Post by kenina on Nov 28, 2005 20:23:50 GMT -5
Dance With Me
by Kenina (with a guest appearance by shmeep in the first two scenes and sprinkled liberally throughout the rest)
At last! The scene we've all been waiting for with Dr. Galloway!
They're really going at it. Any moment now we're going to find out all their dirty little marital secrets. Wait a minute. Christie refers to the shooting as an "accident"? Wha—? Okay. It's getting good. Jim's a good cop. He can focus. No, Christie! Let the good doctor help you. We want to see what he has to say once he knows the worst about the Dunbars.
I don’t really get why Galloway can’t do couples therapy and employee assistance/post-trauma counseling. Many therapists do both, but this is TV and they needed a plot device to get them crazy kids dancing, so...Galloway refers them to “Esther” and when Jim protests, Galloway says, "I appreciate the trust, but listening to you guys, I don’t think you’ve got a year to wait while I train." At least, for all those Galloway fans out there (and aren't we all?), we are left with one final nugget of wisdom: "Remember the fun things you used to do, and do them again.” Priceless shot of Jim and Christie, who look as if Galloway has just started speaking to them in Klingon.
"That's your advice for us?" Jim says blankly. "Have fun?" Galloway's face grows wise and kind. "You can take a break from your problems. They'll still be there when you get back."
Jim takes the advice to heart, still hashing it over as he runs into Tom in the locker room. Since having fun has apparently never entered Jim's mind before, it suddenly hits him that Tom may be a valuable resource. He starts questioning him to be sure. No, Tom's not married, but he has a girlfriend and they don't live together. "Smart— very smart," Jim says knowingly. (So, what's your point, Jim?) For fun, Tom and his girlfriend go to movies, go out to eat, and play board games. Jim's expression dismisses that last one as an option.
He seems much more hopeful when Tom describes the joys of getting filthy together in pottery class. In all honesty, this does sound like a good idea and something Jim would be able to do but…it would also require Christie to get her hands dirty. Still, Jim is impressed with the suggestion.
"I'm just a well-rounded brother from Flatbush," Tom says modestly. Jim starts. "You're black?" he asks. "You're a black man?" At first Tom smiles, but when he sees Jim's serious face, his own face drops.
Awkward banter. Surely you knew. How could I have known? Jim tops it off with a helpless wave of his fingers before his eyes. "So what? You think you been working with Eminem the last four months?" Tom asks, incredulous. “How could you not feel my blackness?” Turning to walk away, Jim says, "I thought you were just kinda groovy." Just as he's leaving the frame, a mischievous gleam of a smile crosses his face so we know, even if Tom doesn't, that Jim was pulling his leg.
Artie Steckel shows up in the squad room to collect on the “favor” Jim offered him at the end of “Doggone.” Artie’s nephew is losing his sight and, apparently, his motivation. Is Jim really too dense to know why Artie’s bringing this to his attention? Surely not, but he tries to steer away from the obvious by asking if the nephew’s in legal trouble, implying that that’s the only sort of help Jim’s qualified to give. Turns out Artie just wants Jim to talk to him, “blind guy to blind guy.” At that, Jim’s head dips and he fidgets uncomfortably.
When Artie says it looks like Jim’s “figured out how to beat this,” Jim’s expression is almost painful as he responds matter-of-factly: “I haven’t figured out anything.”
Despite his claim that he would have no idea what to say to him, Jim agrees to go visit the nephew. It’s a little odd that he goes immediately, in the middle of his workday, but we go with it because we’re eager to see the scene. Jim makes his way to Pete’s apartment, and introduces himself, shouting through the door, as a detective friend of Pete’s uncle. Eventually he gets Pete to open the door, but the conversation quickly goes downhill from there. When Jim finally admits he’s there because he’s blind, Pete asks the default questions: “You’re a blind cop? What is this, a joke?” He won’t listen to anything Jim says after that, and shouts at him to get out.
Did Karen drive Jim to Pete’s apartment and wait outside, or did Jim meet her back at the squad? No clue, but we next see Karen guiding Jim to a burnt-out apartment complex, and quickly realize this is going to be the case for the episode.
Homicide’s been called in because an old lady died in a fire that was deliberately set, and the landlord, who had problems with the tenants, just happens to be a firefighter. Tension flares when Marty asks the landlord to come to the station for questioning immediately, “unless you got another fire to go to.” The fire chief is up in arms, glaring at Fisk and warning him to make sure it’s a friendly conversation instead of a witch hunt. “None of this cops vs. firemen nonsense rearing its head, right?”
