EPISODE OF THE WEEK: MASQUERADE

[Patcat]

Will air 4 am (EST), March 13, on the USA NETWORK, and again on April 7. First aired on October 31, 2006. Episode 6 of Season 6.

Written by Warren Leight and Gina Gionfriddo
Directed by Christine Mason

Guest Actors:

Bill Irwin as Nate Royce
Matt McGrath as Simon Henry Fife
Dashiell Evans as Jamie Royce (Mr. Evans played the waiter at the Bar Mitzvah in CRAZY)
Liza Minnelli as Beth Harner
Kayla Vanderbilt as Amberleigh Harner
Geneva Carr as Faith Yancy

Synopsis: Goren and Eames attempt to solve the 14-year-old murder of a child actress.

Ripped from the headlines--
This story is obviously based on the unsolved murder of the six year old JonBenet Ramsey. It reflects the Ramsey case in many ways, including a false confession. See the wikipedia article at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_benet_ramsey

We also have the return of Faith Yancy, who's obviously based on Nancy Grace. Ms. Grace claims to be a crusader for victim's rights, but her record of attacking people who later turn out to be innocent and her own false claims to be a victim do not necessarily support this. (I can't decide who I dislike more--Ms. Grace or her fictional representation.)

Quotes:

Fife: "She died inadvertently in a moment of intense love."

Fife: "Autumn in New York. It's time to go home."

Goren: "Beth Harner's behavior was very, very strange that morning, but it's another rookie cop's mistake to think that strange behavior equals guilt."

Eames: "You know the DA's office. This case collapses, they'll spin it so everybody thinks we bothed it."
Ross: "And this case collapses how?"
Eames: "The ransom demand. The caller said, "We have your whore daughter." Fife thinks he mad "gentle love" to Amberleigh. Different fantasy."

Beth: "You seem like a man who's dedicated to his work. Too much, maybe."
Goren: "Like you were to Amberleigh."

Goren (to Fife): "It must be your favorite night of the year. These little girls dressed in costume."
Fife: "Princessess...fairies...with sparkling wings, ribbons in their hair."

Eames: "I stopped reading when I got to Fife's line about how he made love to Amberleigh while co-mingling their blood."
Goren: "There was no blood in the basement, except for Amberleigh's."

Eames: "Call me if you need a ride home."

Ross: "Another day, another confession."

Queries:

Is this episode exploitive?

Perhaps the reason criminals think they're smarter than the cops is because they are?

Is Goren's use of alcohol to get Fife and Beth to talk wrong?

What is Fife guilty of? Is he a danger to children? Will he be in danger?

Is Beth a monster stage mother living through her child? Or is she helping her child?

Both Beth and Jamie seem to be frozen by Amberleigh's death. Will they be able to move on with their lives now?

Would this case have collapsed if Goren and Eames hadn't been on it?

Why wasn't Amberleigh's father contacted?

Was Amberleigh a star?

There was much discussion initially about Ross and Goren's antagonistic relationship in this story. But what is Goren and Eames' relationship?

What about the many video flashbacks?

Comments: Sometimes off beat casting works. I was surprised and suspicious when I learned of Liza Minnelli's casting as the mother in this story. I was also skeptical of Bill Irwin being the neighbor. But both are excellent. Mr. Irwin plays his role wonderfully, while Ms. Minnelli--who has been a caricature of herself in recent years--is wonderful as Beth. Beth isn't portrayed as a complete sinner or saint, and Ms. Minnelli isn't afraid to show the woman's good and bad qualities.

I think an underlying theme of many of the Season Six episodes is the harm the public spotlight can do to an investigation. Slime like Faith Yancy make wild accusations, ruin people's lives, and keep the truth from coming out. The press doesn't come out well in these episodes.

There's some wonderful writing for Eames in this story that addresses some of the problems she faces as a female officer, and Ms. Erbe is more than up to its quality. I also like the way she refuses to back down from the press and the Captain. And her reading of Beth's desire to have dinner with Goren...ALONE...and reaction is wonderful. As is Mr. D'Onofrio's "You're leaving me alone with HER?" reaction.

Submitted for your comments and consideration.

Patcat

[ragincajun]

I will more later, I can't remember did this air before or after Mrs Ramsey died? My favorite two parts are when Eames said "He's the one she was making googly eyes at" the look on Goren's face, also the look when he realised Eames was leaving him alone with her. But he was so charming and nice to her. Makes you love him more. Have to go for now, but I really loved the episode. They never did find JonBonet's killer did they?

[Patcat]

Patsy Ramsey died before this episode was aired, and the case remains unsolved. The incompetency of the police and the DA and the pack mentality of the press in this case are incredible.

Patcat

[nomoreexcuses]

I was glad to see a discussion on this episode because it kinda bugs me, a lot like the "Rocket Man" and "Bombshell" eps. Especially with the last two, this type of ep seems to have no purpose other than to exploit public interest in tawdry tabloid stories. They seem beneath LOCI though "Masquerade" did have more content and integrity. It rose above the titilation to become a story about lost children who were sacrificed to the ambitions of a parent. Both Amberleigh and Jamie Royce. I wonder if this is what the writers were aiming for.

