"It was a very long time ago."
"I know when! In college, right?"
"No, actually, it was closer to the Renaissance."
A murder investigation involves a broken marriage, which coincides with Nick and Schanke's own relationship issues.
This episode opener brings us back to the show's Crimetime After Primetime roots, with a woman taking her sweet time donning perfume and lingerie for a man who won't appreciate it. Tale as old as time.
I've said it before, but the best episodes place our heroes in the tension between the world of vampires and the world of normal people. Schanke's breakup with Myra (who we've never seen) is hilarious and moving all by itself, but it's even more amusing to see him crash Nick and Janette's life with his drama.
Schanke wants to cook, but Nick won't (can't) eat any of it. That is impossible for Don Schanke to understand, and we realize right away that these two can't live together. I don't think they make it 24 hours.
Of course, long-suffering Janette is the next victim. True to form, she tells Schanke to stop being depressed and go take what he wants. This seems like a fun speech meant to inspire, but she obviously just wants to get rid of him. Still, it does help him get to the bottom of the case.
Flashbacks:
Apparently Nick and Janette were a married couple for nearly one hundred years. He wanted to keep playing house, but she didn't. Nick, you can't just pretend you're normal. You're not normal.
Little Bites:
-Familiar Faces: Deborah Rennard, the blonde-haired mistress, was a regular on Dallas. She also played a recurring role on Due South as a forensic investigator.
-Schanke is always right. Okay, it takes him a while, but once Schanke stops letting his feelings get in the way, he solves the case in moments.
-Also, during his rant at the police station, Schanke says no one knows how Nick can get to the crime scene before anyone else. He's on to something. Will Schanke ever follow that thread to its fantastic conclusion? Especially after Janette's line about dating Nick close to the Renaissance?
-This isn't the last episode where we'll see that Da Vinci painting of Janette. And that's all I'm gonna say about that...
-Janette sorrows with Schanke and lets out that she's still madly in love with Nick. We knew that, of course, but she doesn't ever talk about it. She misses their marriage, too.
-Schanke's prized possession appears to be a lamp in the shape of a mallard. It's sweet to discover this dorky decoration he's clinging to is a gift from his wife. He's pretending to be over her, but he's not. Not even close.
-It seems insensitive to grill suspects during a funeral wake. Also, it's strange for the mistress to be there.
-No one in history has ever pronounced the word "Renaissance" as well as Janette.
Final Analysis: Good mystery. Lots of tension between vampires and the real world. Schanke gets to be hilarious and Janette gets to be amazing. Five out of five duck lamps.
Adam D. Jones is a writer, historian, and undefeated cat wrestler. He's also something of a marriage counselor himself, having recently convinced his neighbors to stay together so he could keep using their Wi-Fi.
Loved it. Skanky hamming it up with the whole work couple dynamic just really works. I kinda wish the premise of the show went even braver and made it a show where the vampire isn't actually the star.
ReplyDeleteJeannette and Nick being married at one point in their un-life makes perfect sense since I did always find them having a certain passion-less kind of chemistry, but I can't buy that Jeannette would be wistful about it with Nick... maybe about the idea of marriage itself.