(S01E02) I love how this show isn't toying with us. Sure, they're holding back on many of the details about what exactly happened during the 52 hour bank robbery, but you don't get the feeling they're taunting us or teasing us (*cough* Lost *cough*). Everything that is happening and the way they're showing it seems natural to the story, and it's amazing how intriguing a two or three second flashback snippet can be.In this ep, the survivors are trying to get on with their lives, but it's not going to be easy...
Jeremy is trying to get back to his life as a surgeon, but keeps on having flashbacks to the robbery, including two disturbing quick shots of one of the robbers shooting someone; Nick is sick of the way the police are handling this and pressure from his boss, so he quits (side note: cool to see Michael O'Neill from The West Wing again!); Egan becomes a media celeb, appearing on an L.A. morning show and asking for people to send in money to help Franny and her nephew (another side note: yes, that was Fred Koehler from Kate & Allie as his boss!); Franny herself has problems...she quits the bank because she can't go back in there; Felicia goes to see not only a therapist but also Lucas. She still doesn't know what happened to her in that bank. She's completely blank, and her dad doesn't want to talk about it with his wife either. Lucas meets with his lawyer, and says he doesn't want things made too difficult for anyone.
But there are problems within problems. His boss doesn't want him to quit the force, and even makes not-so-subtle threats to Nick's fellow captives (Franny had drugs in her purse at the bank and the cops found Egan's gun) if Nick doesn't come back and make the police look good. Nick takes his badge back. He also has to recant the story that he and Kathryn gave the paper. Kathryn herself is getting pressure from Ed not to align herself with Nick because of his past problems (not sure why a gambling problem would be such a big scandal or not credible, but I guess we go along with it).
This episode ends with a patient dying on Jeremy's table, Nick getting his promotion and an award with Egan (who was fired from his job for standing up to his boss), and Felicia, who goes to the jail again to see Lucas but he refuses to see her. She takes out her cell phone and we see she's the one who called 911. We also see flashbacks of a vault opening and the other crook holding a gun to her dad's head.
But the very end? Jeremy injects a liquid into Randall's IV. He dies.
Whoa.
This show succeeds (so far) because it plays as both a straight up drama AND a twisty what-happened-in-there. I thought the pilot was going to be a lot to live up to (I had that sick feeling that this wouldn't be involving in the second episode), but it kept the tension level high while also moving the story along. I don't know how they'll do a second season, but even if this turns out to be a season-long miniseries (and somehow you sense the makers know this too), it will be a great one.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-11-2006 @ 11:29PM
Janiey said...
Easily the best commentary on The Nine. Thanks. The ending makes you know that there is more to come. The key to The Nine surviving in a tough time slot will be making viewers care about what is happening now with these nine people and so far it is working on me. I already am looking forward to next week. A site I like that has news and blog articles on The Nine is http://www.FidelityRepublic.com. I am hoping that for next season there is another "incident" that ties some of the nine with a new set of characters, but the hostage drama is resolved ... with a few loose ends.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:10AM
Aaren said...
Instead of Eva I think you mean Frannie - Eva is dead.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:11AM
Joel Keller said...
I *knew* you'd pick up on the kid from Kate and Allie, Bob... It's like the guy grew taller but never lost the chubby kid face he had 20 years ago. Freaky.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:20AM
Bob Sassone said...
Yeah, but it was easy because he's been on a ton of stuff (Oz, Numbers, ER, CSI, Cold Case, Malcolm, other stuff) since K and A.
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10-12-2006 @ 12:25AM
Noah said...
*cough* second episode *cough*
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10-12-2006 @ 12:53AM
Jonny Rice said...
I like the idea of this being an extended mini-series of sorts, in the same vein of a few of the BBCs offerings. Though I'm not sure if the creators are planning it that way. Only four minutes of a 52-hour stand-off in the teaser? At this rate, it's as though they're aiming for a Bonanza-like run.
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10-12-2006 @ 2:23AM
TV Student said...
Those scenes with the insurance boss may have put me off the show altogether. Aside from the business cluelessness of the writer, it's just stale, stereotypical boss character, he might as well have been in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
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10-12-2006 @ 5:02AM
Murphy said...
Wow, yet again, a huge blooper. Yes, EVA is the one who died, not Frannie! Good thing I have TiVo, else your recap would have me all confused.
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10-12-2006 @ 10:07AM
KC said...
I am clearly am in the minority here. Last week I thought it was a great concept and really enjoyed the premiere - this week, I'm not so sure. I was frankly bored. I am beginning to think that I don't care about what happened in the bank. At least not enough to stay up and watch it.
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10-12-2006 @ 10:22AM
Salim said...
I really liked the Pilot and was looking forward to this second episode. I was sort of dissapointed, don't get me wrong, it's still is a good show but I was bored. We need to see more of what happened inside, not just a few minutes, I wish they could just move the pace a bit faster. I am going to keep watching, maybe next time it will be better. It's true that it's interesting to see how they go on with their lives, but give us more of those 52 hours.Please!
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10-12-2006 @ 1:46PM
Jimmy said...
This show is still good enough to keep me watching, but all through the episode last night I kept thinking the whole Nick storyline is just a bit over the top. I mean, a negotiator screws up and a whole government conspiracy comes into play?! Really strange. Maybe once we get to see more of those 52 hours it will make sense. However, this series may get banished to my TIVO when Medium comes back in the post-Kidnapped time slot.
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10-12-2006 @ 4:23PM
Janiey said...
Maybe I'm in a small minority, but I actually viewed the bank robbery sequences as the weakest part of this episode. I could do with far less of them. This episode caught my attention with the way it portrayed the interaction of Nick and the captain, and then ran with it.
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10-12-2006 @ 9:22PM
Tony C said...
Actually, Jeremy's patient died on his bed in a recovery room, not on the table. Great episode, keep em coming! Hopefully good word of mouth will defeat its current trend of massive Lost audience losses (and also that Lost's ratings will stop sliding).
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10-13-2006 @ 10:38AM
Scott H said...
I was intrigued by the pilot, but less so with this episode. Too many characters I'm not sure I care about (and a few women I'm having trouble telling apart). Also, the whole "no one will directly say what happened" thing seems pretty ridiculous. Also, the "we're all close friends for life now" thing. And based on her visits to the guy in jail, I also think the girl is lying about not remembering anything. I'll give it a few more weeks, but my interest is fading.
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