ROCKET MAN EOTW

[Patcat]

ROCKET MAN

Will air October 4 at 6am(EST) and October 5 at 1am(EST) on the USA Network. First aired May 1, 2007. Nineteenth episode of Season Six.

Directed by Michael Smith. Written by Julie Martin, Siobhan Byrne O’Connor, and Warren Leight.

Guest Actors:

Tate Donovan as Commander Nelson
Amy Ryan as Edie Nelson (Ms. Ryan played Julie Turner in SUITE SORROW)
Charissa Chamorro as Sandy Del Gado
Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Rodgers (repeat offender)

Synopsis: The main suspects in the violent death of a young astronaut are her fellow astronauts and one of their spouses.

Ripped from the headlines: Based on the case of Lisa Nowak. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Nowak

Quotes:

Eames (to Nelson): “Everybody at the agency tells us how “discreet” you and Jessica were.”

Sandy: “Jessica’s not his type.” Goren: “Young, smart, beautiful? I get that.”

Goren (to Nelson): “You’re a very good actor for an astronaut.”

Eames: “Houston, we have a problem.”

Sandy: “I completed the mission.”

Goren (to Nelson): “But, since she was clearly dead, why jeopardize your career?”

Queries:

A lot of people really hated this episode. Hated it more than I apparently hate THE VIEW FROM UP HERE. Is it such a bad episode? What makes it a bad episode? Could it have been saved? Does it have any redeeming values?

What episodes of LOCI do you dislike? Why? Is there any episode you like and everyone else hates? One you hate and everyone else likes?

Many of those who disliked this episode blamed Warren Leight. Was he the source of all of LOCI’s ills?

Are Goren and Eames slow to resolve this case? If so, why?

What’s the state of their relationship?

Some critics of this story believed it was a “dumbed down” episode. Is it? One of the early criticisms of LOCI is that it’s stories were too complicated. Were they? And where is the line between “too smart” and “dumbed down”?

How is NASA portrayed in this episode? Is it fair?

“Commander Nelson”—a reference to I DREAM OF JEANNIE? (A show I really dislike, by the way.)

Another story ripped from the headlines. But is this a case where the original story was too bizarre to be a good basis for an episode?

Is Goren angry? Ross? Eames?

Comments: Well, in spite of the fact a lot of people hated this episode, we managed to get five pages of discussion about it when it was first shown. Perhaps we’ve talked it to death. I don’t know. I was one of the few who didn’t think it was a horrible episode—not great, not one of the best, but ok. I think what saves it for me is that the guest actors and regulars manage to maintain a reality in spite of the ludicrous situation. This is also one of the few Season Six stories that doesn’t feature a great deal of emotional turmoil among and between Goren and Eames. Even if they’re not at the top of their game, our favorite detectives are working well together.

And my apologies for missing the EOTW last week. As some of you may know, I had a connection problem. And my apologies for returning with an episode I gather many of you would rather leave alone.

As always, feel free to comment, criticize, etc….

Patcat

[jeffan]

I’ve just struggled through watching all of Rocketman . As Prodigaltwit wrote, “What can I add” - for me only this - I found the comments more interesting and entertaining than the actual episode.

[Patcat]

Ah. Not a good start (g)

Patcat

[tere]

Not one of my favorites, but I remember thinking at the time that finally here was an episode without angst. . . a chance to see G & E as just detectives. I completely missed the possible Jeanie reference!
Commander Nelson was a bit dull (maybe it was a Jeanie reference), but I liked Julie Turner in both her LOCI parts.

Two episodes I dislike: Blind Spot and Untethered. I haven't seen them since first airing.

[Moonbeam]

Loved the tongue in cheek shout out to "I Dream of Jeannie." Too bad they couldn't run with it. The problem as I see it is that the episode came too soon after the 'headline.'

[Techguy]

WORD on Jeffan's comments, which are also mine.

This is an episode I swore I would never waste any more time to watch again. My initial comments on first airing were brutal and deservedly so--crap and drek no matter how you try to cover up or mask the stench. Given the astronaut diaper subtext--a metaphor for the episode--crap and drek it still is. And like a used diaper, I have no desire to look at or inspect the contents.

[meggyd]

I just read the previous thread on this episode, working out what I was going to say, when I stumbled across my own previous comment - and I'd already said it all!

I didn't hate this episode, but didn't love it either. One thing that continues to strike me, aside from the stupidity of the astronauts who are supposedly the best of the best which has already been commented on, is the lack of scruitiny the astronauts are under. Nobody really noticed Sandy acting like a loon? Don't they have zillions of ongoing psychological evaluations? Nobody had a suspicion the astronauts were sleeping with each other, particularly the female who had all the focus on her? Someone would have seen something and sold the story in an instant - they were on a press tour in hotels, not on the base where they may have had some expectation of privacy. Another false note.

Reading the previous comments, I remembered the horror of the Leight years. We all seemed to be very sure that CI was done and dusted...back in season 6. All the things we were afraid of for Endgame and Goren's parentage happened, and yet the series still goes on. Glad the 'music video' beginnings were done away with, and that Leight has moved on to destroy some other show.

I liked the 'type A' comments also. I always did see Ross as an angry man, but his anger was more bitter, about his divorce and so on. Someone on the earlier thread didn't see him as type A, but I think his behaviour does show those qualities - he likes to be in charge, he resents Goren acting without his say so, and before he'd even met Goren he acted to try to control a 'threat' to his authority by telling Eames to watch his behaviour.

Even though this was a 'C' in my book, it was better than nothing (and way better than TWAH which I found the lowest point of the season).

[Patcat]

I appreciate people responding to this thread, even if they hate the episode.

Regarding the scrutiny of the astronauts' behavior--the real life case also spurred questions of how the astronauts' behavior was monitored. Lisa Nowak, who Sandy is based upon, was acting strangely (not perhaps, "like a loon"), but she didn't set off any alarms. As to the other astronauts, well, I certainly hope that they're really not acting like this.

Ross is definitely Type A to me. One of the things that changes about him is that he becomes less of an organization man as his exposure to Goren and Eames increases. I think a similar thing happened with Deakins. I've the sense that Ross has been away from the inner workings of the NYPD for a while, perhaps working on that international crime task force where he became Wheeler's mentor. I think Ross might have met Chief Moran at an earlier point, maybe before Moran became such a jerk. But then I want to think that Ross is a better man than someone who'd be close to someone like Moran.

Patcat

[jeffan]

Ewwww, Techguy -

you've made me laugh again.

[idget]

Rocket Man, Rocket Man how to describe you! Not one of my favorites by any means. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best , I guess I would rate it a 2. Not as bad as Vacancy, my all time most hated episode, but at least with The View From up Here they seemed to try to do something with it. My main problem with Rocket Man was that they just seemed to cobble the story together with the news headlines and not try to do anything different with it. Except for the actress playing Mrs. Nelson I wasn't impressed with the acting either, but when your given such cliched characters to play it must be hard to give it your all.