Hi there!
Well we are down to the final three episodes of IM, and it looks like we’re gearing up for quite a finish. So welcome to my review of Possessed, an episode that just needed Linda Blair and projectile vomit to live up to it’s name. :-) As always this contains HUGE HONKIN’ spoilers for that eppy, and all ideas are my own. My counteragent against stealing other people’s reviews hasn’t lost it’s effectiveness yet.
Overall:
While this week was an interesting little romp through Stage Five quicksilver madness, the real reason for this episode is obviously to set up next week. The fear that Darien has had for that past two years is finally coming true; he’s developing an immunity to the counteragent and has just weeks before insanity and death.
But with his worst nightmare about to come true, Darien has discovered something he’s been wishing for for two years; a friend outside the Agency who he can confide in. Hobbes and Claire have become close friends, but Darien has always wanted someone who knew him before the gland, knows all about Kevin’s work and the quicksilver, and he can immediately trust to have only his best interests at heart. Father Tom is a welcome relief to a man who’s forced to only associate with people inside the Agency.
Considering what may happen to him, Darien may need all the support he can get.
The Good:
-Only one quote/voice over this week as we get more from a favorite, George Bernard Shaw. This is the fourth time we’ve heard the wisdom of Shaw from Darien.
-Great Scene 1: QSM Darien clings to his last shreds of sanity by trashing his own apartment, while Hobbes and Claire race to get him the counteragent in time. Claire tries her best to soothe the savage beast with music, books and TV. Sure, Darien can pop in "Crazy" by Barenaked Ladies. :-) At the last minute the CA arrives, and yet that good news just brings more bad news.
-"You wana drive? I’ll pull over right now and we’ll do a Chinese Fire Drill!"
-"Counteragent 2, new and improved."
"The sequel!"
...I thought Darien was pissed off because he was a sequel. :-)
-Watch Hobbes do a victory lap around Darien when CA2 works!
-I loved listening to Hobbes and Claire imitate the Official’s gruff, almost barking voice!
-The sound FX guy had quite a bit of fun this eppy...between the football announcer voice over while Stage 5 Darien ran with the ball, to the ‘ka-ching’ money noise as Darien tallies up how often he quicksilvered.
-"Don’t contaminate the evidence, Bobby."
"Whatever you say, Ms. CSI."
-Listen closely to the organ music playing at the wake...it’s a slow, church version of the IM theme!!
-As soon as I saw Stage 5 Darien going into the wake, I knew he was gonna play with the dead body and scare everyone. It was no surprise, but still kinda funny to watch.
-Understatement of the Day: Father Tom, "That’s the Holy Bible. There are a lot of do’s and don’ts in this book, aren’t there?"
-Scary Idea of the Eppy: Stage 5 Darien telling all those kids he’d be down to play with them later. *shudder*
-Great Scene 2: There’s obviously a lot of history between Darien and Father Tom. Some of it we find out in the confrontation they have in the classroom, like this mysterious Kelly. The great thing is we don’t need to know the whole backstory...what was said and how it was said told us everything we needed to know. It’s a powerful scene about the morality of confessional and priestly secrets, as well as a clue as to why it’s been 20 years since Darien’s last confession.
-"Starsky never drew on Hutch."
"Obviously you never saw the episode when Hutch goes Stage 5 quicksilver
nuts, did ya?"
-Watch Eberts check the chopsticks he broke apart to see if they are even!
-Stage 5 Hobbes is just scary! Darien is dangerous because he can turn invisible...but Hobbes is a deadly fighter to being with. You especially don’t want to be on the receiving end when he’s nuts! He beats the crap out of Darien and Eberts, plays Drill Instructor with the Official, and terrorizes the whole Agency until Claire can give him the CA2. Paul does a great job of giving us Stage 5, "Bobby Hobbes style".
-"Well look who’s here! It’s Gilligan and Ginger!"
-I loved Eberts yell as he took the flying leap onto Hobbes!
-The Mob funeral is hysterical! Not just Hobbes and Darien employing different tactics to see behind the sunglasses (including Darien once again pinching a ladies butt, only this time he gets the wonderful response of "You’re naughty...and handsome!"), but listen to the priest going on in the background, giving all kinds of mob-related statements like how the deceased "was a businessman yes, but he was also a family man", how he valued "love, respect, and honor", all the "many charitable donations he offered", and even a little about the "stronger Unions" and "stronger families" he created!
-Watch Vera as Stage 5 Father Tom speaks with her husband. Joe may be able to lie about his abuse, but her facial expressions give everything away.
-"Don’t make me hit a Priest!"
-Watch Claire stalk Stage 5 Father Tom, looking for an opening to plunge the syringe in!
-Gotta love Darien beating up Joe for hitting his kid.
-The scene between Darien and Father Tom in the confessional is a nice little moment between the two. Darien finds some comfort knowing he can talk to Father Tom about his problems, and the knowledge that Kevin had misgivings about operating on him.
-Talk about a scary, unhappy ending! Didn’t even need a "To Be Continued..." at the end, just check out the look on Hobbes, Darien and Claire’s faces!
The Bad:
-Claire doesn’t know what kind of side-effects CA2 will have on Darien...so after giving him the shot she just lets him go home alone?! You’d think she’d want to closely monitor him for a few hours, run some tests just to be sure the new stuff works and to find any side-effects...oh wait, but if she did that this eppy couldn’t happen.
-So the dead guy "sits up" at the funeral and EVERYONE runs away? Wouldn’t someone at least come back to see what happened, or check him out?
-Stage 5 QSM was supposed to only be curable by the S5 counteragent Arnaud had in MFN1+2. Apparently Claire’s new and improved counteragent does the same thing. Did she know it’d cure stage 5 madness? Did she have some from Arnaud to work on? Was it just luck that CA2 worked?
The Crap Count:
-"Oh crap"
"No, this is beyond crap." Hobbes and Darien, realizing the CA is
loosing its effectiveness.
-"You could be out pushing that worthless heap up junkmetal, pile of stinking crap, insulting excuse for a van out for a servicing!" Hobbes, in Stage 5, about the van.
The Nitpicky:
-I’d like to take a moment and send my sympathy to everyone who had to wear those silver contacts this eppy.
-Rejected Dialogue: Hobbes, "Oh crap."
Darien, "No, this is beyond crap. This is more like oh fu..." and
then the opening credits start. :-)
-Weekly Wardrobe Wrap-Up: Apparently Stage 5 Darien enjoys dressing like a pimp from the 70’s, complete with tacky shirt and bellbottoms. Yuck.
-"Maybe your recipe needs a little more tweaking there, Keep."
"Ya think?"
Thanks Jack O’Neil.
-Did anyone else start to do the Church Lady from SNL every time Father Tom said, "Satan"?
-Ten bucks says as soon as they all got outside, that kid who announced they still had a half an hour left in school was whacked by all of his friends. Dude, he let you out early, take your books and RUN!
-Little Oops Moment: check out the reflection in the Armani glasses at the funeral. You can clearly see Hobbes...and the camera behind him.
-So Joe really can’t report the attack by Father Tom or Darien without telling the cops about hitting his wife and son, and the Agency wouldn’t want to report it because they’d have to explain about Stage 5 QSM. So did Joe get punished in any way for his abuse? Was Father Tom reprimanded for breaking the confessional and attacking Joe? Or did everyone just not talk about it afterwards?
"Ido taki masu, sir." (or, bon appetite) -Eberts
"I don’t think I need a rubber room,
but that might be nice.
I’m not a manic-depressive paranoid schizophrenic
so I don’t need your advice.
I’m just crazy...just like you!"
-"Crazy" by the Barenaked Ladies
