City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Nineteen, Ties That Bind
Original Air Date: November 10, 2010
Liam Phillips (Karl Burnett) is shot in the Magistrates office while waiting for his solicitor to finish brokering a deal. Did the union kill Phillips or was it a security guard at the court? The case becomes intensely personal for Duncan, but not for the reasons everyone assumes.
Nick and Duncan speak with Tom Engleton, the guard who responded after the shots were heard at the Magistrates Office. While going downstairs to speak with him, they pass Liam's solicitor, Grace Barlow, who is talking with with Rhys. She and Duncan catch one anothers eye as they pass. Engleton is certain that it is impossible for someone to get a gun into the building because of the strict security they have. All of the "unsecure" areas are controlled by numeric keypads. The codes are randomly generated by computer every couple of weeks. Only Engleton and his staff have access to the codes. While they are looking at the codes in Engleton's office, Rhys enters and tells them Barlow feels she knows who killed him.
Nick and Duncan speak with Barlow back at the office and she tells them why Liam was in trouble. He was charged with the invasion of Parnell Construction Company and he and an unknown associate trashed the office using a baseball bat and iron bar. One of the female staff was bashed during the invasion leaving her with permanent brain damage. While Liam didn't give her the name of his associate, she gives Nick and Duncan the name Dennis Monk. He sees himself as the union enforcer and is a thug.
The team watches the video of the invasion and Liam is identified as the man with the baseball bat. The other man is either Ray Donovan or Dennis Monk. The company owners niece was the female staff who was bashed.
Grace Barlow has a row with Ray Donovan, the union boss, about what happened to Liam. Grace is understandably angry but Ray doesn't think what happened to him was his problem. When Grace starts arguing with Dennis Monk, he becomes enraged and hits her. Duncan, who is arriving with Nick, sees this and rushes in and takes care of Monk while Nick shows his badge to calm everyone in the room. Duncan goes to help Grace who immediately, once she's on her feet, goes to Monk and knees him where it counts!
Rhys and Allie take Ray Donovan in for questioning while Duncan and Nick go at Dennis Monk. Both men deny having anything to do with Liam Phillips' murder as they claim they would never hurt one of their own. Ray Donovan clearly tells Allie and Rhys he had nothing to do with either the invasion of Parnell Construction or the death of Liam Phillips. Both men use a union meeting as their alibi for the time of Liam's murder. As Donovan and Monk are leaving, they pass Jeff Parnell who is waiting in the hall to speak with Allie and Rhys. The men start to argue and Duncan once again restrains Monk who proceeds to insult him with a racial slur. This angers Duncan and Matt is forced to step in to restrain him.
Stanley questions Matt as to why he put Duncan in the same interview room with Monk knowing the two had a scuffle earlier in the day. He suggests that them being in the same room could have inflamed the situation. Stanley brings Duncan into the conversation and asks if his behavior has anything to do with the race of the woman in question (Grace Barlow). Duncan tells Stanley he knows him better than that. Matt removes Duncan from the case and replaces him with Allie. When Duncan protests, Stanley informs him that he has put himself in a position where not only his safety but his integrity may have been compromised.
Nick and Allie interview Jeff Parnell and he tells him he pushes the rules from his end against the union but he goes no farther. Parnell denies killing Phillips and says he couldn't sit through the hearing at court.
Duncan is angry that he was removed from the case but Nick tells him it shouldn't have been a surprise. Even Nick questions Duncan's feelings towards Grace Barlow. Matt and Jennifer discuss the particulars of the case. They are certain the shooter got in and out through door 17 because of the security records. There were no security cameras on that entrance and none of the security guns were fired. Matt wants Jennifer and Allie to run the interviews regarding the security codes from Engleton's office. Jennifer requests some personal time off effective immediately as there is something she needs to deal with. Nick enters to tell Matt about the head security guard waiting downstairs wanting to talk. Matt gives Jennifer five days which is enough for her. Matt requests for Nick to tell Allie and Rhys to interview Engleton.
Nick asks Jennifer why she needs the five days and she tells him she needs the time out. He wants to know if the time out is from homicide or just him and when she was going to tell him about it. She doesn't want to have the conversation now. She tells him if they stay together, one of them is going to have to leave Homicide.
Duncan watches the Engleton interview with Nick. Engleton tells them that about ten days ago, he is going back to his office when he sees Grace Barlow coming out of the security office where he says she never should have been in the first place. He said she claimed she was worried about the safety of one of her clients: Liam Phillips. Duncan, in with Nick, asks why she would want to do that and Rhys asks the same question of Engleton. He says he doesn't know. What has bothered him, he claims, is that he had left his keys on his desk so anyone who was in the office could have gotten into the locked drawer where the codes were kept. Duncan is certain that Engleton's story doesn't make sense.
Duncan goes to see Grace and asks her if she has been lying about her involvement in Liam's murder and asks if she's ever been in the Magistrate's Court security office. She denies any involvement in Liam's death but admits she was in the office for a minute when she went to speak to Tom Engleton. When he wasn't in the office, she left and met him in the hall. Nick and Allie arrive with uniformed officers while Duncan is still in the office. Nick takes him aside and tells him to leave. Grace gives them full permission to search her office even though they don't yet have the warrant to do so.
When Duncan gets back to the office, he sees the notation he made of the childs home Grace used to live in when she was a ward of the state and calls to get information about her while she was a resident there. Rhys overhears him making the call but they both agree Duncan isn't on the case and that it's a "different Grace Barlow" he's checking on.
The search of Grace's office turns up nothing and Allie suggests it might have been because Duncan tipped her off. Grace denies he tipped her to anything and that she answered his questions because she has nothing to hide. One of the uniformed officers comes in and hands Nick a piece of yellow paper with the access code to door 17 written on it.
Back at the office, in interview, Grace tells them it isn't her handwriting on the paper, that the paper can be bought anywhere and that she wasn't present to observe the officer finding the paper in her rubbish. She feels the union is trying to set her up and says she would never help them because she has nothing to do with them anymore. Matt finds Duncan watching Grace's interview and tells him he will only end up in more trouble if he doesn't get some distance from the case. Duncan says she has been set up. Grace will not admit to something she says she did not do.
Duncan gets ready to go leave for the day and go to the pub and Nick catches up to him while he's waiting on the lift. Nick asks him what is going on so that he can help him or, at the very least, "cover his own traitorous ass when things go horribly wrong". Duncan assures Nick he believes Grace, not because she is black, but because he feels she is credible, she has no motive and that the evidence against her is questionable. Nick is convinced Duncan has the hots for Grace.
Duncan goes to Tom Engleton's office to ask him a few more questions. He questions Engleton's claim that he had left his keys on his desk since he wears them on a chain. Engleton said he had unclipped them because they get in the way when he sits down. Duncan pushes him into his chair and finds that he can sit fine with the keys on the chain. He then has Engleton put the keys on the desk where he said they were and unlock the drawer. He fumbles with the keys having trouble find the right one. When Duncan asks how she knew which key it was, he says she must have tried them all. Duncan accuses him of passing on the access code.
Duncan takes Engleton into the office with the announcement that "Mr. Engleton would like to revise his statement." Engleton admits that he was the one who passed the code along and he was the one who put the number in Grace Barlow's rubbish. He didn't know who he gave the code to as he was given a mobile number to call. Duncan checked the number and it was a prepaid throwaway. The man on the other end of the phone threatened Engleton and his family. Engleton truly doesn't know who he gave the number to.
Duncan takes a coffee to Grace Barlow at her office and tells her about Engleton. She asks him out for a dinner date that night and he accepts.
The team go back to the drawing board to look at the case again. They watch video of Engleton's car being smashed to intimidate him to hand over the code. The only two suspects they can't rule out are Donovan and Monk. Stanley orders them brought in. Allie and Matt go after Donovan while Nick and Rhys interview Monk. Both men again deny having anything to do with Phillips' murder. While the interviews are ongoing, Rhys and Matt are handed pieces of paper. Matt suggests to Donovan that Monk has given him up as does Nick to Monk. Both men think the other wouldn't give them up. The men hold strong that neither would sell the other out and that they were in the union meeting at the time Phillips was killed.
Duncan goes to Matt's office and asks him about the interview. Matt admits it didn't go that well and that they will have to take another crack at both men. Duncan shows him the security footage of Engleton's car being bashed and tells him to keep watching.
Jeff Parnell is brought in again. Stanley walks in and sees Duncan in the Parnell interview with Allie and questions Matt as to why he's there. Matt tells him it was an operational decision since Miss Barlow was no longer in the mix. Duncan presents Parnell with the video of Engleton's car being smashed. Parnell insists that it had to be Monk or Donovan that shot Phillips. When the video is allowed to play through longer, Jeff Parnell's face can be seen in a car window after he takes his mask off. Faced with the evidence, and with the fact that he killed the only man who could truly put whoever bashed his niece behind bars, Parnell admits to the crime.
That night, Duncan and Grace talk about Parnell briefly then about their childhoods. Duncan tells her about how he was a ward of the state as well from the age of seven and about working as a policeman in Queensland before being transferred to Melbourne after blowing the whistle on two corrupt white policemen. Upon coming to Melbourne, he took up the name Freeman ("free man"). She tries to kiss him but he pulls away. They talk more about when Grace's parents were killed and Duncan reveals why he felt he knew her when he saw her. "I'm a homicide detective, Grace. And my little sister's a lawyer."
This show was awesome! I love any show where Duncan plays a big part because I am a Duncan fan. He most certainly was all over this show and I liked that! Sure, he has a quick temper and it has gotten him in trouble on several occasions. But, now tell me, has he ever really flared that temper for a reason you can't completely agree with him on or, at the very least, sympathize with? I loved the story line with Grace! I liked her character from the start. She's tough and takes no crap. Kind of like Duncan, huh? So, I guess it was fitting that they are brother and sister. I tell you, I certainly never saw that one coming, though. At first, I thought they were perhaps old friends or something but related? Never would have guessed it! It's nice to see some of Duncan's backstory coming out. I just wish the future of City Homicide was a lot more certain because I would love to see how the writers would deal with this in later episodes as I'd like to see Grace make another appearance.
We've got two more new episodes left of season four and then we will be down to that six-part mini-series next year. I'm truly hoping that the powers that be at Seven decide to keep City Homicide around because it truly is a fine Australian drama that has compelling characters and strong storylines. In this viewers opinion, City Homicide delivers where other shows like CSI and Law & Order fail.
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
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
AUS Television: Rake, Episode 1.1 "R vs. Murray"
Rake
Season One, Episode One, R vs. Murray
Original Air Date: November 4, 2010
Cleaver Greene is upset when his favorite call girl, Missy, inexplicably leaves the brothel where she works without telling him. His best friend's wife drops a bombshell on him that she wants to leave her husband. He has tax problems that are constantly dogging him. To top it all off, he takes a new case, one that everyone (well, everyone except Cleve) finds strange and rather disgusting: defending a key government economic advisor Professor Graham Murray who just so happened to eat someone over the course of three days after finding him on the Internet.
Rake is a new comedy/drama on the Australian ABC1. The first season of the series will be delivered in eight, one-hour episodes. It follows the escapades of Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh). Greene is an attorney who doesn't exactly live the typical attorney lifestyle. He has a passion for beautiful women, drinking, wild behavior and generally living life to the fullest. His ex-wife, Wendy (Caroline Brazier) is a psychiatrist who Cleave often goes to when he's having problems to get a "freebie analysis". Cleave and Wendy have a teenage son, Fuzz (Keegan Joyce), who, in many ways, appears to be following in his fathers footsteps. Cleave has a favorite call girl that he likes to patronize, Missy (Adrienne Pickering). She isn't only his favorite method of distraction but is also a friend and confidant. David Potter (Matt Day), who Cleave has a penchant for calling "Harry" (which David doesn't like), is going after Cleave for tax problems that he keeps ducking.
The story begins with Cleave begin driven into a desolate area at night by Col (Steve Le Marquand), the muscle of his bookie, Mick. Cleave had saved Col's brothers from something in the past and the fact that Col now has to rough Cleave up a bit isn't something he's looking forward to but does anyway because he can't be seen to be weak. Plus, the clock is ticking on Cleve. He's got 14 days to set things straight.
The battered Cleave goes to the one person he can trust and that will take care of him: his friend and favorite call girl, Missy. She cleans him up and the two spend the evening talking and playing backgammon until the signal comes that it's time for him to leave. As he is leaving thebrothel "club", he runs into Joe Sandilands (Geoff Morrell), who is also leaving the "club". The two make a $5,000 wager on the upcoming election.
Cleave goes home, which is apparently a small, cluttered room over a greasy spoon. After being awakened by the cook (who hit the ceiling with a broom), Cleave goes down to the eatery, in his bathrobe nonetheless, to watch news reports dealing with the arrest of Professor Murray.
