Sunday, June 29, 2014

The Invisible Man 1.14 - Beholder

Plot: A retired general is killed on a golf course. The only witness is blinded by some gun that flash fried his eyes. The killer is the notorious assassin, the Chameleon, and the retired general's son, a rich software tycoon, has placed a large, tax-free bounty on the killer's head. The Official is all about that, and running the records, he and Eberts have determined that there is some connection between the Chameleon's victims and a well-known model, Leila Bach, who also happens to be blind. Off Fawkes and Hobbes go to her latest shoot, though Hobbes is quickly distracted by other ladies, and Fawkes tags along invisibly in Leila's car with her chauffeur. A man named Claude waits at her home, but once Fawkes fails his stealth roll, the guy finds him, beats his ass, and panics when he sees Darien's badge. Yep, he's the Chameleon. Fawkes tries running, Claude fires his weapon, Darien Quicksilvers as it hits, and that's why he'll only be temporarily blind, rather than permanently.

There are two twists. One, Fawkes can see when his eyes are Quicksilvered. Guess the parts of his eyes that respond to whatever higher spectrums the Quicksilver lets in weren't flash-fried. Two, Leila wants to spend time with him, I guess because she feels bad this happened. Fawkes wants no part of it, only wants to get out there and find Claude, but the Official benches him. So he and Leila hang out, she helps him learn how she perceives the world, he helps her understand how Claude could lie so easily, since he did the same to Casey. Remember Casey? His girlfriend, from the Pilot? Meanwhile, Claude prepares to strike another target, and stalks Leila. Then he abducts her. Darien tries to pursue, even leaps on the roof of the car, but is flung off by Claude's aggressive driving. Claude promises this is his last job, and wants to know if she will leave with him. She asks him if he would stop killing people if she did. He asks if she could love him. She can't tell him that, so she's now a potential decoy to cover his assassination attempt on the software tycoon son.

Fawkes has already deduced this, thanks to something Hobbes said, and the general's funeral is pretty well-covered. But it still comes down to Darien on the roof against Claude, who has Leila tied up in a trunk with a lot of explosives. Fawkes Quicksilvered his walkie-talkie, though, so Hobbes hears it all and rescues her. Then Darien goes Quicksilver Mad, because he's been using it too much as a workaround. This is bad for Claude, because crazy, invisible Darien beats his butt, then knocks him off the roof where I think he falls to his death in a empty fountain. Darien's eyesight is restored, and he and Leila take another trip to the beach.

Quote of the Episode: Claude - 'I don't want to murder them. But I'm forced to choose between my freedom and their sight.'

The "Oh crap" count: 1 (20 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week? Lao Tzu's advice to look for the good in everything, the line about lighting a candle rather than cursing darkness, and maybe, "She Blinded Me with Science".

Times Fawkes Goes Quicksilver Mad: 1 (6 overall).

Still Fish & Game. Not sure if I would count Fawkes being thrown from the roof of one car through the rear glass of another in the unofficial, "Almost run over count". Maybe it should be "Near Death By Car"?

Other: I'm always a little leery of these episodes where a character loses their sight or some other sense and learns it's entirely possible to function in everyday life. It's a good message, but I always wonder if it doesn't come off as patronizing.

Beyond that, I has questions. One, if Leila's much more attuned to her other senses, how did she not sense Darien's presence riding shotgun in her car? She didn't notice a different scent, the sound of two sets of breathing besides her own, the shifting of weight in a seat other than the driver's? Also, Claude's called the Chameleon, but he doesn't really use disguises much. He lays one out when preparing for the hit, but his shtick is that he renders people incapable of giving a good description (because, as Hobbes notes, they can't tell if the sketch artist is capturing their description right).

I don't know, what's a better name for a guy who blinds witnesses to remain anonymous? Solar Flare? The Bathroom Light At Midnight?

Remember in "Reunion", that Fawkes kept trying to use his badge to get help from people, and it kept not working, because it's from Fish & Game? Hobbes knows how to do it properly. He shows them the tin/shield, whatever it's called, but not the i.d. badge. Let them be impressed, without giving them something easy to read that won't impress them as much.

Little surprised the writers brought Casey up. They haven't really mentioned her since the pilot, but the tale of what happened between her and Fawkes did fit the circumstances. He lied to Casey, just as Claude lied to Leila, in each case because it was easier than stopping what they were doing, or telling the truth and dealing with the consequences. Interesting to contrast that with Leila, who can't lie to Claude about what this revelation has done to her feelings for him, even though lying would stop him from killing more people. This assumes Claude could actually successfully vanish with a world-famous model along for the ride, which, ehhhh, might be tricky. I don't know, I've never tried it before.

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