Did anyone else see "Masquerade" this way? Did anyone else find the casting of Liza Minelli weird? She was such a creepy mother.

nme

[deathroe]

I liked Liza's portrayal a lot--I'm always struck by how intelligent she is when I see her out and about. But I totally agree that the show has sought out the cheap and exploitative in recent years. Nomoreexcuses, tawdry strikes me as but an excellent word.

[DonnaJo]

Good thoughts, nme.

Like you, I was taken back by the Liza casting, but didn't the role call for a creepy mother. lol? Someone who would be suspect by everyone, especially Nancy Yates, the TV show host? I could really see someone like Liza's character as a mom obsessed with her daughter's success. Especially since AmberLeigh was her only child.

Also, a very creepy parent was Jamie's Dad. Something about him was weird from the get go. Maybe it was just the actor.

The scene with VDO & Liza at dinner. I wish they would have used the scene which showed them holding hands. Instead, they used the one which had their held hands blocked by something at the dinner table. Beth clutching poor Bobby's hand would have really shown how lonely & eager she was for Goren as a potential suitor.

[maherjunkie]

The people involved in these crimes were tawdry, so I guess that aspect is inevitable.

[mothernight2]

The actor who played Nate Royce, Bill Irwin, is mostly a theatrical actor and is considered by his peers to be something of a genius. Many years ago he was part of a movement in New York Theater called "The New Vaudeville" which included a lot of updated, cutting edge physical performance. I saw him do his physical stuff in an imported Italian political spoof called "Death of An Anarchist." He was amazing.

I agree that this episode had a lot more depth than Rocket Man (ugh) or (double ugh) Bombshell. I see in the bio material that Gina Gionfriddo left LOCI after Bombshell and I can't help but wonder whether part of the reason was the S6 tendencies to do this sensationalistic stuff just to get press and goose ratings.

Mothernight

[Patcat]

Yes, Ms. Minnelli walks a very thin line between creepy and sympathetic in this story, and she does it extremely well. I think all of the performances--including those of the regulars--do a great deal to give this episode depth and resonance, something ROCKET MAN certainly doesn't have. And I think it's the acting that makes the difference between the two episodes.

Patcat

[annabelleleigh]

I'm not sure I agree completely on that point, PC. Certainly I think Liza Minnelli and Bill Irwin brought more depth and nuance to their roles than the actors cast in "Rocket Man" and "Bombshell." But it all starts with the written word. IMO the latter two had stories completely devoid of subtext; the characters were written as cartoons; and the dialogue was splattered with cliches.

I think the equally important distinction of "Masquerade" is that Gionfriddo and Leight created a story that was about more than Jon Benet Ramsey. Someone else on this thread said something about lost, sacrificed children. I think that's spot on, and that's why "Masquerade" has a poignancy that the other two lack. And yes, the casting was brilliant.

AL

[ragincajun]

Mar 16, 2009 9:01:57 GMT -5 Patcat said:

Yes, Ms. Minnelli walks a very thin line between creepy and sympathetic in this story, and she does it extremely well. I think all of the performances--including those of the regulars--do a great deal to give this episode depth and resonance, something ROCKET MAN certainly doesn't have. And I think it's the acting that makes the difference between the two episodes.

Patcat

I just wondered about this episode, in time would Amberliegh have run away or killed herself, since she wanted to give up acting but was being pushed by her mother to do it. She was living her mother's dream, not her own. Didn't the orange juice lady say she wanted to quit?

[Patcat]

Yea, BOMBSHELL was bad from the start. I felt sorry for Mr. Noth and Ms. Nicholson, who were doing their best. But I think ROCKETMAN had possibilities. I'd never argue the script was great--I think the writers were limited by the ripped from the headlines elements--but none of the guest actors were able to fill in their characters.

I wonder about Amberleigh too. Was her desire to quit a one time thing--kids do say they want to quit things and then go back to them--or was it an expression of being really upset? As sympathetic as I became to Beth, I certainly don't regard her as a reliable witness when it comes to whether her daughter wanted to be an actress.

I wonder about Jamie. He's come a very long way in the face of long odds. Will he make it?

Patcat

[maherjunkie]

I liked Bombshell. It was cartoony because the people involved were. It was funny in a campy way.

[tjara]

I think Jamie will make it, PC.
In a strange way, I think Jamie and Beth will be able to provide each other with the kind of companionship that they both need.

Why wasn't Amberleigh's father contacted?

I wondered about that, too. It was only mentioned that they were divorced and that he lived in California. We never heard since when they were separated.

[idget]

I really liked this episode and also thought it was much better than Rocketman and Bombshell. Although I agree with Maherjunkie that Bombshell was campy and there were moment I did find humorous. Whether the writers were going for campy or not that I don't know. It may have helped that the Ramsey case was not as recent as the other two cases. Sometimes I think it is just too soon to do a ripped from the headlines case. I did think Liza Minnelli did a fantastic job with her role, I had forgotten that she can act. Her and Vincent D'Onofrio had good chemistry in their scenes together. And I did sense a little jealousy on Eames part with the googly eyes comment which I found funny. I like to think Tjara is right about Beth and Jamie and that they can help each other.