Season Three: Bobby Saddled with a Temporary Partner?

[WendyCR72]

I think that describes season 3 in one sentence, yes?

[GHScorpiosRule]

And inspite? despite? of the annoying chirpy voiced Bishop, Season 3 had some very good episodes, like "Sound Bodies", "A Murderer Among Us", to name a couple.

[WendyCR72]

"Sound Bodies" was awesome if just for this scene alone. Bobby is awesome here. (I liked the continuity in terms of this suspect returning in S5 in "In The Wee Small Hours", too.)

[BizBuzz]

Hey there all L&O:CI fans, this is your spot to talk about the specific episodes found in Season Three, they include:

 

1 Undaunted Mettle 2003-09-28
2 Gemini 2003-10-05
3 The Gift 2003-10-12
4 But Not Forgotten 2003-10-19
5 Pravda 2003-10-26
6 Stray 2003-11-02
7 A Murderer Among Us 2003-11-09
8 Sound Bodies 2003-11-16
9 Happy Family 2003-11-23
10 F.P.S 2004-01-04
11 Mad Hops 2004-01-11
12 Unrequited 2004-01-18
13 Pas de Deux 2004-02-15
14 Mis-Labeled 2004-02-22
15 Shrink-Wrapped 2004-03-07
16 The Saint 2004-03-14
17 Conscience 2004-03-28
18 Ill-Bred 2004-04-18
19 Fico di Capo 2004-05-09
20 D.A.W. 2004-05-16
21 Consumed 2004-05-23

[GHScorpiosRule]

Goren: "Ouch."

 

But not really, eh Bobby?

 

And I will continue to curse Leight for ruining this Bobby for me.

 

Dickless Wolf, indeed.

[WendyCR72]

Something just popped back into my head that I wanted to nitpick from Saturday's Ion marathon. "Gemini" aired. The episode with the schizophrenic with the appearance and Marilyn Monroe obsession.

 

Anyway, the nitpick: Did Leight just completely have the writers change Bobby's past? Because, although not perfect, early on (S1), it seemed like Bobby's dad seemed average by inference (not a womanizing letch)...and here in "Gemini", the same theme seems to hold. From what he told the perp and his brother, he had an older brother (obviously Frank) who was a "straight arrow" and Bobby always teased him about loosening up, but their dad was always on his brother's case and he couldn't.

 

I GUESS it can be hand waved that maybe Frank cracked under the pressure, but honestly, it sounds like the whole dynamic had changed around S5 or so. Because we later heard Bobby's dad (who raised him) was a lying deadbeat adulterer and Frank...well, we saw what happened with Frank.

 

But listening to Bobby in "Gemini" and earlier when his family would be referenced, they don't mesh at all, and it makes me nuts.

[Spartan Girl]

"A Murderer Among Us" is the one CI episode that always gets to me because that guy was such a bigoted freak.  Hope he got the death penalty.  That poor wife realizing that her husband was a full blown psychopath/bigot...I totally don't blame her for killing herself and trying to frame him for it.  But her poor daughter will probably spend the rest of her life in therapy.  Yeesh.

[cooksdelight]

"A Murderer Among Us" is the one CI episode that always gets to me because that guy was such a bigoted freak.

First time I'd ever heard someone use the term "Jewess." That guy was indeed despicable.

[WendyCR72]

I did love Bobby swinging that pipe at the bastard, though.

[Donny Ketchum]

"Bishop being annoying?"  Meh.  I liked Bishop for the short time we had her and didn't find her annoying at all.  I thought she had a great partner vibe with Goren.  Sure, she was no Eames, but she didn't have to be, IMO.  She was fine to me.

[WendyCR72]

That's cool, Donny Ketchum! Differences make the world go 'round! Every character has fans, I know. Just seemed a good title, to me. No harm, no foul.

[WendyCR72]

I'll give you the different dynamic with Bishop, @Chattygal, although I got a kick out of Goren and his Eames quips. Like when Bishop told Goren she didn't enjoy him crashing some lunch to interrogate, he was all "Really? Eames would have!" and asking Bishop if she wanted to scroll on the computer since he wasn't being quick enough and said how driving was Eames' thing, maybe Bishop wanted to scroll. Hee.

 

A bit of co-dependence there, maybe, so used to his professional "groove" with Eames?  Or maybe it's as you say, Alex "got" Bobby, Bishop didn't. It almost makes me feel a wee bit sorry for her. I love Goren (duh!), but even I know being partnered with him must be ...difficult, shall we say?...if one isn't used to his unorthodox methods. As he told Alex in "Wee Small Hours" in S5, he is an acquired taste.

[Maherjunkie]

I love Bishop!  Poor thing gets the short shrift and is an excellent filmmaker in her own right.

