Episode 3.6: Saving Patrick Bubley

[myril]

TVFan - I had the same thought and it makes perfect sense to me. Lilly showed a lot of doubts in this ep but in the end she kinda found back to herself. Probably she feared she could become like her first partner, a cynic, insensitive cop doing just a job, or perhaps, that she might has to become like that to go on. But now Lilly knows again why she is doing her job with compassion, seeing humans and not only cases, trying to understand not only to solve a crime. And that it's worth it.

[ruda]

TVFan, that make sense! ;D
thanks!

[Disasterfreak]

Myril and TVFan--I agree! It gave me sort of the feeling that he was Lilly's "ghost" (figuratively speaking), and by solving her unfinished business with him, she could finally let him go. And that's why she had such a peaceful look on her face. Like "good work".

[samanda]

Did anyone think Cartier looked familiar? I've never seen "Look Again" before, but according to a couple of sources the actor was in "Look Again," too.

[toodledo22]

I really thought scotty was excellent in this episode. In the hospital, no drugs today and the first seen with Jesus were great. I don't think he had as much of an emotioanl toll as Lilly did in this ep. Lilly was being really cold to the mother, and we all know Lilly would be the same way if she were the one losing all of her sons and the police couldn't find the murderer.

I also like the seen where Scotty and Lilly were questioning the mother. At the end of her flashback it seemed like Scotty gave Lilly this look as though he thought she was being a total b*tch and she looked away as if she knew and was feeling guilty for it.

Anyways, good ep all in all can't wait for tomorrow!

[Ju]

I've just watched this ep. and..WOW!!! The best so far this season.

LOVED all the Vera scenes, specially when he's at the clinic with Leticia. I think he was kinda sad 'cause he can't have babies with his wife and Miguel just didn't care about his pregnant girlfriend and the baby...

I don't need to say, but KM did a spetacular job and so the actress who played Maeve.

[eurache]

If you wish to review what was discussed on our Chat Room, please go to the link below:

"Saving Patrick Bubley" Chat Run Down

[samanda]

According to the futoncritic this episode will re-air on Sunday 2/16/06 which makes no sense because that's not a Sunday. So either this episode will be re-airing on Thursday 2/16/06 or Sunday 2/26/06. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably the latter.

[sonny]

Oh dear

[samanda]

Yet another site taken over by the CBS "mix-up CC info" fever.

[samanda]

This will not be re-airing on either date (it was actually supposed to be Sunday, February 26).

[sonny]

Well I know for a fact it's airing tonight in the UK. Can't wait, have my Sky + ready to record it!! :smile42:

[longislanditalian2]

I loved the lilly outburst with the mother, I wasn't expecting that from her .

[samanda]

This will re-air Sunday June 4.

[Naj]

This is the reason why I like reruns. To get another look at my first impression of the episode. Looking back the sharp contrast of Scotty's demeanor being so rough wasn't as striking but it was on the first viewing because it comes out of nowhere for Scotty's character. I still didn't like it and it doesn't fit him. Also I like to watch to gear up for our Awards here. And this was a great ep with a good underscore. I had forgotten Vera helping out the pregnant girl and I liked that part of the storyline as well as Jeffries in on the case.


Re-reading TVFan's initial post she called it a 'balanced ensemble' episode. I think for season three that this has turned out to be a Lilly led episode. At least it felt Lilly led which I feel is an important format. The others were all there but it was more from Lilly's viewpoint. Her acting was just excellent on the 1999 flashback and I am sold that she is 6 years younger. The only annoyance was even a mention of Sutton which should have been laid to rest in Committed.

[TVFan]

I totally agree about it being a Lilly-centric episode now, Naj. I rewatched it last night as well (we just got an HDTV TV, so I wanted to check the show out on it - man, does Kathryn look amazing BTW! I think she actually looks younger because you can see how flawless her skin is!). Anyway, seeing it now in the context of S3, this was definitely a Lilly-centric ep. I loved this episode even more this time. And I, too, was once again blown away by Kathryn's performance in the flashback to a younger Lilly. She was excellent.

[koufax]

I also agee with Naj. My complaint this whole season was that there was too little Lilly. However, I missed the episodes that aired at the beginning of the season. Between this episode and "Start Up" I felt there was much more of Lilly than in later episodes. I really enjoyed these episodes. By the way, I thought Lilly's outburst toward the mother was in character; she always resents mothers whom she feels neglected their children(ie taking drugs)

[boxman]

irishkale said:

Forgot to mention ... When "WebD" was revealed it kinda reminded me of the film "Citizen Kane." WebD = Rosebud. Hafta watch the DVD again to see if they put in any references into the CC ep.

Wow... good catch, IrishKale! That's very interesting!! So tell me, I haven't seen the movie but I understand that its told in a series of flashbacks--sorta like Cold Case??

---

I caught this for my first time last night. Normally, I would consider a case like this to be rather clichéd. I don't get very impressed anymore with storylines similar to the one here where the protagonists comes in and "saves" stereotypical, self-destructive individuals. This episode differs from such cardboard dramas in many ways because of a lot of details in the story, how stylishly this show is filmed, and also in how this episode fits very nicely inside the wider-arcing Cold Case "saga".

