"Midnight Caller"? (1 Viewer)

[The Drifter]

Part 2 of my MC S03 review. Again, excellent season - and Nicky Malloy as Jack's new boss in this season is fantastic. She has a much stronger, more aggressive personality than Devon, which makes for some unexpected & interesting interactions with Jack.

Ppisode 8, "Ryder on the Storm" - yet another amazing episode. Jack tries to help out one of his youthful heroes, the aging Ryder, who had hosted a radio show in San Francisco in the late '60's - '70's. Unfortunately, Ryder had some demons from his past that he was having a hard time with. Great 1960's/1970's rock/pop soundtrack here, since it was looking back at that era. This was also a very sad episode & a poignant reminder that, in many cases, our past can really define our present & future - if we let it do so.

Episode 9, "Home to Roost" - Fantastic but extremely tragic episode dealing with the Vietnam war; one of Jack's old LE friends is accused by a Vietnamese man of killing innocents in his village years before.

Episode 10, "With Malice towards one" - one of the best episodes of S3. This was an extremely well-done flash-back episode dealing with a horrible experience Jack & Devon had gone through a year before. A violent ex-con wanted to get revenge on both Jack & the ex-con's former gf; Devon & Billy Poe also ended up getting caught in the cross-fire. Very intense & gripping episode; this was a lot more like a crime drama than a regular episode of MC.

The most notable guest star here was actor Ted Levine as the ex-con; TL is probably best known for his role as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the great, quirky TV series "Monk" (2002 - 2009), as well as Buffalo Bill in "Silence of the Lambs" (1991).

Episode 12, "Her Dirty Little Secret" - Jack recognizes a woman on the street as someone who had disappeared & been presumed dead years earlier. However, Jack's noticing her brings skeletons out of the closet, and may even be dangerous for the woman. This is a very serious & uncompromising look at spousal abuse - very dark, but well-done episode.

Episode 14, "Play Blotto....and Die" - one of the handful of comedic episodes in this series. A lottery winner (who happens to be a former snitch who used to work with Jack) is hard-pressed to come forward to claim his prize because he's in the witness protection program; so, he tries to get Jack to help him retrieve the money.

Very funny episode, with several laugh-out loud moments - including a scene when Jack is hugged by a woman who has just finished a sweaty work-out - when she finishes with the hug, you can see messy sweat stains all over Jack's shirt - LOL!!!

Episode 15, "Can't Say N-N-No" - this episode deals with Nicky Malloy's former boyfriend (a musician & drug addict) coming back into her life. This is one of the best TV episodes I've ever seen that seriously deals with addicts & the cycle of addiction.

This episode is notable for several somewhat 'steamy' kisses between Jack & Nicky; she turns to Jack for comfort after her ex comes back. And, like an episode in a previous season (with Devon) Nicky is waiting for Jack when he comes home in order to get comfort from him. However, things fizzle out by the end of the episode - though, it seems obvious that if circumstances had been different, Nicky & Jack would probably have "consummated" the relationship (maybe).

 

[The Drifter]

Part 3 of my S03 MC review:

Episode 16, "Blood Ties" - Jack becomes a "big brother" to a kid whose father left the family years before. This ends up bringing up old wounds, since it makes Jack remember his own father abandoning him years before. Things get complicated once the boy's real father comes back into the family's life.

Episode 18, "The Loneliest Number" - Jack's troubled sister comes back to town after years of being away, and quickly gets romantically involved with one of Jack's friends. Very dark look at how some needy people will jump into relationship without getting to know the other person and/or thinking of the consequences.

Episode 19, "A Cry in the Night" - harrowing episode involving a KJCM security guard who is forced to take a stand against his drug-addicted son, with tragic consequences. This is a look at how drug abuse can tear apart a family. It also takes a hard look at the legal profession, and how many will want to profit off of the misery/misfortune of others. Sad episode, but with a somewhat uplifting ending.

Episode 21 - 23, "The City of Lost Souls, Parts 1-3" - The first & only three-parter of the series, this is a superb neo-noir mystery that could easily have been a feature film:

Jack gets involved in an investigation with many different elements, including: an old friend he knew from high school (who had since fallen on hard times); Jack's long-lost H.S. girlfriend; a young woman searching for her biological father; local San Francisco politics & campaign funds; corrupt corporate businessmen; the homeless; a young woman who seemingly wants to replace either Nicky or Jack (or both) on the radio station; and a hitman. This excellent three-parter was a great way to finish off the series.

Some general comments about the series:

-I used to work second shift on several jobs I had years ago; this was roughly from 4:00pm - 12:30am. I remember that my sleep schedule was tough during those jobs - i.e., I felt like I had less free time than I did during a regular 9-5-ish 40 hour work week, since when I came home after midnight, I wasn't at all tired - but still needed to go to sleep. I ended up eventually sleeping sometimes into the late morning (of the next day), and when I got up it seemed like sometimes I only had several hours before I had to go back to work.

Seeing this series is reminding me of those days somewhat; though I never had Jack Killian's hours (12:00 midnight to 3:00am), I'm thinking that JK's sleep schedule was messed up to some extent as well. However, he always seems to have enough time during the day to meet & talk to people, etc. - I guess in many cases he got enough sleep before he had to go to work. Or, he didn't need much sleep to begin with.

- As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's fairly cool that JK didn't need a car. He got by on walking, taking public transportation, cabs, rides from friends, etc. I also hate driving & wish I didn't need to have a car. However, it's tough in most cities to pull this off, since the public transportation - for the most part - is not that great in the U.S.

-It's too bad the series didn't get renewed for a 4th season, but three seasons is a fairly respectable run for any TV series - especially since many series that are fairly good may only last 1-2 seasons.