Life review and rec
I watched both seasons while at my parents' for the holidays, and it is amazing. I strongly recommend it. It's got some bumps, especially in Season 2, but overall, it's a really good show. This rec goes double if you enjoy buddy-cop dynamics with an overarching mystery.
If you haven't seen it and are interested, please find the originally broadcasted episodes - they are out there - because they have the original music and NBC was too cheap to put it all on the DVDs. The music is, I'd argue, a crucial part to fully enjoying the series. You can always do what my sister did and buy the DVDs afterward.
I'd seen a promo or two while Heroes was airing back in 2007, and felt a vague interest in watching Life, but I was really into Heroes back then and I kind of go through fandom obsessions one at a time, so I never checked Life out until now. I'm so grateful to my dad for asking if my sister and I wanted to watch it and catch up to where he was in S2. We were both like, "Eh, sure," and I think that's probably the best way for me to get really invested in something, because the same thing happened with Leverage and Deadly Premonition. And I'll admit I was thriled when I saw Reese for the first time, because I'd assumed the show was only about Damian Lewis's character (and I thought he lived alone in a really small house because all I remember from back then were shots of his conspiracy wall, lol.) I'm so glad I watched it! This is one of those shows I can re-watch again and again and catch new, little things I missed the previous times.
lilymayloveless @ tumblrThe good:
+ The music is what struck me at first. I remember thinking, "Whoever picked the music is a genius." It flows so well with the tone, setting, characterization, and visual editing. I've downloaded several songs already that were featured in the show, including:
fuckyeahcharliecrews @ tumblr
It's such a beautifully shot show. So many perfect angles, stunning color palettes, and a great use of the setting. LA becomes a character in and of itself.
+ Characters. Even most of the CotW ones came off as fully realized people, with traits and backgrounds that made them feel well-rounded, rather than stereotypes. My secondary faves are Karen, Jane, Bobby, and Ted.
+ SO MANY "Hey, it's that guy/woman!" moments. My sister and I had tons of fun trying to figure out where we'd seen someone before. LOTS of Supernatural alum: Woman in White, Gabriel, Meg, War, Bela, and a couple others I'm forgetting. [LOL, I'd forgotten about Adam. Who?] Sometimes it was distracting, but that's another reason why I enjoy re-watching the episodes: so I can focus on the show rather than going straight to IMDB. Also, I find it funny and impressive that there were so many redheads. I'm convinced Damian had a 'cast ALL the American gingers!' clause in his contract.
+ Crews and Reese, and Crews/Reese.
chasethememories @ tumblr
I've known of Damian - my mental image of adult Ron Weasley! - but had only seen him in Dreamcatcher, and recently discovered Sarah was the Woman in White in the SPN pilot, but their performances in this floored me. They completely embodied their characters. While Joseph Fiennes' lacking screen presence and charisma brought down a cool and interesting show (Flashforward), Damian and Sarah elevated a semi-'meh' premise into something really refreshing and unique. It wasn't just them, of course, but they were a major part of that process. I wasn't surprised when I found out the creator, Rand Ravich, handpicked Damian to be Charlie because - much like with York's voice actor - I firmly believe no one else could have pulled off that role, that well. Sarah was a wonderful surprise. She helped elevate Reese from (what originally seemed like) a 2-dimensional trope to a living, breathing, and lovable but tough fuck-up whom I quickly grew to admire, analyze, and sympathize with.
And her chemistry with Damian - holy FUCK. It's been a while since I've seen chemistry as consistent and continuously fresh as theirs. They just crackled in every scene they shared, and always left me wanting more: banter, co-interrogating, divulging and discovering information, synchronicity, crime fighting, verbal and nonverbal communication, protectiveness, and baby steps in their partnership and personal connection. And I got it, I got pretty much what I wanted with them. The acting, directing, and writing for their dynamic, especially in S1, has been some of the absolute best I've ever seen on television. They never got boring for me - even their phone conversations had chemistry - their steadily growing bond felt realistic, and I really appreciate how the m/f thing was handled. There was always a platonic lens placed over them with bits of arguable shippiness here and there - and not in a forced way, IMO - which helped the show rather than hurt it. I'm glad Rand didn't push the envelope until he realized he probably had to end things on a high note, and even then it could be considered ambiguous. It's one of the reasons I'm actually kind of thankful the show ended there, because I've been burned so much by other ships once they became canon, and I would have been so sad if the same thing happened to C/R.
ETA: After some more re-watching, I noticed that there actually is a HUGE leap in shippy material in S2, which I love. These moments could easily be handwaved as platonic - and I am extremely biased - but I really do think these could be something more:
One of the only things that bothered me about them was that the stuff with Dani's father got dragged out way too long. I wish that had gotten addressed sooner and that Charlie had brought her in on his side investigation about the Bank of LA cops in S2. It's a little hard to reconcile from a Watsonian view because there was a lot of network and writer's room fumbling in S2, but I'll go with Charlie trying to protect Dani - from the conspiracy group, from being convicted as his accomplice, and from herself - and by mid-season, he realized Jack wasn't the guy to go after. But Writer's Strike or not, it took way too long for Dani to ask him about her father. I also don't like the scene of Crews telling Reese to button up because that scene would have NEVER happened in S1 and was rape culture bullshit (something the show went out of its way to call out in S1, for that matter), but I like that Reese begrudgingly did only one button and it made no difference.
