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The Mysteries Of Laura - General Discussion


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Laura tries to solve the murder of an old bartender friend.

 

Great episode.

 

I can't understand why people don't like Debra Messing. I think she's lovely. I never watched Will and Grace, so I came to this show with no previous opinions of her as an actress. I really like the way she portrays Laura as smart, funny, and more down to earth than some TV detectives. No high-heels or perfect hair at crime scenes, no computer hacker skills, and the ex-husband she hates is able to make her feel something that makes her uncomfortable when they dance.

 

I also liked the twins in this episode. They were cute and funny without being smark-alecky TV kids. "Harriet Tub!" I loved the babysitter, too. I hope that her accepting the big check means she'll be on more episodes this season.

 

Polly Draper! It was great to see her and hear her sultry voice. But speaking of voices, I couldn't place her accent. It sounded like a combination of bad South Boston, Bronx, Brooklyn, and possibly New England accents. But wasn't she from Florida? In which case, she would have a Southern accent or none at all.

Edited by topanga
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This was the first time I tried to watch this show. I didn't make it past the first five minutes. So, she's a cop and used her status to intimidate her neighbor and lied to get out of taking responsibility for her kids breaking his window. Was I supposed to find that cute or funny? Maybe she ends up doing the right thing later in the episode, but I won't be sticking around to find out. Based on the reviews, I don't feel too bad about this admittedly quick decision.

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This episode was a little bit better, just like e2 was a bit better than the pilot. If this show survives to the end of its first season without have a bunch of episodes burned off at weird hours, it will be, IMO, because of Kahyun Kim/Sammi/the baby sitter.

Nitpick: If I had birthed twin boys, they might have looked like those boys. Those boys do not look like they came from Debra Messing and blue-eyed Josh Lucas.

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I have put my jeans on like Laura on occasion, so that made me laugh.

I wish more people would get into this show.

I agree, 17wheatthins. The show's ratings aren't bad, but they're not high enough with that magic 18-49 demographic. So we'll see.

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No high-heels or perfect hair at crime scenes, no computer hacker skills, and the ex-husband she hates is able to make her feel something that makes her uncomfortable when they dance.

 

Well, she actually does have perfect hair most of the time.  I've noted it frequently, because it is so beautiful. 

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This was better than the pilot, mainly due to the fact that those bratty kids were in very few scenes, but I'm still  not sure this is a show I want to continue watching.  The fact that the story of squirrel abuse was brought up for laughs was a turn off for me.  I don't care what kind of animal it is, I don't find abuse of them to be funny.  That short scene wouldn't be a reason for me to stop watching, but it didn't help in my evaluation of the show.  Most of the characters so far are not that appealing to me.  I'll give it another try or two before deciding if it's a go or not for me.

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I love the babysitter.  She's becoming my favorite character.  In general, I'm warming up to the show.  It's not great, but it's enjoyable enough, and there's nothing else on opposite it that interests me at all.  However, this week I was totally lost at the end.  I did not get what they were saying about "air rights" at all.  Can anyone explain what exactly those are and how someone can have rights to the air above their building?  I'm assuming from the way they were talking that the bar owner must have owned that building?  In which case wouldn't the wife have been set anyway since they could have sold it at some point?  Anyway, I was kind of 'meh' about the episode in general by the end since they totally lost me, including the part about there not being 3 halves as being some big 'reveal' that gives Laura the answer.  There weren't 3 halves; there were 2 halves, and of course the other half would be part of the estate that went to the wife.  I actually would be surprised if she weren't a co-owner of the building already, given that they'd been married for 30 years or something.  And since the wife apparently wanted to sell the air rights and that's why she murdered her husband, why would the billionaire say that his investment was wasted?  It would be worth a lot with the bar owner dead.  I'm confused.

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So, she's a cop and used her status to intimidate her neighbor and lied to get out of taking responsibility for her kids breaking his window. Was I supposed to find that cute or funny?

That was neither cute nor funny but it was very human.  I think we were supposed to see it as a failing - at least,  I hope we were.

 

Overall I liked it, thought it was better than last week's episode.  I liked her hair in the long braid. And I like the babysitter. Also liked the homeless guy, glad she was able to help him.