[WendyCR72]

So Samantha Buck (Bishop) is a filmmaker now? Good for her. (Still don't care for her Lynn Bishop, though. LOL!)

[GHScorpiosRule]

So Samantha Buck (Bishop) is a filmmaker now? Good for her. (Still don't care for her Lynn Bishop, though. LOL!)

 

Exactly. Just because I didn't care for the character doesn't mean I had anything against the actress portraying her.  And she played a different a waitress on SVU in 2000. So see? Wolf pulled from the guest stars pool...when casting Bishop.

[Maherjunkie]

Yes, she did an excellent film on autism.  You can find it on PBS.org. And she was good on Sex and the City.

[WendyCR72]

I watched SATC (own the Collector's set, actually) and don't recall her being on it at all! Huh.

[Maherjunkie]

The one about the shoes.  She plays Tatum's sister.

[Maherjunkie]

One of my non-Big favorite's too.

[WendyCR72]

The one about the shoes.  She plays Tatum's sister.

 

Ah! Wow. Can't believe I never made the connection. But thanks, @Maherjunkie .

[WendyCR72]

So, "Pas De Deux" is on Ion, the episode with Charles Rocket as the floor salesman/bank robber who has others rob banks then blows them up. But it is episode 13 of S3. So did Ion skip A LOT, including Bishop's fill-in run? (Just tuned in, so I know 4 episodes were before, but that still wouldn't cover it all.) Not that I care if Bishop was skipped, but it's odd as I think last week left off with "Gemini", episode 2.

 

And every time I see this episode, I always think of poor Charles Rocket's demise by suicide. A shame. He was good on CI and was pretty awesome as David Addison's brother on Moonlighting way back when.

[WendyCR72]

Wait, Charles Rocket committed suicide? I was just reading in the last week on AV Club about his infamous SNL firing. I mostly remembered him from Moonlighting. 

 

I remember his famous (or infamous!) SNL firing due to the F-bomb. But to answer your question, sadly, yes, Charles Rocket killed himself in 2005, about two years after his CI stint.

 

(The link is to an old People article about it.)

[Eolivet]

So did Ion skip A LOT, including Bishop's fill-in run?

 

For what it's worth, I tuned in at 12PM and "F.P.S." was on. I think the marathons generally start at 11AM, so it seems like they only skipped a few? But it's weird they're skipping any, I agree. They did that while running S1, too. Really odd.

 

Season 3 has its fair share of "spot the famous guest star!" A very young John Krasinki is in "Mad Hops" (as a teammate of the kid who disappears), and of course, Stephen Colbert showing off his acting chops in "The Saint."

Edited September 27, 2014 by Eolivet

[WendyCR72]

For what it's worth, I tuned in at 12PM and "F.P.S." was on. I think the marathons generally start at 11AM, so it seems like they only skipped a few? But it's weird they're skipping any, I agree. They did that while running S1, too. Really odd.

 

Season 3 has its fair share of "spot the famous guest star!" A very young John Krasinki is in "Mad Hops" (as a teammate of the kid who disappears), and of course, Stephen Colbert showing off his acting chops in "The Saint."

 

Yeah, Stephen Colbert! And he was actually not a bad dramatic actor, all things considered. And looking at episode order, the 11:00 a.m. episode was "Happy Family" with Bishop, so around six episodes were skipped. Like I said, very weird! And while not huge, it's still a sizable gap. Maybe Ion wasn't crazy about Bishop. (Kidding!)

[GHScorpiosRule]

Yeah, Stephen Colbert! And he was actually not a bad dramatic actor, all things considered.

 

I find that all comedians who have appeared on this show (Darrell Hammond also appeared here) and in the other franchises, are all pretty damned good dramatic actors.

[WendyCR72]

I find that all comedians who have appeared on this show (Darrell Hammond also appeared here) and in the other franchises, are all pretty damned good dramatic actors.

 

Yeah, GHScorpiosRule, Darrell Hammond was a good sleaze. Who knew! (Although I admit to wondering if he would slip into his Bill Clinton persona. Hee. Habit, I guess! And good for Hammond, who just landed the new permanent position as the new SNL announcer following Don Pardo's death.)

[Donny Ketchum]

"Ill-Bred" reran last week, and I'm still confused, even after seeing it three times, as to what Paige's motive was supposed to be.  Or what she was even trying to do.  What was she going for?

[WendyCR72]

"Ill-Bred" reran last week, and I'm still confused, even after seeing it three times, as to what Paige's motive was supposed to be.  Or what she was even trying to do.  What was she going for?

 

Money. Lots of it, after blackmailing the rich wife for it (once she'd spill that her [Paige's] husband knocked her up with faulty condoms and not the husband of the other woman), for a horse farm in...Argentina, I think it was.