Other than that, everything between them was A++. I love that the focus was on them as partners first and then friends, and how the ending left it open for us viewers to decide what happened next. I think there was a definite romantic implication, especially with Bodner's reveal that he married his partner, Charlie's reaction to that, and the way he and Dani just looked at each other in the last several minutes of the show (guhhh). But others can choose to view it as friend-love, familial love, or partner love, and that's fine too. There was also a spiritual aspect to their relationship, starting with Crews helping Reese wash the drugs off her in the pilot, continuing with Reese 'bringing' him out of his limbo cell when he was shot - even the same music was used - and all the Zen/faith conversations, then concluding on Crews realizing that he + Reese = 1 and that meant he had to kill Roman and get back to her.
Just, I love Dani and Charlie, Crews and Reese. They were such layered, wonderful, and damaged losers, and they helped each other grow and thrive and lower walls and just, fffffff, they were absolutely perfect, with and for each other <3333 It's always a great feeling when discovering a new OTP.
+ The series finale: 'One'
"What we learned as children, that one plus one equals two, we know to be false. One plus one equals one. We even have a word for when you plus another equals one. That word is love."
fuckyeahtvpicspam @ tumblr
Fantastic way for the show to bow out. It didn't answer all the questions, especially who the other Bank of LA cops were, but the Zen aspect gives it an out in that it doesn't matter as much (however, my headcanon is that Charlie and Dani told each other everything and went after the others together, which is probably what would've happened in S3.) And the ending itself is so satisfying that I'm fine with it. I'm also okay with Charlie being Super Special because Mickey's confession surprisingly impressed me. It was much more effective and informative than all the crap with Rayborn before, because that was a bunch of stalling, like the stuff with Jack. I love that Tom wasn't a bad guy after all and Crews did know his friend, paralleling that he knew Reese, too.
I'm not 100% happy with Dani as a damsel in distress, but I confess that it really hit my emotional and narrative buttons, and I enjoyed the secretive assistance from Tidwell, Ted, Amanda, Bobby, Bodner, and Seever. Charlie was even hotter and more mature in "One" than in the S1 finale because he wasn't hellbent on revenge; he was a stone-cold powerhouse again, but needed help this time and needed Dani, in a different way than in the S1 finale. It's cool how the difference was outlined and foreshadowed:
S1 premiere: Charlie said to Dani, "Dog must've took a bullet for the kid, then took the shooter's finger off. Anyone ever love you that much?"
S1 finale: Charlie said, "Her partner said he needed her, and that was all she needed."
S2 premiere: Ms. Price said, "We loved each other, but -" and Charlie said, "Love has nothing to do with need."
S2 finale: We even have a word for when you plus another equals one. That word is love.
That he was willing to lay down the life he'd recently won back for hers, after 12 years of incarceration, spoke volumes.
The first season's finale was about him choosing justice over personal vengeance, and the second finale was about him choosing sacrifice and unconditional love over personal closure and justice. By doing so, he achieved what he'd been looking for since he go out of prison. Aahhh, and Dani taunting Roman, knowing that Charlie was going to find her, fully realizing and accepting her own love for Charlie shortly after choosing to trust him and go back to the LAPD instead of betraying him to the Feds, the fact that she reached out to touch Charlie's hand after 2 seasons of almost always keeping him at a physical distance... it was beautiful. Reese's portrayal throughout S2 wasn't great, but Sarah's acting was consistently top-notch, and the partner parallels to the pilot - and some meta I read about Dani regaining her faith through Charlie, paralleling his, "You lost your faith because of the man, not the drugs," line - does make me think she also got a good resolution. She and Charlie had both gone through their personal hells and back, sharing the surfacing part of the journey together, and they earned that reunion and happy ending. I wish she'd driven up to Charlie, because it would have fulfilled their phone conversation about there being room for her behind the wheel, plus she always drove - and she walked up to him in the pilot - but it's not a big deal.
I've read some good post-finale fic, especially this fantastic one about Dani and Seever partnering up and Dani solving a case (and having lots of phone conversations with Charlie and ending up with him :D), which I'll gladly add to my post-series headcanon. I still love the hell out of the finale and think it's one of the best, most satisfying TV series conclusions I've ever seen. It had my heart racing the whole time and then smashed it to pieces in the last ten minutes, in the best way possible.
The not-as-good
- Season 2, basically. Season 1 was, overall, nearly pitch-perfect. I'd give S1 an A+ and S2 a B. I think marathoning the show made me a lot less critical than if I had been watching it while it aired, but I don't blame anyone who was really let down by it. Even during my first watch, my dad, sister, and I noticed something weird was going on. We didn't ping to it until the middle of the season, especially 'Evil... And His Brother Ziggy' (good GOD that episode was terrible, except for like 3 scenes. Charlie seeing a ghost and Dani in various states of undress, WTF???).
I blame NBC and its fruitless, desperate grab for the ~coveted 18-35 male demographic. Dani was suddenly sexed up and was turned into more of a reactive sidekick when she was supposed to be Charlie's superior officer (love that she reminded him of that in "Trapdoor,") Karen was put on a bus for Tidwell, the directing and cinematography didn't feel as artfully crafted in half the eps, and the 'Charlie gets kidnapped! Charlie gets shot!' cliffhangers smacked of House (the latter is fine for me now because that had some actual falllout, unlike the utterly disappointing fakeout with Charlie's not-kidnapping.) There were a lot more half-naked women and a lot less Zen and fruit, the conspiracy wasn't as cohesively tied together, the pacing felt more frenetic in a lot of episodes, and the procedural became the main focus when Life wasn't about that in Season 1. I think Ted's stuff was a little better - love his prison scenes - but I felt like there was much less of a bond between he and Charlie except for a couple of episodes. Aside from awesome eps scattered around like "Find Your Happy Place," "Not for Nothing," "Did You Feel That?" "Black Friday," and "Trapdoor," (and yeah I'll admit it, I love "Mirror Ball" for being packed with C/R moments), S2 felt pretty pedestrian up until the last couple episodes.
