stunt_muppet

...See, I was going to wait until the end of the week, then do all my TV recaps all in one journal so that I wouldn't waste massive amounts of time typing every day.

This was before I realized that my Miami review ALONE is four-and-a-half pages, single-spaced. And my SVU review isn't even finished and is pushing three.

If LJ has a character limit, I'm screwed.

So I'll just post them one by one like I always do.

Oh, and before I forget,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
I love you all to bits. :)



I missed about 15 minutes in the middle of this episode, from the point where Ryan says “I could really use some good news” to where Natalia has the diamond under a microscope. Thus, nothing that happened between those two points will be covered here. Which is unfortunate, because I apparently missed half the good parts. Grr.

So how about that opening, huh? In spite of some last-minute panic ‘round the boards, I was always fairly certain that Eric was going to live, if only because of the placement of the episode. Sweeps or not, characters don’t get killed off till the beginning or the end of a season. I’m sure someone is about to come in and prove me wrong, but that’s been my experience with Miami, anyway. Only exception that comes to mind is Mari, and she was only one episode behind the season closer.

I have to admit that I have my quibbles with this scene. Why would they call his death before they administer the epinephrine? I realize that was mostly a fake-out, but still. Also, would intracardiac epinephrine actually revive someone? It’s been used several times in fiction (most notably in Pulp Fiction, pun not intended), but I’ve never heard anyone speak definitively on whether or not it works. My knowledge of medicine is pale and inadequate, but the needle full of epinephrine doesn’t make sense from where I’m sitting. Epinephrine allows a normally-contracting heart to contract with more force, but if your heart’s already not beating, epinephrine’s not going to do anything for you. Of course, I am one of five, maybe six people who actually cares about that, but I feel it merits attention. Off to do some research!

Minor inaccuracies aside, this was still a great scene. One particularly nice detail was Horatio, standing behind the glass, watching, looking very, very worried but saying nothing. I was half-expecting him to start shouting at people (particularly when they called Eric’s death), but I’m glad he didn’t. I think it works well in contrast to Lost Son and Rampage. By now, I feel like he’s watching quietly because he’s resigned – he’s come to realize that people are going to die and there’s nothing he can do about it. And that’s a tough thing to realize, particularly for someone who, as I said in my last review, is used to being able to fix everything. When the doctors start reading the time of death and H just turns his head away…wow. It was a simple gesture, but it said so much.

But could they *please* have done something different with the credits this time around? Couldn’t they at least have cut out the scream? It was just jarring. And it made the home audience rather upset. “No, I’m NOT feeling like rocking out right now. Know why? ‘Cause ERIC’S DEAD.”

I’m convinced that something terrible is about to happen to Ryan, because they seem to be redoubling their efforts to make me adore him and when they do that with a character, it means some heavy-duty drama is soon to befall them (See Exhibits A and B: The Delko siblings). But they’re doing a good job of it, because I loved him just as much in this episode as I did in No Man’s Land. I’ve always found his and Eric’s relationship interesting, and I liked how they played it here – Ryan’s clearly protective of Eric, but he seemed unsure of how to react when he was visiting Eric in the hospital. (Insert knowing shake of head and an “oh, men and their emotional complexes” sigh.)

Like I said, I missed the bit where Eric and Cal were interrogating suspects. But I did catch what I think is my favorite Ryan moment of the entire season. Right after they find gunshot residue on the cop’s hand, Ryan very quietly says “You shot my friend”. And then POUNCES ON HIM. I might have been cheering. I don’t really remember. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe that’s the first time Ryan’s ever gotten violent in the interrogation room (I add that qualifier because I don’t count him beating up Cooper in One Of Our Own). I find that interesting and somewhat satisfying, from a characterization perspective.

