S07.E07: Dead Weight

[tessaray]

When a bicyclist appears to spontaneously combust, Maura proves his bizarre death is actually a murder and helps catch the science-savvy killer. Meanwhile, Jane's invited to teach a class of FBI recruits at Quantico.

[Bastet]

Jane's repeated grumbling at missing cool things - spontaneous human combustion, the hands still attached to the steering wheel, the fat bomb - was cracking me up, and we really needed one about her missing Maura chasing down a suspect.

My favorite reference to spontaneous human combustion will likely always remain Mulder's, "Dear Diary, today my heart leapt when Agent Scully suggested spontaneous human combustion," but this is a good one:

Nina: Again with the spontaneous human combustion?
Frankie: It's possible, I'm just saying.
Maura: I hope you'll stop saying it.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Bastet

[l star]

I loved watching Jane teaching! She may have been justifiably nervous, but she was in her element there. That interrogation lesson was really fun to watch. I didn't need the asshole trainee though. Since it was basically a collection of five throwaway lines and it led to Jane's great reaction to the cute agent offering to delay the plane, I can ignore it. I really, really, really hope that his mention here does not mean we have to see Agent Dean again. Either let Jane end the series single or flirting with cute men in between kicking ass professionally. No flashes from boyfriends past needed.

This episode had a lot of humor. I was cracking up at the fat bomb scene. It was hilarious and just juvenile enough to make me giggle. Jane's annoyance at missing all the cool stuff was funny too. Frankie's hope for spontaneous combustion was cute, though I'm surprised Maura's head didn't explode when he referenced Wikipedia. I kept expecting something when Korsak walked into Maura's office but nothing. I think the one-liners and his awesome side eye earlier had built up my expectations. When Nina brought up the rascals again, I cracked up. While the obvious 'Frankie brought over coffee last night' and obvious couple name teasing were obvious, I really liked seeing the inside joke. Now if they would just adjust the body language or tone or something, to create a bit of couple-like rhythm and intimacy between them.

I kept trying to figure out if Kent was being weirder than normal but I think it was Maura throwing off the dynamic. Is she still pissed about him suggesting surgery three episodes ago? Normally her weirdness and general acceptance of his weirdness balances Kent out but this ep, she she was treating him like she could barely stand him. Did I miss something? I actually watched this on TV tonight, with other people, so it is very possible.

For once I liked an Angela storyline. Her line about becoming independent was too obviously scripted, but I can appreciate her point. Maura handed her a gift when she needed it, but Angela has never stepped up since. Thank god Maura finally suggested the obvious solution. I liked the last scene from Maura revealing that she's known for a while what Angela had in mind to the teasing at the end. It's really sweet that Maura was so discrete and let Angela do what she needed, even though since it's her house Maura's concern would be reasonable. Does anyone remember when Angela actually moved in with Maura? Was there a conversation, an agreement, or even a moving scene at some point? I just remember her with Frank, then with Maura without any transition.

[Bastet]

Quote

Now if they would just adjust the body language or tone or something, to create a bit of couple-like rhythm and intimacy between them.

I like them together, but we see them at work, so I don't want to see anything different than we do.  I like the balance they're striking; we know they're still together and happily so by seeing little inside jokes, hearing about time spent together out of work, even juvenile teasing by co-workers, but since it's in the office, their interaction is of adults rather than googly-eyed teenagers.  Refreshing on TV.

[craziness]

To answer I star's question,  angela first mentioned that Maura offered her the guest house in the episode where Jane got a hero award after shooting herself/saving Frankie (also the ep where the army private got an award for saving her fellow soldiers,  then got blown up,  and the first episode with Casey). It just aired this weekend,  I think it was the the first ep in season 3. No mention of an agreement between angela and maura. 

[Maelstrom]

Angela and Frankie Sr got divorced at the beginning of season 2, so I think that must've been when Angela moved into Maura's. I remember there was a scene of Angela holding a garage sale before her move (which was when Frost bought Frankie's old action figure) but I can't recall the specific ep.

I have to admit I enjoyed seeing everyone work the case without Jane. It was nice to see everyone do their thing without her constant harping and sneering. The fat bomb demonstration scene was especially hilarious - somehow the more they said "fat bomb" the funnier it sounded. And Maura got the Big Damn Hero moment at the end! Go Maura!