- The canon romances. OMG, the romances suuuucked. This is why I'm so glad the writers didn't fully go there with Dani and Charlie until, IMO, the very last episode, because they were godawful at writing any believable ones. Or maybe the relationships were supposed to come off as bad, or maybe it was the direction and/or lack of actor chemistry that didn't work for me, or I was just being super petty. Which I admit, I kind of was, because even early on, I was very, very bored with the overtly romantic/sexual stuff - except for Tina and Gina; they were cute and fun - and just wanted Crews and Reese (and Charlie and Ted) scenes because they were hilarious and entertaining, as well as naturally poignant. Getting shippy scenes took time away from C/R banter and investigating, especially in S2, which was really frustrating. I would have much rather had more fleshing out of Charlie and Rachel's relationship, more Dani and Karen, and more focus on Dani's family.
In retrospect, I get Charlie/Jennifer. I absolutely hated it when I first watched the show because he was such an ass to her and her husband, she was so bland and wishy-washy, and I rarely saw any chemistry between them. But their goodbye/closure sex and "I loved you" moment worked for me. I still kind of wish they had been a done deal after the S1 finale because Charlie hallucinating her was really annoying and stupid, but eh, I got what I wanted with the series finale, so I'm not too mad at how they were handled overall. After reading some meta that Charlie always had an angry edge in his scenes with her, that helped me understand and accept their dynamic a lot.
But Charlie/Constance? I still don't get it. To me, they didn't have any chemistry or naturally genuine moments I could connect to. The closest was when they talked on the park bench and ate ice cream, because they weren't being super serious and boring, and angsting over Charlie needing to behave or Connie's marriage. Seriously, why did the writers fixate on engagement/marriage as a romantic roadblock for Charlie and Ted? So lazy, and kind of gross, especially considering
1) the episode in which Charlie asked his ex-wife's husband for permission to have sex with her (at least Charlie got his ass handed to him multiple times), and
2) Charlie had no qualms about sleeping with Jen, but ~nobly used Connie's marriage as their barrier. Ugh. I guess because he still considered himself married to Jen, and wasn't really in love with Connie. Or he was, but by the time she asked him to be 'all in,' he realized their bond was shifting to past-tense and he couldn't ever fully commit to her.
Anyways, I saw C/C as forced in the pilot right away, and I didn't need a flashback ep featuring their struggles and developing bond because the show was about Charlie dealing with life after prison, the now - so I never warmed to them. It was House/Stacey all over again D: It's not like I hated C/C because I shipped Dani/Charlie from the very beginning, because I didn't start shipping them until the end of episode 6 ("Powerless," which as of right now is my favorite in the whole series.) I felt like Constance and Jennifer weren't written very well and/or directed, and their actresses weren't as strong as all the others. I'm fine with how their stories ended, unlike Rachel and Karen's departures. Well, maybe Constance could've been given some closure, but I wasn't sad to see her or Jennifer go.
I also was really frustrated with Tidwell/Reese. I still don't really know if the writers were trying to show it as a positive or negative emotional development for Dani. In one episode it was appropriately treated as a gross thing, but in the next it would be treated as uncomfortably sweet and/or sexy. Was she 'punishing' herself with an inappropriate, but actual relationship? Was it meant to be a building block for herself? Were Charlie/Jen and Reese/Tidwell supposed to be refining relationships for Charlie and Dani so they'd end up emotionally healthy and ready to be with each other after the finale? Or was Tidwell/Reese a writers'-room fantasy? I'd like to think, taking it all into account, that it was supposed to be seen as a doomed thing but due to external forces, it had to be sexed up, superficial, and have mainstream appeal to the average Joe, rather than be a character study arc for Dani.
If T/R had been presented the whole time as clearly something destructive for Dani, I would have been a lot more okay with it overall. If Tidwell had just been skeevy for a couple episodes and then stopped when Dani told him to, I would've really liked that. I like Tidwell on his own - he played really well off of Karen when she came back for one ep - but something should have been different. Karen should have stayed in charge and Tidwell could have been a replacement for Juarez. Tidwell and Bobby would have probably been a riot together, and if the writers had to go with temporary T/R, at least it wouldn't have had the skeeviness of her superior sexually harassing her and pushing her to go on a date (especially when she was extremely vulnerable.) Still would have been gross, though. Or the writers could have made him not be creepy and instead some dude Dani met at AA who treated her like an actual person first, and they could have had a sweet but difficult relationship, trying to recover together, and maybe working out or not (not! Lol). Or - and this would have been my #1 preference - Dani could have continued her hookups and the show could have explored that in correlation to her issues with alcoholism, her father, and the LAPD's corruption, bringing it all to a head like in 'Trapdoor.' Man, so much wasted potential there.
Lastly, Ted/Olivia always ranged from boring to 'writer fantasy' to cute for me. I'm okay with Ted running off after her in Spain despite being on probation (I can easily imagine that he couldn't make it past the ticket counter and just sighed, lol), but I never had strong feelings for them.