When Marty and Tom interview the landlord, Dean Bostic, things go pretty smoothly until the end. When Marty asks him if the Wheelers are going to say anything negative about him, and ends up goading him a little, Bostic snaps, “You got some kind of bug up your ass? Because I got a set of pliers in the car I can loan you.” Does Marty think the guy is guilty, or does he have a history of antagonism toward firefighters? But they let Bostic go, and Karen and Jim are up, going to interview the Wheelers at the morgue—until Jim begs off, saying he’s got something to take care and asking Karen to handle it herself. Which she does, in a real snorer of a scene, unfortunately.
The Wheelers tell her Bostic called them a couple months earlier and threatened them, saying he’d get them out of the apartment no matter what he had to do. Then, in one second-long closeup, observant viewers realize that the whole point of the scene is to show us that Meg Wheeler is a practicing Catholic, as she fumbles with a small cross hanging around her neck. Similar to the one that’s clearly visible around Karen’s neck, in fact. Hmmm...
Back in the squad room, Jim’s on the phone with Christie. Sounding enthusiastic and very proud of himself, he asks her, “What about pottery classes?” Silence, and we imagine that Christie’s reacting on the other end of the line...until Jim says, “Hello?” Heh. Back to the drawing board, buddy.
So…Jim begged off going to an interview so he could have a twenty-second phone conversation with Christie about pottery classes? And this on top of leaving work in the middle of the day to see Pete? Guess he’s through with the whole tiresome task of trying to prove himself.
Marty thinks Dean is their man, but Fisk wonders why he’d start a fire in the middle of the day. Dean has a car service business. After that insight from Tom, Marty pipes up: “And he’s a fireman, so I’m sure he’s a great cook and plays a mean game of bridge, right?”
Tom adds with a smirk, “That’s us, watching our comments.”
Tom and Marty go to interview the former upstairs tenant of Bostic’s building, and Jim gets a call from Social Services. Karen passes the call to him and spends the rest of the scene watching him with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
The former tenant that Marty and Tom visit appears to work in a hair salon, and he’s as gay as they come, smoking a cigarette and talking out of the side of his mouth as they chat on the rainy sidewalk. I love it when Marty calls him “sweetheart” and waves the smoke away from his face. Finally, he plucks the cigarette from the guy’s mouth and throws it onto the sidewalk. Do I detect a smidgen of homophobia from Detective Russo? The only thing they learn is that the Wheelers were loud and obnoxious, and the guy has an airtight alibi.
Meanwhile, Pete’s been paying some woman to read him his bills and clean the apartment. Jim whips off the sunglasses as he steps into the apartment—as if Pete would care if he’s wearing them or not. Jim’s nose and feet have already told him, though, that that apartment is far from tidy (after a wide shot of the filthy apartment, Jim cracks, “Not much of a maid, is she?).
He suspects that Ms. Smalls is stealing from Pete. Jim tries to point out that independence training could help him recognize when someone is trying to take advantage of him, but Pete will have none of it. “Look, I don’t want any favors from you!” he hisses. “Well, I’m not doing you any favors—this is my job,” Jim replies heatedly. Jim shakes his head and frowns as Pete turns and rustles in a drawer and then reluctantly turns over his checkbook.
There’s a brief moment of awkwardness as the two blind men’s hands meet in midair, and Pete is reminded yet again that he is as disabled as the man who is trying to help him. Angry, he retreats to his bedroom and slams his door like a petulant child. “I’ll let you know what we find out,” Jim calls after him.
Marty’s and Tom’s second interview of Bostic doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as the first. But more importantly...are there really NYC apartments with $300/month rent anymore? I know they’re supposed to have lived there for a while, but seriously, folks. Regardless, Marty’s tone is snide from the get-go (enter the mean-streak vs. alpha male debate), and Bostic turns just as belligerent, calling their questioning an “ambush” and accusing Marty of a grudge against firefighters. I love it when bits and pieces of the characters’ pasts and personalities are revealed, and it counts as both when Bostic says a former partner of Marty’s said he “doesn’t hold too high of an opinion” of the noble profession (disclaimer: I’m married to a firefighter). The interview quickly turns into a free-for-all insult session between Russo and Bostic, with Russo sarcastically asking, “Did I say you sleep for living?” and Bostic firing back with, “Did I say you’re all hurt because everybody likes us and hates you?”
Despite Tom’s too-little-too-late attempt at refereeing, Bostic storms out and into Fisk’s office, and before long, Jim and Karen have replaced Marty and Tom in the interview room. They get an alibi, though not much of one, from Bostic, and when they finish the interview, Tom tells Jim a Charlotte Smalls is waiting for him in the other interview room. I’ve heard that name before...ah, yes, Pete’s housecleaner and check-writer.