Joe is outraged because cannibalism apparently isn't against the law in the state but the public outrage over Professor Murray's crime must be dealt with. He wants Murray to get on trial and some serious charges against him. It's an election year and they can't look soft on him!
Cleave arrives at Welbourne Chambers with a bag of laundry slung over his shoulder. His secretary Nicole (Kate Box) informs him they will soon be homeless again as the former occupant of his office is returning early because his wife broke her leg. His next problem comes at 10 that morning when he has to face David Potter in court because of files being sought by the taxation office that were apparently "lost". Cleave convinces the judge (John Gregg) to give him more time as the files were lost by movers who "rushed through what should have been a painstaking task" and, thanks to a torrential storm raging over the suburbs of Sydney that day, he was a victim of the weather. The files were destroyed along with cherished personal items.
Cleave, Barney (Russell Dykstra) and Don Osbourne (Donald McDonald), go to speak with Professor Graham Murray (Hugo Weaving) who stresses the fact that he didn't kill Sebastian Carey (the man he ate!). Sebastian (Matthew Moore) committed suicide and Murray simply ate him over the course of three weeks. He is concerned that his wife might be "a little upset" and wants Cleave to get a message to her that they can get through everything that is happening as "every marriage has its ups and downs". They watch a video made by Sebastian where he states he is committing suicide and that he wishes his remains be consumed by Professor Murray and takes the sleeping pills on camera. Murray can be seen in the background "preparing the area" where he dismembers Carey.
Cleave feels that Murray must be defended against the murder charge even though it's pretty clear he is going to be spending the rest of his life in an asylum. Cleave and Barney talk with Murray's wife, Annie (Sacha Horler) who is distraught over her husbands actions. She even tells them that Murray convinced her to eat a portion of Sebastian telling her the meat was "chicken". She was surprised to learn of her husbands cannibalism as he had been a vegetarian since he was 23 bringing about one of Cleave's many awesome lines from this episode "From veggo to cannibal without so much as even a chop in between".
That night, while doing a little research for the case, Cleave logs onto "Rare Flesh", which is apparently a site where budding cannibals meet and discuss their favorite past time. "Member 187" even asks him in a chat room "You hungry?" Cleave heads to the brothel, er, Club announcing himself as "Eager Beaver Cleaver" only to learn that Missy is no longer working there. Her number has also been disconnected. Saddened, Cleave the next day heads to the home of his ex-wife, Wendy to talk over Missy's disappearance with her. He's got a guy that works for a credit agency that he got off a couple of stalking charges a while ago checking into Missy's records. Their son, Fuzz, arrives and, when he and his father are alone, Fuzz asks him to cover for him with his mother Friday night. He doesn't tell his father why he doesn't want his mother knowing where he is. After being reminded what happened when his mother found Fuzz smoking, Cleave goes along and provides his son with an alibi.
At Barney's birthday dinner that night, Cleave drops another great line on everyone "It's official, we do taste just like chicken" when the others at the party ask if Murray's wife really said she'd eaten Sebastian thinking it was chicken. Everyone cannot understand why Cleave is doing all he can to prove Murray didn't commit the murder. Cleave doesn't really care about Murray's future, he surprises them all by admitting he is doing it because he cares about the law. He cares about the law, it's justice he doesn't give a toss about. After dinner, Barney's wife Scarlett (Danielle Cormack) confides in him that she is thinking of leaving Barney.
The next day, Cleave sees Missy across a crowded courtyard. The two have a sit down and she tells him she is going to law school. He feels they had more than just a business relationship even though she claims that is all it ever was. She leaves after stating that she trusts she can rely on his discretion should they ever bump into one another again in the future. He takes off after her wanting an explanation but she doesn't want to give one.
Missy goes to her law class and, low and behold, who is the lecturer, Cleaver Greene. The class has been discussing the Trade Practices Act. "Ah, misleading and deceptive conduct, I know it only too well." He starts into his 'lecture' and Missy gets up to leave. He quickly changes course and heads into discussing Ravel and even goes so far as to start humming Bolero. As Missy runs out the door, Professor Morrison enters the room.
Barney and Cleave speak with Professor Aden Sinclair (Nicholas Hope), a friend of Murray's. Sinclair claims he never saw any indication that Murray was a cannibal but, as he says, nothing has been normal since 'the crisis began'. Sinclair goes on to tell them he is married and his wife is an invalid. He admits that moments before the Lehman collapse was announced, he and Annie Murray consummated their "emotional affair".
After a game of doubles tennis with Don Osbourne, Barney and another man, Don dies of a heart attack. Barney and Cleave go to Murray and tell him it was the late Mr. Osbourne's opinion he should plead guilty to murder. Murray is convinced that he will be found innocent at trial and he will be able to go home to Annie.
The prosecutor at Murray's trial (John Gaden) makes his opening argument that Murray preyed on a mentally ill person to induce his death. Cleave stands and reminds the jury the only charge they have to consider is that of murder. Dr. Lucy Hartcher (Jeanette Cronin) testifies that it is possible Sebastian Carey had a fetish of self-degradation causing him to want to "turn (himself) into anothers excrement" and that he could have been susceptible to anothers power of suggestion. Murray is angry over Hartcher's testimony feeling she ran right over Cleave. He wants to know why Annie and Aden aren't at the trial but Cleave doesn't know. Barney and Cleave talk to Annie Murray about Professor Sinclair and she's not happy he told them about their affair. She worries it is only a matter of time before he feels the need to "confess" to someone else and, heaven forbid, it is the press because it will never end then. They tell her Graham needs her to be there in court.
The next day, Graham Murray testifies on his behalf. He had never met Sebastian before that night and they didn't discuss the "GFC" (global financial crisis) and Cleave points out that Murray failed to predict it. He stresses that Murray cannot be the genius the prosecution has him pegged as if he failed to predict the GFC. Annie enters the courtroom while Graham is testifying and his demeanour changes completely. He admits that Annie didn't know anything about his dealings with Sebastian Carey. He bursts out crying saying "I'm not a killer! I'm an economist". The jury finds Murray not guilty of Carey's murder.
Missy shows up at Cleave's tiny home that night. She feels she does owe him an explanation and tells him about her childhood with her diplomat father. She fell apart when her parents were killed in a car crash before she turned 18. She has a chance to start again and she wants to try. She asks him to explain some law-related Latin to her and they formally introduce themselves to each other.
I think it is safe to say that I liked Rake from the get-go. Cleaver Greene is the most unorthodox lawyer on the planet and I think he gets into more trouble than he gets his clients out of. He's an interesting character that I can't help but like despite all of his many, many flaws. And does he ever have a lot of flaws! The show, and especially, Cleaver Greene, is unique, funny and completely irreverent. It's nothing like your typical legal dramas where you have a case that is neat and clean and ironed out in an hour by your stereotypical lawyers. There is nothing stereotypical about Rake.
There's a ton of humor in this episode and none of it seems to be forced just to get a laugh. The supporting characters were all good. I really like Missy and the way her character interacts with Cleave. It will be interesting to see how their friendship develops over the course of the next seven episodes. Since we've started off with Cleave defending a cannibal, I can't wait to see what other kinds of colorful characters he will defend in future episodes. Can you even top a cannibal? I'm not sure that's possible, but, if anyone can do it, Cleave Greene certainly can!
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 One, R vs. Murray
Original Air Date: November 4, 2010
Cleaver Greene is upset when his favorite call girl, Missy, inexplicably leaves the brothel where she works without telling him. His best friend's wife drops a bombshell on him that she wants to leave her husband. He has tax problems that are constantly dogging him. To top it all off, he takes a new case, one that everyone (well, everyone except Cleve) finds strange and rather disgusting: defending a key government economic advisor Professor Graham Murray who just so happened to eat someone over the course of three days after finding him on the Internet.
Rake is a new comedy/drama on the Australian ABC1. The first season of the series will be delivered in eight, one-hour episodes. It follows the escapades of Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh). Greene is an attorney who doesn't exactly live the typical attorney lifestyle. He has a passion for beautiful women, drinking, wild behavior and generally living life to the fullest. His ex-wife, Wendy (Caroline Brazier) is a psychiatrist who Cleave often goes to when he's having problems to get a "freebie analysis". Cleave and Wendy have a teenage son, Fuzz (Keegan Joyce), who, in many ways, appears to be following in his fathers footsteps. Cleave has a favorite call girl that he likes to patronize, Missy (Adrienne Pickering). She isn't only his favorite method of distraction but is also a friend and confidant. David Potter (Matt Day), who Cleave has a penchant for calling "Harry" (which David doesn't like), is going after Cleave for tax problems that he keeps ducking.
The story begins with Cleave begin driven into a desolate area at night by Col (Steve Le Marquand), the muscle of his bookie, Mick. Cleave had saved Col's brothers from something in the past and the fact that Col now has to rough Cleave up a bit isn't something he's looking forward to but does anyway because he can't be seen to be weak. Plus, the clock is ticking on Cleve. He's got 14 days to set things straight.
The battered Cleave goes to the one person he can trust and that will take care of him: his friend and favorite call girl, Missy. She cleans him up and the two spend the evening talking and playing backgammon until the signal comes that it's time for him to leave. As he is leaving the
Cleave goes home, which is apparently a small, cluttered room over a greasy spoon. After being awakened by the cook (who hit the ceiling with a broom), Cleave goes down to the eatery, in his bathrobe nonetheless, to watch news reports dealing with the arrest of Professor Murray.
Joe is outraged because cannibalism apparently isn't against the law in the state but the public outrage over Professor Murray's crime must be dealt with. He wants Murray to get on trial and some serious charges against him. It's an election year and they can't look soft on him!
Cleave arrives at Welbourne Chambers with a bag of laundry slung over his shoulder. His secretary Nicole (Kate Box) informs him they will soon be homeless again as the former occupant of his office is returning early because his wife broke her leg. His next problem comes at 10 that morning when he has to face David Potter in court because of files being sought by the taxation office that were apparently "lost". Cleave convinces the judge (John Gregg) to give him more time as the files were lost by movers who "rushed through what should have been a painstaking task" and, thanks to a torrential storm raging over the suburbs of Sydney that day, he was a victim of the weather. The files were destroyed along with cherished personal items.
Cleave, Barney (Russell Dykstra) and Don Osbourne (Donald McDonald), go to speak with Professor Graham Murray (Hugo Weaving) who stresses the fact that he didn't kill Sebastian Carey (the man he ate!). Sebastian (Matthew Moore) committed suicide and Murray simply ate him over the course of three weeks. He is concerned that his wife might be "a little upset" and wants Cleave to get a message to her that they can get through everything that is happening as "every marriage has its ups and downs". They watch a video made by Sebastian where he states he is committing suicide and that he wishes his remains be consumed by Professor Murray and takes the sleeping pills on camera. Murray can be seen in the background "preparing the area" where he dismembers Carey.
Cleave feels that Murray must be defended against the murder charge even though it's pretty clear he is going to be spending the rest of his life in an asylum. Cleave and Barney talk with Murray's wife, Annie (Sacha Horler) who is distraught over her husbands actions. She even tells them that Murray convinced her to eat a portion of Sebastian telling her the meat was "chicken". She was surprised to learn of her husbands cannibalism as he had been a vegetarian since he was 23 bringing about one of Cleave's many awesome lines from this episode "From veggo to cannibal without so much as even a chop in between".
That night, while doing a little research for the case, Cleave logs onto "Rare Flesh", which is apparently a site where budding cannibals meet and discuss their favorite past time. "Member 187" even asks him in a chat room "You hungry?" Cleave heads to the brothel, er, Club announcing himself as "Eager Beaver Cleaver" only to learn that Missy is no longer working there. Her number has also been disconnected. Saddened, Cleave the next day heads to the home of his ex-wife, Wendy to talk over Missy's disappearance with her. He's got a guy that works for a credit agency that he got off a couple of stalking charges a while ago checking into Missy's records. Their son, Fuzz, arrives and, when he and his father are alone, Fuzz asks him to cover for him with his mother Friday night. He doesn't tell his father why he doesn't want his mother knowing where he is. After being reminded what happened when his mother found Fuzz smoking, Cleave goes along and provides his son with an alibi.
At Barney's birthday dinner that night, Cleave drops another great line on everyone "It's official, we do taste just like chicken" when the others at the party ask if Murray's wife really said she'd eaten Sebastian thinking it was chicken. Everyone cannot understand why Cleave is doing all he can to prove Murray didn't commit the murder. Cleave doesn't really care about Murray's future, he surprises them all by admitting he is doing it because he cares about the law. He cares about the law, it's justice he doesn't give a toss about. After dinner, Barney's wife Scarlett (Danielle Cormack) confides in him that she is thinking of leaving Barney.
The next day, Cleave sees Missy across a crowded courtyard. The two have a sit down and she tells him she is going to law school. He feels they had more than just a business relationship even though she claims that is all it ever was. She leaves after stating that she trusts she can rely on his discretion should they ever bump into one another again in the future. He takes off after her wanting an explanation but she doesn't want to give one.
