Post by Patcat on Mar 19, 2009 10:22:39 GMT -5
Will air March 22 at 8pm (EST) and March 23 at 12am (EST) on the Bravo Cable Network
First aired February 22, 2004. Episode 14 of Season Three
Written by Elizabeth Benjamin and Rene Balcer
Directed by Joyce Chopta
Guest Actors:
Danile Sauli as Eric Dunlow/Brian
Terry O'Quinn as Gordon Buchanon
Stephen Bogardus as Clay Sherwood
Synopsis: The gruesome discovery of the chopped up body of a pharmaceutical salesman leads to many people with things to hide.
Ripped from the headlines:
The contaminated blood products element of the plot is based on several cases in the US and France where pharmaceutical companies supplied such products to the public, especially to hemophiliacs. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_haemophilia_blood_productsfor more info. I'm sure many of you are aware of some of the more infamous cases of hemophiliacs developing HIV and AIDS from blood products, including the Jay Brothers and Ryan White. For anyone with an interest in hemophilia or the difficulties of dealing with a child with a chronic medical condition, I highly recommend JOURNEY by Susan and Robert Massie. (Mr. Massie is a fine writer and historian who wrote NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRIA about the last Russian Czar among many fine books.) It details their son's struggles with hemophilia, and also provides a chilling look at the politics surrounding blood donation, the use of blood, and medical practices.
Quotes:
Eames (looking at the body in the suitcases): "Maybe this beats traveling economy."
Eames: "They have lovely fax cover sheets."
Deakins: "Thai doctor and an embassy attache. Throw in the girlfriends, and Sherwood's life is sounding like a Graham Greene novel."
Goren: "It's these meds. That's how the boy got it. Sherwood and his friends were selling contaminated meds."
Eames: "Tell you what. Sherwood got off easy."
Buchanon: "Give me credit. I don't chase secretaries."
Eames: "It doesn't sound like Eric bats for one team."
Goren: "It doesn't sound like Eric's Eric."
Caught wife (to Goren): "You ask the weirdest questions."
Eames: "You have no idea."
Carver: "Any bets on which one the media will annoint the less evil?"
Goren: "There's no such animal."
Queries:
I strongly recommend a look at Elana's comments on the original discussion of this episode.
Is this an episode that tries to do too much?
Is there a greater villain?
I like Gordon Buchanon. I like Terry O'Quinn's performance. I think Eames and Goren like him too. Having said that, is Buchanon in the enviable position of being able to afford to have ethics? What will happen to him?
Why hasn't Eric/Brian's fraud been discovered before now?
If Eric hadn't chopped up Sherwood's body and tried to send it back to Thailand, would he have been caught? What if he had dumped the body in the river? And if Eric/Brian hadn't mentioned the skin cancer tests, would Goren and Eames have discovered the discrepancy in the DNA?
Would Buchanon have cared if Eric occasionally had sex with women?
How does this murder rate on the LOCI ways of dispatching humans?
Is Goren easier on women than men?
Comments:
An episode that initially left me feeling thinking it was rather middle of the road, but I find that I like more the more I see it. There's an excellent performance by Terry O'Quinn, a fine character actor who used his work in the exploitation film THE STEPFATHER (O'Quinn's performance elevates this movie into something more) as a springboard to more and better roles. Buchanon is not the most fully drawn character, but O'Quinn fills the sketch and makes the audience believe in the man's integrity and concern. On the other hand, while I can't fault Daniel Sauli's performance as Eric/Brian, I can't help but feel the part required an actor with more charisma.
There are some nice touches. We get to see Bobby with his jackknife and examining a body, and I love it when a LOCI episode uses New York City. There's a real sense of the city in winter in this episode, one that shooting somewhere else couldn't produce.
As someone noted in the original discussion, there are at least two mis-labelings--that of the blood product, and of Eric/Brian. There's also the theme of what is a greater evil? Is there such a thing? I don't believe this episode answers those questions; I'm not sure it wants to.
