formerlyfreedom February 13, 2015 Share February 13, 2015 In the Special Crime Unit's most harrowing case yet, the team has three days to save a teenage girl who has been abducted by a slippery online predator. The team soon learns that this is a deeply personal case for Backstrom, who is jolted by the girl's resemblance to the victim of an unsolved case that he was assigned seven years ago. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant John Almond's church faces eviction when he neglects to pay rent three consecutive months. Link to comment
mustbekarma February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 Wow. This episode really got to me. I love the relationships between the characters, especially Backstrom and Val. The way Backstrom broke down when both girls were found alive-that made my allergies act up. The church service at the end flared them up a little bit more, even. This show is really growing on me, and I really hated Backstrom in the pilot. I kind of love the guy now. He's broken because he failed, because he cared too much. I love how the supporting character's actions helped Backstrom figure out the mystery. Backstrom is just very good at putting information together with flashes of insight gained from interaction from other people. I'm like this aspect of his character. I think Val is my favorite character, though. 3 Link to comment
paigow February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 Valentine must be cutting down on larceny since he "consults" with the police so often. He should get a deal like Patrick Jane - amnesty for crime fighting. 1 Link to comment
BeatLA24 February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 Wow. This episode really got to me. I love the relationships between the characters, especially Backstrom and Val. The way Backstrom broke down when both girls were found alive-that made my allergies act up. The church service at the end flared them up a little bit more, even. This show is really growing on me, and I really hated Backstrom in the pilot. I kind of love the guy now. He's broken because he failed, because he cared too much. I love how the supporting character's actions helped Backstrom figure out the mystery. Backstrom is just very good at putting information together with flashes of insight gained from interaction from other people. I'm like this aspect of his character. I think Val is my favorite character, though. I loved the moment when Backstrom just physically collapsed when he heard the two girls were alive. It was as if all the power he was using to keep going and find them was used up, and his body just shut down. Very powerful. The supporting characters are also what I love about this show. You can never go wrong with Dennis Haysbert. I don't know if this show will last, but I am enjoying the episodes that we have been given. 4 Link to comment
ottoDbusdriver February 20, 2015 Share February 20, 2015 (edited) The story was an interesting combination of the Slenderman and the Cleveland kidnapper that held those teenagers for 10 years. And the bad guy was the actor that played Chip on 'Kate and Allie' back in the 1980s. I loved the moment when Backstrom just physically collapsed when he heard the two girls were alive. It was as if all the power he was using to keep going and find them was used up, and his body just shut down. Very powerful. Agreed. I think he expected to find Talia dead, but not to find Talia and Lacey both alive. And that just overwhelmed him. Combine that with the backstory about the fact Backstrom's brothers teased him about the Bogeyman so badly he didn't sleep for 3 days that he had a psychotic break and it put him in a mental hospital for 6 weeks. That's messed up. Paquet is growing on me as well. When she stated about that particular internet café "that'll be a dead end, I know this place well. It's where anarchists, techno-geeks, members of Anonymous. I've used it many times myself." and when Backstrom and Gravely ask why she just says "oh that's not important, just trust me the Internet trail ends there". What is Paquet up to in her spare time ? The supporting characters are also what I love about this show. You can never go wrong with Dennis Haysbert. As we get further into more episodes, I like how they are fleshing out Valentine, Almond, Niedermeyer, Gravely, Moto and Paquet. Dennis Haysbert will always be President David Palmer to me, but I think he's doing a decent job here as a detective/minister (though I'm still waiting for him to say to someone that they are in "good hands"). Finding out that Valentine had been taken advantage of by a similar predator when he was a teenager I didn't see coming. Edited February 21, 2015 by ottoDbusdriver 2 Link to comment
MakingBacon February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 I am so happy I stuck with this show. Every episode is better than the last. This episode was ten times better than the pilot. It was like watching a whole other show. The twist at the end shocked me so that I had to watch it four times to make sure what I thought happened actually did. 5 Link to comment
