» Touching Evil Options

[Gibasi]

I had forgotten that, Sylph , but now I vaguely remember it. Despite Robson Green(e?) I did not like the original after its first run. I don't think anyone ever confirmed whether there were 2 or 3 arcs after the original? I think the changes in JD's Creegan make the show stronger. Or maybe it's just because I like my heroes vulnerable (I join in the Ben Browder love) but I'm hoping this TE sticks around for a while.

And because I watched the original and because this one did not vary in the crime plot I will say that--Yes, Creegan went to the house and found the doctor dead. No question about it.

This post has been edited by Gibasi: Mar 19, 2004 @ 2:32 pm.

[LFNikita]

I vote for really happened because it tracks plausibly that he'd be putting his girls to bed and be further overwhelmed that the guy walked away. So he's a little more emboldened by the booze he just had in the kitchen and he goes over there.  -- NickChick

I raised the question of whether it was a dream a few pages back. The problem I have with a scenario where he downed a little liquid courage is that Creegan states specifically that he has NO inhibitions. He does what he wants. Hence the stripping, the hugging, the changing in the middle of the store, the cutting his hair and leaving it all over, stealing the suspect's dog. So if he really felt that he should kill or wanted to kill Hinks, he wouldn't have need to psyche himself up for it.

[Irlandesa]

Despite Robson Green(e?) I did not like the original after its first run. I don't think anyone ever confirmed whether there were 2 or 3 arcs after the original?

I think that the first season (or series if we use the British terms) was by far the best of the three. There were three seasons, if that was a question. The first season had three mysteries spanning two hours a piece (the first of which was shown on Friday night.) The second series/season had three mysteries as well and the third series/season had two two-hour mysteries.

I guess I saw the original Creegan as vulnerable as well, just vulnerable in a different way.

[Endeavour]

Does he come close to being in a catatonic state or does he inch his way to pushing the self-destruct button taking everyone and himself down?

My memory is fuzzy, but I'd say it's more like he was unraveling. It affected his judgment and decisions, but I don't think he endangered anyone else. His boss had one of the other team members keeping a file on him at one point.

I guess I saw the original Creegan as vulnerable as well, just vulnerable in a different way.

I agree. I think the original Creegan was emotional and vulnerable, but like you said in a different way.

This post has been edited by Endeavour: Mar 19, 2004 @ 4:14 pm.

[slanderous]

It occurred to me that I've dated a boy who looked an awful lot like JD. Too bad he was dumb as a post. Topic? I can't wait for tonight's new episode. I've been watching my tape of the pilot while trying to work and I keep getting distracted by JD's thousand-yard stare.

[NickChick]

The problem I have with a scenario where he downed a little liquid courage is that Creegan states specifically that he has NO inhibitions. He does what he wants. Hence the stripping, the hugging, the changing in the middle of the store, the cutting his hair and leaving it all over, stealing the suspect's dog. So if he really felt that he should kill or wanted to kill Hinks, he wouldn't have need to psyche himself up for it.

True. I guess I was thinking he'd need it more because after the case closed he really would've been way out on a limb/putting his life/career in jeopardy in confronting the guy.

This post has been edited by NickChick: Mar 19, 2004 @ 5:27 pm.

[Ide Cyan]

The original Creegan was plenty vulnerable... Push-pin and matchstick scene, anyone?

[Sylph]

The credits are nice with the moody music and the blue/white swirls.
Shirtless!Creegan tossing in bed. Black boxers! Crazy nightmare! Way to open the episode.

"I'm an exotic dancer. G-man by day. G-String by night." (with a little jiggle)
"Sleep is overrated."

I love you JD but I should discuss the episode. I was extremely pleased to see the group working on a case together. It wasn't solely focused on Creegan; other agents got to play a part. I was disappointed that PW didn't do much in the ep but I'm sure he will get used. Sending his character away cause his wife was giving birth is excusable this one time but he better be in more scenes. I'm peeved as it is that he's not in the opening credits.

I liked the interrogation scene with the arsonist. (Upon second viewing I found out his name was Richard.) He had no idea what he was getting into with Creegan. The look on his face after David held his hand over the flame and didn't flinch really annoyed Mr. Arson.

The pregnant lady I did not expect to be the killer. (Hearing the victim scream while she was set on fire was a cringeworthy moment.) Nor did I expect to see Creegan pour the gasoline on himself. He really had no fear. I was waiting for Branca (when the hell did she get so blond?) to come and rescue the poor guy but she can't exactly shoot the pregnant woman, can she? On another note, I know it killed Creegan to say that he left his children. Lynn driving that point home with him "abandoning" them hit a nerve with me. The nightmare of not being in touch with his family was already giving him sleepless nights, she just made it worse.