Missy goes to her law class and, low and behold, who is the lecturer, Cleaver Greene. The class has been discussing the Trade Practices Act. "Ah, misleading and deceptive conduct, I know it only too well." He starts into his 'lecture' and Missy gets up to leave. He quickly changes course and heads into discussing Ravel and even goes so far as to start humming Bolero. As Missy runs out the door, Professor Morrison enters the room.
Barney and Cleave speak with Professor Aden Sinclair (Nicholas Hope), a friend of Murray's. Sinclair claims he never saw any indication that Murray was a cannibal but, as he says, nothing has been normal since 'the crisis began'. Sinclair goes on to tell them he is married and his wife is an invalid. He admits that moments before the Lehman collapse was announced, he and Annie Murray consummated their "emotional affair".
After a game of doubles tennis with Don Osbourne, Barney and another man, Don dies of a heart attack. Barney and Cleave go to Murray and tell him it was the late Mr. Osbourne's opinion he should plead guilty to murder. Murray is convinced that he will be found innocent at trial and he will be able to go home to Annie.
The prosecutor at Murray's trial (John Gaden) makes his opening argument that Murray preyed on a mentally ill person to induce his death. Cleave stands and reminds the jury the only charge they have to consider is that of murder. Dr. Lucy Hartcher (Jeanette Cronin) testifies that it is possible Sebastian Carey had a fetish of self-degradation causing him to want to "turn (himself) into anothers excrement" and that he could have been susceptible to anothers power of suggestion. Murray is angry over Hartcher's testimony feeling she ran right over Cleave. He wants to know why Annie and Aden aren't at the trial but Cleave doesn't know. Barney and Cleave talk to Annie Murray about Professor Sinclair and she's not happy he told them about their affair. She worries it is only a matter of time before he feels the need to "confess" to someone else and, heaven forbid, it is the press because it will never end then. They tell her Graham needs her to be there in court.
The next day, Graham Murray testifies on his behalf. He had never met Sebastian before that night and they didn't discuss the "GFC" (global financial crisis) and Cleave points out that Murray failed to predict it. He stresses that Murray cannot be the genius the prosecution has him pegged as if he failed to predict the GFC. Annie enters the courtroom while Graham is testifying and his demeanour changes completely. He admits that Annie didn't know anything about his dealings with Sebastian Carey. He bursts out crying saying "I'm not a killer! I'm an economist". The jury finds Murray not guilty of Carey's murder.
Missy shows up at Cleave's tiny home that night. She feels she does owe him an explanation and tells him about her childhood with her diplomat father. She fell apart when her parents were killed in a car crash before she turned 18. She has a chance to start again and she wants to try. She asks him to explain some law-related Latin to her and they formally introduce themselves to each other.
I think it is safe to say that I liked Rake from the get-go. Cleaver Greene is the most unorthodox lawyer on the planet and I think he gets into more trouble than he gets his clients out of. He's an interesting character that I can't help but like despite all of his many, many flaws. And does he ever have a lot of flaws! The show, and especially, Cleaver Greene, is unique, funny and completely irreverent. It's nothing like your typical legal dramas where you have a case that is neat and clean and ironed out in an hour by your stereotypical lawyers. There is nothing stereotypical about Rake.
There's a ton of humor in this episode and none of it seems to be forced just to get a laugh. The supporting characters were all good. I really like Missy and the way her character interacts with Cleave. It will be interesting to see how their friendship develops over the course of the next seven episodes. Since we've started off with Cleave defending a cannibal, I can't wait to see what other kinds of colorful characters he will defend in future episodes. Can you even top a cannibal? I'm not sure that's possible, but, if anyone can do it, Cleave Greene certainly can!
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 6, 2010
US Television: Outlaw, Episode 1.7, "In RE: Kelvin Jones"
Outlaw
Season One, Episode Seven, In RE: Kelvin Jones
Original Air Date: November 5, 2010 (Canada), November 6, 2010 (U.S.)
A young, black honor student is killed by a gunman at the Cyrus Garza School in Alabama. The school is located in a district where predominately black schools do not receive the funding that white schools do. Cyrus, wanting the school that bears his name, to protect each and every student attending it, files a wrongful death suit against the district and the school. When that fails to achieve what he wants, Cyrus amends the action to include a class-action suit against the county. Meanwhile, the police ask Cyrus and his team what they might know about the death of Ben Kershaw while Eddie questions Lucinda about any involvement she might have had in Kershaw's death. Lucinda becomes a suspect when the death is changed from suicide to homicide.
An armed man enters the Alabama campus of Cyrus Garza School and fires upon three young men standing in front of a drink machine. Two of them young men run but the third, an honor student, Kelvin Jones, is killed. Eddie gets into work after having tried to call Lucinda all night. He wants to know if she killed Kershaw. Al and Cyrus interrupt their conversation as they enter the kitchen talking about the shooting at the school.
A police detective calls at the house showing a photograph of Ben Kershaw. Mereta can't make a positive identification of Kershaw as the man who attacked her in the car. When the detective leaves, Cyrus asks everyone to give him a minute. Everyone, that is, except Lucinda. Cyrus questions her about Kershaw but Lucinda wants to "plead the fifth". He lets her off the hook only because he needs to leave for Alabama but assures her they will talk about it once he gets home.
In Alabama, Cyrus learns more about Kelvin Jones. He was a special young man according to his principal. The school doesn't have metal detectors or security guards because they can't afford them. They can barely afford teachers. The only insulation they have is "duct tape on windows". The school took Garza's name in 1999.
Cyrus goes to the Jones home to pay his respects. Kelvin's father asks him to leave. For two years they had requested a transfer for their son to another school, Centennial, a better school that would have been safer for their son and helped him achieve his scholastic ambitions. The district hasn't responded to any of their requests. The same holds true for their daughter.
Cyrus calls Al about the situation at Garza School. He is outraged that segregation still appears to be alive and well in school systems. He wants Al and Mereta to get to Alabama ASAP as he will be speaking at a memorial and he wants them there for that.
At the memorial for Kelvin, Cyrus questions the school board as to how many of their children attend Cyrus Garza School. None do. He announces that, on behalf of Kelvin's family, he is filing a wrongful death case against the school district and the school. "If it's gonna bear my name, it's gonna do right by these kids."
Kelvin's parents present Cyrus with a tassel bearing "'12". Two-thousand-twelve is the year Kelvin would have graduated. However, the tassel didn't belong to Kelvin. It was his grandfather's. He graduated in 1912 from the same school. Cyrus tells them he will hold the tassel for good luck and, if they win, he will give it back to them. He doesn't sugar coat the fact that they are fighting an uphill battle and very well may not win.
Kelvin's younger sister, Kara, testifies in court that everyone at the school knows about the gangs because the gangs put themselves right out in the open. She testifies that the "sets" pretty much control the school. She tells about how the gangs disrupt schools and, when she starts to testify about how the teachers will not stop them, the defense attorney, Victor Harmon (Jason Gray-Stanford), objects. He claims that the school cannot be held responsible for Kelvin's death but Cyrus disagrees. Judge William Stanley asks Cyrus if he is saying the school had knowledge that the murder of Kelvin Jones was going to happen. Cyrus cannot the school did.
Eddie and Lucinda are back in Washington gathering statistics to send to Garza, Al and Mereta. The doorbell rings and it is the police detective. He is there with an envelope of photographs that were found in the trunk of Kershaw's car. They are all of Lucinda. The investigation has moved from suicide to homicide when GSR comes back that Kershaw's hands were clean.
The judge rules against Garza. Before the judge can dismiss court, Cyrus, who is upset over the ruling, amends his action. He files a class-action suit against the county and entire school system for the willful and deliberate segregation of the public schools in direct violation of the 14th Amendment. The judge calls Cyrus and the defense attorney up before him. He applauds Cyrus' determination and, off the record, he admits he might very well be on to something, but, before he will certify the class-action suit he needs to earn it: he must have 300 plaintiffs. He gives him 48 hours.
It's an uphill struggle to get enough names to give to the judge. One man signs but tells Al that 20 years ago his father signed a petition to improve the schools and he suspects that in 20 years, his son will be signing another one. One woman declines when she asks what the lawyers cut of the $7 million asked for in the suit will be and finds it is 33%. They get a lot of doors closed in their faces and people that walk on by without even listening to what they have to say.
In Washington, Eddie is serving as counsel for Lucinda who is being questioned by the detective investigating the death of Ben Kershaw. He wants a DNA sample to match or rule against Lucinda for skin samples they found beneath Kershaw's fingernails. When the detective leaves the room, Lucinda tells Eddie she can't consent to give her DNA as they will find something even though she is adamant she didn't kill him.
After a day of trying to get enough signatures to hand the judge, Cyrus, Al and Mereta are left with a meager 41. Cyrus feels they need to find someone with a following that will join the suit. He goes to the mayor, at Kelvin's funeral, and presents the situation to him and that he can run on a platform of educational reform when he comes up for re-election the following year. The mayor agrees to go along with Cyrus but he wants a press release the following morning calling him a 'great humanitarian'.
The first part of the problem is proving the county is intentionally dividing the students between the two schools it has, one that is predominately black and the other that is predominately white. They need a great first witness and Mereta has just the man: Archibald Breech (John Cothran, Jr.). Breech was the only member of the school board that came out to support them.
On the witness stand, Breech is familiar with the demographics of the county. He states how the two districts in the county are supposed to work: you go to school in the district where you live. But things do not go that way. Each school should be approximately 70% black and 30% white but the statistics are the opposite. Centennial Academy is 70% white and 30% black. He testifies that is because over 300 white students each year have been allowed to transfer from Cyrus Garza to Centennial. Breech testifies that the county willingly transfers the students from Cyrus Garza to Centennial. The defense attorney questions Breech about why he approved each transfer. Breech testifies that he didn't speak up and that is something he will have to live with but the politics of the school board prevented him from causing trouble.
Lucinda is released when the police get a hit off the DNA found under Kershaw's nails. They know she didn't kill him. Kershaw's wife was the one who killed him. As Lucinda and Eddie are leaving, Kershaw's wife stops Lucinda and asks her if Valerie is alright. Lucinda assures her that she is.
Marvin Jackson, the man in charge of routing all the school buses in the county is next to testify. He testifies about how the bus routes have been affected by the transfers. He claims he could cut at least 6 buses from his fleet if he didn't have to deal with all the cross-town transfers. He testifies that the white children are bussed directly past Garza school to get to Centennial.
Several people in the court get up and leave and Kelvin's father speaks to Al. The court must take a recess as something is happening at the Cyrus Garza school. The county is shutting down all bus routes temporarily to both schools. The superintendent holds a press conference on the steps of Garza School that the county "cannot afford" bus service as well as defending themselves against Garza's class-action suit and that getting the kids to and from school is now the responsibility of the parents. The superintendent claims the decision wasn't "his call" and that the decision was made for him by Cyrus. Sports and all extracurricular activities have also been called off until the case has been resolved. The superintendent leaves Cyrus to answer all the questions from the parents and press.
The superintendent testifies in court that he takes any charge of racism in schools to be a personal attack. Cyrus objects when the defense attorney presents information to the witness almost in the manner of testifying. The superintendent implies that the segregation problem isn't with the school board and the county but with the public, the families themselves. He testifies, when questioned by Cyrus that he was aware the transferring of white students was causing segregation in the schools. Cyrus then asks if he is familiar with the term "clustering". Cyrus presents him with the data that the white students left at Cyrus Garza are clustered into classes by themselves to which the superintendent replies that students learn better when they are comfortable.
They need to prove that Kelvin's application for transfer was denied because he was black, something the superintendent claims never happens, despite that Kelvin was the only application denied out of 300. They go to the superintendents former assistant who was "promoted" out of her old job into the position of teaching 6th grade in another county. Al goes to speak with Penny Rogovin (Desiree Hall) about Kelvin's application. She corrects them that she was not promoted. She was fired because she knew the hundreds of granted transfers every year was wrong. She told the superintendent but was ordered to grant the transfers anyway. She tells them they all loved Kelvin and that they did receive the requests for his transfer but the school never had a chance to respond.
Penny testifies that Kelvin had come to see her personally in the office because he knew his father had made the transfer requests. He had requested that she withdraw the applications and, even though he was a minor and the decision wasn't his, she gave him the forms back. Kelvin's reason for not wanting the transfer was that he didn't want to go to a white school. He wanted to stay at his school and help make it better because he was proud of it. She also testifies that she knew of the segregation and that she showed Superintendent Garver the numbers but he told her to grant the transfers because "he didn't want to get involved".
Eddie arrives at work to find a present waiting on him from Lucinda. He apologizes to her for doubting her and acknowledges that she helped rescue Valerie. She confesses that she doesn't just help rescue abused kids, she was an abused kid. Her DNA is on file with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which is why she refused to give her DNA to the police. The present is a pocket protector.
