Painkiller Jane - 1x08 - Friendly Fire
Jun. 10th, 2007 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fembuckBy PKJ standards a very good episode. Definately an improvement over last week, which I loathed.
I've been complaining about the writers inability to present a believable friendship between Jane and Mo, but they did a much better job this week. I mean I was amazed to see them hanging out in their spare time (eveen if they had to throw Riley in there), they smiled at each other like they actually enjoyed each others presence, Jane wanted Mo to be there with her in the hospital after the bone marrow extraction, Baumgardner identified Mo as the person Jane trusted most, and they made some inside joke references to Jane and Mo being at the academy together (though I must say I think its rather unlikely they would have gone to the academy together and been friends and then been assigned as partners after graduation). Hell, there were even some looks that could be considered subtextual.
I like female!nurse with the girl!crush on Jane. I wish she hadn't died, she was smart and trying to help out, and she really wanted to make out with Jane. Another sign the writing this episode was more competent than usual was that I cared about this side character.
Loken did a good job this episode. I felt for Jane, and for once the character didn't do anything extremely stupid or irritating. I was actually kind of impressed by that tape trick she used. Though the writers really didn't need to go through that "AND I didn't see you limping, AND you wouldn't have gone out with geeky guy, AND you don't like scrambled eggs" thing from the end. We all got it when we saw her lower back and that there was no salamander tattoo. The flashbacks really must be a command from higher up because they're in every episode, and they're all so completely unnecessary.
Mohinder has absolutely no charisma whatsoever. If someone has to be killed off this season and it can't be McBride I vote for this dead weight. He's just so awkward.
I don't know why but Jane's constant bitching about having to drive cracked me up. It's like she knew that Baumgarnder was faking the ankle thing, so she didn't need to keep asking, but she did anyway. Maybe in was Loken's whiney "fiiiiiiine" delivery everytime Jane asked, but I got a laugh out of that.
Other moments that were funny (maybe only to me, but that I enjoyed anyway):
- Mo being a little princess during the "escape" from the hospital. "Oh, my guns jammed ... ooh, my ankle hurts!" Oh, fake!Mo.
- That guy in the truck eying Jane while she was pumping gas and making a kissy face resulting in the beautiful rolled eyes/disgusted face from Jane. Jane's disgusted face amuses me.
- Jane manhandling Riley at the end. I'd been noticing all episode how much shorter he was than her, so it was just funny to see her pick him and and swing him around like a little kid at the end. Oh, Lokinator. You're so dreamy.
- Jane's deep thoughts about friendship at the end. "We often take our friends for granted until something happens that makes us appreciate them more" Okay, obvious but not ridiculous, so far so good. "Like being there for us when we breakup with our boyfriends, or when we realize that they don't really want us to be dissected in medical experiments and locked up for killing one of them". Um, Jane, muffin, I think that might just be you. Oh, wait no, just like week I was all like "Hey, thanks for helping me move my stuff Brandon. You know what would make me sad? If you were dissected in a medical experiment and locked up for trying to kill Adam. Don't ever do that, 'kay? So, Mongolian for lunch?"
- The fact that when female!nurse asked if there was anything she could get Jane, Jane flashed back to Mo's sexy lower back. Not her face, not her eyes, her lower back and low waisted jeans that slid down just far enough to hint at something tantalizing and forbidden.
But of course, because this is PKJ there were some WTF moments.
1. Baumgardner shifting shape in the middle of the hallway, right after talking to someone who was looking directly at him. WTF!
2. Female!Nurse making that highly incriminating phonecall at her station in the middle of the hallway at night when there were no people around to mask the conversation. "Um, hello, yes I think my boss may be an evil fake, please tell me if I'm right. Tomorrow is fine because I'm here all by myself with no one around to help me or hear me scream and we want to give anyone plenty of time to catch me, kill me and dispose of my body before any one is the wiser. Thanks!"
3. Jane's effusive hugging of Connor at the end of the episode. Why?
4. Jane getting that gas pump to stop directly on $23.47, yeah right! Damn, you Petro Canada my total is always like $30.01. So, frustrating!
That being said, we better see more of Jane being weary of the motivations of the team and her place on it because of her ability. Like this better be building towards something dammit. I want them to at least pretend there's there's an overall story arc and character development for the season.
That being said, one of the least painful PKJ's to date.
I've been complaining about the writers inability to present a believable friendship between Jane and Mo, but they did a much better job this week. I mean I was amazed to see them hanging out in their spare time (eveen if they had to throw Riley in there), they smiled at each other like they actually enjoyed each others presence, Jane wanted Mo to be there with her in the hospital after the bone marrow extraction, Baumgardner identified Mo as the person Jane trusted most, and they made some inside joke references to Jane and Mo being at the academy together (though I must say I think its rather unlikely they would have gone to the academy together and been friends and then been assigned as partners after graduation). Hell, there were even some looks that could be considered subtextual.
I like female!nurse with the girl!crush on Jane. I wish she hadn't died, she was smart and trying to help out, and she really wanted to make out with Jane. Another sign the writing this episode was more competent than usual was that I cared about this side character.
Loken did a good job this episode. I felt for Jane, and for once the character didn't do anything extremely stupid or irritating. I was actually kind of impressed by that tape trick she used. Though the writers really didn't need to go through that "AND I didn't see you limping, AND you wouldn't have gone out with geeky guy, AND you don't like scrambled eggs" thing from the end. We all got it when we saw her lower back and that there was no salamander tattoo. The flashbacks really must be a command from higher up because they're in every episode, and they're all so completely unnecessary.
