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Life: Trapdoor

By fred | December 18, 2008

(S02E12) Because of some idiots at NBC we now have to wait way too many weeks before we get a new episode of Life, and that really sucks. But hey, not all is bad, and at least we have this going on for us : for its last episode of the year, Life actually delivered a pretty damn good episode! Penned by creator Rand Ravich, this was one episode that, I think, will be liked by many of us out there, fans of the show ever since it debuted last year.

And that is also why I find myself almost embarrassed of the way I feel now, after having seen this episode, how I feel about what I just saw. It was a pretty good episode, and I feel like I should be (a lot more) excited and happy about it, like it was a return to what the show used to be last season or something, but I have to tell you the truth : I feel somewhat underwhelmed.

Again, it’s not that I didn’t like the episode, cause I did, and there were plenty of stuff to love. How could I not be happy about the return of the Zen, the return of the always excellent and crazy Roman of course, the introduction of no other than Charles Crews Sr, Dani being broken again, or a lot of development in the Crews/Reese partnership as she, finally, decided to join in — Charlie’s house, and obsession.

Oh yeah, this episode was really cool and I recognize that, but I can’t help myself but to feel that because we’re in this weird second season where everything is different than it used to be, it’s simply not the same. The intensity of the show was missing, except for a few scenes like when they went to meet Roman again, who I was delighted to see hadn’t changed a bit (Thank God!), or when Charlie drove Rachel away.

I’m actually quite disappointed about that, even though it made sense, because I was looking forward to the two of them constructing their new relationship and learning to trust each other again. This show used to be all about broken people and second chances, and this was theirs to get to know each other and be family again. I was looking forward to that, I was starting to like Rachel, and they send her away!

I didn’t like that, even more so when that scene with the two of them in the car felt very much like something we could have seen last season! And Rachel, especially with Ted away, Rachel was also holding Charlie into the reality of the world, another reason not to let anger took over. Now it feels like it’s again one of those things they have no idea where to go with, so they throw it away and hope we’ll forget about it. Remember Constance, Charlie’s lawyer who was hot for him and very much involved in his life, case, and look for the truth ? Yeah, she’s gone.

Remember Jen, his ex-wife with whom he wanted to reconnect – and did, as they slept together – and whom we started to suspect might have been involved in the whole conspiracy ? Yeah, she’s gone. And it’s not that I really wanted to see more of both of them, but it feels like they just vanished for no good reasons, other than that they didn’t know what to do with those characters. I’m just worried that in a few weeks (after the weeks we’ll have to wait for the show to come back, thank you NBC) Rachel will be just a name to the list : Remember Rachel, the girl who survived the killing, the girl Charlie saved and tried to reconnect with, the girl who knew Jack Reese ? Yeah, she’s gone.

Maybe they don’t like women — cause Lt. Davis could be added to that list, but I’m wondering whether or not Jack Reese should be on that list too, so…

Posted in Reviews
Shows: Life