Hi Everyone!
OK, I’ll just say this right now. This is my new favorite episode...and no NOT because Vincent is shirtless at the beginning! Let me just get to the review I’m so excited about this episode...huge honkin’ spoilers, all ideas are my own yadda yadda yadda...
Overall:
This episode took me forever to review because I kept finding myself just caught up in what was going on. Everything fell together so well; the acting was superb (especially all the interaction we get between the main characters), the writing was top notch and kept me guessing what was really going on until the very end, the direction and the special effects were great, and the story was funny and sad and constantly moving and changing and heartwrenching and explained so many things and...
*breath*
...as I said, this episode just jumped over Ralph and The Devil You Know to be my number one.
The Good-> (hang on, this could take a while)
-This week for quotes we get Mark Twain (living inside Samuel Clemens) "Be good and you will be lonely" and those often used sayings about necessity being the mother of invention and the calm before the storm. Nothing too over the top this week, but both are very appropriate.
-It’s interesting that at the beginning in his voice over, Darien states how he was about to find out "in the worst way" how he was never alone...and yet by the end he’s really found out in the BEST way, with his friends, that he’s never alone.
-Charlie looks so happy about his book cooking!
-All right!! I’ll say it. I enjoyed watching Darien in just a towel as much as everyone else probably did. OK?!?!
-The Rap, while not only very well written and incredibly well performed, had perfect timing. I mean Darien just talked about enjoying the calm before the storm...and so we all got a moment to enjoy before Hobbes "storms" in....
-...and the timing of him storming in was perfect! I had just been reduced to rolling on the floor laughing with glee over The Rap when *BAM*...shocked me right out of my laughter!
-Well THERE’S DarienTheRat! Good to see the little living nightlight again.
-When Hobbes hauls Darien into the lab, everyone looks so freaked out and upset...you can just feel the tension in the room.
-OK so perhaps everyone had good reasons to distrust Darien at the beginning, but with the way they were treating him I was not surprised at his little "Screw You" note to Eberts.
-Remember a while back I posted a whole honkin’ list of questions, some of them more serious then others? Well one cool thing about this episode was that it answered SO many of those questions. Like Answered Question 1: What happens to the quicksilver when it flakes off of Darien?
-"You see anyone else around here with 6 million dollar dandruff?"
-Great Scene 1: Darien, Claire and Hobbes press Eberts for info. Actually you’ll find I loved any scene that had Darien, Claire and Hobbes all working together. The three have some great chemistry (both the actors and the characters), and those scenes are some of the most hysterical and yet most touching...
-...so of course, with the way those three work together, it’s not surprising Eberts finds himself backed against the wall looking a bit more then worried.
-Answered Question 2: What was Eberts doing before the Agency got him? Why does the IRS appear to be the perfect place for him! :-)
-Gotta love the "That book is closed...shut up Eberts!" flashback!
-My vote for one of the best lines delivered: "These drawers are reserved for you, Robert."
-Hobbes is always quick to admire a pretty face...in this case the girlfriend. Something tells me the reason there were so many surveillance photos is someone like Hobbes was behind the camera! :-)
-Anyone else a bit caught off by the way Ivy suddenly asks if Simon is dead?
-"This is about what she knows. You’re divulging what we
know."
"Hobbes, we don’t know anything."
"She’s doesn’t know that."
-...anyone expect Hobbes to launch into his Need To Know Speech? :-)
-Going back and watching the episode with the knowledge that it was Darien all along, I was pleased to find that everything that happened was explainable as either him sleepwalking or him hallucinating. It explains that ketchup bottle that disappears in the cafe the first time...at first I didn’t understand why that happened since Simon didn’t do anything with it afterwards. Then I realized that Darien was hallucinating it happening, and that’s why it disappears but does nothing.
-...adding to the clues that Darien is hallucinating, I think when "Simon" runs across the street he actually runs THROUGH a few of the cars.
-Answered Question 3: Does Darien have a gun, and does he know how to use one. Apparently he can only use it correctly when he’s insane. *snicker*
-Answered Question 4: How does Darien see when he’s invisible. OK I can buy most of this explanation...I can accept that spectrums we can’t see are not reflected by the QS, but it’s a bit of a stretch that suddenly Darien can perceive these spectrums. Guess the QS must do something to his eyes to let him see in that spectrum.
-Love Hobbes little tangent about Darien still having to wear sunblock!
-"He’s just ticked off ‘cause he’s a sequel."
-I love how, after finding the rat skeleton in his jacket, Darien books back to his apartment to check on DarienTheRat...especially since I found myself yelling "NO not the RAT! I LIKED the rat!!"
-The winner of the best True To Life Yet Still Hysterically Funny scene: Hobbes trying to show Darien how to use the gun, and every time Darien goes to fire something goes wrong. I’m sure using a gun is not as easy as it looks!
-Why am I not surprised Darien has read Of Mice And Men? "Hey, I’m on my way to get a breakfast burrito when I pull a rat skeleton out of my pocket. What was I supposed to do, hug him? Pet him? Call him George?"
-What exactly did Hobbes think he was going to go look at in the microscope? :-)
-More retrospect musings...no wonder Charlie looks so afraid when he first wakes up and Darien is standing there, the guy that kicked his butt!
