The Vampire Diaries 4.8 "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street" Review

                                             
Caroline (Candace Accola) mentions Elena (Nina Dobrev) being sired to Damon (Ian Somerhalder) again and that she has to make him happy. Stefan (Paul Wesley) thinks the bond may not affect her the same way, naive thinking on his part but Caroline thinks it is affecting her and Stefan doesn't want her to tell anyone else.    Caroline will talk to Tyler (Michael Trevino).  All the while Elena and Damon engage in yet more bedroom antics together. Elena wants to tell Stefan and Damon thinks she should leave it for a day.  Stefan tells Damon about the sire bond who calls it "pathetic nonsense."  He got her to a good place about being a vampire.  Stefan wants him to tell her to drink from a bloodbag and if it doesn't work he'll apologize.  Damon: "apology better be epic."  Caroline's word from last episode when she said Elena and Stefan are "epic" together.

Tyler says Adrian (Mica Parker) needs to endure more torture to break Klaus's bond but Kim (Alyssa Dias) won't let him continue.  Shane (David Alpay) has taught Bonnie (Kat Graham) small spells.  Damon brings Elena a bloodbag and she drinks it, finally tasting of blood to her, begging the observation of why if she had never drunk blood before then of course the blood will taste like "garbage" to her, as she put it.  But she has a real sense of what blood tastes like now.

Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) says they will break Adrian and then Shane will have his 12 hybrids he needs.  He has the info she wants on her biological parents but he wants the 12th hybrid first or else he'll take Tyler.  Caroline finds there's no vampire equivalent of breaking the vampire sire bond.  Damon recalls New Orleans 1942 and they were there.

New Orleans 1942.  Charlotte (Madeline Zima) was sired to Damon and she kills a sailor cos Damon told her to "show no mercy. and she didn't.  Valerie, a witch helped him break the sire bond.  Elena, Caroline and Bonnie have  a girls' night in.  Stefan was at war and Damon didn't go.  Stefan feels it's important for Elena to know how wrong Damon is for her and then apologizes.  Stefan also apologizes back in 1942 for being the ripper and hope they can be friends gain.  Lexi (Arielle Kebbel) tells him not to pick a fight or judge.

Stefan is going to Egypt as an ambulance driver.  Damon can handle war and wants to spend time with his brother.  Lexi tells Damon he's not going.  Stefan needs balance and to see human blood and suffering.  Charlotte brings in another Vic and Stefan loses it when he sees the blood on his hands.  Damon left Charlotte at Bourbon and Du Main, telling her to count every break and then he left.

Hayley thinks Kim is challenging Tyler's position as the Alpha of the pack.  Stefan doesn't believe Damon will do the right thing, only what's right for Damon.  Damon replies he wants to "restore her factory settings." Damon calling him a dick, now he's at it.  As if it wasn't enough to hear that in Supernatural! Ha.
Caroline says they don't hang out in the bathtub cos of cooties.  Damon brings his skanks in there which Elena takes offence to, what Damon's skanks or that Caroline has labelled Elena one too.  They both fight over Damon and Elena lets slip she's slept with him (and not once either.)

Damon is looking for a witch  in Nandi's (Adina Porter) store.  Valerie (Takara Clark) had a Grimoire with a spell.  He sacrificed 12 human souls.  She says the stuff was lost during Katrina.  Caroline and Bonnie are only watching out for Elena and Caroline blabs Elena is sired to Damon.

Damon says he killed them all back in 1942, his justification, how does Lexi know they didn't deserve it.  He'd do it again.  Tyler told her "the bond affects how you act, not how you feel."  Damon returns to the store and knows she's Valerie's daughter, a practising witch.  She uses her magic on Damon.  Stefan needs her help.  Valerie called on darkness, she wanted power and Damon provided it for her with the 12 souls.  A vampire only bonds to a sire if they have feelings for him.  He must set her free and let her go, then leave her.

Kim tortures Caroline and Elena takes her place as Klaus is fixated on her.  Tyler won't hurt her since he's not Klaus.  Kim submits as do the others.  Damon wants to get on with his life and so should Charlotte, she needs to forget him and find someone else.  Stefan tells Damon it's hard to do the right thing as he's far from selfless, it's not one of his character traits.  Damon responds one day Stefan will realize he doesn't know him as well as he thinks.  Damon wears a uniform in 1942 and is ready to ship out with Stefan but Lexi stops him.  Serving in war is penance for Stefan and Damon has no conscience, Stefan will wonder why.  Damon needs Stefan, but he will destroy him.  She made him not go and Stefan says he didn't know.

He's upset at Damon loving Elena.  Stefan knows it will be Elena's choice if she doesn't feel the same way for Stefan.  Caroline apologizes to Elena and wants to tell Stefan about Damon herself.  Bonnie mentions the little spell she did is called "expression" at least the magic is and Shane is helping her with magic.  Well that puts Shane firmly in place of the dark side, since that's the 12 souls he needs to sacrifice, just as Valerie did back then and Damon provided them for her, as Hayley is doing here.  Of course we knew he was involved in dark magic.

Shane tells Hayley her parents are dead but it doesn't mean she can't see them again.  "We are the beginning."
Stefan feels sorry for Damon since he loves Elena. Damon isn't as bad as he used ot be.  Caroline wonders how he can trust Damon.  He loves Elena as much as Stefan and he can't be selfish with her anymore.  Damon tells her everything's changed; she wants him to know the time she's been in love with Damon is for real and she's happy.  Damon has to do this, he's not a good guy and doesn't do the right thing but he must do the right thing for her.  Elena makes him touch her heart and she touches his face asking if this feels real?  So will Damon do the right thing and tell her to move on, cos Elena just keeps stopping him.  She was quite selfish here too, was she afraid if he told her to leave that she'd actually do it and walk away from him.

Lots of real emotions from Damon in this episode, even if it was mostly for Elena.  He did however want to be with Stefan back in 1942 and Lexi made him see he wasn't any good for him, in the same way Damon must show Elena, but that didn't happen this time round, wonder if it will next ep.  Damon sacrificed those 12 souls for nothing and would do it again in a heartbeat, this time for Elena and Stefan can't believe he did, but why so shocked when he knows what Damon was like.  Only the 12 souls had nothing to do with the sire bond and now Shane wants to do the same.  Pastor Young sacrificed himself and 11 other council members earlier on, presumably they were all innocent and now he wants 12 hybrids.

Elena bringing up Caroline's attraction towards Damon when under compulsion and it appears we must suffer the Damon/Elena relationship for the foreseeable future, even if many of us don't want it.  Well he didn't come out and say he wants to get on with his life and Elena should leave him so she can return to him of her own free will.  It's all about free will in this show which is demonstrated by Tyler breaking the hybrid bond Klaus has over them and yet Hayley is doing it for the wrong reasons, but we knew she couldn't be trusted ages ago.

The other part is how this Tyler/Hayley/Klaus sire bond is being dragged out and I don't find that interesting at all.  Caroline and Tyler don't spend time together and she's the sounding board for Stefan these days and his woes with Elena, but even their love triangle is boring, jarring, whatever you want to call it.  It has been dragging on since a few seasons now and the characters just get pushed in one direction or another.  Do the Salvatore's have to fall for every girl each brother desires?  That makes sense?  Why not decide once and for all who will get Elena, it was the same thing with Katherine.

Let's focus more on the dark side of the show and less on the ever-lasting love triangle.  Also obviously Damon and Stefan missed how Charlotte was still sired when he left her counting bricks on the walls.   Thus the spell didn't work, or was used for other purposes.  Wasn't Damon obsessed with Katherine due to her having a sire bond over him and when she rejected him she set him free.

