A Man. And His Blog.

A surprisingly good episode, which focused more on the mythology behind the paper than expected. I loved that it was mostly about Gary (Kyle Chandler) finding out more about Lucius Snow and how he got to get the paper for four episodes now. And fortunately, the series is already delivering a handful of information so early in a show like this.

The actual episodic arc with Meredith (Leslie Hope) and her uncovering the murder of some random person was just alright though. it almost was too much behind the actual story of Gary and Snow, but that was actually good. Instead Meredith and Gary had some hot chemistry together, though it was a bit ridiculous for Meredith not to believe that Gary might be behind the murder. Actually, she dropped the idea real fast and considered Gary a friend, even a love interest. So I had to roll with my eyes, when the two are making out (yet they were not having sex) in his hotel room – somewhat ridiculous, but the chemistry was still visible between the two.

I’m just not happy about how the story ended. First of all, the catching of the killers was absolutely lame. A fire in the archives, the two dumbheads are waiting, storming up the stairs after a while, and whoever came down the stairs was thinking right away that the two were killers. Yeah, right. And even more, Meredith figured out the truth about the paper, and I already know that the writers won’t go back to this little story twist. It could have been good for Gary to have somebody to interact with, since his other two pals only had a couple of seconds of screentime, but why are the writers establishing a potential recurring character, when they are not using Meredith anymore in the future?

All in all a good episode – if only most of a season would be so “serialized” like this episode… 7/10

Coach Taylor and Jack Bauer's wife in their earlier days

Lucius Snow has a message for Gary

I always notice that EARLY EDITION came to a time, where CBS didn’t have the procedural-CSIs of the 2000s. So it is always a surprise that an EARLY EDITION episode isn’t as stand-alone as I always think it is. Though this episode had a stand-alone episode with Chuck’s (Fisher Stevens) fear of helping to give birth, when he doesn’t want to, I totally digged how Gary (Kyle Chandler) was busy to not let Chicago ruin during one of the terrible days.

This episode already started to be awesome during the first eight minutes, when Gary had four “jobs” to do, one more hilarious than the other. Especially how Gary got into the situation and solved it with the information he got from the paper (like he banishes the two 7/11 thieves, before they could hit the store). That the episode continued with it was a nice surprise, and that the giving-birth storyline was just the thriller during the last quarter was quite nice writing. Sometimes I wish that even today’s CBS-procedurals would handle stories like this.

But one thing was exaggerated here: Chuck’s fear of delivering babies. Despite him being the comical character in the show, the scene where he walked through Chicago and only saw pregnant women (and sometimes I’ve had the feeling he saw some pregnant men too) didn’t feel like a scene fitting into the series. I remember the series always taking itself serious, but this scene was just unusual to watch. Furthermore I don’t even understand why Chuck was so crazy about it, and why he wasn’t hiding at home, even though he was repeating that over and over.

Gary’s little side plot with the beautiful blonde was fascinating though. It somehow brought a fantastic touch to the episode, and it showed that Gary is easily distracted. There he just lived through a divorce (by the way: Marcia [Rya Kihlstedt] is a hilarious character – is she expecting Gary to hop in bed with her one last time after the divorce?), but at the same time he has heroes-duties to do, but always meets this woman. And it was really good that the writers didn’t conclude that story, with Gary meeting her. Otherwise, EARLY EDITION could have turned into a today’s The CW show for a few episodes, letting Gary play with a girlfriend (I’m forgetting the third season for now).

Chuck’s “girlfriend” Amy (Jane Krakowski) was kinda hilarious, and I was stunned that Jane Krakowski looked so sexy during the 90s – and I didn’t really like her in 30 ROCK’s first season. Furthermore I was surprised that Cynthia Nixon didn’t annoy me, like she always does in SEX AND THE CITY. But she was just heavily breathing (and giving birth) anyway. Other than that I found Gary’s actions to be horrendous. He jumps on top of the elevator to deliver the twins (and no paramedic thought of it?), and then he decides to give Chuck the babies, so that he can be the hero. I hereby ask: why? Oh yeah, and one more thing: There’s a blackout in half of Chicago, but the phone in McGinty’s bar still worked? Of course it did…

It was a good episode. Some hilarious moments, and an interesting overall arc – during a time, where CBS still had interesting shows to offer. 7.5/10

Chicago is way too pregnant for Chucky

Gary helping, but at the end he isn't the hero

Two episodes into the series, and the writers delivered an unexplainable event already. Though it somehow can’t be explained with coincidences, the episode absolutely didn’t explain one thing: the changing of the first page during the morning.