- The conspiracy. It was tightly planned for the first season, but after that, I felt the writers floundering and trying to create more mystery with the Bank of LA cops. Rayborn's stuff was extremely frustrating up until the series finale. If the show had had 3 seasons of 11-13 episodes each, that would have cut out filler and allowed the writers more time and energy to keep the main plot and character arcs cohesive. The second season could have focused on the Bank of LA cops, and then the third one on Roman. Or vice versa. Although I wasn't ever as invested in the conspiracy as the character stuff, it was an important part of the show and I would have preferred it if the Roman (and maybe Rayborn) stuff was built up over more episodes.
- the hair in S2! Charlie's hair became appropriate for the job but was too short for my liking in a lot of episodes. I know it's shallow, but I love his fluffy red S1 hair. It really helps balance out his face. I think Dani's curls were pretty at times like in "Did You Feel That?" (other times it looked fried and uncomfortable), but inappropriate and OOC when she'd let them hang loose while on the job. I just wanted Charlie's hair longer (it was fine in the first two eps, whyyyy did they cut it ;___;) and Dani's hair pulled up. If they had to curl it, fine, but she should have had it up like when she was in her sweats in "Trapdoor." As I've learned from Heroes and the HP movies, hair is very important.
- no Charlie tattoos or scars. He wasn't completely naked and his shirtless scenes were unfortunately short, but I still think some stuff should have showed, or those scenes could have been longer (to show off the tats and scars, of course.) And he rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirts once in a while, so something should have been done there. It just seemed kind of lazy. Also, Dani should have kept her leather jacket. She and Charlie had very iconic looks in S1 which enhanced the uniqueness of their partnership and characterization, but she became Generic Eyecandy Cop which was off-putting.
- Charlie never got a mini zen garden! >:( I wanted so badly for him to bring one to work, and a little rake, and then Dani would snap at him for getting sand on her desk /we could have had it all~
Anyway - despite the flaws and issues I found and still have with Life - overall, the show is really an underrated gem, and I'm so glad I watched it!
Also, Happy New Year's Eve! Here's to 2014, hopefully it'll be a good year.
If you haven't seen it and are interested, please find the originally broadcasted episodes - they are out there - because they have the original music and NBC was too cheap to put it all on the DVDs. The music is, I'd argue, a crucial part to fully enjoying the series. You can always do what my sister did and buy the DVDs afterward.
I'd seen a promo or two while Heroes was airing back in 2007, and felt a vague interest in watching Life, but I was really into Heroes back then and I kind of go through fandom obsessions one at a time, so I never checked Life out until now. I'm so grateful to my dad for asking if my sister and I wanted to watch it and catch up to where he was in S2. We were both like, "Eh, sure," and I think that's probably the best way for me to get really invested in something, because the same thing happened with Leverage and Deadly Premonition. And I'll admit I was thriled when I saw Reese for the first time, because I'd assumed the show was only about Damian Lewis's character (and I thought he lived alone in a really small house because all I remember from back then were shots of his conspiracy wall, lol.) I'm so glad I watched it! This is one of those shows I can re-watch again and again and catch new, little things I missed the previous times.
lilymayloveless @ tumblrThe good:
+ The music is what struck me at first. I remember thinking, "Whoever picked the music is a genius." It flows so well with the tone, setting, characterization, and visual editing. I've downloaded several songs already that were featured in the show, including:
- The Frames - Dream Awake
- Gram Rabbit - Devil's Playground
- Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha Man
- The Lo-Fidelity Allstars - Battleflag
- Hayden - More Than Alive (which I've listened to about 50 times in the past few days, that's how much this one resonated with me)
fuckyeahcharliecrews @ tumblr
It's such a beautifully shot show. So many perfect angles, stunning color palettes, and a great use of the setting. LA becomes a character in and of itself.
+ Characters. Even most of the CotW ones came off as fully realized people, with traits and backgrounds that made them feel well-rounded, rather than stereotypes. My secondary faves are Karen, Jane, Bobby, and Ted.
- Robin Weigert did a fantastic job making Karen an ambiguous, tough, and sympathetic character - I really missed her in S2.
- Seever is the best example, IMO, of what could arguably be called a Mary Sue, because while she was initially perfect, she wasn't readily accepted into the fold by Charlie and Tidwell, and she ended up with major flaws, most importantly her naivete. I also love that she was a cheerful Slytherin. In an interview, Rand explained that not everyone has a dark past, and I think Seever was an excellent way to show that, providing a foil to Reese and Crews. Seever understood the whole time that she was just a temporary partner, and she was fine with that because LAPD was always a stepping stone toward mayor - and I think it's awesome that she told Charlie she'd only go so far to help him rescue Dani. I noticed that some scenes had a very 'this should be Reese's dialogue' air to it, and it would have been awesome to see Reese grabbing the bomb and shooting the murderer to save Crews, but Seever and Crews clicked here and there.
- Bobby is very similar to Hank in Breaking Bad in that he starts out obnoxious and pig-headed, but was played with such charisma and hidden layers that he ended up being very sympathetic, so I rooted for him. I was surprised that he was supposed to just be in the pilot, but am very glad that he was kept on, because his ambiguity was another great thread running through S1, and I love seeing the tension between him and Dani. I don't condone his sexist mindset but I'd like to think a part of it was performative.
- Ted was also originally not in the show either, but I think he was vital to lighten Charlie's scenes outside of the cases and investigation. He and Charlie shared an unbreakable bond from the start, and I think Charlie's characterization benefited from having an at-home partner, as nonsensical as it was to have a white collar criminal at Pelican Bay. On that note, it was obvious that the writers sometimes didn't know what to do with Ted, but despite that, he provided extra dimensions to the show; he helped make it less claustrophobic and All Cops, All The Time. And he was another foil for Charlie: I looove how in the third ep, he's terrified of coyotes and gets a fence put up to keep them out, but sees Charlie's reaction and, out of respect toward Charlie, he asks for the fence to get taken down.
