S01.E01: Pilot

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Three years after the Bone Collector ended his career, Detective Lincoln Rhyme teams with NYPD officer Amelia Sachs to investigate a series of murders that suggest the killer's return and an unlikely team is born.

Airing Friday, January 10, 2020.

[tomsmom]

Just watched the first ep on Hulu!

I loved it!

[AnimeMania]

Let's see, things done right that are different from the books, Lincoln Rhyme is not depressed, he has the use of at least one arm and may be getting more access to limbs. Lincoln also doesn't seem to have any other adverse physical health effects from the fall.

It would be nice if they could build a proper lab in his home and come up with more hi-tech gadgets for Lincoln to use. Some cutting edge, almost Sci-Fi tech wouldn't be unwelcome. VR goggles, AR glasses, drones, even a team of consultants like historians, literary experts, etc. (including the lady who trained him in Forensics) from around the world and someone that does computer simulation and modeling.

It would also be nice to see that Lincoln is a better person now, than he was when he could walk.

Lady Copper was the Lady Assassin from Midnight, Texas.

[yourdreamer]

I watched this and Deputy both on Hulu. I preferred this show. I enjoyed the movie, which helps. I like all the main actors that I recognized (Russell Hornsby- Grimm, Arielle Kebbel - Midnight Tx and Uninvited, Michael Imperioli - Sopranos, Clare Coffee - Grimm). The bad guy looked familiar, but I can’t place him. 
The action was engrossing enough. The exposition was not too clunky. The other characters were not too spunky, not too stupid. The real Bone Collector being probably near his wife (ex?) and kid was a good twist. Wonder when/if Lincoln will admit the family to Amelia. Possible romance between the younger cop and Amelia coming up (not necessary but may happen). 
The copycat was a good story of the week. I hope that there are pieces of conclusions each episode so it feels like the story moves forward. I hope that they work on other cases, with some focus each week on the Bone Collector case (kind of how Prodigal Son does it where there is a case of the week and then some backstory of the main guy’s history and his father’s story). 
I am intrigued and will watch for at least my minimum 3 episodes (but at this point, assuming similar quality, I will be in it for the long haul). 

[krankydoodle]

I didn't know much about the show, but really enjoyed the pilot. The cast is good across the board. I was impressed by how well they pulled off some clunky material. And even though he didn't do much here, I was especially happy to see Tate Ellington (The Mindy Project, Quantico).

The title is interesting. I guess they wanted the initial name recognition of The Bone Collector while still leaving room to change up the show's focus when they wrap up that plot.

Edited January 3, 2020 by krankydoodle

[possibilities]

I am fucking furious that they have him wiggling his toes. The whole point of the original is that he was a quadriplegic. So what now? He's going to have a cure when he gets over his depression or something? Fuck that.

I knew when they cast a totally non-disabled actor that they weren't really committed, but it's galling that they are going that far to flip the whole thing off.

 

 

[Irlandesa]

I thought this was pretty clunky and not in an enjoyable way.  Sometimes drama pilots hit for me and sometimes they don't so I might give it another chance, especially for Michael Imperioli who I felt was the most natural at pulling off some of the cliched writing. I miss Detroit 1-8-7.  He was so good there as a cop as well.

On 1/3/2020 at 10:06 AM, krankydoodle said:

The title is interesting. I guess they wanted the initial name recognition of The Bone Collector while still leaving room to change up the show's focus when they wrap up that plot.

I think the initial title was Lincoln but I guess that was too vague?  When I first heard of the title change, I thought it was a joke because of its length.  It does somewhat signal that the first season will likely be about The Bone Collector* but subsequent seasons could be based on subsequent books.  That would be a nice change of pace over the shows that have one big bad lasting over multiple seasons.

*No spoilers, just a guess based on the title.

Edited January 12, 2020 by Irlandesa

[possibilities]

I definitely think they needed more than "Lincoln" for the title. Folks would think it's about Abraham Lincoln, and it's not.

