It’s hard for me to not be insulted by this week’s episode Means to an End. The list of everything wrong with this episode is almost overwhelming, but what bothers me the most is the sacrifice of story integrity for the cheap thrill.
It’s hard to know where to start with an episode like this, so I’ll just go with the main factor: Jo. I like Jo—correction, I like Jo of the seventh season (hereafter MommyJo). MommyJo was laid back, respectful, considerate, fun, loving, and a family woman. MommyJo was quirky, unorganized but still competent. I understood—wasn’t a fan of, but understood—the show’s need to spend more time on her character last season. She was new and unknown, and I felt they did an adequate job of distinguishing her from Stella (a few lapses) and creating her own niche in the CSI:NY world. Season eight Jo (hereafter SuperJo) couldn’t be a bigger waste of screen time. She spent the last three episodes running around with a self-righteous stiff arm, while attempting to play the victim as well. Note as she tells Frank Waters that he gave her no choice, he made her confess his mistake. The phrase “gave me no choice” is as clichéd as it is untrue. Everything is a choice. I’m not arguing whether she made the right or wrong decision, but SuperJo is so quick to find blame with others. After Curtis is released on bail Mac finds her going through Lindsay’s evidence. Mac tells her she can’t do that it’s not her case (which is true for about 30 seconds, but I’ll get to that in a minute) and Jo replies she “can’t let this case fall apart.” So Lindsay following the evidence is letting the case fall apart? And I like how the writers, Zachary Reiter and Christopher Silber, conveniently ignored that rather blatant implication, and I guess just sat there with their fingers crossed hoping the audience would follow suit? (I don’t get paid nearly what the actors get paid…wait, I don’t get paid anything! So, no, I won’t ignore it! I was hugely uncomfortable with the fact that they brought in Lindsay’s husband to help Jo. A complete insult to Lindsay) MommyJo would have found a way to work with Lindsay. But if they had done that then SuperJo wouldn’t have found a way to be in such a contrived ending situation. My best guess is that the writers came up with that one line “people forget about the bullet in the chamber” and gave hearty high fives for their cleverness then manufactured a situation where they could use it. Cue SuperJo. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a character that has morphed into something so unrecognizable as to inspire images of a dark nothing consuming everything around it in Miyazaki proportions! Insult #1
Then we have the issue of Ali Rand’s murder at the hands of Senator Matthews. As soon as the validity of Rand’s accusations came under scrutiny it was clear what had happened. She had been hired to accuse Curtis of rape. The obvious answer would be that the Senator hired her; which turned out to be the case (though I was desperately hoping for something more surprising). When Rand gets spooked she tries to bail. Matthews freaks and kills her. Let’s back track a moment shall we? As Matthews, his daughter and Jo stood outside the courthouse following Curtis' bail hearing Matthews tells Jo that it’s because of “all the other daughters that had to suffer” that he is so upset. Yet, this guy is willing to bash a woman’s head in with a rock and his umbrella so readily. This woman that he’s been having a rather involved sexual relationship with (remember she’s been traveling around the world to be with him) and a woman who is someone’s daughter? No, you don’t paint someone as a cat lover and then show them beating a cat with a baseball bat. She wasn’t even threatening to expose him or blackmail him. She got scared so he brutally ended her life. And he killed her right by the river so please explain to me why he didn’t throw the rock he used to crush her skull into it? Insults #2 & #3.
Frank Waters (Michael Weston) appears for reasons beyond my understanding—except perhaps to continue the indignant looks from Jo. If he was supposed to be the “bait” we go for, it was an utter failure. Anyone paying attentions would know he was a distraction. There is no way he would be so obsessed with getting John Curtis that he would be stupid enough to dose Rand with the wrong amount of GHB, especially considering his FBI background. Hawkes even states as much. So what I (& Hawkes—thank you Doc!) knew in 30 seconds took the CSI team nearly 10 minutes of the episode to conclude. It’s like when a magician tries to perform magic but hasn’t quite pinned down the technique of slight of hand. But what I find most confusing is that Waters was so distraught by his actions he is willing to step in front of a bus, but not willing to give Jo the evidence he brought to the coffee shop. He storms out angrily and takes his evidence with him. Yeah, that makes sense. Insults #4 & #5.
And what is Mac’s role in all this? To let SuperJo do whatever she feels is necessary (oh, and to get the confession). He tells SuperJo she can’t work the case because it’s too personal, but when she explains to him it’s precisely because it is so personal that she should work the case he happily folds. (Umm…excuse me, but season 3 and season 5 Hawkes called, and he’d like to take the royal chewing out he got from Mac and tell him to shove it up his…sorry the message cuts off there.) Then Mac waltzes into the Senator’s hotel room and says tell me what I want to know or I’m going to have the press in here combing through your life! The Senator—now shaking in his wingtip loafers—them easily confesses. What the hell does he think is going to happen with the press after he confesses to murder?! Oh, well, he confessed so I guess we should just leave him alone. The press is always so reasonable, they’re really known for that. Insults #6 & #7.
And the list continues; Lindsay’s emotional involvement getting dropped like a hot potato caused all of her scenes to fall flat and unaffecting. John Curtis showing up at the apartment was utterly unbelievable. Curtis was about to walk free, but instead he tries to kill Jo? They have said over and over again that he is meticulous and careful but we’re supposed to believe he left so much evidence at that woman’s apartment? If he could get into her apartment so easily why wouldn’t he just take the stuff? Seriously I have many more examples of the failures of the resolution of this particular storyline. Last week’s episode was so strong, which may be why the contrast is so glaring to me.
As a fan who really thought Jo was a great addition to the cast, it is utterly disappointing to see her used in such a melodramatic, nonsensical and overpowering way—like a song one really likes until the radio plays it 15 million times. I try to find something good about each episode so I’m going to pull a Liz Lemon here: the lighting was really good. This episode truly was a means to an end for this fan, just probably not the end the show had in mind…I want my MommyJo.
Jo's survival skills got me thinking, if you were stranded on an island with a murderer which character from the show would you take with you for protection?
Over a month before the next new episode. A perfect time to pull out those DVDs and watch episodes passed!
Monday, December 5, 2011
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