Black
or White
This episode is Black or White. I find this episode kind of boring and
there should have been more scenes between Jim and Blair. I will try to
pick out the good stuff. The story line is confusing and rambles from
one thing to another, finally tying together in the end.
Someone is blowing up black churches. A federal agent and a demolition
company and a racist organization are involved somehow. Joel is freaked
from the Brackett case and can't perform his job. A former cop Jim
worked with is now an activist against racial violence. Too many things
for one little story. Jim and Blair get lost in the shuffle.
Our first look at Jim and Blair is after the first church is blown up.
Jim wears his black leather jacket and Blair is wearing his brown
leather coat. They both wear these coats through the whole episode. In
the first scene, Jim has on a nice velour olive green shirt and tan
pants. Blair has on a great blue cable-knit sweater over a white
t-shirt and dark pants. He looks very good in this sweater. It shows
off his eyes.
Joel is on desk duty because he's lost his nerve and can't work with
the bomb squad any longer. Simon tries to get him back in the field but
he refuses. Simon asks Jim to talk to him, but Blair volunteers because
he says he's been in therapy since he was in diapers. This is the scene
when Blair says that anxiety and panic attacks are part of his life, a
statement I find very out of character for Blair Sandburg. Blair has
never been anything but resourceful, steady and brave. He never suffers
a single panic attack or exhibits anxiety while he's with Jim. This is
one statement that I think GM should have refused to say, IMHO. LOL!
Moving on, I think it's very sweet of Blair. He talks to Joel and tells
him this story about being scared to cross a high bridge in Nepal and
how it's mind over matter and not about 'you'. Joel takes Blair's
advice to heart and tries to find his courage. This story line in the
episode is very nicely done.
We are treated to Jim in Kevlar when they all go to confront the marine
bomb expert whom they suspect being in on the bombings. It turns out
that he's actually tracking down his half-brother who is the main
culprit. The half-brother is a white racist and thinks he's fighting a
war for the white race.
The guys pop back in. Blair is wearing a very nice teal plaid shirt
over a grey one and jeans. Jim has on dark grey shirt and jeans. Oh,
this is the first time that I can remember that Brown calls Blair
"Hairboy". I love the scene when Jim is telling the story about the guy
spinning the plates and keeping too many things going at once. Jim is
describing Blair's love life. Blair leans back and puts his head in his
hand with this look, "another sermon!" He looks absolutely wonderful in
that scene. And he's wearing his glasses several times in this episode.
I love those glasses.
We get to see Jim chasing the suspect and looking down the barrel of
his gun. A couple of very nice shots of Jim in action, wearing Kevlar.
Jim also makes Blair stay out beside the truck, telling him that if the
bomb goes off, he'll be in the next zip code.
They're all looking over files in Simon's office. I like that when Jim
passes out the rap sheets, he gives Blair one too. Blair is definitely
part of the team. And when Jim introduces himself in one scene, he also
introduces Blair as "my partner". Good Jim. Blair has on a very nice
red pullover shirt and dark pants. Jim has on a dark blue shirt over a
grey t-shirt and brown pants. Jim uses his senses to smell the
petroleum in the bomb residue and also to find a key in a pile of
bricks. There is also a cute scene when Blair has Jim use his fingers
to read a set of numbers of a faded piece of paper. Simon distracts
Joel while Blair puts his Sentinel to work.
There is some story about how this demolition company is running a scam
on the city and they tie in the demo guy to the bomb guy who is
half-brother to the fed guy. See, too twisty for me. Anyway, there is
the big finale which is a bomb is hooked up to another church and the
activist is inside, rigged to the bomb also. Jim has on a variegated
grey cable-knit sweater. Blair has on a tan plaid shirt over a white
t-shirt.
We are treated once again to Jim in Kevlar and his Jags cap. He and
Joel go into the church to defuse the bomb. Blair is wonderful,
reassuring Joel that he can defuse it and Jim says he has faith in
Joel, too. It is great to see them stand behind their friend.
Well, I slo-mo'd the scene when Jim I knocked down the stairs and I'm
sure he drops his gun. His hand is empty but in the very next shot he
has it. I can only deduce that he dropped it and picked it back up
before running after the bad guy. I'm counting this as a
Jim-drops-his-gun scene. The count so far is seven.
The final scene is very cute. Since this review was a bit short, I
thought I'd put a few lines here for your enjoyment.
Joel: Why don't you come on and give me a hand on the roof, man? (FYI,
there are more explosives to remove.)
Blair: No. I'm sorry. I can't do that, man. I got this thing about
heights.
Joel: Wait a minute. What about that bridge in Nepal you were talking
about?
Blair: Uh, well, that was an embellishment on the truth.
Jim: You mean a lie, right? A lie.
Blair: Oh, no. Lies -- they hurt, man. This... Embellishments -- they
help.
Jim: Like the embellishments in your love life?
Blair: No, no. I would call those more like romantic obfuscations.
Simon laughs.
Simon: I'd call it B.S.
Blair: Actually, no. Technically, B.S. is a form of male bonding. It's
a ritual, actually.
Jim: What happened to this thing called the truth?
Blair: Oh, yeah, that. That's, uh... totally overrated.
Jim laughs.
That is Black or White, such as it is. Next we have one of the
bestest,
sweetest episodes, Blind Man's Bluff.
The End
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