6:07 - "Country Crossover" 2006-11-07

[trisha]

Gina Gionfriddo has a great sense of humor. That whole Batman thing in the first half was hilarious, and I didn't see that ending coming, which was refreshing.

Kudos Ms. Gionfriddo and Mr. Leight

[effie]

And in our continuing cast of "repeat offenders" how nice to see Griffin Dunne from "Jones." But what was up with his accent?? But how wonderfully sleazy!

More interesting Ross stuff -- the whole rant to Wheeler about there being enough people who want to see him fail might explain why he's wound so tight.

And God help me get through next week's episode based on the preview clip -- but that's for next week!!!

Thought this one was fun, and the WHY kept me going -- a real collection of oddball suspects, that's for sure!

effie

[Summerfield]

I thought it was truly dreadful. Could they have crammed any more stereotypes in one episode?

[caseyswife]

I live in Nashville - the "Home of Country Music" as they say - and this episode was so much like an old cheesy country song that I very nearly just turned it off. And I NEVER turn an episode off - not even if it is a rerun that I have seen a gazillion times!

Loved Griffin Dunne, even liked the whole Ross/Wheeler/Logan mini - angst and the beefy bouncer, but the rest just ... well ... it was just plain bad. The Hub even thought it was weak and cheesy.

Can anyone explain to me exactly WHY Teresa Randle was even in this episode? I mean except to re-inforce the fact that she has kids and her sitter calls her?!

I am sad to say it, but I think this has to be the worst episode ever...

caseyswife
P.S. On the up side - the preview of next week's episode did look promising, even if it does turn that knife in my gut about Goren going crazy.

[Cassie]

Ross. they should give that man his own show! Maybe a L&O show from the Captains perspective. I like watching and learning about him, the way I did in the early days of Goren.

I was suprised by the motive, but not the killer.

need to go and study it somemore

[NicoleMarie]

effie said:

More interesting Ross stuff -- the whole rant to Wheeler about there being enough people who want to see him fail might explain why he's wound so tight.

If he lifts himself any higher on his own pedestal, he'll make himself fall. Would serve him right, too.

summerfield said:

I thought it was truly dreadful. Could they have crammed any more stereotypes in one episode?

Amen, summerfield.

The constant news tickers across the bottom of the tv screen making the sound barely audible was a real pain. It wasn't pre-empted but it sure kept getting interrupted! lol

Logan's 'Batman' quip was hilarious!

[sobergal95]

summerfield said:

I thought it was truly dreadful. Could they have crammed any more stereotypes in one episode?

Yup, a stereotypical male nurse as a pedophile... oh wait they did that last week.

I thought the show was pretty much beyond bad, but at least the horny 14 year old boys watching got an eyeful of the skanky poledancing bimbos and they did put the stalker cam to good use on the "big scary black man" doing pull-ups at the park. There were a few good lines, but overall it pretty much stunk.

[Techguy]

I wasn't surprised by either the motive or the killer--NBC's own episode summary telegraphed both even before the episode aired:
when love becomes the ultimate motive

What I don't get is this part:
Captain Ross (Eric Bogosian) steps into a different role to catch the true killer.
What was that supposed to mean??? Did all the election result captions block out something I should have seen?

[mikeyrocks]

I'm of the CAMP of it was pretty hilarious - AND - I mean that in a good way! Hilarious and CAMPY actually with some great snarks and one liners.

I actually really enjoyed this one . I was fascinated by the polarization between how many of the players saw themselves AND how the rest of the world see's them. This was most evident with May and Goro BUT with some of the other characters as Well. Just as the epie sort of alluded to the two faces of fame - or the polarity btwn the positive and negative aspects of said fame. As I stated I liked it quite alot BUT will have to rewatch for a more detailed analysis.

It had me guessing until the end - I kind of thought that May might be the killer - BUT - was totally suprised by her motivation.

