After the mess that was the previous episode, comes one written by Bruno Heller himself. And the difference is remarkable. From the *brilliant* teaser (Who saw *that* coming? You're lying!) almost right to the end, this episode beats the previous one with one hand tied behind its back.
First of all: no illogical plot twists (only one slightly implausible, more on that later). Second: no handy "coincidences". Third: no characters stupid as rocks (only one of inconsistent intelligence, more on that also later). Then there are those brilliant character moments: Jane "throwing 'a blind cat' into the group" is hilarious as is him admitting that he just likes to know that he's right, being the smug bastard that he is. And that's why we love him. And then we are shown that even he can't figure everything out - at least not immediately. All this makes him more human.
Unfortunately this cannot be said of certain other characters. Faulk is a 2-dimensional character (there is *no* such thing as "1-dimensional character" as anything 1-dimensional is a straight line, whereas those industry-famous cardboard characters are 2-dimensional): he is a stereotypical profit-driven corporate head - he even has a sexual relationship with one of his underlings (pun intended).
Then there are the characters of Van Pelt and Rigsby. After what happened between them in the previous episode, it feels like a cop-out that they are conveniently separated in this episode, even if it is just an honest coincidence resulting from episodes not airing in the order they were shot (or written, for that matter). This kind of apparent Reset-Button Use brings back painful memories of all those old episodic TV shows where nothing that happened mattered in the next episode.
These and one last thing make me give this one "only" 8/10. Now who hasn't seen the "I'll expose the bomb-maker by forcing him to disarm his own bomb that is now harmless, just in case I'm wrong" plot device? That's another cliché that should have been left in the 1900s. Hasn't Faulk ever seen that ruse used in fiction? His own plot is ingenious, yet he is stupid enough to fall into Jane's trap. Sorry, not buying that.
First of all: no illogical plot twists (only one slightly implausible, more on that later). Second: no handy "coincidences". Third: no characters stupid as rocks (only one of inconsistent intelligence, more on that also later). Then there are those brilliant character moments: Jane "throwing 'a blind cat' into the group" is hilarious as is him admitting that he just likes to know that he's right, being the smug bastard that he is. And that's why we love him. And then we are shown that even he can't figure everything out - at least not immediately. All this makes him more human.
Unfortunately this cannot be said of certain other characters. Faulk is a 2-dimensional character (there is *no* such thing as "1-dimensional character" as anything 1-dimensional is a straight line, whereas those industry-famous cardboard characters are 2-dimensional): he is a stereotypical profit-driven corporate head - he even has a sexual relationship with one of his underlings (pun intended).
Then there are the characters of Van Pelt and Rigsby. After what happened between them in the previous episode, it feels like a cop-out that they are conveniently separated in this episode, even if it is just an honest coincidence resulting from episodes not airing in the order they were shot (or written, for that matter). This kind of apparent Reset-Button Use brings back painful memories of all those old episodic TV shows where nothing that happened mattered in the next episode.
These and one last thing make me give this one "only" 8/10. Now who hasn't seen the "I'll expose the bomb-maker by forcing him to disarm his own bomb that is now harmless, just in case I'm wrong" plot device? That's another cliché that should have been left in the 1900s. Hasn't Faulk ever seen that ruse used in fiction? His own plot is ingenious, yet he is stupid enough to fall into Jane's trap. Sorry, not buying that.