Rake
Season One, Episode Four, R vs. Lorton
Original Air Date: November 25, 2010
A young male prostitute is found murdered in a lane. The man who is accused of the crime has a surprising past and might just be Cleaver's one truly innocent client. Meanwhile, David and Missy are thrust into new territory when Joe Sandilands asks David to run for state Parliament. Wendy and Cleaver Greene meet Fuzz's new girlfriend. Barney makes a shocking discovery about his good friend, Cleaver Greene.
A young man is found bound and murdered in a lane. There was one witness, Stanley Shrimpton, who said he saw a man stab the boy, run out of the lane, saw the man holding the knife and saw him dump the knife in a bin. The man who did the killing, according to the witness, calls himself "Peaker".
David and Missy attend an art gallery opening where he wants her to choose something to put on the walls of "their" house. She doesn't like his taste in art and would prefer to paint the walls in cheese dip. Missy gets a call and Joe Sandilands arrives and says hello to David (who introduces Joe to Missy). Joe and Missy act as if they have never met and the conversation continues. Joe tells David the Premiere wants to meet him and wants to know on which side of the labour fence he sits and tells David to call. A drunk Cleave stumbles towards Missy and David. He kisses Missy's hand and takes the opportunity, as always, to send a jab David's way. Cleave also takes the opportunity to heckle the gallery owner before being escorted out by "a better class of bouncers". Missy finds him sitting outside on the curb and tells him to go home and go to bed--without her. Later that night, Missy is riding her exercise bike when David walks into the room. She had trouble sleeping in the bed after they had sex that night and had to leave the room. She declines his offer of tea saying she will cycle a bit more then come back to bed.
The next day, Cleaver arrives for court and exchanges a look with his prosecutor who is none other than Scarlett! Cleaver questions the constable on the stand about a stash of porn the constable found beneath Cleaver's clients bed. Apparently, the constable spent a good deal of time meticulously cataloging the porn "to make sure it wasn't kiddie porn". The constable admits it took him about a half hour to go through the porn under the bed. Cleaver, being the thorough attorney he most certainly is, asks the constable if he masturbated while he was under the bed, a question Scarlett objects to.
The police get a match to "Peaker", a man by the name of Danny Lorton who has form for sexual assault 30 years ago. The dead boy in the lane was Benjamin Rigby, 15, who was selling himself for 18 months or so. Rigby's mother was a junkie so the boy wasn't reported missing. While discussing the case with the detective, the female constable wonders why the room they are in has to be so ugly. She chatters on about how she could improve the look of the room then muses she's wasted in her current profession. The detective orders her to pick Lorton up.
In payment for winning the case, Cleaver's client wants to give him a bag of cocaine. However, Cleave will not accept it. He goes on a strictly cash basis now ever since waking up in a hotel room with 3rd degree burns on his arse and no idea how they got there. Scarlett calls him to chastise him on his behaviour in court that morning. Nicole interrupts his conversation with Scarlett to let him know he was due at a meeting a Fuzz's school an hour ago.
Wendy is surprised when Fuzz's English teacher, Fiona McCready, gives her a glowing recommendation of her son. The teacher describes him as an absolute pleasure to teach which is in stark contrast to what the other teachers have said (everything from "is everything alright at home" to "have doctors mentioned medication?"). The teacher tells her he expresses himself beautifully. Cleaver arrives and is introduced to Fiona who tells him she thinks Fuzz might even be wanting to follow in his father's footsteps. After speaking with Miss McCready, Wendy and Cleave discuss Fuzz's academic behavior and Miss McCready and how impressed she was with Fuzz. Wendy asks him right out if he was still seeing Scarlett and how poor Barney is doing. While lecturing Fuzz on why he should take his studies more seriously, Cleave gets a call that he must take. He claims the call is work but it's actually his bookie.
The tension between Barney and Scarlett is unspeakable. They don't talk much. And when they do talk, it's cold. They both even snap at their son when he asks which one of them is going to read him a story. Barney wants to know the name of the man Scarlett had an affair with but she refuses.
The Benjamin Rigby murder case lands on Cleaver's desk. Barney and Cleaver interview their client, Danny Lorton (David Field). Despite the fact that the police have Lorton's DNA on the knife and Rigby's blood on Lorton's clothing, he denies killing the young man. He says Rigby was alive when he found him. He took the knife out of Rigby but the boy died. When Lorton leaves the room, Cleave turns the legal pad Lorton was doodling on and finds that he had drawn the picture of man. Over a drink, Cleave and Barney talk about the case. Everything sounds like "Peaker" killed the boy and his past certainly doesn't do him an favours.
David tells Missy Joe Sandilands wants him to run for the state Parliament. He says it is something that would make him happy but he never thought he could have had a chance at it. She implies that the reason he was asked was because he was shot. She points out that most politicians she knows are sad. He wants to do some good instead of spending his life trying to get people like Cleaver Greene to pay their taxes.
Cleaver talks with some of the other people where Lorton lives and takes a look round his room. It's dark and full of artwork and art supplies.
Wendy sees Fuzz on the street with his teacher, Miss McCready. When the two part, McCready blows Fuzz a kiss. At home, Wendy tells her son that his relationship with his teacher is "age inappropriate sex". He should instead be having exploratory sex with a girl his own age and maybe some oral. He refuses to end the relationship despite his mother's protests that it is immoral and could cause him irreparable damage. She threatens to report them to the school so the teacher will go to prison and he can visit her on weekends. He claims they love each other.
Cleaver returns to the gallery where he showed out a couple of days earlier to speak with the owner about Lorton's drawings. Once Lorton's name is mentioned, she immediately knows him from. He had several major exhibitions and two paintings in the National Gallery before he disappeared. She thought he had died. When asked what his paintings are worth, she tells Cleaver it depends on the size of them. His work used to go for up to $60,000.
Wendy starts in on Cleaver about how he could let their son have sex in his apartment. He hails a cab while telling Wendy that their son is almost 16 and he's just a kid in love with another kid from his English class. Wendy informs him that the girl is his teacher. A girl gets into the cab he hailed and, even though he's stunned over Fuzz's girlfriend, Cleaver reaches into the cab, takes the girls shopping out and puts it on the curb then gets in the cab. Cleaver insists Fuzz will tire of his teacher but Wendy accuses Cleave of ruining both her life and Fuzz's.
Cleaver and Nicole talk about art while he puts his feet up and she does all the work packing up their office. She bends over to pick up some folders and Cleaver, being the perfect gentleman he always is, asks her if it isn't about time she went on a diet. She's the perfect weight, she says. Barney arrives to tell Cleaver he has found out what Lorton does with his money. He makes a painting, sells it for half what it's worth then wanders around the city handing out money to homeless people.
Cleave once again speaks to Lorton who tells him he doesn't need money. Money was in his old life as Danny Lorton. In his new life he finds money an intrusion. Lorton, who had sold something, had been told about Rigby and thought he could use some cash and that he could possibly sketch Ben. He had been told Ben was beautiful and he wanted to see for himself but he found Ben dying instead. Cleaver does something he rarely does. He asks Lorton straight out if he murdered Ben to which his client replies that he did not. Lorton then pushes a paper across the table. It contains a dotted picture of Ben.
David and Missy attend a party with Joe Sandilands at Parliamnet House so David can start working towards his run for Parliament. David watches with a smile on his face while Missy talks with the wives.
Cleave tells Wendy to leave the school out of the situation with Fuzz. He'll talk to their son as well as speaking with "Mrs. Robinson". Cleave and Barney go to the lane where Rigby was killed to recreate the crime. The details of the crime don't add up to them the way Shrimpton set them out in his statement.
Missy excuses herself from the ladies she's speaking with and goes outside to call Cleave. They meet and she tells him about David having been asked to run. She can't tell him why she keeps calling him. She's reminded of a long weekend they spent together where she was able to really sleep. She hurries back to David with Cleave calling after her to "call me anytime!".
Cleaver pays a visit to Scarlett to ask her about a drug case she prosecuted a couple of years ago against Stanley Shrimpton. He feels he might be defending a genuinely innocent man but Scarlett wants nothing of that conversation. She wants to know why he went to bed with her if he didn't really want her. He finally tells her it was because he was drowning and she was a life buoy and in the same wet place he was in. She tells him Stanley Shrimpton got off child abuse charges by becoming a police informant then asks him to leave.
Missy apologizes to David for leaving. She was bored talking with the women. David is angry that she left the party. Missy explains that one of the women has a brother that might have known her father while they were in Peru. There was a woman at the embassy that her father had an affair with that ruined his career and drove her mother to the brink of suicide. (That's where cousin Angus came in.) She didn't want to talk about that in front of those women. He ends up feeling bad for how he feels and asks her if she wants him to drop his run. He must do what he has to do.
The prosecution opens their case with a statement mentioning the evidence they will be presenting and that there was even a witness to the crime. The detective who investigated the case testifies about the blood evidence that was found on Lorton's clothing and the prosecutor gives the jury photos from the crime scene. Cleaver questions the detective about the nature of Benjamin Rigby's profession. He asks whether there were semen tests done on the contents of Rigby's stomach and whether or not Lorton's DNA was found there. It wasn't. He points out that there were many men who "abused" Rigby who weren't questioned in the case but the one man they know who didn't abuse him was accused of the crime. Cleaver presents the theory that Lorton was, in fact, trying to help Ben rather than kill him.
Shrimpton gets on the stand and relates what he claims to have seen the night Ben Rigby died. When it is Cleave's turn to question Shrimpton, he is quiet for a moment then stands and asks if it is the first time he's given evidence in a criminal trial. Shrimpton admits to having given evidence in drug cases. The prosecutor objects when Cleave asks if Shrimpton had been given immunity from prosecution for testifying against the accused in past trials. The judge allows the question. Shrimpton admits he knew Lorton and was even given money by him once. He also admits to having led Lorton to the lane that night to see Ben and admits that he (Shrimpton) had had oral sex with Ben that night. Cleave goes on to present Shrimpton with the details of the crime that do not add up and suggests that Shrimpton was the killer rather than Lorton.
While having a celebratory drink at a pub, the detective on the Lorton murder steps up next to Cleave and tells him he did some checking into Lorton's old statutory rape case 30 years ago. Lorton slashed both of the girls breasts but she wouldn't cooperate with the police because she said Lorton was "a genius" and that's what geniuses do.
Barney arrives home and still refuses to talk to Scarlett. She breaks down and tells him the man she had the affair with was a man she met at the Adelaide conference. He was an Englishman who is now safely back in Devon with his wife and will never be returning to Australia. Barney still wants to know his name. Scarlett gives him a name: John Bartrop--the same name Cleave is joking about in the alley while he and Barney are reconstructing the Rigby murder.
Cleaver spends the night going over the Rigby murder case and looking at the crime scene photos. He realizes that Lorton killed Ben and posed him in the style of a Guido Reni painting. He goes to see Lorton at his room and Lorton tells Cleave that in six months the streets would have made Ben ugly and he would have died in a crack haze. He gave Ben his moment of absolute perfection. Cleave hits Lorton and tells him he will go to the police but, as Lorton knows, there's nothing he can be charged on.
Fuzz and Fiona McCready arrive at Cleaver's flat and he welcomes them. Cleaver is completely nice and cordial to Fiona and has even gotten them dinner, burgers and chips. Fiona sends Fuzz to get her purse from the car while she tries to explain her position to his father. She wants to protect Fuzz emotionally and care for his academic future. He calls her delusional when she claims she wants to protect Fuzz. She tries to turn the tables on Cleave but he will have none of it. He tells her she doesn't want to turn his son into his father. The best thing she can do for him is to get in her car and keep driving (preferably off a cliff, he implies). Fuzz, who has returned, hears his father. Fuzz gets his things and he and Fiona leave.
When he is alone, Cleave calls Barney because he needs to hear a friendly voice after such a bad day. Barney tells Cleave they should have nothing further to do with one another and to ask Scarlett about the name both of them knew.
--
Poor Cleaver! A bad day just kept getting worse! He tried doing the right thing with Fuzz and his teacher but that didn't go very well. His friendship with Barney is in tatters and you know how that will affect him. Cleave thinks very highly of old Barnyard and it will be hard on him that the two aren't speaking. Fuzz's relationship with his teacher is something he probably thought his father, of all people, would understand and not have a problem with. Thing is, Cleaver is more of a father than Fuzz probably gives him credit for. The one client Cleave really had a feeling was innocent turned out to be horribly guilty. That had to be a good blow to the ego. (On a side note, it was great seeing David Field as Lorton. Can Field play an awesome character or what?)
The truth about Missy's past is going to come out sooner or later. Now that David is going to be running for Parliament she is going to have to associate with a lot of the same men she used to have as clients. All of them won't be as gentlemanly about things as Joe Sandilands or even Cleaver. She's going to run up against another Norton at some point and before she can call in Cleave for help, the cat will be out of the bag.
Next weeks episode should be a can't-miss (isn't every episode of Rake a can't-miss, really?). The amazing Sam Neill will be guest starring as Greene family friend, Dr. Bruce Chandler.
Rake airs each Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (AUS time) on ABC1.
For more information:
Official ABC1 Site: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/
TV Rage: http://tvrage.com/shows/id-26845
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
AUS Television: City Homicide, Episodes 4.22 "Empowerment"
City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Twenty-Two, Empowerment
Original Air Date: November 24, 2010
Note: Episodes 21 & 22 were aired together but I am presenting them here as two separate episodes.
An extremely successful porn producer is murdered and video of his murder is uploaded into the members only section of his web site. The list of suspects range from his girlfriend, to his business manager to a talk-back radio host who had been crusading against the porn industry. Meanwhile, Allie and Rhys' relationship continues and Bernice finds out. One of the team leaves Homicide for good.
After watching a computer video, a woman calls 000 saying that she thinks her boss has just been killed. Duncan and Jennifer arrive at the scene to find that Blake Johnson, the most successful porn producer in Australia has been murdered. A video of the murder was uploaded onto Johnson's web site at 2 a.m. into the members only section. They find drugs at the scene.
Myra Rawlings, Blake's business manager, called in his death. She usually checks the site first thing in the morning to make sure nothing inappropriate was uploaded during the night and found the video of Blake. Their relationship was strictly business. Rawlings was an adult actress in Los Angeles before she started working with Blake. Upon returning to Australia, he contacted her wanting to do something different. Alice Flowers, their site, was an "ethically run empowering site" using female directors and all female crew and is the most popular subscriber site in the country.
Blake's girlfriend, Sarah identifies his body and later talks with Duncan and Jennifer. She is "Summer Breeze" one of the girls on the site. She tells them there is the occasional falling out but that most of the girls loved Blake. A few days earlier, one woman came to their place and was extremely angry because he wouldn't take a film she had made for the site down. None of the girls on the site use their real names but the woman was on the site as "Juicy Jamie".
Jennifer finds Jamie's surname, "Priest". Rhys doesn't understand why people pay their hard-earned money for porn when there is plenty of it on the net for free. Jennifer doesn't get how they find so many women who are willing go on camera. While it isn't Allie's "thing" she can see how some women would find making the videos empowering. While they are discussing the case, Allie gets an email about a "Women in Blue" charity fundraiser dinner.
Jamie Priest is keen to get her film taken off the site because she is a police constable. Jennifer and Allie have a chat with her. She was 18 and needed quick cash. One thing led to another and it went from being just pictures to a girl-on-girl bondage video. She tells them about asking Blake to take the video down. She said he was more arrogant than usual and told her he was going to change her name on the site to "Porno Cop". She admits to throwing his trophies around the room and abusing him and is surprised to learn he was murdered. She was having dinner with her friend Annie when Blake was killed and begs them to not let anyone on the job know about the film.
Duncan went through Blake's text messages and found he had two other women on the line. Sarah knew about Blake flirting with prospective women for the site and, while she didn't like it, she lived with it because that was how they had met. Sarah is the most popular girl on the site and she is proud of her films. When she tells them she gets plenty of male attention, Jennifer asks if any of it ever becomes obsessive. She has one fan that leaves her notes in her letterbox and on her car window. She finds it a bit creepy but hasn't told the police as she has no idea who he is. The notes are always signed "Love G".