Finally - I loved the interaction between - Wheeler and Logan and Ross tonight. Logan sure was getting the eye rolls in spades. Hey isn't he supposed to be the senior partner LOL.

[sarahlee]

It may be my cranky imagination, but why are two kids from Pa. sounding slightly southern/western?

[effie]

OOO -- a Pennsylvania question. I can weigh in on that. Actually it doesn't suprise me that they sounded the way they did. Mount Carmel is at the northern end of the Allegheny mountains, and "we" end up sounding rather southern somehow. It's coal country, and not dissimilar to many communities farther south.

I'll have to watch it again to see if I can catch anything particulary PA -- it's not my part of the state, but still something might jump out at me...

effie

[trisha]

Mikerocks, you said it, it was campy and fun. There wasn't a great mystery here, I think we all knew who the killer was, but since I neither read the spoilers nor listen to country music (which I guess should have been a dead give away) I didn't think she was doing it for love her man.

I'm of the camp that is simply not going to watch this show expecting a great layering of mystery and psychology anymore. I think that show left town with Rene Balcer. But, there is still good stuff here, and with this episode and Masquerade, I think Gina Ginonfriddo is becoming one of the writers I'll have to keep my eye out for. She adds a whimsical touch to her characters that I find simply delightful.

Techguy, I think you're right that we didn't need to get such a good look at the strippers, but I guess that didn't really bother me because it added to the sleaze factor for me, not to any sort of salaciousness.

Griffen Dunn was slime-tastic, but was hard for me not to see Henry Talbot though, because I've watched Jones so many times. I like that Mr. Leight is getting some great actors to be repeat offenders, but the ones we've gotten to know really well might be better left in the past. After all, though I did enjoy this episode, it was no Jones. No need to remind us of that.

[Patcat]

H-m-m. Well, I came in late and frankly I don't invest as much attention or emotion in the Logan/Wheeler episodes, but I enjoyed this episode. I liked the slight twist at the end when it became clear the husband and wife did it for love--but if that's love, I want no part of it. And I liked learning a bit more about what makes Ross click. I think he's finding it disturbing that Wheeler is learning a lot from Logan and probably some things he'd rather she didn't. I thought Nicholson did a fine job portraying Wheeler's hesitation between supporting her partner and her mentor. Like Logan/Noth, I'm finding Wheeler/Nicholson more interesting and likable the more I see them.

Patcat

[Leticia]

Worth watching for the Ross/Wheeler/Logan interaction... but not so much for the plot. I enjoyed Ross' parental stress over his little protege getting a bit rebellious and letting the bad crowd affect her constant checking in. I do like the dynamic between Logan and Wheeler. It's not quite a mentor relationship, because Ross is meant to be Wheeler's mentor, but I think she is a bit fascinated and even intimidated (though she hides it well with quips she often shifts about uncertainly under his gaze) by his record and the rather dismissive air he has toward the captain who she has looked up to. She's sort of torn between wanting to be the good detective and get approval from Ross, and wanting to be "cool" in front of her partner.

Hmmm. That makes the whole thing sound exceedingly teenage, but she is very young!

At first I was enjoying it and thought we might get some complexity when the other murders were brought in... but sadly towards the end it had spiraled down into melodrama. That was one of the worst arias (if it is even worthy of that name) ever. I found the wannabe singer's exposition clunky and ridiculous. It was just too late to fit a whole new motive in, and the actress didn't carry it off with the usual flair of CI guest stars.

[sobergal95]

leticia said:

That was one of the worst arias (if it is even worthy of that name) ever. I found the wannabe singer's exposition clunky and ridiculous. It was just too late to fit a whole new motive in, and the actress didn't carry it off with the usual flair of CI guest stars.

I agree. So are the "big name" guest stars only going to be on the Eames/Goren episodes? (Liza, Brooke Shields, Rita Moreno) Logan did get Whoopie Goldberg last season, but so far it seems like they are getting the lesser knowns than the other team.