(S01E02) Dear Makers of Smith,
I just watched the second episode of your show, and while I think it's still good, I'm starting to fall out of love with it. Have you ever had that feeling?
Maybe it's not you, it's me. But I'm pretty sure it's you.
Just when the show should be starting to get more complex, it's actually starting to get muddy. There's a difference. We already had to keep track of six or seven criminals, Bobby's wife and kids, and the two members of the FBI investigating the museum robbery. But now we're introduced to several more members of the FBI team (good to see the woman from Judging Amy though!), not one but two more heists in progress, the little side adventures of each team member, the brother of one of the guys Simon Baker shot at the beach looking for him, and Macy. I gotta tell ya, I saw Macy in the little 2 minute "previously on Smith" recap at the start, and I don't even remember her from the pilot for some reason. But maybe that's just me because it was weeks ago.
Oh, and there isn't just one investigation going on, there's two: the FBI's and Bobby's wife's investigation. But tell me this: since she's looking online for stories on the robbery because she suspects Bobby was involved, why the hell did she BOOKMARK the page about the robbery?! What if she forgot to delete it and Bobby saw it? It's right there in the bookmarks, and in the main list not even hidden in a sub category! I know when I surf porn sites, I always...um, never mind. I'm just wondering why you had her bookmark the page if she was hiding it from Bobby. And why was Bobby so suspicious of her sitting in front of the computer in the first place? He kept looking at her screensaver, as if he sensed something was wrong. People do use computers for other things besides looking up USA Today stories about someone's possible involvement in a robbery.
And then she starts talking to him while they're on the bed, talking about the robbery and how an old friend of theirs is in jail and how she wants to stay in this city because she's happy and the kids are happy. Weird that you would write so much blunt confrontation into the episode after having Madsen do her secret investigation.
And the characters. All the actors are fine, but are we supposed to like these characters, even in a they're-so-evil-they're-great sort of way? I mean, Simon Baker and Amy Smart are both psychopaths (the characters, not the actors - I'm sure they're fine people - I still miss The Guardian). They aren't that likable, really. They don't even like each other, and that's always a bad thing in a small work environment. Smart even complains that the dead guy's family is going to get his cut of the loot from the museum robbery, so that's another strike against her. Even Bobby, the "good guy" of the group, is a bit of a jerk towards people, especially his coworkers at the cup company. I'm wondering where a second season could even go with characters like this. Though I guess some could die and you could replace them.
The ending, with Bobby telling his boss Charlie that he'll do "four or five more jobs." First, this is a lot like the ending of the pilot episode. Second, I expected Bobby to say "I'll do four or five more jobs, depending on how the ratings are and if we get a second season or not."
But, hey, I'm sticking with this. I certainly have no way of predicting which way the story is going to go and that's a rarity in TV these days. I just hope that things become a bit clearer in the coming weeks and you ease up on the many scattered stories that are shooting out from the main robbery storyline.
Oh, and John Wells if you're reading this, please get Noah Wyle to come back to ER. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Bob Sassone
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-27-2006 @ 12:11PM
Chris said...
I don't know what it is, but I can't get into things from Wells and Co.
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9-27-2006 @ 1:20AM
Tim said...
liotta is no goodfella. lol
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9-27-2006 @ 1:27AM
Jyoti said...
I liked the episode. And I already like certain characters. I like that they're not in the least nice people. I'm more than over all these shows with supposedly bad characters who are bad but really 'good deep down.'
Blah that's so boring and it's annoying because you know some people are just bad. And I like that Annie and Jeff are clearly just bad people. Hell I like them both so much I think they're a much better match than Annie and Tom. They're at least interesting. Two psychopaths in love. The writers really should look into making that happen.
As for Bobby's wife. What I got from the episode was that she is well aware of what Bobby does. Or at least what he did. And she probably thought it was over but now she's beginning to realize that he maybe didn't stop afterall. She knows all these criminal friends of his and their spouses. She's not dumb or in the dark about what he does. She's just perhaps doesn't know he's still doing it. I think she may even have been part of it.