- I also ended up really liking Rachel and Bodner. Rachel could have been given more development, but what little there was of her was great. Her irritation with Charlie was valid and they had nice heart-to-hearts. There's a lot of relationships that have certain special bonds no one else will ever truly understand, and Charlie and Rachel will always share that horrific experience regarding her family's murders, as Ted pointed out. As for Bodner, it's a testament to the writing and acting that I went from loathing him, to thinking he was actually pretty awesome and sympathetic. Love that he became Charlie's temporary partner in the series finale.
- My Unpopular Opinion is that Roman didn't impress me in S1 - it clicked for me upon my re-watch - but in S2 I really got a sense of how menacing and interesting he was.
- Tins and Rawls were also fantastic characters. I love the follow-up to the pilot in "Did You Feel That?" with them and Charlie and Mark's conversation in "Fill It Up" when Rawls talked about "earthquake weather."
+ SO MANY "Hey, it's that guy/woman!" moments. My sister and I had tons of fun trying to figure out where we'd seen someone before. LOTS of Supernatural alum: Woman in White, Gabriel, Meg, War, Bela, and a couple others I'm forgetting. [LOL, I'd forgotten about Adam. Who?] Sometimes it was distracting, but that's another reason why I enjoy re-watching the episodes: so I can focus on the show rather than going straight to IMDB. Also, I find it funny and impressive that there were so many redheads. I'm convinced Damian had a 'cast ALL the American gingers!' clause in his contract.
+ Crews and Reese, and Crews/Reese.
chasethememories @ tumblr
I've known of Damian - my mental image of adult Ron Weasley! - but had only seen him in Dreamcatcher, and recently discovered Sarah was the Woman in White in the SPN pilot, but their performances in this floored me. They completely embodied their characters. While Joseph Fiennes' lacking screen presence and charisma brought down a cool and interesting show (Flashforward), Damian and Sarah elevated a semi-'meh' premise into something really refreshing and unique. It wasn't just them, of course, but they were a major part of that process. I wasn't surprised when I found out the creator, Rand Ravich, handpicked Damian to be Charlie because - much like with York's voice actor - I firmly believe no one else could have pulled off that role, that well. Sarah was a wonderful surprise. She helped elevate Reese from (what originally seemed like) a 2-dimensional trope to a living, breathing, and lovable but tough fuck-up whom I quickly grew to admire, analyze, and sympathize with.
And her chemistry with Damian - holy FUCK. It's been a while since I've seen chemistry as consistent and continuously fresh as theirs. They just crackled in every scene they shared, and always left me wanting more: banter, co-interrogating, divulging and discovering information, synchronicity, crime fighting, verbal and nonverbal communication, protectiveness, and baby steps in their partnership and personal connection. And I got it, I got pretty much what I wanted with them. The acting, directing, and writing for their dynamic, especially in S1, has been some of the absolute best I've ever seen on television. They never got boring for me - even their phone conversations had chemistry - their steadily growing bond felt realistic, and I really appreciate how the m/f thing was handled. There was always a platonic lens placed over them with bits of arguable shippiness here and there - and not in a forced way, IMO - which helped the show rather than hurt it. I'm glad Rand didn't push the envelope until he realized he probably had to end things on a high note, and even then it could be considered ambiguous. It's one of the reasons I'm actually kind of thankful the show ended there, because I've been burned so much by other ships once they became canon, and I would have been so sad if the same thing happened to C/R.
ETA: After some more re-watching, I noticed that there actually is a HUGE leap in shippy material in S2, which I love. These moments could easily be handwaved as platonic - and I am extremely biased - but I really do think these could be something more:
- a date-not-date and Crews telling Reese: "If that is what you want, that is what you shall have." <333
- Reese worrying about being considered uptight, and Charlie repeating what she said about him "spouting things off the top of [his] head" to the therapist
- Charlie's utter doofiness with Dani in the hotel room. He was always a goob with her during lighthearted moments, but his dialogue and twitchiness in the hotel was a different kind of awkward. He put on a good millionaire playboy front with all the random women he knew he'd never see again, but deep down he was a shy romantic who lost his cool with women he became close to, like with Jen and when Connie visited him at the station
- Dani's flash of disapproval/possible jealousy when Charlie first introduced her to Rachel. She also seemed annoyed and uncomfortable when Charlie called Jennifer in "Not for Nothing." On the flipside, she could've been thinking, "She's way too young for you, Charlie," when she first saw Rachel, and could've been upset that Charlie was still in contact with someone who, in Dani's mind, had betrayed him, like how Dani viewed Bobby. That's what I love about Crews and Reese's relationship; it could be viewed either way. Or both!
- Crews' annoyance of the scientist perving on Reese in 'The Business of Miracles'
- Reese meeting Crews' dad instead of Tidwell's and bringing Crews out of the prison cell limbo after he got shot
- Reese at Crews' bedside in the hospital. The way her face was framed was romantic, but the dialogue kept it platonic and not cheesy. (I love Dani's playful, "I thought it couldn't be nothing," line.) Also, Reese waiting for Crews outside his doctor's office.
