Was this episode bad, or was it just off base?
The whole Midwich Cuckoo thing with Jerome was disjointed and strange instead of creepy, which was too bad because I think they were actually going for creepy. And the command clone subplot was confusing. (Well, it confused me.) This show walks a fine line with science fiction elements; they may have just gone over the line with this one.
The child who played Jerome was a good actor and held his own with all of those intimidating Section adults, and that's saying a lot. I think he actually came close to projecting the requisite creepiness, too. It was more the story that was the problem, not the acting. Having him show a couple of normal kid tendencies was a nice touch. I particularly liked him rolling the office chair from the briefing table across the room over and over, just like a normal child would. It was such a bizarre thing to see in Section.
Operations and Madeline treated Jerome like a car that wouldn't start, and their harsh, authoritarian approach absolutely did not work. I noticed that Michael and Nikita acted more parental, and managed him better. Nikita treated Jerome with her trademark compassion, i.e., pretty much like the child that he was. My favorite Michael moment was when Jerome refused to leave the playground and Michael, an experienced father, solved the problem by calmly picking him up and carrying him to the van.
Birkoff's strong reaction to Jerome was interesting ("first class freak," "raised like a veal"), and I would have liked seeing that explored a bit further. Birkoff, as a child, was deprived of a normal life and imprisoned by Section, just like Jerome. Was Birkoff identifying with Jerome? Or was he feeling threatened by an even more super superkid? It was hard to tell.
Come to think of it, Mick in the strip club literally shooting himself in the foot was pretty much the highlight of this episode. Although I did really enjoy watching Jerome telekinetically throw Operations across the room.
Bits and pieces:
— Things with George appear to be back to normal, making the clip show an anomaly.
— There was yet another discussion about Michael being Operations' successor.
— There was more blood than we usually see in an LFN episode.
— Mick took his turn in The Chair, and was wearing a huge cast on his leg that seemed a bit extensive for shooting himself in the foot.
— The score was similar to the one I absolutely hated in "Imitation of Death." At least it was less intrusive and more toned down.
— Nikita's Section look has been different this season, with a lot more black and leather. Here, she was finally back in (hospital) white. Jerome's outfit was horrible. I guess he wouldn't have seemed as intimidating if he'd been wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a Star Wars tee shirt, though.
— Jerome, to Michael: "Is this the way you treated your son?"
— Note from later: Jerome was played by Michael Cera, who has had a successful acting career as an adult.
Two out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Another over-the-top science fiction premise that does not mesh with LFN’s established near-future setting – the episode plays like a lame mix of “X-Files” and “Carrie”. If we can have telekinetic kids on LFN, what’s next? Aliens? It seems the new writing staff is so inept that they are capable of only two things: recycling LFN plots that have already been done much better, or stealing cliches from other genres and trying to fit them into LFN. Neither tactic is engaging for the viewer.
ReplyDeleteTo add insult to injury, the writing is not even minimally competent: the plot is thin, slow, and poorly structured; there is no action or excitement to the story; the dialogue and interaction between characters is forced and unnatural; and the “twist” is yet another Section power struggle. This season, the writers have decided to spend so much screen time on Section infighting that combatting terrorism has been reduced to barely a footnote in the scripts. What a waste.
Absolutely nothing to recommend it – skip this episode.
The young actor who played Jerome is actually well known -- it's Michael Cera. www.imdb.com/name/nm0148418/
ReplyDeleteOne thing is interesting here, Birkoff mentioned.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, this is Remote viewing, well with the hostage situation, it has its own purposes, there are also lectures on the Internet.
Interesting is the film about an unusual unit, according to the true story, later I learned that one journalist followed it.
The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) -film.
Is truth revealed or hidden through such series, or films?