Duncan finds one Alice Flowers member, Gavin Bakowski, who spends a great deal of time watching Sarah's films. He finds Bakowski has a record for stalking and the assault of the husband of an Alice Flowers girl. Jennifer and Duncan get a warrant to search Bakowski's home. He denies knowing anything about the murder. Jennifer finds a shrine to Sarah in Bakowski's closet complete with a brush that still has strands of her hair in it and photos of her and Blake together with Blake's face scratched out.
They take him in for an interview. He claims he found the items he had in his "shrine" and he didn't stalk her or steal any of her possessions. He denies being obsessed with Sarah but admits that he loves her. He says his former assault charge was because Tammy's husband was hurting her so, to protect her, he hit her husband in the groin with a tire iron. His alibi for the previous night was being at home reading a self-help book he can't remember the title of.
Rhys checks up on Jamie Priest's alibi and finds that it wasn't as solid as they once thought. The restaurant where they were supposed to be dining didn't remember seeing them there that night. He called Jamie's friend back and, after mentioning her being an accessory, the friend came clean and said she lied for Jamie because she'd never heard Jamie so desperate before. In an interview with Allie and Jennifer, Jamie says she lied only because she wanted to put everything behind her. She gives them another alibi. She claims to have been at Richard Hill's home. He is a talk-back radio host who wants to shut down Alice Flowers and she thought she could help by making herself an example for how the site takes advantage of women. When Hill wouldn't talk to her through the station, she went to his home. She was able to talk to him around 9 p.m. but she felt he was just doing it for appearances as he simply thanked her and showed her out.
Hill confirmed that he met with Jamie. Rhys plays a podcast of one of Hill's shows for Jennifer and Duncan where he was ranting against Alice Flowers. Hill accuses Blake of being a sexual predator that is single-handedly responsible for corrupting the young girls on the site. Hill convinced the vice squad to raid Blake's warehouse the previous month. One week ago, Hill stopped talking about Blake completely. Allie presents them with photos found on Blake's computer of Hill with a woman.
Hill comes in to speak with Duncan and Jennifer and immediately starts in on Blake's activities and their legality. They question him as to why he stopped talking about Blake. He explains that they cover a wide spectrum of topics and there were other important matters that needed to be dealt with. He says he realized he was giving Blake free publicity so he moved on. Jennifer asks if he's ever heard The Pretty Kitty. He denies ever having gone there. When presented with the photographs off Blake's computer, he claims they are doctored photos. He says he was interviewing the girl for a story.
Hill goes to Bernice Waverley complaining that he felt like he was being treated like a suspect. She tells him he is free to lodge a complaint. He tells her to listen to his program tomorrow and she will see what he is concerned about. Bernice goes to Matt about having been ambushed by Hill. She wants to know why she wasn't notified of him being questioned. She informs Matt that Hill is going to tell his listeners about Jamie Priest and the full-scale cover-up being done by Homicide. The team listens as Bernice and Matt have a heated discussion about how she feels he kept her out of the loop. She wants a full and detailed report of the case on her desk first thing in the morning. After leaving Matt's office, Bernice takes the time to stop and ask Jennifer and another officer if they will be attending the Women in Blue dinner (both answer 'yes'). She asks Allie who says she doesn't think she'll be able to attend.
Hill's program the next day is all about the police and Blake Johnson. As predicted, he outs Jamie Priest on the program as having been a "porn star". Rhys spoke to Hill's wife who said the couple were having a late supper at the time Blake was killed. Allie confirmed that Tammy, the wife of the man assaulted by Bakowski was being abused by her husband. Allie feels Jamie Priest is the one who would want to film Blake's murder because of the humiliation she'd suffered at his hands for so long. Nick presents the team with evidence that Alice Flowers was sold to a U.S. porn company found in Blake's personal files giving them motive for Sarah Summers.
Allie and Jennifer go to speak with Sarah Summers and find her door ajar. They enter and find Sarah dead behind the kitchen counter and Jamie Priest sitting near the body. Jamie, who is in shock, says she came to talk to Sarah and checked her pulse when she found her dead. They find a note with flowers "My beautiful Sarah. Goodbye. Love G".
Jennifer and Allie speak with Jamie while Duncan and Rhys interview Gavin Bakowski. Jamie was hoping Sarah would take the video of her down. Gavin denies having anything to do with Sarah's murder. He also denies writing the note with the flowers and sending the flowers. He doesn't send flowers as they die. Jamie's alibi is that she was working the desk at the station until noon then she went to see Sarah. Gavin gives the same alibi as he did last time: at home reading. Jamie's alibi is rock solid this time.
Rhys and Allie take a copy of the case notes home to go over together. Nick offers to take over for Jennifer so she can go to the Women in Blue dinner. Jennifer tells Bernice that Jamie Priest is no longer a murder suspect. She asks Bernice if it is worth it being in the job. Bernice tells her she allowed her career to cost her her marriage and she lost her son but she loves her job. Only Jennifer can decide what is important for her.
Rhys and Allie start working on the case but they quickly get away from it and to other matters. Duncan and Nick go over the case back at the office and Duncan suggests that Myra Rawlings had ties to both victims. They bring her in that night for an interview. Myra and Sarah agreed to keep the website, their website now, going as that is what Blake would have wanted. They show her the contract of sale for Alice Flowers. She feels it couldn't have been a serious sale because she didn't know about it.
Bernice arrives home to look for her notes and finds Allie there wrapped in a towel after a shower. She leaves without saying a word to either of them. At the fundraiser, Jennifer and Jamie Priest are in the crowed as Bernice reminds the attendees of the many forms of abuse, including that of a malicious media. She goes on to say a few words about how women in the job often has to make sacrifices at a personal cost.
Duncan and Nick plan how they will use new information they learned against Myra Rawlings. They decide to switch topics to keep her unbalanced. Duncan drops the details that the CEO of TripX (the company buying Alice Flowers) was discussing the sale with her (Myra) and that she'd be left out in the cold once the sale was complete. Nick tells her they have a positive I.D. from a florist near Sarah's home that Myra bought the flowers. Myra tells them Sarah was the one in the latex suit and she (Myra) filmed the murder. The plan was the two women would run the site together. However, Sarah went back on her word and said Alice Flowers was a "young persons game". They forced her to kill them.
Bernice forces back tears as she is singing with the choir at the fundraiser. Nick and Duncan book Myra for murder. Matt clears up the briefing area of the case. Allie and Rhys enjoy wine together. Matt puts an envelope marked "application for transfer" on Stanley Wolfe's desk.
I must admit, I didn't have Matt pegged as the member of the team that would be leaving for good. I had my money down on either Jennifer or Nick with the heaviest betting running to Nick. Granted, Matt did seem to be struggling hard once he came back as a Sergeant. It seemed like the higher ups thought he was always making mistakes. He did stumble some and it couldn't have been easy coming back to his own team as their boss. But, if anyone could surely do it, it would be Matt. If, by some miracle, Seven does grant City Homicide reprieve and it is given another season, it will be odd to not see Matt Ryan there at all. I've always liked Matt. I guess Damien Richardson just feels it is time to move on. I, for one, will really miss him and hope to see him back on the screen very soon.
This was the final episode of City Homicide for season four. Currently, there are six more episodes that were originally slated to be the final six episodes of the season left to air. The Seven network is leaning towards pulling the plug on City Homicide. The final six episodes will be airing in 2011 as a mini-series titled City Homicide: No Greater Honour. Seven will be making a final decision on the fate of the show following the airing of that mini-series.
Regardless of what Seven's final decision is, I have immensely enjoyed the past four years of City Homicide. The writing has always been strong, the production value top-notch and the characters engaging individuals that I could truly care about. John Hugginson and John Banas created, wrote and produced another winning Australian drama that I personally felt rivaled anything of the same genre that came off American television. Everyone involved with City Homicide should be extremely proud of their involvement in this fine show.
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
Season Four, Episode Twenty-Two, Empowerment
Original Air Date: November 24, 2010
Note: Episodes 21 & 22 were aired together but I am presenting them here as two separate episodes.
An extremely successful porn producer is murdered and video of his murder is uploaded into the members only section of his web site. The list of suspects range from his girlfriend, to his business manager to a talk-back radio host who had been crusading against the porn industry. Meanwhile, Allie and Rhys' relationship continues and Bernice finds out. One of the team leaves Homicide for good.
After watching a computer video, a woman calls 000 saying that she thinks her boss has just been killed. Duncan and Jennifer arrive at the scene to find that Blake Johnson, the most successful porn producer in Australia has been murdered. A video of the murder was uploaded onto Johnson's web site at 2 a.m. into the members only section. They find drugs at the scene.
Myra Rawlings, Blake's business manager, called in his death. She usually checks the site first thing in the morning to make sure nothing inappropriate was uploaded during the night and found the video of Blake. Their relationship was strictly business. Rawlings was an adult actress in Los Angeles before she started working with Blake. Upon returning to Australia, he contacted her wanting to do something different. Alice Flowers, their site, was an "ethically run empowering site" using female directors and all female crew and is the most popular subscriber site in the country.
Blake's girlfriend, Sarah identifies his body and later talks with Duncan and Jennifer. She is "Summer Breeze" one of the girls on the site. She tells them there is the occasional falling out but that most of the girls loved Blake. A few days earlier, one woman came to their place and was extremely angry because he wouldn't take a film she had made for the site down. None of the girls on the site use their real names but the woman was on the site as "Juicy Jamie".
Jennifer finds Jamie's surname, "Priest". Rhys doesn't understand why people pay their hard-earned money for porn when there is plenty of it on the net for free. Jennifer doesn't get how they find so many women who are willing go on camera. While it isn't Allie's "thing" she can see how some women would find making the videos empowering. While they are discussing the case, Allie gets an email about a "Women in Blue" charity fundraiser dinner.
Jamie Priest is keen to get her film taken off the site because she is a police constable. Jennifer and Allie have a chat with her. She was 18 and needed quick cash. One thing led to another and it went from being just pictures to a girl-on-girl bondage video. She tells them about asking Blake to take the video down. She said he was more arrogant than usual and told her he was going to change her name on the site to "Porno Cop". She admits to throwing his trophies around the room and abusing him and is surprised to learn he was murdered. She was having dinner with her friend Annie when Blake was killed and begs them to not let anyone on the job know about the film.
Duncan went through Blake's text messages and found he had two other women on the line. Sarah knew about Blake flirting with prospective women for the site and, while she didn't like it, she lived with it because that was how they had met. Sarah is the most popular girl on the site and she is proud of her films. When she tells them she gets plenty of male attention, Jennifer asks if any of it ever becomes obsessive. She has one fan that leaves her notes in her letterbox and on her car window. She finds it a bit creepy but hasn't told the police as she has no idea who he is. The notes are always signed "Love G".
Duncan finds one Alice Flowers member, Gavin Bakowski, who spends a great deal of time watching Sarah's films. He finds Bakowski has a record for stalking and the assault of the husband of an Alice Flowers girl. Jennifer and Duncan get a warrant to search Bakowski's home. He denies knowing anything about the murder. Jennifer finds a shrine to Sarah in Bakowski's closet complete with a brush that still has strands of her hair in it and photos of her and Blake together with Blake's face scratched out.
They take him in for an interview. He claims he found the items he had in his "shrine" and he didn't stalk her or steal any of her possessions. He denies being obsessed with Sarah but admits that he loves her. He says his former assault charge was because Tammy's husband was hurting her so, to protect her, he hit her husband in the groin with a tire iron. His alibi for the previous night was being at home reading a self-help book he can't remember the title of.
Rhys checks up on Jamie Priest's alibi and finds that it wasn't as solid as they once thought. The restaurant where they were supposed to be dining didn't remember seeing them there that night. He called Jamie's friend back and, after mentioning her being an accessory, the friend came clean and said she lied for Jamie because she'd never heard Jamie so desperate before. In an interview with Allie and Jennifer, Jamie says she lied only because she wanted to put everything behind her. She gives them another alibi. She claims to have been at Richard Hill's home. He is a talk-back radio host who wants to shut down Alice Flowers and she thought she could help by making herself an example for how the site takes advantage of women. When Hill wouldn't talk to her through the station, she went to his home. She was able to talk to him around 9 p.m. but she felt he was just doing it for appearances as he simply thanked her and showed her out.
Hill confirmed that he met with Jamie. Rhys plays a podcast of one of Hill's shows for Jennifer and Duncan where he was ranting against Alice Flowers. Hill accuses Blake of being a sexual predator that is single-handedly responsible for corrupting the young girls on the site. Hill convinced the vice squad to raid Blake's warehouse the previous month. One week ago, Hill stopped talking about Blake completely. Allie presents them with photos found on Blake's computer of Hill with a woman.
Hill comes in to speak with Duncan and Jennifer and immediately starts in on Blake's activities and their legality. They question him as to why he stopped talking about Blake. He explains that they cover a wide spectrum of topics and there were other important matters that needed to be dealt with. He says he realized he was giving Blake free publicity so he moved on. Jennifer asks if he's ever heard The Pretty Kitty. He denies ever having gone there. When presented with the photographs off Blake's computer, he claims they are doctored photos. He says he was interviewing the girl for a story.
Hill goes to Bernice Waverley complaining that he felt like he was being treated like a suspect. She tells him he is free to lodge a complaint. He tells her to listen to his program tomorrow and she will see what he is concerned about. Bernice goes to Matt about having been ambushed by Hill. She wants to know why she wasn't notified of him being questioned. She informs Matt that Hill is going to tell his listeners about Jamie Priest and the full-scale cover-up being done by Homicide. The team listens as Bernice and Matt have a heated discussion about how she feels he kept her out of the loop. She wants a full and detailed report of the case on her desk first thing in the morning. After leaving Matt's office, Bernice takes the time to stop and ask Jennifer and another officer if they will be attending the Women in Blue dinner (both answer 'yes'). She asks Allie who says she doesn't think she'll be able to attend.
Hill's program the next day is all about the police and Blake Johnson. As predicted, he outs Jamie Priest on the program as having been a "porn star". Rhys spoke to Hill's wife who said the couple were having a late supper at the time Blake was killed. Allie confirmed that Tammy, the wife of the man assaulted by Bakowski was being abused by her husband. Allie feels Jamie Priest is the one who would want to film Blake's murder because of the humiliation she'd suffered at his hands for so long. Nick presents the team with evidence that Alice Flowers was sold to a U.S. porn company found in Blake's personal files giving them motive for Sarah Summers.
Allie and Jennifer go to speak with Sarah Summers and find her door ajar. They enter and find Sarah dead behind the kitchen counter and Jamie Priest sitting near the body. Jamie, who is in shock, says she came to talk to Sarah and checked her pulse when she found her dead. They find a note with flowers "My beautiful Sarah. Goodbye. Love G".
Jennifer and Allie speak with Jamie while Duncan and Rhys interview Gavin Bakowski. Jamie was hoping Sarah would take the video of her down. Gavin denies having anything to do with Sarah's murder. He also denies writing the note with the flowers and sending the flowers. He doesn't send flowers as they die. Jamie's alibi is that she was working the desk at the station until noon then she went to see Sarah. Gavin gives the same alibi as he did last time: at home reading. Jamie's alibi is rock solid this time.
Rhys and Allie take a copy of the case notes home to go over together. Nick offers to take over for Jennifer so she can go to the Women in Blue dinner. Jennifer tells Bernice that Jamie Priest is no longer a murder suspect. She asks Bernice if it is worth it being in the job. Bernice tells her she allowed her career to cost her her marriage and she lost her son but she loves her job. Only Jennifer can decide what is important for her.
Rhys and Allie start working on the case but they quickly get away from it and to other matters. Duncan and Nick go over the case back at the office and Duncan suggests that Myra Rawlings had ties to both victims. They bring her in that night for an interview. Myra and Sarah agreed to keep the website, their website now, going as that is what Blake would have wanted. They show her the contract of sale for Alice Flowers. She feels it couldn't have been a serious sale because she didn't know about it.
