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Celebrating 1,000 NCIS-franchise episodes

S01.E02: Episode Two

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
in American Crime [V]

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fellini

fellini

I think American Crime could have been a good show if the creator just focused on the crime and how it affected the families and the individuals involved in the crime. But the creator is focused on race relations which I am not interested in at all. But I will continue watching the show anyway.

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memememe76

memememe76

I don't care about the Junkies either. I like the family with the son in custody (I stil don't get why he's in custody).

 

I really don't understand the wife's parents demanding where the husband is buried. If the wife survives, shouldn't she have final say? Otherwise, the husband's parents should have the final say. I don't get those parents at all.

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briochetwist

briochetwist

(edited)

I really don't understand the wife's parents demanding where the husband is buried. If the wife survives, shouldn't she have final say? Otherwise, the husband's parents should have the final say. I don't get those parents at all.

 

This.  And I don't understand why they're trying to get Russ to commit to changing Barb's mind, it's pretty obvious that she hates him and he's got absolutely zero pull with her.  They'd have better luck asking him to solve the middle-east crisis.

Edited by briochetwist
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Syndicate

Syndicate

I think everything will make sense as this progresses.  I think the interracial junkies will be the easiest to come into play as this story progresses.  The handsome white fella named Matt was a drug dealer, wasn't he?  Carter and Aubry and Matt equals CONNECTION!  It also sounds like Matt's wifey was a whore!  Also, who's gonna be gay on this show?  Seriously, TV shows these days tend to throw in the gay angle in some way, shape, or form.  I'm gonna call it that the Skokie's other son Mark, is the queer one, perhaps closeted for storyline purposes.

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Constantinople

Constantinople

Thanks to Aubry & Carter, now I know the answer to a question posed years ago:
 

Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh lord why don't we?


To paraphrase the Captain and Tennille, "Meth. Meth will keep us together".

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Lorimac

Lorimac

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't think that Eve knew about her daughter's sexual activities. I thought when he told her that, she shut it off by saying, " Why do you care? Do you love her less now?" As for Aubry and the hotel, I got the feeling that this was not her first time there. When she called her father (?) from the bedroom, she just said 'I'm at the Whatever Suites Hotel' so they must know the hotel. She clearly has a super-rich family who has housed her here before. Maybe I am giving the show the benefit of the doubt, but I figured this was the quickest way to get us to "rich white girl born wealthy and hates herself so takes drugs" plotline. Because we have lots of races but no one-percenters yet so I am predicting Aubrey's dad brings that element in. Anyway, I think Ms. Bates is completely right that there is procedural sloppiness, but I am giving this show some time to get rolling. (Besides, watching the real justice system work would be REALLY boring!)

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GaiusB

GaiusB

I am glad Aubrey exists on this show, because without her i doubt i would continue to watch. She is very pretty and only one i care about. Her boyfriend have some potential too. Parents of victims are so deeply unsymphatetic, it is hard for me to feel anything for them. Which is wrong. This show fails to make an emotional impact where it should, the contrast with The Returned and this show is staggering in this aspect.  Also latino characters seems to exist only for heavy handed dialogues about a race.

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wonderwoman

wonderwoman

As others have noted, there are times when this show feels like a sort of homage to "Crash." But what might work well in a 2-hour movie can feel like a chore to watch when spread out over, in this case, 11 episodes. Frankly, getting to see Barb confronted with the reality of Matt's life is the only thing that will keep me watching for the duration. So, I'll be recording, then watching with my finger on the ff button.

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Soobs

Soobs

 Parents of victims are so deeply unsymphatetic, it is hard for me to feel anything for them. Which is wrong. This show fails to make an emotional impact where it should, the contrast with The Returned and this show is staggering in this aspect.  Also latino characters seems to exist only for heavy handed dialogues about a race.

 

I find the parents to also be deeply unsympathetic and because of that I feel even worse for them. I try to imagine myself in their shoes and I think would a tragedy of this magnitude bring out the best parts of me or the worst? I find them to be very realistic in that way. I'll check out The Returned because heavy handed is the perfect way to describe the racial aspects of this show, which is a bummer because that part could be really interesting if it was handled more gently.

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Dowel Jones

Dowel Jones

'I'm at the Whatever Suites Hotel'

 

I laughed when she walked into that giant suite.  I'll bet that the clerk saw the handful of cash, noted her condition,  and sold her the most expensive room he could.

 

I think the reason Junior is still in jail is that the police suspect him of more than just loaning/renting the car to his friend.  That and they're taking advantage of the father's lack of knowledge of the justice system and his unwillingness to step on toes.  The latter more than the former. 

