Life: Powerless
By fred | November 2, 2007
(S01E06) I think this is the best new series of the season, and without question the one I enjoy and am looking forward to the most. I really hope NBC will give it a real chance, and that despite the WGA strike this one will get picked up and be able to find its audience.
Because obviously there’s one, and it seems that most of those who watch the show really appreciate how good it is and are quick to put Life on their favorite TV series top 5, if not on top of it. As I said, I myself wouldn’t call it the best series of the season, I do love House better than any other series, but it is the best of all new series for sure.
We might only be at episode six, but writers are already comfortable enough to break free from the usual structure of the show and deliver us this episode, which was not like any previous ones. I’m not talking about quality here, quality of both writing or acting was still as high as ever, but this episode didn’t really deal with the usual “case of the week” plot.
I was a bit unsure at first as to where this was going, and how it would turn out to be overall, not because it broke the classic “structure” of the show (not that it ever was trapped in some kind of formula) – if anything, that should be a good move that hopefully will show people this is definitely not just another cop drama with a twist – but because this episode also put his focus one character, and that character wasn’t Charlie, but his partner, Reese.
This was not only an interesting move, but a daring one too I would say. Because this show is character-driven, and obviously Charlie is the one character driving it. But his partner was never just a shallow person put here only to respond to his zen remarks, she came with a past and a deep background as well. One that was both darker than Charlie’s, and much less known.
Not because we’ve been told the story of Charlie from day one, but also because she’s always been very protective of her life and let only very little out. So to have her as the central character for one episode was a good idea, but had to be done in such a way that it would not send away those who are only, or mostly, there for Charlie, his Zen ways and his very own case.
But if there’s one thing evident after this episode, it’s that Reese might not be all Zen and addicted to fruits, she is still a great character who can create interest. I’ve told before that she grew on me over the weeks, and to find out more about her and her problems was good. It brought us closer to her, just like it did her & Charlie.
That being said, while her story was good it was also shorter than the usual “case of the week”. As such, and to keep Charlie around the whole time, a couple of other stories were added. And the one involving a pooper, while obviously having a filler touch to it, served some purpose as well.
The case in itself was more a joke than anything else, and I was surprised to see that Lieutenant Davis actually went on a stakeout with Charlie. I thought since he opened his mouth while no one asked him anything, she might have send him there, and urge him to solve the case, but without going through the trouble of waiting there for hours herself as well.
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