Week of April 5 - Marlon's Brando

[mlm828]

Week five of the re-watch is here. It's time for "Marlon's Brando" with "branded" Marlon Condell, creepy Leonard Mattis, the "Helen Keller moment," and much more.

[maggiethecat]

No, no, no, wait, wait, wait -- I haven't done "Up on the Roof" yet! Aaaaaaaah, this is killing me!

You know, this earning a living stuff is really getting in the way of more enjoyable pursuits.

There's no time limit on responses, right?

[mlm828]

maggiethecat said:

You know, this earning a living stuff is really getting in the way of more enjoyable pursuits.

Tell me about it.

maggiethecat said:

There's no time limit on responses, right?

Right.

[mlm828]

“Marlon’s Brando” may be my favorite episode of Blind Justice. I have always liked the way the case and the investigation are seamlessly intertwined with the issues Jim is facing: can he still be the man he was, and can he still do his job?

It starts with Marty’s suggestion that Nancy Dressler would be more comfortable being interviewed by “women.”



Then Nancy’s husband slaps Jim in the face – or, more accurately, kicks him in the balls – with, “It’s different for you.”



And it culminates with his admission to Galloway that, yes, he is questioning his ability to do the job.



Along the way, there are some nice moments, like Karen suggesting Jim should interview Nancy and agreeing he should “play up the blindness”



. . . or Jim catching Karen when she starts to draw a picture for him, resulting in the “Helen Keller moment.”



A key moment in the episode is Marty confronting Jim after Condell’s suicide and telling Jim if Karen had been hurt, he’d make it his life’s work to get Jim off the job.



I don’t think this is simply Marty being a jerk. I see it, rather, as Marty the truth-teller, saying out loud the truth Jim doesn’t want to hear, although he’s thinking the same thing himself. It’s no accident that Jim has no response. There isn’t really an answer. A blind detective working in the field raises all sorts of “officer safety” issues – his and others’. Jim knows this as well as anyone, but the “first through the door” guy who broke down Condell’s door the day before isn’t about to admit it – not to Marty.

[hoosier]

You are so correct because this case brings home to Jim things he may not have wanted to face--or at least face right now--namely his ability to be a truly effective partner as well as protect his own wife. As he said in the Pilot, if he wasn't able to do the job he would leave. I believe he would but you know he felt he could do the job, why else would he have even gone to the trouble to get reinstated as a detective? I guess this brings up the question of his state of mind. Just how did he think he could go back out on the street, how could he prove he could have his partner's back etc.I don't think Jim was delusional or rationalized his abilities.

You were a witness to his anger, his frustration and his fear--from whacking Mark Watt (to me more from frustration than anger), to finding the door to his apartment open after the meeting and threat from Mattox, to his revealing comment "If your woman was in that kind of danger is that all you would do?"--Jim has it flung in his face from all sides and his worst fears are realized. He doesn't cave in to the pressure however and even admits that he does have limitations. As Galloway tells him, it is a step in the right direction.

Did you notice that Dennis Denehy did time in Hoboken? Must be a gathering place for the more sordid elements of society

[Katryna]

This episode has been one of my favorites for reasons that mlm has outlined. So, I decided to re-watch this one with an eye out for things I may have missed before. I have not re-read any of the previous discussions about Marlon's, so I am hoping these issues actually are ones that haven't been previously discussed. I had hoped to find screen caps to illustrate, but wasn't able to find exactly what I wanted...have substitued some that are "close"! That said....

In the "Keep the damn door locked" scene. Did Jim have his keys out? His hand looks empty here.

I would have thought he would have had them out. Then as he went to put them in the lock he would have realized the door was ajar. However, to me it looked like he merely sensed the door was open. I didn't hear anything that would have given him a clue. When he walked into the apartment he did not close the door behind him. You could see it start to swing shut and as the camera followed Jim, you could hear it gently close like doors that are weighted to close by themselves. So why WAS it open?

