I really enjoyed this episode, even with its predictible ending, and even though I wasn’t very satisfied with the fight between Harry and his uncle. I wanted something a little more dramatic than, oops, I fell and squished the voodoo doll when I ducked. I wanted more of an open battle, with a deliberate (yet anguished) decision from Harry to use black magic against his uncle, in self-defense.
And it would have been more interesting if Bob had been strongly tempted by mortality.
Since Harry moved in with an apparently rich uncle, what’s the deal with that whole speech a few episodes ago about not being able to afford college?
I think they didn’t have much choice here; they’d painted themselves into a bit of a corner by changing Harry’s age so drastically from the books. Morgan would’ve cut off AdultHarry’s head on sight, no questions asked, if he’d made a decision (anguished or otherwise) to use black magic to kill Justin- I don’t think there would be any way Harry could explain it, especially since there was no real threat in the situation as it was presented to us.
(spoilers for the books)With Harry being so young in the books when he killed Justin, and with a direct threat to his life- it was clear that Justin had converted the-girl-whose-name-I-can’t-remember and intended to do the same to Harry- it’s easier to understand the Council’s leniency.
Do you remember what the quote was? I thought he said he couldn’t get in (which, if you’d been raised by your crazy-black-magic-using uncle and his non-corporeal servant, I can kinda understand). It’s possible that Harry wasn’t interested in college when he came of age, and by the time he was interested he’d given all his money away.
I thought this was a decent episode, made much stronger by the talent of the actors (Murphy excepted- I think that actress is still trying to figure out what she’s doing). I really liked the allusions made to Harry’s search for comfort/companionship… he is so lonely in the books, and as I’ve said before it’s a huge part of why he’s the way he is. I like what the show has done with the Bob character (woah, would last night have been a HUGE departure for Book!Bob), and I think Terrance Mann is having a blast playing him.
Liked it too–I think the show has really gotten better.
I didn’t quite get why Bob wasn’t tempted by mortality–I didn’t hear exactly what he said to Harry at the end, I heard that he wouldn’t betray him, but something about the soul being in the skull all along? Did he really die again? But there wasn’t a body.
A ring that may have just been similar to his dad’s and an unlabeled doll was a little much for Harry to leap to the conclusion that his uncle had killed his father. He lucked out on that one for being right. Odd that it was the first time the uncle had worn the ring…I know, silly to get wrapped in details.
Also, I wasn’t sure why Bob was so ready to be loyal to Harry instead of the uncle. They seem to like each other, but it would be nice if there were some true debt or something for the loyalty. Even if Bob had been seen liking the young Harry a little more–not that way, either, I know what you’re thinking. But like the son he never had, or because he looked a little like the old girlfriend, or something.
Still, having a lot of fun, and loving that the show is staying a little dark.
I finally got a chance to watch it last night. In all, it was a good episode. I like seeing Terry Mann showing us his acting chops. (Now if only they could find an excuse for Bob to sing…)
I may be mistaken, but Justin was about to stab him in the back with a piece of the table. Of course that begs the question of who was really acting in self-defense. I’m only on book three, but I have an impression that Justin was much more cruel and horrible than Uncle Justin.
how much of an age difference is there? it’s unclear to me from the books. is that why the justin character is so radically different in the books?
i believe somebody said something in the ep about harry giving away all the money he inherited.
and where the heck was butcher???
Just popped in to say that until yesterday I had no idea that Paul Blackthorne was English. All this time I thought it was an American doing a bad Chicago accent.
To me Blackthorne sounds like an American straining to sound like he is from Chicago, not like an Englishman straining to sound like an American from Chicago. I wouldn’t have guessed he was a furner but I did sense something wrong with the accent. Jamie Bamber does a much better job IMHO (but I haven’t heard him attempt a Chicago accent).
