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Post by nwchimom on Oct 5, 2007 23:35:06 GMT -5
Summerfield, I think people are referring to Bobby shutting her out...telling her to back off in TWAH, not telling her about his mom's cancer, their tension during Silencer, etc.
Addicted2vdosgoren...another thing I wondered about was Logan's absence. If all the cops would want to be in on this, so much so that Eames called Goren while he was on personal leave, we ought to have seen Logan and his partner. I know it's TV and they have to manipulate the storylines as needed, but those kinds of discrepencies bother me.
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Post by Techguy on Oct 5, 2007 23:42:14 GMT -5
"Amends" is about atonement, restitution, and righting wrongs--in families, in the police brotherhood, in partnerships. The road to atonement might take years, or only weeks or months, and is often rocky and perilous to the traveler. But if this episode teaches us anything, it's that if the road is not taken, or if the journey is delayed, the price for atonement and restitution is much higher, and even greater wrongs have to be undone.
"Amends" is also about failure and loss and coping with pain, about how certain actions or inaction can have tragic consequences, about how death can suddenly emerge from the shadows in both expected and unexpected places. And as the characters move forward on their own personal journey and confront their own mortality and the consequences of their decisions, we follow and join them on their quest. We have to, because we know instinctively that how they negotiate the path they've chosen will resonate and speak to us, not only about their relationships, but our own as well.
In a bleak and darkened building, an undercover cop is going about his business, dredging up the scum of humanity to catch the dealers in drugs and death. Death suddenly leaps from the shadows and the cop is slain, not by the drug dealers, but accidentally, by someone who wasn't supposed to be there, who had misinterpreted the cop's innocuous act of touching his shoe as threatening. The cop is killed senselessly, and his partner has failed him because he didn't back him up at the crucial moment of confrontation. And a widow mourns while the wife of the partner who survives thanks God it wasn't her husband who was killed. A drug dealer is identified as the killer--erroneously we later find out--is arrested, convicted, and imprisoned. His appeals now have run out.
But life also teaches us to be careful of what we wish for, or for thanking God for temporary reprieves in our grief. It is not wise to tempt the gods or fates in this manner, as we fast forward nearly a decade to a bleak and darkened street. The surviving partner is now performing his own innocuous act, talking on his cell phone while waiting for his new partner to return from a bathroom break. And death leaps from the shadows once again, the cop is mortally wounded as he's brought to the ER, and soon expires from his wounds. The new partner has failed by not being there to prevent the shooting, and the wife who was grateful her husband wasn't killed years ago is now a grieving widow herself.
Again a drug dealer is mis-identified and arrested for the cop killing, but this time the mistake is discovered. The seeker of truth is vilified and wronged, his methods of investigation questioned, distancing him from his police brethren. He is also undeterred, as he now must open painful old wounds in his partner by proving how the man in prison for her husband's murder could not have committed the crime. He must also now bring more pain to the family of the man wrongfully imprisoned that another, younger family member had not only killed the cop as he sat in his car, but also the drug dealer who set up the older family member, all to right the wrong of his relative's imprisonment. More pain follows as the road to restitution and the truth leads to a healer who now saves lives as atonement for his own long-ago mistake.
Because we care about the lead characters Goren and Eames, "Amends" teaches us that shared pain is pain diminished, even when the search for and discovery of truth can bare one's soul and open old wounds. We stay the course with them because we also know instinctively that, if we can care so much about fictional characters in a TV show, we can and do care about the important people in our lives, maybe even care about strangers or individuals who are very difficult to care about. No civilization ever collapsed because of too much caring, and most likely disappeared because of the opposite situation. Maybe, just maybe, that's a lesson that individuals, families, and nations need to regard and take to heart.
And whether we admit it or not, we have to at one point in our lives face and confront our own mortality. Death can, and does, spring from the shadows in both expected and unexpected ways.
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Post by deathroe on Oct 6, 2007 4:01:38 GMT -5
Ahhh, thanks for posting the themes, untitled! I don't know why they sounded so different to me--maybe the sound quality on the DVD?! It's funny--I really do like the TBJ song, but I wasn't so impressed by the new credits. I wish they'd redone them a little more. But still--the ratings news is just--wonderful
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Post by Summerfield on Oct 6, 2007 7:26:02 GMT -5
About screwing up...I get it. I wasn't thinking clearly about that one aspect. And I agree, I don't think Goren was on leave very long.
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Post by batescitybabe on Oct 6, 2007 9:40:02 GMT -5
I thought this was a very good beginning. I enjoyed what I saw of the show. Since I get up around 5 am, I was trying to do several things at once and didn't get to pay too close attention. Even my hubby (who never watches anything twice) said, "I think we need to see that again." I have yet to have time to sit down and watch it from start to finish. Things I didn't like: Rogers' hair. The new theme song. I also haven't had a chance to read every post, so someone may have already answered this, but I saw a question about Goren's leave. He may have had lots of paid leave. Having had family employed by the City of NY and being a city employee where I live now, leave time accrues. If you never use it, you just keep accruing. I work with a couple of people who could take the next year off and never miss a paycheck. When you retire they pay full value for unused vacation and half for unused sick time. Many choose to save it up. Goren doesn't seem like the type to miss a lot of work. Hope that answers your question. Off to re-watch this epi.