It was interesting seeing Jane in a different environment, teaching instead of out in the field. I thought it was a nice change. The asshole trainee was such a one-note straw man, but sadly probably an all too realistic one. Still, it was cool to see how Jane dealt with him at the end.

[Bastet]

Yeah, it was a nice little fantasy world in which the FBI doesn't accept sexist assholes.

[Scamp]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Yeah, it was a nice little fantasy world in which the FBI doesn't accept sexist assholes.

And visiting cops can safely joke about J. Edgar Hoover's fashion proclivities with agents.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Scamp

[shapeshifter]

I guess I'm the only one who was thinking WTH when, right after the "cute" fibbie exposed the sexist trainee, the boss fibbie turns around and forces Jane to have drinks with him. Yes, she seemed to appreciate that he could postpone her flight an hour so they could get drinks, but he was awfully bossy about it and didn't give her a choice.

[maraleia]

This episode proves that the rest of the acting team (sans Angie) are really good together and that tells us everything about her future career.

[Scamp]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I guess I'm the only one who was thinking WTH when, right after the "cute" fibbie exposed the sexist trainee, the boss fibbie turns around and forces Jane to have drinks with him. Yes, she seemed to appreciate that he could postpone her flight an hour so they could get drinks, but he was awfully bossy about it and didn't give her a choice.

I hated that, too, but Rizzles shippers fear that he is a 'love interest" who will return for Jane in a future episode. 

[Texasmom1970]

My daughter and I giggled at Jane's excitement at seeing the arms still attached to the bike handles. Because as scary as this sounds that would totally be her.

[craziness]

Did anyone else think that Jane's POC at Quantico looked like Kent without his beard?  I did and found it distracting.  I did appreciate the callback to Dean (even though I'm not a fan of the character (the TV character, the book Dean is okay)), but was glad they didn't have him show up. 

Guess I've been lucky,  but I've never seen the old "drop the pen to see the girl bend over" power play. That seems like a dumb power play,  and really dumb to keep winking at Jane when she doesn't fall for it. Now that I know about it,  I'll just say "you dropped your pen" and then kick it out of their reach. Hahaha. 

[Callietwo]

1 minute ago, craziness said:

Did anyone else think that Jane's POC at Quantico looked like Kent without his beard?  I did and found it distracting.  

Sure did..  and yes, it took me out of the scene every time trying to figure out why they would cast someone so obviously similar.  

[tessaray]

I liked this episode. I did feel a little like a ten year old laughing at the fat bomb though. 

If the show wasn't ending, I could see the creepy FBI student as a recurring bad guy.

[Scamp]

14 hours ago, craziness said:

Did anyone else think that Jane's POC at Quantico looked like Kent without his beard?  I did and found it distracting.  I did appreciate the callback to Dean (even though I'm not a fan of the character (the TV character, the book Dean is okay)), but was glad they didn't have him show up. 

Agent Cameron Davies (Mark Deklin) not only resembles Kent, he also looks like Boris (Jane's onetime bodyguard), Jack Armstrong (Maura's beau for a while), and Skeet (bass fisherman) who pursued Jane.  Jack was cast in fanfic as a possible sperm donor for Maura and Jane since he had similar coloring to Jane.  

[abbottrabbit]

33 minutes ago, Scamp said:

Agent Cameron Davies (Mark Deklin) not only resembles Kent, he also looks like Boris (Jane's onetime bodyguard), Jack Armstrong (Maura's beau for a while), and Skeet (bass fisherman) who pursued Jane.  Jack was cast in fanfic as a possible sperm donor for Maura and Jane since he had similar coloring to Jane.  

 I just had to look him up, because he's totally one of those "hey, it's that guy!" actors I've seen do a one or two episode arc in everything, and that's when I learned: 

a. His finest work (IMHO) was a 2 episode arc as Mordor in Better Off Ted, which I love passionately. 

b. He is almost fifty. Damn, son. 

[Black Knight]

On July 18, 2016 at 10:12 PM, l star said:

I'm surprised Maura's head didn't explode when he referenced Wikipedia. I kept expecting something when Korsak walked into Maura's office but nothing. I think the one-liners and his awesome side eye earlier had built up my expectations. When Nina brought up the rascals again, I cracked up. While the obvious 'Frankie brought over coffee last night' and obvious couple name teasing were obvious, I really liked seeing the inside joke. Now if they would just adjust the body language or tone or something, to create a bit of couple-like rhythm and intimacy between them.