 

I wish they would drop all mention of her and Jake as a couple.

 

 

And since the wife apparently wanted to sell the air rights and that's why she murdered her husband, why would the billionaire say that his investment was wasted?  It would be worth a lot with the bar owner dead.  I'm confused.

I don't think I understood it any better than you did.  Perhaps the developer thought the wife shared her husband's view and wouldn't sell her half to him.  Not that she'll be able to now, since she killed him and can't inherit.

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I wish they would drop all mention of her and Jake as a couple.

I know, but the two of them have crazy amounts of chemistry. Maybe I just like looking at Josh Lucas--I wish his character wasn't a slimy d-bag. Then I could root for them to get back together.

 

Laura and her partner also have great chemistry. But I like them as partners and friends, not as a couple, so I hope the show doesn't go there.

 

 

Perhaps the developer thought the wife shared her husband's view and wouldn't sell her half to him.  Not that she'll be able to now, since she killed him and can't inherit.

So they were married? Then why did the wife say that if she walked away from their relationship, she'd get nothing? In a divorce settlement, she'd be entitled to a portion of their joint assets. Unless they signed a pre-nup, the biker bar--and its air-rights would be part of that joint asset package. 

 

--And dude, will people stop friggin confessing to the arresting officers? Why didn't she deny, deny, deny until proven guilty in a court of law? I suppose, then we'd never get the motive behind her crime. I keep forgetting that this isn't Law and Order, where people wait till they get on the witness stand to confess their crimes.

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From what I could gather, when you're building a new high rise you have to get permission from surrounding buildings if you're going to block their view; either that, or you have to get them to sign something that says they won't build a higher building and block your view. Something like that.

 

 

The show's ratings aren't bad, but they're not high enough with that magic 18-49 demographic. So we'll see.

 

What really kills me is that it's the second most watched program at 8 pm ET after Survivor in total household numbers (8.89 million viewers, vs. 9.47 million for Survivor) but it ranks third (tied with Hell's Kitchen) in the coveted 18-49 demographic. I'll just never understand the logic behind placing so much emphasis on the demographic over total viewers.

 

I did kind of feel like this was the weakest of the three episodes so far. Seemed to lack some of the humor from the previous two, with the exception of the office assistant trying to check up on the babysitter.

Edited by iMonrey
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The babysitter is a great addition to the show. The assistant (Max?) checking up on her was so funny and cute. The actual mystery in this one was not my favorite but I am enjoying the cast more with each episode. I hope the show is doing well enough for NBC to keep it around for awhile.

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So they were married? Then why did the wife say that if she walked away from their relationship, she'd get nothing?

I just assumed they were married, don't recall it actually being stated.  But, after 30 years, isn't she entitled to the same rights as a wife?  Or does that vary from state to state? 

 

Yeah, I really liked Max checking up on the babysitter too. 

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I just assumed they were married after having been together for 30 years. But maybe not.  New York does not recognize common law marriages except from other states where they are recognized. So if they weren't married, then she would not inherit.  But then it would also make no sense for her to kill him unless he had a valid will leaving everything to her.  So I'm still confused.  That's not a good thing.

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I don't think we were supposed to assume she thought that far ahead about the air rights. He sold half to that guy, which left only one half for them. And she knew that he wasn't going to sell the other half to the developers, so basically he sold her half/their future in Florida for ten thousand when it would have been worth millions if he would have sold it all. Instead he sold half, which left them stuck with nothing and tied them to the bar forever.

After the fact, she probably thought about selling it, because she made that comment at the wake about it feeling like a last hurrah and going back to Florida, but she couldn't talk to the Wall Street dude while Laura was investigating.

I liked the episode, the babysitter was hilarious, especially the part where she grabbed the scooter when Max was sneaking around outside.

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I think the reason this one didn't really work for me was that Laura was investigating a crime against someone she knew and cared about, which added more pathos than a case where she's indifferent. Not as funny. Also, it's sort of trope to have her and her husband looking back at some elderly sage from their idealistic, post-college days. 