The title perhaps a reference to Casablanca and the "we'll always have Paris" line between Elsa and Rick.  The film was also filmed in 1942 and was set during the Second World War.  One of my faves.  Damon's fave drink being bourbon.

CSI:NY 7.20 "Nothing for Something" Review

The CSIs investigate the murder of a woman who turns out to be the Vic of a serial killer. Mac is stalked by a ex-con he put away and meets his ex-partner.

 Flies feed of a DB dumped in the park, as the scene flashes back to the murder Vic in the club; where she's picked up by a man.  The scene rewinding and then fast forwarding with the song, New York, New York, playing was an interesting effect.   Flack (Eddie Cahill) informs them the Vic was found by a hiker.   Hawkes (Hill Harper) determines she's been dead at least 36 hours.  Flack recalls the name of another Vic who was also stabbed, strangled and dumped in the park, Macy Martinez..   Mac recalls it was on the other side of the park.   A nearby path could have provided easy access for the body dump.   Mac: "sometimes evil finds finds you on the road you take to avoid it."  Another one of Mac's evil comments, second one this season.   Also alluding to himself, with the ex-con finding him and his ex-partner, who was evil personified too.   Just like the killer.

Lindsay (Anna Belknap) had to be there.   She takes a cast of the shoe print, which took forever.   Hawkes and Mac process the DB, there's trace under her fingernail and Hawkes notices two deep puncture wounds.   Mac adds Sid (Robert Joy) who wasn't in this episode, found the same marks on Macy also indicating manual strangulation with the left hand.  Jo (Sela Ward) comments on Mac wearing the same suit, he hasn't been home in two days.   He had a granola bar from the vending machine.   Jo: "Don is driving you out."  Mac asks if he's getting "Milk and cookies and singing a lullaby."
Flack: "Lullaby thing's a bit weird, but milk and cookies could happen."  Hey no lullaby, no fair!

Jo notices the Vic's expensive lingerie, she was ready for a night out.   Hawkes mentions in Macy's case, she left the club with an older man.   Mac and Flack go to Mac's favourite diner.   Flack: "So no more milk and cookies."  Outside they bump into Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan; and Flack makes several comments alluding to NFL players and their game.   Inside, Flack wonders who arrived at the formula that every dog year is 7 human years and wonders 'how many years these cases take off our expiration date?'  A man feigns being lost and Flack provides him directions to the Statue of Liberty; stealing Mac's wallet in the process.   Flack determines they lose 2 human years every year as a cop.

Adam (AJ Buckley) works his Scottish accent on Lindsay (waste of time really) and she fobs him off by wanting him to analyze the shoe treads for her.   He was improvising.  Why does Adam want to act anyway? Ha.   Mac says he should have seen his wallet being taken.   Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) identifies the Vic as Patricia Kelly (Najarra Townsend).   Her roommate filed a missing person's report on her.   The trace under her fingernail is identified as tyrian purple, Jo worked on art heist cases at the FBI.     Hawkes surmises fine art pieces would belong to a private collector and he's compiled a list of collectors.   Adam identifies the circles on the shoe tread as belonging to 'the Jammer', he has his fingerprint on 500 shoes and he cross references the owners with the art collectors.   Hitting on one match to Charles Martin (Josh Randall).   His apartment looked a bit like Stella's (Melina Kanakaredes) one when she was attacked by her psycho boyfriend.  

When they arrive at his apartment they find it's already been processed.   Danny thinks Patricia was murdered here so the CS has already been processed.   So what would they have done if Danny hadn't turned up to answer Jo's question of, "What the hell's going on here?"  Flack finds Martin was at a business conference but the police were unable to arrest him.   Jo says whoever processed had to have a basic knowledge of CSI techniques.     Danny: "Basic knowledge, kind of like the Feds."
Jo: "I heard that Messer."

Flack checked and neither the Feds or the NYPD were here.  Jo finds the source of the tyrian purple, using the 'poor man's process', where the paint turns blue when it's exposed to water .   Patricia touched the painting on the wall.   Danny notices the lock was picked.  Jo hopes Martin returns here, which he will won't he, cos he doesn't know he's been fingered!  The man who stole Mac's wallet returns it, under the guise of finding it on the street.   Mac insists he didn't lose it.   Raymond Harris (Clifton Collins Jnr) was released from prison a week ago.   Mac isn't sure who he is or what he wants and meets with his former partner.   Whose entire name isn't mentioned until the end, where Mac introduces him to Flack as 'Wild' Bill Hunt
(Peter Fonda).   Mac tells him they locked up Harris, but he appears to be stalking Mac.   Years ago Mac saw him at Rikers, where he believed he was somehow 'wronged.  Flash to Mac in uniform.  Bill doesn't want Mac questioning his integrity; but Mac respects him, "we just had a different way of doing things."  Somehow he doesn't strike as the type who needs to be careful or needs to be warned about danger.

                                                            
Lindsay finds blood evidence from Macy connected to Martin's apartment.   Lindsay had to be the one to mention Stella here again, as in the season opener, as this was her last case at the lab.   No wonder it was unsolved!  Gravitational blood drops on the bed frame matched Macy, who was also killed there.   As well as finding evidence of another woman, as a blonde hair was recovered from the sofa.  Danny finds the CSI rang the doorbell and left his print, identifying him as Mark Fields, (Gene Blevins) a former cop, turned PI.

Yet more tiresome questions from Lindsay, where Jo says it's not a question of 'what', but of 'who'.    Danny shows Fields a photo of a blonde woman, Christina Moreno, who left her husband, Benny (  His only lead was Martin and he was looking for evidence of Christina, but didn't find anything.   Well he missed the hair.   What was the point of having Lindsay there to question the husband,other than pulling faces.  Sure Flack would have managed on his own.   He tells Benny all they can do is hope she's safe.  Whereas Lindsay said to Jo earlier on Christina's probably dead, and Jo replied, let's hope not, just as Flack did here.   Lindsay is so cynical, yet another one of her faults.

Flack informs Jo Martin was chased to the roof of his building and Jo is sure he won't jump.   Did anyone really care he was threatening to jump, not really cos the coward wouldn't have gone through with it.   Jo's not there to make him come down but to ask about Christina, since they know where Macy and Patricia are.   She tells him he's "too fond" of himself to jump.   When the camera showed the bird's eye view of Jo's head, she looked like a stuntwoman.    Jo tells him she can give him 12 ways to kill himself when he's in jail if he changes his mind.   Her hands shake, which she puts down to drinking too much tea and an adrenalin rush.   He admits Christina called him and stayed here a week, then left.   Christina being his friend, well there's no accounting for taste.    Martin arrogantly and remorseless, posits their last moments were filled with pleasure.   He has an impulse to kill.   Flack's impulse: to 'smash his face in and throw him out the window'.

Jo believes he didn't kill Christina.   Bill gives Mac his file on Harris; then proceeds to beat him up in an alley and warns him off.  He's actually going to eat that bread from the ground, yuk.   He tells him "What's done is done." The apartment across the road from the alley looked like the one Danny and Hawkes went to in the episode Jamalot.   (Which is a studio set of course.) Mac tells Jo that Christina doesn't fit Martin's Vic profile.   Hawkes traces the last call made from Christina's phone to a hotel, where they find a bloody CS.   Danny says a man didn't request a maid.   Obviously the husband, Benny killed her as there were no other suspects, then it's always the spouse.    Also as Fields said, Benny kept her on a 'tight leash'.   It was apparent her suitcase was missing, so they're looking for a missing DB.   Lindsay with yet more pointless questions, this time she asks who'd kill her.   Duh.  