Neither the performer nor the character is a good actress, and Jim is clearly pissed off, interrupting her denials of stealing money to ask, “Do you think we’re stupid?” Then, practically yelling, he asks if she wants to go to jail. She quickly agrees to repay all of the money, but a quick shot of Jim shaking his head in anger and disgust shows us that this particular crime hits a little too close to home for him. And I luuuuv how Karen plays backup during this scene, slamming the check photocopies down in front of Charlotte and sitting reeeealllly close to her, giving her the evil eye to effect just the right amount of intimidation.
That evening, we are treated to an oh-so-rare pleasant interaction between Jim and Christie, as they chow down on Chinese food at the living room coffee table. And a blind man using chopsticks?
Easier than a fork, in my opinion. We use them at home a lot – they become extensions of your fingers—and hunting around for your food is par for the course. So Christie asks Jim if he’s had any other bright ideas for “fun” activities for them to do, but swats his suggestion of couples yoga down with, “I think you’re trying too hard.” Wouldn’t have mattered what he suggested, though, because she only asked him so she could respond with her own choice: ballroom dancing. Jim’s expression at that declaration is priceless, and he utters the famous (at least, to us) line: “And am I supposed to lead with my cane?”
Christie assures him that blind people can learn to dance, but he hedges—until she has to admit she’s already signed them up and already paid for the classes, which begin the very next day. Cracking his neck, Jim’s not happy, but he reluctantly agrees, saying, “I’ll get my shoes” (whatever that means – have they danced before?). I love how Jim’s grudging agreement reflects that he knows how important it is to Christie and that he honestly wants to work on the marriage—he reminds me of my husband that way. Christie joyfully throws her arms around his neck, giving him a big smooch and saying, “You’re going to be like a regular Fred Astaire.” Jim’s dry sense of humor peeks through as he replies, “Fred Astaire, huh? Awesome. You know, he was my hero growing up!” Complete with a lip-biting moment as he wonders what the hell he’s just gotten himself into.
The next day, Marty, Tom, and Karen pay a visit to the burned-out apartment to look over things—Tom finds a bottle of Tinsley’s, which he dismisses as “cheap-ass scotch.” They’re all surprised when Bostic shows up, and Marty asks him immediately about a disabled smoke alarm. I’m kind of surprised when Bostic calmly denies knowing anything about it, and leaves soon after—I’ll admit, I was kind of hoping they’d come to blows, or at least have another little verbal sparring session. A tiny bit of conversation between Bostic and a fire marshal on scene, though, again reveals the stark discrepancy between the camaraderie of the firefighters and the suspicion of the detectives.
Some really well-staged cinematography and lighting highlights the next sequence, Karen’s lone journey down a hallway and into a bedroom.
She pokes around a bit, finally squatting to pick up a broken picture frame with a half-burned picture of a woman who can only be their DOA. She stares at it for moment, deep in thought.
Meanwhile...third time’s a charm! Yep, Jim’s back at Pete’s, this time to let him know about Charlotte Smalls—he had tried to call the night before, but Pete didn’t answer the phone. The conversation quickly turns away from the crime, though, when Jim not-so-gently points out that the whole mess could’ve been avoided had Pete learned coping and independence skills to deal with his increasing blindness. I guess Jim’s figured the best way to do with this stubborn kid is with tough love, and it comes out in force. He holds up fingers to prove that Pete is really blind despite his denial, and tells that he lives “like an animal,” and that “if you don’t get some help soon, this is about as good as your life’s ever going to get!” Whew, harsh. But Jim’s words seem to break down some wall between them, because Pete seems on the verge of tears as he asks Jim if he ever considered “blowing his brains out” when he lost his sight.
And Jim’s response is poignant, honest, and revealing: “I thought about it every day. And if it wasn’t for my wife, and a safe home to go to, I probably would’ve done it.”
That does it—Pete’s crying freely now, and mourns for the life he had, angrily protesting being “a cripple.” The look on Jim’s face in response to that is inscrutable—I don’t think he was offended, but it probably stung a little. Are blind people really called “cripples” anyway? Back to the point—Jim decides to take things one step at time, and offers to help clean the apartment. Okay, he basically orders Pete to clean up the apartment. And they do, slowly but surely, Hank watching from behind the sofa.
When I first heard Pete ask the question about pissing standing up, I was a little taken aback, to tell you the truth. Seemed a bit...odd for a network cop drama, I suppose. But I loved every minute of the exchange. Jim patiently explains how to do it without making a mess, and then we’re treated to the sound of Pete trying it for himself through the closed bathroom door, including a little yelp of joy at the end. We’re left with the feeling that Pete’s going to find his way back to his life.