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I do think this show is in the death throes.  My local NBC affiliate had a rerun of this episode scheduled for 7pm tonight.  As I did not watch on it's scheduled night, I planned to watch tonight - instead I got a paid ad and when I went back late I got one of those singing competitions - the one with the judges in the big red chairs.

 

So they cancelled a planned rerun.  Not good

 

18-49 yr olds spend more money even tho' the 50+ has more money.  Thus the  need for the 18-49 demographic - to buy the advertisers crap.

 

Altho' somehow CBS makes it work with an older demo, so I don't know.

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So, she's a cop and used her status to intimidate her neighbor and lied to get out of taking responsibility for her kids breaking his window. Was I supposed to find that cute or funny?

 

This irritated me to no end especially when we know how bad the twins are.  No punishment, no consequences?  Seriously?  I just can't stay with this any longer.  I deleted it part way through because I just couldn't watch any more.

 

I didn't get to the "air rights" part, but this was the same plot device used in "Burlesque" a couple of years ago.  More pop culture references - this is starting to remind me of "Gilmore Girls" but Amy Sherman-Palladino used her references better.

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The legal stuff here was the weakest part of the episode, because they assumed everyone knows New York City property law.

 

"Air Rights" in NYC are unused development rights. Most cities use absolute limits on building size and use, and require developers to apply for an exception on a case by case basis (variance). In New York, however, you can transfer unused rights from one building to another on a given block. So the air rights for the bar's block could have say 10 stories as the limit. Since the bar used two stories they can sell 8 stories to another building, and that building can be 18 stories tall.

 

There are two main types of property ownership if you are not married, one means your co-owner gets your rights when you die (joint tenancy), the other means the part ownership passes down via your will/trust/estate laws (tenancy in common). What they didn't explain very well was that the air rights in this case were not joint tenancy, so all the rich guy bought was the ability to keep the buildings on the block smaller.

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I want to like this show and since I've come back three times, obviously a part of me does like it.  I like Debra Messing, I like her partner, I like the people she works with on the job and her kids and the babysitter.  I even like the ex.  BUT...

 

I HATE that it's basically telegraphed that she's going to go back to him at some point.  I hate the twisted message this show sends.  She's smart, she's tough, she's in over her head as a mother and if we're lucky when she gets it together her reward is the man who betrayed her?

 

I would be fine with the ex being around if the show stopped trying to tell me they were meant to be.  Sure in this case it was the killer who kept saying it, (talk about a mixed message) but the little dance and the moment plus them actually agreeing on something at the end - all these things are the little signs writers like to throw in to show their hand, to telegraph the direction they want the audience to go.  When did it suddenly become good TV to root for the female character to just get over being cheated on so she can be happy???  I hate this message sooooo much. 

 

So he says he won't do it again, but I have no reason to believe him.  Nor do I have any reason to want to believe him.  It's not his show. It's supposed to be Laura's but the way it's set up, if she goes back to him, then it's like he wins.  Sure if this was real life, the scenario might make sense for lots of reasons (even as little as for the kids) but this is TV and if I have to put up with believing that suspects just flat out confess to Laura out of the blue and that no one in upper management thought it was a terrible idea to put the ex in charge of his recently divorced wife I don't have to put up with other unromantic realities. 

 

It just feels so misogynistic..  Name one show where the male lead is supposed to end up with the ex who was constantly cheating on him and be a feel good fun time show.  Nope.  Doesn't happen. But the woman?  It's popping up all over the place. 

 

Until the fans rebelled and basically rejected the idea the writers on Arrow were all set to sell the story of a serial cheater who ran off with his girlfriend's SISTER as the one true pair.  Just no. 

 

I really think The Mysteries of Laura could be a great show if they simple stopped shoving down my throat such a distasteful situation.

 

That and be less obvious about their bad guys.  I was begging the show almost from the first time we saw Ruby not to make her the killer.  They think they are being clever but it's so obvious and contrived and forced.  Plus it made me feel as bummed as Laura was. Between this and the pilot episode, enough is enough.  I want to enjoy hating the bad guy, not feel like crap. 

 

That said, I do hope the show sticks around. 