Cyrus delivers his closing arguments stating the situation in Hastings County, Alabama is unacceptable to him and it should be to every member of the jury. Instead of going backwards after fifty-six years, they should take a step forward today. The defense maintains in his closing that every transfer was handled in a manner that wasn't promoting racism and that they should be able to get back to the business of teaching. In his rebuttal, Cyrus states that Kelvin Jones didn't see things that way. The jury finds in favor of Cyrus and his team and awards an amount of $11 million.
Cyrus asks to approach to say something before the judge adjourns. The judge isn't about to adjourn as he wants to issue an order of his own. He is instructing the county to stop all transfers and take all necessary steps to integrate both schools. Cyrus suggests instead that the judge orders the schools to merge since Garza school will take years to get up to code. The new name for the school will be the Kelvin Jones School.
Cyrus takes the tassel from his briefcase and tells the Jones family he would like to keep it and will pay $3.6 million for it. They want to start a scholarship in Kelvin's name using their proceeds from the lawsuit.
Another excellent episode. I thought this one gave us another good look into Cyrus' personality. He was genuinely concerned about the well-being of the students at the school bearing his name. When one method didn't work, he jumped right into another. He was determined to do what was right to move forward rather than backward. I think this was probably the first case where Cyrus wasn't the only one who agreed with his actions. Al, nor any other member of the team, wasn't fighting against him. Everyone was on board. I liked that.
We got a bit more insight into Lucinda and her past this episode as well. I think Eddie has come to respect her much more than he did at the start of this all-too short series. I've liked Lucinda since the get-go and she is still one of my favorite characters on Outlaw. She's colorful, outspoken and takes nothing from no one. Boy, am I really going to hate to see this series end next week.
The final episode of Outlaw airs on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. Central) on NBC.
For more information:
NBC Official Site: www.nbc.com/outlaw/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592226/combined
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/Outlaw
Season One, Episode Seven, In RE: Kelvin Jones
Original Air Date: November 5, 2010 (Canada), November 6, 2010 (U.S.)
A young, black honor student is killed by a gunman at the Cyrus Garza School in Alabama. The school is located in a district where predominately black schools do not receive the funding that white schools do. Cyrus, wanting the school that bears his name, to protect each and every student attending it, files a wrongful death suit against the district and the school. When that fails to achieve what he wants, Cyrus amends the action to include a class-action suit against the county. Meanwhile, the police ask Cyrus and his team what they might know about the death of Ben Kershaw while Eddie questions Lucinda about any involvement she might have had in Kershaw's death. Lucinda becomes a suspect when the death is changed from suicide to homicide.
An armed man enters the Alabama campus of Cyrus Garza School and fires upon three young men standing in front of a drink machine. Two of them young men run but the third, an honor student, Kelvin Jones, is killed. Eddie gets into work after having tried to call Lucinda all night. He wants to know if she killed Kershaw. Al and Cyrus interrupt their conversation as they enter the kitchen talking about the shooting at the school.
A police detective calls at the house showing a photograph of Ben Kershaw. Mereta can't make a positive identification of Kershaw as the man who attacked her in the car. When the detective leaves, Cyrus asks everyone to give him a minute. Everyone, that is, except Lucinda. Cyrus questions her about Kershaw but Lucinda wants to "plead the fifth". He lets her off the hook only because he needs to leave for Alabama but assures her they will talk about it once he gets home.
In Alabama, Cyrus learns more about Kelvin Jones. He was a special young man according to his principal. The school doesn't have metal detectors or security guards because they can't afford them. They can barely afford teachers. The only insulation they have is "duct tape on windows". The school took Garza's name in 1999.
Cyrus goes to the Jones home to pay his respects. Kelvin's father asks him to leave. For two years they had requested a transfer for their son to another school, Centennial, a better school that would have been safer for their son and helped him achieve his scholastic ambitions. The district hasn't responded to any of their requests. The same holds true for their daughter.
Cyrus calls Al about the situation at Garza School. He is outraged that segregation still appears to be alive and well in school systems. He wants Al and Mereta to get to Alabama ASAP as he will be speaking at a memorial and he wants them there for that.
At the memorial for Kelvin, Cyrus questions the school board as to how many of their children attend Cyrus Garza School. None do. He announces that, on behalf of Kelvin's family, he is filing a wrongful death case against the school district and the school. "If it's gonna bear my name, it's gonna do right by these kids."
Kelvin's parents present Cyrus with a tassel bearing "'12". Two-thousand-twelve is the year Kelvin would have graduated. However, the tassel didn't belong to Kelvin. It was his grandfather's. He graduated in 1912 from the same school. Cyrus tells them he will hold the tassel for good luck and, if they win, he will give it back to them. He doesn't sugar coat the fact that they are fighting an uphill battle and very well may not win.
Kelvin's younger sister, Kara, testifies in court that everyone at the school knows about the gangs because the gangs put themselves right out in the open. She testifies that the "sets" pretty much control the school. She tells about how the gangs disrupt schools and, when she starts to testify about how the teachers will not stop them, the defense attorney, Victor Harmon (Jason Gray-Stanford), objects. He claims that the school cannot be held responsible for Kelvin's death but Cyrus disagrees. Judge William Stanley asks Cyrus if he is saying the school had knowledge that the murder of Kelvin Jones was going to happen. Cyrus cannot the school did.
Eddie and Lucinda are back in Washington gathering statistics to send to Garza, Al and Mereta. The doorbell rings and it is the police detective. He is there with an envelope of photographs that were found in the trunk of Kershaw's car. They are all of Lucinda. The investigation has moved from suicide to homicide when GSR comes back that Kershaw's hands were clean.
The judge rules against Garza. Before the judge can dismiss court, Cyrus, who is upset over the ruling, amends his action. He files a class-action suit against the county and entire school system for the willful and deliberate segregation of the public schools in direct violation of the 14th Amendment. The judge calls Cyrus and the defense attorney up before him. He applauds Cyrus' determination and, off the record, he admits he might very well be on to something, but, before he will certify the class-action suit he needs to earn it: he must have 300 plaintiffs. He gives him 48 hours.
It's an uphill struggle to get enough names to give to the judge. One man signs but tells Al that 20 years ago his father signed a petition to improve the schools and he suspects that in 20 years, his son will be signing another one. One woman declines when she asks what the lawyers cut of the $7 million asked for in the suit will be and finds it is 33%. They get a lot of doors closed in their faces and people that walk on by without even listening to what they have to say.
In Washington, Eddie is serving as counsel for Lucinda who is being questioned by the detective investigating the death of Ben Kershaw. He wants a DNA sample to match or rule against Lucinda for skin samples they found beneath Kershaw's fingernails. When the detective leaves the room, Lucinda tells Eddie she can't consent to give her DNA as they will find something even though she is adamant she didn't kill him.
After a day of trying to get enough signatures to hand the judge, Cyrus, Al and Mereta are left with a meager 41. Cyrus feels they need to find someone with a following that will join the suit. He goes to the mayor, at Kelvin's funeral, and presents the situation to him and that he can run on a platform of educational reform when he comes up for re-election the following year. The mayor agrees to go along with Cyrus but he wants a press release the following morning calling him a 'great humanitarian'.
The first part of the problem is proving the county is intentionally dividing the students between the two schools it has, one that is predominately black and the other that is predominately white. They need a great first witness and Mereta has just the man: Archibald Breech (John Cothran, Jr.). Breech was the only member of the school board that came out to support them.
On the witness stand, Breech is familiar with the demographics of the county. He states how the two districts in the county are supposed to work: you go to school in the district where you live. But things do not go that way. Each school should be approximately 70% black and 30% white but the statistics are the opposite. Centennial Academy is 70% white and 30% black. He testifies that is because over 300 white students each year have been allowed to transfer from Cyrus Garza to Centennial. Breech testifies that the county willingly transfers the students from Cyrus Garza to Centennial. The defense attorney questions Breech about why he approved each transfer. Breech testifies that he didn't speak up and that is something he will have to live with but the politics of the school board prevented him from causing trouble.
Lucinda is released when the police get a hit off the DNA found under Kershaw's nails. They know she didn't kill him. Kershaw's wife was the one who killed him. As Lucinda and Eddie are leaving, Kershaw's wife stops Lucinda and asks her if Valerie is alright. Lucinda assures her that she is.
Marvin Jackson, the man in charge of routing all the school buses in the county is next to testify. He testifies about how the bus routes have been affected by the transfers. He claims he could cut at least 6 buses from his fleet if he didn't have to deal with all the cross-town transfers. He testifies that the white children are bussed directly past Garza school to get to Centennial.
Several people in the court get up and leave and Kelvin's father speaks to Al. The court must take a recess as something is happening at the Cyrus Garza school. The county is shutting down all bus routes temporarily to both schools. The superintendent holds a press conference on the steps of Garza School that the county "cannot afford" bus service as well as defending themselves against Garza's class-action suit and that getting the kids to and from school is now the responsibility of the parents. The superintendent claims the decision wasn't "his call" and that the decision was made for him by Cyrus. Sports and all extracurricular activities have also been called off until the case has been resolved. The superintendent leaves Cyrus to answer all the questions from the parents and press.
The superintendent testifies in court that he takes any charge of racism in schools to be a personal attack. Cyrus objects when the defense attorney presents information to the witness almost in the manner of testifying. The superintendent implies that the segregation problem isn't with the school board and the county but with the public, the families themselves. He testifies, when questioned by Cyrus that he was aware the transferring of white students was causing segregation in the schools. Cyrus then asks if he is familiar with the term "clustering". Cyrus presents him with the data that the white students left at Cyrus Garza are clustered into classes by themselves to which the superintendent replies that students learn better when they are comfortable.
They need to prove that Kelvin's application for transfer was denied because he was black, something the superintendent claims never happens, despite that Kelvin was the only application denied out of 300. They go to the superintendents former assistant who was "promoted" out of her old job into the position of teaching 6th grade in another county. Al goes to speak with Penny Rogovin (Desiree Hall) about Kelvin's application. She corrects them that she was not promoted. She was fired because she knew the hundreds of granted transfers every year was wrong. She told the superintendent but was ordered to grant the transfers anyway. She tells them they all loved Kelvin and that they did receive the requests for his transfer but the school never had a chance to respond.
Penny testifies that Kelvin had come to see her personally in the office because he knew his father had made the transfer requests. He had requested that she withdraw the applications and, even though he was a minor and the decision wasn't his, she gave him the forms back. Kelvin's reason for not wanting the transfer was that he didn't want to go to a white school. He wanted to stay at his school and help make it better because he was proud of it. She also testifies that she knew of the segregation and that she showed Superintendent Garver the numbers but he told her to grant the transfers because "he didn't want to get involved".
Eddie arrives at work to find a present waiting on him from Lucinda. He apologizes to her for doubting her and acknowledges that she helped rescue Valerie. She confesses that she doesn't just help rescue abused kids, she was an abused kid. Her DNA is on file with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which is why she refused to give her DNA to the police. The present is a pocket protector.
Cyrus delivers his closing arguments stating the situation in Hastings County, Alabama is unacceptable to him and it should be to every member of the jury. Instead of going backwards after fifty-six years, they should take a step forward today. The defense maintains in his closing that every transfer was handled in a manner that wasn't promoting racism and that they should be able to get back to the business of teaching. In his rebuttal, Cyrus states that Kelvin Jones didn't see things that way. The jury finds in favor of Cyrus and his team and awards an amount of $11 million.
Cyrus asks to approach to say something before the judge adjourns. The judge isn't about to adjourn as he wants to issue an order of his own. He is instructing the county to stop all transfers and take all necessary steps to integrate both schools. Cyrus suggests instead that the judge orders the schools to merge since Garza school will take years to get up to code. The new name for the school will be the Kelvin Jones School.
Cyrus takes the tassel from his briefcase and tells the Jones family he would like to keep it and will pay $3.6 million for it. They want to start a scholarship in Kelvin's name using their proceeds from the lawsuit.
Another excellent episode. I thought this one gave us another good look into Cyrus' personality. He was genuinely concerned about the well-being of the students at the school bearing his name. When one method didn't work, he jumped right into another. He was determined to do what was right to move forward rather than backward. I think this was probably the first case where Cyrus wasn't the only one who agreed with his actions. Al, nor any other member of the team, wasn't fighting against him. Everyone was on board. I liked that.
We got a bit more insight into Lucinda and her past this episode as well. I think Eddie has come to respect her much more than he did at the start of this all-too short series. I've liked Lucinda since the get-go and she is still one of my favorite characters on Outlaw. She's colorful, outspoken and takes nothing from no one. Boy, am I really going to hate to see this series end next week.
The final episode of Outlaw airs on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. Central) on NBC.