Back to the squad, where we’re all relieved to realize that no super smelling or hearing will play a role in solving this case. The ME’s examination shows the DOA died before the fire started – she had no smoke in her lungs. Because Meg Wheeler was the only one home, she becomes the primary suspect. I’m sure it pained Marty to give up his suspicion of Dean, but he apparently does, because he and Tom go straight for Vic Wheeler’s jugular in a heated interview. When Vic stands up belligerently, demanding a lawyer and insisting on talking with his wife, Marty gets right in his face and asks in a low voice, “You want me to sit you down?” The guy sits.
Now that the husband’s lawyered up, the only option left is to get a confession out of Meg before she does the same. Fisk tells them the ME’s testimony isn’t enough to convict because the body was so badly burned, and asks if any of them have anything else to use as leverage to get a confession. “I got something,” Karen offers, shooting a look at Jim as he turns his head toward her in surprise, “but Jim, this might be better off just me and her.” Having given up his ego a few episodes ago, Jim replies encouragingly, “Go for it.”
What Karen has is that half-burnt picture of the DOA, and the knowledge that Meg Wheeler is a Catholic. She starts out gently, pressing Meg to get the guilt off her chest so she can have a clean conscience when she meets her mother-in-law again in heaven.
When that doesn’t work, Karen becomes increasingly agitated, and so does Meg, eventually clamming up and choking out that she wants a lawyer. Reluctantly, they allow the Wheelers to leave—I love the look on Fisk’s face and the tone of voice when he tells them, “We’ll be in touch with your lawyer.”
Karen’s obviously upset, with both herself and the suspect, storming out of the interview room and waving her arm at the retreating Wheelers. “She did it—he wasn’t involved,” she bites off.
“She better hope he’s not drinking Tinsley’s tonight,” Tom cracks. Marty asks if anyone’s contacted Dean, and when Jim says he has, Marty asks if he showed any animosity toward him. Jim’s quick wit shines through as he responds immediately, “No, he sends you his love.” Marty heads out, and Karen does the same, with Tom holding out a hand for Karen to grasp in a nice gesture of support. But when Jim compliments her on her strategy with the photo, she dismisses it, saying it wasn’t good enough.
The Pete storyline wraps up with a nice few scenes. First, Artie comes to the squad room to thank Jim for what he’s done for Pete.
The most important part of the scene is nonverbal. Tom, as the only one left to witness the exchange, looks up admiringly as Jim tells Artie, “A lot of people helped me when I was in his spot.”
Next, Jim goes to find Dean at his fire station, and although Dean’s a bit defensive at first, thinking the department is still looking at him for the crime, he softens quickly when Jim says, “The odds are pretty good that I’m not looking at you.”
He wants to make sure Dean was treated right during the investigation. “You treated me right,” Dean tells Jim. “All right, good,” Jim replies, “because I’d like to ask you a favor.”
Now we know why Dean’s car service business has been mentioned so many times. Jim and Dean meet with Artie and Pete in a coffee shop booth. Dean’s sister-in-law is going out indefinitely on maternity leave, and he offers her job to Pete. There’s only one catch. “Don’t go getting pregnant on me,” Dean says, clasping Pete’s outstretched hand. “No,” Pete exclaims earnestly, and we get an adorable closeup of Jim laughing to himself.
Pete then automatically extends his hand across the table to thank Jim, and after an awkward moment of silence, Artie alerts Jim that it’s there, and the two blind men find each other and seal their friendship in a firm shake.
Dance class! Jim’s so cute as he holds Christie’s hand and steps side to side to the ubiquitous “Call Me Irresponsible,” a theme that we’ll hear throughout the rest of the series.
Of course the teacher asks Jim to help her demonstrate the next sequence of steps, since he can’t watch with the rest of the class. “Are you wearing steel-toed shoes?” he says, trying to make light, although he’s clearly uncomfortable.
I could quote this entire scene, but the gist is that the dancing is a not-so-subtle metaphor for Jim and Christie’s efforts to repair their marriage. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable—I know some fans weren’t happy with their choice of “fun,” but I thought it was a great way to show us that Jim is willing to throw his pride and ego out the window to make things better with his wife, showing us that he really does love her despite their problems. And when Christie closes her eyes to find the beat? An instinctive move on her part, but a deliberate choice on the part of the writers or director, in my humble opinion, to show us that Jim is on more equal footing with his sighted wife than we might have thought. Finally, a classmate patronizingly praises Jim and Christie for daring to sign up for dance class despite his blindness. As Christie whispers, “Just keep dancing,” Jim does just that, with just a hint of a smile on his face, keeping time to the music as the shot widens and the scene fades out.
by Kenina (with a guest appearance by shmeep in the first two scenes and sprinkled liberally throughout the rest)
At last! The scene we've all been waiting for with Dr. Galloway!