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TheRabbi

TheRabbi

(edited)

I must be in the minority (pun intended?), but I am really digging this show.  The performances in front of and behind the camera are what's really grabbing me.  The two leads (Matt's parents) are amazing.  And I'm continually shocked by how long each take/scene is.  It's just not something you see on TV much these days to see an individual take go on for a minute or more.  And it feels much more like a cable show, with very little music, grittier scenery, and actors/actresses who aren't your typical pretty glamorous hollywood stars.

 

As for the content itself, I'm invested at least.  I'm sure it will get needlessly convoluted as it goes on, and probably no one in custody actually did it, but I want to find out more and keep watching.  This is miles better than "Secrets and Lies" at least.

Edited by TheRabbi
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WearyTraveler

WearyTraveler

(edited)

What puzzles me is the police seem to be spinning the crime as drug related...however if this is the case why would the culprits leave behind so many drugs?

 

The drugs were hidden.  The police found them when they searched the house, the perps didn't.  I'm going to guess one of two scenarios:

 

1) The killers had just murdered Matt when the meth-head showed up.  They left just as the meth-head went in.  Meth-head, upon seeing the scene, took off immediately.

2) Meth-head came in and bought drugs from Matt, then he left, but not before noticing the real killers pulling up to the house.  The real killers didn't want the drugs in Matt's house because the motive isn't drugs.

 

I must be in the minority (pun intended?), but I am really digging this show.  The performances in front of and behind the camera are what's really grabbing me.  The two leads (Matt's parents) are amazing.  And I'm continually shocked by how long each take/scene is.  It's just not something you see on TV much these days to see an individual take go on for a minute or more.  And it feels much more like a cable show, with very little music, grittier scenery, and actors/actresses who aren't your typical pretty glamorous hollywood stars.

 

As for the content itself, I'm invested at least.  I'm sure it will get needlessly convoluted as it goes on, and probably no one in custody actually did it, but I want to find out more and keep watching.  This is miles better than "Secrets and Lies" at least.

 

You're in a minority of two :-)

 

I like the performances of the actors portraying the parents. Huffman is making me dislike Barb a whole lot, so kudos to her.  TH is doing an excellent job too.

 

I have to say the meth-heads are a let down.  I don't like the characters, they are so stupid, it makes me want to shake them.  And I don't understand the music choices during their scenes.  It's the kind of music TV shows and movies use when they want the audience to "feel" how amazing, one-of-a-kind, the love of the OTP is, and I really don't care for meth-heads, as great as their love might be.  That said, I think whoever is financing blondie right now might be connected to Matt's murder and that's how blondie's boyfriend knew about Matt and ended up in his house.  Maybe when they make this connection on the show, those characters will be more interesting.  As of now, they are just a couple of stupid meth-heads who'd do anything for a fix.

 

I feel for the Mexican family.  As bad as racism against blacks is in the USA, I think, in some ways, Mexicans have it worse.  At least black people can claim American citizenship, while Mexicans (and even Mexican Americans born in the USA), are always treated as foreigners, strangers, illegals, etc.  If I heard correctly, I think the thing that got the young boy in trouble was his admission that he knew the guy who rented the car from him was in a gang.  That means (I think) that they can charge him with facilitating a crime and accessory (because he should know that the guy from a gang would want to use an untraceable car for a crime).  Since the crime was murder, it's a big deal to facilitate murder.  That said, I think the police threw the book at this kid  way too hard, and the reason might be some kind of racial bias.  Sadly, I think we're heading for this boy starting as an innocent and then turning into someone terrible because of what he's being put through in the juvenile system; thus making the racial stereotypes about Mexicans a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Edited by WearyTraveler
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cassandle

cassandle

I finally got around to watching the first two episodes last night and as much as I want to like it--because my love for Timothy Hutton is strong--I found myself fast-forwarding through a lot.  And I'm not happy that a lot of his scenes involve Barb because I find her so very awful and would love to skip over her but I can't because:  Hutton.

 

Also, weirdly, I was halfway through the second episode before I recognized W. Earl Brown.  I love him and I can't believe I didn't recognize him clean-shaven.  So now there are two characters/actors I won't fast-forward through regardless of how annoying the writing gets.

 

 

Has Alonzo never watched TV? Who doesn't know that you need to get your kid a lawyer. I really tried with this show I want to like it but the writing is making it so hard.

 

Seriously.  Or the kid either!  He knew he was lending his car to a gang member but somehow didn't think talking to the police about said car without his dad or a lawyer was going to turn out well?  Cop/lawyer shows are so ubiquitous at this point even the Amish would know to ask for a lawyer before opening their mouths.

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Dagny

Dagny

I view the kid as naive and sheltered. The dad had been very controlling to keep his kids in line.  Notice (during the interrogation) how the kid had a little defiant pride in doing something his dad didn't want him to? He didn't have a safe place to get a little rebellious. He messed up big time and I think the show will show him getting harder.