paigow February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 The story was an interesting combination of the Slenderman and the Cleveland kidnapper that held those teenagers for 10 years. And the bad guy was the actor that played Chip on 'Kate and Allie' back in the 1980s. He is now one of the go-to guys for "killer of the week". Mentalist (faux RainMan) & Criminal Minds (Evil Twins) are ones I remember. Link to comment
Yeldarbe February 21, 2015 Share February 21, 2015 hot damn what a great Episode. My only complaint is that it took them way too long to figure out what GIGBBIB meant. 3 Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 That was my main complaint too. I'm not a genius but I figured out the GIGBBIB acronym so far ahead of Backstrom that I was getting annoyed that an entire room full of cops still hadn't figured it out yet. 2 Link to comment
Beezella February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Well now I feel stupid, I only figured out GIGBBIB a few seconds before Backstrom. In addition to shades of Slenderman and the Cleveland kidnapper it also gives me a tiny bit of insight into how ISIS might be able to recruit. So chilling. I so agree, best episode yet. This is becoming one of my favorite shows. Link to comment
Oscirus February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 Great episode. That final interrogation when he scared the witness into giving up the location of those two girls was chilling. I also loved that they didn't feel a need to give a reason for the kidnapper's obsession with different color eyes. I actually love all the relationships but the relationship I pay the most attention to is Gravely/ Backstrom. She's obviously becoming his protégé already using his techniques he employs but it'll be interesting to see if she starts to adopt his cynical world view as well. This was easily, the best episode of Backstrom this year. I can now officially call myself a fan of this show. That was my main complaint too. I'm not a genius but I figured out the GIGBBIB acronym so far ahead of Backstrom that I was getting annoyed that an entire room full of cops still hadn't figured it out yet I was pretty much mentally screaming at my tv. Just because the shows called Backstrom doesn't meant that the other characters have to stand around and wait for him to come up with the solution to everything. My other complaint was the stupidity of these kids. They don't know the meaning of sexual intercourse or extortion but they know to use a hacker's café? 1 Link to comment
shapeshifter February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 ...My other complaint was the stupidity of these kids. They don't know the meaning of sexual intercourse or extortion but they know to use a hacker's café?I think it was just that the kid wasn't sure what the term meant to grownups. Heck, Bill Clinton didn't seem to know what it mean to a Congressional committee, heh--which was echoed by the kid finally declaring, "I did not have sex with [that woman/girl]!"Anyway, my favorite part was the gently amused look of understanding on Almond/Haysbert's face when he realized the kid was probably a virgin but didn't want to admit it. Link to comment
SnarkyTart February 22, 2015 Share February 22, 2015 (edited) After a rocky start, this is turning into a show that I look forward to watching live. I'm glad I stuck with it, because Rainn Wilson. Even with this episode's flaws (Yes GGBBIB was broadcast a mile away before Backstrom "got it"), it knocked it out of the park. I wasn't familiar with Thomas Dekker (Valentine) before, but he's a surprisingly capable actor. His scene describing the abuse was believable and chilling*. As for Rainn, the scene where he collapsed upon hearing that both of the missing girls were there was powerful, memorable, and exactly what was needed to begin humanizing such an abrasive character. Everything I find online tells me that Backstrom is more likely than not to be cancelled after this, its first season. That makes me sad. *ETA - Just read this on Dekker's wikipedia: "Dekker has stated that for much of his childhood, he was a victim of sexual molestation." That certainly helps to explain how he brought so much believability to that scene. Edited February 23, 2015 by SnarkyTart Link to comment