For more information:
NBC Official Site: www.nbc.com/outlaw/
Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592226/combined
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/Outlaw
Friday, November 5, 2010
US Television: Vampire Diaries, Episode 2.8 "Rose"
Vampire Diaries
Season Two, Episode 2.8, Rose
Original Air Date: November 4, 2010
Elena was kidnapped by two vampires wanting to exchange her to a more powerful vampire for their freedom. Damon and Stefan team up to save Elena. Jeremy and Bonnie stay in Mystic Falls where Bonnie witches a message to Elena that help is on the way. Caroline and Tyler have a discussion about what they are. A battle begins between the Salvatore brothers and vampires more powerful than they could have ever imagined.
A clandestine meeting between two men in dark vehicles, a car and an SUV, in a desolate field leads to Elena being moved from the trunk of the car to the back of the SUV. When the driver of the car is finished, the mysterious driver of the SUV asks him to come closer then kills him and drives away. He is a vampire!
Jeremy finds that Elena did not sleep in her bed the night before. Caroline has put two and two together and figured out that Katherine was behind Matt and Sarah's actions and she realizes that Tyler being blamed for Sarah's death will open questions Tyler won't know how to deal with. Damon, who is at her house listening to her talk about Tyler, urges her not to get too close to him and trust him since a werewolf can kill a vampire.
Elena's captor, Trevor (Trent Ford), takes her to an abandoned house where they meet up with another person, a woman, Rose (Lauren Cohan). Elena overhears that Trevor and Rose are wanting to trade Elena to someone named "Elijah". When Elena questions Rose about Elijah, Rose explains that he is one of The Originals and that the blood of the doppelganger will be needed to break the curse. That blood just so happens to be Elena's!
Trevor and Rose have been hunted by The Originals for 500 years because of something that happened with Trevor and Katherine. They are both hoping that if they turn over Elena, they will gain their freedom from Elijah.
Jeremy lets Stefan know that Elena didn't come home the night before which alerts Stefan that something might be wrong. After talking to Damon about Elena going missing, he enlists Bonnie's help to find out where Elena might be. When Bonnie is able to give them a general idea where Elena is, Damon and Stefan head to the rural area 300 miles from Mystic Falls to rescue the woman they both love.
Stefan wants to talk to Damon about them both loving Elena while they are on the way to rescue her. Damon, however, doesn't want to do the whole "on the road bonding thing". Damon drinks a little blood while they are on the road and Stefan partakes of a little himself. Stefan admits to Damon that he has been drinking a little of Elena's blood every day to make himself stronger. Damon asks Stefan about the old days when Stefan was more like him (Damon), back when it was Stefan that encouraged Damon to fully turn. Stefan says he found something else to live for.
Bonnie is feeling the strain of all the spells she has been working recently and, when she passes out after performing a spell to send Elena a message, Jeremy is there to take care of her. Elena feels better when she gets the message from Bonnie that Damon and Stefan are on the way.
Elijah (Daniel Gillies) arrives at the old house and both Rose and Trevor are afraid of him, and for good reason. While he might look charming, he's super strong and intimidating. He has full authority to grand both Rose and Trevor a pardon if he so sees fit. Rose explains what she has at the house for him and he wants to see Elena. He believes the Petrova line ended with Katerina (Katherine). He gives Rose his word that he will pardon them.
Rose leads him to Elena and, once he determines Elena truly is human, he is surprised that there really is a Petrova doppelganger. Elena begs Rose to not let Elijah take her. Elijah goes to Trevor who is apologetic about what happened in the past. Elijah grants Trevor his forgiveness than brutally kills him. When Elena mentions the moonstone, Elijah rips her vervain necklace off and compels her tell him where it is.
Damon and Stefan arrive and Damon wants to take things slowly because they can't be sure what they will be going up against in the house. He's certain it must be what Katherine was running from in the 1860's. Stefan insists on forging ahead and Damon follows.As the three are getting ready to leave, Stefan and Damon move around the house drawing Elijah's attention. They distract Elijah and shoot him through the hand with a stake and Stefan gets a hold of Elena and Damon gets Rose. Elijah starts forming a halltree into a stake and Elena steps out at the top of the stairs saying she will go with him if he will leave her friends alone. She throws the vervain grenade at him but he quickly heals from the wounds caused by the vervain. Stefan shoots him but he isn't phased in the least.
Stefan tackles him and they fall down the stairs. Elijah stands to kill Stefan and Damon rushes in and stabs him through the heart with the stake Elijah had made from the halltree and pins him to a door.
Damon smiles up at Elena who is still at the top of the stairs. Elena runs down the stairs into Stefan's waiting arms. She looks over Stefan's shoulder to Damon and mouth's "thank you". He smiles at her knowing that is as much of a thanks he will get.
Elena arrives home and is welcomed by Bonnie and Jeremy. At the Salvatore house, Stefan apologizes to Damon for forcing him to completely turn in 1864. He tells Damon that he has to say the words out loud and Damon needs to hear them. Stefan admits that he was selfish and that he just needed his brother.
Tyler is struggling with the disappearance of Amy Bradley and the death of Sarah as well as his newfound strengths. He wants to know how Caroline knew about him but she refuses to tell him. He confronts her at school and she is able to overpower him making him wonder how she can be stronger than him. He later shows up at her house where he and Caroline end up in a small scuffle and she reveals herself as a vampire to him. They talk over a drink about their new supernatural lives. Caroline reveals how she felt when she first turned and Tyler confides in her that he doesn't know how he will be able to deal with everything and that he's scared.
Rose shows up at the Salvatore house and offers her help to Stefan. She tells him The Originals are wanting Elena for Klaus and they will not stop until they get her. Damon shows up at Elena's house and gives her back her vervain necklace after telling her that he loves her but that he doesn't deserve her but Stefan does. He wishes she could remember everything he said to her but he removes it from her memory before giving her necklace back.
Back at the abandoned house, Elijah awakens and pulls the stake from his body.
What a show! Season two of Vampire Diaries has really kicked things up a notch and each show just gets better and better. This week, we were introduced to a whole new set of vampires that are certain to cause a heap of trouble for our heroes, Damon and Stefan and our heroine, Elena. Elijah is a seriously strong vampire and the Salvatore brothers have their hands full with him. But, he isn't the worst part of the problem. There's another one of The Originals, Klaus, who we have yet to be introduced to who should be a formidable opponent even stronger than Elijah.
Rose. What an interesting character. She started off as someone who was out for her own agenda. Once Elijah killed Trevor, I think that really fueled her anger towards The Originals. By offering her help to Stefan, she is setting the plan in motion for revenge. She is much older than Stefan and Damon and she knows things they do not. She will be a great help to them, if they let her.
And Tyler. I think it might be a good idea for Damon to not interfere with Caroline wanting to be there for Tyler. Since the bite of a werewolf can kill a vampire, having a werewolf as a friend and confidant might not be such a bad idea. Granted, everything would have to go down on the night of a full moon, but Tyler might not be a bad ace to have up the sleeve. It seems a bit clearer to me now why Katherine was so adamant on having Mason Lockwood, and then Tyler, in her corner.
It was absolutely heartbreaking to see Elena run into Stefan's arms after seeing how happy Damon was that she was safe. Then, when he later tells her that he loves her and, because of that love, he can't be selfish with her, it's even more heartbreaking. Poor Damon just never catches a break. I wonder how much longer it is before Bonnie and Jeremy get into a relationship? It certainly seems like things are heading that way. This season certainly is heating up!
For more information:
Official Site: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405406/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/The_Vampire_Diaries
Season Two, Episode 2.8, Rose
Original Air Date: November 4, 2010
Elena was kidnapped by two vampires wanting to exchange her to a more powerful vampire for their freedom. Damon and Stefan team up to save Elena. Jeremy and Bonnie stay in Mystic Falls where Bonnie witches a message to Elena that help is on the way. Caroline and Tyler have a discussion about what they are. A battle begins between the Salvatore brothers and vampires more powerful than they could have ever imagined.
A clandestine meeting between two men in dark vehicles, a car and an SUV, in a desolate field leads to Elena being moved from the trunk of the car to the back of the SUV. When the driver of the car is finished, the mysterious driver of the SUV asks him to come closer then kills him and drives away. He is a vampire!
Jeremy finds that Elena did not sleep in her bed the night before. Caroline has put two and two together and figured out that Katherine was behind Matt and Sarah's actions and she realizes that Tyler being blamed for Sarah's death will open questions Tyler won't know how to deal with. Damon, who is at her house listening to her talk about Tyler, urges her not to get too close to him and trust him since a werewolf can kill a vampire.
Elena's captor, Trevor (Trent Ford), takes her to an abandoned house where they meet up with another person, a woman, Rose (Lauren Cohan). Elena overhears that Trevor and Rose are wanting to trade Elena to someone named "Elijah". When Elena questions Rose about Elijah, Rose explains that he is one of The Originals and that the blood of the doppelganger will be needed to break the curse. That blood just so happens to be Elena's!
Trevor and Rose have been hunted by The Originals for 500 years because of something that happened with Trevor and Katherine. They are both hoping that if they turn over Elena, they will gain their freedom from Elijah.
Jeremy lets Stefan know that Elena didn't come home the night before which alerts Stefan that something might be wrong. After talking to Damon about Elena going missing, he enlists Bonnie's help to find out where Elena might be. When Bonnie is able to give them a general idea where Elena is, Damon and Stefan head to the rural area 300 miles from Mystic Falls to rescue the woman they both love.
Stefan wants to talk to Damon about them both loving Elena while they are on the way to rescue her. Damon, however, doesn't want to do the whole "on the road bonding thing". Damon drinks a little blood while they are on the road and Stefan partakes of a little himself. Stefan admits to Damon that he has been drinking a little of Elena's blood every day to make himself stronger. Damon asks Stefan about the old days when Stefan was more like him (Damon), back when it was Stefan that encouraged Damon to fully turn. Stefan says he found something else to live for.
Bonnie is feeling the strain of all the spells she has been working recently and, when she passes out after performing a spell to send Elena a message, Jeremy is there to take care of her. Elena feels better when she gets the message from Bonnie that Damon and Stefan are on the way.
Elijah (Daniel Gillies) arrives at the old house and both Rose and Trevor are afraid of him, and for good reason. While he might look charming, he's super strong and intimidating. He has full authority to grand both Rose and Trevor a pardon if he so sees fit. Rose explains what she has at the house for him and he wants to see Elena. He believes the Petrova line ended with Katerina (Katherine). He gives Rose his word that he will pardon them.
Rose leads him to Elena and, once he determines Elena truly is human, he is surprised that there really is a Petrova doppelganger. Elena begs Rose to not let Elijah take her. Elijah goes to Trevor who is apologetic about what happened in the past. Elijah grants Trevor his forgiveness than brutally kills him. When Elena mentions the moonstone, Elijah rips her vervain necklace off and compels her tell him where it is.
Damon and Stefan arrive and Damon wants to take things slowly because they can't be sure what they will be going up against in the house. He's certain it must be what Katherine was running from in the 1860's. Stefan insists on forging ahead and Damon follows.As the three are getting ready to leave, Stefan and Damon move around the house drawing Elijah's attention. They distract Elijah and shoot him through the hand with a stake and Stefan gets a hold of Elena and Damon gets Rose. Elijah starts forming a halltree into a stake and Elena steps out at the top of the stairs saying she will go with him if he will leave her friends alone. She throws the vervain grenade at him but he quickly heals from the wounds caused by the vervain. Stefan shoots him but he isn't phased in the least.
Stefan tackles him and they fall down the stairs. Elijah stands to kill Stefan and Damon rushes in and stabs him through the heart with the stake Elijah had made from the halltree and pins him to a door.
Damon smiles up at Elena who is still at the top of the stairs. Elena runs down the stairs into Stefan's waiting arms. She looks over Stefan's shoulder to Damon and mouth's "thank you". He smiles at her knowing that is as much of a thanks he will get.
Elena arrives home and is welcomed by Bonnie and Jeremy. At the Salvatore house, Stefan apologizes to Damon for forcing him to completely turn in 1864. He tells Damon that he has to say the words out loud and Damon needs to hear them. Stefan admits that he was selfish and that he just needed his brother.
Tyler is struggling with the disappearance of Amy Bradley and the death of Sarah as well as his newfound strengths. He wants to know how Caroline knew about him but she refuses to tell him. He confronts her at school and she is able to overpower him making him wonder how she can be stronger than him. He later shows up at her house where he and Caroline end up in a small scuffle and she reveals herself as a vampire to him. They talk over a drink about their new supernatural lives. Caroline reveals how she felt when she first turned and Tyler confides in her that he doesn't know how he will be able to deal with everything and that he's scared.
Rose shows up at the Salvatore house and offers her help to Stefan. She tells him The Originals are wanting Elena for Klaus and they will not stop until they get her. Damon shows up at Elena's house and gives her back her vervain necklace after telling her that he loves her but that he doesn't deserve her but Stefan does. He wishes she could remember everything he said to her but he removes it from her memory before giving her necklace back.