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A political sex scandal erupts and Laura investigates the alleged mistress involved. However, problems with surveillance emerge, forcing detectives to enter the world of online gaming in order to zero in on a murderer.

 

 

 

 


Of course it was Wallace Shawn, he was the most famous guest star. Inconceivable!!!

Edited by chitowngirl
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Good episode, but something was missing. I know. Laura was alone for a lot of the episode--she wasn't bouncing theories off the ears of her partner or her boss/ex-husband. I like her interaction with Laz Alanzo. It's one of the highlights of the show for me.

 

I liked that the young detective was a gamer, but besides that, I'm confused by her. Who is she? She seems to sit around the office a lot and do scut work for Laura. If shes a detective, then why doesn't she go out and detect?

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I was waiting for Wallace Shawn to say "Inconceivable!" but I think it was funnier that he didn't say it, but the other fellow, back at headquarters, did say it.

 

I liked the episode, the lack of the twins was a blessing.  Laughed at Laura's comment after coming back from the spa "That was the best three hours of my life.".

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Loved that Laz mentioned that "Avatar" was the greatest movie of all time. Good job, Tsu'Tey! I enjoyed the episode as well. Laughed really hard at Laura's comment after coming back from the spa. I feel her pain - I have four children. LOL At first, I was a little confused by the plot and who killed the two women. I'm so glad Laura spelled it out for me towards the end.

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This one was better than the last one, but I agree it's a problem to cast someone as high profile as Wallace Shawn without immediately tipping the audience off to his impending importance. They have the same problem on lots of crime shows and mystery shows, when you have a very recognizable guest star. It's too obvious. But the humor was good in this one and, thankfully, minimal usage of the kids. 

 

Ratings continue to drop and considering the negative press this show has gotten I'd be surprised to see it get picked up for a full season. 

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"Air Rights" in NYC are unused development rights. Most cities use absolute limits on building size and use, and require developers to apply for an exception on a case by case basis (variance). In New York, however, you can transfer unused rights from one building to another on a given block. So the air rights for the bar's block could have say 10 stories as the limit. Since the bar used two stories they can sell 8 stories to another building, and that building can be 18 stories tall.

 

Thank you SO much!

 

 

I HATE that it's basically telegraphed that she's going to go back to him at some point.  I hate the twisted message this show sends.  She's smart, she's tough, she's in over her head as a mother and if we're lucky when she gets it together her reward is the man who betrayed her?

 

 

Huh... I don't get the "eventually she goes back to the ex" vibe at all. I hope she doesn't; he's charming, but he's a jerk.

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I liked it, not love, but it was entertaining. For some reason, I cracked up during the rehab scene when Laura was talking to the campaign manager. The rest of the campaign stuff was a miss for me. I guess I don't mind most of the things that everyone else was annoyed by, I mean it's a cop show so I'm not expecting realistic in that sense. I'm really taking it more as a funny show? I like Laura, I like most of her interactions with people. I thought this week they did a better job of using the other lady on the squad, still not liking her that much, but I would be happy with them showing us something about the other characters every few episodes. I hope it gets a full season.

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I guess I'm just abnormal, but I like this show a lot. I do think it's supposed to be funny. Those one second scenes where they were opening doors trying to find the suspect in the S and M whorehouse were extremely weird and twisted. So much effort and expense for such short scenes. And I loved it when they finally caught the guy, Laura trains her gun on him and says, "Game over!" I know, corny and cliche, but it cracked me up. Love Debra Messing. How can she not look any older than she did in Will and Grace?

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I'm coveting the gold necklace Debra wears in this episode (maybe the last episode too.) It's a short necklace with three delicate pierced leaves or art deco ornaments. Anyone have any idea where I might find one like it?

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I know "Bad Judge" is nothing like this show but for some reason I keep getting Debra Messing and Kate Walsh mixed up.  Maybe it's because they're both redheads and they both play irritating characters on their shows.

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I actually thought that they tried to do a better job with the mystery this week, it felt more like an episode of Psych in a good way. I think they did a good job on the cop side and I enjoyed it. But the daddy sleepover subplot was really bad. Laura doesn't know they charge for the snack bar? That's just ridiculous. I'm not even going to get into Laura's ex husband except to say he's a douche.