I’ve mentioned that Natalia doesn’t bother me as much as she used to, but I only caught one or two of her scenes in this episode, and one of them did make me rather angry. See, Natalia annoyed me so in Season 4 because it seemed like her sole purpose was to be a drama-spinning engine for Eric and Ryan and to have an available young lady on the team. While I am bothered by the fact that she magically became a CSI, at least she actually does stuff now instead of just angsting up people’s personal lives.

But I really don’t like the way the scene between her and Valera played out. As I told rainbowstevie, whoever wrote that bit apparently decided that we had to make Valera stupid in order to make Natalia smart. For example, Val saying that the rock “doesn’t look like a diamond”, and Nat replying that “They don’t come out of the ground looking like engagement rings”? Um, duh. Valera’s an intelligent human being and has had an education. She’d know that already. Heck, I think I learned that in elementary school or something.

On that note, I’m not sure how I feel about the diamonds plotline. I’m getting mildly sick of “conflict diamonds”, since they’ve popped up in almost every single crime drama I watch and now they’ve got a whole movie out about them, but I don’t think that’s the fault of the episode. After all, now that the movie’s out, the Miami-viewing public is probably familiar with blood diamonds and the like; why shouldn’t they use something familiar that they don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining? Plus (and I KNOW someone’s going to bring this up on CSI Files), I’d rather it be diamonds than drugs. And hey, diamonds are expensive. There’s a lot of money changing hands there. People have killed for less. I can buy it, albeit with a slight wince.

What I don’t buy is the diamond-cutters in the woman’s broom closet. Again, I am forced to raise a point first brought up at CSI Files – why does everyone in Miami have at least two refugees locked up in their basement? The sprawling drug trade I can *almost* swallow, but I have a hard time believing that there’s quite that much human trafficking going on completely unnoticed by customs and border patrol. I could have done without that part of the plot.

I have been silent on Cal and Alexx thus far, because during the fifteen minutes that I wasn’t there I missed the part where Alexx did anything. However, I did get to see her scene at Eric’s bedside, which was incredibly sweet. She looked like nothing so much as a worried mother, looking after her son. Which fits, considering she’s the team’s mommy figure. I’m always glad when they play that up.

I will refrain from spazzing nonsensically about the scenes between Eric and Calleigh, especially since I missed the scene where Eric woke up. But the bit where she places the rosary in his hand made me flail. There haven’t been that many episodes focusing on their relationship, so it’s easy to forget that they’ve known each other since the series began. They’ve been through quite a lot together. I like to think that, after all this time, they’ve become at least a little attached to one another, even if not necessarily in a romantic way (I’m having to *bind and gag* my inner E/C shipper as I write these words, just so you know. She’s become sort of incoherent). It also made me wonder what the particular significance of that rosary is. Is it hers? His? Neither of theirs? Where’d she get it? (Also, is that actually a rosary, or is it just a necklace with a cross on it? That wasn’t too clear on my TV.)

Back to the case, I suppose. Another thing I’m not sure I like about this episode is how Clavo’s story arc ended. True, in the best cop-and-killer rivalries, both cop and killer become as obsessed as the other, to the point where they almost bond over their hate. But…Clavo’s only been there for four episodes. I’m not really sure they have that yet, and during those final scenes it kind of felt like they were forcing that kind of relationship on Horatio and Clavo. I’d rather they kept Clavo around for a few more episodes, and allowed that obsession to develop on its own. Frankly, my ideal ending for this episode has Clavo somehow securing a plane or boat or something, then calling Horatio once he’s far out of his jurisdiction. Their conversation ends with “See you around, H,” right before he flips off the phone. I might just have to write that, actually. Canon be damned.

That said, some of Clavo’s scenes work very well. I was especially fond of the scene where he calls his father, only to hear Horatio picking up the phone. Actually, “fond” isn’t really strong enough a word for how I felt about it. It made a perfect ironic counterpoint to the scene in No Man’s Land, when Clavo answered Cathy’s phone. And I do so love irony. However, can I venture into ‘if I wrote this’ territory once more? I think a sadistic little grin from Horatio would’ve been nice, if only because he’s finally regained the high ground and has Clavo in the *exact* same position he was just in. And he’s definitely done that kind of thing before – “I’m magic” from Freaks and Tweaks leaps to mind.

