Mon, Jun 9th, 2008 - Riptide, Law And Order, In Plain Sight

07:00    Riptide
11:00    Law And Order
12:00    In Plain Sight

Riptide.  Episode 2.  "Conflict Of Interest"  Some of the comedy falls a bit flat, but the script is much stronger than the pilot and the whole thing is still a lot of fun.  It's a good story.  A wife is being hunted by her mobster-husband, so she speaks to Boz  about hiring the guys to protect her, meanwhile her husband hires Nick And Cody to find her!!  We learn that she dated Cody in the past.  And, for the icing on the cake, her husband has ordered a hit on Quinlan - the cop who hates the guys - and they end up getting the blame when he is kidnapped.  "We've handled this really badly," the guys remark at one point, gazing at their mug shots on local TV news.  So... shoot-outs, boat chases, and on the run for a crime they didn't committ.  Typical "Riptide".  Plus, of course, a very beautiful girl.  In this case (the absolutely stunning) Kristen Meadows who basically appeared on one episode of every cool '80s show.  So much so that when I saw her here for the first time in years I assumed she'd been a regular on some Stephen J. Cannell show.  Not so.  A pity.

Law And Order.  Season 18, Episode 5.  "Driven" is another example of Law And Order at it's very best.  Unlike the previous episode (which had a complex story of international crime) this one is very much about the shooting of one little girl.  And, without ever making a bit deal about her death, the episode manages to make it all the more sad and haunting.  The events surrounding her shooting involve two irresonsible parents urging their children into a racially-motivated confrontation.  And both end up on trial at the same time.  Superb.

In Plain Sight.  Episode 2.  "Hoosier Daddy"  Any doubts I may have had about staying with this Summer Drama have been eradicated by this superb second episode.  Sure, it was a bit slow to start and I wondered briefly if this was going to be an episode about helping a kid adjust to his new life in the Witness Protection Program.  I need not have had fears.  Once the real story got started, I was gripped.  I was blown away by the ending.  And how awesome was it to see Paul Ben-Victor and Vincent Ventresca in the same show again?  (God, I miss I-Man!).

I was also impressed by the b-plot involving Mary's mother and sister.  All the scenes were (a) amusing and (b) short.  Perfect comic relief: a quick chuckle before returning to the action.  Now if Burn Notice would only give Sharon Gless something like this to do.

Highlight?  Law And Order