Mystery

The Irrational – Straight from the Heart

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Irrational – Straight from the Heart
  • IMDb: link

“Straight from the Heart” gets into fringe science as Alec (Jesse L. Martin) is approached by an old friend with dreams of a murder that happened to victim who died and provided the heart she is now using. The show doesn’t go as far to confirm events witnessed by the previous heart’s owner got transferred to the new one, although it certainly doesn’t shy away from the possibility with minimal effort spent to an alternate explanation for events. While once again the experiments don’t really tie-into the main case, a disturbing trend and growing concern, the show does open with Alec teaching his students a lesson. The episode is also notable for Marisa (Maahra Hill) meeting the child (Fritzy-Klevans Destine) she gave up for adoption several years ago. 

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Will Trent – Breathe with Me

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Will Trent – Breathe with Me
  • IMDb: link

While staying with Faith (Iantha Richardson), Evelyn Mitchell (LisaGay Hamilton) is abducted leading to an episode that explores the strained mother/daughter relationship of the pair as Faith, Will (Ramón Rodríguez), Angie (Erika Christensen), and Ormewood (Jake McLaughlin) all work the case. The focus on Faith and her mother allows the show to put some emotional distance between Will and Angie who are both completely dialed in to finding Faith’s mother. “Breathe with Me” also shows Evelyn’s mind is sharp as ever an she still has a few tricks up her sleeve managing to stay alive long enough to be found. No tragedy here as Evelyn is returned safely and mother and daughter become closer  than they have in years.

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Night Passage

/ / Books & Magazines
  • Title: Night Passage
  • wiki: link

Stone Sunday takes us north to the sleepy town of Paradise, Massachusetts and the introduction of  Jesse Stone. More stoic, and far less of a smart-ass, than Spenser, talented but also deeply flawed, Stone offered Parker a new character to develop. It’s notable that we meet Jesse while drunk, attempting to sober up before beginning the drive from Los Angeles (where he was fired for drinking on the job) to the small northeastern city of Paradise. Drunk when he applied for the job, the first 50 pages or so of Night Passage involve Jesse’s drive across country thinking over his life, leaving his former job as a Homicide Detective, and his ex-wife, on one coast and begin a new life on the other. 

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NCIS: Origins – Touchstones

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: NCIS: Origins – Touchstones
  • wiki: link

A break-in of the evidence room and the theft of $41,000 dollars allows the show to explore the backstory of one of the show’s recurring characters in property master Kowalski (Michael Harney) as events bring old memories and feelings to the surface that cause him to resign (although he’s back with NIS by the end of the episode). The Kowalski situation is also notable for exploring his relationship with Granville (Daniel Bellomy) while the search for the missing money implicates a member of NIS and also allows for another appearance by Special Agent Gary Callahan and ends up being tied to events in “All’s Not Lost” as well.

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Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Chinatown
  • IMDb: link

I don’t know if 1974’s Chinatown is without doubt the best film for everyone involved, both in front and behind the camera, but one could certainly make the case. Director Roman Polanski and screenwriter Robert Towne come together with a neo-noir staple which provided Jack Nicholson one of his most famous roles as private investigator J. J. Gittes who struggles to find the truth surrounding the death of chief engineer at the Department of Water and Power (Darrell Zwerling), who Gittes was hired to surveil by a woman (Diane Ladd) pretending to be his wife (Faye Dunaway), and uncover how that death plays into a larger conspiracy of the Los Angeles draught and a land scheme which allows 30s Los Angeles to become a major character in the film.

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Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown. Read More »