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RSS'Lie to Me': Darkness and Lightman
I don't usually have a big problem with creepy. I have a bit of a crush on Vincent D'Onofrio, as a kid I watched "In Search Of," and I've seen "The Silence of the Lambs" more times than I care to count. But tonight's "Lie to Me" -- while compelling, intelligently plotted, and very well acted, kind of freaked me out.
Spoilers ahead...
Ten years ago, Andrew Jenkins (Daniel Sunjata) is pretending to be a doctor when he meets his twelfth victim, Michelle (Clea DuVall). During the '90s, he abducted, blinded and raped 12 women. And while he's in jail, there's now a copycat, having claimed six more victims in the past three months. And a la Clarice Starling with Hannibal Lecter, the FBI wants to find out what he knows about the copycat. So they send Cal to Jenkins' prison to infiltrate, but though his tactics seem to be working at first (he's even the recipient of a pretty convincing beating), Jenkins the consummate liar sniffs him out. He's so pathologically good, in fact, that he's like the evil Lightman. Or lightbringer, as the case may be.
Jenkins gives them an address for the copycat, but it turns out to be the address of the latest victim. And since time is of the essence -- the copycat binds and gags the women and makes them watch tapes of other victims before blinding and violating them -- they bring Jenkins to the questioning tank at The Lightman Group. First complication: Gillian's mad -- because Cal screwed up, they're fulfilling Jenkins' fantasies and giving him the attention he craves. Second: Ria's unhappy at being tasked to go through all Jenkins' sick bastard fan mail to try to find a suspect. Third: the guy's good -- a very clever liar who's proving tough to get any kind of read on.
Cal and Jenkins do a dominance dance for a while, and it looks like they're coming to a draw. But he lets moments of truth slip out, and Cal gathers them up like string. One clue directs them to a creepy, disgusting fanboy who ends up having a shrine to Jenkins -- and who they bring in to help analyze the fanmail. Blech. The next suspect is Jenkins' prison guard, who it turns out has been threatened into delivering messages from Jenkins to his copycat/protege. FBI Special Agent Reynolds (Mekhi Phifer) is generally a great foil for Cal, except in this interrogation, where the volume gets a little bit high.
Meanwhile, Gillian's spending time with Natalie, the latest victim, who wants to help but whose memory has mercifully fled. Gillian brings in Michelle to talk with her, which helps on a couple of fronts. And then, horribly and shockingly, Gillian is attacked while leaving Natalie's house. Punched and dragged along the ground, she's left safe and relatively in one piece when Cal and Reynolds interrupt the attack, having intercepted the message to the copycat. It's a really difficult scene to watch -- redeemed by the way Cal comforts her and how they interact when he goes to see her in the hospital.
Ria wants to bring Michelle in to talk to Jenkins, hoping that confronting a victim might make him open up. Cal angrily vetoes the idea, but Ria does it anyway, and the interaction between victim and criminal is chilling -- though DuVall's strong, calm performance is fantastic. She repeats questions in the same way Cal did, but before they get anywhere Cal interrupts, escorts Michelle out, and angrily throws Ria from the room, screaming at her for disobeying. Cal loses it a little when Jenkins essentially says he'll keep trying to hurt Gillian, and then the conversation turns to the mentor/protege relationship. The difficulty with Ria is the separation phase of the relationship, and eventually the protege will surpass the mentor.
Then Cal plays his ace: the copycat has killed the latest victim -- he closed, and he's the new flavor of the day as far as public attention is concerned. Which is all a lie, and a gamble. It's a brilliant cat-and-mouse move, and Jenkins gives up a key piece of the timeline, allowing them to very quickly find the house where the current victim has been tied up, and apprehend the copycat, who turns out to be Michelle's husband. He'd written fan letters to Jenkins, and had deliberately sought out Michelle to get close to him. When she testified at Jenkins' parole hearing four years ago, her husband lunged at Jenkins, faking anger at the criminal, and their relationship began.
Figuring out that Cal had planned everything, including his screw-up while undercover, Ria realizes what kind of mad genius she's working for. Even Gillian didn't have any idea -- thank goodness the guy's using his powers for good and not evil. But she's unhappy that he used her. Too bad -- Cal's who he is. But the best part -- besides the fact that the victim was recovered unharmed -- is that we get a new member of the team. Cal tells Reynolds that the FBI wants to put him on retainer, and that means Reynolds is becoming a de facto member of The Lightman Group. Phifer is fierce and smart as Reynolds, and he brings a different temperament -- not to mention a gun -- into the mix. I look forward to seeing more next week.
What did you think? Am I just a girl or did this episode seem especially intense? Did you have an inkling about the copycat, or were you surprised at the turn?
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I kept hoping that at some point, somebody would put a bullet into Mr. Jenkins' head. What a sick, disgusting freak he is. And how many "fans" did this guy have anyway? Like you said, very disturbing.