And her comments at the end, I think she was in her own subtle way telling him to not screw things up for them, because she's settled into the life she's currently living. That the kids are settled and that she doesn't want to be uprooted if he makes a mistake and something goes wrong on a job.
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9-27-2006 @ 5:18AM
Erik said...
Okay, am I hallucinating, or was the scene with Simon Baker and Jonny Lee Miller buying the shirt on Venice Blvd also in the pilot episode???? I swear that entire scene (until the bike chase) was in the pilot episode and then it was in tonight's episode too. How weird is that?
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9-27-2006 @ 7:46AM
Chris W said...
Erik, I've seen stuff like that before. But they used to not air the Pilot episodes as often as they do now, so they would borrow elements from the pilot throughout the first season. Then when the "unaired pilot" would surface somewhere, it all seemed very familiar. I remember Family Guy used the same gag in two of their early season one episodes; one was just longer than the other.
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9-27-2006 @ 8:56AM
mike said...
Can you guys start reviewing the Unit? Much superior to this show.
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9-27-2006 @ 9:37AM
Dave T. said...
Have to say Bob I had a completely different reaction. I think all the intricacies are need to keep momentum going. I want this show to have a heist every week and the little side adventure was great. I don't really want to watch too much of the FBI.
The Samoan drug dealer is great. Was it a hit in Hawaii?
Smart is in over her head and thinks shes a little version of bobby. But shes gonna be the one to get caught first cause her photo is out there. Great acting all around.
also did anyone else notice the same asian temple from The Usual Suspects? or was it not?
Also besides the website thing (I always see what my wife is looking at when I walk in the room, that's normal) Bobby was already watching the heist intently. They obviously have been together long enough that she knows he's a thief. and she's stressing that she doesn't want him to get back in the game. She was investigating which friend of his might have been dead by the way. pretty smart.
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9-27-2006 @ 12:28PM
n8 said...
TDave- The temple you refer to in episode 2 is the Korean Bell located near the cliffs in San Pedro California.
Question- What was the sond played towards the end of episode 2? It sounded Radiohead-esque, but after searching all the credit lists, I couldn't find music credits. No, I'm not talking about Imogen Heaps song at the end of episode 1 (annoying as hell).
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9-27-2006 @ 12:23PM
gd said...
I loved the nods to 2 great movies. The scene at the temple in San Pedro that was used in "Usual Suspects," and the shipping yard from "Heat."
I think the show is creating a depth that will allow it to grow rather than run into dead ends. And if they keep throwing in these kinds of "inside" jokes/scenes, then I'll definitely stick with it.
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9-28-2006 @ 11:22AM
Margaret said...
Love this show and while it was a little slow in this episode, I still want to see what happens. Liked the insight into Amy Smart's personal life, and knowing that her altercation with the woman who recognized her is going to come back to get her.
I don't have to like every character as long as they are interesting in some way. These guys are interesting in just how atypically different their lives are. Wouldn't live my life the way they do, but it's fun to watch.
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9-27-2006 @ 11:41PM
MrsEldubya said...
I tried to watch the first episode and it just didn't interest me. I thought with these actors it had to be good but I taped the 2nd episode so I'm going to give it another try to see if it just was the pilot and trying to get us familiar with everyone and how they connect etc. Sometimes a show doesn't live up to it's pilot and sometimes it's better in spite of it's pilot.
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9-29-2006 @ 5:22PM
chuck said...
Simon Baker’s character is my favoutite villain in just about any show currently on TV. And this show has soooo much unmotivated violence, I enjoy every bit of it.
It also reminds me of ill-fated show ‘heist’ – one major heist and a small plot in each episode. Great!
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9-29-2006 @ 8:37PM
Jen said...
I liked the episode but I am unsure how Jeff and Annie are going to get out of their respective messes in a reasonable way. I suppose we will see . . . Chuck -- you should consider watching Hustle on AMC. Great show.
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10-04-2006 @ 9:50PM
chuck said...
Jen, I do watch Hustle, all the way, since season 1. But not on AMC - my favorite channel is bittorrent. See, I'm in Russia and no one would sell me anything even if I wanted to pay. So I get it for free.
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