What I want to say: When Gary (Kyle Chandler) received the Chicago Sun-Times, the title page said something about traffic. Then he collides with surgeon Marcus (John Rubinstein) in front of the hotel (probably the reason why the title page changed), and minutes later Gary and Chuck (Fisher Stevens) realize that the title page is now headlining the plane crash. Like I said, the only reason why it could have changed was Gary colliding with Marcus, but after the end of the episode I don’t see any reason why the headline would have changed because of it. Anyway…

It was a good episode. It brought a good story into 43 minutes, and the viewers an opportunity to see Gary making a choice. It was a good idea to place the matter of choosing one or the other (saving Amanda [Mae Whitman] or preventing the plane from crashing), when Gary was telling himself at the same time that the newspaper won’t decide how Gary is living his life. On this day, Gary basically had to change his life, just to choose whom to save. Our (or my) own answer seems reasonable at first (saving hundreds of lives over one single life), but when Gary made his choice, it seemed reasonable too. And with it, the episode pulled off some nice emotional suspense, when Gary started to annoy everybody around him, just so that Amanda’s life can be saved.

And this is what this episode makes it kinda special, so early in the series: Gary is determined to save a girl’s life, and he is doing anything to get the attention of the doctors, especially Marcus, even though he does it in way, which could bring him into prison for a few days. The scene in the locker room was great – Gary determined to roll Amanda directly into the OR, and clashing with Marcus, so that he finally listens. That was all great, and it stayed that way, until Gary realized that he just saved the hundreds of people in the plane too, by “accident”.

Furthermore, it was nice that the writers kept Marissa (Shanesia Davis-Williams) and Chuck into the story, with them trying to get to the airport (which obviously isn’t happening, thanks to chaotic traffic). It was nice again that Marissa was the one who kept her head together and never panicked, while Chuck was mostly aggressive about preventing the plane from crashing, which was kinda surprising, giving his act to Gary about wanting to make money with the help of the newspaper.

The ending was a killer-cliché though. First the very big coincidence of Amanda’s father being the pilot of the crash-fated plane, and than the fact that Gary even realized the man, who just came to the hospital, is a pilot captain. I never would have thought about such think, when I would have seen him, which is why I think that the ending, and Gary finding out that the plane didn’t crash, went way too fast for me. The cliffhanger with Gary’s history book was nice though. So there is a mythology behind tomorrow’s newspaper, and the cat bears the secret.

It was a good episode, but I hope that a faux pas like the sudden change of the title page won’t happen too often in the series. Otherwise a great concept like this is destroyed thanks to plot holes created by the writers. 7.5/10

Hurry hurry - to the hospital!

Hurry hurry - to the airport!

Judging the pilot, I wonder why CBS kept the series for four years only. I’m almost keen to say that this pilot might be one of the best of the 90s. But then again, I didn’t see many pilots from the 90s. And I’m loving this show way too much to see it with different eyes. But hey, EARLY EDITION is already 14 years old, and I’m interested to know if the stories are still working today.

Answer: Yes, the series still works. Even on a visual level. The fact that the series was produced on location makes some impression points, the score is still one of the best I’ve heard in my career of watching television shows, and the cast is small, but splendid. No wonder why Kyle Chandler is such an underrated guy (and I already thought to myself during the first season of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS that this guy should win some prizes for his work), and what a shame that Fisher Stevens (except his guest stints on other shows) and Shanesia Davis-Williams didn’t have much to do after the show’s end.

The pilot was great. Despite what it had to deal with, it took its time for the characters to be introduced, for the story to be mysterious, but light, and for the viewers to accept all of it. The writers aren’t even doing much with the mystery around the cat and tomorrow’s newspaper, and they don’t ask the question (only scratches it during a discussion between Gary and Marissa), so that the viewers don’t ask themselves the question. After all, EARLY EDITION is just some sort of a procedural drama, focusing on how Gary tries to deal with the future information he is getting every day. And with some character development on his side, some friendly advice from Marissa’s corner, and the usual 90s comedy from Chuck’s end, this might be one of the greatest shows of the 90s. In addition to the fact that Gary doesn’t have to keep it a secret, because his closest friends know about the paper at the end of the pilot. Today’s mystery writers maybe should watch an episode EARLY EDITION, before writing a non-explainable episode…

I liked how Gary treated his new “fate” for the first days: first being dubious about what happens, then fastly accepting without asking too many questions, and finally realizing what he can do with tomorrow’s newspaper. Even when he has to win lots of money, thanks to horse races, to learn the proper way of dealing with such world-changing information. Which is why the scene, where Gary gave all the winnings to Marissa, so she can buy her dog, has so much strength in both character development and story. The episode doesn’t even wait for Gary to figure out what to do, he knows instantly – one of the reasons why I don’t even need the mystery and questions around the newspaper, because the pilot makes clear that Gary is the right man for saving lives.

The first “life-saving” job was alright for the pilot, though Frank’s (Tom Noonan) karma edged on many stereotypes. Furthermore, it is kinda a shame that the episode dealt with him during the last five minutes. Somehow this whole thing looked like a wasted storyline, which would have been suited better for a whole episode. I don’t understand why Frank “suddenly” decides with Gary to waste the money down the roof, and why Gary managed to bring over Frank so damn fast. But the story was good enough for the first episode to let Gary realize he just saved a man’s life.

Great start for a TV show, a promising little story, and a charming cast. Yes, I hereby state that I love EARLY EDITION, and will live through all good and bad episodes. 9/10

Two idiots running after a newspaper - awkward much?

Having a gun pointed at you thanks to a newspaper doesn't happen very often.