Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Frame (Season Seven)

The day after breaking a case, and the anniversary of the death of Goren's mother, Frank Goren is found dead, and Goren just happens to be at the scene of the crime. Goren is keen to be involved, particularly when it looks like Frank's killer might have been Nicole Wallace. However, after tracking down Nicole, they discover a heart which Rodgers confirms belongs to Wallace. Goren begins to lose sight of the case, not helped by Ross's belief that Goren might be the killer. Forced into investigating Goren, Eames finds herself in an unenviable position, and Rodgers also is forced into betraying Goren's trust. With no one to turn to, Goren finds himself again keeping company with Declan Gage, who is convinced that the killer is someone close to Goren - possibly even Eames herself.

I laughed my arse off during this episode when I got a phone call from a friend to tell me that he thought Goren looked like a fat, hobo - all he was missing was a bottle of whiskey, and there is a certain truth in that statement. It's a little ironic that the plot of the episode is about Dr Declan Gage believing that Goren has fallen off the rails and he is determined to put him back on track. Of course, as only a complete nutcase could think, his solution is to murder a large number of people.

This is Warren Leight's last episode as showrunner and one gets the feeling that he's decided to wrap up Goren's life completely with a completely fresh start. As a result, aside from the return of Dr Declan Gage, we also see the return of Nicole Wallace (although rather surprisingly her appearances are actaully very small), Gwen Chappell, Frank Goren and copious amounts of flashbacks to previous episodes. And, with the exception of Gwen, they are all bumped off (although, to be fair, Gage's death is still impending).

I don't have any conscientious objections to episodes featuring returning characters, although in Criminal Intent I'd probably prefer it happened a lot less, although that said I didn't mind Goren's tussels with Nicole Wallace - she was, after all, the Moriarty to his Holmes. I was never terribly happy with the whole Goren family storyline, and the death of Frank, and the discovery that serial killer Mike Brady was indeed Goren's father will hopefully end the entire situation.

The problem with this episode was that there wasn't any real invesitagation. It was Goren and Eames following a series of stupid clues and never actually solving a crime. There was no real showdown between Goren and Gage because Gage pretty much confessed and spent the rest of the time talking about why he did it. And, most annoying of all, it seems Nicole's final end is almost an offscreen thing. The last Nicole Wallace episode, for anyone who may remember, was the episode which had two endings that the public had to vote for. The ending they voted for, of course, was the one where Nicole escaped before the police arrived, but it seems such a shame as the alternate ending where Goren shot her seemed a far more appropriate end to her. And in light of this episode, it was a much better finale for her.

This episode also cemented the relationship between Goren and Eames, as Eames is forced into investigating her partner, but it's nice to see later she is pretty firm in her defense of her partner, not just to Gage, but also to Ross. I've spent the last few years hoping Goren would punch Ross in the face, but sadly as close as Goren gets to doing in this episode it never happens. In fact Ross is a complete prick in this episode, and while it's understandable that he should consider Goren a suspect, his complete lack of faith in his best detective is constantly surprising. Last week he lost Logan, this week he's coming close to losing Goren - given the amount of cases these two detectives close, you'd think that the COD's would have something to say about it - except as we all know he hates Goren as well. Whatever happened to the days when Deakins ran the department and Goren merely had to think someone was guilty for Carver to issue a warrent.

With Leight moving on, hopefully this is the end of the two year period of deep, dark personal issues and we can go back to solving cases with that quirky Goren manner.

"B"

NCIS: Cloak (Season Six)

Three days before Ducky and Palmer get a shock by discovering one of their corpses delivered to a top secret Naval Base, Gibbs briefs his team about an attempt by them to infiltrate a top secret Naval Base and steal Domino - the very thing that Langer appeared to be attempting to steal when Vance disbanded Gibbs' team. Tony and Ziva do the main work and, with hints from Lee, they infiltrate the base, only to be immediately caught. Vance and the Secretary of the Navy are both called in, with Vance telling Davenport that it was all a setup to find the leak in NCIS that still exists. Both Vance and Gibbs know it is Lee and thanks to Abby they have sprung a trap. When Vance later apparently has Abby arrested, this gives Lee an excuse to leave the locked down NCIS HQ, but she is quickly arrested when she makes contact with the outside world. Lee tells Gibbs she has a daughter being held hostage, but Vance believes this to be a lie. Nonetheless DiNozzo, Ziva, McGee, Abby and Palmer are shocked to see Lee leave the building without anyone stopping her.

