NBC
(Season 2, Episode 5)
“Enjoying your job?” - Reese, as Charlie admires a potential witness.
“I’m just a humble public servant” – Charlie’s response.
The wall is back. After being taken down last season during a search of Charlie’s home, the Conspiracy Wall has returned. This time it’s not the mystery of who killed the Seyboldt family that Charlie is pondering, but rather who arranged for the killing in the first place. ‘First there were 6, now there were five, and it could be 4′ is what Charlie and Ted are trying to figure out. They know Jack Reese is part of it, but they don’t really know who else to look at. Plus, they can’t tell on what side of the law Jack really falls anymore.
It’s all part of the charm of Life, which settles into its undeserved Friday night slot. So, with this week’s episode out of the way, let me touch upon five points from the episode that you can talk to the family about before you take them to ballet, theatre, soccer, basketball, swimming…..
The conspiracy- Jack is cleaning up Charlie’s messes? What the hell is he talking about? First thought is Charlie capturing the actual murderer last season, and also rescuing Rachel from imminent death. Somehow by doing this, Charlie screwed things up for Jack and the rest of the people behind what’s really going on. Methinks that there is something greater taking place than a silly old frame-up.
There seems to be a chief mastermind who is manipulating a number of lives, and may have done so since before Charlie’s time on the force. The obvious question is, what are they hiding? After Charlie met with Mrs. Dunn a second time at the station, it sounds an awful lot like the cover-up of a police officer’s death. But, why does this affect Charlie? So many good questions to ponder until next week’s episode.
Charlie and Jennifer – I don’t know if any of you have seen the promotion for next week’s episode of House that features a 43-second lesbian scene between Thirteen and her ‘one-night stand’. To be honest, Charlie and Jennifer’s oh-so-close hookup during this week’s episode held more heat. So close, yet so very far. It’s good to see Charlie’s ex-wife be more involved this season. One can only hope that Detective Crews does something so wonderful to win her heart over again.
Reese and Captain Tidwell – I am of two minds concerning Charlie and Reese’s new captain. One side of me is starting to warm up to the character. Despite being a tad bit obnoxious, he has a sense of human nature that allows him to be more involved with the detectives’ cases. Meanwhile, the other side of me finds him more than revolting and a bad example of a leader.
Instant messaging one of your detectives to go out for a drink is somewhat out of line. The worst part is he never gives up. There is no way, ever, on this planet we live on, nay the entire galaxy, that Reese will allow Captain Tidwell to be with her romantically. Should that happen, I will need to examine my surroundings to make sure I haven’t landed on an alternate universe Earth.
Ted’s teaching debut – So, they’ve (meaning the creators of the show) have given Ted something to do with his life rather than spend two minutes each episode bitching about nothing. Putting him in a teaching position makes perfect sense. Not only can he pass on his accumulated knowledge of the business world to the newer generation, but he also has that deep-seated jailhouse anger that will keep his students in check.
Two moments that stuck out during these classroom scenes. First was Ted’s soft yet firm demand that his remaining students take out their pencils and start writing. Second was the reason why Ted actually asked for pencils in the first place. Were these students transcribing his entire lesson on their laptops? All he was doing is mentioning his name and how it was spelled and all we heard was the clack of laptop keys. Now I know how some interviewees feel when I’m typing my answers out on the laptop. Boy, I can be obnoxious at times!
This week’s case – It seems like every other week on Life, the murder case isn’t really the focus of the episode. Such was the situation this week. There was movement in the case and some good scenes (like when the enormous tow truck guy fell on Reese), but it all seemed to happen in the background. The only point where I thought it affected either of the detectives was at the end of the episode when the perp was caught. It was the suspect’s utter despair of losing her youth that affected Crews. Coming from a place similar to where the suspect did, you see Crews in his new car (only an object) driving down a lonely road. Most likely contemplating the time he lost while in prison.
That’s all for Life for this week. Tune in next week when Charlie and Reese feel the earth move under their feet.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Oct 18, 2008 @ 17:00 EST5EDT
NBC does not deserve this show. If this was on CBS they would have promoted the hell out of it and give it a good spot like it does for NCIS and such.
I like the new captain. Yeah he is a pig but he has a certain charm about him and is more human than the old one.
Charlie’s wife needs to show up more.
I can only hope this show is not canceled with a cliff hanger finale. That is what NBC did to the last show that occupied this slot: Las Vegas.
Thanks for the review! I didn’t think this week’s episode was up to par with last week’s, but it was good, regardless.
The Friday @ 10 pm slot is ridiculous. Is NBC trying to ensure that it fails?
I like the new captain, but I’ve been a fan of Donal Logue’s since his Jimmy the Cabdriver days. I loved last week’s reference to the Afghan Whigs! It was a nice nod to his friendship with Greg Dulli.
I like the new captian too!!! :)
Jack Reece was protecting her, but from what?
Wasn’t sure how to take Tidwell at first, but love him now.
Am surprised that so many of the show’s fans hate him so vehemently, when the old LT was a much harder character to like, and almost certainly involved in the conspiracy somehow. Am thinking that they take him only at face value and believe everything he says.
Though he pretends to be a sleazeball and a buffoon, Tidwell has shown he can drop that in an instant to be an effective superior, then turn it back on in the next breath. There’s no way he did not know Reese’s addiction problems, either from her jacket or office scuttlebutt, before crudely propositioning her for drinks. Don’t think he really is a pig. He probably finds he can get away with a lot more as a clown than as an intelligent cop.
Am thinking that the higher-ups brought Tidwell in thinking he’d be ineffective and easily controlled, but that he’ll actually prove an effective ally to Crews and Reese in the end.