Offered for your comments and consideration,
Patcat
First aired February 22, 2004. Episode 14 of Season Three
Written by Elizabeth Benjamin and Rene Balcer
Directed by Joyce Chopta
Guest Actors:
Danile Sauli as Eric Dunlow/Brian
Terry O'Quinn as Gordon Buchanon
Stephen Bogardus as Clay Sherwood
Synopsis: The gruesome discovery of the chopped up body of a pharmaceutical salesman leads to many people with things to hide.
Ripped from the headlines:
The contaminated blood products element of the plot is based on several cases in the US and France where pharmaceutical companies supplied such products to the public, especially to hemophiliacs. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_haemophilia_blood_productsfor more info. I'm sure many of you are aware of some of the more infamous cases of hemophiliacs developing HIV and AIDS from blood products, including the Jay Brothers and Ryan White. For anyone with an interest in hemophilia or the difficulties of dealing with a child with a chronic medical condition, I highly recommend JOURNEY by Susan and Robert Massie. (Mr. Massie is a fine writer and historian who wrote NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRIA about the last Russian Czar among many fine books.) It details their son's struggles with hemophilia, and also provides a chilling look at the politics surrounding blood donation, the use of blood, and medical practices.
Quotes:
Eames (looking at the body in the suitcases): "Maybe this beats traveling economy."
Eames: "They have lovely fax cover sheets."
Deakins: "Thai doctor and an embassy attache. Throw in the girlfriends, and Sherwood's life is sounding like a Graham Greene novel."
Goren: "It's these meds. That's how the boy got it. Sherwood and his friends were selling contaminated meds."
Eames: "Tell you what. Sherwood got off easy."
Buchanon: "Give me credit. I don't chase secretaries."
Eames: "It doesn't sound like Eric bats for one team."
Goren: "It doesn't sound like Eric's Eric."
Caught wife (to Goren): "You ask the weirdest questions."
Eames: "You have no idea."
Carver: "Any bets on which one the media will annoint the less evil?"
Goren: "There's no such animal."
Queries:
I strongly recommend a look at Elana's comments on the original discussion of this episode.
Is this an episode that tries to do too much?
Is there a greater villain?
I like Gordon Buchanon. I like Terry O'Quinn's performance. I think Eames and Goren like him too. Having said that, is Buchanon in the enviable position of being able to afford to have ethics? What will happen to him?
Why hasn't Eric/Brian's fraud been discovered before now?
If Eric hadn't chopped up Sherwood's body and tried to send it back to Thailand, would he have been caught? What if he had dumped the body in the river? And if Eric/Brian hadn't mentioned the skin cancer tests, would Goren and Eames have discovered the discrepancy in the DNA?
Would Buchanon have cared if Eric occasionally had sex with women?
How does this murder rate on the LOCI ways of dispatching humans?
Is Goren easier on women than men?
Comments:
An episode that initially left me feeling thinking it was rather middle of the road, but I find that I like more the more I see it. There's an excellent performance by Terry O'Quinn, a fine character actor who used his work in the exploitation film THE STEPFATHER (O'Quinn's performance elevates this movie into something more) as a springboard to more and better roles. Buchanon is not the most fully drawn character, but O'Quinn fills the sketch and makes the audience believe in the man's integrity and concern. On the other hand, while I can't fault Daniel Sauli's performance as Eric/Brian, I can't help but feel the part required an actor with more charisma.
There are some nice touches. We get to see Bobby with his jackknife and examining a body, and I love it when a LOCI episode uses New York City. There's a real sense of the city in winter in this episode, one that shooting somewhere else couldn't produce.
As someone noted in the original discussion, there are at least two mis-labelings--that of the blood product, and of Eric/Brian. There's also the theme of what is a greater evil? Is there such a thing? I don't believe this episode answers those questions; I'm not sure it wants to.
Offered for your comments and consideration,
Patcat