So it turns out that Gibbs was right, and Vance was completely wrong, and poor old Langer was a victim of a conspiracy of which Michelle Lee was part of. Not that that comes out in the first five minutes, but it was pretty obvious from the last few episodes. It's nice, though, that rather than wait til the end of the season to resolve this plot line, it's come as a mid-season two parter (which Australia's Channel TEN has decided the first part of which is the season finale...do they think we're stupid? Do they seriously think we can't count? A season finale after seven episodes? What, has the writer's strike started again???). What's perhaps rather nice about this story is that, rather than have it turn out that Lee has been a villain for the past few years, she was, in fact, being forced into this with the existance of a daughter no one has ever heard of. Strangely enough I actually don't have too much of a problem with that plotline, particularly when it transpires that she had the child when she was very young and her mother has been raising it. Fair enough, she wouldn't be the first.

The attempt to break into the top secret naval base is pretty entertaining as McGee is obsessed with using a fire drill which the other's all say is a bad idea, and sure enough when they are caught it is because someone sets off a fire drill (well, I say someone, obviously I mean Lee). Everyone's reactions to the situation are interesting - DiNozzo's anger at being manipulated not only by Lee, but also by Gibbs who he abuses through Ducky - and indeed Ducky himself is less than impressed with the way Gibbs had handled the situation. The scene between Gibbs, Ducky and DiNozzo is actually really well acted and it's interesting to see how each of them responds to the other - David MacCallum injects a considerable authority into Ducky that seems to put DiNozzo in his place as well sending a signal to Gibbs.

Meanwhile we get a little more confirmation about Ziva's feelings for Tony when she suggests they should follow orders and, after Tony points out that Ziva most certainly didn't follow orders when they were caught, she only attacked their captors because she was worried about Tony. And on top of that there is the slightly scary moment when, for just a bit, you think that Abby has betrayed the team as well (why did I even fall for that one??).

Cloak, of course, ends on a cliffhanger, as Lee discovers she is now being shadowed by Gibbs. Channel Ten has decided to just randomly stop showing the series now, so consequently I will happily stand up and say I'm pirating the next episode. Do I feel guilty? Nope. I wouldn't have paid for the episode anyway, and I'll be buying the DVD boxed set when it's released so I'll contributing properly. Screw you Channel Ten. Rock on, NCIS.

"A"

Quantum Of Solace

I happen to be one of those people who go to the movies to get some entertainment, and I don't necessarily go looking for deep insights into life. As a result, on leaving a cinema, I'm rarely disappointed by what I saw, and so perhaps am not the best reviewer of a movie after I've left it. Consequently I've left it a couple of days before giving my review of Quantum of Solace.

Having criticised The Dark Knight for being too much of a Chris Nolan film rather than a Batman film, I have to say that Quantum of Solace comes very close to being too much of a Marc Foster movie than a James Bond movie. Stylistically, QoS is further away from even Casino Royale and part of this comes from Foster's decision to use his own creative team, rather than the standard Bond one. Daniel Kleinman, for example, has been dumped from doing the title sequence, and instead Mk12 step in to provide both this and the gunbarrel logo. This gives the movie quite a different feel (although Mk12's decision to restore the silhouettes of women to the title sequence is an interesting step back to tradition). In terms of style, my one big complaint would be that it is perhaps time to return the gunbarrel to the beginning of the movie, rather than, in this case, leading into the closing credits. CR was able to have a pre-title sequence in black and white which gave a firm feeling of the movie beginning, whereas QoS kicks in with an action sequence and, for a moment, I was unsure if the movie had begun, or if I was watching another trailer.