I'm glad they're adding the FBI guy, as I really don't like either of the 2 ***istants on this show. Maybe they can replace them both with better characters (the actors are fine).
I really enjoyed this episode and thought the evil baddie was very good. Great casting having a very attractive young guy playing such a gross, de****able villain that would normally be played by some old, overweight loser. If there's a way to have that character back, I'd like to see him go head to head with Lightman again.
Loved the fact that Mekhi Phefi was added to the cast. If this episode is any indication, he'll add some maturity and some intensity to the proceedings. Everyone on the regular cast runs a bit cold emotionally and Agt. Reynolds definitely runs a bit hot. Like that. Also, he looks like he'll stand up to Lightman and not just engage in hero worship, like Ria and the dumb *** intern guy, who is getting on my nerves.
Regarding Ria, not sure if it's the character or the actress but I think it is the actress. Her acting isn't nuanced or multi-layered. It's just angry, young Latina all the time. She's boring and predictable. I'd like to see a better actress in that role because it's clear with each p***ing week that she's becoming more and more of a central character on the show.
Re intern guy, time to cut him lose or push him further into the background. He's a loser and couldn't care less about him.
Re Gillian, how ya like 'em apples, huh? Last week she was telling Cal to butt out of her personal life and this week, hahaha, she almost gets her *** kicked and her eyes burned out and there she is hugging on to Cal for solace. Gillian is too self-righteous and sanctimonious, which is the way Kelly Williams was in "The Practice."
Re Tim Roth, hahaha, great intensity in this episode. Loved it when he yelled and screamed at Ria, even though I knew that was part of an act. It's great how he's both creepy and cool at the same time, with his semi-****ney British accent and the funny way he tilts his head, like a Jack Russell terrier. Also enjoyed how he played everyone, his staff included.
I was not keen on this show when it first started in January because it seemed like a cross between House and The Mentalist, but it is adding something new to the forensic science/cop show formula.
Glad to see ER folks getting new work.
It must be just me, but I can't stand the way Cal's facial contortions make him look like a freak most of the time - the only time he looks like a person is when he's relaxed. I knew that Michelle's husband was su****ious and I really did think he was the copycat, so no surprise there. I also saw through Cal's tirade against Ria, and seeing how insightful Jenkins was. I thought he was fantastic in that role, although it really did creep me out to think someone would do that type of thing. I know, naive. There are monsters everywhere.
cynx, I think you'll find that Cal's "facial contortions" are done on purpose to keep him from being "read." If people focus on his constantly rotating expressions and over-done emoting, they will not look past the bombast. On most people, it works. On the serial killer, it didn't.
This was, by far, the best episode of the series. It showed what psychological warfare actually is, how various federal and military organizations use it for all kinds of purposes, and showed how even the best and brightest can be so completely fooled by those who know what they're doing. This is the potential that I was talking about the past few weeks, and there needs to be this level of intensity every week. There are real-world uses for the fictional Lightman Group, and very few of them have to do with some of the lightweight garbage that have cluttered up past episodes.
I also agree that having Mekhi Phefi added to the cast will add some maturity to the group. Lightman needs somebody to rein him in from time to time who isn't secretly (or not) in love with him. His presence will also even out the weaker personalities, since he tends to be a bit more logical (if a mite angry). Good casting choice, and I hope they make good use of him next season.
The only bad part of the episode? Not showing Jenkins being led back to his cell in shame. Even though it took awhile, he did lose, and I'd have liked to have seen his face when his cell door slammed shut. The unfortunate thing I can see coming is an escape next season, with Jenkins coming after the Lightman group while acting like the older version of Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can," fooling everyone into thinking he's not an escaped serial killer. I could do without that, thanks.
What ever happend to Gillian's unusual munchie eating habits and Eli's mild turret syndrome? It just stopped one day without any reason. Yeah Eli was becoming a d-bag and the fans probably wanted him killed off ASAP but Gillian's little quirk was quite interesting.
Extremely creepy episode. Great job by Meciah Phiffer, but I Had a very hard time watching, because I kept thinking of his death scene on ER.
I like the ending where she thinks Ligthtman is going to fire her and he says that no, he has years of stuff to teach her (talk about job security)
Great episode! I've been a fan from the beginning. The study of micro-expressions is fascinating in and of itself, but a series based on the use of them is awesome. I try to catch as many as I can in the show, but I am woefully behind everyone in the Lightman Group. However, I was su****ious of the husband, and wasn't terribly surprised when he turned out to be the copycat.
I hope they keep up this level of intensity throughout the rest of the season.
I have to admit: I was shocked by the very dramatic and somewhat traumatizing conclusion of who the copycat was. Can you imagine what Michelle was going through, learning the truth about her husband? OMG.
Lightman vs DARKman (Jenkins)Terrific episode. Love the way Lightman works. I thought Gillian was going to be attacked at the end and that would lead to the story in the finale. Glad she's okay. Very tense