Why aren’t you watching Dark Blue?

I’m looking right at you, friend. Dark Blue is our Leverage; we’re the counter-culture here at CliqueClack, and we must rage against the machine.

Is it perfect? No, of course not. Week three gave us a third case, open and shut. It’s not only an unsustainable structure for the show, it’s also not quite as enjoyable as a really engrossed case might be, stretching out for weeks and seasons. That would allow us to get to know the team, their process, and their enemies, a lot more intimately.

But what are you going to do? I got a “cease and desist” letter from the producers’ attorney already, so clearly they’re not into suggestions. We could protest by sending them boxes and boxes full of paper (ala all the paperwork they’d generate running such a major bust), but there’s too much heat on environmental destruction these days, so it may not be worth it.

The point is, we have to take what they’re offering (save for a bit of complaining, of course), and the offering is good. Real good. In fact, I’m truly impressed with Dark Blue’s ability to throw us right into their world, no fooling around.

Episode one, Dean (Logan Marshall-Green) took point, and we got to know a little bit about him. Week two, that honor went to Ty (Omari Hardwick). Naturally, this week we got Jaimie (Nicki Aycox), whose entire life is an interesting study in cover. And, actually, the episode raised some interesting questions about her ability to leave her past behind, as well as what Carter (Dylan McDermott) really was hoping for when he brought her in. No, Dean, she did not learn all that on patrol.

It looks as if Jaimie has, or had, herself a boyfriend, Scott (Noah Bean, Damages). I know she needed to bury her past in order to make it into the Police Academy, but why not come clean with a guy you’re considering moving in with? At least tell him something, like you’re trying to leave a bad past behind you. Instead, this all just becomes a self-destructive cycle.

Henri Lubatti (Sleeper Cell) popped up as Reuben, doing a nice job as conduit into the drug empire that the team was trying to crack. Too bad he didn’t make it out of the firefight alive. He’s the perfect example of a character that would be great watching for a longer haul; just see what he did in Sleeper Cell for confirmation … right; we said we’d leave that alone.

I was actually disappointed that McDermott took such a back-seat this week (by the way, I now totally see him doing the same over-the-top stuff that he did on The Practice. I guess that’s just his way.) I like him as an actor, and I also think that his character, naturally, will have the most layers and points of interest to it. Instead, we got a lot of Dean this week; while not a bad thing, I was a little curious at how different the character seemed from episodes past.

I’m not saying he wouldn’t be inclined to help train new recruits to the team. I just didn’t really see him as the sagely, guru type. By the by, how does Carter not telling him and Ty about Jaimie’s past put their lives in danger? How does it affect them at all?

I’m hoping that there’s nothing of an untoward nature developing between Jaimie and Dean, because it’d be too cliched, not make any sense, and also be kind of gross. She might have been right for him ten years earlier, but not anymore. Let’s stick to the office, kids.

Okay; hands in … 1, 2, 3 … Dark Blue!

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jul 30, 2009 @ 15:05 EST5EDT