Hi everyone!
Wow, last review of an IM eppy for the year! It feels like it was just yesterday I gave this new show on the Scifi Channel a try to see if it was worth leading into Farscape. *sigh* It’s gonna be a long wait until next year!
Anyway here’s my review of Beholder. As always, there are HUGE honkin’ spoilers, and all ideas are my own. All mistakes are my own too :-)
So uh, I probably don’t need to do the whole quote about Beauty being in the eye of the beholder and how that relates to the episode, right? :-)
Overall:
This episode was great for a whole number of reasons, but one of the big ones for me came when I considered this might have been the last one of season 1 (I believe the back nine are part of season 1 until someone in charge tells me otherwise!) and this COULD have been the last episode ever if the Scifi Channel didn’t pick up season 2 (Thankfully it’s not and they did :-) ) So what better episode to stop and take stock of how far Darien Fawkes has come since he started giving CPR to that ungrateful old guy a few months ago.
Finally Darien has realized he needs to stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles. When he once hated anything having to do with the Agency, now he actually has to be stopped from going on a mission. Not only has he grown to care for the people that work there, but he’s gotten them to care for him and not just his gland. If this had happened at the beginning of the series, once Charlie found out Darien could still see when his eyes were quicksilvered he may have told Darien to deal with what he has and sent him back out there...but instead he insists Darien takes the time to heal. And while Darien will still be searching for a way to get the gland out as quickly as possible, he now accepts the positive that can come from it and deals with the negative.
All this is rather clearly shown throughout the episode, giving a nice resolution at the end that, if it had been necessary, could have served as the ending for the show. Without any more episodes, we at least know now that Darien’s alive and well, relatively happy, and accepted his fate...and hey, perhaps he’ll even get the girl! :-)
The Good:
-Got worried when there were no quotes at the very beginning, but my fears were unfounded. We had some of the Pledge of Allegiance (and I learned it as "invisible" instead of "indivisible" to :-) ), a bit of the Bible, some Lao Tzu, a Chinese proverb, and a cheesy rock song.
-Hmmm...that close up of the golf-hole looks just a bit like an eye, don’tcha think?
-"Sit"
"Woof"
-Trust Eberts to call View Masters "Tri-Dimentional Data Viewers" I remember those things, they were GREAT! I used to have the coolest Star Wars one...
-So neither Hobbes or Darien are fazed by the View Masters. Hobbes gleefully states "I love these things!" and Darien is too busy getting a good color to even roll his eyes at the cheapness!
-In the That's Why We Love Him category, even though Darien doesn’t even know the witness that got blinded, he still looks upset over what happened to the poor schmuck.
-"Your mission...and you have no choice but to accept it..."
-The writers are enjoying poking fun at Vincent and his hair...first we get the "Nice hair!" from the sheriff in Reunion, and now we learn Darien was a head shot model for a hair salon. LOL!...
-...and if Hobbes wasn’t so busy making fun of him for it, he could hear that Darien jokes "I needed the money. You would do it too...well..." if he had hair, right? :-)
-One of the things I love about Hobbes is he’s a mixture of very competent secret agent (knowing about the sketch artists problems with a blind witness) and a little kid playing secret agent man (him grinning at all the beautiful women, clinging to Darien so he can go invisible and see them changing...)
-You gotta agree with Darien, a blind model is a morality statement. I didn’t get the feeling Layla was trying to be politically correct (no PC nuts person in their right minds would call two sight-deprived people going out a Blind Date :-) ), so I wonder if it was the agency she modeled for.
-So Hobbes may think he has to cling to Darien and be turned invisible to get close to pretty women...and yet visible he’s got the ladies HANGING off him! Darien needs to think about getting into Textiles! :-)
-I don’t exactly know why, but I loved the limo driver. I thought he was just funny and cute and adorable! :-)
-Hobbes must now know how to give Darien his counteragent shot, since Darien asks him to pick one up on the way from the photo shoot. Unless Darien was going to give himself the shot...ewww....but I have to say that’s a smart move. One of these days Claire may not be there and someone else better know enough about the counteragent to give Darien that shot or things could get ugly, and who better then his partner?