- Crews almost flirting with her in his own weird way, or just trying to get her attention: when he threw the fruit at her, gave her a nickname, and took a candid picture of her
- Charlie giving her sunglasses and underwear. It's framed as a partnery thing, but the "I described [your face.] By Tuesday I could describe you in Dutch," sounds like someone with a crush, and I don't think sexy underwear is a friendly gift. Normally I'd read the underwear gift as skeevy and it did skate that line, but based on the way it was written - no leering or joking about how she would look in them - I don't see it like that. [Side note: I also think it's bullshit that Tidwell got her the goldfish. No way he would have guessed that, and IDK why Charlie would tell him that unless he let it slip at one point. It should have been Dani leaving something small on Charlie's desk instead.]
- It's interesting that she wore the underwear Crews gave her in the ~sexy scene with Tidwell (ughh, don't get me wrong, Sarah's gorgeous, but that scene was unecessary and discomfiting), and Crews heard Tidwell talk about them on the phone. Then Reese was a little too insistent when she said Tidwell was jealous of her and Crews sharing a room, even though they did for less than 5 minutes. It seemed like she wanted Tidwell to be jealous, kind of like how she and Crews shared an unspoken protectiveness
- Crews' one or two moments of letting his dislike of Tidwell/Reese shine through, especially in "I Heart Mom" during his staredown with Tidwell. I particularly love when he glared warningly at Tidwell, who tried to wipe ice cream off Reese's face. I don't think it was so much jealousy as both Crews and Reese being wary of Tidwell waving a bag of drugs near Reese's face.
- them getting mistaken as a married couple and Charlie totally buying into that idea, then having to be reminded that they weren't. See, hopeless romantic!
- Reese telling Crews about the Lieutenant's test and asking for his input, and him being momentarily sad, then supportive, but inadvertently crossing that no-touching boundary.
- Reese ignoring her own no-touching boundary with Crews.
- Reese going to his house TWICE more in one episode after finding out where he lived (though this could be more attributed to her escalating issues about her father)
- Reese inadvertently complimenting Crews and immediately denying it
- it's very telling, to me, that Reese cut Tidwell's hair and got him a really nice suit - she was trying to make him look more like Crews
- Reese worrying about Crews before she left to join the FBI. Which, by the way, was the kiss of death for T/R both in and out of the show. We were shown private T/R moments before, but no phone conversations between them after she left; they were all (thankfully) between Crews and Reese
- Reese telling him what he was doing over the phone
- Charlie floundering without her (love that he initially assumed Reese's icy, business-only demeanor with Seever and stoically drank coffee while Seever ate a lot and chattered like he did; there was also some awkwardness when he was partnered with Bobby) while Reese looked miserable without him. Charlie's puppyish enthusiasm during his phone conversations with Dani in "Shelf Life," as well as his reaction to the instructions Dani left with Tidwell ("Ask him what he sees.") Also, the way Crews stammered when he left what was probably the fifth voicemail message for her had vibes of, "I'm trying to play this cool but I can't, I really really miss you come baaaack :((("
One of the only things that bothered me about them was that the stuff with Dani's father got dragged out way too long. I wish that had gotten addressed sooner and that Charlie had brought her in on his side investigation about the Bank of LA cops in S2. It's a little hard to reconcile from a Watsonian view because there was a lot of network and writer's room fumbling in S2, but I'll go with Charlie trying to protect Dani - from the conspiracy group, from being convicted as his accomplice, and from herself - and by mid-season, he realized Jack wasn't the guy to go after. But Writer's Strike or not, it took way too long for Dani to ask him about her father. I also don't like the scene of Crews telling Reese to button up because that scene would have NEVER happened in S1 and was rape culture bullshit (something the show went out of its way to call out in S1, for that matter), but I like that Reese begrudgingly did only one button and it made no difference.
Other than that, everything between them was A++. I love that the focus was on them as partners first and then friends, and how the ending left it open for us viewers to decide what happened next. I think there was a definite romantic implication, especially with Bodner's reveal that he married his partner, Charlie's reaction to that, and the way he and Dani just looked at each other in the last several minutes of the show (guhhh). But others can choose to view it as friend-love, familial love, or partner love, and that's fine too. There was also a spiritual aspect to their relationship, starting with Crews helping Reese wash the drugs off her in the pilot, continuing with Reese 'bringing' him out of his limbo cell when he was shot - even the same music was used - and all the Zen/faith conversations, then concluding on Crews realizing that he + Reese = 1 and that meant he had to kill Roman and get back to her.
Just, I love Dani and Charlie, Crews and Reese. They were such layered, wonderful, and damaged losers, and they helped each other grow and thrive and lower walls and just, fffffff, they were absolutely perfect, with and for each other <3333 It's always a great feeling when discovering a new OTP.
+ The series finale: 'One'
"What we learned as children, that one plus one equals two, we know to be false. One plus one equals one. We even have a word for when you plus another equals one. That word is love."
fuckyeahtvpicspam @ tumblr
Fantastic way for the show to bow out. It didn't answer all the questions, especially who the other Bank of LA cops were, but the Zen aspect gives it an out in that it doesn't matter as much (however, my headcanon is that Charlie and Dani told each other everything and went after the others together, which is probably what would've happened in S3.) And the ending itself is so satisfying that I'm fine with it. I'm also okay with Charlie being Super Special because Mickey's confession surprisingly impressed me. It was much more effective and informative than all the crap with Rayborn before, because that was a bunch of stalling, like the stuff with Jack. I love that Tom wasn't a bad guy after all and Crews did know his friend, paralleling that he knew Reese, too.
