Second Chance



Here we are at Second Chance. There are story spoilers ahead and many observations of Jim and Blair's physical appearances.

The basic story line, if you are interested, is that Maya Carasco, the woman who threw Blair over in Love and Guns, is back. Oh, goodie. This episode opens with a very nice scene of Jim and Blair walking down the street one evening after a grand retirement party for one of Jim's police friends. Jim looks very spiffy in a tie and really nice long dress coat. He has on a royal blue shirt that shows off his eyes and hair, and black pants. Blair always looks good in a long coat, i.e., The Switchman, and he looks just as good here. He has on a red button up shirt (no tie) and grey dress pants.

There is a bit of a ruckus in front of their building and they come to the rescue of a woman who is being attacked. Surprise, it is Maya. Blair is quite shocked to see Maya at his front door. What a coincidence, I say. They scrape her off the sidewalk and take her home where they alert the police and offer her asylum. Blair is very sweet, making tea and promising to protect her. Jim agrees when Blair says they will keep her safe.

There is a nice scene when Blair comes into the living room to watch Maya asleep. He looks so vulnerable right here, very precious. God, I love this guy. He's wearing a white v-neck t-shirt and grey sweats. They have a bit of a discussion about what happened between them. Maya tells him she doesn't know how she feels about him any more. Thanks heavens! She's already hurt the guy once. Twice is too much.

The next day Simon arranged a safe house for Maya. Blair is wearing his green and red coat over a brown shirt and tan khakis. Jim has on a nice burgundy shirt over a blue long-sleeved t-shirt and dark slacks. He's also wearing his blue jacket in this episode. I like that they wear the same clothes in different episodes. It's like they've just gone to the closet and grabbed something. Makes it seem more realistic, although they never discuss who does the laundry. Oh, and a very important fact! We find out Jim hates pineapple.

There is a very cute scene that I really like. They're walking down the street after breakfast and Jim is saying how eggs are all the same, fried, poached, egg fu yong. Food is food! I like finding out their likes and dislikes. This is where they are walking and talking and they get snatched off the street by a couple of gun-toting thugs.

They end up at this welding shop and the "bad" guy tries to get information about Maya. They refuse to give it, of course. Blair looks more than a bit nervous at the bad guys pointing guns at them. Jim is Mr. Cool, as usual. When they refuse to cooperate, the head honcho tells them to start the torture with Blair. When they drag him off, Jim goes into his stone-faced really, really pissed look. God, I love that guy! He looks like he's about to rip everybody apart. He tells the guy if they touch Blair, he's dead. Then it slips that this is Gustavo, Maya's Uncle Gustavo, and the only person she trusts. Jim and Blair finally tell Gustavo that they're protecting Maya. He insists on seeing her and when they arrive at the safe house, they find two dead cops and no Maya.

There is a very nice quick scene when Jim comforts Blair about Maya being gone. I like Jim in his soft, it-will-be okay, mode. He is quite nice to Blair sometimes (not always!). Simon's phone rings and he is a bit upset at him because naturally assumes that Blair is giving out Simon's private number. Poor Blair, does he ever get a break? Turns out its Maya and after her obligatory crying scene, we find out that Francisco Rivera, the bad guy, wants the codes to Maya's mobster father's money that is in Swiss bank accounts in exchange for her life.

The first thing they try is giving fake codes since Maya's father, Hector, is in maximum lockup and no one can get the codes from him. I like the scene when Blair, Jim and Gustavo are at the park waiting for the pickup. Blair is sitting watching the road for the bad guys, all nervous, his leg is bouncing. You can tell that he's trying to be cool, but it isn't working. He is so cute all concerned for whatshername. Oh, and the dog that runs back and forth must belong to someone on the set because it appears in several other episodes. (RB's dog maybe?)

Gustavo tells Jim all about his life. He must think Jim is Oprah. He does manage to leave out the important details that we find out later. When the bad guys show up, Francisco asks which one is Sandburg and gives him the once over, dismissing Blair with a brush off, you don't look like much. Apparently, Maya has told him about Blair. The bad guys get the fake codes and take off, telling our boys they'll turn over the girl when the codes prove to be real. Oops. Jim listens to the departing car and hears the radio playing a Spanish tune. They follow in Jim's truck while Jim focuses his hearing on the music. He is listening so intently that when a cop car goes by with its siren on, it zaps his ears. Poor Jim! They find the car abandoned, of course.