-In the You Can Hear It On the Look On His Face category, when Darien looks up and realizes what Claude is gonna come back and do...he doesn’t need to say the "Aw crap" we can all tell he’s thinking!
-Freaky moment of the eppy, when the screen goes black and we hear Darien, sounding completely scared, whisper "Hobbes...I can’t see."
-It’s been clear since day one that Darien hates not having control over himself or his life. This comes back when Darien is blinded. When he can see, he acts completely normal...but when he’s blind the lost, depressed look on his face is just heartbreaking, and his whole demeanor changes. The best points are when we see him make the transition between the two...and some great acting by Vince!
-Claire does a good job filling in technobable for us while trying to keep Darien from becoming completely depressed...but I got a bad feeling when it took her so long to answer Darien’s "Am I ever going to see again?". Might not want to pause that long when trying to prepare to sound hopeful.
-The Official looks truly sorry that Layla was put in this position. I wonder if he’s had a lot of experience with these kinds of victims, or if this was an extension of his pity for her. He’s extremely gentile around her the entire time.
-Great Scene #1: Darien enjoys having his sight back while invisible and plays with his banana *ahem*...then later is told by the Official he’s off the case. There’s a whole mess of wonderful things in this scene...when playing with the banana we get the normal Darien again, and as soon as he becomes visible and can’t see he looks so suddenly lost and depressed it’s heartbreaking. And his anger later on trying not to get any pity is completely understandable. Claire, while slightly annoyed by his teasing, also can’t help but grin at his antics...and yet when he stumbles into the chair her face takes on such a awful look of pity it twisted my gut! And then Hobbes, trying to mask his concern for "Big guy... Pally...Buddy...Kiddo..." And the Official giving us the sum up of the situation. A great scene overall!
-OK, blind leading the blind jokes aside, I did think it was really cute how Darien and Layla half-stumbled down the beach together.
-So Darien gets to do with Layla what he never got a proper chance to do with Cassey; explain what was really going on and tell her "People can love other people and still do bad things." Interestingly enough he spent a year trying to decide between the Girl or the Carrier, then had the choice taken from him. Claude gets the chance he never did, to actually decide between the two. Then Claude gives Darien that choice...yet Darien is able to get around the situation and choose both.
-Great Scene #2: Darien wakes up from being knocked off the car, and with the help of Hobbes figures out what Claude is actually after. "You have a criminal mind, my friend."... "Now THAT is the Bobby Hobbes I know!" Then once again everyone gangs up on him to keep him off the case and resting. Now that the four of them get to play off each other in a friendly way, the interaction between them is just excellent, and I’m finding any scenes with the entire main cast just a joy to watch! Now if only Eberts could get added to the mix...
-I loved how not only did both Darien and Hobbes try to High Five at the same time, but poor Darien then almost smacks Claire in the nose when going for it!
-I fell off my chair when the RichYuppyBoy stopped talking to Hobbes and Charlie to pick up a cell and just say "No!"...
-Watch Hobbes react when one of the attendants holds out a phone and says "Bill Gates on one." !
-...and finally "I said no! Stop bundling your servers onto my programs!"
-Throughout this eppy we are given plenty of examples of Layla’s other 4 sense that have excelled to make up for the loss of sight. She obviously smells the knockout liquid before Claude uses it, but unfortunately can’t get away fast enough.
-More of Bobby Hobbes, secret agent man! I love how Hobbes walked around shaking all the agents hands and sending them on their assignments! Then we’re reminded if his crack-bang ability...but still my fav was him using the metal detectors on the funeral guests!
-I also really like it when characters come up with smart, creative solutions to problems. It was a great idea for Darien to pull out the cell phone to drop over the side, so he could then QS the radio and have it in his hand for Hobbes to hear!
-"I can’t see you!"
"Yea, sucks doesn’t it!"