Aside from the disability fail, I actually liked this. For a pilot, I thought it managed to be engaging while still doing a lot of exposition. I had to watch the screen and not multi-task, which I like. Also, people call Lincoln on his bullshit, which I also like. He's not overly loved or universally despised. He's just kind of middling appreciated and middling annoying. I'm tired of people being given a pass on being horrible, just because they are good at something. So I like that they struck a middle ground.

As I recall, the movie was more maudlin, and I'm glad they avoided that part, too. But I was very disappointed not to see his bedside rig, which was inspiringly creative and very enabling in the movie.

[LisaM]

I am a huge fan of the Lincoln Rhyme series by Deaver. I am often disappointed by movies/tv shows based on my favorite books so I was definitely wary here. Given that it was the Pilot, I'm willing to stick around for a bit. I was particularly eager to see the differences from the books: Amelia having a sister (not a mother), a female assistant instead of Thom, Lincoln being able to move a bit. I'm very curious to see what changes will be made, if any, for the next few episodes from the Pilot. Will Lincoln ever be in a high-tech wheelchair, for example?

[sempervivum]

Based on this episode, I would grade this show  'competent but not electrifying'. I do like M. Imperioli, but in general not a fan of the generic 'team' they've put together.

I chanced upon the Canadian series 'Cardinal' (also a detective chasing a serial killer concept) on the same day, and the contrast with LR:THFTBC (what a title!) was startling. Beautifully composed and filmed, and the acting is top notch, even though I've never heard of any of them. 

[shapeshifter]

I watched most of it (missed a few bits in the middle) because I always thought Russell Hornsby should be getting bigger roles. It was good enough, and the cast is fine, but I don’t like serial/psycho killer shows, so I doubt I’ll watch it again.  

[mjc570]

No disrespect to anyone who liked this, but I'm sorry, I thought it was so dreadful I didn't even watch the whole thing (I know, maybe it got better. . . )

First, let me say I liked both the books and the prior movie, and I very much like both Russell Hornsby and (especially)  Michael Imperioli.  Not a fan of the generic female, although they were obviously trying hard to give her a personality.

I watch a lot of Sci Fi, so am used to suspending disbelief but this was ridiculous.  The scene that got me was when Ameilia gets the subway train to stop by firing her gun.  The driver had to have already seen her standing right on the tracks waving her flashlight, so what was the point of the shooting?  Somehow the laws of motion and inertia etc can be changed by shooting at the large metal object hurtling down the tracks?  Drama for drama's sake, I guess.

I really wish the writing were better. 

[preeya]

59 minutes ago, mjc570 said:

The scene that got me was when Ameilia gets the subway train to stop by firing her gun.  The driver had to have already seen her standing right on the tracks waving her flashlight, so what was the point of the shooting?  Somehow the laws of motion and inertia etc can be changed by shooting at the large metal object hurtling down the tracks?  Drama for drama's sake, I guess.

Didn't Angelina Jolie do something similar in the movie???  I know she stopped a train not a subway.

Edited January 11, 2020 by preeya

[possibilities]

Jolie frightened some rats away from a corpse by firing her gun. I don't recall if she also used her gun to stop a train.

I generally like Russell H, but he's a very mobile actor, and when I heard they cast him, I thought maybe he was looking to try something new, but it turns out he's just not going to try very hard to portray paralysis, so that's a fail.

 

[dgpolo]

13 hours ago, mjc570 said:

Somehow the laws of motion and inertia etc can be changed by shooting at the large metal object hurtling down the tracks?  Drama for drama's sake, I guess.

I agree with the drama for drama's sake but she did not fire at the train. (what if she had hit the driver?) she fired up and out, and I still had the thought that it was very possible she would hit something of importance, there has to be electrical lines and pipes and things down there, right?

I was also a bit confused that Rhyme could move more than I remember from the movie.

But I like it so far and will watch more.

[saber5055]

While I've heard of The Bone Collector, I've not seen the movie nor read any of the books so had no expectations. I might have disliked it more than I did, if I had.

