This one makes me extremely uncomfortable. It’s not so much because of the story, but because of the actress playing Emily. If you’ll allow me to channel my mother for a minute: what sort of parent lets their child take this part!?!?
I find the creepiness of Emily discussing her rape and murder in such a matter-of-fact way distractingly disturbing. It’s nearly impossible for me to take in anything else about the episode because I’m constantly thinking about how gross the whole thing is. You think it can’t get worse, but then Charlie gets murdered and Raines’s hallucination of him begins to interact with the hallucination of Emily. And then Emily gets a gun. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this episode.
There are parts of the episode I like. I like the way everyone comes together over Emily’s case. Tony, the performer from the boardwalk is exceedingly helpful to Raines because of the details of the case. Even Boyer, the precinct’s resident putz, is visibly upset over Emily’s death. I think feelings about a case like this are pretty universal.
All of Raines’s previous victims–the call girl, the homeless woman, the gang member, the illegal immigrant/possible assassin–can be seen as contributing to their murder in some way. They all made mistakes and bad decisions. But Emily? She shouldn’t have gone to the boardwalk without an adult, certainly, but no one in the episode even attempts to judge her or blame her for her own death the way they do with other victims. ‘It is bad when a child is raped and murdered’ is possibly the most universal opinion in the world. By making her so very young, the show removes all grey from the situation. Until, of course, Emily’s daddy takes matters into his own hands.
Raines is clearly conflicted over arresting Mr. Strong, as evidenced by Emily and Charlie’s conflict in the backseat of the car. Of course Mr. Strong shouldn’t have killed Charlie, but Raines clearly can’t blame him.
I also like Raines’s scene with Dr. Kohl at the end. The cat is out of the bag–almost. Dr. Kohl has guessed Raines’s secret. He denies it, but I’m not sure she believes him. Unfortunately, we only have one more episode, so we don’t really see how this progresses. Sad, isn’t it? Another of my favorite scenes is Raines playing “Heart and Soul” with Emily. It’s a rather sweet moment, until Emily and her melody disappear leaving Raines alone, playing the base and smiling wistfully. It’s creepy (now in a good way) and sad at the same time.
Bits and Pieces
David Eigenberg, aka Steve from Sex and the City, plays Charlie, which makes everything even creepier for me.
Several references are made to Megan’s Law, a law in the US that requires the government to make public the locations of registered sex offenders. In many states, such as California, you can go to a website, enter your zip code and find out how many sex offenders are near you. I wouldn’t recommend it, however, if you ever want to sleep again.
There is no zoo in Hollywood. The Los Angeles Zoo is in Griffith Park.
Besides our outing to the zoo, we stick pretty much to Venice.
Quotes
Dr. Kohl: “Are you thinking about killing yourself?”
Raines: “Every time I walk in this office.”
Dr. Kohl: “You also mentioned kevlar for the things you see. Were you referring to the vests?”
Raines: “Well, I didn’t mean the canoes.”
Tony: “I saw him last week. I mean, I would’ve chased after him, but I was juggling four torches and a bowling ball, you know?”
Raines: “Been there.”
Raines: “You’re a ten year-old figment of my imagination.”
Emily: “So it’s difficult?”
Raines: “Difficult. Very difficult.”
Raines: “Charlie, that’s what you get for molesting little girls.”
Charlie: “Do you know how many times I’ve had to move because of uptight landlords and crazy vigilantes?”
Raines: “Welcome to Los Angeles.”
Raines: “One of the addresses in her address book was bounced off another site, raised a red flag with the ISP.”
Captain: “Which means?”
Raines: “I have no idea.”
Raines: “Yay, collect calls from half the nuts in Venice. It’s gonna be like our very own red carpet show for the megalomaniacally insane.”
Reporter: “You have anything for me, detective?”
Raines: “Sorry, Betty. You know I try not to feed the animals.”
Emily: “Bourbon on a Tuesday night?”
Raines: “Better than a Tuesday morning.”
two out of four lion tamers
---
sunbunny, who is probably not played by Tatiana Maslany
Totally get what you're saying about the discomfort, sunbunny. I thought this was an excellent episode, though. What I'm finding the most interesting about this series is Raines's mental deterioration, and this particular case was so difficult for him that it made him worse. And the thing is, children really are aware of this stuff. I remember one of my classmates was assaulted when I was in grade school -- 4th grade, I think -- and it was the talk of the school. I don't think any child was unaware of it. I also knew not just one but two women who were -- well, I don't want to say the word, but you know what it is -- at the age of six. I found out about the first one when I was only 12.
ReplyDeleteI cried through a lot of this episode, mostly because the anguish Raines was experiencing was so real, and Jeff Goldblum did such an outstanding job making the audience see it. Boyer made me cry, too. This episode made me like Boyer.
I found this episode very difficult to watch. Of course, I am horrified by what happens to Emily; but, watching Raines begin to unravel is even more difficult to watch. I thought Goldblum did an excellent job in portraying the man who is losing his mind, yet managing to still hold it all together.
ReplyDelete