Mohinder has absolutely no charisma whatsoever. If someone has to be killed off this season and it can't be McBride I vote for this dead weight. He's just so awkward.
I don't know why but Jane's constant bitching about having to drive cracked me up. It's like she knew that Baumgarnder was faking the ankle thing, so she didn't need to keep asking, but she did anyway. Maybe in was Loken's whiney "fiiiiiiine" delivery everytime Jane asked, but I got a laugh out of that.
Other moments that were funny (maybe only to me, but that I enjoyed anyway):
- Mo being a little princess during the "escape" from the hospital. "Oh, my guns jammed ... ooh, my ankle hurts!" Oh, fake!Mo.
- That guy in the truck eying Jane while she was pumping gas and making a kissy face resulting in the beautiful rolled eyes/disgusted face from Jane. Jane's disgusted face amuses me.
- Jane manhandling Riley at the end. I'd been noticing all episode how much shorter he was than her, so it was just funny to see her pick him and and swing him around like a little kid at the end. Oh, Lokinator. You're so dreamy.
- Jane's deep thoughts about friendship at the end. "We often take our friends for granted until something happens that makes us appreciate them more" Okay, obvious but not ridiculous, so far so good. "Like being there for us when we breakup with our boyfriends, or when we realize that they don't really want us to be dissected in medical experiments and locked up for killing one of them". Um, Jane, muffin, I think that might just be you. Oh, wait no, just like week I was all like "Hey, thanks for helping me move my stuff Brandon. You know what would make me sad? If you were dissected in a medical experiment and locked up for trying to kill Adam. Don't ever do that, 'kay? So, Mongolian for lunch?"
- The fact that when female!nurse asked if there was anything she could get Jane, Jane flashed back to Mo's sexy lower back. Not her face, not her eyes, her lower back and low waisted jeans that slid down just far enough to hint at something tantalizing and forbidden.
But of course, because this is PKJ there were some WTF moments.
1. Baumgardner shifting shape in the middle of the hallway, right after talking to someone who was looking directly at him. WTF!
2. Female!Nurse making that highly incriminating phonecall at her station in the middle of the hallway at night when there were no people around to mask the conversation. "Um, hello, yes I think my boss may be an evil fake, please tell me if I'm right. Tomorrow is fine because I'm here all by myself with no one around to help me or hear me scream and we want to give anyone plenty of time to catch me, kill me and dispose of my body before any one is the wiser. Thanks!"
3. Jane's effusive hugging of Connor at the end of the episode. Why?
4. Jane getting that gas pump to stop directly on $23.47, yeah right! Damn, you Petro Canada my total is always like $30.01. So, frustrating!
That being said, we better see more of Jane being weary of the motivations of the team and her place on it because of her ability. Like this better be building towards something dammit. I want them to at least pretend there's there's an overall story arc and character development for the season.
That being said, one of the least painful PKJ's to date.
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 06:18 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know 3/4ths of it were so good, then it turned into a typical PKJ episode, lol. I'm just going to try to erase everything that happened after the shot of Mo pointing a gun at herself. The episode totally should have just ended there. Maybe if they had time to kill they could have shown us Jane showering and settling down with a glass of wine after a hard couple of days or something to kill time. Definitely would have been better than what we got.
The most subtext we've had since episoe one and Jane screaming "Mo!"
And Mo crying her eyes out in Jane's apartment. But, yeah so true. It's just like, you can't start off the show presenting them being THAT close (I mean, Mo had to have had a key to get into Jane's apartment) and then totally run away from it afterwards.
Totally. The funny thing is I considered writing a fic of the two of them hanging out while they were at the academy but ruled it out because it seemed too unlikely they would have ended out as partners.
LOL. Oh, PKJ writers. *shakes head* You could as well go ahead with the fic now that the writers have thrown common sense out of the window. They are such hacks. They could have had everything in that scene be the same, only replaced "1st year at the academy" with "1st case we worked" and it would have been fine. The little things like this kill me.
Whose idea was it that the audience needed all this recap? There's someone on this show's PTB who's just not thinking right about what the viewers can figure out.
I know, it's like they think the audience for this show has an average age of 5. PKJ producers, you're show isn't that smart, we can figure it out. I've never seen a show that dumbs things down for its audience so much.
Yeah? How could I miss that??? It was a little late when I watched the ep, but still, I'm amazed I could miss it ;).
Check it out, it's pretty amusing. Totally love that of all the things in the world she's jonesin' for Mo's ass.
Just hoping they keep whoever wrote the first part around so that we can get the eye candy without cringing too much every week.
So true. I'm hoping next weeks will be of the same caliber, but I'm not expecting it with this show.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 07:46 pm (UTC)I'd like to point out that according to the comics canon they really were at the academy in the same class and later got together for a special case team.
-> The PKJ origin story.
Check it out, it's pretty amusing. Totally love that of all the things in the world she's jonesin' for Mo's ass.
I'm still waiting for the episode to finish downloading, but you're getting my hopes up. :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 08:08 pm (UTC)Hey, thanks for the research and the pointer :)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 10:58 pm (UTC)So, is the fic coming back again? :)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 12:22 am (UTC)Now, that's a flashback I'd like to see on the show!
But it's probably more likely that if we got a flashback to their academy days it would involve them standing at opposite sides of the room not looking at each other while flirting with some sketchy guy before the scene ends abruptly.
*hopes for fic*
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 08:12 pm (UTC)I know, that really killed my fic impulses. Although now that I know it's canon, the academy thing may be doable. The PKJ timeframe just needs so much help to inspire fanfic, although after this ep it seem much more possible.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 12:24 am (UTC)