Midnight Caller 1.7
A hurried and contrived ending, but still a good episode.
- This one loses it’s way at the end. Everything happens too fast. The father-son moment doesn’t ring true and neither does the killer just stepping forward and confessing. Indeed, the motive for the killing is highly dubious. Even the script/dialogue doesn’t really explain it.
- But before we get to that final scene, there is a heck of a lot to enjoy.
- The story is good. The murder and the kidnapping are really just background action to the real drama: Jack using his show to go up against a powerful newspaper publisher who is trying to bury a story about his son’s arrest.
- Mykelti Williamson returns for his second of three season one appearances, and his character gets a lot of screentime which opens the story up. By using Deacon we get to see inside the newspaper, and get another perspective on the feud.
- The issues raised are genuinely thought-provoking. The idea that the newspaper would begin to ruin the reputation of the murdered woman is particularly good.
- Jack’s character traits/flaws are well documented here. Going after the man who just offered him a lucrative job says a lot about the guy. His willingness to shoot his mouth off, without knowing all the facts, also says a lot about him.
- Seven episodes in and, with scripts like this, the show has really established itself as wanting to tell intelligent stories.
- It’s also a show that looks great. The various night scenes, in offices and bars, etc. More than any other show this one really convinces you that the settings are real and that the hour is very late indeed.