I'm glad that Cyril was in this one. At first I was startled to see him so lucid but at least the writers cleared it up with the conversation between him and Creegan. Not taking his medication sends Cyril to lalaland. PTV is always a pleasure to watch and seeing him singing "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" with a whole new set of lyrics was a touching moment. If it wasn't for the melody I would have no idea where he was going with it. Judging from the look on his face, David knew that Cyril might not be on the meds at the moment.

This post has been edited by Sylph: Mar 20, 2004 @ 12:22 am.

[Meenbean]

De-lurking to post that I really enjoyed the pilot of this show, and I was a huge fan of the BBC original as well. Robson Green was phenomenal as Creegan and I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role, but I was completely smitten with Jeffrey Donovan's interpretation. Agree that RG's Creegan was much more tortured in an internal way, and his performance was riveting and intense for it. However I was very intrigued by JD's take on it, mainly because of the portrayal of the lack of inhibitions resulting from the missing chunk of grey matter. I was wondering what the hell they could possibly do to distinguish the US version from the original, and I think they hit on an interesting idea.

Okay, before I watch the new episode, I wanna put my two cents in on the whole "Would Creegan have killed Hinks" issue. I think Creegan got the impulse, while spending time with his daughters, to go to Hinks' house and put a gun to the back of his head. I don't think it necessarily meant that he was going to shoot him. If I understand correctly, Creegan is lacking in shame and impulse control, but he's not lacking in logic, reason or morals. Whether killing Hinks would have been against his moral code is hard to say, and I'm hoping the series explores that territory as it continues, but he must know that commiting homicide is going to cost him his job and his freedom. He's brain-damaged, not an idiot. In the pilot, Creegan is shown expressing his opinions and emotions in extremely socially inappropriate ways -- bear hugs, banging his head on a table, playing rude, childish word games, spitting on a suspect, etc. I'm sure we've all had the urge to engage in these sorts of crudely symbolic displays, but we don't because it's weird and inappropriate in professional adult situations. I see Creegan's putting a gun to the back of the child-killer's head as a symbolic gesture along the same lines of his spitting on him earlier. He has no impulse control and absolutely no shame about it, so when the urge hits him he runs out and goes ahead and does it. I don't think he would have killed him. Okay, the breaking and entering is pretty sketchy in itself but...well I'm sticking to my fanwank until something better comes along!

This post has been edited by Meenbean: Mar 19, 2004 @ 11:40 pm.

[Sylph]

Okay, before I watch the new episode, I wanna put my two cents in on the whole "Would Creegan have killed Hinks" issue. I think Creegan got the impulse, while spending time with his daughters, to go to Hinks' house and put a gun to the back of his head. I don't think it necessarily meant that he was going to shoot him. If I understand correctly, Creegan is lacking in shame and impulse control, but he's not lacking in logic, reason or morals. Whether killing Hinks would have been against his moral code is hard to say, and I'm hoping the series explores that territory as it continues, but he must know that commiting homicide is going to cost him his job and his freedom.

Funny enough in the preview for next week we see that flashback and I'm assuming that he does get questioned on his ethics. I guess that is when we will find out if it was a dream or if he was intentionally going to Hicks house to kill him.

[NickChick]

The "Mr. 'fire animates and sustains me'" line had me rolling.

Poor Cyril and his worries about whether he's real.

Add me to the gutter train that enjoyed JD in boxers and silk jammie pants.

I have to say I'm really digging the score.

Nice to see Deanna Milligan pop up -- she's a Canadian HITGer from SG-1, Sliders, and I believe, HL...

So, Kevin Durand and Brian Markinson (another DA alumn), and Zach Grenier are in the credits but not PW. ETA -- looks like PW's role is done. Bummer. But at least they've left it open.

I didn't realize Rachel Talalay was involved in this show. Cool.

This post has been edited by NickChick: Mar 20, 2004 @ 1:32 am.

[slanderous]

I think what I like about Creegan (besides the intense stare, the stubble and the tendency toward shirtlessness) is his capacity for feeling -- he may have no shame, and wallows in moral ambiguity, but it seems that he's just too full of feeling to be jaded or cynical (so far at least). His willingness to listen to Lynn (however strategic) and care for Cyril (however bizarre) is interesting that way, and is a nice change from the hardened, bitter versions of the stock "morally ambiguous detective" character. (I've never seen the BBC version, so I'm just drawing on these two US episodes.)

