By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer
It looks as though Detective Grace Hanadarko defeats Detective Lilly Rush in the Worst Mom Ever competition.
Who’d a thought?
We learned in last night’s ep (titled “It’s a Fierce, White-Hot, Mighty Love”) Grace had a pretty Ellen Rush-esque kinda mom.
The difference: Grace’s mom beat the heck out of her – knife scar and all. Can’t say ol’ Ellen – screwed up and alcoholic as she was – ever really smacked Lilly around to the point of going after her with a knife. Two points for Ellen Rush.
That said, last night’s ep was an interesting mixture of silly and serious. The case, which centered on the investigation of two teens abandoned by mom for her weekly gambling fix, brought up all of Grace’s Mama Issues. They aren’t quite the same as Lil’s given one could argue they are noticeably out in the open and potentially another likely reason (among many) for her wreckless behavior and last-chance-Angel ticket. However, I’d prefer this to Lilly’s zombie routine. In the end, it turns out one of the teens (the young son) ended up acting out against ol’ mom when she was having it out with the adopted daughter.
Baseball bat. Angry 10 year-old. Can we say parent rage?
But last night’s ep was … how should I say … kinda goofy in a fun way.
Case in point: ADA Michelle is suffering from the most extreme case of Love Jones for Detective Butch Ada that I’ve never seen. I mean, every five minutes (or should I say every time the squad was back in the squad room), it was “Call me, call me, call me.” Um, listen, babe … have we ever tried the less-is-more approach? If he didn’t call you after your one whopping date, smothering it on thicker than water isn’t going to help things much, ‘kay?
Case in point #2: Grace impersonating the teenage boyfriend of aforementioned adopted daughter via text messaging. Clever, funny, weird to watch her cozy up to said boyfriend to get him busted so she could take the phone in the first place, but silly nonetheless. Like, was she having too much fun or was it just me?
Case in point #3: The Oklahoma City Police Explorers. That was cute. Definitely. They are all sort of cop teen wannabes who volunteer for the program, get to hang out at the station and help the detectives whilst simultaneously being teased (as in, stand in a trash can until they are told they can leave, wear their jeans backwards, etc.). It’s all in good fun, and they learn about the inner-workings of being a police officer given some want to actually become cops themselves.
Like Grace’s nephew, Clay.
These are still my favorite scenes. I really like the chemistry between Dylan Minnette (who plays Clay) and Holly Hunter. Very much like Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall over on Dexter, where you swear they actually are brother and sister in real life, the same could be said for Holly and Dylan – it’s almost as if they are aunt and nephew for reals.
And as I’ve mentioned before, Clay is one of the few who can hold Grace accountable - like when he tells off Ham for being married and fooling around with Grace.
Go Clay.
And ... when Holly Hunter told us a few weeks back that the level of practical joking on set has reached epic proportions – most of which will be seen in the episodes that air – she really wasn’t kidding.
I’m guessing the ending sequence, with ADA Love Jones – er, I mean Michelle – pretending to hang herself in the interview room just to be able to get Butch’s attention, had to have been one of those epic proportion pranks that managed to make it’s way on screen.
Who knew the show could be so silly funny?
New episodes air Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT. You can watch full episodes of the show anytime over on the show’s official Web site. You can also visit EmbraceYourGrace.com to share your stories of how you embrace your inner-Grace.
3 comments:
I liked the show as well, but I have two differences of opinion with you.
First, I thought Grace was lying about her mother hitting/scaring her in order to fake bond with the girl/suspect (Grace was sure the girl was the murderer). Grace's mother is lousy with her refusal to listen to Grace's being abused (she tried to tell her mother when it was happening as well as later), but I don't believe she hit Grace she seems too cold and distant to get that agnry. She would be more apt to withold affection and care.
Second, I think the ADA stalking thing was a prank whole time and that the whole squad was in on it. I thought it was real until the "hanging" when the squad did nothing when she was hanging and then broke out in laughter. And the ADA made some comment indictating that they had gotten him. I think this was a way of poking fun at Butch's supposed irresistibility.
Good points, John. If Grace really was pretending about the mom abuse thing, she had me fooled - now that's a good detective! It's been a while since I've watched an episode where Grace's mom is in it for any extended period of time, so I can't remember a whole bunch about what she's like ... but you're right - she is in denial about the abuse ... that I remember, now. I guess I kind of think of her a little like Carrie's mom - for whatever reason. LOL!
I still am wondering if the ADA does actually have the hots for Butch ... something about how they went out on a date prior has me thinking she would like to pursue something more with him, but perhaps the squad has me fooled as well.
Then again, maybe it was my episode to be fooled on the whole. ;o)
In a previous episode they talked about Grace getting that scar on her shoulder when she was raped.
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