Day Two Hundred and Forty-one - Numb3rs: Season 2, Episode 24, "I think I have a problem."

You know, I think it's pretty safe to say that Numb3rs is a guilty pleasure of mine now.

It's so cheesy how they spring a new math concept on you every week in the form of Charlie or Larry or Amita shipping a silly metaphor to the relative dunces of the FBI. I do like how Megan (Dianne Farr) is sharp enough to see where the explanation is going while Colby and Sinclair play the role of jock meatheads.

Still, the regular routine of math, metaphor, joke isn't the focus of this particular episode, it being the finale of the second season. No, the main thrust of the episode, aside from the rather throwaway murder mystery, is Charlie's fixation with a series of dreams he has concerning the possible loss of his father and the actual loss of his mother... who died before the series started.

Mrs.Eppes (played by JoBeth Williams) shows up as a possible manifestation of Charlie's unresolved guilt for depriving his brother Don of her company and support while she took the younger Eppes to college at Princeton during his teen years. She also happens to show up, no doubt at Charlie's instigation, in Alan's (Judd Hirsch) dreams to reconnect and assuage his own issues.

I'm not exactly the most spiritual of people, but I do find it nice that, while Larry and Charlie wrestle with the meaning of dreams and the dearly departed showing up in them, there's an immediate acceptance from Alan that doesn't question... and also leaves the idea open (albeit unsaid) that it really is the ghost of Margaret Eppes visiting her boys from beyond the grave.

For sure, I'm a rationalist... but I also live in a state of semi-wonder that likes to take a small measure of solace at the mere possibility, however remote, of an afterlife. Scientifically, there's no evidence that the light at the end of the tunnel is more than a phenomena of an oxygen deprived brain, but the romantic in me likes to believe there's something more, and this episode leaves that possibility unmolested.

Getting back to the mystery? Blah. The only interesting part was Don's near repeat of the climax scene from Silence of the Lambs (what is it with FBI agents not waiting for backup)? The serial killer videotaping himself and his reasons for going on his spree are annoyingly stereotypical in their creepyness. Even Megan voicing her distaste at his antics and her desire to see him get the chair are way too "Crime Drama 101."

It's weird how the episode makes me happy and mad at the same time, but not that surprising... and is probably the main reason why Numb3rs shall ever be just a guilty pleasure for me.

One last note... Olympia Dukakis is thoroughly underutilized in this episode. What a terrible guest role for her. Shame on you guys, Numb3rs casting director and her agent.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-four - Numb3rs: Season 2, Episode 10, "Wait a minute... the murder was a tool of protest?"

It's a little difficult getting back into the swing of things after my working vacation down at Connie Mack. While it didn't interfere with my Couchbound blogging (in fact, I was able to watch quite a few movies I didn't feel I had time for normally), I've certainly gotten a bit too used to sleeping in and watching shows and movies veeeeeery late at night.

To that effect, today I needed to return to my normal schedule... and that meant that I couldn't watch anything wacky or necessarily needful of my complete attention.

This fact brought be back to Numb3rs.

I might've gone with BONES or perhaps more Burn Notice, but I wasn't really in the mood for the torture of the former... and, as cheesy as it is, I've never actually seen the episodes of season 6 of the latter, so Numb3rs it had to be.

Let me say first that this particular episode managed to surprise me with its choice of ultimate villain. While I deftly dodged the initial red herring, the guest character that I had pegged managed to not be the murderer and I am both impressed and appalled.

I mean, as much as Numb3rs tries to be smart with its gimmick of math and logic being the primary crime-fighting techniques, it's still a rather predictable weekly procedural. It's very rare for the true criminal not to be easily guessed at if his/her identity is still unknown by the end of the second (if not first) act.

That said, they through me for a loop with this one... especially considering the ultimate motive didn't seem to make any real sense. I mean, the message that the killer was trying to convey was pointed towards the people who had a vested interest in protecting the same things that the killer was, just for different reasons. It really felt like the writers dropped the ball here and I don't just say that due to my own hubris at having guessed wrong. The whole resolution just felt... off.

Still, there are a few redeeming qualities in the episode. More screen time for my favorite professor, Larry (Peter MacNichol), and the subtle vibes he puts off towards this season's new female supporting character, Agent Megan Reeves (Diane Farr). While there were more definite sparks in the episode previous, I prefer the slow, subtle burn at this point in their courtship... which leads me to the second surprise of the episode: that Megan wasn't invited to Larry's send-off house party.

While, yes, no one else from the FBI was invited besides Don (Rob Morrow), it still would've been a nice nod towards his attempts at wooing the intriguing profiler.

As ever, the series is a quaint and harmless procedural whose only redeeming aspects are its occasionally interesting math gimmicks and series arcing character relationships, but it was certainly what I needed today... you know, aside from a stiff drink while relaxing in a tropical locale.

One of these days I'll take an actual vacation again. I can't say I haven't in recent years as I did visit my sister in Alaska last October... I'm just dying to take another one! ;)

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~