alex d'onofrio]

i really like this episode
goren acted really well with robbie!

[sarahlee]

Thanks for starting this thread and dittos to all your comments SarahI and LizB. I watched this one again last night and no matter how many times I've seen it, I teared up again in the aria with Robbie. That first scene shot, looking down on that tiny boy alone in that huge room, all by himself with all those big desks, it breaks my heart every time. Does anybody know the name of that young actor? He was riveting. Kudos to VDO for allowing that child to shine.

I also saw the "old Goren", the one I'm missing now--nattily dressed to the nines, flitting and flirting like a demented bottle fly, but always on top of every situation. Things have changed...

[nonmanis]

this is one of my favorite episode.
Someone mentioned that Goren takes to long to solve a case,
while Logan does is in an easier manner.
To me the way Goren does it is more real.
My neighbor who is a detective informed me that it might take
time to solve a crime and he agreed that the script written for Goren is more realistic.
I love all the reruns on the USA and Bravo channels.
This message board is great and so are all of you

[SarahIvy]

sarahlee said:

That first scene shot, looking down on that tiny boy alone in that huge room, all by himself with all those big desks, it breaks my heart every time. Does anybody know the name of that young actor? He was riveting.

His name is Liam Aiken. He really is riveting...I've noticed him in a couple of other things too, he just has such a force of personality and expressive face and eyes.

Elizabeth, I totally agree with you that the main Aria is the scene between Goren and Robbie rather than the ending with the father. It is so subtle and gentle yet so powerful, it's the kind of scene that will never wear out its welcome. And point of fact, when this episode aired twice last night, I walked back into the room during the second airing just to catch it.

I think you're right. Robbie IS a bright boy, and he will eventually come to realize the part he played in his father's crime. But at least at the end when given an opportunity to do something to help him son rather than use him, the father goes for it. While the father is detestable, allowing him to be unselfish for a brief moment at the end makes him a much more well-rounded character.

[effie]

I watched this twice through last night and both times in that scene with robbie in the lunchtime classroom I just kept thinking how "fatherly" Goren was being. Made a nice contrast with how Robbie actual Father was.

(I also had to smile a little while ago when a video I'm processing at work referred to the MMPI)

[elizabethbay]

Gee, y'all have marvellous taste Seriously, I think soooo many people like BB for the schoolroom aria, you know? It crops up on so many lists of favourite eps among those fans with very differing tastes in other respects. Consensus - I love it

I'll put in a good word for Robbie's father. He did a detestable thing - the murders - but his aspirations for his son weren't base at heart. Sure, maybe plenty of projection and pushiness there, but then, many parents want to succeed through their children, and set goals that are high, sometimes too high. It's not basically evil, though, is it?And Dad honestly thought, or convinced himself, that his child was a genius to be nurtured to fulfil his potential.

And at the end, when the father agrees to Goren's suggestion, sacrificing for his son, VDO plays it as a moment of redemption, I think. He looks at Dad with rather a softness, not a glint of Gotcha! triumph. I think D'Onofrio was quite deliberate in that response. (Or the writers built it in to the script).

So glad SarahIvy got this ep up and running. Good plan!

[sarahlee]

elizabethbay said:

I'll put in a good word for Robbie's father. He did a detestable thing - the murders - but his aspirations for his son weren't base at heart. Sure, maybe plenty of projection and pushiness there, but then, many parents want to succeed through their children, and set goals that are high, sometimes too high. It's not basically evil, though, is it?And Dad honestly thought, or convinced himself, that his child was a genius to be nurtured to fulfil his potential.

What's that saying..."The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"?

[Techguy]

sarahlee said:

What's that saying..."The road to Hell is paved with good intentions"?

This is an interesting and ironic quote because I remember Liam Aiken as the younger son of the Tom Hanks character in "Road To Perdition." Ironic because this movie also deals with the illegal and immoral choices made by a father supposedly for the benefit of his family.

Goren is at the top of his form in "Bright Boy" and the ending aria is stunning, one of the most memorable ever for CI. What impressed me most about it is how Goren must have drawn on his own experiences of being a "bright boy" in his childhood, as he compensated for his aloneness and loneliness by immersing himself in books. Like Robbie, Goren's mother is absent, not in death but due to her schizophrenia. And like Robbie, Goren's father must have put enormous pressure on him before he finally abandoned him, not to be a "genius" certainly, but most likely to excel in sports, to be a "real boy" so as to become a "real man."

Goren understands all too clearly what Robbie has been going through to please his father. Didn't Goren mention in "Mad Hops" that he gave up sports when he realized it didn't get him what he wanted, most likely his father's approval? I'd like to think Goren called on his family lawyer friend early on, much as he does in Adam's behalf in "Magnificat," to ensure Robbie is placed in a loving home. I think Goren would have a personal stake in Robbie getting a chance that Goren was denied: to experience childhood at his own pace, where his natural gifts could be nurtured and encouraged--and to grow up HAPPY.

[sarahlee]

Excellent connection techguy, I'd forgotten that, for me, touching and thoughtful movie "Road to Perdition". In our efforts "not to judge" and be understanding and forgiving, we too often excuse evil. This father had the "best of intentions", but truthfully, he murdered 2 people out of selfishness. He did redeem himself a little by agreeing to try to protect Robbie at the end, but the damage to that little boy, and the cost of 2 lives, for his ambitions, that is evil.

[Patcat]

Yes, he did the right thing at the end, but I have a hard time giving much slack to the father. He was well on the way to murdering a third person--his son--in his efforts to live through his son.

But I find parents who try to live through their children to be extremely despicable.

Patcat

[gianna]

Doesn't Eames mention to Robbie's father that they sent Robbie to be with his aunt and uncle? (from the screen saver) I like to think of him as being in the kind of family life he always dreamed of.

Was Eames serious about being prom queen or was that her sarcastic nature speaking out? Sometimes I honestly can't tell the difference.

[elizabethbay]

gianna said:

Doesn't Eames mention to Robbie's father that they sent Robbie to be with his aunt and uncle? (from the screen saver) I like to think of him as being in the kind of family life he always dreamed of.

Indeed, the writers threw a glimmer of hope into the grim mix. Eames says something to Dad to the effect that Robbie's aunt and uncle are on their way down from Massachusetts, and so we are left to imagine that Robbie will go live with them, and truly 'put himself into the picture' as he did in his imagination when he photoshopped himself into their family portrait.

Was Eames serious about being prom queen or was that her sarcastic nature speaking out? Sometimes I honestly can't tell the difference.

Best guess: she's got the looks and the personality to be prom queen, so why not? Of course, looks can be deceiving. When it comes to selling matchsticks on a snowy night in front of City Hall , Erbe/Eames does have a waif-like look about her, too, but The Little Match Girl she ain't , nahhhhh ;D ;D

[Patcat]

I think Eames could have been a Prom Queen if there was a fair election. I always thought of her as being like the girl who was elected Homecoming Queen at the Homecoming Basketball game my senior year (my high school was so small it couldn't field a football team--besides, the basketball coach wouldn't let any of the athletic guys play football because they might get hurt). She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the class, but she was pretty and smart and friendly and tough and genuinely and deservedly liked by everyone. And, much to the surprise and delight of the whole school, she was voted Homecoming Queen. I like to think Eames was like her.

Patcat