Oddly enough, as the movie stylistically moves away from its predecessors (another example of this is the appearance of very exaggerated location subtitles) James Bond himself becomes more and more like the Bond of old. He spends the majority of the film in a tailored suit, and at one point is back in tuxedo. After the joke in CR, he most certainly does give a damn about how he likes his vodka martinis, and more than that, the idea of staying at accomodation that is anything less than five star has become something of an anathema to him. Perhaps the most obvious example of his actions, however, is that, within an hour of meeting MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (easily one of the silliest names for a Bond girl ever, but thankfully we only discover her first name in the credits) he shags her silly. Rather oddly, though, this is the only sex Bond has in the movie, implied or otherwise. Bond only actually gets a single kiss from primary Bond girl Camille, before she walks off into the distance. But Bond is still as brutal and as callous as he was in CR. At one point "M" is forced to ask Bond not to kill their lead as he has already murdered three of them. Though this is symptomatic of Bond being a broken man. Vesper's betrayal from CR weighs heavily on him, and it is this more than the hunt for Quantum that makes QoS a direct sequel to CR. Bond himself continues to develop, seeking for a way to end the pain of Vesper, while hardening himself against the possibility of having his heart betrayed again. Barbara Broccoli has said that there will be one more film in the development of Bond to 007, and it certainly seems that she and Michael G Wilson have indeed been planning this with some thoroughness.

Whereas CR was the longest Bond film to date, QoS goes the other way, and is the shortest film in the entire series. To a certain degree I believe this has meant that the movie has suffered ever so slightly. While CR took the opportunity to occasionally reflect on what has happened, QoS from the very outset hits the ground running and seems to rarely let up. We have a pre-title sequence that is nothing but action leading into a short moment where White laughs at MI6 before there is more action. Bond is sent to Haiti for more action before going to Austria for a bit more action, and so on. This leads to what trailer makers call a "high octane" film, but unfortunately gives some slightly muddled plotting as a result. Reflection is needed in order to work out quite what is happening. Bond's mission occasionally seems disjointed as he travels from lead to lead, but the most confusing moment comes with regard to Mathis who, on his deathbed, tells Bond that they forgive each other and tells Bond that Mathis was indeed his cover name, which Bond says was a stupid name. It's never quite clear if Mathis is saying he was always a double agent, with Mathis not his real name and that's why Bond should forgive him - or if Mathis is his real name, and he used it as a cover name in Bolivia (hence a stupid cover name)...although quite why they forgive each other still remains unclear. Equally Mr White, who Bond tried so hard to hand over to "M" in the pretitle sequence, disappears and is never heard from again. I understand a scene was filmed where Bond tracked him and the British envoy down and dealt with both of them, but this scene was cut. One can only hope the reason for the cut was that this will be developed in the next film, rather than they just wanted to remove it to pick up the pace of the movie.

Marc Foster's hand can be felt throughout the entire movie - Bond's opponent, Dominic Greene as played by Mathieu Amalric (The two Quantum members we've seen now are Greene and White...will we see Red and Black?) is an everyman with no noticeable foibles; in fact, if anything Greene seems to be a little weed of a character. It's almost hard to believe that Bond doesn't simply kick his arse when he and Greene come face to face. Equally, Greene has no stand out henchmen of note. Indeed the nebulous Quantum organisation seems to be the villain of the movie more than Greene himself. This in of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that Bond doesn't seem to have an opponent worthy of him in the film. This isn't really Amalric's fault, but it does make him a less than memorable character.

Olga Kurylenku is Bond girl Camille Montes, and she is one of the more complex Bond girls we've seen for a long time. Initially she seems to be playing against Dominic Greene, despite being his lover at the same time, but ultimately she is revealed to have been at the very least trained by the Bolivian secret service in search of the same revenge that Bond is - albeit hers is against would-be Bolivian dictator General Medrano. Medrano raped her mother and killed her father, while leaving her to almost burn to death, and nastily scarring her back. In a nice bit of character development, this means she suffers from pyrophobia in the film's finale, giving Bond the opportunity to play Knight in White Shining Armour as he has to rescue her.

Gemma Arterton, though credited quite high in the film, has little screen time as MI6 Agent Fields, and ends up covered in oil, having been drowned in it, in a rather nice homage to Goldfinger. Jeffrey Wright also has his screen time cut down as CIA agent Felix Leiter which is a shame as he is developing the character quite nicely. Leiter appears to have the same strong sense of fair play that Bond has, making them good partners. Giancarlo Giannini returns as Rene Mathis and it is great to see this character return, complete with the baggage that he brings from CR. It's almost disappointing to see him pass at the end of the film, but at the same time it seems quite fitting.
One person who does not suffer is Judi Dench, returning for her sixth outing as "M". Dench is again absolutely superb in the film, having complete trust in her best agent, while at the same time not entirely happy about his cavalier attitude towards life and death (see what I did there?). "M" is joined by Tanner in this film, now portrayed by Rory Kinnear, but here Tanner is nothing more than replacing Villiers from the last film.

A new production designer brings a different feel to the movie, as does the new director of photography, but both of them are trying very hard to keep in the Bond style, with the Austrian opera performance being of particular note as a set that is both awe-inspiring while also being just that little OTT Bond style. David Arnold returns to score the film, and uses both the James Bond theme and Jack White & Alicia Keys theme (which slowly grows on you, and works wonderfully opposite the interesting title sequence) liberally throughout the score.

No doubt in a few years from now I'll rewatch this movie and have a slightly different opinion, but this is the initial feel. A good film and a good chance for Daniel Craig to cement his position as James Bond.

Favourite Bond: 1. Timothy Dalton; 2. Daniel Craig; 3. Roger Moore; 4. Sean Connery; 5. George Lazenby; 6. Pierce Brosnan

Favourite movie order: 1. The Living Daylights; 2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service; 3. Casino Royale; 4. Dr No; 5. Licence To Kill; 6. A View To A Kill; 7. Live And Let Die; 8. Quantum Of Solace; 9. Thunderball; 10. For Your Eyes Only; 11. Octopussy 12. The Spy Who Loved Me; 13. Tomorrow Never Dies; 14. GoldenEye; 15. From Russia, With Love; 16. Goldfinger; 17. You Only Live Twice; 18. Moonraker; 19. The World Is Not Enough; 20. The Man With The Golden Gun; 21. Die Another Day; 22. Diamonds Are Forever

Favourite Bond girl: 1. Carey Lowell/Pam; 2. Claudine Auger/Dominio; 3. Diana Rigg/Tracy; 4. Eva Green/Vesper; 5. Olga Kurylenku/Camille; 6. Carole Bouquet/Melina; 7. Izabella Scorupco/Natalya; 8. Barbara Bach/Anya; 9. Maud Adams/Octopussy; 10. Michelle Yeoh/Wai Lin; 11. Mie Hama/Kissy; 12. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya; 13. Ursula Andress/Honey; 14. Jane Seymour/Solitaire; 15. Maryam D'Abo/Kara; 16. Lois Chiles/Holly; 17. Honor lackman/Pussy; 18. Tanya Roberts/Stacy; 19. Denise Richards/Christmas; 20. Halle Berry/Jinx; 21. Britt Ekland/Mary; 22. Jill St John/Tiffany

Favourite Bond villain: 1. Robert Davi/Sanchez; 2. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld; 3. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger; 4. Christopher Lee/Scaramanga; 5. Jeroen Krabbe & Joe Don Baker/Koskov & Whittaker; 6. Christopher Walken/Zorin; 7. Louis Jordan & Steven Berkov/Kahn & Orlov 8. Jonathan Pryce/Carver; 9. Adolfo Celi/Largo; 10. Mads Mikkelsen/Le Chiffre; 11. Sean Bean/Trevelyan; 12. Michael Lonsdale/Drax; 13. Yaphet Kotto/Mr Big-Dr Kananga; 14. Julian Glover/Kristatos; 15. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No; 16. Lotte Lenya/Klebb; 17. Mathieu Almaric; 18. Telly Savalas/Blofeld; 19. Charles Gray/Blofeld; 20. Toby Stephens/Graves; 21. Sophie Marceau/Elektra; 22. Curt Jurgens/Stromberg

Doctor Who - The Doctor Trap (BBC Books)

With the Doctor now being the confirmed last of the Time Lords, the idea of him being hunted down because of this is not a particularly new one within in the Doctor Who novels. When I read that The Doctor Trap would be about a hunter trying to get the ultimate prize of the last of the Time Lords, I couldn't help but think that we were just retreading the same old ground. However, to my surprise The Doctor Trap is a very, very different beast.

