Here is my review/discussion/thoughts on the second episode titled "Chapter 3". Chapter 2 was the second hour of the premier episode.
There are 2 time frames that this show exists in. The future or dramatic climax and the present/past depending on how you look at it. Just like the first episode, we only get to see the future at the very beginning and end of the episode. It gives us a glimpse of what is going to happen and how things will eventually unfold. It's the type of thing that made you palm smack your forehead at the end of the first episode and say "how can one man have so much bad luck?". Then again, Jack Bauer kept having monumentally bad days you wondered why he ever got out of bed.
In addition to the 2 different temporal settings for each episode, there is a plot based separation that is noticeable as a distinct pattern. There are 3 potential plot varieties to be woven into each episode:
- The Conspiracy Case: This is the case that has The Firm (K&C) interested in our hero Mitch. This is the case that culminates in our "future" timescape. This is Sarah Holt's case.
- The Case of the Week: This is something that comes up in the day to day practice of our hero Mitch and takes us on our weekly adventure.
- Family Drama: This is exactly what it sounds like. Something to do with Mitch's family that makes the home life somewhat uncomfortable and needs fixing before the end of the episode.
Case of the Week: The Dead School Girl
Mitch is asked to consult with the son of a member of The Firm. The kid is being looked at for the disappearance of his girlfriend after having a very public fight.
The kid, Brian, tells Mitch his story and based on that he's got nothing to worry about. Your girlfriend is missing, you were the last to see her. She took your car and you walked home. Looks bad, but could be worse. Let's go tell the cops and we'll deal with what happens next when it happens.
The kid doesn't know when to shut up. Mitch has some very good luck with people being honest with him and trusting him with information (think back to the first episode and the guy who comes to Mitch to tell him that he's been asked to kill a kid for money). Brian can't fight with his conscience any longer. It was an accident but he really did kill his girlfriend. Not only that, but he then hid the body and dumped the car into a lake. Then, after telling Mitch, the boy runs out of the office. Yeah, not looking too good for the kid now.
But wait, there's a twist. While working on the Conspiracy Case, Mitch finds out that the girl's killer has turned themselves into the police. Thinking that it's Brian, our hero rushes to the police station and talks his way into the interrogation room only to give us those OMG eyes that Josh Lucas does so well. It's not Brian, it's some nut job who rants about manners and politeness. Creepy!
Mitch is in a bind here, he knows nut job is innocent because the kid Brian did it. Also, Mr Nut Job confessed to killing 12 girls (6 of which are home with family alive and well). Mitch has a brilliant idea thanks to Abby and the Family Drama which allows him to prove the nut job didn't kill this specific girl.
After some family help, Mitch and Ray find a pile of bodies rotting away and have Tammy call in a tip to the cops who are then able to give Mr Nut Job the justice he's begging for.
But what about justice for Brian? Well all that's needed for that to happen is a well delivered inspirational talk from Mitch once Ray's network of 'associates' finds the kid at a hostel downtown. Brian agrees to turn himself in. It's nice when things wrap up so easily.
Family Drama
Claire sees a popular girl cheat on a test and is threatened with social banishment if she tells. The teacher of this class happens to be mom Abby, and in an emotional outburst the girl gushes "she cheated" and now Mom/Teacher needs to find a way to let there be justice for the cheater and for her to not ruin her daughter's barely there social life (you know it's so important when you're 10).
I'm not overly thrilled with this plot thread. I could have done without it. The whiny pre-teen girl angst is making me want to change the channel or pull up the handy feature my Roger's cable box has where I can play bubble-break, fruit mania or mahjong tile match games while my TV show is minimized to the corner of my screen (since my TV is a brand new 46" plasma, that's still quite a clear picture even if it's not getting all my attention).
The Conspiracy Case
We get to meet Sarah Holt in this episode and actually hear what her case is about. We get to see a flashback (ok so maybe there are 3 temporal settings if you want to get picky) as her story is told allowing us to see faces of people that might be important in the storyline but we don't know yet.
We get to see the K&C peeps working their side of the present timeline on Sarah's case. Scheming to steal a laptop with important info from the police evidence vault. And some banter about the client that eventually jumps over a balcony railing to a squishy death on the sidewalk outside a hotel.
I find it frustrating that we only get to see about 4-5 minutes of this plot in the present. Maybe as much as 10 minutes if you include the future scenes. How is it that Mitch can put in so much court time with first the school kid from the first episode (like 3 times in the courtroom) and our crazy nut job, but he's just now getting Sarah Holt's version of events? hmmmm.
I'm still interested and kind of hooked. I have this insatiable need to know what's up with K&C and how could a half dozen people around the table at the end of the first episode all go to jail over Mr Sniffles and Sarah Holt's laptop. How does the dead granny fit in? Accident, coincident, just a random fluke that F'd up the lives of Mr Sniffles and the K&C crew?
I'm going to have to keep watching. And if anyone out there is actually reading this, I'll let you know what I think when I do.
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