Mac says they can pretend they have her DB.   Which is what Flack tells Benny, so why did he butcher her?   He shows him the CS photos and one of the leopard skin suitcase.   Flack also asks him the significance of why they found Christina there.   Benny only wanted love and respect in return.  He dumped her where he met her and yes Lindsay also had to be there!  Like it was necessary.   Flack tells Mac he owes him for the suitcase and if Fields hadn't broken into Martin's apartment, they wouldn't have solved Christina's murder.   Cue Harris breaking into an apartment to retrieve his old weapons.   Bill lets Mac know he doesn't expect Harris to bother them.   Flack "...expect a body to turn up."  (Well maybe in the next episode.)  Mac is adamant he should have left things alone as Harris won't be easily frightened.  Hey last time I looked, that wasn't Flack's desk where he sat at episodes end.  Ha.  

This episode didn't seem to be too focused on the main story, but more of a mish-mash, piecing together the pieces of the various puzzles.   With Martin being revealed as the killer very early on.   How did we know Mac's partner would be his polar opposite, engaging in everything Mac strongly disapproves of and doesn't stand for.

Great to see Jo actually getting Mac to listen to her when she sends him away for food and sleep, in that she hasn't been here long but he listens to her.    He should've taken his own advice when he said similar to Hawkes last episode, who appears to be back on the straight and narrow now.   Jo calling Flack 'Don', felt so comfortable to her, and the number of times she said his name, as we know, usually everyone just calls him Flack.   Flack was in a kind of crazy mood, what with counting the number of dog years and cop years too.   Great to see Eddie portray comedy and seriousness all in the same episode and he does it so well.   Later losing his cool with Martin when he says he's thinking about throwing him out the window.   Providing Mac with milk and cookies, yeah that can be arranged, cos then he can have some too and he didn't refuse breakfast with Mac either.   We haven't seen Flack eat in a long time for someone who loves food.

Didn't like Lindsay popping up everywhere again, surprised she didn't turn up to force Martin from the roof.   Her endless puerile questions being asked again and stopping Adam from his explanation about his accent, was uncalled for, she's not Mac.   If she didn't want to know why bother asking to begin with when she was too busy attempting to score more points off him when asking him for help.

Getting back to Mac, he really seems weary in this episode, but not just because he hasn't had any sleep.   His years on the job appear to be catching up to him - so no wonder he probably had thoughts about leaving the force and the crime lab.  Almost as if the writers were projecting their opinions about the show and where it may be headed, onto Mac.   You can tell there's something going on when the killer's unmasked straightaway and you don't have to put together clues or evidence to guess the suspect, as that's what happened in this episode.  It felt as though the writers had given up already before the season was even over and couldn't be bothered to keep up the momentum to keep viewers interested.   What with Stella being mentioned it practically made it seem like the final series.   Slipping standards when they feel  Lindsay has to be written into every scene, practically.

Macy Martinez's case was one of the last ones Stella worked on before leaving for New Orleans.

Also not mentioned since season 1's Officer Blue episode, was Mac and Flack being able to lie to Benny about finding Christina's body to elicit a confession from him.  Then  Aiden (Vanessa Ferlito) told the suspect, : "You know what one of the greatest rules of an investigator is - we can lie to the suspects legally." Used to brilliant effect here in getting Benny to admit, not only he killed his wife, but her whereabouts too.   Very tactful on Flack's part and clever (he's not just a pretty face!)  The DB being carried out in the leopard print suitcase reminded me of Rear Window, (1954) where the killer, Lars Thorwold cut his DB wife into little pieces to dump her.   Hey how could they be sure they got the correct leopard print?

Flack and Mac meet Mike Tannenbaum, the NY Jets coach and Rex Ryan, the General Manager outside the diner, in a scene filmed in downtown LA.   Flack giving some pointers about NFL and comments on the players, whereas with Danny it was baseball in the episode The Untouchable.

Mac's reference to evil was in the season 7.11 episode To What End, where he said "...the sacrifices they have to make...the necessary price of evil."

Merlin 5.10 "The Kindness of Strangers" Review

                                           
Morgana (Katie McGrath) continues her attempts (pathetic) to wage war on Arthur (Bradley James) as she tracks down, no, hunts down Alator the Catha (Gary Lewis) who made his last appearance in season 4.7 The Secret Sharer ep where Gaius (Richard Wilson) revealed the true identity of Emrys.  She catches up with Alator and once again threatens him with torture if he doesn't comply with her will.  Thing is she knows he's been trained to withhold all forms of torture and physical pain, yet she still insists on doing this.  Until she decides to use the Nathair, or threatens to, the evil looking snake.  This will engulf his soul and he will reveal Emrys.  Though it isn't shown or said whether she actually goes through with this and if Alator withstands it or not.

Elsewhere, Merlin (Colin Morgan) has to endure yet another picnic outing with Arthur and Gwen (Angel Coulby) and yet more jokes at his expense.  One about Arthur's dog being bale to catch the pouch and Merlin replying it's cos he gets treated better.   Gwen says Arthur's changed and Arthur wants Merlin to fill the water pouches.  He throws them at Merlin who doesn't catch them and Merlin finds magical markings on on trees, which Arthur puts down to hunting.  He also finds a piece of jewellery near the tree.  They find refuges flooding in from across the border where magic is freely used and Merlin wonders why Morgana would hurt these people.  Arthur sends out more patrols on the border, but what will these knights do against Morgana and magic?  Gaius tells Merlin the medallion could have been dropped by a refuge and is probably used by the high priestess.

Merlin knows Alator would never betray him and Gaius adds not willingly, since Gaius has been subject to Morgana's torture and magic last season too.  He reminds Merlin it was he who betrayed him and told him who Emrys was.  Whilst picking flowers for Arthur (ha!) who wants them to serve with Gwen's breakfast in bed, Merlin chances upon a high priestess, Finna (Sorcha Cusack) who has a message for him and wants him to meet later.  Gaius warns him against going and feels it's a trap set by Morgana to ensnare Emrys.  Merlin doesn't believe this but Gaius gets him to promise not to go to the meeting.

Gaius later engages in another betrayal of sorts by informing Arthur of this woman and he sends out his knights to find her.  In a moment where Merlin once again feels likes an outsider, Arthur takes Mordred (Alexander Vlahos) aside, telling him he has a task for him.  Merlin can't help but feel this way as Arthur once more puts all of his trust and faith in Mordred.  Plus we don't know what Arthur actually says to Mordred.   Merlin goes out to meet Finna anyway and the knights arrive, prompting Merlin and Finna to run.  Merlin has to use magic to keep the knights at bay so they can both make their escape.  Had a feeling Mordred knew exactly what was going on then.  Also the bit where Finna sends a message via the crow to make us believe she was on Morgana's side, where it's actually Alator she's contacting.

Merlin tells Gaius of this and has to find her.  Alator receives the message saying that she has found Emrys and all will be well.  Two mistakes here that people with magic so obviously shouldn't have made, Finna signing her name, surely they would have had some other name or symbol and Alator keeping the note.  Why?  He could have torn it up and thrown it out the window or buried it in his cell.  Morgana's henchman finds the note leading Morgana to kill Alator.  As she heads out to find Finna.

Percival (Tom Hopper) finds Merlin who thinks he's given them the slip and admits he was out looking for herbs, commenting on how they helped Percival and his 'palsy', it wasn't palsy.  Gwain (Eoin Macken) and Leon (Rupert Young) won't let him return and he tries to sneak away in the night, with Mordred catching him.  He won't tell Mordred where he's going but Mordred covers for him.  Morgana catches up to Finna as does Merlin and he is injured by an arrow in his leg.