The "slashes" - First of all...the two vics seem to have gotten different treatment. Nancy was sewn up and then transferred to a room. It looked to me like she was going to spend the night at least. Did you all get that impression? Cheryl said she was attacked when she came home from dinner...so in the evening. When Karen mentioned the fact that Cheryl did not file a police report, Cheryl said it had been a long day and she just wanted to get out of there. So, doesn't sound like they kept her inspite of the fact that her cut was every bit as bad as Nancy's. Cheryl also was raped, but apparently didn't admit to it in the hospital. However, if Marlon worked in a pattern wouldn't Cheryl also have been naked like Nancy when she was found? Therefore, why didn't the doctors do a rape exam? I am sure that she would have to have consented to that type of exam.

Nancy's wound was heavily bandaged when Karen was interviewing her in what looked like a recovery area.

When she and Jim went back later in the day and Nancy was in a room there were no bandages, just steri strips. A wound of that type would have been closed by a plastic surgeon and I think they take very tiny sutures and lots of them. I do not think they would leave it uncovered like that, so I am assuming that it was done so that we could see the extent of the injury.

And another reason I like this episode so much....

[rducasey]

kathy said:

And another reason I like this episode so much....

Whew....you had me worried there for a minute Kathy...but good to see you are still superficial. No comment about the chest hair or lack of in the opening scene? And this always was one of my favorite pics of Jimmy Dunbar. Thanks for that.

[Katryna]

rducasey said:

kathy said:

And another reason I like this episode so much....

Whew....you had me worried there for a minute Kathy...but good to see you are still superficial. No comment about the chest hair or lack of in the opening scene? And this always was one of my favorite pics of Jimmy Dunbar. Thanks for that.

Oh, my gosh....how embarassing! I have been having a very busy week and must have gotten interrupted when I was writing this post! Maybe a phone call...or an e-mail....or the dog had to go out.... At any rate, I forgot to finish that last sentence! I meant to say "And another reason I like this episode so much...is this scene by the window where Jim and Karen discuss Condell's suicide". It is a great scenery scene, one of my favorites in fact.

But as you brought it up, Mary, I did not notice chest hair in that opening scene? Did you?

[rducasey]

Sure Kathy.... sure......but I will give you karma for quick thinking.
And no......I did not notice any in that opening scene....when i paused the dvd a few times. I could go back and check though.

[Katryna]

rducasey said:

Sure Kathy.... sure......but I will give you karma for quick thinking.
And no......I did not notice any in that opening scene....when i paused the dvd a few times. I could go back and check though.

use your "zoom" button on the remote

[mlm828]

kathy said:

In the "Keep the damn door locked" scene. Did Jim have his keys out? His hand looks empty here.

I would have thought he would have had them out. Then as he went to put them in the lock he would have realized the door was ajar.

I think that's what happened. As I recall, there's a close-up of the key in his hand when he's at the door. Then he reaches out to find the keyhole and realizes the door is open.

[mlm828]

More musings on the "safety" issue. Karen is the one person who should be worried about whether it is safe for her to go out on the street with a blind partner, and yet she never seems to have any concern about this. In the Pilot, she doesn't want to work with Jim, but that's because she's afraid working with him will hold her back in her career, not because she's concerned a suspect will pull a gun and Jim won't be able to do a damn thing about it. Did it become a non-issue for her after Jim had her back in Lyman's kitchen? It's understandable she wouldn't be thinking about these issues in the immediate aftermath of Condell's suicide, because she was traumatized by what she had seen. But I have to wonder whether it would have occurred to her later, as it did to Jim, that if Condell had turned the gun on her, Jim would not have been able to do anything about it.

