Charlie Crews and me: I confess I did not watch Life as closely as I did Homeland or Billions earlier. I kept it in my stash for a long time and my husband and I then binge-watched both seasons in a couple of weeks with no real opportunity to digest it. That is why I fell in love with Holliedazzle’s idea to re-visit this fantastic show and dive deep into it the moment I heard about it!
Crime fiction and me: I had a phase in my childhood that I told everyone I would become a detective when I grew up! It probably started with Charlie’s Angels at a young age, continued with Magnum P. I. and peaked with Murder, She Wrote. I also religiously read Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple together sealed the deal for me.
Los Angeles and me: I confess L.A. is not my cup of tea. Having said that, I always love films and shows that display the city they are filmed in with its good, bad and ugly and Life is no exception. In fact, the wide variety it has in all things makes Los Angeles the perfect setting for the show.
Both Episodes 5 and 6 deal with a universal problem: violence against women. In particular, Episode 5: Fallen Woman feels like a tribute to all real and fake angels that inhabit the City of Angels.
Crime #1: A woman wearing angel wings falls literally (out of a window) and metaphorically (she is a prostitute).
Crime #2: A shady client who thinks Constance, Charlie’s guardian angel, could make him a lot of money like she did for Charlie, gets rough with her when Constance tells him that is not possible. Constance does not know whom to call but Charlie. Yes, Constance is married, but, I mean, how can you not root for these two? 🙂
Charlie and Dani evaluate Crime #1 in their own special way:
Charlie: “No ID. It’s like she fell from the sky.”
Dani: “From a window.”
Charlie: “It’s like she’s no one.”
Dani: “No one is no one.”
Charlie: “Now you sound like me.”
Dani: “Take it back.”
Ha! Dani calls Charlie “my partner” in Episode 4 and she starts sounding EXACTLY like him in Episode 5! 😀
All kinds of people line up at the police station to identify the victim. My favorite is a pair of twins who take the crime a little bit too literally: “When angels die, it’s the end.” Charlie gives them my favorite look 😀
Charlie notices an older guy who constantly gives his place in the line to somebody else: “I know it’s all about the journey but sooner or later you’re gonna have to get to the front of the line.”
Jasper gets to the front of the line and gets the bad news. The victim is his wife Lena. He meets her at Ritual, a place run by Roman, a Russian who knows what older men need. The night Jasper and Lena get married, Roman sits in their living room and tells Jasper he would make Lena live in a cage if he did not pay him 10K every month. Jasper has been paying him since.
A visit to Ritual brings us yet another “angel” called Julia (played by a young Jessica Pare… Mad Men, anyone?) Julia can read people and calls Charlie “Officer New Money.” But, hey, Charlie can read people, too: Julia knows both Lena and Roman and gives two pieces of information both of which check out.
Lena has a lover who is a lover of angels. But he is nowhere to be found. Dani and Charlie further evaluate the situation:
Charlie: “This kid is nowhere.”
Dani: “No one is nowhere.”
Charlie: “Now you’re sounding like me again.”
Dani: “Am I?”
Dani is NOT saying “Take it back.” Charlie SCORES!
Roman has his homework all done when Charlie and Dani catch up with him at Ritual. He calls Charlie “Officer New Money.” He is cocky cool when cuffed. He is very comfortable provoking Dani about her rehab. How come? Well, because, even if there is evidence against him, in Julia’s words, “you cannot hold on to Roman.”
But Roman can hold on to you. Charlie gets a call from him. Roman tells Charlie to look closely into Bank of LA shoot out from 15 years ago: “You should ask your partner. What happened to all that money?” Charlie draws a line between an old news clip and Bobby’s photo on his “Conspiracy Wall.”
What about Crime #2? Charlie beats the hell out of that asshole in a restaurant bathroom. I think Charlie is leaving his Zen for a moment not just for Constance. But also for Lena. He is quite restless as he looks at himself in the mirror — making me think about two other restless men looking in the mirror.
In Episode 6 “Powerless”, a guy Dani meets at her AA meeting, in fact while drinking just before the meeting, confesses to rape in his AA speech. Despite Charlie telling her to drop it Dani works on dispatch reports from months earlier and finds the person who this asshole raped. However, the young woman seems to have moved with no forwarding address. Dani wants to deal with this on her own, but Charlie shows up at the AA meeting with his “My name is Charlie. I am powerless” bit to tell her they are in this together.
Charlie trying to locate Nancy, the rape victim, online is a complete delight to watch: Typing with two fingers and using “Internet for Dummies” as a reference book. Remember Charlie goes to prison in 1990s – before internet becomes what it is today, before September 11, before the Iraqi war, and before any kind of social media. Now that I come to think about it, I joined Facebook in Fall 2007 only because my cousin invited me to join. I still remember saying to him: “What will I do on Facebook?” And the rest is history!