They get to a tower and Finna gives him a box.  Warning him of the great battle to come for Camelot and Arthur.  She is pleased to have served him, sending Merlin to the roof and leave her his sword.  She waits until Morgana comes in and then kills herself.  Oh dear, another waylaid plan Morgana!  Merlin lies helpless and calls for the Dragon (John Hurt) long time no see; carrying him to safety he tells Merlin he will serve him as long as he can but he grows weary and it will soon be his time, it's the circle of life.  Ahh poor Dragon.

The knights bring in a dead knight and Gaius once again breaks the news of it being the work of magic, his skin has grown over his face.  It is a declaration of war on Arthur and Camelot by Morgana.  Thought she was doing that anyway! So not that much happened this episode, seems this one was all about tying up loose ends as to who could give away Emrys's identity and next week's one will set up Mordred as an enemy and then we get Arthur to be his own "Bane" in the two-part final episodes.  So what of the blue creature encountered earlier on and of course Morgana hasn't found Arthur's bane either and what she was looking for in the caves.

Merlin is distraught he has gotten two people killed and Gaius tells him he is the only one who has the magical ability to help Arthur, no one else can do it.  Yet it seems he doubts himself.  So what happened to the knights after Merlin left them and where did they find the dead knight's body, well he was dressed in knight's clothes.

Finna's prophecy is all about the impeding battle: "let loose the hounds of war" immediately reminding me of Shakespeare's line from Julius Caesar, "let slip the dogs of war..."  She also refers to Arthur as "the once and future king" said many times before and in season 3.8 The Eye of the Phoenix. The Nathair Morgana used on Elyan last series.   "The ...cold dawn of Camlann" is where Arthur will meet his doom (but then they can't have any movies?)  Incidentally it is said that Mordred also met his death in this battle, but we don't know if it was battling against Arthur or with him.  Be good if after all the prophecies and doom, they could turn it around with Mordred turninng out to be good after all, but that'd be too much since he will join Morgana.  Lots of mentioning of destinies too, like Finna's to "serve you until the end" she tells Emyrus.  Of course it was apparent what Finna was going to do with the sword, she's hardly going to use it to fight Morgana and her henchmen.  SO much for Morgana wanting her alive.

Gwen was quite boring now that she's back to her usual self and Arthur fawning all over her after everything, well perhaps he won't be around much longer so...Thought Merlin forgave Gaius a little too quickly, but then he is a father figure and mentor, plus there's no one else he really trusts or can turn to.   The knights not having much to do again this episode.  The title was from Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire where Blanche DuBois depends on "the kindnesss of strangers."  Here that is what Merlin relied upon with Finna and Alator who he didn't really know and who went to their deaths for him.

The Mentalist 5.6 "Cherry Picked" Review

Patrick (Simon Baker) is interviewing police officers to find who helped in Lorelei's disappearance, well I say loosely interviewing as he does what he does best ascertains if they're lying or not.  Then gets hold of the arm of a female officer to see if she's telling the truth, much to her dismay.  Lisbon (Robin Tunney) calls him about a case, the killing of a security guard.  A couple have been kidnapped and as soon as he arrives he notices a face in the crowd busy using his phone.  He tries to read his messages, conspicuously of course and Isaac (Neil Hopkins)  feigns checking his brother's mail.  Of course he doesn't know if the box was empty or full.

When Lisbon and Patrick take him into the house, there are signs of a struggle.  Patrick calls him on his phone and he admits his brother, Marcus (J R Cacia) and his wife, Pella (Brooke Langton)  have been kidnapped.  Patrick noses around and Isaac locks himself away wanting his lawyer.  Patrick plays classical music really loudly on the expensive sound system and again a record on the record player, but there's country music in one of the other music systems.  Thus he deduces the kidnapper took the wrong couple.  Also he notices the dog is missing and finds him outside.  Don't know about you but hiding Van Pelt (Amanda Righetti) constantly behind large cases made me laugh and was quite off putting, no cos it's so obvious why they're doing that and excuse me, what about hiding her upper body?  It's confirmed the wrong couple were kidnapped when the Goodwins walk in the door.

Lorelei has been missing 19 days and with any other missing person this wouldn't have been significant, so quite a lot has happened in that time.  Patrick leaves to interview the police driver, Munn (Michael Shamus Wiles) he shows him Lorelei's picture and he gets defensive by folding his arms, well duh, Patrick suspects and notices everything and if that wasn't a big giveaway he's hiding something, he tells Patrick he drives a lot of prisoners and walks out.

A lot of the time is spent at the couple's house until they work out Gary (Michael Petrone) and Sloan (Anne Dudek) his wife, are missing.  Then it's back to the office and more cases for Van Pelt to conceal herself with.  Cho (Tim Kang) and Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) not having much to do this episode.  The kidnapper calls and demands $5 million.  Patrick takes charge and tells him he took the wrong couple but he already knows that.  Patrick demands one hostage released within the hour, or they will get nothing.  Seems like he's already deduced who is behind it, as did I, it was obvious, sorry, as I've said they need to give us more twists and turns, cos finding 'whodunnit' is too easy!  So it looks like the accomplice will be released.  Patrick doesn't tell Lisbon how it went with the Munn and she realizes he knows something.

Note: a lot goes on outside the lift!  Just as in last episode, Red Dawn, Patrick was trying to obtain info on Red John.  Lorelei in the lift with the FBI being taken away, Patrick getting punched in the nose, etc.  Lisbon wants in on what he knows but he thanks her, not just for letting the lift door go, but also for not wanting her involved.  especially as we see he breaks into Munn's house.  Just as he did the same with having Culpepper break into La Roche's house, here he does the breaking in.  Also Lisbon and Patrick's life scene was like the season 4 finale, Red Rover, Red Rover, where she offers to help but he doesn't accept.

Patrick also finds Isaac doesn't have the money to pay for the ransom, he has $1 million of his own money but he doesn't want to part with it.  Marcus agrees to return it.  Lisbon wants proof of life and the drop point is arranged at a mall.  With Sloan bringing the ransom money.  Funny part wasn't only Patrick re-negotiating a lower amount for the ransom but defending Lisbon when the kidnapper is rude to her.  Pushing down the laptop cover to end the transmission.  Well he's being forceful and to the point, cos he hasn't got time to mess around and neither does Gary, he's got Lorelei on the mind.

Like breaking into Munn's house and looking for incriminating evidence and questioning Munn and tells him about the illicit porn and what he's thinking about, his wife leaving him and that he raped a prisoner.  Thus the FBI has leverage over him and he would be the only logical choice to take Lorelei away for them.   He reluctantly relents and mentions "Agent Nemo" took her, Patrick replying, "Nemo is Latin for nobody."  If he's not arrested was Munn's condition but knowing Patrick he would do exactly that even if he hasn't been a stickler for upholding the law in the past.  He's not going to let him get away with rape.

Brenda (Brenda Wisocky) is back and wants Lisbon to tread carefully as Marcus Goodwin is Pentagon connected, shown by the arrival of the press.  Lisbon refuses to back down and Brenda threatens to call Director Betram, he's mentioned again.  So Brenda is back, there were theories propounded out there in The Mentalist fandom about Brenda being in cahoots with Red John.  Also Patrick calls Isaac, "arrogant, insensitive..." earlier on, words that can also be applied to Patty himself.

Patrick has sussed Sloan is behind the kidnapping and Rigsby escorts her home telling her she has to deliver the ransom.  She immediately calls her partner in crime,Vince (Wes Chatham) and tells him about the drop and she wants Gary dead.  He gave her ten years of nothing, well she can't divorce him cos she won't really get anything in return, thus the money.  Before the drop, Cho wires her and tells her there'll only be the team there.  Meanwhile, Patrick masterfully directs Lisbon and Rigsby into fooling Sloan.  Lisbon radios she's spotted the kidnapper and Rigsby gives chase.  Shots are fired and Cho leaves her alone with the money.  Finally Sloan makes off with the money.  Van Pelt watches her on the CCTV but she knows the blindspots and leaves the mall in disguise, leaving behind her clothes.

