Discovery

(S01E11) Where to begin.

If Life was not picked up for a full season this episode would have probably been a fairly decent series finale. So much information was given to us, so many evidence holes were filled, that there was a feeling of closure. Not satisfaction, mind you, but closure. The information given out was so powerful this episode that I am only going to reveal it after the jump. So, if you have yet to watch Wednesday’s installment of Life DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT. If you do, don’t be pissed off at me.

Gallery: Life: Dig a Hole. Fill it Up

I think we can begin with the fact that the actual murderer of the Seybolt family (minus one) was caught. This, of course, is huge. Not only because it takes one big weight off of Charlie, but it puts him in a different light for all of his current and former colleagues who thought he was the killer. Well, all except Lt. Davis, perhaps. From her stance when Charlie and Reese brought Hollis in I’m not too sure if she is convinced or not about Crews’ innocence.

Not only was Hollis caught, but he was also a connection to so much else. One of the primary items was that Charlie’s former friend and business partner was laundering money at the bar they both owned (I would love to see a few flashback episodes showing this bar and Charlie pre-prison). It also looks like Jack Reese and Seybolt were in this together and things whet very sour. This means that Jack was a bad cop and not just mean like her daughter said he was. Well, he’s mean, too, but that’s beside the point.

What it all really means is that Jack is in deep poop. However, he has an ace up his sleeve — Rachel Seybolt. It seems that, after Rachel’s parents and sibling were killed, Jack ended up connecting the last surviving member of the family with the person who actually murdered her family. This was definitely an ‘Oh Crap!’ revelation, but it was also confusing. Rachel was fairly old when her parents were murdered. So, why would she all of a sudden consider Hollis as her father. Unless, Jack forced it upon her. Well, maybe this is something that will be looked at again when the show returns.

In addition to all of the revelations coming from Hollis we got a bit of additional information about Bobby’s role in this whole Conspiracy. Its been no secret that Dani has been a bit miffed at Stark for some reason, and tonight we found out why. She was angry that Bobby didn’t back up his former partner. Turns out, Stark really had no other choice: if he protected Crews he would have gone to jail himself. This makes me wonder how strong of a case IAD had when Charlie was convicted and if they were part of the Conspiracy.

At least it cleared the air a bit between Reese and Stark. That was needed because, together, they know quite a bit about their former and present partner. When Stark mentioned that Charlie had that ‘I’m doing something neither of you should know about’ look Reese certainly didn’t disagree. Plus, Dani needs some additional support once she finds out that her father is just a ruthless bastard.

Now, about Charlie. Frankly, he scared me this episode. Once he threw that Zen tape out of the car I had no idea what he was going to do. And, I don’t think Charlie knew what he was going to do, either. The Crews we saw in this episode was not the level-headed, sort of airy detective we’ve watched in the last 10 episodes. This was a man hardened by prison and out for his pound of flesh.

You could see it in his face. There was a scene while he was driving to Hollis’ house that showed Crews in profile. It wasn’t the soft features that we normally see in Charlie. His face was hard. His thinned lips were grim. He was concentrated on one, and only one goal: find Hollis.

I got extremely concerned when he was digging that hole up in of Los Angeles mountains. It was big enough for a body to fit and, the way he was going, it looked very much like Hollis was going to be buried dead or alive. Relief flooded through me when I saw Crews’ cell phone behind Hollis and Constance on the other end. This meant that Charlie wasn’t going to kill Hollis after all.

Boy oh boy. Well, this is the last new episode of Life for 2007. It will be returning in 2008, but I just don’t know when. And, as Law & Order is taking up the Wednesday, 10 pm slot again I don’t know what day it will be on (although, there’s probably a good chance it will be on Monday). So, just remain calm and patient and pray to the television gods that this Writers’ Strike gets resolved soon. Until then, thanks for being here with me. I’ll see you in the new year.