Bernice arrives home to look for her notes and finds Allie there wrapped in a towel after a shower. She leaves without saying a word to either of them. At the fundraiser, Jennifer and Jamie Priest are in the crowed as Bernice reminds the attendees of the many forms of abuse, including that of a malicious media. She goes on to say a few words about how women in the job often has to make sacrifices at a personal cost.
Duncan and Nick plan how they will use new information they learned against Myra Rawlings. They decide to switch topics to keep her unbalanced. Duncan drops the details that the CEO of TripX (the company buying Alice Flowers) was discussing the sale with her (Myra) and that she'd be left out in the cold once the sale was complete. Nick tells her they have a positive I.D. from a florist near Sarah's home that Myra bought the flowers. Myra tells them Sarah was the one in the latex suit and she (Myra) filmed the murder. The plan was the two women would run the site together. However, Sarah went back on her word and said Alice Flowers was a "young persons game". They forced her to kill them.
Bernice forces back tears as she is singing with the choir at the fundraiser. Nick and Duncan book Myra for murder. Matt clears up the briefing area of the case. Allie and Rhys enjoy wine together. Matt puts an envelope marked "application for transfer" on Stanley Wolfe's desk.
I must admit, I didn't have Matt pegged as the member of the team that would be leaving for good. I had my money down on either Jennifer or Nick with the heaviest betting running to Nick. Granted, Matt did seem to be struggling hard once he came back as a Sergeant. It seemed like the higher ups thought he was always making mistakes. He did stumble some and it couldn't have been easy coming back to his own team as their boss. But, if anyone could surely do it, it would be Matt. If, by some miracle, Seven does grant City Homicide reprieve and it is given another season, it will be odd to not see Matt Ryan there at all. I've always liked Matt. I guess Damien Richardson just feels it is time to move on. I, for one, will really miss him and hope to see him back on the screen very soon.
This was the final episode of City Homicide for season four. Currently, there are six more episodes that were originally slated to be the final six episodes of the season left to air. The Seven network is leaning towards pulling the plug on City Homicide. The final six episodes will be airing in 2011 as a mini-series titled City Homicide: No Greater Honour. Seven will be making a final decision on the fate of the show following the airing of that mini-series.
Regardless of what Seven's final decision is, I have immensely enjoyed the past four years of City Homicide. The writing has always been strong, the production value top-notch and the characters engaging individuals that I could truly care about. John Hugginson and John Banas created, wrote and produced another winning Australian drama that I personally felt rivaled anything of the same genre that came off American television. Everyone involved with City Homicide should be extremely proud of their involvement in this fine show.
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
AUS Television: City Homicide, Episodes 4.21 "The Price of Love"
City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Twenty-One, The Price of Love
Original Air Date: November 24, 2010
Note: Episodes 21 & 22 were aired together but I am presenting them here as two separate episodes.
A young woman is found dead in an abandoned home and the trail leads a local widower. He claims he loved the woman and wanted to start a life with her and would never hurt her. The case becomes more complicated when the team learns the woman was a prostitute. Was it the man who loved her that killed her, one of his children, one of her clients or her neighbour. Meanwhile, Jennifer and Nick have a discussion about their future. It's performance review time for Matt Ryan.
A realtor and her clients find the body of a woman in an empty house. The team arrive to begin the investigation (after a curt conversation between Matt and Rhys). Matt and Nick take the lead on the case. They find no I.D. on the woman and it appears the killer brought or lured her to the house to brutally kill her.
Matt receives a phone call from Superintendent Jarvis while at the scene calling him back to the office. After having Matt hold a pitcher of water so he could remove a fish from Bernice's tank, Jarvis tells Matt is it performance review time. He hands Matt the paper and tells him to fill it out with his strengths and weaknesses and he will sign it and Matt will get his increment and everyone will be happy.
Matt meets Nick at the morgue where it is learned that the victim had a sales receipt for a very expensive pair of shoes stuck in her esophagus. The credit card used to purchase the shoes belonged to Chris Fleetwood and was reported stolen. Nick asks Allie and Rhys to bring Fleetwood in for a chat while he follows up on some things at the office. Nick and Jennifer go to their car where they talk about their relationship. To him, it isn't a casual fling. He asks her to marry him and have a family. She feels if they stay together one of them will have to leave Homicide. She's devoted her life to the job and if she leaves she won't know who she is anymore. He tells her he will transfer out because he wants her. She tells him she doesn't have the answer and it isn't fair to keep him waiting. He gets out of the car saying he has an interview to do.
Chris Fleetwood claims he doesn't know the woman who was murdered. Rhys has run a check on him and he came back clean. After some (intense!) questioning by Nick and Allie, Fleetwood admits that he knew the woman. He loved her and would have never killed her. His wife died of cancer six months ago. A month later, he met the woman, Mischa Downes, and fell in love with her.
Duncan and Rhys go to Downes' home. While looking through her belongings for evidence, they hear the door open and a man enters the home. He identifies himself as Darren Jacobs, her neighbour, and says he was there to bring in the mail but was actually there to raid her CD's. Duncan found a "little black book" at her home with names and dollar amounts. She was a hooker.
Matt and Nick speak with Fleetwood's children about his having been seen with Downes before her death. Malcolm Fleetwood admits that they kept a baseball bat beneath the counter after the shop had been done over a couple of years ago and the till stolen. When they ask him to show them the bat, he cannot find it. A search by uniforms turn up a bloodied bat.
Fleetwood is again brought in for questioning and, this time, the bloodied bat is shown to him. Again, he says he did not kill Downes as anyone could have taken the bat. They let him know that she was a prostitute. It doesn't truly sink in for him even after they show him a photocopy of her book where she had written down how much she charged him for sex. Nick pushes him to try and break him but Fleetwood holds strong and insists he didn't kill her and didn't pay for anything.
At briefing, the team discuss Fleetwood and his relationship with Downes. Nick doesn't feel he killed her but Allie doesn't want him discounted as a suspect yet. Nick is clearly bringing his discussion with Jennifer into the case. After listening to Allie and Nick argue back and forth for a bit, Matt orders them to cut Fleetwood lose for now and they will wait to see if the media appeal for witnesses bears fruit.
The next morning, Jennifer comes into the office kitchen with the information that a Vivien Chen is downstairs after seeing the media appeal on Crimewatch and thinks that Downes is her friend. Nick tells Rhys and Allie to take Chen. Vivien did Downes nails and the two became friends. Downes had told Vivien that she was getting out of the life because she had a client that was giving her a hard time. She thought if she went to Queensland she could get away from him and start over. "Scary guy", as Vivien called him, wasn't an older man. He was young and strong.
Allie asks Matt to get them a warrant for the names from the mobile numbers in Downes' little black book. While they are talking, Jarvis comes in wanting the "paperwork" from Matt because Waverley is making noise about it. Matt tells Allie to get the paperwork for the warrant done and he will sign it.
Duncan and Rhys go to talk with Darren Jacobs again as there was a Darren in Downes' book. Rhys finds some marijuana on Jacobs' couch and Jacobs explains it away that he has a little before bed as he has problems with insomnia. Duncan tells Jacobs that he thinks the young bloke who was frightening Downes might have been him. He asks them to leave.
Back at the office, Allie has finally gotten the mobile list and she was running profiles and came across a man that looked good for being the "scary guy". Vincenzo De Luca, a twenty-eight year old, and has a conviction for aggravated assault. Allie and Rhys go back to Fleetwood's shop and show his kids photos of the new suspects. Malcolm doesn't recognize either but Tara immediately focuses on the photo of De Luca and says he comes into the shop all the time. Allie and Rhys pick up De Luca.
Nick and Matt go into the interview with De Luca who admits to being a client of Downes'. He tells them she had said she was in love and wanted to get out of the business and he also claims she didn't dump him, he dumped her. He tells them she was pregnant and wasn't about to let her stick him with the baby.
In briefing, Nick informs the team that De Luca's alibi checks out. He was working the door of a nightclub until 2 a.m the night Downes was killed. Nick and Allie again argue about the suspects. Nick has cleared De Luca as a suspect in his mind but Allie doesn't want to remove him from the list. Nick is insistent Chris Fleetwood did not kill Downes. Jennifer brings news from Pathology that Mischa Downes was definitely not pregnant causing Rhys to ask why Downes would tell De Luca she was pregnant when she wasn't. When Nick makes a comment to Rhys, Allie questions why he has been in a mood all week. Nick stands up and angrily pushes his chair in then apologizes to the team for his outburst. Nick leaves to talk again to the Fleetwood kids.
Malcolm Fleetwood tells Nick he was happy his father had something in his life that made him happy. Vivien Chen says the pregnancy thing was her idea. She had told Downes as a joke that a surefire way to make a guy run was to tell him she was pregnant. Downes used it as a way to try and get rid of Scary Guy. Tara Fleetwood says Malcolm is virtually useless around the shop and that she had her hands full taking care of things. If Downes had set her sights on her father, she said he wouldn't have stood a chance against her. According to Vivien, Downes was a good person just trying to turn her life around. She reveals that Downes had used drugs and, when they would go out, would go next door and come back a couple of minutes later with a stash.
Duncan, Allie and Rhys go back to Darren Jacobs. When he doesn't answer, Duncan busts the door open and they go in to search the flat. Jacobs isn't home but Allie finds photos of Jacobs and his mates, including Malcolm Fleetwood. They go to speak with Malcolm who says he bought dope a few times off Jacobs and they hang out sometimes. Darren suggested Downes to Malcolm for his father. While they are talking to him, Chris and Tara come in and Chris attacks his son wanting to know what he did. They take Malcolm back to Homicide to speak with him further.
Matt wants Nick in on the interview and he reluctantly agrees. Before Nick arrives, Rhys asks Allie if she wants to go see a band with him that night. She agrees as long as she won't have a late night as she needs to be up at five. Nick arrives saying Tara Fleetwood is making a fuss as reception. Rhys leaves to handle her while Nick and Allie go in to talk to Malcolm. Malcolm doesn't have an alibi for the night Downes was killed but he denies killing her. He used the money his mother left him and would give it to Darren who would give the money to Downes. He admits that he told Tara everything as soon as he started to worry their father would learn Downes was a hooker. Unfortunately, Rhys, not knowing Tara had become a suspect, sent her home.
Darren Jacobs calls Duncan. He has information and wants to cut a deal. He tells Duncan where he is and Duncan and Rhys leave immediately to go to him. When they arrive, Darren staggers out to meet them with his hands in his pockets. When he removes them, they see he has been stabbed in the stomach. Nick and Matt go to pick up Tara Fleetwood. Matt tells her Darren Jacobs told them everything. During a struggle as they are trying to take Tara into custody, Nick pushes Chris Fleetwood and, as he falls, he knocks over a rubbish bin and a bloody knife and clothes spill out of it.
When she learned Malcolm had been paying Downes for their father, she went to Jacobs and told him to call Downes off. Tara figured there was no way Downes could have been in love with their father. She was simply a gold digger. She paid Darren Jacobs $5,000, her inheritance from her mother, for Jacobs to take Downes to the house and scare her. Tara was at the house with Darren and Downes and Tara stabbed her when she wouldn't say she would leave her father alone.
Allie and Rhys had a good time at the concert and the two go back to her place. Matt honestly fills out the evaluation form noting that he is having a difficult transition compounded by returning to old squad, struggling with leadership challenges and that the higher ups have reservations about him. Jarvis reluctantly signs the evaluation.
Nick is clearly not coping with his and Jen's situation very well. He wants to marry her and have a family but she is putting her job first. She doesn't want to take the chance that their relationship might not last and feels she's worked too hard to give up her job on a chance. I figured that eventually we'd see Allie and Rhys hook up. They've been doing a bit of flirting this season and the two seem to have bonded here of late. I like them as a couple, actually. We all know what auntie Bernice is going to say when she gets wind that her nephew has taken up with the one detective she despises more than anything. I love how Matt handled his evaluation. He went for full honesty even though it very well could mean trouble for him, Jarvis and Stanley Wolfe. That's the Matt Ryan we've all known and loved the past four years.
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
Season Four, Episode Twenty-One, The Price of Love
Original Air Date: November 24, 2010
Note: Episodes 21 & 22 were aired together but I am presenting them here as two separate episodes.
A young woman is found dead in an abandoned home and the trail leads a local widower. He claims he loved the woman and wanted to start a life with her and would never hurt her. The case becomes more complicated when the team learns the woman was a prostitute. Was it the man who loved her that killed her, one of his children, one of her clients or her neighbour. Meanwhile, Jennifer and Nick have a discussion about their future. It's performance review time for Matt Ryan.
A realtor and her clients find the body of a woman in an empty house. The team arrive to begin the investigation (after a curt conversation between Matt and Rhys). Matt and Nick take the lead on the case. They find no I.D. on the woman and it appears the killer brought or lured her to the house to brutally kill her.
Matt receives a phone call from Superintendent Jarvis while at the scene calling him back to the office. After having Matt hold a pitcher of water so he could remove a fish from Bernice's tank, Jarvis tells Matt is it performance review time. He hands Matt the paper and tells him to fill it out with his strengths and weaknesses and he will sign it and Matt will get his increment and everyone will be happy.
Matt meets Nick at the morgue where it is learned that the victim had a sales receipt for a very expensive pair of shoes stuck in her esophagus. The credit card used to purchase the shoes belonged to Chris Fleetwood and was reported stolen. Nick asks Allie and Rhys to bring Fleetwood in for a chat while he follows up on some things at the office. Nick and Jennifer go to their car where they talk about their relationship. To him, it isn't a casual fling. He asks her to marry him and have a family. She feels if they stay together one of them will have to leave Homicide. She's devoted her life to the job and if she leaves she won't know who she is anymore. He tells her he will transfer out because he wants her. She tells him she doesn't have the answer and it isn't fair to keep him waiting. He gets out of the car saying he has an interview to do.
Chris Fleetwood claims he doesn't know the woman who was murdered. Rhys has run a check on him and he came back clean. After some (intense!) questioning by Nick and Allie, Fleetwood admits that he knew the woman. He loved her and would have never killed her. His wife died of cancer six months ago. A month later, he met the woman, Mischa Downes, and fell in love with her.
Duncan and Rhys go to Downes' home. While looking through her belongings for evidence, they hear the door open and a man enters the home. He identifies himself as Darren Jacobs, her neighbour, and says he was there to bring in the mail but was actually there to raid her CD's. Duncan found a "little black book" at her home with names and dollar amounts. She was a hooker.
Matt and Nick speak with Fleetwood's children about his having been seen with Downes before her death. Malcolm Fleetwood admits that they kept a baseball bat beneath the counter after the shop had been done over a couple of years ago and the till stolen. When they ask him to show them the bat, he cannot find it. A search by uniforms turn up a bloodied bat.
Fleetwood is again brought in for questioning and, this time, the bloodied bat is shown to him. Again, he says he did not kill Downes as anyone could have taken the bat. They let him know that she was a prostitute. It doesn't truly sink in for him even after they show him a photocopy of her book where she had written down how much she charged him for sex. Nick pushes him to try and break him but Fleetwood holds strong and insists he didn't kill her and didn't pay for anything.
At briefing, the team discuss Fleetwood and his relationship with Downes. Nick doesn't feel he killed her but Allie doesn't want him discounted as a suspect yet. Nick is clearly bringing his discussion with Jennifer into the case. After listening to Allie and Nick argue back and forth for a bit, Matt orders them to cut Fleetwood lose for now and they will wait to see if the media appeal for witnesses bears fruit.
The next morning, Jennifer comes into the office kitchen with the information that a Vivien Chen is downstairs after seeing the media appeal on Crimewatch and thinks that Downes is her friend. Nick tells Rhys and Allie to take Chen. Vivien did Downes nails and the two became friends. Downes had told Vivien that she was getting out of the life because she had a client that was giving her a hard time. She thought if she went to Queensland she could get away from him and start over. "Scary guy", as Vivien called him, wasn't an older man. He was young and strong.