There's quite a lot of mistakes made by Sloan in the amateur commission of this crime, firstly she didn't have to reveal herself to Gary, or at all, then she didn't realize if she was wired, so would the money have some sort of a receiver and she's up against Patrick and she's no match for him.  As well as leaving the phone behind, allowing Van Pelt to trace the signal to the mall and her accomplice.  Who tells them where Gary is. Was it really worth it?  When Rigsby and Cho trace up the lead on the white stolen van with no number plates, and the woman who sold it and reported it stolen after the kidnapping cos it was still registered to her, identified the kidnapper, it looked  a bit like Isaac I thought.  Seems like Gary knew who his real friends are. Though Gary turns out to be more of a family to Marcus than his own brother.

Speaking of Betram earlier on, there was a photo of him with Munn in Munn's apartment, so they know each other, that's a little too close for comfort especially since we know Betram has been put forward as  a possiblility of being in league with Red John or as being the old devil RJ himself...   Brenda refuses to let Lisbon speak at the press conference, she was looking for Patrick to be there!

The title a reference to Patrick 'cherry picking' the officer from his list and crossing off other names.  Patrick listens to "La Donna et mobile" from Verdi's Rigelleto, (which is what Doctor Who sang in the shower in season 5's The Lodger episode.  The song is all about how deceptive women can be.  The song is sung whilst his beloved is plotting to kill with her accomplice.

Though there wasn't much inway made into Red John, at least Patrick now has an address for her and we're left to wonder if he will tell Lisbon or go after her himself.  he's done that before, "gone rogue" so to speak where Lorelei was concerned when he feigned his breakdown last season and that didn't work out.

Scandal 1.7 "Grant: For the People" Review

Ahh poor Gideon (Brendan Hines) lying there in agony and along comes Quinn (Katie Lowes) and what does she do, practically kills him off! Did no one tell her you do not pull out sharp objects when stuck in someone's neck, causing massive blood spoutage!  No the first thing she does is remove the scissors and then call for help, Agggh!  Hey if I had my way I wouldn't have cleaned up the mess for her.  Then she calls Olivia (Kerry Washington) and she brings in the others and why, cos if they call the police then they'll fingerprint and find out her real ID, cos Olivia knew all along who she really is.

Olivia decides on covering everything up even if this means losing the evidence that will find Gideon's killer, charming, we'll just let him walk ten.  Obviously Gideon's killer was Billy (Matt Letscher) but there was something more to Amanda's killing, if Billy had killed her, why would he go to all the trouble of staging the set of it being suicide and having the DB dumped in the river.  Then all of a sudden Billy becomes sloppy and leaves Gideon lying there, still alive, knowing full well he could implicate him in all sorts of "scandals."  See no one thought of the 'sloppy' angle side of things.  There was more going here than meets the eye.  Though he does get to go free, re Gideon, as he tells Olivia she cleared him of that.

Stephen (Henry Ian Cusick) debates the legality of covering up the evidence and cleaning up, since most of them are sworn officers of the court/law and this is not what they do.  Harrison (Columbus Short) doesn't want to end up in prison.  Olivia calls it, protecting Quinn is more important and they reluctantly have to follow the boss gladiator.  Quinn's real ID being the cliff hanger for season 2.  Not sure whether to read up on this and spoil it for myself or wait until Spring to watch it.  Then it'll probably end up being a total anti-climax!  Harrison finds clothes for Quinn to wear, Gideon's clothes, as well as bagging the evidence of their 'one night' thang and grilled cheese too!  Gideon's last meal, ha.   She has to change in front of everyone.  Huck (Guillermo Diaz) recalls his phone and they take that too, as well as all his story info.  Finally Olivia calls and leaves an anonymous message for the police.  Leaving Gideon all alone...  Wonder if Brendan Hines kept a straight face through all that?!

                             
The scissors??... gone...aghhh

Back at the office they try to  figure out what happened and who was behind it.  Quinn wants to help but can't.  Billy gives the VP Sally (Kate Burton) a note, obviously his 'confession' about what happened, but she doesn't really seem to share it with anyone, cos it's back to business as usual .  Billy hijacks the Whitehouse Press conference and admits to his affair with Amanda but also that the President had an affair too and how there's a sex tape with his voice on it, which will be revealed to them.  Cyrus rushed to have him removed from the podium but it's a little too late.  Sally tells the Pres she had nothing to do with Billy's outburst and was shocked when she read the letter.  Then smirks as she walks away from him.  She's probably peeved she didn't think of it herself.

I like the way he later manipulates her by telling her the news about her daughter's abortion, obtained with her consent in Georgia and the line about "let him who is without sin cast the first rock, stone..."  She needs to be put in her place with her 'holier than thou attitude.'  You know she was secretly hoping he would resign and she'd take his place.  Mellie (Bellamy Young) walks out on him too.  So Olivia is brought back in to help.

Olivia doesn't want him to resign as she voted for him and he needs to do the job he was elected to do.  He wants to resign so he can have the woman he wants, but Cyrus (Jeff Perry) gives her a sob story about how the country needs him and she makes a deal with Mellie, who blames Olivia for Amanda and her actions.  Thought she knew about Olivia and the Pres, or did she just vent to Olivia and keep that to herself.  "I did my job, why didn't you do yours..."  She shouts at Olivia.  Being the First Lady is just all in a day's work.

Rosen (Joshua Malina) wants Quinn and he knows about the destruction of evidence they engaged in.  Stephen tells her to give Harrison a dollar, that's his retainer so he's her lawyer now.  Stupid Quinn, asking why?  Ugh if this revelation about her is something lame, I'll scream!!  She later makes another mistake when Rosen tempts her with Chinese food, putting the container and fork back on the table with her DNA all over it!! Don't tell me she doesn't know you don't touch things either.  Also when Rosen was at the office he dials Gideon's number, don't tell me (number 2) no one switched his phone off!!  Wonder if I'd hire them!!

Huck offers to take care of Billy but Olivia doesn't want that and makes him promise, so he does the next best thing, turns to Charlie (George Newbern) instead to do the dirty deed.  He tells Huck that Billy contracted him for the Amanda job when he clearly knows who it really was.

Oh Olivia's deal with Mellie. I got side tracked before, it's not seeing Gideon again you see...Rosen saying he was only 29...oh yes, she gets Mellie to agree to give an interview with Pres at her side saying it's her on the recording and she's upset at their privacy being invaded, thought for a second she'd say it was Olivia and she 'lies' that she's pregnant, but they'll have time to work on that.  Perhaps cunning Mellie agreed to that cos she can manipulate her husband all over again, as she's the one behind the presidency and being so instrumental in ensuring he stays elected.  Then she can get him in her bed again!  Maybe he's piked up a few pointers about manipulation from her when he makes Sally go on air.

Funny line Cyrus saying he'll be known as a slutty President.  Of course Cyrus is a bit of a dark horse like Mellie, he's another one who keeps exclaiming he's worked so herd for the President and he'll be damned if he watches him throw it away, blah, blah, another master manipulator.  It's partly cos of him that Olivia is determined to see her beloved remain President.  She returns to the office in despondent mode and Stephen admits to her that he's been cheating on his fiancee and Olivia said he should try to go 'straight' then at least he'll have nothing to be ashamed about.  Pep talk over and it's business as usual.

