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anne_dLast night, I watched the last (alas, alas) two episodes of Crossing Jordan for the second time. Himself watched them for the first time (we really must do something about his unfortunate addiction to American Idle).
Seeing the two shows together, I realised that Tim Kring and his writing staff must have suspected that they wouldn't be back next season, because they started setting the farewell up in the penultimate episode, "D.O.A.".
Nice things: Bug asserting himself and telling Lily how he really feels ("This is our time", yay!). Also, when Lily talks about how well Madeleine behaves with Bug, she says "It was love at first sight". There's a fast cut to Bug's face, looking at Lily, and I was reminded of how long he's loved Lily. It was, I think, love at first sight for him too.
There are two scenes I found particularly interesting.
First, the crime scene re-enactment. Please bear with me; it's been several years since I've been able to watch the early seasons, and my memory is fuzzy.
However. In the early episodes, Jordan would talk through a case with her dad. The re-enactments were always dreamlike, in black and white with Jordan and her dad as the suspects, victim, and so on. There was also at least one episode where the team got together to re-enact an old unsolved case. Same thing - black and white, costumes, etc. Eventually, this got old, and the writers didn't use it as often.
In this episode, Nigel and Kate start arguing about the case they're working on, and there they are, in black and white, as the two victims, at each others' throats. Kate is part of the team, and in a way, she's moving into Bug's place as Nigel's sparring partner as Bug becomes more involved with Lily and with helping raise Madeleine. It's a nice nod to past history.
The second and more important scene is Jordan's with the dying Shawn Curaco. He thinks she's his daughter. Jordan goes along with it, comforting Curaco and saying to him what she hasn't been able to say to her own dad, "I love you." In the closing scene of the episode, Jordan calls her dad, just to say hey. It's a sweet little moment, and I think that it also starts the process that frees Jordan to tell Woody she loves him in the last episode.
Which brings me to the final episode, "Crash".
There's a lot going on, and the first time I was really worried. It was nice to be able to watch it again, knowing how it ends.
Bug, Lily and Madeleine are a family, and Nigel is a little resentful. I don't think even he realizes it until after the crash, when he snaps at Bug and has to apologise.
It's interesting (Matthew remarked on this first) that with all those empty seats on the plane, Kate chose to sit with Nigel.
Kate is quite a character - when they're looking for food, she says "What about the crewmembers?", knowing damn well that everyone will assume she means the worst. She's sometimes callous and strange, and highly entertaining, a perfect addition to the team, able to hold her own.
After their attempt to use the transmitter fails, Kate is the one who comforts Nigel.
Bug has Madeleine's keyring toy in his pocket. I'm betting that as soon as they get home, he's getting baby pictures for his wallet.
And then there were Woody and Jordan. She finally said she loved him, and meant it, and he was finally able to believe her.
The ending was, well, a relief after the spoilers I'd fallen into (it was an accident; this is one show I avoided being spoiled for). I was particularly worried about Kate and Garrett; Kate because she's new and she'd been given a lot of good meaty scenes, and the writers are always the nicest just before they kill someone off (yes, Joss has trained me well) and Garrett because of the line about making one's death worth something.
But in the end, everyone was rescued, and I can imagine them going on with their lives. It was nice. It was better than nice. It was very satisfactory. Not as good as another season, but still, better than I'd feared or imagined.
And what I really loved is that the final shot isn't Woody and Jordan, it's Garrett and Jordan and "Thank you for coming back". The show has come full circle.
Seeing the two shows together, I realised that Tim Kring and his writing staff must have suspected that they wouldn't be back next season, because they started setting the farewell up in the penultimate episode, "D.O.A.".
Nice things: Bug asserting himself and telling Lily how he really feels ("This is our time", yay!). Also, when Lily talks about how well Madeleine behaves with Bug, she says "It was love at first sight". There's a fast cut to Bug's face, looking at Lily, and I was reminded of how long he's loved Lily. It was, I think, love at first sight for him too.
There are two scenes I found particularly interesting.
First, the crime scene re-enactment. Please bear with me; it's been several years since I've been able to watch the early seasons, and my memory is fuzzy.
However. In the early episodes, Jordan would talk through a case with her dad. The re-enactments were always dreamlike, in black and white with Jordan and her dad as the suspects, victim, and so on. There was also at least one episode where the team got together to re-enact an old unsolved case. Same thing - black and white, costumes, etc. Eventually, this got old, and the writers didn't use it as often.
In this episode, Nigel and Kate start arguing about the case they're working on, and there they are, in black and white, as the two victims, at each others' throats. Kate is part of the team, and in a way, she's moving into Bug's place as Nigel's sparring partner as Bug becomes more involved with Lily and with helping raise Madeleine. It's a nice nod to past history.
The second and more important scene is Jordan's with the dying Shawn Curaco. He thinks she's his daughter. Jordan goes along with it, comforting Curaco and saying to him what she hasn't been able to say to her own dad, "I love you." In the closing scene of the episode, Jordan calls her dad, just to say hey. It's a sweet little moment, and I think that it also starts the process that frees Jordan to tell Woody she loves him in the last episode.
Which brings me to the final episode, "Crash".
There's a lot going on, and the first time I was really worried. It was nice to be able to watch it again, knowing how it ends.
Bug, Lily and Madeleine are a family, and Nigel is a little resentful. I don't think even he realizes it until after the crash, when he snaps at Bug and has to apologise.
It's interesting (Matthew remarked on this first) that with all those empty seats on the plane, Kate chose to sit with Nigel.
Kate is quite a character - when they're looking for food, she says "What about the crewmembers?", knowing damn well that everyone will assume she means the worst. She's sometimes callous and strange, and highly entertaining, a perfect addition to the team, able to hold her own.
After their attempt to use the transmitter fails, Kate is the one who comforts Nigel.
Bug has Madeleine's keyring toy in his pocket. I'm betting that as soon as they get home, he's getting baby pictures for his wallet.
And then there were Woody and Jordan. She finally said she loved him, and meant it, and he was finally able to believe her.
The ending was, well, a relief after the spoilers I'd fallen into (it was an accident; this is one show I avoided being spoiled for). I was particularly worried about Kate and Garrett; Kate because she's new and she'd been given a lot of good meaty scenes, and the writers are always the nicest just before they kill someone off (yes, Joss has trained me well) and Garrett because of the line about making one's death worth something.
But in the end, everyone was rescued, and I can imagine them going on with their lives. It was nice. It was better than nice. It was very satisfactory. Not as good as another season, but still, better than I'd feared or imagined.
And what I really loved is that the final shot isn't Woody and Jordan, it's Garrett and Jordan and "Thank you for coming back". The show has come full circle.