They're really going at it. Any moment now we're going to find out all their dirty little marital secrets. Wait a minute. Christie refers to the shooting as an "accident"? Wha—? Okay. It's getting good. Jim's a good cop. He can focus. No, Christie! Let the good doctor help you. We want to see what he has to say once he knows the worst about the Dunbars.
I don’t really get why Galloway can’t do couples therapy and employee assistance/post-trauma counseling. Many therapists do both, but this is TV and they needed a plot device to get them crazy kids dancing, so...Galloway refers them to “Esther” and when Jim protests, Galloway says, "I appreciate the trust, but listening to you guys, I don’t think you’ve got a year to wait while I train." At least, for all those Galloway fans out there (and aren't we all?), we are left with one final nugget of wisdom: "Remember the fun things you used to do, and do them again.” Priceless shot of Jim and Christie, who look as if Galloway has just started speaking to them in Klingon.
"That's your advice for us?" Jim says blankly. "Have fun?" Galloway's face grows wise and kind. "You can take a break from your problems. They'll still be there when you get back."
Jim takes the advice to heart, still hashing it over as he runs into Tom in the locker room. Since having fun has apparently never entered Jim's mind before, it suddenly hits him that Tom may be a valuable resource. He starts questioning him to be sure. No, Tom's not married, but he has a girlfriend and they don't live together. "Smart— very smart," Jim says knowingly. (So, what's your point, Jim?) For fun, Tom and his girlfriend go to movies, go out to eat, and play board games. Jim's expression dismisses that last one as an option.
He seems much more hopeful when Tom describes the joys of getting filthy together in pottery class. In all honesty, this does sound like a good idea and something Jim would be able to do but…it would also require Christie to get her hands dirty. Still, Jim is impressed with the suggestion.
"I'm just a well-rounded brother from Flatbush," Tom says modestly. Jim starts. "You're black?" he asks. "You're a black man?" At first Tom smiles, but when he sees Jim's serious face, his own face drops.
Awkward banter. Surely you knew. How could I have known? Jim tops it off with a helpless wave of his fingers before his eyes. "So what? You think you been working with Eminem the last four months?" Tom asks, incredulous. “How could you not feel my blackness?” Turning to walk away, Jim says, "I thought you were just kinda groovy." Just as he's leaving the frame, a mischievous gleam of a smile crosses his face so we know, even if Tom doesn't, that Jim was pulling his leg.
Artie Steckel shows up in the squad room to collect on the “favor” Jim offered him at the end of “Doggone.” Artie’s nephew is losing his sight and, apparently, his motivation. Is Jim really too dense to know why Artie’s bringing this to his attention? Surely not, but he tries to steer away from the obvious by asking if the nephew’s in legal trouble, implying that that’s the only sort of help Jim’s qualified to give. Turns out Artie just wants Jim to talk to him, “blind guy to blind guy.” At that, Jim’s head dips and he fidgets uncomfortably.
When Artie says it looks like Jim’s “figured out how to beat this,” Jim’s expression is almost painful as he responds matter-of-factly: “I haven’t figured out anything.”
Despite his claim that he would have no idea what to say to him, Jim agrees to go visit the nephew. It’s a little odd that he goes immediately, in the middle of his workday, but we go with it because we’re eager to see the scene. Jim makes his way to Pete’s apartment, and introduces himself, shouting through the door, as a detective friend of Pete’s uncle. Eventually he gets Pete to open the door, but the conversation quickly goes downhill from there. When Jim finally admits he’s there because he’s blind, Pete asks the default questions: “You’re a blind cop? What is this, a joke?” He won’t listen to anything Jim says after that, and shouts at him to get out.
Did Karen drive Jim to Pete’s apartment and wait outside, or did Jim meet her back at the squad? No clue, but we next see Karen guiding Jim to a burnt-out apartment complex, and quickly realize this is going to be the case for the episode.
Homicide’s been called in because an old lady died in a fire that was deliberately set, and the landlord, who had problems with the tenants, just happens to be a firefighter. Tension flares when Marty asks the landlord to come to the station for questioning immediately, “unless you got another fire to go to.” The fire chief is up in arms, glaring at Fisk and warning him to make sure it’s a friendly conversation instead of a witch hunt. “None of this cops vs. firemen nonsense rearing its head, right?”