Back at the abandoned house, Elijah awakens and pulls the stake from his body.
What a show! Season two of Vampire Diaries has really kicked things up a notch and each show just gets better and better. This week, we were introduced to a whole new set of vampires that are certain to cause a heap of trouble for our heroes, Damon and Stefan and our heroine, Elena. Elijah is a seriously strong vampire and the Salvatore brothers have their hands full with him. But, he isn't the worst part of the problem. There's another one of The Originals, Klaus, who we have yet to be introduced to who should be a formidable opponent even stronger than Elijah.
Rose. What an interesting character. She started off as someone who was out for her own agenda. Once Elijah killed Trevor, I think that really fueled her anger towards The Originals. By offering her help to Stefan, she is setting the plan in motion for revenge. She is much older than Stefan and Damon and she knows things they do not. She will be a great help to them, if they let her.
And Tyler. I think it might be a good idea for Damon to not interfere with Caroline wanting to be there for Tyler. Since the bite of a werewolf can kill a vampire, having a werewolf as a friend and confidant might not be such a bad idea. Granted, everything would have to go down on the night of a full moon, but Tyler might not be a bad ace to have up the sleeve. It seems a bit clearer to me now why Katherine was so adamant on having Mason Lockwood, and then Tyler, in her corner.
It was absolutely heartbreaking to see Elena run into Stefan's arms after seeing how happy Damon was that she was safe. Then, when he later tells her that he loves her and, because of that love, he can't be selfish with her, it's even more heartbreaking. Poor Damon just never catches a break. I wonder how much longer it is before Bonnie and Jeremy get into a relationship? It certainly seems like things are heading that way. This season certainly is heating up!
For more information:
Official Site: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/the-vampire-diaries
The Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1405406/
TV Rage: http://www.tvrage.com/The_Vampire_Diaries
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
AUS Television: City Homicide Possibly in Final Full Season
The future of City Homicide is extremely unclear tonight. Production will cease on the Australian crime drama, which is in its fourth season, a little later this month. Tom Worner, director of programming for the Seven Network confirmed the cessation of production in October.
The show isn't completely dead as a decision on the final fate of the series has been delayed until 2011. However, production being ceased certainly doesn't look good.
The series will continue to air throughout 2010 and in 2011 a six-part mini-series, City Homicide: No Greater Honour will air. After that airing, Seven will make a final decision on the fate of the entire series.
No Greater Honour is a spin-off of the series and will guest star Claire Van Der Boom, Marcus Graham, John Howard and Graeme Blundell. The mini-series was written by John Hugginson and John Banas, the driving forces behind City Homicide.
Struggling ratings in the multi-channel environment is being blamed for the move to end City Homicide.
Update: After reading several different articles, I guess what the mini-series airing next year will be is the final 6 episodes from season four. The actors listed above are the guest stars and our favorites will be there. (Regardless, I'm still upset that City Homicide is ending.)
For more information: Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph.
The show isn't completely dead as a decision on the final fate of the series has been delayed until 2011. However, production being ceased certainly doesn't look good.
The series will continue to air throughout 2010 and in 2011 a six-part mini-series, City Homicide: No Greater Honour will air. After that airing, Seven will make a final decision on the fate of the entire series.
No Greater Honour is a spin-off of the series and will guest star Claire Van Der Boom, Marcus Graham, John Howard and Graeme Blundell. The mini-series was written by John Hugginson and John Banas, the driving forces behind City Homicide.
Struggling ratings in the multi-channel environment is being blamed for the move to end City Homicide.
Update: After reading several different articles, I guess what the mini-series airing next year will be is the final 6 episodes from season four. The actors listed above are the guest stars and our favorites will be there. (Regardless, I'm still upset that City Homicide is ending.)
For more information: Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph.
AUS Television: City Homicide, Episode 4.18 "Killer Moves"
City Homicide
Season Four, Episode Eighteen, Killer Moves
Original Air Date: November 3, 2010
Homicide is called in to investigate what appears to be a tragic traffic accident where a young woman is killed when she is struck by a vehicle while she is jogging. The case becomes complicated when Ronnie (Genevieve Morris) reveals that the man in the car, Lachlan Fraser, was dead, very dead, hours before the accident. Rhys helps Allie try and get in touch with her past.
Allie and Duncan are called in to investigate the case but Matt re-assigns it to Nick and Jennifer. When Allie and Duncan both protest, Matt relents and allows them to speak to the dead man's wife and sends Nick and Jennifer to help with the street canvass. Allie questions him about the missing I.D. of the young woman and Matt orders one of them to get on that.
At the morgue, Fraser's wife, Danielle, identifies his body. While they are giving his wife some privacy to say goodbye to her husband, Ronnie states the man had a stroke and there was major lividity in his back and in the backs of his legs indicating he was on his back for a while before he was put into the car. Time of death was approximately 10 p.m. the night before. There was also a bone spur found in his neck leading them to believe he was murdered and didn't die of natural causes.
His wife knew of no enemies to her husband and their four-year marriage was solid. He was an impulsive man who worked in investments for a living with his business partner, Toby Rowcastle. Toby and Lachlan had a dream of starting their own Dojo as both were avid Karate practitioners.
In interview, Toby discusses karate with Allie who also studies martial arts. Both Toby and Frazier were black belts. When asked about his whereabouts the night before, Toby seems a bit taken aback and says he was home but no one can confirm that. When Toby is leaving interview, Danielle sees him and he immediately goes to her to console her. Their behavior leads Duncan to believe they were having an affair.
Rhys finds information about Fraser's business background. He was declared bankrupt in 1996 and his previous business associates didn't view him favorably. Allie doesn't believe Toby's claims that he is a sensai because of his age. Jarvis, who has been watching the briefing asks about the I.D. of the jogger. Apparently, no one had followed up on her and she remains unidentified. Jarvis is unimpressed by Matt's performance. Matt orders that Duncan and Allie bring Toby back in for questioning again.
Toby insists that he and Lachlan were friends and he could never kill him. Toby believed Lachland to be a business genius and didn't know he had been declared bankrupt in '96. The men met through Toby's old dojo in Thornbury, where they were trying to establish their own outfit. Toby doesn't believe his old dojo and Lachlan could have ever argued about the business even though Lachland claimed they had.
Allie and Duncan speak with the sensai, Kenji Yamamoto, about Lachlan Fraser. Fraser attended the dojo but repeatedly broke the rules and disrespected the dojo and the art. He was eventually asked to leave. As they are talking, a woman, Carla Shanklin, walks up behind Kenji and confirms that Fraser had injured two of her students. Carla runs self-defense classes at the dojo that were attended by Fraser until he was asked to leave. She confirms that Toby is incredibly bright but, at the same time, incredibly naive. Fraser needed him to start the business and could easily take advantage of him. She doesn't believe Kenji could have had an altercation with Fraser either as he is too advanced to allow anger to rule him.
The jogger had very few items on her at the time of her death, none of the witnesses recognized her and no one has called in to claim her. The initials "A.J." are on some of her belongings.
Matt asks for updates on the case. Duncan and Allie bring him up to speed on what they learned at the dojo. Rhys does a little digging and learns that Fraser had a lot of medical bills to a clinic, Albert Park Therapies, on his credit cards. Allie and Duncan speak with the chiropractor about possible injuries to Fraser there that could have resulted in his death but the doctor denies that could have ever happened. While Duncan is questioning the doctor, Allie speaks with his receptionist. She is able to place doubt with Allie that the doctor could have never felt any animosity towards his client who last had an appointment two months prior to his death. Rhys calls Duncan to let him know that Toby and Lachlan were poaching staff from Kenji as well as moving in on his territory.
Lachlan's files show he offered Carla a job but she denies accepting it. She was tempted but she declined because she didn't like Lachlan. Allie suggests Carla was fixated on Lachlin because she developed a crush on him and he turned her down. She claims he would hang around after class and hit on her. Danielle Fraser claims her husband wasn't that way. Despite being presented with evidence that her husband wasn't having his back treatments as she thought, she insists he couldn't have been having an affair.
Matt isn't happy that the team doesn't appear to be any further to cracking the case than they were yesterday despite their efforts. Matt snaps at Duncan to do his job. Duncan goes into Matt's office and apologizes for being out of line and admits the case is getting to him. There's nothing solid to grab onto. Matt suggests to go back to the victim to get to know him better. Duncan starts to tell his friend "Matt, you're a good detective," and Matt finishes for him "but not a good sergeant".
Duncan goes back and looks deeper into Lachlan Fraser. Jennifer mentions she might have a word with Matt about the canvass she and Nick are assigned to and Duncan warns her against it because of the conversation he had with Matt the night before.
Rhys does some Internet research on Allie Kingston's past to learn more about her. He reads articles about her former days as a runner. While he is reading, Allie arrives announcing she has identified the jogger, Amy Jefferies. Rhys admits he was looking Allie up but she wants him to keep his nose out of her business. Duncan gets Allie to go back to the dojo because Matt wants them to crank it up.
They arrive at the dojo and find Carla and Kenji practicing. Duncan requests a word with Carla and, when Kenji starts to leave, Carla stops him. Allie pushes Carla hard to try and get the truth but ends up provoking her into a fight. Duncan starts to arrest Carla for assaulting an officer but Allie stops him. Carla starts to walk away and Kenji orders her to honor her opponent. Carla wasn't with Fraser. She was training at the dojo until 1 in the morning and Kenji confirms that.
Rhys questions Allie about her time as a runner. Allie explains that her mother got more out of it than she did causing Allie to drop out, go overseas and join the police force. That was a major disappointment to her mother and the two haven't spoken in years. She tells him about trying to contact her mother only to find the number disconnected to which he replies they are the police. She writes that off because she can't legally access that information. Matt steps into the room to get Allie because there is another interview she must do. Kenji Yamamoto came in voluntarily with something to confess.
Kenji admits he did have an altercation with Lachlan Fraser on the night he died. Fraser challenged and Kenji didn't refuse. Fraser went to the dojo and confronted Kenji between classes because Carla would not work for him. Fraser accused Kenji of sleeping with Carla, thus keeping her from leaving to work for him (Fraser). Kenji agreed to fight with Fraser who said he would come back after Kenji's last class that night. Kenji was angry and waited past one in the morning but Fraser failed to show up. Allie wants to drop Kenji from the suspect list because she believes he didn't have anything to do with Fraser's death but Duncan refuses to remove him.
Matt drops three more photos on Jennifer's desk to add to the next days canvass. When she learns there isn't a new lead but that Matt hopes the photos circulating around might lead to one, Jennifer protests. Nick steps in to agree with Jennifer but Matt insists they add the photos to the canvass and get started. Jennifer leaves and when Nick catches up with her, she chastises him for interfering in the discussion she was having with Matt. Jennifer is starting to feel the pressure of all the secrecy surrounding their relationship. She feels like they are still living undercover.
Rhys gets a new lead for Duncan and Allie. He followed up on some of the members of Carla's self-defense class and everything Carla said about Fraser hanging around after class was true. He would complain about having a bad shoulder and try to get some of the female class members to massage his shoulder. When some suggested he see a chiro, he told them he already was and that "she" was fantastic. Duncan and Allie go back to the Albert Park Therapies to speak with Kelly, the receptionist. She didn't turn up for work that day. Duncan calls Nick and Jen to check Kelly's home.
When they get to Kelly's home, they find her packing her car. She takes off running and Allie follows in hot pursuit. In interview, Kelly admits that she was stealing from her boss and that is all. She ran because she thought her boss might have found out after they questioned him the first time. She breaks down and admits that she was treating the doctors clients herself. She has an appointment book with names, dates and times in her car. Fraser complained his neck was really sore and when Kelly had his head in her hands, Fraser grabbed her bum. She lost it and turned his head, killing him. She panicked and came up with a plan to make his death look like a car accident. Until Duncan and Allie mention Amy Jefferies, Kelly didn't know she had killed her too in the process of trying to conceal her own murder of Fraser.
Amy Jefferies boyfriend has finally returned to Melbourne and he will be coming in to identify her body. Rhys gives Allie a piece of paper with her mother's name and address written on it. He drives her to her mother's home. Allie knocks on the door and a man answers. Allie asks about Barbara Kingston and he tells her she won't be long as she has just taken the girls to the park. Allie leaves and gets back in the car with Rhys and tells him it was the wrong house.
I loved that we saw a lot of Duncan this week! That's something we haven't had the pleasure of in a long time. It seems that here of late he has been blending into the background more and more and I've missed seeing him as a primary character.
Poor Matt. Is it just me or does it seem like he is losing control of his new sergeants job fast? I dearly love Matt Ryan but I think it might have been best for him to stay on as a detective rather than trying to bump up to sergeant. He's trying his best but his best doesn't seem to be good enough.