Very interesting was the scene of the suburban kid coming into the inner city to buy drugs. It underlined the naiveté of youth, a theme expressed in many characters throughout this episode such as the Bubley brothers and Miguel's pregnant girlfriend. Most importantly, this theme was explored with younger Lilly too, as we got a peek into her first homicide investigation to see the kind of person she was many years ago.

When this series began in 2003, viewers were introduced to a "hard-boiled egg" homicide detective, Lilly Rush. Here, in this episode's flashback, it's revealed that she was never always this way. Barely under the wings of her elder partner, Ben Fulcrum, she's thrown the responsibility of telling Mrs. Bubley about her first son's murder in the alleyway. We see rookie Lilly searching for the right words to say; and when words elude her, she can only give young Patrick Bubley a deep, close hug. Fast forward back to the present, and this time Lilly's close to ignoring Mrs. Bubley's rant after her fourth son is murdered.

The following balcony scene in this episode reminds me of a nearly-parallel scene in the 1982 science-fiction/neo-noir/detective film, "Blade Runner". In the movie, a young woman named Rachael follows Detective Deckard to his high-rise apartment. She wants to convince him that she is indeed a human being, and not the manufactured human "replicant" he earlier told her that she was. Rachael shares with Detective Deckard photos and stories of her youth. As she confronts him, he coldly points out the flaws in her memory, a distinctive sign that she's not human. Upset at his lack of empathy, Rachael tearfully rushes out of Deckard's apartment, leaving her photos behind. Alone, Deckard takes a closer look again at Rachael's pictures. The photos from her past are sunny and cheerful--very much unlike the dark, cold metropolis Los Angeles had become. Deckard steps out to his 97th-floor balcony and looks upon the city below him, while hovercraft police cars fly below in the night.

The balcony scene in this episode is preceeded with fast-forwarded images of Philadelphia, directly indicating the passage of time that day. It also symbolically represents the passage of time between Lilly's rookie years and her current life. This is analogous to the symbolism that photographs play in the movie, "Blade Runner". Photographs denote passage of time and the visual form of human memory, a central genetic feature that keeps replicants sane and in control--yet at the same time the feature that can reveal them.

Lt. Stillman, noticing Lilly out on the balcony, goes out to join her. She was reflecting upon her day and her past; the memory of Detective Fulcrum haunting her. As she was looking outwards and below to the city, she wonders if she no longer empathizes with her victims. This is the same kind of reflection that Deckard does. After they both are reassured that they have not lost basic human emotions, they press onwards with their investigations.

---

Lot's of 'hooks' in this episode lay the foundation for stories in future episodes. Yes, Fairhill is a downtrodden section of Philly, with a mostly Latino and Black population. This trivia becomes more important in future season three episodes....

[TVFan]

Very interesting was the scene of the suburban kid coming into the inner city to buy drugs. It underlined the naiveté of youth, a theme expressed in many characters throughout this episode such as the Bubley brothers and Miguel's pregnant girlfriend. Most importantly, this theme was explored with younger Lilly too, as we got a peek into her first homicide investigation to see the kind of person she was many years ago.

This is an excellent observation boxman. I hadn't tied all four together, but you're right. It's the idea that we're all naive until something corrupts that sense of naivety. For Lilly, it's the constant sorrow and hardship that she faces with these cases. This is why when we see her in the pilot for the first time, she is "hard-boiled" as you put it. It's a coping mechanism, and it's the same one that surgeons use to get through the sorrow and hardship that they often see (and yes, I know that I just drew another connection between Lilly and the victim in "The River" ). If Lilly allowed every murder to affect her the way the first Bubley one did, she wouldn't have lasted as long as she has because no one can handle that much of an emotional burden for too long.

The Bubley case only got more tragic over time, with Maeve losing three more sons, and yet, Lilly didn't react the same way this time. She wanted to blame Maeve because she seemed like an easy target with her drug addiction (that was spawned by her strong desire to learn where Cedric's body had been dumped). But, I think that deep down, it was just easier for Lilly to point the finger at Maeve because if she held her responsible in her mind, then she could feel less bad for what happened to her. I think koufax was dead on with the comment that Lilly is always hard on mothers that she feels are inadequate because of her own mother. So, this made it easy for her to transfer all of her anger toward her mother to Maeve and in doing so, demonize her so she didn't have to feel bad for her. It was another form of disconnect that Lilly used to cope. I think the most rewarding and productive thing that she did for the Bubleys and herself was showing Patrick the case vault. It was her own way of atoning for the way she treated Maeve. With the exception of this case, I think that Lilly manages to balance the right amount of emotional investment and disconnect nicely.

[jazzyb]

This episode, I think, nailed the authenticity of having to deal with senseless street violence. I'm from a large urban city where the cops didn't raise an eyebrow hardly unless there were drugs or a corpse involved in the case. Just the continual onslaught of murder and mayhem makes you hardened to the job. That these detectives manage to preserve their humanity at all is commendable. Nevertheless, every scene was so well done that I never felt I had to suspend logic to connect with the storyline. It wasn't a neat, tidy ending after all and that was a realistic contrast to most crime shows.