The VP goes on air denouncing Billy as a liar and needing help and as he takes the lift, Charlie enters, see they don't acknowledge each other.  If Billy contacted him surely they would at least do that.  Rosen tells Olivia he printed Quinn himself and wants to know about her, Olivia giving her the option of telling everyone herself.  Let's hope it's not witness protection or some domestic or other type abuse thing.  So Quinn isn't Quinn, which explains why she's rather inept at the job, forget about her being new and green behind the   ears.  Olivia kept referring to Quinn as "the client" in the ep, so maybe she could be a client.  Oh okay stop sniggering all you who have watched it!

Charlie comes to see Cyrus asking for the rest of the Amanda money.  See, Cyrus you conniving devil!  One Chief of Staff is as bad as another!  The team did look like they could have engaged in super clean-up tactics before, but it is immoral.  Think of what else they could have gotten up to, not to mention does Olivia still wear her white hat that Harrison mentioned quite a bit, especially to Quinn.  Ha, Quinn knowing all about Olivia and let's see keeping secrets from her associates, that's not on is it.  I expect to see some fall out from this, especially from Abby (Darby Stanchfield) why didn't she trust them?  That whole hat Olivia's probably handed over to Rosen as she tells him to use it, but he's a stickler for the law and upholding it, until he finds out about Quinn.  That's something he'll keep to himself.

Olivia and the Pres getting carried away under the cameras and he doesn't care, she didn't either until that conversation with Cyrus.  Though people may be shocked the Pres actually wanted to tell the truth and come clean, yes shocked, okay even if it was only cos he could finally have Liv, so he's a fundamentally flawed character.  After all, he's just a man with manly urges.  Sure they could have come up with something more for Gideon to do than just bite the bullet, suffer the scissors in the neck...

Without A Trace 3.18 "Transitions" Review

A choir woman goes missing.

70 Hours Missing

No one has seen her in 3 days.  She attended St Urban’s for the past year and helped with the prayer group and youth literacy.  She was a private person.  Danny (Enrique Murciano) asks why he’s sure she hasn’t just gone away for the weekend?  He replies because she specifically requested a hymn for Sunday : Be Thou My Vision, it was Irish and from the eighth century.  Her name is Stephanie Healy (Sandra Nelson).

71 Hours Missing

Martin (Eric Close) says her car isn’t in the garage and Sam (Poppy Montgomery) tells of her neighbour overhearing an argument on Wednesday night and things being broken.  Sam finds a missing picture frame from the wall and broken glass on the floor.  Martin comments her Pinedale bank mug collection remains intact and he hates that bank as it sends him so much junk mail.  He then finds flowers and a teddy bear in the bin.  Martin assumes she had an argument with her boyfriend.

Viv’s (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) husband Marcus (Joseph C Phillips) comments on her doctor has told her the beta blockers are doing nothing for her.  Viv thinks perhaps a new dosage will help.  He mentions steptoe ablation myectomy and the only other option is open heart surgery.  Viv reassures him she won’t go through with anything until she gets a second opinion.  Viv reminds him he has students waiting for him.

72 Hours Missing

Viv tells Sam when Stephanie can’t sleep she watches  QVC as she’s made 11 calls to them.  Her family doesn’t keep in touch.  Sam asks Viv about her test results.  She’s still waiting on them.  Sam mentions she looked up everything on halter monitors online and it looked serious.  She’s concerned and asks if she should be at work?  Viv ‘s doctor said it’s okay.  Sam tells her Martin told her of the Chelsea Prince case and what happened there.  Viv swears her to secrecy again.  Martin finds Stephanie’s work history shows she’s had 4 jobs in the last 3 years, all in banks, but she keeps on moving.  Her DMV photos show she also kept changing her appearance.

The bank manager tells Danny and Jack (Anthony LaPaglia)  that Stephanie hasn’t been stealing from the bank, she didn’t check out her last job references because she told her she’d been sexually harassed and she respected her decision.  Danny asks about references.  Kirk (Brian Tee) saw her 4 days ago when she withdrew money and gave it to a man outside the bank.  She was overdrawn $187.  They argued together.  Jack asks for the security camera footage.

73 Hours missing

Edward Ferguson (Dale Midkiff) sent her the flowers.  He lives in her building and has been seeing her 8 months.  They fought Wednesday night after he heard a message on her answering machine asking for Steven.  Stephanie told him Steven was her.  She had a sex re-assignment 4 years ago to become a woman.  Edward pushed her away and broke the frame.  This was the last time he saw her and 2 days later sent her flowers.  He loves her.

77 Hours missing

Danny says the phone message outing Stephanie came from a hospital payphone in Stanford.  Sam says she was issued with a new birth certificate but her social security number was the same: Steven Patrick Healy.  Martin says this explains her moving around.  Sam thinks maybe the payout was for the man to keep quiet.  Danny discovers her gender Re-assignment doctor was Dr Vernon Metzger (Tony Pasqualini).

78 Hours Missing

She wrote a cheque to the doctor last December.  He performed the surgery on her 4 years ago after a psychological evaluation, as well as some cosmetic surgery.  Danny thinks she may have been the victim of a hate crime.  The doctor says he was desperate for love and affection and probably looked in the wrong place for it.  Viv says family members could be violent.  Jack pays a visit to Lisa (Stephanie Venditto) and asks for a prescription because he can’t sleep but he doesn’t know why.  She writes him one this time only.

79 Hours Missing

Sam finds a photo of Steven in the New Haven register.  He was married 7 years ago.  Martin tells her ERT went over her apartment and didn’t find anything.  There was no record of Lillian J Schneider there.  Stephanie’s e-mail record from 1 week ago was from Larry (Kevin Rankin) in Allentown, PA.  There’s a record of  a Lillian Schneider.  Martin deduces Larry and Lillian are the same person.  He’s in the photo from the bank footage.

Larry went to a female support group when he began his transition  She wanted him to give the money to a friend at home.  She didn’t want to go back herself and he thought she should be proud of who she is and follow her advice to him.  The money went to Bridgeport, to a Maura McConnell (Eileen Ryan) at a a pub.

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT
Maura knew Stephanie since she was little.  Danny asks what the money was for?  Her father’s memorial.  Her ex-wife and children moved away.  Danny asks if she stayed in touch.  She didn’t call back after her mother died but but she wanted to sing a hymn at her father’s funeral.  Her brother Robert (Jamie McShane) couldn’t afford to throw a party.  Danny asks if things between them were bad.  Robert was surprised when she turned up and didn’t recognize her at first and was angry.  She disgusted him.  They went outside together and he had his hand in a towel when he returned., bleeding.

82 Hours Missing

Robert says Stephanie left.  She broke their parent’s hearts and said he wanted to do this since he was little.  He divorced Bev and moved to Danbury.  She remarried, someone named Eastwick, he thinks.

83 Hours Missing

Danny notices something wrong with Viv which she puts down to tiredness.  The barman recalls Stephanie was here Saturday night and was upset.  Her children’s photos were old and he said she deserved a more recent photo.  She made a call at the payphone and left.  Viv uses the restroom.  Danny thinks he was trying to contact her children.  Martin finds a call was made to Dwight Eastman (Michael Toland) at 7:31.

84 Hours Missing

Bev (Maragret Welsh) doesn’t want to talk with Danny and Viv.  Sam brings a search warrant.  Her car was in the driveway.  Danny wants to hear Eastman’s version of what happened but he asks for his lawyer.  Bev says she was here a few minutes when her husband was out.  He made a mistake leaving her.  Her husband returned and knew she was her ex.  Martin finds Eastman used the ATM near Fairfield Mall at 11:39pm.  He was abusing his wife as the police stopped by the house because of domestic disputes.  He went out at 10:45pm.  Sam promises he won’t hurt her anymore.  He dragged Stephanie out and took the car.  He returned late.  Sam finds a broken heel outside and assumes he got violent.  Viv tells them he’s not talking.  Sam thinks the money was for a taxi.

