7.17 Flashover

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Although the two aren't connected; that landlord who wouldn't spring for a proper electrician reminded me of something that happened in the Albuquerque area this last winter (Dec-Jan). A number of people living in an apartment complex nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The landlord wouldn't fix the heating, wouldn't call a professional; so the tenants were forced to use their stoves as heat.

The place is now shut down, and that guy is somewhere else.

As sad as it is, if the landlord in Flashover gets arrested, and convicted, he'll probably be charged for accidental manslaughter.

[ninja1088]

True, it wasn't intentional, so he won't be charged with murder. But criminally negligent homicide wouldn't be out of the question if it could be shown he had prior knowledge of the wiring problems and the dangers it could cause, which he certainly did. That and the civil suit Joe's family will no doubt be filing. If there's a season 8, I could most certainly see that being Vera's storyline for it.

[stillmanfan]

I re watched it and still loved it.

Do we assume the officer said something about the scene he went to? Or did maybe the boss in the private garage get mad at one of his employees and called higher ups? That is the one thing that bugs me..

[luvztorite]

I loved this episode and think it's one of the best ever. I enjoyed the interaction between Vera and Lily-the fact that he called her when he was in trouble and the fact that she knew he would be at the parents' house, debating whether to talk to them. I swear when she lifted that sheet, my heart stopped. I so didn't want to believe it was Nick, though I knew that it would be believable if it was. As far as Dougherty is concerned, he became much more human with this episode, because there was a reason why he was acting that way toward Stillman and he was willing to admit that he was wrong and Stillman was right in doing what he did. Fabulous episode!

LindaC

[toddsmitts]

In retrospect, I'd say this was Vera's "Officer Down". There seemed to be a lot of parallels I'd say, including centering around a detective who's in trouble and seen only in flashbacks for much of the episode, his story being forshadowed in earlier episods (which were recapped here), and an interesting appearance by Doherty that may signal some interesting developments down the road.

Interesting now that in two of the last three cases, there was no true homicide. That kind of surprised me. The fact that two distinctly Russian (or East-European) character were featured in the guest cast got me thinking maybe the Russian mob would be connected or something. Way off on that one.

Speaking of the above two actors, they've been in a few other recognizeable roles. Elya Baskin (Dr. Petrovic) was Peter Parker's obnoxious landlord in the second and third "Spider-Man" movies (Mageina Tovah, who played his skinny daughter with a crush on Peter, you might remember was in season three's "Joseph"). Boris Krutonog might be known to "Star Trek" fans as the Excelsior helmsman in "Star Trek VI" and a far less memorable episode of "Voyager". He was also a noticeable naysayer among Sean Connery's crew in the excellent film "The Hunt for Red October".

Still on the subject of actors, seeing the great Glenn Morshower in such a positive role on "24" for all these years, it's interesting to see him as a less likeable character. He actually has a history with Bruckheimer productions about ten years ago, as back during the first or second season of the original CSI, he was playing a political-minded sherrif who clashed occasionally with Grissom and co. (I believe he actually left the show to start playing Aaron Pierce on "24"). Hopefully the shot of him looking at those pictures at the end is a sign that he's at least considering that he was wrong. (I really wish we'd seen a shot like that of the detective in "Thrill Kill").

Vera turning in his gun and badge, makes me wonder what role, if any, he'll play in the high-profile two-parter coming up. This could just be a two or three episode thing like Stillman's suspension in season five, but given a possible definitive end coming very soon, it's possible the writers may be bold enough to make this a permanent thing! We'll see.

An equally intruiging development, as I mentioned above, is the apparent detente between Stillman and Doherty. I tend to gush about Keith Szarabajka a lot, but he has such a great presence that it's hard to believe he's only been in four episodes. Rather than having Doherty as the mustache-twirling villain he was when we last saw him in "Jurisprudence", Doherty's instructions to Stillman to get his house in order actually seem perfectly reasonable. Now you can chalk this up to Doherty wanting this dealt with quietly as it could reflect badly on him as well, but he did seem something actually sincere in his advice to Stillman regarding Vera.

The revelation that Stillman once busted Doherty's son, which is implied to be the source of their bad blood, seems rather out of the blue. It seems a bit odd that this has never come up before (though we all know Stillman's not the type to go around telling unflattering tales about Doherty's family). Still, if it means a new chapter in their relationship, I can live with it.

If this is indeed a nicer Doherty, I'm guessing the unsavory aspects will be downplayed in the future (he was closely associated with, and protected, corrupt individuals in two of his last three episode, if you remember). I don't know if I'm ready to trust him yet if, say, he had to choose between siding with Stillman or Grover Boone, but we'll see how this goes. On the plus side, you could justify having him around a bit more often as a helpful boss, rather than, say, getting in Stillman's way as he has before.

Welcome back Nina Siemaszko as the former Mrs. Vera, not seen since she kicked him out for good way back in season three's "Superstar". Her new hubby must've knocked her up pretty quick after that, given the size of that boy. Just another cruel reminder of how great it would be to see Vera in a father role and how that just hasn't panned out.

Next week brings us the first part of Cold Case's second two-parter, as well as two new recurring characters!

[pavlovsdog]

Would it be fair to say that Nina Siemaszo has piled on the pounds since she appeared in Superstar in 2006?

[Electrophile]

Mar 24, 2010 8:03:36 GMT -5 pavlovsdog said:

Would it be fair to say that Nina Siemaszo has piled on the pounds since she appeared in Superstar in 2006?

No, because something like that is so inconsequential it doesn't matter. There's many other things to discuss about the episode, though.

[nomnivore]

One of the standout episodes of the series. In my top ten.

I've always loved Vera, and Ratchford did a phenomenal job this episode. I could really feel Vera's anguish and downslide.

Great that they bought back the actress to play Vera's ex wife. Loved how the flashbacks didn't show a murder, but instead showed Nick's state of mind.

I loved how the rest of the team really cared about him. The scene at the end, with them cleaning his place was heartwarming. I also loved that little scene of Will following Nick out of Stillman's office. It ties back into how upset Nick was when Will was shot.

Usually, the end montage clears everything up, but this one doesn't. Joe Don Billingsley's name hadn't been cleared, the family didn't want to talk to Nick, and Nick wasn't better.

I felt so sorry for Joe Don Billingsley. A couple of years ago, there were major bushfires in my state, and the stories people had of how horrific the heat of the fires were was terrifying. The poor guy. He must have felt terrible, not being able to rescue his kids, and being blamed for it.

I'm wondering if the name of the victim was a shoutout to John Billingsley, the actor who played George Marks.


Was this the first time it's indicated that the team do recent cases as well? Come to think of it, I've always assumed that they're the Cold Case team, but maybe they're actually a homicide team that has gained a reputation for being particularly good with cold cases? I just assumed all they did was cold cases.

One minor quibble is that the fire happened in November 2006. If we go by the CC timeline, and assuming the present day scenes take place at the same time as the airing date, then Nick's interrogation of Joe Don Billingsley took place around the events of Lonely Hearts. Nick didn't seem upset or worked up about his divorce then- in fact he was flirting with Toni, and reading romance novels. Also, was Nina cheating? If Nick and her got divorced early 2006, could she really have had a preschool aged child by another man in early 2010?