First, Lincoln is suppose to be so freaking smart, yet he keeps talking to his intercom while sneaking up on the bad guy in the warehouse. WTH. That was so stupid, anyone would have heard him coming, he might as well have been wearing tap shoes and danced his way along the metal platform. Plus he's so awesome he couldn't wait a few minutes for reinforcements. He deserved to die in that fall, not just be paralyzed. Plus all cans everywhere are plainly marked in huge letters as to contents. Not in my world, and "fool you once" if you believe everything that's written on a can.

Amelia yells at a subway train to stop and then fires her gun into the ceiling, neither things the subway conductor could hear, when she was holding a flashlight that she could have used to signal the train. Light in a dark tunnel, THAT'S something the conductor could see and respond to. Then she keeps standing on the tracks and shields her face, like that would protect her from the oncoming train .... what a dumbass, get off the freaking tracks.

I don't know what that white cloth thing was on the train rail, but it looked too much like a used feminine hygene product for my enjoyment.

Amelia's lip liner was rather distracting. I missed some dialogue while staring at it.

The woman in the box ... so the digging and banging on the box and opening the box didn't wake her up, but someone touching her neck made her jump and come awake? Right.

As soon as it was revealed Amelia has a sister, I knew sis was in jeopardy and would be kidnapped. That was a no brainer.

Amelia has the drop on the bad guy and keeps telling him to not shoot while he draws his weapon, raises it and gets ready to fire and would have freaking shot her to death if the other cops hadn't come along to save her ass. And Amelia is the new brains partner for Lincoln? Pickin's are slim in that force.

At the end when sister is shown going underwater, feet tied to the metal bar at the bottom of the tank, and Amelia is just getting on the rooftop to save her, I got up to pick up something and returned less than one minute later, and Amelia and sis were standing on the roof hugging. How did sis get rescued? Does Amelia carry a knife? If so, how did she know sis was tied at the feet? And what if she had been chained at the feet?

I found Lincoln to be an insufferable smart ass in his flashback scenes, so too bad, so sad you're confined to bed. There being more people in his bedroom than in the U.N. during session is ... well, hard to believe. No wonder he's such a crank.

[preeya]

3 hours ago, saber5055 said:

While I've heard of The Bone Collector, I've not seen the movie nor read any of the books so had no expectations. I might have disliked it more than I did, if I had.

 

3 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I found Lincoln to be an insufferable smart ass in his flashback scenes, so too bad, so sad you're confined to bed. There being more people in his bedroom than in the U.N. during session is ... well, hard to believe. No wonder he's such a crank.

Since you stated you've never heard of TBC, and found Lincoln to be an unsufferable smartass, that's the way Denzel played it on screen. Although Denzel was much more vocal, self-centered, and demanding.

[preeya]

20 hours ago, possibilities said:

Jolie frightened some rats away from a corpse by firing her gun. I don't recall if she also used her gun to stop a train.

I just re-watched the movie.

Jolie (Amelia) stopped the train by standing on the tracks and waving her flashlight to get the conductor's attention. He stopped and she took the train out of service to preserve the crime scene. She was later chastised by her asshole captain for doing so. Later, later she was praised by LR for her heroic efforts.

Denzel was great portraying Rhyme.

[Ohwell]

On 1/5/2020 at 4:32 PM, Irlandesa said:

I thought this was pretty clunky and not in an enjoyable way.  Sometimes drama pilots hit for me and sometimes they don't so I might give it another chance, especially for Michael Imperioli who I felt was the most natural at pulling off some of the cliched writing. I miss Detroit 1-8-7.  He was so good there as a cop as well.

I just watched the rerun tonight and was going to post about Michael Imperioli being on Detroit 1-8-7.  I loved that show and hated that it was cancelled.  I think there are so many characters on this show that I fear he'll just get lost in the shuffle.  And I agree it was clunky.  I'll give it a couple more episodes.  