I liked the episode, but I agree that they could have (ahem) fleshed out Bob’s motivation a bit more. I have the impression that Bob was tempted, but discovered that having a physical body again didn’t really free him–note that he returned to the skull when his new body died. He was still damned, still trapped. Since siding with Justin wouldn’t really gain him all that much, he was basically free to pick whichever one he liked better. Bob had been Harry’s primary tutor, and likely regarded Harry as his protegé, not Justin’s. There could also be differences in the way Harry and Justin treated him that tipped the scales–Harry gets impatient with him, but often seems treat him as a friend and mentor; I would guess that Justin treated him mostly as a tool. It would have been nice to see more of that demonstrated in the episode, though.
Murphy is starting to bug me. She’s been railing at Harry to tell her the truth all this time, and when he finally does, she freaks out and dives into denial. I hope she toughens up and starts dealing with the weirdness appropriately soon.
I need to rewatch it to verify the sequence, but didn’t Justin clobber Harry with the table first? I thought it went:
Harry confronts Justin about the ring and the doll. Still just talk.
Justin slams Harry in the back with the table, turning the confrontation violent.
Harry uses the ring and the doll against Justin, but stops with causing him pain.
Harry uses the doll as leverage to get Justin to talk, but still doesn’t kill him (although he may intend to at this point).
Justin uses magic to try to impale Harry with the broken table leg.
As he tries to evade the attack (with only partial success), Harry’s grip on the ring and doll tightens enough to kill Justin.
Yes, it’s a bit iffy, but it looks to me like Justin escalated the confrontation at every stage. It seems likely that he intended to kill Harry from the moment he realized that Harry knew what he’d done–if he didn’t, either Harry would kill him, or he would tell the Council and they would kill him.
Still bugs me that the council is all over Harry (in the prior episode) because they think he might have used black magic, but they were all willing to talk to Justin after Justin had used the black to Kill Harry’s father.
Granted, tehy might not have known about Justin’s usage (or enough evidence to suspect him) and it may be that they are more mad about Harry having killed a member of the council (that was Justin’s role, right?) so, it isnt abot the black insomuch as who the black was used upon.
Balance’s view of the events is how I recall them as well…
I thought this was a lesser episode. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t enjoy it as much. For reasons already mentioned: Predictable outcome, rather lame duel between Harry and his uncle.
They didn’t know that Justin killed Harry’s father, and probably would not have suspected him. As I recall, book-Justin was a Warder, and TV-Justin may have been as well–picture a crooked cop, using his knowledge and position to conceal his crimes. Book-Justin’s motives are still somewhat murky, but it looks like TV-Justin was actively scheming against the Council, possibly with the ultimate goal of killing them and taking over.
I think that if they had known that Justin had killed someone with magic, they would have executed him, especially since he killed a mundane in cold blood.
Side note: It seems to me that the show has a different take on the structure of the Council as well. The show refers to the “High Council” in a way that makes me think it corresponds to the “Senior Council” in the books. The Senior Council is basically the Board of Directors of the White Council, in which most not-actively-evil wizards are theoretically members. Justin would have been a member of the White Council, but presumably not the High/Senior Council.
It was a predictable, but fun episode. I would have liked a stronger reason for Bob’s choice, or at least a little temptation to remain mortal.( Had Uncle Justin lied to Bob in the past? Was the mortality offered only skin deep? Was he already dying as the spell wore down?)
Paul’s accent is easy on my ears, it sounds like an old fashioned second-generation-child-of-immigrant-parents-in-the-rust-belt-accent. It is wrong for TV Harry, but sounds okay for a wizard.
I enjoyed it. The show seems to suffer a bit from trying to tell stories which are a bit larger than will fit in 45 minutes. Fortunately though we have lots of Dopers who have read the books and are always willing to fill in more details and backstory which helps me enjoy the show more.
I’ve liked Paul Blackthorne as Harry since the beginning, but he continues to grow even more on me. The discussion he had with Murphy at the end was actually quite touching, IMO.