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damalanop

damalanop

What puzzles me is the police seem to be spinning the crime as drug related...however if this is the case why would the culprits leave behind so many drugs?

Great question! I hadn't thought about the drug connection from this angle.  So leaving the drugs behind suggests a crime of passion?  So far none of the suspects seems to have an intimate connection with the victims.

 

Felicity Huffman is playing Barb very well because I really don't like her.  I do realized that the tragedy of your son and D-I-L being killed or near killed results in a lot of unexplainable behavior, I get the feeling Barb was bitter and hateable before any of this happened.  I feel so sorry for Timothy Hutton's character in having to deal with the killing of their son as well as Barb's refusal to deal with him as the father of their child.  But her behavior toward the detective investigating Matt's case took the cake.  No excuse for that!

 

Many things about this show make me uncomfortable (e.g., the teenager seemingly getting railroaded, the junkie and his girlfriend and their sad plight, Barb's racism), but I don't know if I can say for sure yet that I'm in to it.  Actually, yeah, I can say for sure that I'm not completely in.  While I don't mind the stories making me uncomfortable, there is something I can't put my finger on that isn't really drawing me in.  

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elzin

elzin

I think this show for me is going the way of HTGAWM: watching it for the strong performances of the actors (mainly the excellent female ones) and not really caring about it otherwise.  It's not horrible, but it has a lot of the same problems, like too many awful characters you just don't care about. But the performance of Viola Davis drew me back every week to HTGAWM, and I think Huffman's horrible, horrible, horrible Barb will draw me back too.

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lucindabelle

lucindabelle

(edited)

You run a business and you don't know about lawyers?

I turned to mom and said you live in America and you don't watch law & order? I mean who doesn't know the phrase "lawyered up" by now?

And I maintain that the drug making her so spaced out cannot be meth. Meth is speed.

She walked into that hotel with no nervousness. I think it was that as much as the cash that got her the room, she looked like a rich beat up girl. I think most homeless meth heads are probably not from rich families and maybe have no family at all but I always appreciate a twist. My first thought was brother, but maybe ex husband, or current husband, or incestuous dad or something. Regular dad or relative would be too much to hope for. Because on TV nobody e er goes down the tubes just because. There's always a reason.

I did like gwens dad going from disgust to that's my baby girl. Nice scene.

And much as I dislike felicity huff and character she's rigt to call out gwens parents about the criminal procedure. They are done with it and want it over. But it's not done,

Despite my quibbles I find it tense and engrossing.

Edited by lucindabelle
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Flame Princess

Flame Princess

Between this show and Secrets and Lies, I have to think ABC's character design strategy this mid season is to create as many aggressively unlikeable characters as possible, then pit them all against each other in a race to the bottom.

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WearyTraveler

WearyTraveler

Yes, the presence of semen is not an indication of rape, it gets there by having regular intercourse too.

 

I think the initial thought was rape because it was a murder scene, but after the autopsy, the coroner might have said he couldn't affirmed for sure she'd been raped since there was no internal bruising and other signs that point to rape.  The fact she had several samples of DNA inside her without bruising/other damage would point to her having consensual sex with several people.

 

Nevertheless, there's always the possibility she was subdued with a drug, in which case, signs of bruising could be avoided, but I guess the coroner found no evidence of that either.

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kikaha

kikaha

My guess is that Matt's co-worker -- the guy Tim Hutton's character met with -- is the killer.  But unless the show stops throwing cliches and stereotypes at me, I'll never know, because I'm not willing to stick around for much more. 

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Kendall

Kendall

I think Matt finally found out about the other men, beat the crap out of Gwen and either while he was doing it or just after he finished, somebody killed him. Bad day at the Skokie house.

 

Regina King is still the only reason why I will continue to watch.

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MaryPatShelby

MaryPatShelby

(edited)

My assumption is that Aubrey had called her father, begging for money.  Near the end of the conversation he said something like "and you'll let me know where you are?  You promise?"  She promised.  Then when she got into the hotel room, she made that brief call telling him where she was.  I have no idea if this is accurate, but that's how I read the scene.

 

Edited to add:  I just read the recap, and maybe the recapper is watching screeners that have some deleted scenes? Because I don't remember one single thing that led me to believe Eve knew about her daughter and multiple sex partners, and her alleged knowledge was referred to twice in the recap.

Edited by buffylew
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Kendall

Kendall

The mother revealed that she knew when the father was in the hotel room excited about being able to go through Gwen's email. She told him that Gwen came to her as another woman, not just her daughter and she kept her confidence as well as encouraging her to stay in the marriage for as long as she could.

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