Danny and Viv find a broken road barrier where the car must have driven off.  Danny goes down to look and finds the body in her car.  She’s still alive.  Viv collapses in the rain.

Stephanie was missing for 3 days before anyone noticed.  This case went over the customary 48 hours and remarkably she was found alive.

It appears that things are a little better between Sam and Martin in this episode though no explanations for our benefit.  Oddly they both go to her apartment and find the scenes of a fight and Martin finds the flowers.  Signs of a lover’s quarrel, something they’re both familiar with!
Viv: “So you two have been discussing this?”
Sam: “No, he noticed something, he came to me.  I didn’t say anything.”
Viv: “not an issue and I would really appreciate it if you kept it to yourself.”  So Sam managed to keep quiet about it and didn’t let slip in an argument.

Martin: “She okay?”
Sam: “”I don’t know.”

Martin: “I can’t believe we didn’t know she used to be a man.”  This could be interpreted to mean a criticism on his part.  Viv just happened to have done the legwork in this episode along with Danny rather than staying in the office, leading up to the final moments of this episode.

Jack says his daughters are like “little women.”  Referring to the book perhaps of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, since they’re miles away, having to deal without their father being with them nearby.  They think Chicago has “funny accents, weird pizza.”  Obviously he’s not a fan.
Jack can’t sleep and pays a visit to the shrink, Lisa for reasons other than talk, at least in this episode.  His lack of sleep builds up nicely to episode 22 where one could say the pills seem to have a strange effect on him, at least his dreams.
Jack: “They can read that.”

For such a thought provoking episode in the controversial area of gender re-assignment, leading to all sorts of problems such as hate crimes, as mentioned by Danny, strangely not one of the team had any thoughts on this or any comments to make.

Robert mentions the famous Irish saying of “may you have gotten into heaven half an hour before the devil knows you was dead…”  Of course said by that other Irish half-man, half-demon, Doyle in season 1 Angel.  Played by Glenn Quinn, sadly no longer with us.

Also mentioned is the movie The Witches of Eastwick, though makes you wonder why he thought of his name being Eastwick, something to do with witches or being a monster Eastman.

Danny: “Wanna rack ‘em up?  Viv, what’s going on?”
Viv: “I’m just a little tired today.”  So she could’ve asked to work in the office or Sam could’ve offered to take her place in the field.

Danny asks if she’s okay again?  Viv was too ready to reveal what was wrong with her.  It was for the benefit of the viewer – we already knew.  Then Sam looked it up on the Net and told her blatantly.  She didn’t say she was worried first and then looked it up.  She should’ve talked to Viv about it instead of going behind her back, then she has the nerve to accuse Martin of keeping things from her, like not talking about Viv’s condition with her, she didn’t do the same after they all found out.

Danny likes to throw his weight around with suspects like ordering them to sit own.  So does Jack as he always invites people to sit down next to him on the sofa.  As for Eastman using an ATM machine when he clearly needs an alibi, well couldn’t he have paid for the taxi when he got home or did he not have any money there either.  When Viv collapses it’s left to Danny and Jack to find her as if there was no one else bout.

The well-known storyline done on CSI where the man finds out about the woman not being as such and then things turning ugly.

Danny has his own umbrella when they find Viv and also he found the missing person again, though this time she was still alive.   Danny got his hands on a an umbrella finally.  Yeah, it was Viv’s! as he didn’t have one in season 3 episode 2 Thou Shalt Not either!

No one commented about the operation in this episode, as if everyone was trying to be all PC.  Remember the season 2 episode 10 Coming Home, when Danny commented on how the man should’ve made up his mind if he was gay or not before he got married to save everyone the trouble, whereas Sam thought he was being homophobic, which he wasn’t and when Jack said it’s not their job to judge but only to find the missing person.  Also no one said anything to Martin when he said he couldn’t believe she was a man.

Viv in the field with Danny when she obviously wasn’t well, as opposed to Sam volunteering to take her place.  By now even Danny sensed something was wrong.  Viv should’ve confided in him – not like he would’ve blabbed and he could’ve kept a closer eye on her!  Not like Viv did in episode 21 when she called Jack and told him about his visit – granted she was concerned but Jack wasn’t with him; so couldn’t really keep an eye on him.  Danny wouldn’t have expected that from her.

No one came up with any 'he/she' comments.  Martin saying he couldn’t believe they didn’t know she was a man without anyone making a big deal about it.  Also season 2's episode, which I have already mentioned, never mind,. When Danny said he should’ve realized his sexual orientation before he got married so he wouldn’t hurt his wife and save everyone the bother etc and would probably still be alive and Jack having a go at him by saying they only find them and it’s not up to them to pass judgement.  Also Sam implying Danny was being homophobic.  Especially since Danny wasn’t or making such a comment either.  He knew he was gay and yet he hid behind a sham of a marriage – did he love his wife and if he did, he had an affair anyway.

CSI: NY 7.19 "Food for Thought" Review

                                          
Hawkes skips work spend a day with Camille at a gourmet food festival, where he witnesses a murder and gets into trouble with Mac, so what's new.

Hawkes (Hill Harper) attends a food festival, coerced by Camille (Lesley-Ann Brandt) where one of the food truck explodes.   The chef, Derby Chayson (Daniel Bonjour) is dead.   Flack (Eddie Cahill) thinks it may have been a terrorist attack.   Mac (Gary Sinise) states the position of the truck and the time of the blast would not lead to loss of many lives.  Mac finds traces of TATP, an explosive made from household chemicals, that's why liquids are not allowed on planes.   Jo (Sela Ward) comments on Hawkes calling in sick and he should save the explanations for Mac.   Jo finds a bottle lid on the floor.  Mac indicates the splash pattern shows the blast originated from the side panel, where the propane tank would have been located.   The ignition source was the bottle.   Mac thinks if they piece together the shrapnel it may tell them something.

Regular as clockwork, Lindsay (Anna Belknap) pops up.   It's a CS, but she's complaining about not eating anything.   No, it's all about her again and her food cravings, though she's not pregnant.   I won't repeat the hefty food list she asks Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) for.   Lucy is now 2, that was fast.  Danny and Lucy made her breakfast and she says it was 2 years ago for Mother's day.   Now she's keeping score!  That was a boring, senseless scene, she's not the one into food, that's Flack and Jo! But she gets all the foody lines and the food!  Instead of doing the job, she's more worried about not getting out before it's dinnertime.   Jo scarcely mentions it's lunchtime, later on, but we don't see her and Flack grabbing  a bite.  

Danny tells Hawkes, he'd have taken a day off for Camille too.   Don't let Lindsay hear that!  Hawkes notices writing on the inside of the takeaway container, but why write on the inside?  Sid's (Robert Joy) autopsy reveals the force of the blast, smoke inhalation and burns were the COD.   His apron kept him intact and prevented the flames from coming into contact with his T-shirt.   Which reveals a contusion on his chest.   Sid's seen the pattern somewhere before but he can't recall.  

                                             

Camille calls Hawkes about a  party she's throwing and talks him into coming even though he's busy with work.   Thought Hawkes would have had more restraint and will power than to give in to her so easily.   She's a bad influence on him.   Danny brings Lindsay a burger, if they can't eat in the lab, why's she telling him to bring it in and she was going to eat with those dirty hands of hers.   She found dark surfaces on the propylene tank.   Wasn't it full of propane as Mac said earlier on.   Danny thinks it could be glue used to attach the bomb to the tank.  And she couldn't work that out for herself either, until later, no she has to run off with the burger bag.  (Thought she'd disappeared for good!  No such luck.).  