While we’re discussing that scene, can I bring up another tiny problem? Why do bad guys *always* say “Over my dead body”? You don’t say “over my dead body” to someone who has a gun. It’s just not wise.

I’m still ambivalent about Clavo’s suicide-by-cop. I guess it was a fitting end for him. I, personally, would rather he go down fighting, but that would probably have ended up being really cheesy. And there was a nice restraint to the scene that just wouldn’t have been there if he’d charged Horatio with guns blazing. Actually, that’s the one thing I really liked about that scene – how muted it was. That’s not normally an adjective that applies to anything in Miami. What surprised me the most was Horatio’s reaction; in spite of all the threats he’s made to Clavo, he didn’t seem very enthusiastic about shooting him. There was even a kind of sadness there. At first, I felt like this was another attempt to push the ‘personal nemesis’ thing, but, looking at it another way, it makes sense. Clavo is backed into a corner, out of options, and helpless – he’s coming here to die, and he knows it. In all likelihood, that gun he’s waving around is empty. H’s reaction looks a lot more reasonable from that angle – regardless of everything Clavo’s done, he’s still shooting a defenseless and cornered human being. It’s more an act of inevitability than justice.

My ambivalence prevails regarding their mutual exchanges of “Take care”. If this kind of thing had come up earlier than the last five minutes of Clavo’s life, and if it had been a recurring theme throughout their encounters, and if they’d let it continue for a couple more episodes, I think I would have liked it more. As it is...Clavo’s death was better than I expected, and I think that’s probably all I can hope for.

And now for my ending-scene spazz. I shall preface it with one last tiny complaint: I think that the single tear trailing down someone’s cheek should be immediately abandoned. Nobody cries like that. I find realistic crying to be much more moving anyway.

But except for that? Woah. Again, I missed the bit where Eric first wakes up and asks Calleigh where his sister is. Which means that, at the very end, when he asked “Where’s Marisol?”, I was completely caught off-guard. Cue another shocked gasp and clutch of the pillow. (I hug pillows when I’m watching sad TV. Not sure why.)

For starters, I was pretty shocked that anyone on the writing team remembered Marisol, so it was nice to have some reminder that she did, in fact, exist. But...the very first thing Eric hears when he wakes up is that his sister is dead. He has to deal with losing her all over again. The worst part is, he doesn’t even seem surprised, like he was expecting to hear it but was afraid to. And why shouldn’t he expect it? She was sick. He doesn’t know how long he’s been out. For all he knows, her cancer could have taken a turn for the worse while he was unconscious. This does not bode well for his recovery effort.

I know I keep blathering about how Horatio looks at the end of these episodes, but dammit, David, stop making me feel miserable. Because when Horatio very quietly says “She’s gone, Eric”, you just know it’s killing him to say it. Saying it means acknowledging it, means having to accept it again. And he’s not ready for that. When Eric starts to cry and Horatio just hangs his head, in the last shot of the episode...that hurt.

However, this does bring me to a bit of speculation – what else doesn’t Eric remember? He obviously remembers Horatio and Calleigh, and I’m sure he’ll remember Alexx, too. But how far back does the memory loss go? Does he remember why he’s paying off a sleazy con artist? Does he remember that Natalia a) betrayed the lab and b)got promoted anyway? What if it goes back even further? What if – and this would be the most horrible, sick twist I can possibly think of – he ends up asking “Where’s Speed?”. What if he doesn’t remember Speed’s death, and therefore doesn’t recognize Ryan? Highly unlikely, but...damn. I hope it doesn’t end up that way. I might lose it.

Powers that Be of Miami: Please, please, please make more episodes this good. Just don’t, you know, keep shooting people to do it.