-I already talked about the last scene...I thought it was a great way to end the eppy! Although I have my doubts on if we will ever actually see Layla again!
The Bad:
-Not that I can come up with an alternative, but when Darien was chasing Claude and Layla in the car it was a really BAD idea for him to jump on the top of the car! I knew as soon as he jumped on there it wasn’t gonna end well.
-It seams contrived that Claude would have everything set up with Layla in the end as insurance to keep from being caught. It would take quite a bit to set up, and I think he would have had to count on Darien being the one to catch him. Plus I honestly don’t think he would have done it.
The Crap Count:
-"That’s crap, it’s exploitation. It’s good for them!" Darien, on blind models.
-"Aw crap." Darien, when knocked over rocks reveals his position.
-And this may only half count but: "You got pigeons everywhere crappin." Darien, on the beach.
The Nitpicky:
-I would like to take this opportunity to make a complaint. Most of this is directed at Craig, who is by far my favorite IM writer and has written the most outstanding episodes to date. I do, however, have to protest to the fact that Darien is getting the crap knocked out of him in every episode! Now I know that with him being the focus character and all he’s gonna take the brunt of the punishment, and the gland doesn’t make things any easier...but come on! The poor guy to beat up by Claude, violently blinded, knocked out by slamming into the back of a car, cut by broken glass, tripped over a chair, and went insane. No wonder he needed a whole month off! :-)
-Retired General without a caddie?
-So who was the witness at the beginning, and why did he seem so interested in what the General was doing?
-So Layla can hear rocks fall off an outdoor plant from inside the house in another room, and yet doesn’t hear the fact that the limo door opened and shut twice so Darien could hitch his ride?
-"You see what you get for going in without your partner." Hobbes has GOT to know that keeping both of them invisible cuts down on the amount of time Darien has to stay sane...Darien barely made it to the house as it was!
-Anyone else yell at Darien "Don’t look back ya schmuck!" when he was running from Claude!
-Well a lot of people called it that Darien would be able to see when invisible, so kudos’ to you people! :-)
-OK, and now my brief word on the wardrobe. I was VERY pleased to see Darien in jeans again. So apparently the guy has to be possessed (TOIM) or blind to grab the jeans out of his closet. :-) That lovely Barfly T-shirt makes it’s 2nd appearance, and once again the dapper dark suit and sneaker outfit for funeral number two. At least there was no Gas Attendant jacket :-)
-I really tried not to make too many blind jokes during this eppy, but I just have to do one. Added Dialogue: Claire brings Layla in to speak with Darien, "There’s someone here to see you...so to speak."
-So Layla posses for *Elizibeth*, not Calvin Kline?
-WHAT was that photographer talking about? "Growl for me...now your a flower...a rose!" Oy! Fashion models...
-We came SO close to finding out what happened to Cassey!
-A small whoops with the ADR. When Darien and Hobbes attempt a High Five, we hear Hobbes saying "Very nice Fawkes, very nice..." but I don’t see any lips moving... :-)
-More added Dialogue: Darien "Where’s Hobbes at?"
Claire "He’s patting down the widow."
-OK, Darien keeps ending up being partiality responsible for sending people tumbling over railings to their death (or at least major injury) Hobbes and the Doc in IHWIDT, Callahan from TVOF, and now Claude!
-And now I would like to extend my sympathies to Vincent. I wear contacts, I know how bad they can be when they’re CLEAR! I did try those tinted ones that change your eye color years and years ago. I got the green ones...they weren’t that good back then and they drove me nuts because everything had a green tint and it was hard to read with them in! Well I’ve always winced a bit thinking about how bad those InsaneRedEye contacts must be...but this eppy takes the cake when it comes to uncomfy contacts. The worst must have been those ones at the end, the 'I’m Bind AND Crazy At The Same Time' ones! I wouldn’t be surprised if Vincent really WAS almost blind with those things in!
"Look for the good in every bad thing." -Layla, quoting Lao Tzu