The back story about Allie and her mother was interesting. It gave us a little more insight into who Allie Kingston is and what made her the way she is. I like the friendship that is developing between she and Rhys. They are both kind of the odd man out on the team. Bernice hates Allie with a passion and no one seemed to really trust or like Rhys when he arrived on the scene. I guess it was only natural the two would develop a bond.
With the sad news that this very well might be the last season of City Homicide, it looks like we've just got a handful of episodes left. Mini-series aside, here's hoping that if this truly is the end of the series, the end it with a bang!
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 Eighteen, Killer Moves
Original Air Date: November 3, 2010
Homicide is called in to investigate what appears to be a tragic traffic accident where a young woman is killed when she is struck by a vehicle while she is jogging. The case becomes complicated when Ronnie (Genevieve Morris) reveals that the man in the car, Lachlan Fraser, was dead, very dead, hours before the accident. Rhys helps Allie try and get in touch with her past.
Allie and Duncan are called in to investigate the case but Matt re-assigns it to Nick and Jennifer. When Allie and Duncan both protest, Matt relents and allows them to speak to the dead man's wife and sends Nick and Jennifer to help with the street canvass. Allie questions him about the missing I.D. of the young woman and Matt orders one of them to get on that.
At the morgue, Fraser's wife, Danielle, identifies his body. While they are giving his wife some privacy to say goodbye to her husband, Ronnie states the man had a stroke and there was major lividity in his back and in the backs of his legs indicating he was on his back for a while before he was put into the car. Time of death was approximately 10 p.m. the night before. There was also a bone spur found in his neck leading them to believe he was murdered and didn't die of natural causes.
His wife knew of no enemies to her husband and their four-year marriage was solid. He was an impulsive man who worked in investments for a living with his business partner, Toby Rowcastle. Toby and Lachlan had a dream of starting their own Dojo as both were avid Karate practitioners.
In interview, Toby discusses karate with Allie who also studies martial arts. Both Toby and Frazier were black belts. When asked about his whereabouts the night before, Toby seems a bit taken aback and says he was home but no one can confirm that. When Toby is leaving interview, Danielle sees him and he immediately goes to her to console her. Their behavior leads Duncan to believe they were having an affair.
Rhys finds information about Fraser's business background. He was declared bankrupt in 1996 and his previous business associates didn't view him favorably. Allie doesn't believe Toby's claims that he is a sensai because of his age. Jarvis, who has been watching the briefing asks about the I.D. of the jogger. Apparently, no one had followed up on her and she remains unidentified. Jarvis is unimpressed by Matt's performance. Matt orders that Duncan and Allie bring Toby back in for questioning again.
Toby insists that he and Lachlan were friends and he could never kill him. Toby believed Lachland to be a business genius and didn't know he had been declared bankrupt in '96. The men met through Toby's old dojo in Thornbury, where they were trying to establish their own outfit. Toby doesn't believe his old dojo and Lachlan could have ever argued about the business even though Lachland claimed they had.
Allie and Duncan speak with the sensai, Kenji Yamamoto, about Lachlan Fraser. Fraser attended the dojo but repeatedly broke the rules and disrespected the dojo and the art. He was eventually asked to leave. As they are talking, a woman, Carla Shanklin, walks up behind Kenji and confirms that Fraser had injured two of her students. Carla runs self-defense classes at the dojo that were attended by Fraser until he was asked to leave. She confirms that Toby is incredibly bright but, at the same time, incredibly naive. Fraser needed him to start the business and could easily take advantage of him. She doesn't believe Kenji could have had an altercation with Fraser either as he is too advanced to allow anger to rule him.
The jogger had very few items on her at the time of her death, none of the witnesses recognized her and no one has called in to claim her. The initials "A.J." are on some of her belongings.
Matt asks for updates on the case. Duncan and Allie bring him up to speed on what they learned at the dojo. Rhys does a little digging and learns that Fraser had a lot of medical bills to a clinic, Albert Park Therapies, on his credit cards. Allie and Duncan speak with the chiropractor about possible injuries to Fraser there that could have resulted in his death but the doctor denies that could have ever happened. While Duncan is questioning the doctor, Allie speaks with his receptionist. She is able to place doubt with Allie that the doctor could have never felt any animosity towards his client who last had an appointment two months prior to his death. Rhys calls Duncan to let him know that Toby and Lachlan were poaching staff from Kenji as well as moving in on his territory.
Lachlan's files show he offered Carla a job but she denies accepting it. She was tempted but she declined because she didn't like Lachlan. Allie suggests Carla was fixated on Lachlin because she developed a crush on him and he turned her down. She claims he would hang around after class and hit on her. Danielle Fraser claims her husband wasn't that way. Despite being presented with evidence that her husband wasn't having his back treatments as she thought, she insists he couldn't have been having an affair.
Matt isn't happy that the team doesn't appear to be any further to cracking the case than they were yesterday despite their efforts. Matt snaps at Duncan to do his job. Duncan goes into Matt's office and apologizes for being out of line and admits the case is getting to him. There's nothing solid to grab onto. Matt suggests to go back to the victim to get to know him better. Duncan starts to tell his friend "Matt, you're a good detective," and Matt finishes for him "but not a good sergeant".
Duncan goes back and looks deeper into Lachlan Fraser. Jennifer mentions she might have a word with Matt about the canvass she and Nick are assigned to and Duncan warns her against it because of the conversation he had with Matt the night before.
Rhys does some Internet research on Allie Kingston's past to learn more about her. He reads articles about her former days as a runner. While he is reading, Allie arrives announcing she has identified the jogger, Amy Jefferies. Rhys admits he was looking Allie up but she wants him to keep his nose out of her business. Duncan gets Allie to go back to the dojo because Matt wants them to crank it up.
They arrive at the dojo and find Carla and Kenji practicing. Duncan requests a word with Carla and, when Kenji starts to leave, Carla stops him. Allie pushes Carla hard to try and get the truth but ends up provoking her into a fight. Duncan starts to arrest Carla for assaulting an officer but Allie stops him. Carla starts to walk away and Kenji orders her to honor her opponent. Carla wasn't with Fraser. She was training at the dojo until 1 in the morning and Kenji confirms that.
Rhys questions Allie about her time as a runner. Allie explains that her mother got more out of it than she did causing Allie to drop out, go overseas and join the police force. That was a major disappointment to her mother and the two haven't spoken in years. She tells him about trying to contact her mother only to find the number disconnected to which he replies they are the police. She writes that off because she can't legally access that information. Matt steps into the room to get Allie because there is another interview she must do. Kenji Yamamoto came in voluntarily with something to confess.
Kenji admits he did have an altercation with Lachlan Fraser on the night he died. Fraser challenged and Kenji didn't refuse. Fraser went to the dojo and confronted Kenji between classes because Carla would not work for him. Fraser accused Kenji of sleeping with Carla, thus keeping her from leaving to work for him (Fraser). Kenji agreed to fight with Fraser who said he would come back after Kenji's last class that night. Kenji was angry and waited past one in the morning but Fraser failed to show up. Allie wants to drop Kenji from the suspect list because she believes he didn't have anything to do with Fraser's death but Duncan refuses to remove him.
Matt drops three more photos on Jennifer's desk to add to the next days canvass. When she learns there isn't a new lead but that Matt hopes the photos circulating around might lead to one, Jennifer protests. Nick steps in to agree with Jennifer but Matt insists they add the photos to the canvass and get started. Jennifer leaves and when Nick catches up with her, she chastises him for interfering in the discussion she was having with Matt. Jennifer is starting to feel the pressure of all the secrecy surrounding their relationship. She feels like they are still living undercover.
Rhys gets a new lead for Duncan and Allie. He followed up on some of the members of Carla's self-defense class and everything Carla said about Fraser hanging around after class was true. He would complain about having a bad shoulder and try to get some of the female class members to massage his shoulder. When some suggested he see a chiro, he told them he already was and that "she" was fantastic. Duncan and Allie go back to the Albert Park Therapies to speak with Kelly, the receptionist. She didn't turn up for work that day. Duncan calls Nick and Jen to check Kelly's home.
When they get to Kelly's home, they find her packing her car. She takes off running and Allie follows in hot pursuit. In interview, Kelly admits that she was stealing from her boss and that is all. She ran because she thought her boss might have found out after they questioned him the first time. She breaks down and admits that she was treating the doctors clients herself. She has an appointment book with names, dates and times in her car. Fraser complained his neck was really sore and when Kelly had his head in her hands, Fraser grabbed her bum. She lost it and turned his head, killing him. She panicked and came up with a plan to make his death look like a car accident. Until Duncan and Allie mention Amy Jefferies, Kelly didn't know she had killed her too in the process of trying to conceal her own murder of Fraser.
Amy Jefferies boyfriend has finally returned to Melbourne and he will be coming in to identify her body. Rhys gives Allie a piece of paper with her mother's name and address written on it. He drives her to her mother's home. Allie knocks on the door and a man answers. Allie asks about Barbara Kingston and he tells her she won't be long as she has just taken the girls to the park. Allie leaves and gets back in the car with Rhys and tells him it was the wrong house.
I loved that we saw a lot of Duncan this week! That's something we haven't had the pleasure of in a long time. It seems that here of late he has been blending into the background more and more and I've missed seeing him as a primary character.
Poor Matt. Is it just me or does it seem like he is losing control of his new sergeants job fast? I dearly love Matt Ryan but I think it might have been best for him to stay on as a detective rather than trying to bump up to sergeant. He's trying his best but his best doesn't seem to be good enough.
The back story about Allie and her mother was interesting. It gave us a little more insight into who Allie Kingston is and what made her the way she is. I like the friendship that is developing between she and Rhys. They are both kind of the odd man out on the team. Bernice hates Allie with a passion and no one seemed to really trust or like Rhys when he arrived on the scene. I guess it was only natural the two would develop a bond.
With the sad news that this very well might be the last season of City Homicide, it looks like we've just got a handful of episodes left. Mini-series aside, here's hoping that if this truly is the end of the series, the end it with a bang!
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
Monday, November 1, 2010
AUS Television: Offspring, Episode 1.10
Offspring
Series One, Episode Ten
Original Air Date: October 31, 2010
Stacy is back and, this time, she's in the hospital because her blood pressure is high and she's ready to give birth. She wants Billie to be her support person. Cherie and her fireman friend meet and have a date. Nina focuses on why Chris hasn't told Alice about her. Jimmy goes in for his drug trial and gets more than he bargained for, both good and bad. Chris finally tells Alice about Nina but how will Alice take the news?
Nina has a small fender bender while trying to parallel park (she hits the rather old and run down car behind her). She leaves a note in true Nina style, fantasizing the entire time and noting that she's leaving the note because she's a good person. As she is walking away, she has to stop and think if she really IS a good person because, after all, she IS obsessed with a married man.
Kim and Zara watch Nina (and talk about her, of course) as she is having trouble deciding which way to go at work. Kim takes Nina into a room and talks to her about her relationship with Chris. Kim makes a "pro's" and "con's" table on a whiteboard (which is very funny) to help Nina in her decision making. Dr. Clegg comes into the room to take part in the "whiteboard analysis" as he calls it, but Nina erases the table and leaves the room before he can add his two cents worth in.
She and Chris meet in the hall and go to talk. She tells him she cannot be the "other woman". Chris insists she could never be the "other woman" because he is a separated man and not a married man. She gets the impression that he hasn't even told Alice anything about her.
Kim gives Nina a file on a patient with a high blood pressure in 203. Nina finds that the patient she must see is none other than Stacy. She has violated her parole and is being watched by a female guard. Stacy asks Nina to tell Billie she wants to talk to her.
Mick, now able to use both of his hands again!, brings Billie a coffee at work and they have a great discussion about the parameters of their "friendship".
Jimmy is finding out the possible side effects of the medication in the drug trial he is wanting to do. And there are a lot of them and they aren't pretty! Who really wants anal leakage, blurred vision, urinary incontinence and disturbance to sexual function? Thinking he has made a mistake, he almost leaves until a pretty girl walks in do to the trial. He immediately signs up. Jimmy is completely in love. He is in the bed right next to the pretty girl and he can't take his eyes off her. He tries making small talk and talking to her about her business but she isn't interested in him.
Billie arrives at the hospital to talk to Stacy. Stacy begins to cry and when Billie asks why she wanted to see her, Stacy replies that she wanted someone with her and she was going to ask Billie to be that someone.
At lunch with Nina, Billie watches a video of a woman giving birth as "research" to see if she can handle being Stacy's support person. Nina is worked up over why Chris hasn't told Alice about her. When Cherie arrives, she is in a wonderful mood. It's one of her "baby free" days and she again saw the "hot fireman". She was at a completely deserted early cinema and in he walks and sits down one seat away from her. When something goes wrong with the sound during the film, he and Cherie add the dialogue themselves. They go out to lunch together and make a date to see the movie again that night. Cherie doesn't know how to bring up the fact she has a baby.