Allie asks Matt to get them a warrant for the names from the mobile numbers in Downes' little black book. While they are talking, Jarvis comes in wanting the "paperwork" from Matt because Waverley is making noise about it. Matt tells Allie to get the paperwork for the warrant done and he will sign it.
Duncan and Rhys go to talk with Darren Jacobs again as there was a Darren in Downes' book. Rhys finds some marijuana on Jacobs' couch and Jacobs explains it away that he has a little before bed as he has problems with insomnia. Duncan tells Jacobs that he thinks the young bloke who was frightening Downes might have been him. He asks them to leave.
Back at the office, Allie has finally gotten the mobile list and she was running profiles and came across a man that looked good for being the "scary guy". Vincenzo De Luca, a twenty-eight year old, and has a conviction for aggravated assault. Allie and Rhys go back to Fleetwood's shop and show his kids photos of the new suspects. Malcolm doesn't recognize either but Tara immediately focuses on the photo of De Luca and says he comes into the shop all the time. Allie and Rhys pick up De Luca.
Nick and Matt go into the interview with De Luca who admits to being a client of Downes'. He tells them she had said she was in love and wanted to get out of the business and he also claims she didn't dump him, he dumped her. He tells them she was pregnant and wasn't about to let her stick him with the baby.
In briefing, Nick informs the team that De Luca's alibi checks out. He was working the door of a nightclub until 2 a.m the night Downes was killed. Nick and Allie again argue about the suspects. Nick has cleared De Luca as a suspect in his mind but Allie doesn't want to remove him from the list. Nick is insistent Chris Fleetwood did not kill Downes. Jennifer brings news from Pathology that Mischa Downes was definitely not pregnant causing Rhys to ask why Downes would tell De Luca she was pregnant when she wasn't. When Nick makes a comment to Rhys, Allie questions why he has been in a mood all week. Nick stands up and angrily pushes his chair in then apologizes to the team for his outburst. Nick leaves to talk again to the Fleetwood kids.
Malcolm Fleetwood tells Nick he was happy his father had something in his life that made him happy. Vivien Chen says the pregnancy thing was her idea. She had told Downes as a joke that a surefire way to make a guy run was to tell him she was pregnant. Downes used it as a way to try and get rid of Scary Guy. Tara Fleetwood says Malcolm is virtually useless around the shop and that she had her hands full taking care of things. If Downes had set her sights on her father, she said he wouldn't have stood a chance against her. According to Vivien, Downes was a good person just trying to turn her life around. She reveals that Downes had used drugs and, when they would go out, would go next door and come back a couple of minutes later with a stash.
Duncan, Allie and Rhys go back to Darren Jacobs. When he doesn't answer, Duncan busts the door open and they go in to search the flat. Jacobs isn't home but Allie finds photos of Jacobs and his mates, including Malcolm Fleetwood. They go to speak with Malcolm who says he bought dope a few times off Jacobs and they hang out sometimes. Darren suggested Downes to Malcolm for his father. While they are talking to him, Chris and Tara come in and Chris attacks his son wanting to know what he did. They take Malcolm back to Homicide to speak with him further.
Matt wants Nick in on the interview and he reluctantly agrees. Before Nick arrives, Rhys asks Allie if she wants to go see a band with him that night. She agrees as long as she won't have a late night as she needs to be up at five. Nick arrives saying Tara Fleetwood is making a fuss as reception. Rhys leaves to handle her while Nick and Allie go in to talk to Malcolm. Malcolm doesn't have an alibi for the night Downes was killed but he denies killing her. He used the money his mother left him and would give it to Darren who would give the money to Downes. He admits that he told Tara everything as soon as he started to worry their father would learn Downes was a hooker. Unfortunately, Rhys, not knowing Tara had become a suspect, sent her home.
Darren Jacobs calls Duncan. He has information and wants to cut a deal. He tells Duncan where he is and Duncan and Rhys leave immediately to go to him. When they arrive, Darren staggers out to meet them with his hands in his pockets. When he removes them, they see he has been stabbed in the stomach. Nick and Matt go to pick up Tara Fleetwood. Matt tells her Darren Jacobs told them everything. During a struggle as they are trying to take Tara into custody, Nick pushes Chris Fleetwood and, as he falls, he knocks over a rubbish bin and a bloody knife and clothes spill out of it.
When she learned Malcolm had been paying Downes for their father, she went to Jacobs and told him to call Downes off. Tara figured there was no way Downes could have been in love with their father. She was simply a gold digger. She paid Darren Jacobs $5,000, her inheritance from her mother, for Jacobs to take Downes to the house and scare her. Tara was at the house with Darren and Downes and Tara stabbed her when she wouldn't say she would leave her father alone.
Allie and Rhys had a good time at the concert and the two go back to her place. Matt honestly fills out the evaluation form noting that he is having a difficult transition compounded by returning to old squad, struggling with leadership challenges and that the higher ups have reservations about him. Jarvis reluctantly signs the evaluation.
Nick is clearly not coping with his and Jen's situation very well. He wants to marry her and have a family but she is putting her job first. She doesn't want to take the chance that their relationship might not last and feels she's worked too hard to give up her job on a chance. I figured that eventually we'd see Allie and Rhys hook up. They've been doing a bit of flirting this season and the two seem to have bonded here of late. I like them as a couple, actually. We all know what auntie Bernice is going to say when she gets wind that her nephew has taken up with the one detective she despises more than anything. I love how Matt handled his evaluation. He went for full honesty even though it very well could mean trouble for him, Jarvis and Stanley Wolfe. That's the Matt Ryan we've all known and loved the past four years.
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Daniel Radcliffe: I AM Harry
We've all suspected it for a while now, haven't we? Every time we've watched one of the Harry Potter movies we've known that Daniel Radcliffe was just too good in the role to be just an ordinary actor.
I guess the X-Files really were right. The truth IS out there. Now we finally have the truth about Radcliffe and Harry Potter. Radcliffe finally admits on camera that he IS Harry Potter. That he is, in fact, a wizard playing an actor.
The best line: "And I talk to women. Tell them that I'm Harry. And see where that gets me." And when Radcliffe shows (off-camera, of course) Apatow the "broom burn" he has from playing Quidditch. That's laugh out loud funny right there.
The web site Funny or Die has tons and tons of parody and comedy videos made by some of the best actors and comedians out there. This particular video was made by Daniel Radcliffe and Judd Apatow. It's an informal and "uncensored interview with Daniel Radcliffe" where the 'actor' discusses the role that made him a household name.
I hope you get a great laugh out of it like I did.
While you are there, check out some of the other hilarious parody videos that Funny or Die has to offer.
I guess the X-Files really were right. The truth IS out there. Now we finally have the truth about Radcliffe and Harry Potter. Radcliffe finally admits on camera that he IS Harry Potter. That he is, in fact, a wizard playing an actor.
The best line: "And I talk to women. Tell them that I'm Harry. And see where that gets me." And when Radcliffe shows (off-camera, of course) Apatow the "broom burn" he has from playing Quidditch. That's laugh out loud funny right there.
The web site Funny or Die has tons and tons of parody and comedy videos made by some of the best actors and comedians out there. This particular video was made by Daniel Radcliffe and Judd Apatow. It's an informal and "uncensored interview with Daniel Radcliffe" where the 'actor' discusses the role that made him a household name.
I hope you get a great laugh out of it like I did.
While you are there, check out some of the other hilarious parody videos that Funny or Die has to offer.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
AUS Television: Offspring Coming Back for Season Two in 2011
The Ten Network has announced their plans for 2011 and my and your favorite Australian drama/comedy series Offspring will be returning next year for a second season! This is fantastic news as we will get to see just what will happen with Chris Havel and Nina Proudman in front of that lift. Will they get in it, ride down to the ground floor then go their separate ways, she to Baltimore and he to a life with Alice and Lucy? Will things finally work out like one of Nina's fantasies and they will retire to a balloon-filled room?
To read the entire run-down of Ten's 2011 plans: http://www.throng.com.au/ten/network-ten-has-something-everyone-2011
Update, 8th May, 2011: Offspring will be returning on 16th May, 2011.
To read the entire run-down of Ten's 2011 plans: http://www.throng.com.au/ten/network-ten-has-something-everyone-2011
Update, 8th May, 2011: Offspring will be returning on 16th May, 2011.
AUS Television: Offspring, Episodes 1.12 & 1.13
Offspring
Series One, Episodes Twelve & Thirteen, Season Finale
Original Air Date: November 21, 2010
In this two-part season finale, the entire Proudman family, Cherie, Mick, and Chris Havel are all dealing with the fall-out of Mick and Nina having spent one night together and revealing that secret to Billie. That one secret has torn everyone apart. Nina has a chance at a new life in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. It will be a fresh start for a whole new Nina. Will she take the job and say goodbye to everyone and everything she's ever known and loved?
Part I:
Nina has been leaving messages for Billie but they have all gone unanswered. At work, Dr. Clegg is critiquing Kim for the way she answers the phone. Apparently, her voice isn't as friendly and sing-songy as Zara's. Nina is given a case of a woman carrying a child for her sister and is 33 weeks along into her pregnancy. She has presented with acute bleeding. Her sister is there with her. The woman will have to have an emergency Cesarean because the baby is in distress. As Nina watches the two sisters comforting one another, she imagines her and Billie in a similar situation: Nina carrying a baby for Billie.
Cherie tells Darcy she has a man coming over that night and she wants Sam to meet Darcy and Ray. Nina talks with Mick about Billie. He has been staking out Geraldine's place as Billie is avoiding him as well. When Mick arrives home, Jimmy questions him about what is wrong. Mick wants to drop the issue but Jimmy persists and Mick eventually tells him about his night with Nina. Jimmy goes to Geraldine's to see Billie and ends up letting things slip to Geraldine about Mick and Nina, something she didn't know about.
Jimmy calls Nina at the hospital and tells her to come to their mum's and wear something bulletproof. Nina arrives at her mum's and finds broken dishes and her mother standing there waiting for her. Nina explains that her night with Mick was a terrible accident and even asks if that was her way of telling Billie she was worthless and could take anything that belonged to her or that she just had contempt for her. Geraldine calls Nina "pure Darcy Proudman" because she feels what Nina did is exactly the same shallow thing her father would have done. When Nina tries to make a joke to lighten the moment, her mother calls her on that as well that that behaviour was her father too.
Nina and Mick once again talk on the phone about Billie. He has temporarily lost her in his never-ending campaign of following her. He's trying Proudman Realty to see if she has gone to work. Both Mick and Nina, who are now going under the code names "Captain Shapiro" and "Big Sally", feel horrible about what has happened and Mick has decided to wander the streets until he finds Billie. At the hospital, Nina and Chris are preparing for the emergency Cesarean and Nina cannot stop thinking about Billie.
Geraldine goes to see Darcy at the realty office and accuses him of stealing her youth from her then tells her that Nina and Mick have been carrying on behind Billie's back. She accuses him further of setting a bad example for their children. When Cherie and Ray arrive, Geraldine sets in on her and asks if it ever crossed her mind when she slept with Darcy on the cruise ship that he might have been married. After Cherie stands up to Geraldine and sets her straight about how things were, Geraldine leaves.
Jimmy finds Billie and talks to her. Billie has been trying to figure out what to say to both Nina and Mick. Jimmy encourages her to listen to what they have to say. She accuses him of always being partial to Nina and he brings up the fact that Nina was always there when Billie was usually off sniffing glue. She ends up slapping him and leaving.
Cherie goes to the hospital to see Nina and tells her about Geraldine's behavior at the realty office. While they are talking, Cherie looks over Nina's shoulder and announces that Billie is there. Nina's fantasizing goes into overdrive and she imagines the coming confrontation with Billie mixed in with Fireman Sam and two other men from "Man Up" dancing in the halls of the hospital. Billie tells Cherie to get out of her face as fast as she can and snaps at her further when Cherie asks what is wrong. Billie questions Nina about what vodka she drank with Mick in front of Dr. Clegg, Kim, Zara and Cherie. Nina wants to talk about it elsewhere but Billie presses the matter. She wants the details. Nina tells her the brand of the vodka and what kind of ice cream and that both of them were drunk. She wants to know who touched who first and where. She wants to know every single detail including who the condoms belonged to. Nina tells Billie she's happy to give her any detail she wants but she doesn't want to talk about it at work. Billie warns everyone there not to leave Nina alone with their husbands and storms out. Nina knows there will be further confrontation with Billie.
Billie goes to work and Darcy tries talking to her. He tells her sometimes sex can mean nothing at all and doesn't have to be that big of a deal. Billie angrily questions him about different sexual situations and asks if that is when it means nothing. Mick and Nina speak again. Billie finally took one of his calls. She answered and called him a "prick". Mick sees it as a good sign because Billie finally spoke to him. After Mick and Nina are off the phone, Jimmy says something to him about what happened. Mick asks if they are OK. Jimmy tells him that as soon as he can figure out the destination, he's getting on a plane out of there.
Chris heard about Billie's visit and asks Nina if she is alright. Nina lashes out at Chris further making matters worse. He tells her she loves it when her life is a mess because she's so terrified of happiness. After he leaves, tries rallying herself so she can right everything that is going wrong. She calls Jimmy and even he is angry with her making her feel even worse.
Chris meets Alice and Lucy for lunch while Nina pays a visit to the woman who had had the Cesarean. They talk about their sisters. Nina tries calling Billie again and begs her to see her again in private. She wants to talk everything through.
Sam arrives at Cherie and Darcy's and meets Darcy and Ray. Sam seems to take to Ray right off. Nina tries working even though she's got a mountain of problems. Alice visits Chris at his new home to thank him for everything he's done for her. She kisses him then leaves. Darcy heads out and leaves the place to Cherie and Sam. She doesn't want Sam to be disappointed with their first night together.
Nina struggles with how she can mend the damage that has been done to her family. Darcy goes to Cherie's room the next morning and hears her and Sam. He knocks and tells her it's time for Ray's feed. Cherie asks Darcy if things are getting weird between them and if it might be time for her to move out like they planned when she first moved in.
Dr. Clegg awakens Nina who fell asleep at her desk. When he asks for a word with her she apologizes that her private life has disrupted the professionalism of the hospital. He asks if she's ever heard of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the obstetricians has taken a leave and he has recommended Nina to fill the position. She wants to stay in Australia and fix things with her family but Clegg tells her she needs the change. She starts to think that going far away where she can't hurt anyone she loves and giving them time to heal is exactly what she should do. Nina's divorce papers are delivered to her at the hospital. She awakens with Kim and Zara standing over her. She had passed out with a high temperature.
She arrives home to find Billie there. Nina tells her that she is going away to the States. Billie reminds Nina of some presents and cards Nina had given her or made for her, pictures and letters throughout their lives. Billie had them all in a box, torn and broken. She leaves Nina's apartment taking her owls. Billie goes to see Mick and takes him to the house she wanted to buy with him. She has Nina's owls placed all over the house where everything of theirs would have been placed in the house. They argue over the night he spent with Nina. She tells him the worst part is the poisonous little voice that wonders what secret attraction the two have for one another and if he's thinking of Nina when he's with her. He tells her he loves her and will never lie and that's why he wanted her to know about he and Nina.
Jimmy goes in search of where he will be going in future, Darcy stands outside drinking coffee while Cherie and Sam are upstairs in her room with Ray bouncing on Cherie's lap. Billie wheels Nina's owls to the curb in a rubbish bin. Chris tries calling Nina but she doesn't answer.
Part II:
Nina starts packing everything up for her move to Balitmore. She's looking at it being a new start for "New Nina". While throwing bags of some of her belongings into a bin for the Australian Red Cross, she accidentally drops her purse in as well. Dr. Clegg walks up behind her while she's crawling into the bin for her purse. He wants her to remember that what she does, the job, is a very sacred thing.
Nina goes into work, taking her cat with her in a carrier, and when she meets Chris, tells him she needs to talk to him about a decision she's made. Clegg interrupts them and, before Nina can tell Chris about her moving to Baltimore, Clegg drops the news on him. Chris is stunned. Clegg mentions it's only a six month program. Chris wishes her good luck and tells her it is good news but it's clear he's upset.
Billie arrives home to find Mick planting flowers, what he calls "an unconditional horticultural love offering" and part of the 12-step program for cheating scumbags. She doesn't want him to help her move her stuff in and she refuses to let him play a song he wrote for her.
Nina is still trying to find a new home for her cat. She asks Jimmy if he'll look after it while she's overseas and he tells her he can't because he's hunting for a cheap plane ticket to anywhere because too much family can stunt your growth--including Nina. The cat gets lose and Nina ends up elbowing Jimmy in the face while trying to recover the kitty. Of course, the cat walks right back into the carrier on its own after that.
Billie pays a visit to the owner of Pinnacle Realty about moving to a new agency. He has been wanting to lure her to Pinnacle for a while because he likes her style. He wants her consider her moving to his office as a chance to graduate from the family business. He invites her upstairs to show her the new computers they've had put in.
Alice, Chris and Lucy enjoy a family meal at a restaurant when Alice suggests the three of them live under one roof as a family. Chris agrees to the suggestion feeling it is worth a try. Jimmy goes to see Cherie to say goodbye and she wants to have a get-together, a barbecue, to say goodbye to everyone. It might help heal the family wounds. Jimmy doesn't think it's that good of an idea. Billie tells Darcy she is seriously thinking of saying "yes" to the offer from Pinnacle. She thinks it might be best to keep work and family separate with the way things are at the moment. After Billie has gone, Nina drops in to Darcy's office looking for her. She asks him to take the cat and he turns her down as well. Darcy and Geraldine talk about what has gone wrong with the family and the mistakes they've both made.
Nina, still looking for a new home for the cat, runs into Chris, Alice and Lucy. Nina vows that she won't start crying in front of them once she realizes they are looking for a house together. As she's sitting and thinking about Chris, Clegg calls her to the hospital. He, Kim and Zara are waiting on her with a cake and balloons. He wants her going to Baltimore with the knowledge she's an excellent doctor and admirable person. He asks about Billie and if she mentioned him (the confrontation and Billie's actions with Clegg really stuck in his mind!)
Billie arrives home to find Mick sitting on her porch playing a song. She unplugs his keyboard telling him "A song can't fix this" and goes inside. Darcy and Geraldine look through old family photo albums and reminisce. Nina talks to Chris about her leaving and him moving in with Alice. She tells him she thinks she's in love with him. He feels the same way. None of the family would come to the barbecue for Cherie but Jimmy assures her he can get everyone there. He calls everyone with excuses tailored to each of them to get them to the barbecue.
Still with the cat in tow, Nina arrives at the barbecue. When Billie arrives, she and Nina talk. Nina is trying to apologize but Billie keeps turning things around and nothing goes right. When Darcy tries starting the barbecue, he trips over the tank and cuts his leg. He prefers that Geraldine play nurse instead of Nina. Everyone realizes that Darcy and Geraldine have had sex. They finally get the barbecue going about the time a massive rain storm hits drenching them all and ending the party.
Everyone gets out of the rain hoping it will stop. When it doesn't, some decide it's time they go. Cherie bursts into tears about how she loves the family so much and how everything is wrecked. Jimmy suggests they all go to the pub for a drink to wrap things up. They all go to the pub and Nina wonders if things could be any worse. A call from Chris comes in and Cherie tells him where the family is and that he should come down to the pub.
Mick is at the pub and Billie tells him that maybe now is his chance to play the song he wrote as a love offering. That was just for her and not for public performance as he meant it as a jokey thing. Nina tells him to play the song. When Mick sings the song, it is hilarious! The song is all about having sex with Nina and it even states that sex with her was "a six, at most and maybe even less". The best line: "it's difficult to stay aroused when you're surrounded by a thousand owls". Billie smiles and everyone else laughs and snickers while Nina stands there listening to the song humiliating her. Jimmy puts his arms around her and tells her everyone still loves her, trying to make her feel better. Billie goes through the bag Nina gave her and sees the blouse, her earring and the watch. The sisters end up hugging each other while Mick continues his oddly awesome love song to Billie. Jimmy pours a pitcher of beer over Mick's head to avenge his sisters honor.
Kim goes to Nina and tells her that her water has broken and the baby's head has actually crowned. They put Kim on the pool table to deliver the baby. Mick and Billie make up to the sounds of Kim screaming in labor in the background. Chris arrives and helps Nina with the delivery of Kim's baby. The baby is a little girl.
Nina and Chris stand and wait for the lift to arrive. The doors open and they don't step onto the lift. Nina is thinking how much she wants him. Chris is thinking that he wishes he knew what was going on inside her head. She tells him she wants him so badly and can't help it. They go into a room there at the hospital that is full of balloons where they finally have the moment together they've been waiting for all season. BUT, that was all in Nina's head. In reality, the lift doors open and Nina and Chris look at one another.
What an awesome end to the first season! Sneaky, Cherie! She went to such lengths to get everyone back together. Things were pretty tense for Nina and Billie there for a good part of the show. Things were tense between Nina and everyone for a nice part of the show. I'm glad that Nina and Billie finally made up. It was almost painful to see the animosity between the two of them. Same with Billie and Mick. And speaking of Mick, could his love song to Billie have been any funnier? It's no surprise that did the trick and softened up Billie's anger. Mick just has a way about him, doesn't he?
The bad news is that this was the final show of the first season. The good news is that Offspring will be back for a brand new season in 2011. I can't wait! How about you?
Offspring airs on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Ten Network.
Official Site: http://ten.com.au/offspring.htm
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1530541/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-25992
Series One, Episodes Twelve & Thirteen, Season Finale
Original Air Date: November 21, 2010
In this two-part season finale, the entire Proudman family, Cherie, Mick, and Chris Havel are all dealing with the fall-out of Mick and Nina having spent one night together and revealing that secret to Billie. That one secret has torn everyone apart. Nina has a chance at a new life in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. It will be a fresh start for a whole new Nina. Will she take the job and say goodbye to everyone and everything she's ever known and loved?
Part I:
Nina has been leaving messages for Billie but they have all gone unanswered. At work, Dr. Clegg is critiquing Kim for the way she answers the phone. Apparently, her voice isn't as friendly and sing-songy as Zara's. Nina is given a case of a woman carrying a child for her sister and is 33 weeks along into her pregnancy. She has presented with acute bleeding. Her sister is there with her. The woman will have to have an emergency Cesarean because the baby is in distress. As Nina watches the two sisters comforting one another, she imagines her and Billie in a similar situation: Nina carrying a baby for Billie.
Cherie tells Darcy she has a man coming over that night and she wants Sam to meet Darcy and Ray. Nina talks with Mick about Billie. He has been staking out Geraldine's place as Billie is avoiding him as well. When Mick arrives home, Jimmy questions him about what is wrong. Mick wants to drop the issue but Jimmy persists and Mick eventually tells him about his night with Nina. Jimmy goes to Geraldine's to see Billie and ends up letting things slip to Geraldine about Mick and Nina, something she didn't know about.
Jimmy calls Nina at the hospital and tells her to come to their mum's and wear something bulletproof. Nina arrives at her mum's and finds broken dishes and her mother standing there waiting for her. Nina explains that her night with Mick was a terrible accident and even asks if that was her way of telling Billie she was worthless and could take anything that belonged to her or that she just had contempt for her. Geraldine calls Nina "pure Darcy Proudman" because she feels what Nina did is exactly the same shallow thing her father would have done. When Nina tries to make a joke to lighten the moment, her mother calls her on that as well that that behaviour was her father too.
Nina and Mick once again talk on the phone about Billie. He has temporarily lost her in his never-ending campaign of following her. He's trying Proudman Realty to see if she has gone to work. Both Mick and Nina, who are now going under the code names "Captain Shapiro" and "Big Sally", feel horrible about what has happened and Mick has decided to wander the streets until he finds Billie. At the hospital, Nina and Chris are preparing for the emergency Cesarean and Nina cannot stop thinking about Billie.
Geraldine goes to see Darcy at the realty office and accuses him of stealing her youth from her then tells her that Nina and Mick have been carrying on behind Billie's back. She accuses him further of setting a bad example for their children. When Cherie and Ray arrive, Geraldine sets in on her and asks if it ever crossed her mind when she slept with Darcy on the cruise ship that he might have been married. After Cherie stands up to Geraldine and sets her straight about how things were, Geraldine leaves.
Jimmy finds Billie and talks to her. Billie has been trying to figure out what to say to both Nina and Mick. Jimmy encourages her to listen to what they have to say. She accuses him of always being partial to Nina and he brings up the fact that Nina was always there when Billie was usually off sniffing glue. She ends up slapping him and leaving.
Cherie goes to the hospital to see Nina and tells her about Geraldine's behavior at the realty office. While they are talking, Cherie looks over Nina's shoulder and announces that Billie is there. Nina's fantasizing goes into overdrive and she imagines the coming confrontation with Billie mixed in with Fireman Sam and two other men from "Man Up" dancing in the halls of the hospital. Billie tells Cherie to get out of her face as fast as she can and snaps at her further when Cherie asks what is wrong. Billie questions Nina about what vodka she drank with Mick in front of Dr. Clegg, Kim, Zara and Cherie. Nina wants to talk about it elsewhere but Billie presses the matter. She wants the details. Nina tells her the brand of the vodka and what kind of ice cream and that both of them were drunk. She wants to know who touched who first and where. She wants to know every single detail including who the condoms belonged to. Nina tells Billie she's happy to give her any detail she wants but she doesn't want to talk about it at work. Billie warns everyone there not to leave Nina alone with their husbands and storms out. Nina knows there will be further confrontation with Billie.
Billie goes to work and Darcy tries talking to her. He tells her sometimes sex can mean nothing at all and doesn't have to be that big of a deal. Billie angrily questions him about different sexual situations and asks if that is when it means nothing. Mick and Nina speak again. Billie finally took one of his calls. She answered and called him a "prick". Mick sees it as a good sign because Billie finally spoke to him. After Mick and Nina are off the phone, Jimmy says something to him about what happened. Mick asks if they are OK. Jimmy tells him that as soon as he can figure out the destination, he's getting on a plane out of there.
Chris heard about Billie's visit and asks Nina if she is alright. Nina lashes out at Chris further making matters worse. He tells her she loves it when her life is a mess because she's so terrified of happiness. After he leaves, tries rallying herself so she can right everything that is going wrong. She calls Jimmy and even he is angry with her making her feel even worse.
Chris meets Alice and Lucy for lunch while Nina pays a visit to the woman who had had the Cesarean. They talk about their sisters. Nina tries calling Billie again and begs her to see her again in private. She wants to talk everything through.
Sam arrives at Cherie and Darcy's and meets Darcy and Ray. Sam seems to take to Ray right off. Nina tries working even though she's got a mountain of problems. Alice visits Chris at his new home to thank him for everything he's done for her. She kisses him then leaves. Darcy heads out and leaves the place to Cherie and Sam. She doesn't want Sam to be disappointed with their first night together.
Nina struggles with how she can mend the damage that has been done to her family. Darcy goes to Cherie's room the next morning and hears her and Sam. He knocks and tells her it's time for Ray's feed. Cherie asks Darcy if things are getting weird between them and if it might be time for her to move out like they planned when she first moved in.
Dr. Clegg awakens Nina who fell asleep at her desk. When he asks for a word with her she apologizes that her private life has disrupted the professionalism of the hospital. He asks if she's ever heard of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the obstetricians has taken a leave and he has recommended Nina to fill the position. She wants to stay in Australia and fix things with her family but Clegg tells her she needs the change. She starts to think that going far away where she can't hurt anyone she loves and giving them time to heal is exactly what she should do. Nina's divorce papers are delivered to her at the hospital. She awakens with Kim and Zara standing over her. She had passed out with a high temperature.
She arrives home to find Billie there. Nina tells her that she is going away to the States. Billie reminds Nina of some presents and cards Nina had given her or made for her, pictures and letters throughout their lives. Billie had them all in a box, torn and broken. She leaves Nina's apartment taking her owls. Billie goes to see Mick and takes him to the house she wanted to buy with him. She has Nina's owls placed all over the house where everything of theirs would have been placed in the house. They argue over the night he spent with Nina. She tells him the worst part is the poisonous little voice that wonders what secret attraction the two have for one another and if he's thinking of Nina when he's with her. He tells her he loves her and will never lie and that's why he wanted her to know about he and Nina.
Jimmy goes in search of where he will be going in future, Darcy stands outside drinking coffee while Cherie and Sam are upstairs in her room with Ray bouncing on Cherie's lap. Billie wheels Nina's owls to the curb in a rubbish bin. Chris tries calling Nina but she doesn't answer.
Part II:
Nina starts packing everything up for her move to Balitmore. She's looking at it being a new start for "New Nina". While throwing bags of some of her belongings into a bin for the Australian Red Cross, she accidentally drops her purse in as well. Dr. Clegg walks up behind her while she's crawling into the bin for her purse. He wants her to remember that what she does, the job, is a very sacred thing.
Nina goes into work, taking her cat with her in a carrier, and when she meets Chris, tells him she needs to talk to him about a decision she's made. Clegg interrupts them and, before Nina can tell Chris about her moving to Baltimore, Clegg drops the news on him. Chris is stunned. Clegg mentions it's only a six month program. Chris wishes her good luck and tells her it is good news but it's clear he's upset.
Billie arrives home to find Mick planting flowers, what he calls "an unconditional horticultural love offering" and part of the 12-step program for cheating scumbags. She doesn't want him to help her move her stuff in and she refuses to let him play a song he wrote for her.
Nina is still trying to find a new home for her cat. She asks Jimmy if he'll look after it while she's overseas and he tells her he can't because he's hunting for a cheap plane ticket to anywhere because too much family can stunt your growth--including Nina. The cat gets lose and Nina ends up elbowing Jimmy in the face while trying to recover the kitty. Of course, the cat walks right back into the carrier on its own after that.
Billie pays a visit to the owner of Pinnacle Realty about moving to a new agency. He has been wanting to lure her to Pinnacle for a while because he likes her style. He wants her consider her moving to his office as a chance to graduate from the family business. He invites her upstairs to show her the new computers they've had put in.
Alice, Chris and Lucy enjoy a family meal at a restaurant when Alice suggests the three of them live under one roof as a family. Chris agrees to the suggestion feeling it is worth a try. Jimmy goes to see Cherie to say goodbye and she wants to have a get-together, a barbecue, to say goodbye to everyone. It might help heal the family wounds. Jimmy doesn't think it's that good of an idea. Billie tells Darcy she is seriously thinking of saying "yes" to the offer from Pinnacle. She thinks it might be best to keep work and family separate with the way things are at the moment. After Billie has gone, Nina drops in to Darcy's office looking for her. She asks him to take the cat and he turns her down as well. Darcy and Geraldine talk about what has gone wrong with the family and the mistakes they've both made.
Nina, still looking for a new home for the cat, runs into Chris, Alice and Lucy. Nina vows that she won't start crying in front of them once she realizes they are looking for a house together. As she's sitting and thinking about Chris, Clegg calls her to the hospital. He, Kim and Zara are waiting on her with a cake and balloons. He wants her going to Baltimore with the knowledge she's an excellent doctor and admirable person. He asks about Billie and if she mentioned him (the confrontation and Billie's actions with Clegg really stuck in his mind!)
Billie arrives home to find Mick sitting on her porch playing a song. She unplugs his keyboard telling him "A song can't fix this" and goes inside. Darcy and Geraldine look through old family photo albums and reminisce. Nina talks to Chris about her leaving and him moving in with Alice. She tells him she thinks she's in love with him. He feels the same way. None of the family would come to the barbecue for Cherie but Jimmy assures her he can get everyone there. He calls everyone with excuses tailored to each of them to get them to the barbecue.
Still with the cat in tow, Nina arrives at the barbecue. When Billie arrives, she and Nina talk. Nina is trying to apologize but Billie keeps turning things around and nothing goes right. When Darcy tries starting the barbecue, he trips over the tank and cuts his leg. He prefers that Geraldine play nurse instead of Nina. Everyone realizes that Darcy and Geraldine have had sex. They finally get the barbecue going about the time a massive rain storm hits drenching them all and ending the party.
Everyone gets out of the rain hoping it will stop. When it doesn't, some decide it's time they go. Cherie bursts into tears about how she loves the family so much and how everything is wrecked. Jimmy suggests they all go to the pub for a drink to wrap things up. They all go to the pub and Nina wonders if things could be any worse. A call from Chris comes in and Cherie tells him where the family is and that he should come down to the pub.
Mick is at the pub and Billie tells him that maybe now is his chance to play the song he wrote as a love offering. That was just for her and not for public performance as he meant it as a jokey thing. Nina tells him to play the song. When Mick sings the song, it is hilarious! The song is all about having sex with Nina and it even states that sex with her was "a six, at most and maybe even less". The best line: "it's difficult to stay aroused when you're surrounded by a thousand owls". Billie smiles and everyone else laughs and snickers while Nina stands there listening to the song humiliating her. Jimmy puts his arms around her and tells her everyone still loves her, trying to make her feel better. Billie goes through the bag Nina gave her and sees the blouse, her earring and the watch. The sisters end up hugging each other while Mick continues his oddly awesome love song to Billie. Jimmy pours a pitcher of beer over Mick's head to avenge his sisters honor.
Kim goes to Nina and tells her that her water has broken and the baby's head has actually crowned. They put Kim on the pool table to deliver the baby. Mick and Billie make up to the sounds of Kim screaming in labor in the background. Chris arrives and helps Nina with the delivery of Kim's baby. The baby is a little girl.
Nina and Chris stand and wait for the lift to arrive. The doors open and they don't step onto the lift. Nina is thinking how much she wants him. Chris is thinking that he wishes he knew what was going on inside her head. She tells him she wants him so badly and can't help it. They go into a room there at the hospital that is full of balloons where they finally have the moment together they've been waiting for all season. BUT, that was all in Nina's head. In reality, the lift doors open and Nina and Chris look at one another.
What an awesome end to the first season! Sneaky, Cherie! She went to such lengths to get everyone back together. Things were pretty tense for Nina and Billie there for a good part of the show. Things were tense between Nina and everyone for a nice part of the show. I'm glad that Nina and Billie finally made up. It was almost painful to see the animosity between the two of them. Same with Billie and Mick. And speaking of Mick, could his love song to Billie have been any funnier? It's no surprise that did the trick and softened up Billie's anger. Mick just has a way about him, doesn't he?
The bad news is that this was the final show of the first season. The good news is that Offspring will be back for a brand new season in 2011. I can't wait! How about you?
Offspring airs on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Ten Network.
Official Site: http://ten.com.au/offspring.htm
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1530541/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-25992
Saturday, November 20, 2010
2011 People's Choice Awards: Cast Your Vote!
It's that time of year: time to cast your vote for the 2011 People's Choice Awards!
This year, two categories in particular are of great interest to this blog. The awesome Ian Somerhalder is nominated for "Favorite TV Drama Actor" and Mr. Somerhalder's equally awesome show The Vampire Diaries is nominated in the "Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show" category. Another of my very, very, very favorite shows, Supernatural, is nominated in the "Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show" category as well so you can only imagine my voting dilemma!
You can vote either as a member or as a guest and you can vote as many times as you like. So, head on over to the People's Choice Awards and cast a vote for Ian and all of your other favorites in all the categories!
The awards will be broadcast on CBS Television on January 5, 2011.
http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/
This year, two categories in particular are of great interest to this blog. The awesome Ian Somerhalder is nominated for "Favorite TV Drama Actor" and Mr. Somerhalder's equally awesome show The Vampire Diaries is nominated in the "Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show" category. Another of my very, very, very favorite shows, Supernatural, is nominated in the "Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show" category as well so you can only imagine my voting dilemma!
You can vote either as a member or as a guest and you can vote as many times as you like. So, head on over to the People's Choice Awards and cast a vote for Ian and all of your other favorites in all the categories!
The awards will be broadcast on CBS Television on January 5, 2011.
http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/
AUS Television: Rake, Episode 1.3 "R vs. Dana"
Rake
Season One, Episode Three, R vs. Dana
Original Air Date: November 18, 2010
Famous chef George Dana is arrested for having not one but two wives and families: one for each of his restaurants. Things go from bad to worse for Dana when it is learned that he has not just two but three wives. Cleaver has an affair with Scarlett. Barney pays a visit to Cleave's office asking about a private investigator and Cleave talks him out of it suggesting instead that he (Barney) talk to her himself. David asks Missy to move in with him. She agrees, but only until he recovers from his injuries and she will make him no promises. Cleaver comes through in a big way to help Missy.
Successful and famous chef George Dana (Lech Mackiewicz) returns home to find Detectives Turner and Bradbury (Johann Walraven) waiting for him. Taylor showers him with compliments and praise for his recipies and cooking while Bradbury gets more to the point about an issue in the Blue Mountains where one of the two restaurants Dana owns is located, with a third to soon be opening in Newcastle. Dana begs the detectives for a moment to freshen up after his long drive which they grant. Dana tries to flee and trips over his sons bicycle on the front walk. The detectives rush out and place him under arrest. Dana assures his wife that, no matter what happens, he loves her.
Cleaver awakens with a woman's hand wrapped around his bits and rolls over to see it's none other than Scarlett sleeping behind him. He replays the previous night over in his head while bashing his forehead against the bathroom mirror. Scarlett walks into the bathroom and asks him "what will become of us all, Mr. Wizard?". His mistake with Scarlett dominates his thoughts all day and his day just gets worse when Nicole shows him the paper with headlines about David Potter's heroism on the front page. He can't help but wonder how the shooter could miss David at point blank range. The news gets better when she reads him the small article about his disgrace on page five.
Cleaver goes to clear his good name. He ends up at The Club where he accepts a drink but declines the cocaine. He has plans for a certain girl, Tammy. He holds a meeting with two members of the committee that will soon be judging him, Danny and Johnny, and states his case. It's hardly news when a barrister has sex with a client! He humbly agrees with them that they are all accountable for their own actions. Enter Tammy. Dressed in a smart business suit, Cleave introduces her as his new assistant. She calls them both by name and we get a brief look at how they spend their free time. Danny and Johnny, while not condoning Cleaver's actions in the slightest, find that the evidence against him is, at best, murky.
When Cleave arrives back at his office, Barney is there waiting on him. He drops off a brief for Cleave and asks if he's seen Scarlett. Cleave dances around the question as he's been dealing with the committee for his legal indiscretions. Scarlett didn't go home last night (of course!) and she hasn't called Barney. Barney wants the name of a private detective Cleave used on an old case but Cleave doesn't think it's a good idea (wonder why?). Cleave suggests that Barney just talk to Scarlett, in a general way, not getting bogged down in details. When Barney asks if maybe Scarlett did find someone better, kinder, more giving and able to properly love her, Cleave guarantees him that isn't the case at all.
The brief Barney left for Cleave was the Dana case. Cleave goes to Dana's restaurant there in town and talks with him. Dana has nothing but glowing things to say about both of his wives. He knows he has made both of his wives unhappy (downright angry!). He's married to each separately in his heart; each one is an equal part of his life. He managed to conceal the marriages for six years because he's always coming and going between his two restaurants and no one has ever asked. The first marriage was legally solid as a rock. He couldn't have divorced his first wife because he made a solemn promise to her in a church before God. The second wife, she wanted a proper marriage with all the trimmings. Neither wife had an illness that would have been exacerbated by a divorce. The fact he loves both women means nothing as the law takes a very dim view of love, according to Cleave. He wants as many happy snaps of George and his kids that he can round up.
David Potter leaves the hospital and the press is right there waiting on the good hero. He doesn't consider himself a hero as he feels he did what any normal person would have done under the circumstances and would do so again. Once they are home, David asks Missy to move in with him. She agrees to stay until he's well but makes him no promises. Cleaver pays a visit to the equally distracted Scarlett to tell her their night together was a mistake, which they both already know. They talk about their previous relationship a long time ago and the circumstances surrounding it but Scarlett felt that the night they just had was different from any other time they had been together. Cleaver will not continue an affair with her because of Barney. Even though she says she isn't in love with Barney, he tells her she must be. He asks her to please try and forget last night. She cries in the ladies room before going into court.
When Scarlett arrives home that evening, Barney reminds her of her cousin Joe at their wedding who removed his teeth and whistled "My Way". Everyone laughed at Joe except Scarlett who got up and sang along with him. He asks if it is really awful living with him. She tells him she's dying there and wants a different life. She wants a break from the law and perhaps return to her painting. He asks if she's constructing all the problems in her head so she can run off and have her little affair. Before she can respond, their son runs in to talk to her.
Cleave stops by Wendy's for another of his freebie sessions. He spends a few minutes giving her a hilarious account of the life of chimpanzees then tells her about having sex with Scarlett. She is shocked and angry at him for what he did. Cleaver asks Fuzz about the new love of his life. The girl is in Fuzz's English class and into Shakespeare. He's working on his homework and one of the questions is to understand Iago by defining a bad man. Cleaver gives him a brilliant description of a bad man and we know he is describing himself.
George Dana has made the cover of the newspaper. His first wife doesn't want to have a chat with Cleaver and Barney and his second wife is furious. Cleaver asks Barney to "go and lavish wife #1 with some of the old Barnyard charm" while he pays a visit to the judge in chambers. The judge is angry wanting to know why he intends to plead Dana not guilty. Cleaver feels that the laws relating to bigamy are outdated and give him the basis for the plea. The judge reluctantly agrees that Cleaver's argument does have some merit.
Dana's first wife, Sonja, feels guilty for her husband's bigamy. She feels she drove him into the arms of another woman. When she comments that she had always known she wasn't meeting George's needs, she and Barney begin a mutual conversation on the subject. They commiserate on the heartbreak of loving someone and doing everything for them.
In court, while the prosecution details her case against Dana in her opening statement, Cleaver looks over the jury and sets his sights on a pretty young woman in the front row. He smiles at her and, when it is his turn to deliver his opening statement, he informs the jury that the laws support the ideals of Victorian Britain and that things have changed.
Mrs. Dana #2 gets on the stand and she's clearly angry and upset but she admits he was never cruel to her and was, in fact, her fairy tale prince but he's destroyed everything they worked hard to build. When Dana takes the stand, Cleave questions him on various things about being a good dad. Dana can tell him what his children's favorite toys are and what their favorite sports are. The judge is clearly taken by George's attention to detail in his children's lives, so much so that the prosecutor calls to him to distract him.
Barney returns home that night and Scarlett admits that there is someone else. Barney immediately goes to Cleaver with the news that "she admitted it". However, she didn't admit who the someone else was. They go out for a drink and Cleaver isn't happy about being at a lawyers bar where everyone has irritable bowel syndrome. HE wants to go somewhere where he feels more like a gynecologist. Barney can't stop talking about Scarlett. Cleaver is even more unhappy when David Potter and Missy walk in. The good times keep rolling when Barney drops the news that Scarlett said the other guy was "hopeless, and indulgent, tragic, middle-aged failure" and that he wasn't even all that good in bed.
David introduces Missy to his friends as "the love of my life". When, Norton, one of David's friends sits down to talk with them, Missy excuses herself and goes to the ladies. Norton comes in a few minutes later and she wants him to leave. He was a former client of hers at The Club and she begs him to not say anything to David about her past life. He propositions her but she's able to get away from him. The next day, she's waiting on Cleaver in his office. She wants him to help her so that David will know nothing about her past.
Sonja admits on the stand that she still loves George and that he's been a fine father to their children. She also says that when the judge hands down his decision, she would like it to be seven years in prison. What she talked about with Barney got her to thinking. Cleaver wants to stop her testimony but the prosecution is quite pleased with it.
While Cleaver is delivering his heartfelt closing arguments, someone comes in and gives the prosecutor a bit of information which causes her to interrupt Cleave. A third wife has been found. Dana was hoping the third wife wouldn't come to light. Cleaver tells him he needs to stop marrying women. When Dana replies that he loves the women, Cleaver tells him that he's going to have to learn to start loving men in showers as he doesn't know how to save him.
Cleave pays a visit to Norton and tells him to leave Missy be and allow her to live her life. If he doesn't leave her alone, Cleave will drag him down to his level, and even Cleave doesn't want to live there. Norton makes it clear that he will do with Missy whatever he feels like. When the lift doors open, a woman walking by sees Cleaver standing with his hands in his pockets and Norton on the floor of the lift, bloodied and groaning.
Barney tells Scarlett that he is unchaining her and she can have her precious freedom. He tells her that her art is crap and that it's crazy she wants to give up the law for it.The prosecution delivers her closing arguments pointing out that Dana has proven himself to be a liar and a criminal. Cleaver paints a picture of Dana as the last, true champion of marriage as he is one of the few who still believe in marriage. The jury finds Dana guilty. The judge agrees with the prosecution that Dana was aware of the law and knowingly deceived three women. He also agrees with Cleaver that the penalties under the law greatly outweigh the crime. He gives Dana a three year sentence but suspends all but three months and Dana must divorce at least two of his wives. Cleaver whispers to Dana "try not to marry anyone while you're inside, will ya?".
David refers to the house to Missy as "our home". That night, she gets out of bed and calls Cleaver. She thanks him for whatever he did to help. She admits that David is a good man who loves her and she could be happy with him, but she doesn't know why when things turned bad she went to Cleave rather than David.
Another excellent episode! I'm really loving this show so much! Nothing seemed to go right for poor Cleaver this week. Cleave put his own feelings aside and came through in a big way for Missy when she needed him. I believe he's truly remorseful about the night he spent with Scarlett because of how much he thinks of Barney. He doesn't want to hurt his best friend. Despite everything bad about our charming and unusual hero, he does have a lot of good in him as well.
Rake airs each Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (AUS time) on ABC1.
For more information:
Official ABC1 Site: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/
TV Rage: http://tvrage.com/shows/id-26845
Season One, Episode Three, R vs. Dana
Original Air Date: November 18, 2010
Famous chef George Dana is arrested for having not one but two wives and families: one for each of his restaurants. Things go from bad to worse for Dana when it is learned that he has not just two but three wives. Cleaver has an affair with Scarlett. Barney pays a visit to Cleave's office asking about a private investigator and Cleave talks him out of it suggesting instead that he (Barney) talk to her himself. David asks Missy to move in with him. She agrees, but only until he recovers from his injuries and she will make him no promises. Cleaver comes through in a big way to help Missy.
Successful and famous chef George Dana (Lech Mackiewicz) returns home to find Detectives Turner and Bradbury (Johann Walraven) waiting for him. Taylor showers him with compliments and praise for his recipies and cooking while Bradbury gets more to the point about an issue in the Blue Mountains where one of the two restaurants Dana owns is located, with a third to soon be opening in Newcastle. Dana begs the detectives for a moment to freshen up after his long drive which they grant. Dana tries to flee and trips over his sons bicycle on the front walk. The detectives rush out and place him under arrest. Dana assures his wife that, no matter what happens, he loves her.
Cleaver awakens with a woman's hand wrapped around his bits and rolls over to see it's none other than Scarlett sleeping behind him. He replays the previous night over in his head while bashing his forehead against the bathroom mirror. Scarlett walks into the bathroom and asks him "what will become of us all, Mr. Wizard?". His mistake with Scarlett dominates his thoughts all day and his day just gets worse when Nicole shows him the paper with headlines about David Potter's heroism on the front page. He can't help but wonder how the shooter could miss David at point blank range. The news gets better when she reads him the small article about his disgrace on page five.
Cleaver goes to clear his good name. He ends up at The Club where he accepts a drink but declines the cocaine. He has plans for a certain girl, Tammy. He holds a meeting with two members of the committee that will soon be judging him, Danny and Johnny, and states his case. It's hardly news when a barrister has sex with a client! He humbly agrees with them that they are all accountable for their own actions. Enter Tammy. Dressed in a smart business suit, Cleave introduces her as his new assistant. She calls them both by name and we get a brief look at how they spend their free time. Danny and Johnny, while not condoning Cleaver's actions in the slightest, find that the evidence against him is, at best, murky.
When Cleave arrives back at his office, Barney is there waiting on him. He drops off a brief for Cleave and asks if he's seen Scarlett. Cleave dances around the question as he's been dealing with the committee for his legal indiscretions. Scarlett didn't go home last night (of course!) and she hasn't called Barney. Barney wants the name of a private detective Cleave used on an old case but Cleave doesn't think it's a good idea (wonder why?). Cleave suggests that Barney just talk to Scarlett, in a general way, not getting bogged down in details. When Barney asks if maybe Scarlett did find someone better, kinder, more giving and able to properly love her, Cleave guarantees him that isn't the case at all.
The brief Barney left for Cleave was the Dana case. Cleave goes to Dana's restaurant there in town and talks with him. Dana has nothing but glowing things to say about both of his wives. He knows he has made both of his wives unhappy (downright angry!). He's married to each separately in his heart; each one is an equal part of his life. He managed to conceal the marriages for six years because he's always coming and going between his two restaurants and no one has ever asked. The first marriage was legally solid as a rock. He couldn't have divorced his first wife because he made a solemn promise to her in a church before God. The second wife, she wanted a proper marriage with all the trimmings. Neither wife had an illness that would have been exacerbated by a divorce. The fact he loves both women means nothing as the law takes a very dim view of love, according to Cleave. He wants as many happy snaps of George and his kids that he can round up.
David Potter leaves the hospital and the press is right there waiting on the good hero. He doesn't consider himself a hero as he feels he did what any normal person would have done under the circumstances and would do so again. Once they are home, David asks Missy to move in with him. She agrees to stay until he's well but makes him no promises. Cleaver pays a visit to the equally distracted Scarlett to tell her their night together was a mistake, which they both already know. They talk about their previous relationship a long time ago and the circumstances surrounding it but Scarlett felt that the night they just had was different from any other time they had been together. Cleaver will not continue an affair with her because of Barney. Even though she says she isn't in love with Barney, he tells her she must be. He asks her to please try and forget last night. She cries in the ladies room before going into court.
When Scarlett arrives home that evening, Barney reminds her of her cousin Joe at their wedding who removed his teeth and whistled "My Way". Everyone laughed at Joe except Scarlett who got up and sang along with him. He asks if it is really awful living with him. She tells him she's dying there and wants a different life. She wants a break from the law and perhaps return to her painting. He asks if she's constructing all the problems in her head so she can run off and have her little affair. Before she can respond, their son runs in to talk to her.
Cleave stops by Wendy's for another of his freebie sessions. He spends a few minutes giving her a hilarious account of the life of chimpanzees then tells her about having sex with Scarlett. She is shocked and angry at him for what he did. Cleaver asks Fuzz about the new love of his life. The girl is in Fuzz's English class and into Shakespeare. He's working on his homework and one of the questions is to understand Iago by defining a bad man. Cleaver gives him a brilliant description of a bad man and we know he is describing himself.
George Dana has made the cover of the newspaper. His first wife doesn't want to have a chat with Cleaver and Barney and his second wife is furious. Cleaver asks Barney to "go and lavish wife #1 with some of the old Barnyard charm" while he pays a visit to the judge in chambers. The judge is angry wanting to know why he intends to plead Dana not guilty. Cleaver feels that the laws relating to bigamy are outdated and give him the basis for the plea. The judge reluctantly agrees that Cleaver's argument does have some merit.
Dana's first wife, Sonja, feels guilty for her husband's bigamy. She feels she drove him into the arms of another woman. When she comments that she had always known she wasn't meeting George's needs, she and Barney begin a mutual conversation on the subject. They commiserate on the heartbreak of loving someone and doing everything for them.
In court, while the prosecution details her case against Dana in her opening statement, Cleaver looks over the jury and sets his sights on a pretty young woman in the front row. He smiles at her and, when it is his turn to deliver his opening statement, he informs the jury that the laws support the ideals of Victorian Britain and that things have changed.
Mrs. Dana #2 gets on the stand and she's clearly angry and upset but she admits he was never cruel to her and was, in fact, her fairy tale prince but he's destroyed everything they worked hard to build. When Dana takes the stand, Cleave questions him on various things about being a good dad. Dana can tell him what his children's favorite toys are and what their favorite sports are. The judge is clearly taken by George's attention to detail in his children's lives, so much so that the prosecutor calls to him to distract him.
Barney returns home that night and Scarlett admits that there is someone else. Barney immediately goes to Cleaver with the news that "she admitted it". However, she didn't admit who the someone else was. They go out for a drink and Cleaver isn't happy about being at a lawyers bar where everyone has irritable bowel syndrome. HE wants to go somewhere where he feels more like a gynecologist. Barney can't stop talking about Scarlett. Cleaver is even more unhappy when David Potter and Missy walk in. The good times keep rolling when Barney drops the news that Scarlett said the other guy was "hopeless, and indulgent, tragic, middle-aged failure" and that he wasn't even all that good in bed.
David introduces Missy to his friends as "the love of my life". When, Norton, one of David's friends sits down to talk with them, Missy excuses herself and goes to the ladies. Norton comes in a few minutes later and she wants him to leave. He was a former client of hers at The Club and she begs him to not say anything to David about her past life. He propositions her but she's able to get away from him. The next day, she's waiting on Cleaver in his office. She wants him to help her so that David will know nothing about her past.
Sonja admits on the stand that she still loves George and that he's been a fine father to their children. She also says that when the judge hands down his decision, she would like it to be seven years in prison. What she talked about with Barney got her to thinking. Cleaver wants to stop her testimony but the prosecution is quite pleased with it.
While Cleaver is delivering his heartfelt closing arguments, someone comes in and gives the prosecutor a bit of information which causes her to interrupt Cleave. A third wife has been found. Dana was hoping the third wife wouldn't come to light. Cleaver tells him he needs to stop marrying women. When Dana replies that he loves the women, Cleaver tells him that he's going to have to learn to start loving men in showers as he doesn't know how to save him.
Cleave pays a visit to Norton and tells him to leave Missy be and allow her to live her life. If he doesn't leave her alone, Cleave will drag him down to his level, and even Cleave doesn't want to live there. Norton makes it clear that he will do with Missy whatever he feels like. When the lift doors open, a woman walking by sees Cleaver standing with his hands in his pockets and Norton on the floor of the lift, bloodied and groaning.
Barney tells Scarlett that he is unchaining her and she can have her precious freedom. He tells her that her art is crap and that it's crazy she wants to give up the law for it.The prosecution delivers her closing arguments pointing out that Dana has proven himself to be a liar and a criminal. Cleaver paints a picture of Dana as the last, true champion of marriage as he is one of the few who still believe in marriage. The jury finds Dana guilty. The judge agrees with the prosecution that Dana was aware of the law and knowingly deceived three women. He also agrees with Cleaver that the penalties under the law greatly outweigh the crime. He gives Dana a three year sentence but suspends all but three months and Dana must divorce at least two of his wives. Cleaver whispers to Dana "try not to marry anyone while you're inside, will ya?".
David refers to the house to Missy as "our home". That night, she gets out of bed and calls Cleaver. She thanks him for whatever he did to help. She admits that David is a good man who loves her and she could be happy with him, but she doesn't know why when things turned bad she went to Cleave rather than David.
Another excellent episode! I'm really loving this show so much! Nothing seemed to go right for poor Cleaver this week. Cleave put his own feelings aside and came through in a big way for Missy when she needed him. I believe he's truly remorseful about the night he spent with Scarlett because of how much he thinks of Barney. He doesn't want to hurt his best friend. Despite everything bad about our charming and unusual hero, he does have a lot of good in him as well.
Rake airs each Thursday at 8:30 p.m. (AUS time) on ABC1.
For more information:
Official ABC1 Site: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/
TV Rage: http://tvrage.com/shows/id-26845
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Play Chess on a NYC Playground & You'll Get Your Day In Court
We all love New York, right? All the lights, colorful people, good food, entertainment, television shows that are set there, Central Park. What isn't there to love about New York? It's the big city at it's best!
However, if you are a resident of New York and live in the district of the 34th Precinct you better not let the police catch you playing chess on the Inwood Hill playground! That's right, you better not play chess on the playground or you'll get a ticket, buddy, because we all know that it's purely criminal to check or mate in public!
A group of men were playing chess at tables on the Inwood Hill playground last month and were ticketed by a swarm of bullet-proof vest clad police officers. It should be stated that it is against the law to be in the park if you are not accompanied by a child even if there is no one else in the park.
Laws are laws and should be followed and it's good that the police uphold all laws. But, (and there is always a 'but', isn't there?) is playing chess really the worst thing that could happen in that park? I seriously doubt that the truly hardened criminals that lurk in the Big Apple would be on Inwood Hill trying to grab a knight with the bishop. And even if there were kids in the park at the time, would it truly be so bad that they be exposed to a chess game? Granted, I'm no Bobby Fischer or Boris Spasskey, but a good game of chess isn't a bad thing every now and then.
Regardless, the group of baddies are due in court on December 28, 2010. Let's just hope the judge doesn't lock them up and throw away the key without at least letting them take their chess boards and pieces into the joint with them.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40261971/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/
However, if you are a resident of New York and live in the district of the 34th Precinct you better not let the police catch you playing chess on the Inwood Hill playground! That's right, you better not play chess on the playground or you'll get a ticket, buddy, because we all know that it's purely criminal to check or mate in public!
A group of men were playing chess at tables on the Inwood Hill playground last month and were ticketed by a swarm of bullet-proof vest clad police officers. It should be stated that it is against the law to be in the park if you are not accompanied by a child even if there is no one else in the park.
Laws are laws and should be followed and it's good that the police uphold all laws. But, (and there is always a 'but', isn't there?) is playing chess really the worst thing that could happen in that park? I seriously doubt that the truly hardened criminals that lurk in the Big Apple would be on Inwood Hill trying to grab a knight with the bishop. And even if there were kids in the park at the time, would it truly be so bad that they be exposed to a chess game? Granted, I'm no Bobby Fischer or Boris Spasskey, but a good game of chess isn't a bad thing every now and then.
Regardless, the group of baddies are due in court on December 28, 2010. Let's just hope the judge doesn't lock them up and throw away the key without at least letting them take their chess boards and pieces into the joint with them.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40261971/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/
140 LB. Newfoundland Dog Saves 95 Year-Old Neighbor
It's been a while since I've done one of my regular sort of posts as I've been focusing on a lot of television lately. I haven't forgotten about the sort of posts I usually do and will be doing my best to get more of them back on the blog, especially once the holidays are over and I've got a bit more time on my hands.
Anyway, I've got an awesome story for you today.
Murphy, a 140 pound full-blooded Newfoundland dog is a true hero tonight after helping to save his 95 year-old neighbor. The neighbor had apparently fallen in her garage and was in need of help. Murphy knew something was wrong even though his owners did not. He barked and caused a ruckus so that his owner, Stephanie Goese of Roseville, Minnesota took a look to see what was the matter. Stephanie was able to get her neighbor indoors and make sure she was OK (Stephanie is a nurse).
News stories like this just have a way of making you smile, don't they? And isn't Murphy the most adorable big guy you've ever seen?
You can watch a video of the news story courtesy of the MSNBC.com video player here:
Anyway, I've got an awesome story for you today.
Murphy, a 140 pound full-blooded Newfoundland dog is a true hero tonight after helping to save his 95 year-old neighbor. The neighbor had apparently fallen in her garage and was in need of help. Murphy knew something was wrong even though his owners did not. He barked and caused a ruckus so that his owner, Stephanie Goese of Roseville, Minnesota took a look to see what was the matter. Stephanie was able to get her neighbor indoors and make sure she was OK (Stephanie is a nurse).
News stories like this just have a way of making you smile, don't they? And isn't Murphy the most adorable big guy you've ever seen?
You can watch a video of the news story courtesy of the MSNBC.com video player here:
AUS Television: City Homicide, Episode 4.20 "Atonement"
City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Twenty, Atonement
Original Air Date: November 17, 2010
Andrew Hope is found dead in a small, sparsely furnished house behind a church. Andrew was a good Samaritan that helped those in need and was loved by everyone he came in contact with. The case takes a twist when they learn that Andrew Hope isn't the good man everyone thought he was. Meanwhile, Stanley Wolfe has trouble of his own when his daughter hits a parked car, doesn't leave a note then tries to cover the accident up.
Hope was taped to a chair and shot four times some twenty-four hours previous. He was looking at his killer when the fatal shot to his forehead was fired as powder burns were found in his eyes. Allie and Rhys are on scene and find no personal information for Hope on scene just one change of clothes and his Bible. Matt arrives and is briefed on the case and is going to have forensics run his prints for a positive identification while Allie and Rhys consult missing persons.
Rhys and Allie interview Andrew Hope's boss from the shelter where he worked six shifts a week but refused a full-time job as he didn't want to be paid for helping those in need. She knew of no family or friends and no one at the shelter had taken a dislike to him. He was so well-liked that a wealthy local businessman, Schaendorf, had written him into his will and was planning to leave Andrew his house for all the help Andrew had given him when he had taken ill.
Schaendorf's daughter, Heidi, who is already re-decorating her father's home, had only met Andrew once but she was worried he was taking advantage of her father. According to her, her father wanted Andrew to have his house and $10,000 which will now most likely revert to her upon her fathers passing. Allie and Rhys speak with Schaendorf themselves and he doesn't exactly paint a flattering picture of his daughter and cannot vouch for her alibi at the time of the murder.
According to pathology, Andrew Hope was beaten up five days before his murder by someone who knew how to work someone over without it showing. Nick found someone at the shelter with priors, Samuel Brian Spears. Spears, who has an injured wrist, denies beating Hope as he was drinking at the time of the beating (he hurt his wrist then, as well). Hope had told him about having been beaten. Spears claimed to have been at home alone at the time of the murder. Allie wants to rule Spears out because she doesn't feel he has a proper motive for killing Andrew.
Nick finds that Andrew Hope isn't who they thought he was. He was actually Andrew Wade Rigg. He had served 19 of the 20 years he was sentenced to for aggravated burglary, rape and murder. On 3rd September, 1990, Rigg and his accomplice, Martin Sanderson, broke into the home of the Chisholm family. They tied up the mum and her two daughters and ransacked the home. While Rigg was stealing whatever he could find in the home, Sanderson was sexually assaulting 14-year-old Liz Chisholm. Shirley Chisholm broke free while Liz was being raped and almost killed Sanderson with her bare hands. A panicked Rigg shot her and left the girls there to watch their mum die. Liz Chisholm has a long list of drug and alcohol offenses with no fixed address and threatened to kill Rigg when he was released from prison. Her younger sister Megan has coped better and has a stable family life.
A constable brings Stanley's daughter Stephanie in to the office. She was driving home from uni one night when she hit a parked car while talking on her mobile. She was going to leave a note but since it was a quiet street, she left without doing so. Someone saw her and left a note with her registration information under the wiper of the hit car and the owner called the police. Because Stephanie's driving points have tanked, her friend Miranda who was at Stephanie's when the police came round said she was the one who was driving as she had plenty of points to spare. However, the investigation proved that Miranda was elsewhere at the time of the accident and Stephanie is going to be charged. Stephanie wants her father to use his position to help her out of trouble but he will not do it. She accuses him of putting the job first always and leaves his office.