The female cop is already annoying me because she's stupid and reckless, and I'm already tired of looking at Lincoln's big screen in front of his bed.  So I might have to change my mind and give it only one more episode.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Ohwell

[Kleav]

Probably no one was wondering what the Siegel-Cooper building looks like, but it is now probably the classiest Bed Bath & Beyond in the country (photo: Wikipedia).

[Netfoot]

On 1/5/2020 at 2:45 AM, possibilities said:

I knew when they cast a totally non-disabled actor that they weren't really committed...

I happen to be one of those who completely disagree with the new notion that a part can only be played by someone who is actually in the same circumstance as the character they are playing.  It's called acting. Actors pretend to be the characters they portray, they don't actually have to be the characters they portray. If this silly notion became the rule, that would be the end to many potential productions. Star Trek would be impossible, wouldn't it?  Because there are so very few real Vulcan, Klingon and Romulan actors to play those parts. Even if the titular parts in Alien and Predator could be filled, I certainly would not want to be responsible for on-set catering.

I do agree that there was far too much mobility displayed by a character that is supposedly a quadriplegic.  He seems to have full use of at least one hand.  And the wriggling of the toe in episode #1? Surely that would be more suited to the last scene of the season finale?  If at all!

Edited January 12, 2020 by Netfoot

[preeya]

7 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I do agree that there was far too much mobility displayed by a character that is supposedly a quadriplegic.  He seems to have full use of at least one hand.  And the wriggling of the toe in episode #1? Surely that would be more suited to the last scene of the season finale?  If at all!

This could be leading to some "TV magic" whereby LR will overcome his situation and return to life as it was once known. If that's the plan and if it does happen, I'D BE GONE as a viewer and I'm certain many others would also.

Edited January 12, 2020 by preeya

[Netfoot]

37 minutes ago, preeya said:

If that's the plan and it does happen, I'D BE GONE as a viewer and I'm certain many others would also.

Toatly!

[saber5055]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

I happen to be one of those who completely disagree with the new notion that a part can only be played by someone who is actually in the same circumstance as the character they are playing.

Plus those flashback scenes would be rather difficult to film.

[DanaK]

I'm confused about what Lincoln and others saw near the end when his son said hello on the video screen?

[Lily H]

I mostly liked this, except the dumb part where she was shooting up the subway tunnel in her efforts to stop the train.

Also, I must have missed something. I thought that at the end the Bone Collector was in his own basement/wine cellar with a hostage. Then what were we shown right at the end that was labelled with Lincoln Rhyme's name and address?

[walnutqueen]

2 hours ago, DanaK said:

I'm confused about what Lincoln and others saw near the end when his son said hello on the video screen?

Lincoln's toes wiggled.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Lily H said:

Then what were we shown right at the end that was labelled with Lincoln Rhyme's name and address?

An empty box, presumably waiting to convey body-parts to LR when TBC is finished with his captive. That's a guess, not a spoiler.

[possibilities]

I don't think we need flashbacks of a walking Lincoln.

 

[saber5055]

7 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I don't think we need flashbacks of a walking Lincoln.

It's to let us know how brilliant he is, plus what an a-hole smart-ass jerk he was/is, and why TBC came to hate/stalk him. So yeah, flashbacks are needed. This is episode one of a stand-alone series, not a continuation of a movie, and reading the books is not a prerequisite.

[cardigirl]

I enjoyed this show much more than I thought I would. I like Russell Hornsby a lot and I really liked Arielle Kebbel, shoot me.  🙂   

I thought she was firing her gun when the train was approaching to try to create noise, but I agree about her ducking her head.  That wasn't going to do anything to help protect her. 

At any rate, the styling of the show, and the suspense was enough to keep me watching.  I'm in for another episode or two. 

[hookedontv]

I binged this over the weekend, I was happy with the first episode. It was enough to keep me going for the next two eps. And Michael Imperioli? Can't pass him up at all. I miss seeing him on my TV screen! 

I was trying to figure out where I've seen the lead, Amelia, before. Wouldn't you know she's in a Lifetime Christmas moving called something like "Four Christmases." Yep, cheesy movie that I manage to watch every year. *blushes with embarrassment*