Our “Mangoman” (could imagine a better screen name for Charlie?) is now in a chat room IMing Nancy’s friends, one of whom calls him “OM.” Lt. David does not need “Internet for Dummies” to know what it is: “Old Man.” 😀
With some help from their friends in computer crimes department, Charlie and Dani find Nancy… in her mother’s home. She says she left all troubles behind and is very happy working for her mom… at home. Well, it is easy for Charlie to identify with Nancy:
“Larson committed the crime and you went to prison. Wrong person is doing the time. We put the right person away and you go free.”
It takes a little bit of convincing but Nancy ultimately testifies and they arrest Larson… in a bar as he is sponsoring a new AA member — another young woman!
Larson may not not be as lucky as Roman to go free but he is lucky enough to go out on bail and the rest is anybody’s nightmare. Larson pays an unannounced visit to Dani on Halloween. He has a gun and forces her to drink all the vodka she has in the house. We don’t know what his plans really are once the vodka bottle is empty. Dani, the smart woman that she is, calls Charlie on her phone in her back pocket and makes him hear their conversation. Charlie is the first one to get in and make sure his partner is safe.
Dani, who is extremely drunk, tells Charlie: “Just make sure I don’t fall.”
No, Charlie will never let Dani fall. Literally or metaphorically.
Fruit Count:
Episode 5: Two green apples! Notice the cores on the table. Hey Charlie, The Atlantic reports apple cores are a myth and you can eat the whole apple. You are welcome 😀
Episode 6: A plum that recognizes its relatives 🙂 And a container of mixed fruit to go with his lunch sandwich.
You bring back some fond memories of the show. Episode 6 “Powerless” is a favorite because it is rich in character moments between the regulars. Charlie gets to help save Dani even though she resists needing his help. All these characters have “issues”. Dani’s issues get some powerful screen moments in this episode.
I even like the stakeout scenes where Charlie and his boss sit in the car just talking to each other. Their characters are so different they have trouble making conversation with each other. It’s both funny and revealing.
The chemistry between these regular characters made Life a richer show than ordinary crime solving shows. I’m so glad you’re letting us relive some good times with them.
Thank you! I think what you are saying is one of the things that makes Life such a special show. Many cop shows show you the murder and the detectives solving the murder case but do not develop the characters or get deep into their relationships. Life, on the other hand, uses the murders and the investigation also as a tool to look closer at the relationships between the main characters. And these relationships evolve over the two seasons. Episode 6 is a great example of it!
I LOVE the stakeout scene, too! I just did not want to make the post longer. I can’t stop giggling at Charlie getting surprised that Lt. Davis is married 😀
We are so very happy to get such positive reaction to our “Life with Charlie Crews” summer! It is a show that deserves attention.
Those are a couple great episodes that I rewatch often. I love the partner dynamic that grows with both. And a tasteful handling of two crimes against women, one involving sex work, where they didn’t disparage it at all. I wish law enforcement really had this kind of care and concern about both of these types of crimes. Sadly, there was more fiction than fact in both of these stories 🙁
Great right up, another great Tuesday!
Thank you, partner, for your feedback and also for my assigned episodes – a turning point in Charlie & Dani partner dynamics plus two episodes about violence against women – a universal issue I am very sensitive about. But you are right. I wish the law enforcement really had this kind of aggressiveness that Charlie and Dani have in crimes against women. I am not saying that they do not, but it’s certainly not perfect. Far away from perfect.
Ohh…Murder She Wrote…another one I watch! Maybe we should do a crime drama count to go with the fruit!
The wonderful thing about all this is the reminder to me that Life is so re-watchable. The more I think about it, the more I think that the biggest downfall for Life really was the timing of it. The introduction of Roman in episode 5 brought S1 up a level and as you pointed out across 5 and 6 Dani and Charlie’s relationship starts to evolve. Charlie is now a little more comfortable pushing Dani rather than holding back. Previously if she told him to drop something he would.
There was such an obvious connection between Charlie and Connie.
I am in love with Angela Lansbury – what a giant! Exactly. I can imagine we can cover the entire crime drama spectrum among us.
Life is a really good show. VERY SMART. You are absolutely right about the timing. And I think the show could have done better on cable. Still, knowing that if we had had, say, 5 seasons of Life, then there would have been no Brody… I can just live with what we have… The alternative is just too scary to even imagine for me at this point! 😀 One of the things that makes Life special, I think, is that we see the relationships between the main characters evolve over time. Many cop shows just tell you about the murder and how they solve it but do not develop the characters. Life has more than something to say about the characters and it uses the murders and how they solve it also as an instrument to explore the relationships. I love it when Dani says “Make sure I don’t fall” at the end of Episode 6. What a nice way of telling the trust you have. Love it.
Its so amazing to bond and discuss things with you all, here at the blog. Each post makes me realize how many similarities we all have, how many things we all mutually enjoy! What a tremendous sisterhood we are building. 🙂
I cannot agree with you more! I cannot think of a better team and friends. Sharing is the BEST thing in the world! Long Live Fan Fun Sisterhood <3