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The Good Wife 5.19 Brilliant old-fashioned murder-mystery….

The Good Wife 5.19

Brilliant old-fashioned murder-mystery. Superb Finn-centric b-story.

• This is great fun. Always a treat to see Dylan Baker back on the show and, after a complex and fast-moving sequence of opening scenes, it transpires that a murder has just taken place in Colin Sweeney’s house. Again.
• The rest of the episode is told from Alicia’s POV as a witness. She is the one giving Sweeney his alibi. A responsibility she takes very seriously, replaying the events of the night in her mind and even having a dialogue with her memory. Clever.
• In the end we are given a downbeat twist-ending. We knew something like this was coming but this was still very satisfying.
• Meanwhile, we have a delightful Finn Polmar b-story. The climax of which had me laughing out loud at the screen.
• Matthew Goode is a great addition to the show, and I really love his character.
• Michael Cerveris is another great addition to the show. Love to hate his character!
• Those final two scenes showcase great storytelling. First we are laughing at Finn and then – a minute later – there is the gut-punch revelation of the real murderer. Quality.

10/10

The Man From UNCLE # 007 Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable…

The Man From UNCLE # 007

Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable fantasy-driven spy yarn about brain-washing.

• There’s a great start to this when an UNCLE agent has a sort-of meltdown before dying. Some words he mumbled are enough to send Solo undercover working for an eccentric financier.
• Robert Vaughn is fun to watch (and is clearly having fun) as Applegate, his clumsy undercover character.
• Sadly, he breaks that cover quite fast and we then get some running around with a damsel-in-distress for most of the second act.
• After that, the second half of the episode is mostly conversations and escape attempts, with Solo and said-damsel held prisoner while being told what their eventual fate is to be. It’s fine, but really not much is happening. And, sometimes, it is very obvious that the outdoor setting is really inside a studio.
• Carroll O’Connor is in top form, however, as the mastermind behind everything: a plan to brainwash scores of important people around the world and send them back, as human time-bombs with subliminal instructions/beliefs implanted.
• It’s a purely fantasy-based threat, but the tone of the story never gets too silly. There are only a couple of examples of outright humour. Mostly quips from Solo.
• Illya Kuryakin appears only in the opening and closing scenes.
• It’s a straightforward story. The mystery generated by the strong opening is explained away quite quickly. And once the villain appears he doesn’t really do much except talk to Solo.

6/10

The Man From UNCLE # 007 Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable…

The Man From UNCLE # 007

Carroll O’Connor. Enjoyable fantasy-driven spy yarn about brain-washing.

• There’s a great start to this when an UNCLE agent has a sort-of meltdown before dying. Some words he mumbled are enough to send Solo undercover working for an eccentric financier.
• Robert Vaughn is fun to watch (and is clearly having fun) as Applegate, his clumsy undercover character.
• Sadly, he breaks that cover quite fast and we then get some running around with a damsel-in-distress for most of the second act.
• After that, the second half of the episode is mostly conversations and escape attempts, with Solo and said-damsel held prisoner while being told what their eventual fate is to be. It’s fine, but really not much is happening. And, sometimes, it is very obvious that the outdoor setting is really inside a studio.
• Carroll O’Connor is in top form, however, as the mastermind behind everything: a plan to brainwash scores of important people around the world and send them back, as human time-bombs with subliminal instructions/beliefs implanted.
• It’s a purely fantasy-based threat, but the tone of the story never gets too silly. There are only a couple of examples of outright humour. Mostly quips from Solo.
• Illya Kuryakin appears only in the opening and closing scenes.
• It’s a straightforward story. The mystery generated by the strong opening is explained away quite quickly. And once the villain appears he doesn’t really do much except talk to Solo.

6/10

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