Okay, so we’ve now established the polar opposite personalities of two of our four undercover cops on Dark Blue. Dean (Logan Marshall-Green), as we saw last week, treads just on that side of the line between good and evil. He’s still a damn fine cop, but he’s a little too comfortable on the dark side. And, by the way, I’m finally getting through back episodes of Reaper from this season, and Sam is not growing more comfortable with all things Devil … Andi’s just growing into more of a whiny baby.
But to the current show at hand: while Dean’s the black sheep, Ty (Omari Hardwick) is so far on the other side, that one can legitimately question whether he’s up for the work anymore. It wasn’t just a bad judgment call to come back home and see his wife, Melissa (Meta Golding, who did a great stint on Criminal Minds last season), on her birthday; it almost got them both killed. But, weighed against the punishment for missing it … I don’t know.
What really got me, in a good way, was how Melissa was the strong one, the one who questioned Ty’s calling, and coming home. For all that she must have gone through with him already, she understands just how important his job is. If he chooses his wife over it, I can accept that (although, he is on the show, so it’s unlikely), but it was refreshing to see someone as unselfish as Melissa, strong enough to know that police work, and Carter’s (Dylan McDermott) respect, mean the world to Ty, at least outside of her.
This being only the second episode of the show, I found myself spending a lot of time, both this week and last, trying to discern what was episode-specific, and what might speak to the greater theme of the series. Last week, Ty’s dipping into an old cover identity, and the unit closing out a case in one episode, were two things I had hoped were unique to the premiere, or at least would be last-case-scenario type things.
Two weeks does not a pattern make, but it would appear that my hopes may have been for naught. On the one side, the unit pulled off multiple quickie-deals, with the intent of raising $100 thousand in cash, rapidly. While I love that crime is how they fund their operations (and I look forward to a whole lot more of it), can Carter really fall back on an old identity so easily, to execute a large-scale coke deal? Would they really bust into a drug house with so little planning? Didn’t Omar (The Wire) take days of surveillance before doing so in Baltimore?
On the other side, the case opened and closed, sandwiched between the credits. It’s not impossible for things to move so fast, but week after week? It just stretches our sense of reality a bit. It also wastes the phenomenal opportunity for the show to really explore a case as it builds from the ground up. Like Leo in The Departed … that way, we could really sink our teeth into the characters, as well as the story.
Gregg Henry (The Riches) did a great job as guest villain. It’s a shame that on some of these shows, great guests are one and done (though, not as much of a problem if the case lasted longer….) It was funny and poignant that he was cash strapped, and therefore feeling his own pressure to get things done fast.
Gonzalo Menendez (Cane) played a character close to his resume’s home base (or at least, what I know him for), and he, as crazy as he was, would also make for a good character to recur. What I did file away is that neither of these guys are dead, both know that Ty’s a cop, and both know where Melissa, who they think is his married girlfriend, lives. Definitely a strong hook to bring them back at some later point in time.
Jaimie (Nicki Aycox) is still a mystery, but following the trend building here (and based on a peak at the summary for next week), we will soon learn something about her, as she takes point on a case. All that will leave us with is Carter, who I think may remain a mystery for a bit longer. It’s a shame, too, because clearly his is the greater inscrutability, and the cloak surrounding him hasn’t allowed McDermott to really spread his wings. Hopefully he’ll take flight, soon.
Good show, friends.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 23, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
As a wife, I’d rather my husband not call (and especially not visit) on my birthday if doing so would risk his (and my) life. In that situation, not acknowledging the birthday is not the same as forgetting it :)
As a wife, I’d much prefer he had one of his teammates come by and wish me happy birthday from him instead of him blowing his cover. And he can make it up to me when his mission is over.
*POST AUTHOR*
:-)
Okay, ladies, I wasn’t really suggesting that you’d prefer your husband risking his life and yours to his missing your birthday (although, if you knew MY wife….) ;)