[Maherjunkie]

For you Chris fans, note secretary in that ep is his real life wife, Tara Wilson.

[Donny Ketchum]

Money. Lots of it, after blackmailing the rich wife for it (once she'd spill that her [Paige's] husband knocked her up with faulty condoms and not the husband of the other woman), for a horse farm in...Argentina, I think it was.

I see.  And two more things.  I don't get why she killed Molly, the vet, to try and achieve this.  And what was she saying as she was hauled off?  The farther away she got, the less I could understand her.

[WendyCR72]

The vet was killed because Paige was drugging the horses (some of which were smuggling drugs - I forget that angle and why it tied in, but it was mentioned!), and the vet was close to finding out about it based on blood tests she ordered.

 

And Paige was screaming at the pregnant woman she had hubby unknowingly knock up during their affair something to the affect that she had seen brood mares put up more of a fight than what's her face did (in terms of giving it up to Paige's husband so easily). Not those exact words, but that was the gist.

[Eolivet]

Just rewatched "Undaunted Mettle," and I think it's a highly underrated episode. It was one of the more "soapy" episodes I can remember, but it somehow never felt over-the-top and contrived. The slow revelation of Laurette's three families, plus who the victim turned out to be was just perfect soap drama. Jessica Hecht was great, too -- perfectly pitched as the assumed-Trophy-Wife. When Laurette points at her pregnant belly and says "That is nothing!", it could've been groan-worthy, but it somehow worked.

 

It's one of those episodes that I feel teetered on the brink of melodrama, but never crossed over -- in later seasons, I think it would've been unbearable. But these early writers knew how to skirt that line really well.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Just rewatched "Undaunted Mettle,"  <snip>

 

It's one of those episodes that I feel teetered on the brink of melodrama, but never crossed over -- in later seasons, I think it would've been unbearable. But these early writers knew how to skirt that line really well.

 

 

I give ALL the credit to the most awesome Rene Balcer for the writing in the first five seasons. I believe he co-wrote almost all of them. Episodes written by him, either here, and on the mothership and SVU are so much better and hard hitting.

[WendyCR72]

Just rewatched "Undaunted Mettle," and I think it's a highly underrated episode. It was one of the more "soapy" episodes I can remember, but it somehow never felt over-the-top and contrived. The slow revelation of Laurette's three families, plus who the victim turned out to be was just perfect soap drama. Jessica Hecht was great, too -- perfectly pitched as the assumed-Trophy-Wife. When Laurette points at her pregnant belly and says "That is nothing!", it could've been groan-worthy, but it somehow worked.

 

It's one of those episodes that I feel teetered on the brink of melodrama, but never crossed over -- in later seasons, I think it would've been unbearable. But these early writers knew how to skirt that line really well.

 

Every time I saw Meredith (Jessica Hecht), all I could think of was "poor Carol. Now she knows how Ross felt when she [Carol] left him!" LOL! (Jessica Hecht played Susan, Carol's lesbian life partner on Friends, in the '90s.)

[WendyCR72]

The creepy episode with the husband who won't accept that his wife and daughter are Jewish is on. Goren swinging that pipe at the guy is good, anyway.

[Eolivet]

That is such a good, disturbing episode ("A Murderer Among Us"), but every time I watch, I can't help but think the wife really lucked out in getting Goren as a detective. If I recall correctly, it's pretty convoluted figuring out what her injuries meant. I suppose that could be said of many cases on this show, but this one in particular I feel requires a few more leaps in logic. Most other police officers might've written it off as a suicide, and her death would've been in vain.

[WendyCR72]

That is such a good, disturbing episode ("A Murderer Among Us"), but every time I watch, I can't help but think the wife really lucked out in getting Goren as a detective. If I recall correctly, it's pretty convoluted figuring out what her injuries meant. I suppose that could be said of many cases on this show, but this one in particular I feel requires a few more leaps in logic. Most other police officers might've written it off as a suicide, and her death would've been in vain.

 

The injury the wife had on her knee, a way for her to show cops how her hubby killed someone (shattering the kneecap and beating him to death) was both ironic and chilling. But I do agree that it's good that Goren loves his mysteries.

[Maherjunkie]

The part of me that loves wicked symbolism loved him swinging the pipe.

[WendyCR72]

The part of me that loves wicked symbolism loved him swinging the pipe.

 

Hee. Gives new meaning to "whip it out!".

[Spartan Girl]

Is it wrong that I wish Goren had actually hit that bastard with the pipe?  I know he couldn't do it, but he would have deserved it.  Oh well, I can always hope he got the death penalty for the hate crimes.

