Life: "Not For Nothing" 10/10 - Grading & Discussion

[Aragorn]

Detective Reese joins TrekBBS; is scarred for life and has to be sent away to a mental institution. Detective Crews goes to TrekBBS to investigate; thinks it's a good place for people who were raped during their childhood (apparently there are a lot of them on that site) to come together and share porn, music and bitch about movies.

Spoiler: Not For Nothing

When a university's social experiment of running a prison goes wrong Crews and Reese are there to investigate when a student acting as a guard is murdered.

 

[TimmyWl]

Most excellent. I did like how the prison situation managed to get into Crews's base character - and in the latter part of the episode he became downright scary.

I am wondering on where all the other clippings to that wall he had in the other season when to.

I do like the reintroduction of the former Captain.

 

[Aragorn]

Best line of the episode: "You're too hot to be a cop."

Also, I figured out the 6-5-4 thing the moment it was said in the previous episode. Did they dumb down the characters to the speed of plot?

 

[BigFoot]

Another good ep.

And yeah, I figured out the 6-5-4 thing as soon as they said it.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

An absolutely excellent episode. A sociology experiment gone wrong...because the professor made it go wrong by pushing too hard. Utterly disgraceful. But the worst part? I don't think the professor fully understood what he did wrong and how he ruined two students' lives. I wanted to cause bodily harm to the professor when we found out he approached Charlie's ex-wife in the guise of a reporter as means to twist around Charlie. How fucking screwed up is that?

It was great to see Karen again, although it's a pity she didn't get to share any scenes with Charlie and Dani. That being said, the b-plot with her and Tidwell was a nice semi-humorous balance to the sociological experiment case. And dare I say it? I think I actually liked Tidwell in this episode.

As for the 6-5-4 thing, I figured it dealt with 6 people (including Jack and this unknown person) but I hadn't jumped to the conclusion that they were all cops/former cops.

 

[BigFoot]

^ Well I personally wasn't sure they were all cops, but I got that one of them already had an "accident" and that Jack Reese could be next.

 

[Dude]

This episode was based on a real sociological experiment at UC-Berkeley from the 1960s, although no one was killed during the experiment. The professor who conducted the study was every bit the ass that the character on the show was, though (judging from interviews I've seen). The actor who portrayed the professor even looked similar to the real one.

 

[Sakrysta]

Awesome. Man, I love this show. SO good to see Davis again - I really hope they bring her back semi-regularly and eventually reinstate her, kind of a Crusher/Pulaski thing.

I didn't get the purpose of the blackouts beyond a plot device. Why did they have blackouts?

I still hate Tidwell. Someone needs to introduce him to the concept of razors, shampoo, & scissors.

 

[Dude]

I didn't get the purpose of the blackouts beyond a plot device. Why did they have blackouts?

The open idea was that it would induce stress in the participants. The hidden agenda was that it would allow the guards to violate the rules of the study by getting physical with the inmates, which the professor wanted to see the results of.

 

[witchie]

This has been a strong start to the season. I hate it's getting killed in the ratings, though. I'd love to see it at 9 on Friday. Get it away from Numb3rs.

As usual, nice balance between the 3 storylines. I was a little slow last night, so I didn't get the 6-5-4 thing until Charlie did.

Laughed out loud at some of the stuff going on with Scruffy and Davis. I want him to shave in the worst way. He makes me want to take a shower looking at him.

Finally, Crews' wife serves a purpose. Still don't like her, but low blow by the professor, who deserved to get the crap beat out of him. Got a bit teary as Crews gave the kid advice on how to survive prison. Sad situation. He goes to college to learn, and is turned into a killer. Ted was right. It was wrong to still think he was the hero, although someone had been killed.

 

[Dude]

It was an interesting insight from Ted and Charlie's interpretation of it. Most shows would have missed that. Getting that right is part of why I enjoy this show.

Same with the suicidal cop. Instead of a cookie cutter response, you got two specific and separate personalities responding to it, and then the "caricature" captain had actual reasoning behind his actions. Plus, they had a cop who wanted her partner arrested. People, especially in Hollywood, forget that those types of cop exist and make up a pretty significant percentage within most police departments.