I'm not 100% happy with Dani as a damsel in distress, but I confess that it really hit my emotional and narrative buttons, and I enjoyed the secretive assistance from Tidwell, Ted, Amanda, Bobby, Bodner, and Seever. Charlie was even hotter and more mature in "One" than in the S1 finale because he wasn't hellbent on revenge; he was a stone-cold powerhouse again, but needed help this time and needed Dani, in a different way than in the S1 finale. It's cool how the difference was outlined and foreshadowed:
S1 premiere: Charlie said to Dani, "Dog must've took a bullet for the kid, then took the shooter's finger off. Anyone ever love you that much?"
S1 finale: Charlie said, "Her partner said he needed her, and that was all she needed."
S2 premiere: Ms. Price said, "We loved each other, but -" and Charlie said, "Love has nothing to do with need."
S2 finale: We even have a word for when you plus another equals one. That word is love.
That he was willing to lay down the life he'd recently won back for hers, after 12 years of incarceration, spoke volumes.
The first season's finale was about him choosing justice over personal vengeance, and the second finale was about him choosing sacrifice and unconditional love over personal closure and justice. By doing so, he achieved what he'd been looking for since he go out of prison. Aahhh, and Dani taunting Roman, knowing that Charlie was going to find her, fully realizing and accepting her own love for Charlie shortly after choosing to trust him and go back to the LAPD instead of betraying him to the Feds, the fact that she reached out to touch Charlie's hand after 2 seasons of almost always keeping him at a physical distance... it was beautiful. Reese's portrayal throughout S2 wasn't great, but Sarah's acting was consistently top-notch, and the partner parallels to the pilot - and some meta I read about Dani regaining her faith through Charlie, paralleling his, "You lost your faith because of the man, not the drugs," line - does make me think she also got a good resolution. She and Charlie had both gone through their personal hells and back, sharing the surfacing part of the journey together, and they earned that reunion and happy ending. I wish she'd driven up to Charlie, because it would have fulfilled their phone conversation about there being room for her behind the wheel, plus she always drove - and she walked up to him in the pilot - but it's not a big deal.
I've read some good post-finale fic, especially this fantastic one about Dani and Seever partnering up and Dani solving a case (and having lots of phone conversations with Charlie and ending up with him :D), which I'll gladly add to my post-series headcanon. I still love the hell out of the finale and think it's one of the best, most satisfying TV series conclusions I've ever seen. It had my heart racing the whole time and then smashed it to pieces in the last ten minutes, in the best way possible.
The not-as-good
- Season 2, basically. Season 1 was, overall, nearly pitch-perfect. I'd give S1 an A+ and S2 a B. I think marathoning the show made me a lot less critical than if I had been watching it while it aired, but I don't blame anyone who was really let down by it. Even during my first watch, my dad, sister, and I noticed something weird was going on. We didn't ping to it until the middle of the season, especially 'Evil... And His Brother Ziggy' (good GOD that episode was terrible, except for like 3 scenes. Charlie seeing a ghost and Dani in various states of undress, WTF???).
I blame NBC and its fruitless, desperate grab for the ~coveted 18-35 male demographic. Dani was suddenly sexed up and was turned into more of a reactive sidekick when she was supposed to be Charlie's superior officer (love that she reminded him of that in "Trapdoor,") Karen was put on a bus for Tidwell, the directing and cinematography didn't feel as artfully crafted in half the eps, and the 'Charlie gets kidnapped! Charlie gets shot!' cliffhangers smacked of House (the latter is fine for me now because that had some actual falllout, unlike the utterly disappointing fakeout with Charlie's not-kidnapping.) There were a lot more half-naked women and a lot less Zen and fruit, the conspiracy wasn't as cohesively tied together, the pacing felt more frenetic in a lot of episodes, and the procedural became the main focus when Life wasn't about that in Season 1. I think Ted's stuff was a little better - love his prison scenes - but I felt like there was much less of a bond between he and Charlie except for a couple of episodes. Aside from awesome eps scattered around like "Find Your Happy Place," "Not for Nothing," "Did You Feel That?" "Black Friday," and "Trapdoor," (and yeah I'll admit it, I love "Mirror Ball" for being packed with C/R moments), S2 felt pretty pedestrian up until the last couple episodes.
- The canon romances. OMG, the romances suuuucked. This is why I'm so glad the writers didn't fully go there with Dani and Charlie until, IMO, the very last episode, because they were godawful at writing any believable ones. Or maybe the relationships were supposed to come off as bad, or maybe it was the direction and/or lack of actor chemistry that didn't work for me, or I was just being super petty. Which I admit, I kind of was, because even early on, I was very, very bored with the overtly romantic/sexual stuff - except for Tina and Gina; they were cute and fun - and just wanted Crews and Reese (and Charlie and Ted) scenes because they were hilarious and entertaining, as well as naturally poignant. Getting shippy scenes took time away from C/R banter and investigating, especially in S2, which was really frustrating. I would have much rather had more fleshing out of Charlie and Rachel's relationship, more Dani and Karen, and more focus on Dani's family.
In retrospect, I get Charlie/Jennifer. I absolutely hated it when I first watched the show because he was such an ass to her and her husband, she was so bland and wishy-washy, and I rarely saw any chemistry between them. But their goodbye/closure sex and "I loved you" moment worked for me. I still kind of wish they had been a done deal after the S1 finale because Charlie hallucinating her was really annoying and stupid, but eh, I got what I wanted with the series finale, so I'm not too mad at how they were handled overall. After reading some meta that Charlie always had an angry edge in his scenes with her, that helped me understand and accept their dynamic a lot.