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But the daddy sleepover subplot was really bad.

I know!  I hated that last little bit when he brought Chinese food, but really came over just to get the panties, and Laura thought he was being all thoughtful.and sweet.  What an asshole!  And the other kid's mom was no prize if she thought it was alright to have sex in Laura's home.

 

I agree, it was a decent mystery, nice and convoluted and a little different from the usual plot. 

 

And we got a mention of Sammi, even though no sighting of her.

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I know "Bad Judge" is nothing like this show but for some reason I keep getting Debra Messing and Kate Walsh mixed up.  Maybe it's because they're both redheads and they both play irritating characters on their shows.

I handle it like this.  Walsh is the one from an annoying show in the past I rarely to never watched, but who I've loved when I've seen her on talk shows and in interviews. Messing is the one from a totally different annoying show in the past I rarely to never watched, but who I've also found annoying on talk shows and in interviews.

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^ Exactly. If he hadn't been pouring on the charm and saying all that bs about how his job is dangerous but he does it for the kids, I would have liked the plot a little more. But instead he turned into a skeeze and only seemed to stop because his kids were in the house. Heck, if he had even been firm and said no, not here, let's meet at my place tomorrow, that would have been better. Instead we got to see him in full-on douche mode. No wonder he's a serial cheater if that's how he acts with all women. Not the way to try to win me over about his character, show.

Edited to add, we did get a mention :) I thought that was a nice little bit of detail for this show.

Edited by william0102
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After recoiling from the awfulness that was the pilot, I succombed to the desert of Sat. Night tv and watched this epi.

Gotta say it was a vast improvement over the pilot - not that that was hard - but wow, the husband is beyond a jackass!

They are gonna have to fix that if his character remains so front and center.

It's not must see tv for me,but will serve Asa time waster when that is needed.

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Funny, but for me none of the subsequent episodes has been as enjoyable as the pilot. The reason is the title: The 'Mysteries' of Laura. Ep 1 had a good old-fashioned mystery, with multiple flashbacks, clues, and the aha! moment when the star says 'I know who did it'. Not a totally fair play mystery, as the viewer doesn't see all the clues Laura does, but at least it's constructed in the traditional fashion. Since the pilot, the show has been more of a procedural, finding and eliminating suspects without much in the way of clever misdirection. I suppose it's a 'mystery' in the sense that the killer's I.D. isn't known, but that's a low bar for a traditionalist like me. The show is more like Castle than like Ellery Queen or the BBC's Death in Paradise. This last episode was a bit more clever, and the show is still enjoyable. But it's not must-see tee vee, for me at any rate. (By the way, the mystery plot of the pilot bears a striking similarity to one of the episodes in that BBC series...though it wasn't original to them either. I was still fooled by both of them!)

Edited by david gideon
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The mystery was pretty good, and I liked the old lady who called Laura a Maureen O'Hara detective. (I love the feisty Maureen O'Hara.)  The boy are becoming more tolerable although what's it with the mu shu pork?  It's the inside that has the sweet hoi sin sauce.

 

I don't know what they're trying to do with the husband because he's just become such a jerk it's no longer amusing.  At first I thought he was going to be a down-the-line love interest but ew to that now.  I didn't mind so much that he made moves on Ethan's mother, what bugged me more is that he nixed the hot undercover guy hooking up with Laura.  Either you want her, in which case you better be good to her, or you don't so you let her move on to other men.

 

Worst idea ever to have him be her boss.  This is no His Girl Friday scenario. 

 

 

 

BBC's Death in Paradise

I love the first two seasons. Gave up on it when they changed the detective.  Let that be a lesson to showrunners, don't mess with what's working, or do anything you can't undo if it's not working.

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I liked the Max storyline; it was definitely different.  And Jake did something good instead of being his usual douchebag self.

 

We learned from the start that the victim also designed stuff so I knew it was the famous designer who killed him to steal his designs.  The fake purse angle was just extraneous.

 

The famous designer coming to her house to make sure Laura would 'blend in' was silly, but I did like the montage of dresses she tried on.

 

And Laz Alonzo is always good.  Otherwise, just okay.

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