Sebastianne is the hunter, but he appears to be a virtual god on his home planet. Having summoned a group of hunters to capture the Doctor (a group which are a little cautious about the whole idea of hunting down the legendary Doctor), and with the help of the Doctor's greatest fan who now looks like the Doctor, Sebastianne is ready to get his prize. However, the Doctor is one step ahead of his hunters and is preparing to spring the Doctor Trap...

It's a little different to have a story where the Doctor is ahead of the villains these days. There was a time when it was virtually par for the course, but over the last few years we once again have a Doctor who plays things by the seat of his pants. What's so good about this story is that, although appearing to be a step ahead of this enemies, the Doctor is in fact still playing things by the seat of his pants, but manages to convey the idea that he is ahead of his opponents. The story manages to give us a twist on two old ideas, while still being fresh and original.

Meanwhile, Donna is being Donna, brashly believing that the Doctor's biggest fan is actually the Doctor, but still with the same moral outrage that makes her so endearing as a character.

Arguably one of the better new series adventures, The Doctor Trap gives a great story with great characterisation.

"A"

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Last Rites (Season Seven)

A friend of Lennie Briscoe's approaches Logan about a deathbed confession to a triple homicide, but unfortunately he can offer very little details, forcing Wheeler and Logan to dig deep to find the actual case. Having found the case, they find that someone was already convicted - though he vehemently denies it, stating that his alibi was he was breaking into another car, though no one reported this. The case had two eye-witnesses, but as they are uncovered, the detectives find that one was blind in one eye, and the other was bargained into being a witness - and the ADA who tried the case was Terri Driver. Given Driver's history, Logan is convinced that she didn't investigate properly, and another suspect soon comes to light. Meanwhile, Driver is concerned about her reputation, and discovers that Wheeler's fiance has mob connections. As Logan and Driver clash in the press, Wheeler soon becomes the victim, and Logan begins to question his career.

There is something of the landmark about this episode, being as it is Detective Logan's final appearance on Criminal Intent, and arguably the entire Law & Order franchise. Chris Noth was almost synonymous with Law & Order, trumped in recent years by Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston and S Epatha Merkerson. But Noth's firey detective has brought spice to the series, fighting with the DA's office and coming into conflict with his partners over the years. This last episode is almost a homage to all of those things as Logan's actions are disapproved of, not just by Ross, but also by Wheeler as he is determined to go into battle with ADA Terri Driver. When Driver asks him at one point if he is prepared to fight her office, given Logan's past relationship with now DA McCoy, it's perhaps not so surprising that he probably is.

But even as Logan decides to leave, having probably destroyed his career in obtaining justice (not for the first time), his partner Wheeler also suffers considerably as a result. Opening the episode by looking absolutely hot in a blue number to attend a benefit function, Wheeler starts to get out and about with her fiance only for her to soon discover that he may actually have a shady side; one which someone is prepared to blow open in order to protect their own secrets. Quite who that is, is never revealed (although there are enough hints for us to assume that it is actually ADA Driver), but Logan's actions finally do indeed have the consequences that seem inevitable and Wheeler's private life is destroyed.

Plotwise the episode is an interesting one, a murder case having been rush investigated and prosecuted, resulting in some poor guy being locked away in prison for sixteen years for a crime he didn't commit. Logan, with Wheeler's unquestioning support, uncovers the truth of the situation, but this in itself seems hardly the point of the exercise. Nothing is going to be done until Logan goes to the press with information that is embarrassing to the criminal justice system. The episode is about Logan's determination to see justice, and the lengths he will go to get it.

Am I disappointed that Logan is going? Well, part of me is, and part of me isn't. Logan's never quite seemed entirely comfortable at Major Case, but seeing Logan back in action has been an absolute joy. Thanks for returning Chris. We've enjoyed it.