 

So about "Pas de Deux" episode...am I the only one that wanted to slap that ninny Margie for throwing her family away just to be with Dancing Donnie the sociopath and willingly going along with the robberies?  What an idiot.  And I can't believe she had the nerve to tell Goren that her reasons for leaving her husband were "between me and my husband" when the idiot bitch didn't even leave a note for him.

[Maherjunkie]

That chick was a puzzle!  Talk about a female Walter White!

[WendyCR72]

So about "Pas de Deux" episode...am I the only one that wanted to slap that ninny Margie for throwing her family away just to be with Dancing Donnie the sociopath and willingly going along with the robberies?

 

Amen, @Spartan Girl, to both Goren hitting the rat bastard bigot perp with that pipe and about Margie above. I had a hell of a time believing this chick was a chemistry teacher since she seemed so damned naive and stupid.

 

And one thing that always bugged me: She said she made one of the "bombs" out of Play-Doh. You mean to tell me a real bomb and the Play-Doh facsimile would feel or even weigh about the same? Uh huh.

 

Frankly, I think she got lucky that hubby still sprang for a lawyer for her ass.

 

But the late Charles Rocket did play a good charming sleaze. I still mostly associate him with Moonlighting as David Addison's brother.

[Donny Ketchum]

The sleaze died?  When?

 

Also, I had to watch so many times to see Eames's "watching the wrong detective" moment.  My brother kept telling me he saw the moment she planted the pills on the guy, but I kept missing it because I'd thought it was earlier in the scene.  It took me till I realized it was closer to the end of it to finally spot when she did it.  It was quick, but it was there.

[WendyCR72]

The sleaze died?  When?

 

Also, I had to watch so many times to see Eames's "watching the wrong detective" moment.  My brother kept telling me he saw the moment she planted the pills on the guy, but I kept missing it because I'd thought it was earlier in the scene.  It took me till I realized it was closer to the end of it to finally spot when she did it.  It was quick, but it was there.

 

You have a better eye than I do because I never got when Eames did it. So kudos.

 

As for Charles Rocket, he committed suicide in October 2005, so it has been a decade this year since he did so. Wow. (So his CI episode wasn't long before that, I don't think.)

[Donny Ketchum]

You have a better eye than I do because I never got when Eames did it. So kudos.

It was right toward the end, when he was about to be led out the door the first time.  It's a quick, fluid motion, but Eames moves her arm, and the camera briefly cuts away.  By the time it cuts back to her, she's moving her arm back to its normal position.  That was when she did it.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[WendyCR72]

It was right toward the end, when he was about to led out the door the first time.  It's a quick, fluid motion, but Eames moves her arm, and the camera briefly cuts away.  By the time it cuts back to her, she's moving her arm back to its normal position.  That was when she did it.

 

I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

[WendyCR72]

@Maherjunkie, I must have missed your one-line post about Margie being a female Walter White. I think he'd be insulted to be compared to a drippy ninny like Margie!  :-P  Margie is no "Heisenberg"!

[Spartan Girl]

"Lovely and special" my ass.  I get that Goren was trying to butter her up to win her trust or whatever, but still, I think I threw up in my mouth when I heard him say that.  "Lovely and special" people don't ditch their children to run off to a life of crime in Mexico.

 

Anyway, about "A Murderer Among Us", does anyone else let out a big fat Nelson Muntz-style "Ha-Ha!" Goren uses the easiest trick in the book (i.e. switching the victim's license plates) to get that pig to blab out the real one?  Wow, that guy was a real trifecta: a stupid, violent, bigot.  The question wasn't how his wife never knew he was a bigot for all those years, the question was what she ever saw in him in the first place!

[Maherjunkie]

Margie is not even Jesse!  Bigot's sister was no prize either.

[WendyCR72]

Got a kick out of Bigot's sister living upstate in Troy. I live in Troy, and the way it is portrayed is nowhere near as swank in real Troy or whatever. Also applies to "Art" in Season 1, where a museum curator from Troy was drugged and hanged. No sign of any art galleries here!

 

But hey, free publicity.

 

Back to the episode, though, and yeah, Bigot's sister was a special piece of work, too.

 

Anyway, about "A Murderer Among Us", does anyone else let out a big fat Nelson Muntz-style "Ha-Ha!" Goren uses the easiest trick in the book (i.e. switching the victim's license plates) to get that pig to blab out the real one?  Wow, that guy was a real trifecta: a stupid, violent, bigot.  The question wasn't how his wife never knew he was a bigot for all those years, the question was what she ever saw in him in the first place!

 

Goren and the license plate switcheroo was good! The wife, from all accounts, seemed like a nice person, so yeah...I'm not sure what attracted her to the bigot freak of a hubby, either. I guess it takes all kinds.