I kept trying to figure out if Kent was being weirder than normal but I think it was Maura throwing off the dynamic. Is she still pissed about him suggesting surgery three episodes ago? Normally her weirdness and general acceptance of his weirdness balances Kent out but this ep, she she was treating him like she could barely stand him. Did I miss something? I actually watched this on TV tonight, with other people, so it is very possible.

She did blurt that there wasn't enough time in the day to keep Wikipedia correct, or something like that, which made me laugh. I can just see Maura still up at 2:30am correcting various entries...

I like that Frankie and Nina are being professional at work. I don't have any problem with couples who work together, but I feel that it shouldn't show in the workplace. On a reality competition show I watch, Face Off, the host fell in love with, started living with, became engaged to, and has now married one of the original judges, who still guests occasionally, all during the show's run. You'd never be able to tell any of this from watching them onscreen together. I respect that.

Also, I personally didn't notice Maura treating Kent any differently than usual. They seemed just fine to me (not romantic, but fine).

On July 19, 2016 at 2:12 PM, maraleia said:

This episode proves that the rest of the acting team (sans Angie) are really good together and that tells us everything about her future career.

Ouch. I think AH's future career will probably be fine. But I do think it's interesting that the episode she's directing is the next one, which Jane will be very prominent in, rather than this one that she wasn't in much. Her decreased workload in this one of course was to allow her sufficient time to prepare to direct the next one, and it's not unknown for it to be handled in this way when one of the regular actors gets to direct an episode of their show. But, it is not the usual approach - the usual approach is for an actor to direct an episode in which s/he is barely in, if at all. Assuming AH had a say in how she wanted her directing gig to go, I think it's interesting that she picked a Jane-heavy episode where she directed herself and a bunch of guest stars/day players.

I have always enjoyed Maura and Angela's relationship, and they both like their living arrangement a lot, so I was glad that the women worked it out with the obvious solution. (I could also hear everyone who lives in San Francisco, and no doubt NYC too, screaming in unison, "You can't get anything for $900 here!")

[l star]

If we saw Frankie and Nina as a couple outside of work, I don't think it would bother me. I also respect and very much appreciate couples who are able to keep the personal away from the professional. But here, we only see them at work. What's the point of hooking them up if we never see them together and they never act like they are together? For example, that line to Korsak about the coffee was ridiculously obvious. With a few more hints between Frankie and Nina, that kind of thing wouldn't be needed. 

Just to be clear- I am not advocating making out and holding hands at work. I'm thinking more like the two of them walking into the station together in the morning or adopting some of the more intimate body language and speech patterns that people who know each other well pick up. They don't have to finish each other's sentences but picking up on the other's thought processes a little quicker than the others would be normal. A bit of flirting when it's just the two of them in BRIC. Or even stealing a drink from the other's water bottle, which is a pretty common tv trope. Now it's like they have to remind us when really, if they didn't want them to be a couple, why did they make them a couple?

[Scamp]

4 hours ago, l star said:

If we saw Frankie and Nina as a couple outside of work, I don't think it would bother me. I also respect and very much appreciate couples who are able to keep the personal away from the professional. But here, we only see them at work. What's the point of hooking them up if we never see them together and they never act like they are together? For example, that line to Korsak about the coffee was ridiculously obvious. With a few more hints between Frankie and Nina, that kind of thing wouldn't be needed. 

Just to be clear- I am not advocating making out and holding hands at work. I'm thinking more like the two of them walking into the station together in the morning or adopting some of the more intimate body language and speech patterns that people who know each other well pick up. They don't have to finish each other's sentences but picking up on the other's thought processes a little quicker than the others would be normal. A bit of flirting when it's just the two of them in BRIC. Or even stealing a drink from the other's water bottle, which is a pretty common tv trope. Now it's like they have to remind us when really, if they didn't want them to be a couple, why did they make them a couple?

Of course, those of us who  have shipped Rizzles from the pilot have seen such intimate moments again and again.  If they didn't want Jane and Maura to be a couple, why did they make them a couple, in every way except explicit sexual behavior?