"A-"

NCIS: Collateral Damage (Season Six)

A bank robbery at Quantico which results in the death of a security guard brings in NCIS, with Vance insisting that they keep control of the investigation over the FBI. He also appoints a new propationary agent to the team who points out that if the robbery three days later the robbers would have made an extra hundred thousand, and Gibbs realises that the security guard was the true target. As Agent Wilson and DiNozzo uncover a former robbery that has a strange similarity to their current case, and Abby notices a distinctive tattoo that sparks a memory. Meanwhile, Gibbs self confidence begins to restore and he begins to think further about Langer's betrayal.

This episode's plot doesn't center around it, but it's nice to be reminded that Special Agent Michelle Lee is not playing straightball with the agency, something which Director Leon Vance seems completely oblivious to. The fact that Gibbs believes he chose a traitor to join the agency (Agent Langer) has obviously been playing on his mind, and when he gets Ducky to do a psychological evaluation on the probationary teammember that has been assigned to him, Ducky in fact does one on Gibbs himself, pointing out that he is human and prone to making mistakes as well. But what is nice is that Gibbs actually sees this as a reaffirming of his own confidence and as such a belief that he didn't make a mistake about Langer. What adds to this is an interesting exchange between Vance and Gibbs:

Vance: Our agents should be more like McGee than DiNozzo.

Gibbs: You mean more like me than you, Leon.

Firstly it's interesting that he sees DiNozzo as being a younger Gibbs (and thank God - Todd may have given DiNozzo a hard time, but she still essentially liked him, as did McGee when she was around. Since Ziva's shown up it seems that no one outside of Abby actually likes DiNozzo, let alone respects his abilities. It's nice that Gibbs affirms to Vance that he has time for DiNozzo and his methods), but more interesting is that Gibbs sudden desire to validate Langer seems to stem from an urge to invalidate Vance.

Back onto the episode itself - once again Ducky has virtually nothing to do, while Abby gets a little less herself this time round, although it's great to see that her recognising a tattoo is essential to the solving of the case. What's also great is that DiNozzo is not sidelined and gets the opportunity to prove why he is the senior agent (not least noting that when the two men are shot at the end, they are taken down by Gibbs and DiNozzo). The probationary agent lends a nice touch to the episode, and everyone else plays their part competently.

A good episode.

"B"

The Bond Films In Retrospect

Having watched the Bond films, let me tell you the things that made them great, and the things that made them...not so much so...

In order of my preference:

The Living Daylights - Highlight: Timothy Dalton

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Highlight: George Lazenby

Casino Royale - Highlight: Daniel Craig

Dr No - Highlight: Terrence Young's direction

Licence To Kill - Highlight: John Glen's direction

A View To A Kill - Highlight: Roger Moore; Lowlight: Roger Moore's age

Live And Let Die - Highlight: Roger Moore; Lowlight: Sherriff J W Pepper

Thunderball - Highlight: Sean Connery & Claudine Auger; Lowlight: The underwater fights

For Your Eyes Only - Highlight: John Glen's direction; Lowlight: the man with the bottle of wine

Octopussy - Highlight: The villains; Lowlight: James Bond doing an impression of Tarzan

The Spy Who Loved Me - Highlight: Lewis Gilbert's direction; Lowlight: The navy band version of the theme

Tomorrow Never Dies - Highlight: Jonathan Pryce; Lowlight: The script

GoldenEye - Highlight: Judi Dench; Lowlight: Jack Wade

From Russia, With Love - Highlight: Terrence Young's direction; Lowlight: The title sequence

Goldfinger - Highlight: Sean Connery; Lowlight: Bond and M's relationship

You Only Live Twice - Highlight: Donald Pleasance; Lowlight: Lack of Fleming based material

Moonraker - Highlight: Micheal Lonsdale; Lowlight: Jaws

The World Is Not Enough - Lowlight: The script

The Man With The Golden Gun - Lowlight: Herve Vellechaize

Die Another Day - Lowlight: The script

Diamonds Are Forever - Lowlight: Sean Connery