The actor playing Richard Simon here was on Joan of Arcadia last December, playing a disturbed, angry young man who had been destined to shoot up the school before divine intervention stepped in to stop him. He does the destructive weirdo thing well. His purple prose in praise of fire was cheesy as hell, but I'm afraid that there really are people who talk that way about their pet obsessions. Creegan's imitation of his purple prose ("Mr. 'Fire animates and sustains me'") cracked me up. And made me hot for Creegan. But that's everything.

Did they give up on pretending the show is set in the Bay Area though? The name of Creegan's hotel is spelled Canadian-style ("City Centre Motel") and the public transportation system here isn't ever called a "subway" or the "metro." And the titles announcing locations have stopped naming the city or neighborhood. The Bridge is still in the credits, but otherwise they seem to have given up on pretending that residential streets are ever that wide in Berkeley (as they were in Hink's neighborhood).

[Beelzebubba]

I didn't catch much of the new episode but it was on in the background. One thing I did follow was that Creegan wasn't so outwardly tic-y (i.e. cutting his hair). I liked that they toned that down some until the end when he thought it was a GREAT idea to distract the psychochick by taking a roofie and dousing himself with gasoline.

Another thing I noticed - PTV has that weird!fucking!eye!thing. Holy shit, I knew someone IRL who had that same vibrating pupil thing. It's not an acting thing, but some condition. Now that I've noticed it, I'm not going to be able to stop noticing it. Great.

Also the arsonist? Was cute little Chip from Kate and Allie, all growed up and lighting things on fire. He was also on Oz (ODed naked in solitary confinement) and played a guy who killed his mother and left her in a bathtub to be eaten by worms for ever and a day on (most likely) Crossing Jordan.

So I guess that answers the question of what happens to child stars when they aren't cute anymore. They play a plethora of one-off maniacs. I anticipate the Olsen twins (wearing full hooker regalia and carrying chainsaws) showing up on L&O any day now.......

[stele3]

Oh, yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about (and no, I don't ONLY mean Shirtless!Creegan). This episode was even better than the pilot. JD had some great lines...

Branca: I called your place. There wasn't an answer.
Creegan: Remind me to fire my servants.

"Insanity burns brighter, faster, longer." "What you need, besides a personality transplant, is to do a pirouette for me..." "She's a little sensitive about the treatment of women... and animals." "Mr. 'Fire Animates and Sustains Me'." *WHACK* "Watch the pole." "Did we have one of those special dates last night?" "

Also loved the kid hopping on Creegan's back, and him bucking (hee) like a horse while interrogating a witness, him holding his hand over PyromaniacBoy's lighter, and the disturbing demonstration of Creegan's no-fear brain complete with self-administered date-rape drugs and gasoline.

But hey, the whole series isn't entirely JD/Creegan (shocking, I know). Branca made more of an impression this time around, with a few choice lines of her own ("flame-broiled takeout") and the threatening of the Jerk Ex-Boyfriend. She and Kreegan had more chemistry, too, though I really hope they don't hop down the relationship trail quite yet. There were a couple of really cute moments between the two of them, like when Branca grabbed a whole bunch of peanuts or whatever Creegan was munching on. Their last scene was also sweet. And Vera Farmiga has the most beautiful mouth I've ever seen on a woman.

And how happy am I that Cyril is still around? I wuv him the most! His conversation with Creegan over Monopoly about growing old with someone (Creegan: "A woman") was adorable. Those two together are perfect.

[The Other Daught...]

Ok let me show how shallow I am right off the bat, by saying that I really appreciate the way this show lets us revel in Creegan's buff bod. I like my beefcake so sue me. Now onward to episode review-totally rocked. I liked last week's episode, but it was a tad slow, (probably had to be-a lot of exposition to cover,) and this one was just tense and creepy on all levels the entire hour. As a regular viewer of such shows as X-Files, (From the first season mind you,) and CSI I didn't think there was much on network television that could scare me anymore, but damn if this one didn't, and it did so by appealing more on a mental level than just gross close-ups of charred bodies. LOVED the interrogation of the arsonist, when Creegan manages to freak out Mr. "Fire Animates and Sustains Me." He is definitely *not* just another quirky hardboiled detective type on tv. And how often do you get to see the beautiful, sweet, vulnerable, feminine pregnant girl turn out to be the serial killer?!? Magnificent-this show's got a real dark side and I for one love it.