Billie wants to shine a torch on the Chris/Alice situation. They sit outside Chris' house and watch him and Alice with their daughter. While Nina hides in the seat, Billie pretends to be talking on her phone while she monitors their body language. When "the target" starts moving, Billie starts the car to follow them telling Nina she will end up thanking her for it. (Am I the only one who didn't believe that straight away?) They go into a shop and Billie stops the car to go in behind them against Nina's vehement protests. Billie talks to Chris for a second then heads to the ice cream bin and calls Nina. As Nina and Alice are both at the register to check out, Chris gets a call and leaves the shop. Billie warns her and when Nina sees him, she slinks down even farther in the seat. He sees her but doesn't say anything.
Alice and Lucy make a cake and when an accident happens, Alice's mum, Sonja (Marta Kaczmarek) tries to comfort Lucy but Alice tells her to leave her be. Alice and her mum begin arguing and Sonja picks up Lucy and takes her to another room while Chris helps Alice clean up the mess. Alice is upset because she wants things to be good with Lucy but she feels uncomfortable around her mum. Chris suggests that since Alice wants to make things better with Lucy he will move out and she can move in so she will be there with Lucy all the time.
Billie is called to the hospital because Stacy has gone into labor. She can hear her screaming all the way down at the nurses station. For four hours, they've been listening to her screaming and has even drawn blood when she scratched Zara. Billie is forced into the room with Stacy and tells Nina to get the guy to bring the drugs for Stacy to have an epidural.
When Cherie and her fireman meet for the movie that night, she starts off by telling him there is something he should know. She struggles to bring herself to tell him about Ray but chickens out saying instead that she heard the movie is crap and suggests they have dinner instead.
Nina gets a small break and heads to the snack machine for some sugar and calls Chris to apologize for the stalking thing earlier that day.
Billie gets a break from Stacy and finds Mick waiting for her in the hall. He has brought her a bag full of protein bars and drinks. Billie expresses her doubts about being a good support person but Mick insists he's seen her be supportive on many occasions. Nina comes out to get Billie (never, never, never, never, never!) as the baby is crowning. Stacy gives birth to a baby boy.
That night, Jimmy cannot sleep and is doing a little reading when the pretty girl comes into his room for a rendezvous. The next morning, she wants to pretend last night never happened so they will get their money. He suddenly starts feeling a bit dizzy and like his heart is beating too fast. The nurse is called and she asks if he has had too much coffee or has been exerting himself. The pretty girl admits they had sex the night before.
Stacy tells Billie she should take the baby boy because Billie has a more stable life than she does. She doesn't want her son to have her life leaving Billie with a huge decision to make. Billie goes to Mick wanting to tell him about what happened with Stacy but unsure if she should since they aren't together and leaves.
Chris returns Nina's call and tells her he has moved out and that she should come over and check out his new place when she finishes work. Nina goes directly there and, while the place is 'sad & hideous' and a "symphony in salmon" it is close to the hospital so she can stalk him and it makes things clear that he is separated and free to be with her. They start to make a cup of tea together and end up on the couch instead. The phone rings and he wants to ignore it but when it keeps ringing he says he'll get rid of it. He looks at who is calling and it's clear it is Alice. He answers and tells her he's at work. Nina doesn't like that he said he was at work. Nina leaves because she doesn't want to be that woman, the woman he is "at work" for.
Jimmy is out of the trial because he had an episode of cardiac arrhythmia. Darcy and Geraldine pick him up from the trial and Geraldine immediately starts in on him. As they are arguing about Jimmy, Darcy drops the bomb that Geraldine was the one who drugged him last week. When he learns about it, gets out of the car and starts walking. Of course, his drug trial fling is watching the entire episode play out.
Chris goes to see Alice who tells him her mum has gone out and Lucy is asleep. They argue and Chris tells Alice that he has met someone else. He admits to her that he does believe he is in love with Nina.
Billie asks Darcy if he thinks she'd make a good mother but doesn't let him answer. She goes to see Stacy who is being released from the hospital and is surprised when Stacy takes the baby with her. She goes back to Mick in tears.
Nina is thinking about Chris when he calls and tells her he has told Alice about her. He wants to see her and she runs to where he is going to meet her. While she is waiting, she gets a call from Alice. She wants to talk to Nina. When Chris drives up, Nina says she has to go because of an emergency.
Poor Nina and Chris just can't catch a break, can they? They want to be together desperately but something always happens to keep them apart. I can only imagine what is going to be happening when Alice and Nina have their talk. It will be a tense episode, for sure, waiting to see if Alice gives her blessing for Chris' happiness or if she stakes her claim to him. And if things DO go well, will Nina finally be able to get past everything and be with the man she loves and will Chris still be there? Billie and Mick seem to be on the rebound as they are both seeing each other in a different light, I think. I truly hope things keep going so great between the two of them. I like Billie and Mick together.
In two weeks: Mick wants to get the secret of his night with Nina out in the open so it isn't between he and Billie. Nina feels if anyone should tell her it should be her. Mick agrees but it must be done immediately. How will the revelation affect the relationships between Billie and Nina and Billie and Mick?
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, Episode Ten
Original Air Date: October 31, 2010
Stacy is back and, this time, she's in the hospital because her blood pressure is high and she's ready to give birth. She wants Billie to be her support person. Cherie and her fireman friend meet and have a date. Nina focuses on why Chris hasn't told Alice about her. Jimmy goes in for his drug trial and gets more than he bargained for, both good and bad. Chris finally tells Alice about Nina but how will Alice take the news?
Nina has a small fender bender while trying to parallel park (she hits the rather old and run down car behind her). She leaves a note in true Nina style, fantasizing the entire time and noting that she's leaving the note because she's a good person. As she is walking away, she has to stop and think if she really IS a good person because, after all, she IS obsessed with a married man.
Kim and Zara watch Nina (and talk about her, of course) as she is having trouble deciding which way to go at work. Kim takes Nina into a room and talks to her about her relationship with Chris. Kim makes a "pro's" and "con's" table on a whiteboard (which is very funny) to help Nina in her decision making. Dr. Clegg comes into the room to take part in the "whiteboard analysis" as he calls it, but Nina erases the table and leaves the room before he can add his two cents worth in.
She and Chris meet in the hall and go to talk. She tells him she cannot be the "other woman". Chris insists she could never be the "other woman" because he is a separated man and not a married man. She gets the impression that he hasn't even told Alice anything about her.
Kim gives Nina a file on a patient with a high blood pressure in 203. Nina finds that the patient she must see is none other than Stacy. She has violated her parole and is being watched by a female guard. Stacy asks Nina to tell Billie she wants to talk to her.
Mick, now able to use both of his hands again!, brings Billie a coffee at work and they have a great discussion about the parameters of their "friendship".
Jimmy is finding out the possible side effects of the medication in the drug trial he is wanting to do. And there are a lot of them and they aren't pretty! Who really wants anal leakage, blurred vision, urinary incontinence and disturbance to sexual function? Thinking he has made a mistake, he almost leaves until a pretty girl walks in do to the trial. He immediately signs up. Jimmy is completely in love. He is in the bed right next to the pretty girl and he can't take his eyes off her. He tries making small talk and talking to her about her business but she isn't interested in him.
Billie arrives at the hospital to talk to Stacy. Stacy begins to cry and when Billie asks why she wanted to see her, Stacy replies that she wanted someone with her and she was going to ask Billie to be that someone.
At lunch with Nina, Billie watches a video of a woman giving birth as "research" to see if she can handle being Stacy's support person. Nina is worked up over why Chris hasn't told Alice about her. When Cherie arrives, she is in a wonderful mood. It's one of her "baby free" days and she again saw the "hot fireman". She was at a completely deserted early cinema and in he walks and sits down one seat away from her. When something goes wrong with the sound during the film, he and Cherie add the dialogue themselves. They go out to lunch together and make a date to see the movie again that night. Cherie doesn't know how to bring up the fact she has a baby.
Billie wants to shine a torch on the Chris/Alice situation. They sit outside Chris' house and watch him and Alice with their daughter. While Nina hides in the seat, Billie pretends to be talking on her phone while she monitors their body language. When "the target" starts moving, Billie starts the car to follow them telling Nina she will end up thanking her for it. (Am I the only one who didn't believe that straight away?) They go into a shop and Billie stops the car to go in behind them against Nina's vehement protests. Billie talks to Chris for a second then heads to the ice cream bin and calls Nina. As Nina and Alice are both at the register to check out, Chris gets a call and leaves the shop. Billie warns her and when Nina sees him, she slinks down even farther in the seat. He sees her but doesn't say anything.
Alice and Lucy make a cake and when an accident happens, Alice's mum, Sonja (Marta Kaczmarek) tries to comfort Lucy but Alice tells her to leave her be. Alice and her mum begin arguing and Sonja picks up Lucy and takes her to another room while Chris helps Alice clean up the mess. Alice is upset because she wants things to be good with Lucy but she feels uncomfortable around her mum. Chris suggests that since Alice wants to make things better with Lucy he will move out and she can move in so she will be there with Lucy all the time.
Billie is called to the hospital because Stacy has gone into labor. She can hear her screaming all the way down at the nurses station. For four hours, they've been listening to her screaming and has even drawn blood when she scratched Zara. Billie is forced into the room with Stacy and tells Nina to get the guy to bring the drugs for Stacy to have an epidural.
When Cherie and her fireman meet for the movie that night, she starts off by telling him there is something he should know. She struggles to bring herself to tell him about Ray but chickens out saying instead that she heard the movie is crap and suggests they have dinner instead.
Nina gets a small break and heads to the snack machine for some sugar and calls Chris to apologize for the stalking thing earlier that day.
Billie gets a break from Stacy and finds Mick waiting for her in the hall. He has brought her a bag full of protein bars and drinks. Billie expresses her doubts about being a good support person but Mick insists he's seen her be supportive on many occasions. Nina comes out to get Billie (never, never, never, never, never!) as the baby is crowning. Stacy gives birth to a baby boy.
That night, Jimmy cannot sleep and is doing a little reading when the pretty girl comes into his room for a rendezvous. The next morning, she wants to pretend last night never happened so they will get their money. He suddenly starts feeling a bit dizzy and like his heart is beating too fast. The nurse is called and she asks if he has had too much coffee or has been exerting himself. The pretty girl admits they had sex the night before.
Stacy tells Billie she should take the baby boy because Billie has a more stable life than she does. She doesn't want her son to have her life leaving Billie with a huge decision to make. Billie goes to Mick wanting to tell him about what happened with Stacy but unsure if she should since they aren't together and leaves.
Chris returns Nina's call and tells her he has moved out and that she should come over and check out his new place when she finishes work. Nina goes directly there and, while the place is 'sad & hideous' and a "symphony in salmon" it is close to the hospital so she can stalk him and it makes things clear that he is separated and free to be with her. They start to make a cup of tea together and end up on the couch instead. The phone rings and he wants to ignore it but when it keeps ringing he says he'll get rid of it. He looks at who is calling and it's clear it is Alice. He answers and tells her he's at work. Nina doesn't like that he said he was at work. Nina leaves because she doesn't want to be that woman, the woman he is "at work" for.
Jimmy is out of the trial because he had an episode of cardiac arrhythmia. Darcy and Geraldine pick him up from the trial and Geraldine immediately starts in on him. As they are arguing about Jimmy, Darcy drops the bomb that Geraldine was the one who drugged him last week. When he learns about it, gets out of the car and starts walking. Of course, his drug trial fling is watching the entire episode play out.
Chris goes to see Alice who tells him her mum has gone out and Lucy is asleep. They argue and Chris tells Alice that he has met someone else. He admits to her that he does believe he is in love with Nina.
Billie asks Darcy if he thinks she'd make a good mother but doesn't let him answer. She goes to see Stacy who is being released from the hospital and is surprised when Stacy takes the baby with her. She goes back to Mick in tears.
Nina is thinking about Chris when he calls and tells her he has told Alice about her. He wants to see her and she runs to where he is going to meet her. While she is waiting, she gets a call from Alice. She wants to talk to Nina. When Chris drives up, Nina says she has to go because of an emergency.
Poor Nina and Chris just can't catch a break, can they? They want to be together desperately but something always happens to keep them apart. I can only imagine what is going to be happening when Alice and Nina have their talk. It will be a tense episode, for sure, waiting to see if Alice gives her blessing for Chris' happiness or if she stakes her claim to him. And if things DO go well, will Nina finally be able to get past everything and be with the man she loves and will Chris still be there? Billie and Mick seem to be on the rebound as they are both seeing each other in a different light, I think. I truly hope things keep going so great between the two of them. I like Billie and Mick together.
In two weeks: Mick wants to get the secret of his night with Nina out in the open so it isn't between he and Billie. Nina feels if anyone should tell her it should be her. Mick agrees but it must be done immediately. How will the revelation affect the relationships between Billie and Nina and Billie and Mick?
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
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