Rhys and Allie pay a visit to Megan Walsh and her husband Tristan about Rigg's murder. Tristan Walsh was at work at the time of the murder and gives Rhys contact information to prove it. Megan was in Sydney for the day for a seminar. She doesn't know where her sister is. Megan Walsh is living surprisingly well with what she endured twenty years ago.At the progress meeting Megan and Tristan Walsh are eliminated as suspects as their alibis hold up. Sanderson is the next likely suspect as Rigg told the police everything about the burglary and rape when he was arrested. Duncan is still trying to track Sanderson down as he hasn't been in contact with his parole officer for two months and his whereabouts are unknown. Matt has been doing some checking on phone records and found that Heidi Schaendorf and Samuel Spears have been in frequent phone contact with one another and he wants to know why.
Allie and Nick bring Heidi in for questioning but she seems to not be very bothered by the phone records that she and Spears had been in contact with one another. Spears tells Duncan and Rhys that he and Heidi met at the shelter when she came by to check Andrew Hope out. Hope wasn't there and Spears offered to take Heidi out for a drink to tell her about him. Heidi admits to Allie and Nick that she and Spears went out for coffee once. She claims the only offer Spears made her was to find out if Andrew Hope's interest in her father was above board and phoned her incessantly with updates. Rhys brings Allie the news that Spears claimed Heidi had sex with him in return for him beating up Hope. Under threat of searching her home for a gun she admits she did give Spears money but did not have sex with him. She asked him to put pressure on Andrew but just to scare him but she denies that she killed Hope.
When Martin Sanderson was sighted at a motel in Williamstown, the team, including Jarvis, head to the motel to take him into custody. Sanderson opens the door and punches Allie in the face but is taken into custody by the other detectives.
Stanley has coffee with Senior Constable Bremner, the constable in charge of his daughter's case. Stanley has spoken with the owner of the vehicle she hit and the man is willing to let the charges drop as long as his costs are covered, which Stanley is prepared to initially do. Stanley doesn't want him to overlook that Stephanie lied to the police he just wants him to understand the situation. He tells Stanley to "leave it with me" then leaves.
Sanderson claims to know nothing about Riggs' murder. He says he hit Allie because he thought she was Liz Chisholm as she has been following him since he got out of prison. He says she is constantly leaving notes smeared with blood under his front door. Sanderson feels no remorse for anything he's done in his life and he confesses to them that he has already had his revenge on Riggs. He had some mates in prison pay Riggs a visit during his incarceration. According to Sanderson, Riggs told him to keep all the money from the Chisholm job.
A bloody note was found in the rubbish at Sanderson's home. As they are discussing the suspects left in the case, Tristan Walsh enters the office and tells them where to find Liz but asks that they don't say anything to Megan about him being there.
Liz Chisholm is glad Riggs is dead and she doesn't have an alibi for the time of the murder. She claims she doesn't even know where she is now. She accuses Allie of kicking her under the table twice and goes wild throwing water on Allie and screaming about wanting to leave. Matt texts Rhys to end the interview and Stanley orders Liz put in the cells overnight and that she be fed and get some sleep.
Bernice pays a late visit to Stanley's office about his meeting with S.C. Bremner. Bremner is preparing a report that Stanley tried to coerce him into dropping the charges against Stephanie. Bernice calls Bremner in to discuss his report and he stands behind it saying that "members who use their position for personal gain shouldn't be members at all", something Bernice agrees with. She warns him that junior officers who try to use a senior officer to jump start their career often have the tables turned on them and things don't go as they plan. She gives him his report back and he now has the freedom to lodge it if he sees fit.
Matt informs Allie that he wants someone else to join Rhys in the interview of Liz Chisholm that day. Duncan calls Matt with the information that Megan Walsh lied about going to Sydney and had a colleague attend the seminar in her place. They head to the Walsh house with a search warrant. Nick finds a locked box that Tristan had never seen before. Megan unlocks the box and they find it contains newspaper clippings and childhood drawings relating to what happened to her family twenty years ago.
Megan is taken in for questioning where she admits that she didn't go to Sydney. Instead, she had an abortion despite the fact she and Tristan had been trying to have a child. She couldn't bring a baby into the world after what had happened to her mum and sister. When Megan is cleared as a suspect, Matt orders Allie and Duncan to question Liz. He is putting Allie back in the interview because he needs someone that can push Liz's buttons.
Liz knew where to find Riggs but she denies killing him. She had seen him two weeks previously at the shelter. She followed him home that night and wanted to hurt him but she didn't. Rhys pulls Allie out of the interview to tell her he checked on Megan's alibi again and the nurse at the clinic said she checked on Megan in her recovery room an hour after the procedure and the room was empty. She had a full hour where no one at the clinic could say for certain where she was. Rhys didn't bring her in because she didn't go home. They ask Liz if she had told Megan about Riggs' whereabouts and they tell her about the abortion. Liz is surprised at the news and gives them the name of a place where they used to meet. Allie and Rhys take Liz to the location and they see that Megan is standing on the roof of a nearby building. Allie goes onto the roof to talk with Megan. Despite everything Allie tells her about how things can be worked out Megan jumps.
Stephanie pays a visit to Stanley's office and thanks him for whatever he did to make things good for her as S.C. Bremner is going to let the charges drop as long as she pays for the damage to the car.
Allie tells Rhys she wants to pull some strings to get Liz Chisholm into a program and find a place for her to live. She's realized that being strong isn't enough. When she starts to cry, Rhys is there to comfort her.
Allie has been the focus, or rather, a major character, in a lot of the shows this season. I know she isn't a fan favorite but I've always liked her. We've seen a good bit of detail this season about what makes Allie Kingston tick and she's a complicated character. I love the relationship she and Rhys have built up. They are both newbies to the team (Rhys more so than Allie) and they are kind of kindred spirits as they both do their own thing. I was really thinking we might see a little romance between her and Rhys but with just one more show to go, unless it happens next week, it won't be happening at all.
Sneaky Bernice! I loved her chat with S.C. Bremner. She handled the matter perfectly. She knew that trying to set the record straight wouldn't achieve the desired result so she used a bit of reverse psychology instead. And speaking of the Stanley/Stephanie situation, is it just me or is Stephanie a bit spoiled? She accuses her father of always putting the job first when he tells her he can't help her and then when things go her way she tells him she loves him and thanks him and asks to borrow $600 to boot!
Next Wednesday is the season finale of City Homicide. One of the squad will be leaving forever. Who will it be? My guess is that it will be either Jennifer or Nick. It's a can't-miss show!
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
Season Four, Episode Twenty, Atonement
Original Air Date: November 17, 2010
Andrew Hope is found dead in a small, sparsely furnished house behind a church. Andrew was a good Samaritan that helped those in need and was loved by everyone he came in contact with. The case takes a twist when they learn that Andrew Hope isn't the good man everyone thought he was. Meanwhile, Stanley Wolfe has trouble of his own when his daughter hits a parked car, doesn't leave a note then tries to cover the accident up.
Hope was taped to a chair and shot four times some twenty-four hours previous. He was looking at his killer when the fatal shot to his forehead was fired as powder burns were found in his eyes. Allie and Rhys are on scene and find no personal information for Hope on scene just one change of clothes and his Bible. Matt arrives and is briefed on the case and is going to have forensics run his prints for a positive identification while Allie and Rhys consult missing persons.
Rhys and Allie interview Andrew Hope's boss from the shelter where he worked six shifts a week but refused a full-time job as he didn't want to be paid for helping those in need. She knew of no family or friends and no one at the shelter had taken a dislike to him. He was so well-liked that a wealthy local businessman, Schaendorf, had written him into his will and was planning to leave Andrew his house for all the help Andrew had given him when he had taken ill.
Schaendorf's daughter, Heidi, who is already re-decorating her father's home, had only met Andrew once but she was worried he was taking advantage of her father. According to her, her father wanted Andrew to have his house and $10,000 which will now most likely revert to her upon her fathers passing. Allie and Rhys speak with Schaendorf themselves and he doesn't exactly paint a flattering picture of his daughter and cannot vouch for her alibi at the time of the murder.
According to pathology, Andrew Hope was beaten up five days before his murder by someone who knew how to work someone over without it showing. Nick found someone at the shelter with priors, Samuel Brian Spears. Spears, who has an injured wrist, denies beating Hope as he was drinking at the time of the beating (he hurt his wrist then, as well). Hope had told him about having been beaten. Spears claimed to have been at home alone at the time of the murder. Allie wants to rule Spears out because she doesn't feel he has a proper motive for killing Andrew.
Nick finds that Andrew Hope isn't who they thought he was. He was actually Andrew Wade Rigg. He had served 19 of the 20 years he was sentenced to for aggravated burglary, rape and murder. On 3rd September, 1990, Rigg and his accomplice, Martin Sanderson, broke into the home of the Chisholm family. They tied up the mum and her two daughters and ransacked the home. While Rigg was stealing whatever he could find in the home, Sanderson was sexually assaulting 14-year-old Liz Chisholm. Shirley Chisholm broke free while Liz was being raped and almost killed Sanderson with her bare hands. A panicked Rigg shot her and left the girls there to watch their mum die. Liz Chisholm has a long list of drug and alcohol offenses with no fixed address and threatened to kill Rigg when he was released from prison. Her younger sister Megan has coped better and has a stable family life.
A constable brings Stanley's daughter Stephanie in to the office. She was driving home from uni one night when she hit a parked car while talking on her mobile. She was going to leave a note but since it was a quiet street, she left without doing so. Someone saw her and left a note with her registration information under the wiper of the hit car and the owner called the police. Because Stephanie's driving points have tanked, her friend Miranda who was at Stephanie's when the police came round said she was the one who was driving as she had plenty of points to spare. However, the investigation proved that Miranda was elsewhere at the time of the accident and Stephanie is going to be charged. Stephanie wants her father to use his position to help her out of trouble but he will not do it. She accuses him of putting the job first always and leaves his office.
Rhys and Allie pay a visit to Megan Walsh and her husband Tristan about Rigg's murder. Tristan Walsh was at work at the time of the murder and gives Rhys contact information to prove it. Megan was in Sydney for the day for a seminar. She doesn't know where her sister is. Megan Walsh is living surprisingly well with what she endured twenty years ago.At the progress meeting Megan and Tristan Walsh are eliminated as suspects as their alibis hold up. Sanderson is the next likely suspect as Rigg told the police everything about the burglary and rape when he was arrested. Duncan is still trying to track Sanderson down as he hasn't been in contact with his parole officer for two months and his whereabouts are unknown. Matt has been doing some checking on phone records and found that Heidi Schaendorf and Samuel Spears have been in frequent phone contact with one another and he wants to know why.
Allie and Nick bring Heidi in for questioning but she seems to not be very bothered by the phone records that she and Spears had been in contact with one another. Spears tells Duncan and Rhys that he and Heidi met at the shelter when she came by to check Andrew Hope out. Hope wasn't there and Spears offered to take Heidi out for a drink to tell her about him. Heidi admits to Allie and Nick that she and Spears went out for coffee once. She claims the only offer Spears made her was to find out if Andrew Hope's interest in her father was above board and phoned her incessantly with updates. Rhys brings Allie the news that Spears claimed Heidi had sex with him in return for him beating up Hope. Under threat of searching her home for a gun she admits she did give Spears money but did not have sex with him. She asked him to put pressure on Andrew but just to scare him but she denies that she killed Hope.
When Martin Sanderson was sighted at a motel in Williamstown, the team, including Jarvis, head to the motel to take him into custody. Sanderson opens the door and punches Allie in the face but is taken into custody by the other detectives.
Stanley has coffee with Senior Constable Bremner, the constable in charge of his daughter's case. Stanley has spoken with the owner of the vehicle she hit and the man is willing to let the charges drop as long as his costs are covered, which Stanley is prepared to initially do. Stanley doesn't want him to overlook that Stephanie lied to the police he just wants him to understand the situation. He tells Stanley to "leave it with me" then leaves.
Sanderson claims to know nothing about Riggs' murder. He says he hit Allie because he thought she was Liz Chisholm as she has been following him since he got out of prison. He says she is constantly leaving notes smeared with blood under his front door. Sanderson feels no remorse for anything he's done in his life and he confesses to them that he has already had his revenge on Riggs. He had some mates in prison pay Riggs a visit during his incarceration. According to Sanderson, Riggs told him to keep all the money from the Chisholm job.
A bloody note was found in the rubbish at Sanderson's home. As they are discussing the suspects left in the case, Tristan Walsh enters the office and tells them where to find Liz but asks that they don't say anything to Megan about him being there.
Liz Chisholm is glad Riggs is dead and she doesn't have an alibi for the time of the murder. She claims she doesn't even know where she is now. She accuses Allie of kicking her under the table twice and goes wild throwing water on Allie and screaming about wanting to leave. Matt texts Rhys to end the interview and Stanley orders Liz put in the cells overnight and that she be fed and get some sleep.
Bernice pays a late visit to Stanley's office about his meeting with S.C. Bremner. Bremner is preparing a report that Stanley tried to coerce him into dropping the charges against Stephanie. Bernice calls Bremner in to discuss his report and he stands behind it saying that "members who use their position for personal gain shouldn't be members at all", something Bernice agrees with. She warns him that junior officers who try to use a senior officer to jump start their career often have the tables turned on them and things don't go as they plan. She gives him his report back and he now has the freedom to lodge it if he sees fit.
Matt informs Allie that he wants someone else to join Rhys in the interview of Liz Chisholm that day. Duncan calls Matt with the information that Megan Walsh lied about going to Sydney and had a colleague attend the seminar in her place. They head to the Walsh house with a search warrant. Nick finds a locked box that Tristan had never seen before. Megan unlocks the box and they find it contains newspaper clippings and childhood drawings relating to what happened to her family twenty years ago.
Megan is taken in for questioning where she admits that she didn't go to Sydney. Instead, she had an abortion despite the fact she and Tristan had been trying to have a child. She couldn't bring a baby into the world after what had happened to her mum and sister. When Megan is cleared as a suspect, Matt orders Allie and Duncan to question Liz. He is putting Allie back in the interview because he needs someone that can push Liz's buttons.
Liz knew where to find Riggs but she denies killing him. She had seen him two weeks previously at the shelter. She followed him home that night and wanted to hurt him but she didn't. Rhys pulls Allie out of the interview to tell her he checked on Megan's alibi again and the nurse at the clinic said she checked on Megan in her recovery room an hour after the procedure and the room was empty. She had a full hour where no one at the clinic could say for certain where she was. Rhys didn't bring her in because she didn't go home. They ask Liz if she had told Megan about Riggs' whereabouts and they tell her about the abortion. Liz is surprised at the news and gives them the name of a place where they used to meet. Allie and Rhys take Liz to the location and they see that Megan is standing on the roof of a nearby building. Allie goes onto the roof to talk with Megan. Despite everything Allie tells her about how things can be worked out Megan jumps.
Stephanie pays a visit to Stanley's office and thanks him for whatever he did to make things good for her as S.C. Bremner is going to let the charges drop as long as she pays for the damage to the car.
Allie tells Rhys she wants to pull some strings to get Liz Chisholm into a program and find a place for her to live. She's realized that being strong isn't enough. When she starts to cry, Rhys is there to comfort her.
Allie has been the focus, or rather, a major character, in a lot of the shows this season. I know she isn't a fan favorite but I've always liked her. We've seen a good bit of detail this season about what makes Allie Kingston tick and she's a complicated character. I love the relationship she and Rhys have built up. They are both newbies to the team (Rhys more so than Allie) and they are kind of kindred spirits as they both do their own thing. I was really thinking we might see a little romance between her and Rhys but with just one more show to go, unless it happens next week, it won't be happening at all.
Sneaky Bernice! I loved her chat with S.C. Bremner. She handled the matter perfectly. She knew that trying to set the record straight wouldn't achieve the desired result so she used a bit of reverse psychology instead. And speaking of the Stanley/Stephanie situation, is it just me or is Stephanie a bit spoiled? She accuses her father of always putting the job first when he tells her he can't help her and then when things go her way she tells him she loves him and thanks him and asks to borrow $600 to boot!
Next Wednesday is the season finale of City Homicide. One of the squad will be leaving forever. Who will it be? My guess is that it will be either Jennifer or Nick. It's a can't-miss show!
For more information:
City Homicide Official Site: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/city-homicide/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024932/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-17228
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