When Marty and Tom interview the landlord, Dean Bostic, things go pretty smoothly until the end. When Marty asks him if the Wheelers are going to say anything negative about him, and ends up goading him a little, Bostic snaps, “You got some kind of bug up your ass? Because I got a set of pliers in the car I can loan you.” Does Marty think the guy is guilty, or does he have a history of antagonism toward firefighters? But they let Bostic go, and Karen and Jim are up, going to interview the Wheelers at the morgue—until Jim begs off, saying he’s got something to take care and asking Karen to handle it herself. Which she does, in a real snorer of a scene, unfortunately.
The Wheelers tell her Bostic called them a couple months earlier and threatened them, saying he’d get them out of the apartment no matter what he had to do. Then, in one second-long closeup, observant viewers realize that the whole point of the scene is to show us that Meg Wheeler is a practicing Catholic, as she fumbles with a small cross hanging around her neck. Similar to the one that’s clearly visible around Karen’s neck, in fact. Hmmm...
Back in the squad room, Jim’s on the phone with Christie. Sounding enthusiastic and very proud of himself, he asks her, “What about pottery classes?” Silence, and we imagine that Christie’s reacting on the other end of the line...until Jim says, “Hello?” Heh. Back to the drawing board, buddy.
So…Jim begged off going to an interview so he could have a twenty-second phone conversation with Christie about pottery classes? And this on top of leaving work in the middle of the day to see Pete? Guess he’s through with the whole tiresome task of trying to prove himself.
Marty thinks Dean is their man, but Fisk wonders why he’d start a fire in the middle of the day. Dean has a car service business. After that insight from Tom, Marty pipes up: “And he’s a fireman, so I’m sure he’s a great cook and plays a mean game of bridge, right?”
Tom adds with a smirk, “That’s us, watching our comments.”
Tom and Marty go to interview the former upstairs tenant of Bostic’s building, and Jim gets a call from Social Services. Karen passes the call to him and spends the rest of the scene watching him with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
The former tenant that Marty and Tom visit appears to work in a hair salon, and he’s as gay as they come, smoking a cigarette and talking out of the side of his mouth as they chat on the rainy sidewalk. I love it when Marty calls him “sweetheart” and waves the smoke away from his face. Finally, he plucks the cigarette from the guy’s mouth and throws it onto the sidewalk. Do I detect a smidgen of homophobia from Detective Russo? The only thing they learn is that the Wheelers were loud and obnoxious, and the guy has an airtight alibi.
Meanwhile, Pete’s been paying some woman to read him his bills and clean the apartment. Jim whips off the sunglasses as he steps into the apartment—as if Pete would care if he’s wearing them or not. Jim’s nose and feet have already told him, though, that that apartment is far from tidy (after a wide shot of the filthy apartment, Jim cracks, “Not much of a maid, is she?).
He suspects that Ms. Smalls is stealing from Pete. Jim tries to point out that independence training could help him recognize when someone is trying to take advantage of him, but Pete will have none of it. “Look, I don’t want any favors from you!” he hisses. “Well, I’m not doing you any favors—this is my job,” Jim replies heatedly. Jim shakes his head and frowns as Pete turns and rustles in a drawer and then reluctantly turns over his checkbook.
There’s a brief moment of awkwardness as the two blind men’s hands meet in midair, and Pete is reminded yet again that he is as disabled as the man who is trying to help him. Angry, he retreats to his bedroom and slams his door like a petulant child. “I’ll let you know what we find out,” Jim calls after him.
Marty’s and Tom’s second interview of Bostic doesn’t go nearly as smoothly as the first. But more importantly...are there really NYC apartments with $300/month rent anymore? I know they’re supposed to have lived there for a while, but seriously, folks. Regardless, Marty’s tone is snide from the get-go (enter the mean-streak vs. alpha male debate), and Bostic turns just as belligerent, calling their questioning an “ambush” and accusing Marty of a grudge against firefighters. I love it when bits and pieces of the characters’ pasts and personalities are revealed, and it counts as both when Bostic says a former partner of Marty’s said he “doesn’t hold too high of an opinion” of the noble profession (disclaimer: I’m married to a firefighter). The interview quickly turns into a free-for-all insult session between Russo and Bostic, with Russo sarcastically asking, “Did I say you sleep for living?” and Bostic firing back with, “Did I say you’re all hurt because everybody likes us and hates you?”
Despite Tom’s too-little-too-late attempt at refereeing, Bostic storms out and into Fisk’s office, and before long, Jim and Karen have replaced Marty and Tom in the interview room. They get an alibi, though not much of one, from Bostic, and when they finish the interview, Tom tells Jim a Charlotte Smalls is waiting for him in the other interview room. I’ve heard that name before...ah, yes, Pete’s housecleaner and check-writer.
