Pretend this was posted on Thursday morning
So, about the Sherlock: NY Hcasting news, I’ve been following the news of CBS’s ‘new’ adaptation with interest whenever tit-bits came my way. I was amused by the news about JLM as he was Cumberbatch’s co-star in Frankenstein, but the obvious question was who would be his Watson. And we now know it's going to be Lucy Liu (who was on Ally McBeal with...RDJ, heh, and for whom I have had a softish spot since then). As someone who has dallied with reading/the thought of Sherlock’s detective consultant and blogger being female (either or both), I do think it’s potentially brilliant that there’s going to be a Ms Watson. I mean, the next step is a woman getting to be so arrogant and brilliant, but this could be very interesting. I totally respect the Sherlock producers keeping a close eye on it (and with the recent films and all, the new show is going to have to come up with its own brilliant visual idiom as well). Oh, and it screams five to me...
On to a show that wasn't at all influenced by Sherlock Holmes, oh no.
The Mentalist 4.10 Fugue in Red
My favourite episode of this season BY FAR. First, I’m a sucker for amnesia episodes (or fics) because it gives a chance to play with the character and have them see what’s important in the dynamics around them from a different angle, not to mention the other characters’ uncertainty about what to tell this person who isn’t quite the person they know about the thing(s) that they’ve forgotten...I love all of it.
From the moment we opened up with Jane in peril and me hoping Lisbon or Cho (or both) would hurry up and rescue him (um, where did Lisbon get the torch if Jane borrowed hers?) to her response as the paramedic brought him back AND what she said to Cho about it - I was pretty hooked, and then BAM! the realisation that Jane wasn’t lying, he had lost his memory and was trying to cold read her...EEE. The show kept me off balance for a bit, until they’d worked through the ways that this was how he was before his wife and her death. Or what he could have been without them. It was both playful - Jane relearning how to use his skillz in this new-to-him situation and the team being wary of him but not wary enough - and nerve-wracking as he didn’t remember why he was so at ease with the kid. And the Teresaing and the interest in Van Pelt amused me more than anything.
But you knew the crash of him remembering was going to be huge. I only realised late in the game that it would involve Lisbon taking him back to his house and making him confront Red John’s mark. (Based on fanon I thought it was further away from Sacramento and on the beach, though?) And ungh, bringing back his memory had to be done, partly because - as Cho said - it made him a better person/safer member of society, and I did wonder at them not wiring him and taking the money off him after he unmasked (heh) the killer. But even before he’d actually done his public psychic performance, it was obvious that he needed to know for his own safety (i.e. because of Red John, although they're not talking about him). So, Lisbon could rest safe with her conscience that she did the right thing. And it was always better that she was around than him coming across the truth in the dozen and one worse ways it could have happened. Plus the reset button was set (I hope they at least reference the memory loss in future, though.)
But things from happy at being alive!Jane to Lisbon’s many eyerolls made me gleeful while watching this ep. Every ad break, I was going ‘EEEE. AMNESIA!!!’
Castle 2.01 Deep in Death
My brilliant theory about these shows being a good double bill may not add up. I was glad that I was watching it on demand so I could take a break and switch gears.
As for this ep, nice job on mixing the exposition and the charm, guys. I liked having more of the ME whose name I don’t remember and how she had Beckett’s back. The body snatching was enjoyably weird. Stephen J. Cannell is a better actor than Michael Connolly (not saying much), and it’d be nice to have Beckett’s Russian abilities come up again. And that's all I have to say about that.
On to a show that wasn't at all influenced by Sherlock Holmes, oh no.
The Mentalist 4.10 Fugue in Red
My favourite episode of this season BY FAR. First, I’m a sucker for amnesia episodes (or fics) because it gives a chance to play with the character and have them see what’s important in the dynamics around them from a different angle, not to mention the other characters’ uncertainty about what to tell this person who isn’t quite the person they know about the thing(s) that they’ve forgotten...I love all of it.
From the moment we opened up with Jane in peril and me hoping Lisbon or Cho (or both) would hurry up and rescue him (um, where did Lisbon get the torch if Jane borrowed hers?) to her response as the paramedic brought him back AND what she said to Cho about it - I was pretty hooked, and then BAM! the realisation that Jane wasn’t lying, he had lost his memory and was trying to cold read her...EEE. The show kept me off balance for a bit, until they’d worked through the ways that this was how he was before his wife and her death. Or what he could have been without them. It was both playful - Jane relearning how to use his skillz in this new-to-him situation and the team being wary of him but not wary enough - and nerve-wracking as he didn’t remember why he was so at ease with the kid. And the Teresaing and the interest in Van Pelt amused me more than anything.
But you knew the crash of him remembering was going to be huge. I only realised late in the game that it would involve Lisbon taking him back to his house and making him confront Red John’s mark. (Based on fanon I thought it was further away from Sacramento and on the beach, though?) And ungh, bringing back his memory had to be done, partly because - as Cho said - it made him a better person/safer member of society, and I did wonder at them not wiring him and taking the money off him after he unmasked (heh) the killer. But even before he’d actually done his public psychic performance, it was obvious that he needed to know for his own safety (i.e. because of Red John, although they're not talking about him). So, Lisbon could rest safe with her conscience that she did the right thing. And it was always better that she was around than him coming across the truth in the dozen and one worse ways it could have happened. Plus the reset button was set (I hope they at least reference the memory loss in future, though.)
But things from happy at being alive!Jane to Lisbon’s many eyerolls made me gleeful while watching this ep. Every ad break, I was going ‘EEEE. AMNESIA!!!’
Castle 2.01 Deep in Death
My brilliant theory about these shows being a good double bill may not add up. I was glad that I was watching it on demand so I could take a break and switch gears.
As for this ep, nice job on mixing the exposition and the charm, guys. I liked having more of the ME whose name I don’t remember and how she had Beckett’s back. The body snatching was enjoyably weird. Stephen J. Cannell is a better actor than Michael Connolly (not saying much), and it’d be nice to have Beckett’s Russian abilities come up again. And that's all I have to say about that.