Needless to say, Gustavo blames all the mess on the cops and goes off in a huff. Simon shows and tells us the rest of the good news. Turns out that the scum Francisco Rivera is Gustavo Alcante's son. This seems to point to Gustavo and Francisco being partners in the kidnapping. Blair is smart enough to remember Gustavo telling his men earlier in the day to meet him at a café so Blair and Jim take off to find Gustavo and arrest him. They confront him at the café about this information and he admits Francisco is his son but they 've had a falling out and Francisco is trying to make headway into the cartel by using Hector's money. Gustavo has renounced him as a son and is determined to save Maya, whom he loves.

Then Gustavo drops the bomb. It seems that he found out from a girl at the bar that back in Chile, Maya and Francisco were lovers. He feels that Francisco has tricked Maya into being part of the attempt to get the codes by telling her that her father's blood money would be used to help the people in her country. Blair is really upset at this news. He doesn't believe Maya would fall for that story. Needless to say, Blair is wrong. She does exactly that. Blair takes off but only gets around the building before the bad guys, who are lurking around, snatch him as a hostage.

There is a very good Jim scene when he hears Blair being kidnapped. He confronts the bad guys and he's back into pissed Ellison mode. You can just tell he's going to dispatch anybody who touches his Guide. He backs off when they threaten to kill Blair and they take him as a hostage with poor Blair's pleading face watching Jim as they take him away. Jim is not happy. It is not nice to make Jim unhappy.

Well, the story progresses where Gustavo and Jim go the prison where Hector is and fake their way into see him and get the codes. The good scene is when Gustavo is feeding a line of bull to the warden to get them in and Jim is just barely holding in his smirk. He rolls his eyes just a bit and raises an eyebrow at Gustavo's story but you can tell he's say, what a bunch of you -know-what---and good work! They see Hector and get the codes. On the way to the marina where Blair and Maya are being held, Gustavo fakes a heart attack. When Jim pulls over to help him, Gustavo double-crosses Jim, telling him that only he, Gustavo, can save Maya. Gustavo's goons show up and whack our Jim a good one and take off to save Maya. They don't seem too interested about Blair being a hostage.

Meanwhile, Maya finds Blair tied up in the ship and he tries to tell her that Francisco killed the cops and is a mobster, also. Of course, she doesn't believe him until she confronts Francisco and he tells her it is for the good of their country. Maya finally finds half a brain cell and releases Blair. Unfortunately, they are nabbed making their get away.

As you can imagine, everybody shows up and bullets start flying, fights break out, and people get killed. Blair tries to disarm one of the guys and is rewarded with a good whack on the head. Jim is sneaking around on the ship when he comes across his Guide out cold on the floor. Jim checks his pulse and is relieved that he's still alive. More gun fight ensues and some kick-boxing before the bad guys are finally subdued.

The final scene is okay. Of course, we are forced to see Blair and Maya kiss. Blair is all banged up with the usual butterfly on his head. Poor guy. I hope he got a bonus everytime he got whacked. It is raining through most of this episode and I have to say, in this scene on the dock, Blair (Garett) looks really cold. He makes me cold just looking at him. Maya is deported, never to be seen again.

The humorous thing is that Jim tells Gustavo that the feds are there to take him into custody and Gustavo goes willingly now that Maya is safe. Jim and Blair are both a bit disappointed to see Uncle Gustavo packed off as they've both grown fond of him. Then, the feds show up. Wait, they already took Gustavo, didn't they? Jim and Blair are laughing when they realize that Gustavo pulled a fast one. The first fed was his own man, and he's free as a bird once again. Uncle Gustavo is a great character and he shows up again in another episode, Fool Me Twice. In the final seconds, Jim reassures Blair that he'll get over Maya when Blair says "it" hurts. How true those words are.

That's a wrap of this episode. Next up is Black or White.

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