-Great Scene 2: The Three Amigo’s examining the old lab. From the banter about Fawkes being "created", to that whole gun scene (that had me rolling on the floor!), to poor Darien stopping over the spot where Kevin was killed, to them alternately fighting and musing over Simon’s journal....it was just a great scene!
-OK, both times Darien has those dreams/flashbacks of his and Simon’s memories are not only well done, but just scary and freaky and disturbing all at the same time. Simon definitely wins the Messing With Darien’s Head Award for this week!
-"Run through the streets throwing powdered sugar in the air?" Uh...isn’t that something they did in the commercials for Hollow Man? :-)
-I love how Claire sticks out her chest when she tells Darien and Hobbes that she can take care of herself!
-Once again, with hindsight, Ivy’s reaction the second time at the cafe makes perfect sense...and yet at the time it only added to the wonderful confusion of WHAT was going on!
-Wow, the effect of not being able to see Darien’s eyes were just WEIRD!
-Great Scene 3: Claire, Eberts and the Official are trying to explain to an obviously confused Darien whats really happening, Darien is growing more and more freaked out, and Hobbes is trying to keep everyone calm. The episode just comes full circle right there...at the beginning they all accused Darien angrily of being responsible, then spent most of the episode thinking it was Simon, and now they are back to realizing it was Darien again. It’s some great acting, and once again you can just feel the tension!
-So when Simon says to do something...looks like you have no choice but to do it! :-)
-These poor "Red Shirt" type guys that are swinging around those stun sticks are very good at running into invisible walls and fighting against invisible people!
-I love how when Red Shirt Guy runs into the invisible door, he not only does it very well but the surrounding stuff shakes as well because it’s up against that wall!
-Gotta love Hobbes trying to reason with the people in Darien’s head to lay off his friend..."He’s got enough on his mind without you and your RNA adding to his stress."
-...and then he tells Simon to "take your best shot" and Simon does just that! :-)
-So Eberts, Claire and Hobbes wrestle Darien to the table, stick the needle in the back of his neck, and then hold him down...and somewhere along the line as Darien writhes in pain as Simon "dissolves" it turns into them comforting him. All three have these shocked, sympathetic looks on their faces, and Claire is practically hugging Darien. It’s another great scene.
-Eberts will make a wonderful mother someday. :-) But in the end he not only saves the day by his quick actions with the stun stick, but he gets the girl! OK...so he gets to escort the girl out, but still! :-)
-And of course, we have the warm fuzzy happy ending. While it may have been ominous in the Catevari when Claire announced she was going to get Darien to trust her...that’s exactly what they’ve done. And it’s not that bad.
The Bad-> Just one small thing. When the Official is writing down about how there’s "1 Gland" it really appeared like he had enough energy to write "1 Gland" from the start, and not force Claire and Eberts to play twenty questions with just "1 G"
The Crap Count-> Quite a few this week!
-When Darien thinks Simon is at the cafe, "Aw crap."
-As Darien is explaining about how he can see when invisible, "...which admittedly sounds like crap even as I say it but I know I saw something and it wasn’t cool!"
-After Darien finds out he has to go back to Kevin’s lab "Aw crap."
-As Claire explains what's been going on, "Do you guys seriously believe any of this crap?"
-And in voice over at the end, "I still feel terrible about beating the crap out of my boss."
The Nitpicky-> Anyone think Simon sounded more like an inmate from Cool Hand Luke (what with him calling Charlie "Boss" and the accent) then a top level CIA agent?
-For the first time in a while, I have NO problems with anything Darien wore this episode! In fact, I think he looked really good...love that leather jacket. Perhaps Simon had a hand in this? :-)
-A NOT nit-pick, but one of the things I look for. In the cafe scene, when Ivy is wearing those huge sunglasses all you can see in the reflection is Darien and Hobbes. No camera crew. Yes I look for those kind of things!
-"And when necessity is survival she can be one mean mother..." SHUT your mouth! I’m just talking ‘bout necessity. Then it’s cool!
-Used footage alert! Besides the flashback/dream sequences where it makes sense, I’m positive the shots of the van coming down the desert road then pulling up into the abandoned lab are from the Pilot.
-Anyone know what the sonogram behind Darien when he’s reading the journal in the Keepers Lab is of?
-OK I thought that the gland was in the back of Darien’s skull, and they needed to drill in to get to the necessary spot. If that’s true then even the huge honkin’ needle Claire used wouldn’t have penetrated his skull...yet it looks like she enters at the base of his skull and goes up. I’m not sure if this is/isn’t consistent or I just don’t know enough about anatomy.
-Winner of the State The Obvious Award this week is Charlie. After Darien turns into Simon, attacks them all and runs out, our lovable Official says in all of his wisdom "Watch out, he’s dangerous!" No, really?! :-)
"My name is Darien Fawkes,
they call me Furious D
and I’m the coolest secrete agent
that you never did see!
The Man turned me invisible,
now I be miserable,
you mess with my hair I’m bound to get physical!
Now I was locked down and looking at life
4 walls and a guy named Butch for a wife
when my bother, undercover,
said that we could help each other
if his mother of a brother
would go under the knife!
A hole in my head, a gland in my brain,
a needle in my vein or I go insane!
That’s the curse of quicksilver,
the stuff that bends light...
I get closer to madness the more I *THUNK*"
-Darien, being cut off by Hobbes.
...who just realized this is the second review with a quote that ends with a *THUNK*