But Charlie/Constance? I still don't get it. To me, they didn't have any chemistry or naturally genuine moments I could connect to. The closest was when they talked on the park bench and ate ice cream, because they weren't being super serious and boring, and angsting over Charlie needing to behave or Connie's marriage. Seriously, why did the writers fixate on engagement/marriage as a romantic roadblock for Charlie and Ted? So lazy, and kind of gross, especially considering
1) the episode in which Charlie asked his ex-wife's husband for permission to have sex with her (at least Charlie got his ass handed to him multiple times), and
2) Charlie had no qualms about sleeping with Jen, but ~nobly used Connie's marriage as their barrier. Ugh. I guess because he still considered himself married to Jen, and wasn't really in love with Connie. Or he was, but by the time she asked him to be 'all in,' he realized their bond was shifting to past-tense and he couldn't ever fully commit to her.
Anyways, I saw C/C as forced in the pilot right away, and I didn't need a flashback ep featuring their struggles and developing bond because the show was about Charlie dealing with life after prison, the now - so I never warmed to them. It was House/Stacey all over again D: It's not like I hated C/C because I shipped Dani/Charlie from the very beginning, because I didn't start shipping them until the end of episode 6 ("Powerless," which as of right now is my favorite in the whole series.) I felt like Constance and Jennifer weren't written very well and/or directed, and their actresses weren't as strong as all the others. I'm fine with how their stories ended, unlike Rachel and Karen's departures. Well, maybe Constance could've been given some closure, but I wasn't sad to see her or Jennifer go.
I also was really frustrated with Tidwell/Reese. I still don't really know if the writers were trying to show it as a positive or negative emotional development for Dani. In one episode it was appropriately treated as a gross thing, but in the next it would be treated as uncomfortably sweet and/or sexy. Was she 'punishing' herself with an inappropriate, but actual relationship? Was it meant to be a building block for herself? Were Charlie/Jen and Reese/Tidwell supposed to be refining relationships for Charlie and Dani so they'd end up emotionally healthy and ready to be with each other after the finale? Or was Tidwell/Reese a writers'-room fantasy? I'd like to think, taking it all into account, that it was supposed to be seen as a doomed thing but due to external forces, it had to be sexed up, superficial, and have mainstream appeal to the average Joe, rather than be a character study arc for Dani.
If T/R had been presented the whole time as clearly something destructive for Dani, I would have been a lot more okay with it overall. If Tidwell had just been skeevy for a couple episodes and then stopped when Dani told him to, I would've really liked that. I like Tidwell on his own - he played really well off of Karen when she came back for one ep - but something should have been different. Karen should have stayed in charge and Tidwell could have been a replacement for Juarez. Tidwell and Bobby would have probably been a riot together, and if the writers had to go with temporary T/R, at least it wouldn't have had the skeeviness of her superior sexually harassing her and pushing her to go on a date (especially when she was extremely vulnerable.) Still would have been gross, though. Or the writers could have made him not be creepy and instead some dude Dani met at AA who treated her like an actual person first, and they could have had a sweet but difficult relationship, trying to recover together, and maybe working out or not (not! Lol). Or - and this would have been my #1 preference - Dani could have continued her hookups and the show could have explored that in correlation to her issues with alcoholism, her father, and the LAPD's corruption, bringing it all to a head like in 'Trapdoor.' Man, so much wasted potential there.
Lastly, Ted/Olivia always ranged from boring to 'writer fantasy' to cute for me. I'm okay with Ted running off after her in Spain despite being on probation (I can easily imagine that he couldn't make it past the ticket counter and just sighed, lol), but I never had strong feelings for them.
- The conspiracy. It was tightly planned for the first season, but after that, I felt the writers floundering and trying to create more mystery with the Bank of LA cops. Rayborn's stuff was extremely frustrating up until the series finale. If the show had had 3 seasons of 11-13 episodes each, that would have cut out filler and allowed the writers more time and energy to keep the main plot and character arcs cohesive. The second season could have focused on the Bank of LA cops, and then the third one on Roman. Or vice versa. Although I wasn't ever as invested in the conspiracy as the character stuff, it was an important part of the show and I would have preferred it if the Roman (and maybe Rayborn) stuff was built up over more episodes.
- the hair in S2! Charlie's hair became appropriate for the job but was too short for my liking in a lot of episodes. I know it's shallow, but I love his fluffy red S1 hair. It really helps balance out his face. I think Dani's curls were pretty at times like in "Did You Feel That?" (other times it looked fried and uncomfortable), but inappropriate and OOC when she'd let them hang loose while on the job. I just wanted Charlie's hair longer (it was fine in the first two eps, whyyyy did they cut it ;___;) and Dani's hair pulled up. If they had to curl it, fine, but she should have had it up like when she was in her sweats in "Trapdoor." As I've learned from Heroes and the HP movies, hair is very important.
- no Charlie tattoos or scars. He wasn't completely naked and his shirtless scenes were unfortunately short, but I still think some stuff should have showed, or those scenes could have been longer (to show off the tats and scars, of course.) And he rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirts once in a while, so something should have been done there. It just seemed kind of lazy. Also, Dani should have kept her leather jacket. She and Charlie had very iconic looks in S1 which enhanced the uniqueness of their partnership and characterization, but she became Generic Eyecandy Cop which was off-putting.
- Charlie never got a mini zen garden! >:( I wanted so badly for him to bring one to work, and a little rake, and then Dani would snap at him for getting sand on her desk /we could have had it all~
Anyway - despite the flaws and issues I found and still have with Life - overall, the show is really an underrated gem, and I'm so glad I watched it!
Also, Happy New Year's Eve! Here's to 2014, hopefully it'll be a good year.