At the party, Hawkes walks in on people smoking joints (weed).   Camille refers to herself as a goody-two- shoes, yeah maybe in another life.   Hawkes tells her he's "done many things in his life and, not all of which he's proud of."  Camille's never smoked a joint before and wants to live for now.   Hawkes oversleeps the next day and Danny covers for him.  Showing how far their relationship has come, where it was probably second nature to him.   Adam (AJ Buckley) analyzes the T-shirt to find traces of bird spit from the Chinese Cave Swallow saliva.   Mac has to say "excuse me."  Still don't know what Mac's problem with Adam is, well I do, and it's not even funny, but it's getting old news by now, not one nice word to say about him and Mac's always so abrupt with him too.   Not like Adam's done anything wrong, or was he venting a little of his anger over Hawkes onto Adam.  

The stain is where Derby was hit on his chest; but Adam can't find anything exotic on the menu, and he can't find the 'No 3 Special' either, that Hawkes told Jo about.   Adam questions Mac whether if a bird spits on you if it's the same good luck, and Mac walks off abruptly, telling him to work it out for himself.  No need for that type of behaviour.

Flack tells Jo he sometimes has thoughts of the pastrami truck outside, okay, he said he looks at it, and there's plenty of competition between gourmet trucks.   He found 8 complaints against Derby, filed by one man alone, Odelin Gonzalez, (Raoul Trujillo) who owns a hot dog stand nearby.   Flack asks him to tell them about his "au natural beef" with Derby.   Jo and Flack believe he isn't capable of murder.   There are plenty of hot sauce bottles with those lids in New York.   Jo mentions the TATP trace on the bottle fragment, (it was a lid), and that they need "hard science connecting him to the CS."  Jo uses science instead of evidence, which is the normal word used.   Danny and Hawkes are selected for random drug testing, causing frustration for Hawkes...we're meant to believe he shared a joint with Camille.

Sid tells Mac about the Summer cookery course he undertook and recognized the contusion pattern is from a potato ricer, which is part of a chef's kitchen.   Adam finds that bird spit is used in bird nest soup, which Jo immediately tells them is made from the nests of the Chinese Cave wallow, so all he had to do was ask Jo, ha.     Which was used by the former employer of Derby.   Jo states they should have focused on fine dining.   Mac: "Let's go see if murder is on the menu."  Braxton Langley (Anthony Azizi) says Derby was stealing his recipes so he beat him with the potato ricer.

Mac, "there's a nice table waiting" for him downtown.   Hawkes matches the writing on the take away box, which points to a hotel address and a Gus Stilton (Matt Nolan).  Okay, this is about food, partly, but did they have to call him Stilton, as in cheese.   Flack knows the name but can't place it.   He owns 50% of the truck, as well as owning 6 other trucks.   He has a record for pandering, which is why Flack recalls the name.   There's a lot of that going round in this episode, first Sid not recalling the potato ricer, then Flack not remembering Gus and Hawkes bumping into the bomber in the opening.

Flack had some "fun" with the 'No 3 Special,'  so at least some laughs from him.   Flack: "Am I gonna get everything I paid for...on second thoughts I'm not that hungry!" Great!  Mia (Tyler Kain) tells Jo it's better than working the streets.   Flack recalls Gus trying to keep warm with his girls under a bridge and guess who had the blanket!  Mac calls him a pimp and Flack calls him a criminal.   Jo asks Mia how she felt about Derby and she replies it was good work.  Jo: "And all he had to do was serve you on the side."  Well, at least she got one foody remark in.   Derby turned away customers.  

Gus says he had a perfect operation going on without the knowledge of the NYPD so why would he kill Derby.   Mac is perturbed they don't have any evidence on either of their suspects and no lead on the killers.   Hawkes concentrates more on looking at the drug testing guys.   Cue Lindsay, as smug as ever.  Thought she was missing as per usual and had to make an entrance.  Finding a partial print on the ceramic glue, well Danny already said it was most likely glue; belonging  Odelin Gonzalez, Jnr (Alex Merz).  Quick someone wipe her smile off her face!

First thing I said was all that pottery was gonna smash!  Flack had to announce their presence.   Hawkes recalls passing him at the festival now.   Finding the son as the killer was a bit convenient and too easily wrapped up.   Flack tells him he made  a mess (and not just of the pottery) of things.   His father didn't have a future with his business.   Hawkes suggests he could compete by working harder, that's easier said than done, does he think it's easy making a meagre living from a hot dog stall!

Made Hawkes look like a complete unintelligent fool in this episode (Sorry Hill!) and we know he's far better than that.   Hawkes should apply that logic to himself where Camille is concerned, he can't help being led astray by her and he should work harder at thinking for himself.   They question him at the shop and not downtown.   Odelin knew the best meal in town doesn't cost $500 and something was going on.   Mac posits he did something his father wouldn't do and blew him up.   He was rather clumsy getting glue on his fingers and leaving a print behind, considering the number of ceramics he must have glued together.

Mac waited until the end to give Hawkes his dressing down and that was a bit of an anti-climax.   He didn't have much to say and Hawkes sounded like he was just making excuses for himself, exactly the same as Camille said about her life passing her by and not living.   Mac doesn't want to talk about this at all.   Hawkes says he wasn't using and that the cannabis was secondary exposure.  Mac has to believe him, like Mac adds he had to believe he was sick.   The show likes these lines in here, you know, believe and trust like in season 3's  episode where Flack said why should he trust Mac after what he did in Consequences episode.

Mac tells Hawkes it's about bad choices, not bad luck.   Hawkes and his sob story about having to do good and not being able to do anything else, Camille understands that.   There's no policy against having a good time and he should show up tomorrow and honour his oath and get some sleep.   Yeah don't think so.   He didn't have any problems like this when he was an ME, that's cos he didn't venture out, ha.   Ahh the good old days.  Camille turns up naked and he can't say no to her.

At least Hawkes didn't get "told off" in front of the others.   Hawkes gets a love interest , but clearly she's no good for him and he's too easily swayed by everything she wants.   As for her being a goody-two-shoes, she isn't really.   She knows who Hawkes is and what he does but she still insists he should cross the line: miss work by taking a 'sickie' and then drag himself to her party when he needs to work.   He needs to either find a way to put her in her place, being blunt, or ditch her.   It's what Jo said in the Smooth Criminal episode when we first encountered Camille and she saw them together, she said they look like they're talking about "hot, steamy sex."  It's more "lust at first sight" between these two than anything deeper.   Let's face it, does Hawkes really want or need someone like Camille in his life.   His character is much stronger than that and she's just bringing him down.

TATP was mentioned and used in CSI season 11 episodes, Shock Waves and Targets of Obsession.    In CSI episode Recipe for Revenge, a chef was also killed.   Lots of food episodes in CSI:NY, including season 1 Grand Master, where food was served on nudes and Danny was way into that!  had lots of one- liners in that too, including 'the killer being the table'.   Season 2 Dancing with the Fishes, where a food market was involved.   Also Fare Game which had an exotic cuisine event boasting strange creepy crawlie delicacies of the several-legged variety.   Also many bomb episodes, including Charge of this Post and Green Piece.

Great to see CBS have renewed the show for an eighth season, but no news on the number of episodes yet.   Finally seeing sense.   Yay, more Eddie/Flack fixes for me!  ha.   Also that means we can watch the remaining three episodes of the season without baited breath, done that already with the earlier episodes.   Wonder if the season finale will be viewed by us in the same way as US viewers, that the episode could have been the series finale.   Expect some people just won't care either way.  (Written a while ago)