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Post by DonnaJo on Oct 6, 2007 10:38:19 GMT -5
The seeker of truth is vilified and wronged, his methods of investigation questioned, distancing him from his police brethren. He is also undeterred, as he now must open painful old wounds in his partner by proving how the man in prison for her husband's murder could not have committed the crime. He must also now bring more pain to the family of the man wrongfully imprisoned that another, younger family member had not only killed the cop as he sat in his car, but also the drug dealer who set up the older family member, all to right the wrong of his relative's imprisonment. More pain follows as the road to restitution and the truth leads to a healer who now saves lives as atonement for his own long-ago mistake. What a thoughtful, insightful review, Techguy. I think we agree that this is the Goren that we love, the highly moral man who's ethics & sense of personal morality drive him to the point that nothing else matters & that nothing will stand in his way. Your description is so right on, the fact that he is so wronged & misunderstood by everyone, save Eames & Ross, it is heartbreaking. More than the scene with Quinn's young son, when he empathizes with Eames in the SUV, "I wasn't very popular either," you can see his eyes fill with tears & his expression such a blend of hurt, pain and just a hint of expected resignation, as if he's used to this reaction. Just once, I would like to see Goren vindicated IN FRONT OF the people who, as Techguy stated, vilified & wronged him. I want to see that idiot Chief Of Detectives admit that he was wrong & Goren was right. OT: thinking of Frank Adair, what does this show say about the NYPD Chief of Det's?) I want Copa to get permanent desk duty & hear everyone say, "Thank God they found out this guy's almost blind." What I want is for Goren to get the apologies he deserves. But I guess what makes the character so appealing is that he continues to strive on knowing that he will never be truly appreciated or understood.
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Post by deathroe on Oct 6, 2007 11:01:32 GMT -5
I agree, DonnaJo--coming from the chief of ds, the "whack job" comment must really have hurt Goren
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Post by Sirenna on Oct 6, 2007 12:25:13 GMT -5
This episode teaches us... that if the road is not taken, or if the journey is delayed, the price for atonement and restitution is much higher, and even greater wrongs have to be undone.
...how certain actions or inaction can have tragic consequences, about how death can suddenly emerge from the shadows in both expected and unexpected places.
...we know instinctively that how they negotiate the path they've chosen will resonate and speak to us, not only about their relationships, but our own as well.
...but life also teaches us to be careful of what we wish for, or for thanking God for temporary reprieves in our grief. It is not wise to tempt the gods or fates in this manner,
Because we care about the lead characters Goren and Eames, "Amends" teaches us that shared pain is pain diminished. If we can care so much about fictional characters in a TV show, we can and do care about the important people in our lives, maybe even care about strangers or individuals who are very difficult to care about.
Wow, techguy, I think this is one of the best things you've ever written. I can't wait to see the show. Your post makes me think that it's no coincidence this epsidode airs during Thanksgiving.
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Post by Techguy on Oct 6, 2007 13:00:31 GMT -5
Thanks DonnaJo and Sirenna.
If anyone hasn't already seen "Amends" and doesn't mind getting more spoilers, there is a Synopsis and a 2-minute replay/summary Video on the USA site. There is also a video Commentary by the episode writer Siobhan Byrne O'Connor.
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Post by DonnaJo on Oct 6, 2007 15:45:57 GMT -5
For those of you who were discussing Joe Dutton's shirt in the Evidence Box, and whether there would still be a scent....
It looks like Eames takes it out of a large manila envelope. You can see a piece of it when she first puts her hand in the box. It might hold some of a scent, probably not. Besides, wouldn't the predominant smell be blood? The poor man was shot in the stomach. It's better she can't smell anything.
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Post by ragincajun on Oct 6, 2007 17:23:22 GMT -5
On watching again, did anyone notice the blinds in Ross' office and the Visiting Officers room, at first I thought they were missing, then later I notice they were just open. Guess it has to do with a brighter looking scene.
Also, noticed another repeat guest, the spanish speaking family member of the doctor played in Pas De Deux, she was the ex wife with the scar by her eye, her ex husband had the bomb on his chest and was robbing banks with dancing donnie.
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Post by addicted2vdosgoren on Oct 6, 2007 18:38:43 GMT -5
Another 'repeat offender' - the woman who played Theresa Quinn; she had a very brief role in season 3 ep "The Gift" (she was a lawyer, who was going to sell paintings or something, questioned by G/E.)
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Post by madger on Oct 6, 2007 19:51:58 GMT -5
I also noted the dying plant in Goren's kitchen, I would take a few weeks to get that dead, says the famously brown thumbed madger. And someone was wondering what was said in Spanish, I'm paraphrasing, since I haven't watched this epi for 12 hours or so... Woman: "They're not interested in Alfredo, it's all about the police." Goren: "We're worried about your family." I love the shocked look Goren got when she realized he understood her, I get that a lot when I speak Spanish, it's fun.
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Post by Summerfield on Oct 6, 2007 21:25:21 GMT -5
Woohoo! You noticed the dead plant too? By the way, it wasn't dirty tile on the countertop but just a tablecloth. Goren know he's a whack job...more power to him! Makes him more endearing!
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Post by Patcat on Oct 6, 2007 22:21:14 GMT -5
Techguy--Great post.
One of the many things I admire about Goren is his strong sense of what's right and wrong. It may have been terribly shaken in the last year, but he still holds on to it.
I think only a few days may have passed since the funeral of Goren's mother. I doubt he's had much time, between his job and his mother, to take care of any plants. I don't know about the NYPD's leave policy, but many employers only offer a couple of weeks for deaths in the family. Goren may have been at the very start of his leave.
Patcat
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