1.2 - "177 Minutes”
Written by Robert and Michelle King
Directed by Ron Underwood
Reviewed by KathM
We need to talk about David.
But first, the case: a possible miracle.
So. A young woman collapses while playing soccer. She is rushed to the hospital where she dies. Three hours later she wakes up as her autopsy begins and starts screaming when they cut into her, which is a perfectly appropriate response. The hospital says she died from COPD and a condition called hyperinflation, which means that the lungs don’t automatically hold oxygen and the sufferers appear dead. When the lungs begin to take in oxygen normally, the person wakes up. Team Science looks over medical reports and watches the video of her attempted resuscitation, and they agree. So, we all agree. No miracle, just a horrible, undiagnosed medical condition. Simple enough. Oh, and David figured out that the doctor who handled the case spent, on average, less time working to resuscitate patients of color than he did white patients, possibly resulting in more deaths. He gives the information to the hospital administration, then to Kristen, who passes it on to an attorney she’s worked with so he can help the families of the deceased build up a big civil suit. I’m not comfortable with the way this part of the case was wrapped up: David’s accusations are very serious and I feel like the whole idea was thrown away.
And was the whole the potential miracle a potential miracle because a priest came into the morgue and blessed Naomi when she was declared dead and whispered something into her ear before she "rose again"? I mean, really? It just seems so very, very tenuous. If the show is going to base all potential miracles on the appearance of someone from the Catholic Church then I’m going to skip anything miracle-related. And the Central Casting drunk priest was way too much.
What ends up being of more interest to the team is the video of the room where Naomi was worked on and pronounced dead. David sees a brief flash of light that, when Ben enlarges and sharpens it, seems to be a blurred, floating object with the face of a woman. A woman who died shortly before Naomi came into the emergency room and was pronounced dead. A woman who was blessed by the same priest. Dun-Duh!
People I’m thinking ANGEL, which sounds totally interesting unless you’re Monsignor Korecki, the one who assigned David to to an Assessor in the first place. I get the feeling that he doesn't want anything to be proven to be any kind of spiritual, but I need more data. Anyway, he isn’t interested in David’s potential angel info at all.
OKAY, now to David. Dang! He seems so smooth and in control around except when he’s alone or around Townsend. Even when he’s alone in his room and desperately praying, trying to remember all of the words to the Hail Merry a virtual(?) Townsend mocks him in the background with the creepiest version of "Who's on First?" that has ever been performed. I need to know more about what Townsend did to David, or what David may have shown Townsend. He asks Kristen to have David tell her about the first time he saw God. David tells Kristen that he used to have visions but doesn't anymore. Maybe the hallucinogens he bought in his own personal Den of Iniquity may help with that. He goes out running and stops in front of the building every time. He can't run away from it, which I thought was a great visual. Does he need the drugs to help him keep his faith or just to see little, scary angel-like things from his trip that he calls Julia? Tell me more.
Ben is all things. We briefly got to meet his sister Karima in this episode, and the interaction told us that their father always asks Ben to pray but that Ben won't go. I've only seen Ben in these two episodes but I'm already really invested in him. I want to know about him and whatever awful secret has had hidden inside that made him turn away from his faith. Wait, maybe I don’t. I like him cool, sarcastic, and mysterious. Please don’t rain on my parade just yet.
I’m still not warming to Kristen. She really brought it emotionally when she was talking about her daughter's heart condition and the nature of miracles, but the rest of the time she just seemed to be phoning it in. Even the scenes with her daughter Laura and George (George is back!), her fear still just fell flat. I don’t need her freaking out every five minutes, but I just need more emotional action. Then again with all she has heaped on her place, maybe I’m being too judgy. I did like how she handled the “monster” in the streamer the girls were watching, and how she showed them the short about the monster getting made up. Now Laura doesn’t think a monster is going to get her, and she may be right if stays out of Mom’s bed. Kristen may think she’s got George all figured out and sorted into the “logic” pile, but I’m sure we’ll see George around. Is George going to be her Townsend?
Is anyone else annoyed by Kristen’s children? They’re always in a group and are hard to differentiate.
Kristen now has a nice, two-year contract with with the Church to investigate things with David and Ben. Unfortunately the DA has hired Leland Townsend in her place, so I get a feeling she’s going to stretch herself even more by watching his cases to make sure he doesn’t intentionally damage anyone. Give the woman a break.
David and Kristen seemed to do less flirting and more working in this episode, for which I was grateful. Interesting mention of Kristen’s daughter and her heart condition. Will that be an episode? Will her husband show up or simply Skype from some mountaintop? Will Leland make her an offer about her daughter's heart she can't refuse?
Keep tuning in to see what I think, and so we can read about what you think, too.