Neither the performer nor the character is a good actress, and Jim is clearly pissed off, interrupting her denials of stealing money to ask, “Do you think we’re stupid?” Then, practically yelling, he asks if she wants to go to jail. She quickly agrees to repay all of the money, but a quick shot of Jim shaking his head in anger and disgust shows us that this particular crime hits a little too close to home for him. And I luuuuv how Karen plays backup during this scene, slamming the check photocopies down in front of Charlotte and sitting reeeealllly close to her, giving her the evil eye to effect just the right amount of intimidation.
That evening, we are treated to an oh-so-rare pleasant interaction between Jim and Christie, as they chow down on Chinese food at the living room coffee table. And a blind man using chopsticks?
Easier than a fork, in my opinion. We use them at home a lot – they become extensions of your fingers—and hunting around for your food is par for the course. So Christie asks Jim if he’s had any other bright ideas for “fun” activities for them to do, but swats his suggestion of couples yoga down with, “I think you’re trying too hard.” Wouldn’t have mattered what he suggested, though, because she only asked him so she could respond with her own choice: ballroom dancing. Jim’s expression at that declaration is priceless, and he utters the famous (at least, to us) line: “And am I supposed to lead with my cane?”
Christie assures him that blind people can learn to dance, but he hedges—until she has to admit she’s already signed them up and already paid for the classes, which begin the very next day. Cracking his neck, Jim’s not happy, but he reluctantly agrees, saying, “I’ll get my shoes” (whatever that means – have they danced before?). I love how Jim’s grudging agreement reflects that he knows how important it is to Christie and that he honestly wants to work on the marriage—he reminds me of my husband that way. Christie joyfully throws her arms around his neck, giving him a big smooch and saying, “You’re going to be like a regular Fred Astaire.” Jim’s dry sense of humor peeks through as he replies, “Fred Astaire, huh? Awesome. You know, he was my hero growing up!” Complete with a lip-biting moment as he wonders what the hell he’s just gotten himself into.
The next day, Marty, Tom, and Karen pay a visit to the burned-out apartment to look over things—Tom finds a bottle of Tinsley’s, which he dismisses as “cheap-ass scotch.” They’re all surprised when Bostic shows up, and Marty asks him immediately about a disabled smoke alarm. I’m kind of surprised when Bostic calmly denies knowing anything about it, and leaves soon after—I’ll admit, I was kind of hoping they’d come to blows, or at least have another little verbal sparring session. A tiny bit of conversation between Bostic and a fire marshal on scene, though, again reveals the stark discrepancy between the camaraderie of the firefighters and the suspicion of the detectives.
Some really well-staged cinematography and lighting highlights the next sequence, Karen’s lone journey down a hallway and into a bedroom.
She pokes around a bit, finally squatting to pick up a broken picture frame with a half-burned picture of a woman who can only be their DOA. She stares at it for moment, deep in thought.
Meanwhile...third time’s a charm! Yep, Jim’s back at Pete’s, this time to let him know about Charlotte Smalls—he had tried to call the night before, but Pete didn’t answer the phone. The conversation quickly turns away from the crime, though, when Jim not-so-gently points out that the whole mess could’ve been avoided had Pete learned coping and independence skills to deal with his increasing blindness. I guess Jim’s figured the best way to do with this stubborn kid is with tough love, and it comes out in force. He holds up fingers to prove that Pete is really blind despite his denial, and tells that he lives “like an animal,” and that “if you don’t get some help soon, this is about as good as your life’s ever going to get!” Whew, harsh. But Jim’s words seem to break down some wall between them, because Pete seems on the verge of tears as he asks Jim if he ever considered “blowing his brains out” when he lost his sight.
And Jim’s response is poignant, honest, and revealing: “I thought about it every day. And if it wasn’t for my wife, and a safe home to go to, I probably would’ve done it.”
That does it—Pete’s crying freely now, and mourns for the life he had, angrily protesting being “a cripple.” The look on Jim’s face in response to that is inscrutable—I don’t think he was offended, but it probably stung a little. Are blind people really called “cripples” anyway? Back to the point—Jim decides to take things one step at time, and offers to help clean the apartment. Okay, he basically orders Pete to clean up the apartment. And they do, slowly but surely, Hank watching from behind the sofa.
When I first heard Pete ask the question about pissing standing up, I was a little taken aback, to tell you the truth. Seemed a bit...odd for a network cop drama, I suppose. But I loved every minute of the exchange. Jim patiently explains how to do it without making a mess, and then we’re treated to the sound of Pete trying it for himself through the closed bathroom door, including a little yelp of joy at the end. We’re left with the feeling that Pete’s going to find his way back to his life.