[hoosier]

kathy said:

The "slashes" - First of all...the two vics seem to have gotten different treatment. Nancy was sewn up and then transferred to a room. It looked to me like she was going to spend the night at least. Did you all get that impression? Cheryl said she was attacked when she came home from dinner...so in the evening. When Karen mentioned the fact that Cheryl did not file a police report, Cheryl said it had been a long day and she just wanted to get out of there. So, doesn't sound like they kept her inspite of the fact that her cut was every bit as bad as Nancy's. Cheryl also was raped, but apparently didn't admit to it in the hospital. However, if Marlon worked in a pattern wouldn't Cheryl also have been naked like Nancy when she was found? Therefore, why didn't the doctors do a rape exam? I am sure that she would have to have consented to that type of exam.

Nancy's wound was heavily bandaged when Karen was interviewing her in what looked like a recovery area.

When she and Jim went back later in the day and Nancy was in a room there were no bandages, just steri strips. A wound of that type would have been closed by a plastic surgeon and I think they take very tiny sutures and lots of them. I do not think they would leave it uncovered like that, so I am assuming that it was done so that we could see the extent of the injury.

The Dresslers undoubtedly had very good insurance since Nancy was already consulting with a plastic surgeon while Cheryl, on the other hand, probably had zilch. Bad as it sounds, you know that is one of the first things they ask when you are brought in.

I don't know why but I always thought Cheryl took herself to an ER. I also assume that the hospital notified the police because of the severity of her wound.

Maybe they had Nancy's wound exposed so we could see how similar it was to Cheryl's though we still had to rely on the "blind guy" to show us they were two parts of a swastika.

[rducasey]

This is probably my least favorite scene in the whole series,,Jim in the room with Nancy. "Playing up the blindness" just seemed so out of character to me. I'm sure there were big discussions on this in the original thread, but it always made me uncomfortable watching it. I felt the same way this time. Glad to see it end. However I did have two thoughts. Karen must have come in the room as well after since he asked her arriving back at the squad what the scar looked like. "Did Nancy Dressler have a dressing on her face?" Wasn't that after they had visited the second time? Also I noticed that there is a big mirror straight in front of Nancy as she is sitting in the bed. You can see her reflected in it. I would hope the hospital would not do that to anyone in her situation.

Modified to add the screencap showing the mirror.

[mlm828]

hoosier said:

The Dresslers undoubtedly had very good insurance since Nancy was already consulting with a plastic surgeon while Cheryl, on the other hand, probably had zilch. Bad as it sounds, you know that is one of the first things they ask when you are brought in.

I don't know why but I always thought Cheryl took herself to an ER. I also assume that the hospital notified the police because of the severity of her wound.

That's what I thought, too, on both of these points.

rducasey said:

This is probably my least favorite scene in the whole series,,Jim in the room with Nancy. "Playing up the blindness" just seemed so out of character to me. I'm sure there were big discussions on this in the original thread, but it always made me uncomfortable watching it. I felt the same way this time.

It isn't my least favorite scene in the series, not by a long shot, but I know what you mean about feeling uncomfortable. However, I think the viewers are supposed to feel uncomfortable. Jim definitely goes overboard "playing up the blindness," and then, to make things worse, the visions of Christie-as-victim pop up in his head. And if he's that uncomfortable, imagine how uncomfortable Nancy must be. I always thought Karen's logic - that Nancy would be more comfortable talking to a blind man - was fundamentally flawed.

rducasey said:

Karen must have come in the room as well after since he asked her arriving back at the squad what the scar looked like. "Did Nancy Dressler have a dressing on her face?" Wasn't that after they had visited the second time?

Yes, it was after they visited Nancy for the second time. This is the kind of thing which stands out when re-watching an episode after a long time. We don't see Karen come into Nancy's hospital room after Jim questions her, but we could infer that she did. On the other hand, if she came into the room and saw Nancy's injury, why would she need to have the plastic surgeon e-mail a picture of it to her phone? But if Karen didn't see the wound, how does she know what it looks like when she starts to draw a picture of it for Jim, then traces it on his face? Since this results in the "Helen Keller moment," I'm not really complaining, but there's definitely some inconsistency here.