rue721 February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 After a rocky start, this is turning into a show that I look forward to watching live. I'm glad I stuck with it, because Rainn Wilson. Even with this episode's flaws (Yes GGBBIB was broadcast a mile away before Backstrom "got it"), it knocked it out of the park. I wasn't familiar with Thomas Dekker (Valentine) before, but he's a surprisingly capable actor. His scene describing the abuse was believable and chilling*. I loved Thomas Dekker on The Sarah Conner Chronicles (he played her son, John), and even tried out The Secret Circle because he was on it (though I couldn't last for more than a couple episodes of that one -- not his fault! Just such a dull show). So he's a big part of why I tried this show again after that atrocious pilot. Well, and also having a bunch of loooong, dull snow days! But I'm glad I did -- the show is light-years better. In this past episode, I'm not sure that Backstrom even said one bigoted thing! And all the stuff I liked about the pilot is still there ("stuff I liked" mostly meaning, the side characters, who are fantastic. With the glaring exception of Paquet, who they still don't seem to know what to do with). Obviously, I think Valentine's great. And Backstrom's relationship with Valentine is the only thing that really humanizes Backstrom for me, so I'm glad for that reason, too, that it seems like Valentine is getting a pretty big role on the show. But yeah, that scene when Valentine tells Backstrom about his assault was rough. Dekker really knocked it out of the park. How they did multiple takes of that, Idk. Watching scenes like that makes me very happy not to be an actor. Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo February 23, 2015 Share February 23, 2015 I loved Thomas Dekker on The Sarah Conner Chronicles (he played her son, John), and even tried out The Secret Circle because he was on it (though I couldn't last for more than a couple episodes of that one -- not his fault! Just such a dull show).Ha, I was one of the ten other people in the world who watched The Secret Circle (like an idiot, I stuck it out to the bitter stupid end). Trivia for those of you who haven't visited Thomas Dekker's IMDB page - he had two roles on Seinfeld. One was as Parker, the child actor who Is getting taller so Mickey (his stand in) gets lifts. The other role was Bobby, the sick kid in the hospital who insists that Paul O'Neill has to hit two home runs so that Kramer can get back a birthday card signed by all the Yankees. 1 Link to comment
rue721 February 24, 2015 Share February 24, 2015 I also loved that they didn't feel a need to give a reason for the kidnapper's obsession with different color eyes. IA, and thinking about it, I liked that the show didn't even bother to explain that. The whole episode was about predators trying to romanticize themselves ("the hooded man" who can take girls into a "new world," etc) and part of that ~romance~ was the predator making his victim feel special or chosen *by* getting victimized, like Valentine told Backstrom about -- and I was glad that in the end, the show itself didn't reinforce any of that by making the predator romantic/interesting or making his victim choice meaningful within the episode. The guy they caught had nothing romantic or interesting about him, he was nothing. Also, it just seemed irrelevant by then how he even saw his (potential) victims or what the different-color-eyes thing was about. The whole episode had been about who the (potential) victims were, and *them* as people, and what *they* wanted, and how *they* felt -- rather than on his perspective. He didn't know or care jack shit about them, so I didn't care at all why he chose them -- it was obviously just some superficial, idiosyncratic reason that didn't mean anything outside of his head. I really liked the writers' choice to focus on them rather than on the predator(s). Afaik that's still really unusual in a procedural, and I definitely noticed and appreciated it! I also liked that the show made the "Hooded Man" victims girls who were searching out "bad boys" online and experimenting with being "bad" themselves, and then added in Valentine talking about getting abducted/assaulted when apparently he was a prostitute -- because I think those are exactly the kinds of victims that are most likely to be seen as "asking for it." I liked that the episode emphasized that they *didn't* "deserve it" or were "asking for it." I think that's also where the episode's emphasis on their humanity rather than the Hooded Man's, etc, made a big difference. 1 Link to comment
Actionmage February 27, 2015 Share February 27, 2015 I missed this last week, read the raves, and just finished watching. I teared upeven knowing what was going to happen, that's how thoroughly the writing and characters draw you in. When Backstom had that ashen face of "oh, shit!", you knew it wasn't going to be silliness. (Not that there wasn't humor. Just not the usual amount.) When Almond is wondering to add another job to his already crowded plate. When Graves got a pissed look after the Feds just pulled out. " The FBI does not chase runaways." Graves was ready to spit nails. When Valentine told his story. When Natalia was talking about the internet café. I am glad the bronze otter kicked the hour off. Then again, I like otters. Pastor Almond? Keep being true to yourself and blessings will come in their time. Now you have a year to get on some bake sales and other fund-raising. See if Dr. Deb will prescribe a shift at a bake sale for Backstrom. *g* Link to comment
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