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Crossing Jordan ReCap There was no show that I was looking forward to this season than I was more than Crossing Jordon. Ok, this isn’t true, there’s the new Star Trek, there’s the Tick, there’s… Ok, statement revision, there was no show this season that could draw me to it merely on the presence of its star that could possible top Jill Hennessy. You know how you turn on A&E to watch a little Law and Order, because you have an hour and want to be entertained? You can be certain that just by turning the channel you will meet this request. Well, the pudding on the cake, the ice cream on the pie, the thing that adds a smile to the show for me is seeing that it is an episode with Jill in it. Without doubt this meant I would have to watch at least the first episode of this new series. Remember how Quincy was loved by everyone and only got angry at injustice or people that stood in justice’s way? Jordan Cavanaugh isn’t quite the same. In fact, she appears to get angry at everything. We were introduced to Jordan with her sitting in an anger management group that her employer in L.A has sent her to. After a short diatribe about how her anger is always justified by the cruelty and stupidity of the world, she answers the phone and within seconds, she is back in Boston interviewing for her old job. In a rapid-fire walk through the busy morgue we learn more about her than I would like to know in six or seven episodes. Hell, they even read her resume out loud at one point. Her employment record is a mishmash of hirings and firings, all due to her attitude problems. We learn that her boss to be Dr. Garrett Macy, played by Miguel Ferrer, remembers her for both her attitude and competency, not to mention the fact that he was willing to lowball her salary offer based upon her desperation for the job. We learn that his boss used to share an office with her and was since promoted past him. I think her name is Ukura, but every time I heard it, I was sure they were trying to say Urhura, from old Star Trek and just missing it. Two things have been punched like a spike into my head by the time that this episode is 11 minutes in; she is a good examiner and a better investigator. In this respect she is Quincy. She has received commendations from police forces she has worked with and if it weren’t for her anger management issues, or her need to stick her nose into places that it does not belong she would be a much-valued addition to any coroner’s office. In spite of the fact that she showed up for the interview wearing a short floral dress, that I can only assume she was forced to wear to remind us that Jill is subtly sexy and really quite gorgeous, that she has a horrible record and attitude problems, she is hired. From here she practically runs headlong into her first case. A prostitute has overdosed and needs an ME. At the crime scene, we, of course, are introduced to the show’s first love interest, a tall, dark, handsome detective who takes her seriously and catches her eye. Later, she herself admits she has always had a weakness for cops. Thankfully, they don’t dwell on the gory details of a crime scene. It’s an alley, she’s dead, what more could you want to know? My hope for this show was always that they focus on solving a mystery through a quirky combination of science and women’s intuition. You know, just like Quincy. Has anyone figured out that I used to really love the show Quincy? We are lucky; in the next scene we will be given yet more information about Jordan. Her father, Max, lives in Boston and she is going to live with him until she is on her feet. Played by Ken Howard, the coach from the White shadow, her dad plays an integral roll; he is in charge of background information. Unjustly forced off the job as a police officer for pursing the murder of his wife and Jordan’s mother, he sits at home, pining after his job. I presume, from his brief appearances in this episode that his entire purpose is to sit at home and offer wisdom and advice, in between background information she can use to help solve crimes. But wait, just in case she needs more stress, or we the viewer need something else to fit into this overloaded episode, he has a new lady friend living with him that she knows nothing about. Throughout this episode, there are a number of rather odd subplots. The show is almost rife with them. A famous councilman has committed suicide, or did he? One of her colleagues has lost his butterfly pupae and searches throughout the office for them, a rather fidgety character Dr. Mahesh "Bug" Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy, played by Ravi Kapoot. She assumes another of them is already making the moves, Dr. Trey Sanders, newcomer Mahershalalhashbaz Ali. He is shot down but managed to impress me with his kind of unassuming charm that will likely make me smile each time he is on screen. Her boss is unhappy in his job and has to give a graduation address to a class and we find out that he is rediscovering what he loves about life and dealing with his recently lost mother. Of course, all of this makes me wonder who will be playing Sam, the man from Quincy. The case of the OD’ed prostitute quickly becomes interesting. Jordan finds out that she is a virgin and therefore hardly a prostitute and was choked with a plastic bag rather than dying from too much drugs. There is a rosary, we don’t know from whence it might have come, or at least we won’t until later. Looming in the background of this episode is a man named Ballard. He is heavy into politics, used to be a judge. As it turns out, through a rather shallow and unbelievable use of the rosary, that he was the girl’s father. He appears to be the big criminal nemesis that we are going to reencounter throughout this series. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if in some sort of season finale, if it lasts that long, that we will find that he had something to do with her mother’s death. Working as a team, the love interested/police officer and Jordan work on the case. They find out the girl’s identity, who her father is and through some funeral subterfuge who the murderer is not. Moments later we are given another false lead as they find a man who has confessed to the murder and even has the murder weapon on him. I don’t care what anyone says, using a plastic bag like a shroud of Turin is kind of a neat gimmick to use. I am still not sure what it was that kept Jordan thinking that the crime had not been solved but in case we haven’t learned enough about her we find out that she is super dedicated. Working long hours to search through some newspaper articles she finds a picture of the man named Ballard, her original suspect, with her love interest. Automatically he becomes less her love interest and more her new suspect. Of course, after a wild, unfounded accusation he then proves that he is innocent because he does not have the needed bruise on his arm. I might be old fashioned but in the first episode should she meet the series’ love interest and go to bed with him? Shouldn’t there be some romance? Shouldn’t I be able to get to know him a little first? Oh wait a second, who is having the problem here, her or me? No wait, in a surprise ending it turns out that he is the killer. So now we know that, she is fragile, needs a boyfriend, and won’t hesitate to kiss and capture on the first date. It is only at the end of the episode that I realize that the love interest is only a guest star, Kyle Secor, and will not be back. I can’t decide if I am happy or sad about this fact. He was, after all, tall, dark and handsome. If anything in this episode they stretched a little too much to show us her past and introduce us to her. I mean, trust that her smile, her voice, her screen presence will bring us back to the next episode so that I can learn something that time too. How about we allow her to have a simple sense of mystery? Not to mention that with everything that is said, it ends up being quite formulaic, but not just one formula, quite a few all jumbled together. Is this show worth watching? Well, it was a muddle of confusion, subplots and politics all collapsing under a huge dirth of information about Jordan. The show wasn’t about the mystery, or the people, or the…ok, I admit, I am not sure exactly what it was about. We’ve met 100 people, all of whom seem to be slightly important. But, in the end, it had Jill Hennessey’s smile and that makes it worth perhaps one more viewing. That’s some smile. First published on boobtoob.net in Sept of 2001 (now dead) |
