I really liked the episode quite a lot. I was amused by the way Getty complained about the butter to Bullimore (still my favorite character), after Bullimore helpfully/foolishly pointed out that the morning paper was reporting that Getty III had been kidnapped. Of course Getty noticed and was just ignoring the situation because it annoyed him, and of course he had a press conference to announce that he wasn't going to pay a single cent in ransom. I snickered at him when he blamed the entire situation on Getty II. If Getty II hadn't shown Getty the article in the magazine, then Getty would have given Getty III the six thousand dollars he owed to the mafia and none of this would have happened. As if! Old man Getty wasn't ever just going to hand over six thousand to Getty III. He's such a heartless old bastard. He was more passionate about what the local architectural historical society was going to say about the metal bars he was nailing up over his windows than he was in the fate of his grandson.
The episode really belonged to Brendan Fraser, strolling around in his ridiculously huge cowboy hat and swigging milk from little milk bottles while he putters around Rome trying to find clues about the whereabouts of Getty III. I loved the way that he could flip from being amiable good-old-boy 'Mr. Texas' to suddenly threatening to murder Getty III's friend by ramming a pencil through his ear into his brain. Just when you think the character is just a doofus, he does something like this and you're reminded that Fletcher Chase is ex-CIA. Even so, after finding good clues, Chace manages to get things completely wrong and he heads back to LA. But first, he turns to the camera to make a crack about how the story is really only just beginning. If you know anything about the real life Getty III kidnapping, you know that this is true.
It seems that Boyle's use the split screen and breaking the fourth wall is kind of divisive for viewers. People either really liked it or it annoyed them. I loved it. Those kind of camera and character tricks can really jazz up a story when they're done well.