Dark Blue – Are those suits expensed back?

A homicide investigation sounded pretty beneath our favorite undercover LAPD unit, until last night’s episode of Dark Blue flashed to a casino floor. This is going to sound weird, but I feel as if we didn’t see a lot of anyone in particular … did they balance the screen time division well, or did someone (or something) else dominate?

I still can’t figure out why Rick Hoffman, here playing Billy Hoffman (or Billy H) looked so familiar. In my mind, I can imagine him in something else, but even after browsing his IMDb page I was no closer to figuring out in what. Anyway, here he dominated Rice’s time, which was fine with me … I mean, until she popped back up, first with Carter, then with Jaimie, and then with Carter again at the end (gross). But for a fleeting moment part of me wondered if she wasn’t about to become collateral damage, caught in the Billy H storm. A guy can dream, right?

I liked Tim the lender (Max Martini), a ferocious guy who showed Jaimie that bad boys can have softer sides too. Five points a day is steep, but it must upkeep a pretty nice lifestyle for him. Before the whole arrest thing, that is.

So I wasn’t quite sure what part Carter was playing, other than legitimizing Rice’s presence. I loved Ty as the high roller, although the line between the part he was playing and the real him blurred way too easily and without clear distinction in the beginning. There was no indication that when he pulled out the $5,000 he was doing so not in cover until Carter asked him about booking the money into evidence. So now he has a gambling addiction?

What we know he does have is a marriage on the rocks … I didn’t miss Melissa leaving him in a previous episode, right? Part of me wonders whether this plot wasn’t in part determined by Meta Golding’s schedule. I don’t know anything you don’t, but I wonder if something else wasn’t behind her abruptly moving out of the house.

Dean playing a security guard was great. I just wish he’d had more time to do so — like I said above, I’m not sure where the entire hour went, but it certainly wasn’t to Dean, who more often is the central undercover on a case. But he did the small role he filled here proud.

Jaimie’s developing her skills, but I agree that her using her sexuality to get in with the mark isn’t exactly crackerjack police work. She’s spent much of the two seasons hanging back with one of the other team members, so it’s nice when we see her at work. But I think Carter could have picked a better avenue for her infiltration.

Which leaves us with Rice, who really shouldn’t be in a position to be discussed like everyone else. I was annoyed that she pulled Jaimie out (regardless of her own story of abuse), but more concerned with some of the lines spoken in last night’s episode, like “Does Alex know?” in reference to the money Ty failed to log, and “Is Alex okay with it?” in reference to Jaimie pushing the flirting angle hard.

I know that within the universe of where the show is right now, the task force is being run by Carter and Alex. But within the universe of you and me the fans, Agent Rice is nothing but a brief sideshow in a much larger story. One whose run has hopefully reached its conclusion.

Please?

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Aug 19, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT