It’s been renewed for season 2
(And I’m double checking this time that I put this in the right place. If it shows up anywhere else, I swear everything says “Poker Face”)
…for me, the show is what it is. It’s like Murder She Wrote, you just have to go with the premise. Yes, this murder mystery writer will just coincidentally be around when a murder happens. Or Person of Interest, yeah, there is a mysterious guy in a suit who wanders around New York wearing a ski mask and occasionally a “bazooka” who shoots hundreds of people a week in the kneecap and this isn’t front page news and nobody knows who he is.
Charlie turns up to a new place every week, meets new people, somebody dies, wacky hijinks happen, she solves the crime, we move on. The show is formulaic in structure, but not rigidly so, and different enough so that each episode has a distinct tone and feel.
I love if for what it is, but also understand if people don’t like it. This is “comfort food” for me. Just enough of all the little things I like in a TV show to keep me coming back.
Major continuity error this episode, from a plot-central item.
When the mailbox is first dragged off, the house very clearly breaks off and is left behind. But later, after dragging it home, the house is still there, just very battered.
heh you should see her in freeway 2 … a modern take on the old hansel and gretel tale …
I wouldn’t really call it plot central, since it had nothing to do with the mystery.
Anyway, I thought this was the best episode since the first two. I’m realizing that I’m far more interested in the second act of each episode, where we go back to prior to the murder and find out how Charlie was involved. I don’t really care as much about how she solves it.
Also, I like that Charlie takes menial jobs but isn’t “above it.” I feel like any other show featuring someone working at an arcade or as a waitress would have the character talk about how much they hate the job.
Doing that was the insult that triggered the crime.
I think that part of the show, the menial jobs, makes it a refreshing change of pace from other shows that rely too much on police chases and coffee shops. We get to see a part of America that doesn’t get a lot of representation otherwise, those kinds of places where you might pass through when stopping to get gas, without thinking about the station attendant or the dude in the hopped car or the small-time band in the small town, all of whom are looking for something better. If only they didn’t run into Charlie while doing their evil deeds.
One tell when she detects bullshit is she says “Bullshit!” Didn’t the mother of the bad guy say “Bullshit!” too? I wonder if she has the gift too.
It wasn’t the mother, it was the older racer’s wife, and I think it was just bog-standard spousal lie detection.
Episode 8 is one of the best so far. Felt very Twilight Zone/Outer Limits. Nick Nolte was great.
I thought it was one of the most Colombo-y. She even did a head scratch.
Columbo crossed with Kolchack?
Kolumbo…
Natasha Lyonne directed that one. Seems she had some fun playing with the camera angles.
Second time in only 8 eps that ends that way?
Wife and I turned to each other and said, “That was weak.” And Nick Nolte looked horrible.
I think Episode 8 was my favorite so far! This show just keeps getting better. I loved all the special effects stuff based on Phil Tippett and ILM. I think the Orpheus head was actually a model of Tippett? Looked like him. Natasha Lyonne running around in the horse costume had me laughing so hard…
That’s the horse from Caligula’s Revenge.
For some reason we watched the credits (maybe it was the music; this episode had some good dark stuff) when my wife noticed that Guest #1 was Sean Ono Lenonon. Of course we didn’t recognize him; he hasn’t been in too many roles. We’re speculating that it’s a show that actors are being drawn to.
What I noticed in that episode was that Max was portrayed by Tim Russ, who played Lt Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. I think this was the first time I saw him in a different role.
The most recent episode (Escape from Shit Mountain) was definitely one of the best.
One thing that’s been bugging me since the premiere, wondering if anyone has any thoughts: the backstory we hear for Charlie is that she entered a poker tournament, and was doing really well, and then was “caught”. But… why? Was she cheating? It’s not like she was wearing x-ray specs or something. She was just using her ability to read people to do well at poker, just like anyone who is good at poker does. Her ability just happens to be better than anyone else’s. Why would a guy who owns a Casino get mad at her for that?
I can imagine him saying “hey, stay away from the big cash games, I don’t want you to take all my whales’ money”. But he shouldn’t care who wins a tournament. And he would say the same thing to any super-good poker player who kept showing up and beating all the whales, but unless that person kept trying to slip back in or something there’s no reason that should require extralegal enforcement.