Back to the squad, where we’re all relieved to realize that no super smelling or hearing will play a role in solving this case. The ME’s examination shows the DOA died before the fire started – she had no smoke in her lungs. Because Meg Wheeler was the only one home, she becomes the primary suspect. I’m sure it pained Marty to give up his suspicion of Dean, but he apparently does, because he and Tom go straight for Vic Wheeler’s jugular in a heated interview. When Vic stands up belligerently, demanding a lawyer and insisting on talking with his wife, Marty gets right in his face and asks in a low voice, “You want me to sit you down?” The guy sits.
Now that the husband’s lawyered up, the only option left is to get a confession out of Meg before she does the same. Fisk tells them the ME’s testimony isn’t enough to convict because the body was so badly burned, and asks if any of them have anything else to use as leverage to get a confession. “I got something,” Karen offers, shooting a look at Jim as he turns his head toward her in surprise, “but Jim, this might be better off just me and her.” Having given up his ego a few episodes ago, Jim replies encouragingly, “Go for it.”
What Karen has is that half-burnt picture of the DOA, and the knowledge that Meg Wheeler is a Catholic. She starts out gently, pressing Meg to get the guilt off her chest so she can have a clean conscience when she meets her mother-in-law again in heaven.
When that doesn’t work, Karen becomes increasingly agitated, and so does Meg, eventually clamming up and choking out that she wants a lawyer. Reluctantly, they allow the Wheelers to leave—I love the look on Fisk’s face and the tone of voice when he tells them, “We’ll be in touch with your lawyer.”
Karen’s obviously upset, with both herself and the suspect, storming out of the interview room and waving her arm at the retreating Wheelers. “She did it—he wasn’t involved,” she bites off.
“She better hope he’s not drinking Tinsley’s tonight,” Tom cracks. Marty asks if anyone’s contacted Dean, and when Jim says he has, Marty asks if he showed any animosity toward him. Jim’s quick wit shines through as he responds immediately, “No, he sends you his love.” Marty heads out, and Karen does the same, with Tom holding out a hand for Karen to grasp in a nice gesture of support. But when Jim compliments her on her strategy with the photo, she dismisses it, saying it wasn’t good enough.
The Pete storyline wraps up with a nice few scenes. First, Artie comes to the squad room to thank Jim for what he’s done for Pete.
The most important part of the scene is nonverbal. Tom, as the only one left to witness the exchange, looks up admiringly as Jim tells Artie, “A lot of people helped me when I was in his spot.”
Next, Jim goes to find Dean at his fire station, and although Dean’s a bit defensive at first, thinking the department is still looking at him for the crime, he softens quickly when Jim says, “The odds are pretty good that I’m not looking at you.”
He wants to make sure Dean was treated right during the investigation. “You treated me right,” Dean tells Jim. “All right, good,” Jim replies, “because I’d like to ask you a favor.”
Now we know why Dean’s car service business has been mentioned so many times. Jim and Dean meet with Artie and Pete in a coffee shop booth. Dean’s sister-in-law is going out indefinitely on maternity leave, and he offers her job to Pete. There’s only one catch. “Don’t go getting pregnant on me,” Dean says, clasping Pete’s outstretched hand. “No,” Pete exclaims earnestly, and we get an adorable closeup of Jim laughing to himself.
Pete then automatically extends his hand across the table to thank Jim, and after an awkward moment of silence, Artie alerts Jim that it’s there, and the two blind men find each other and seal their friendship in a firm shake.
Dance class! Jim’s so cute as he holds Christie’s hand and steps side to side to the ubiquitous “Call Me Irresponsible,” a theme that we’ll hear throughout the rest of the series.
Of course the teacher asks Jim to help her demonstrate the next sequence of steps, since he can’t watch with the rest of the class. “Are you wearing steel-toed shoes?” he says, trying to make light, although he’s clearly uncomfortable.
I could quote this entire scene, but the gist is that the dancing is a not-so-subtle metaphor for Jim and Christie’s efforts to repair their marriage. That’s not to say it’s not enjoyable—I know some fans weren’t happy with their choice of “fun,” but I thought it was a great way to show us that Jim is willing to throw his pride and ego out the window to make things better with his wife, showing us that he really does love her despite their problems. And when Christie closes her eyes to find the beat? An instinctive move on her part, but a deliberate choice on the part of the writers or director, in my humble opinion, to show us that Jim is on more equal footing with his sighted wife than we might have thought. Finally, a classmate patronizingly praises Jim and Christie for daring to sign up for dance class despite his blindness. As Christie whispers, “Just keep dancing,” Jim does just that, with just a hint of a smile on his face, keeping time to the music as the shot widens and the scene fades out.
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