Post by acc on Mar 26, 2007 15:10:14 GMT -5
Of Mice and Lem is a gut-wrenching episode. It's worthy of being a season finale but somehow the actual season finale outdid it. (Postpartum is not only the best season finale ever, it's easily in the Top Five episodes of all time. Of Mice and Lem is probably just below it.)
Obviously, Of Mice and Lem deserves an A+. Everything established early in the season is finally getting blown up to the epic proportions we thought it would.
The return of Kern Little feels completely organic--perhaps *because* of the long absence, rather than the other way around. After being back for about four minutes he gets plugged by Antwon's boy, Moses, and Vic helplessly watches his one-time friend die. Kern's death is, as pointed out here, gruesome and pretty heartbreaking, particularly when you factor in how far he had climbed up from Season 1 to Season 3, only to fall back into the life in Season 5 and get whacked because Antwon said he had to go. It makes perfect sense from my understanding--if Kern was killed in the hood, many on the street would see it as a sign of weakness on the part of Antwon but being killed "in the line of duty" as a gangbanger gives Moses and Antwon a bigger reputation without having to let everyone else know that Kern died at the behest of Antwon. It is somewhat similar, in fact, to Lem's death in the very next episode--Shane believes that it's best if he takes Lem out if Lem won't go to Mexico. Shane doesn't want anyone else to know about it; in fact, he wants everyone to think the Salvadorans killed Lem.
The Jon speech to the Chief and Assistant Chief right in front of Claudette, who was just told about her promotion, is one of the all-time great monologues in the history of the series. Vic has clearly messed with his head so badly that he's practically lost it. The screwing of Sadie has pushed him totally over the edge and now he completely burns his bridges with the chief in a fiery speech in which he accuses Vic of just about anything you could think of (much of which is true).
Julien gets his best storyline in over two seasons here, as the glory hole storyline introduced in 5x06 is actually paid off here in exquisite fashion. Julien's homosexuality is something that Billings speaks of (both in 4x11 A Thousand Deaths, and then, more impactfully to Tina in 5x06) and is brought back to the forefront here. Great character work and fabulous acting on Michael Jace's part. You cannot be completely sure, exactly, if Julien is projecting his own self-hatred onto the glory hole perpetrator or if he's wholly enraged by the man's obvious hypocrisy. Julien's always had something of a vicious streak, from the horrendous beating of the guy in 1x10 Dragonchasers to, seemingly, almost aiding Vic in killing that junkie killer in 3x06 Posse Up (though he couldn't pull the trigger in actuality). Here that's brought back in a considerable way.
Claudette's earlier rationale for not allowing Dutch to know about her lupus makes greater sense after one watches this episode, as she talks about his going behind her back to the ADA in Season 4. Dutch is completely stunned that Claudette could distrust him so much and it comes of little surprise that he requests for a transfer in 5x11 Postpartum. He realizes that their partnership has already hit several snags--the greatest of which came even before Claudette's illness began to affect her (concerning Claudette's crusade-like stand against the DA's office and each side's refusal to blink while Dutch tried to thaw their relationship from behind her back). When Dutch says, "...You don't trust me... You can't unring that bell," one can see that he's legitimately hurt by Claudette's accusations. (How delicious that just as she has made her grand stand against Roy Phillips and Billings and everybody else with regards to what's the real problem at the Barn while she's being--not entirely unjustifiably--told that her illness is a grave concern and should have been revealed to her superiors, she overdoes it in her righteous indignation towards Dutch.)
But the hardest-hitting stuff is reserved for the Lem storyline. Vic and Antwon's two meetings are full of some of the tersest lines I've ever heard. "If one of your boys even hard looks my guy, my reach will get you shivved." Antwon responds: "You got reach like that? Then why you sittin' here with me, gray boy, huh?" It's a beautifully ferocious exchange. Vic's possessed effort to save Lem's life comes to a crossroads and he comes up with a huge plan B, to have Lem run to Mexico before the authorities get him. The look of Shane's when the four guys are meeting towards the end of the episode, just as Vic says, "Lem, I promise you--I promise you man, we're gonna make this work!" is absolutely haunting now that we have the hindsight of Postpartum with us. Set to the Smashing Pumpkins' Disarm, the team disunites for the final time, as hugs are exchanged and Vic and Lem ride off. The scene has a kind of almost mystical quality to it, and represents the kind of sheer high drama that this series was always leading to, from its very first episode, and here it's finally exploding onscreen.
What an episode. Truly monumental. And, somehow, the writers were able to actually top it with their very next episode, the traumatic and surreal dreamlike Postpartum.
Obviously, Of Mice and Lem deserves an A+. Everything established early in the season is finally getting blown up to the epic proportions we thought it would.
The return of Kern Little feels completely organic--perhaps *because* of the long absence, rather than the other way around. After being back for about four minutes he gets plugged by Antwon's boy, Moses, and Vic helplessly watches his one-time friend die. Kern's death is, as pointed out here, gruesome and pretty heartbreaking, particularly when you factor in how far he had climbed up from Season 1 to Season 3, only to fall back into the life in Season 5 and get whacked because Antwon said he had to go. It makes perfect sense from my understanding--if Kern was killed in the hood, many on the street would see it as a sign of weakness on the part of Antwon but being killed "in the line of duty" as a gangbanger gives Moses and Antwon a bigger reputation without having to let everyone else know that Kern died at the behest of Antwon. It is somewhat similar, in fact, to Lem's death in the very next episode--Shane believes that it's best if he takes Lem out if Lem won't go to Mexico. Shane doesn't want anyone else to know about it; in fact, he wants everyone to think the Salvadorans killed Lem.
The Jon speech to the Chief and Assistant Chief right in front of Claudette, who was just told about her promotion, is one of the all-time great monologues in the history of the series. Vic has clearly messed with his head so badly that he's practically lost it. The screwing of Sadie has pushed him totally over the edge and now he completely burns his bridges with the chief in a fiery speech in which he accuses Vic of just about anything you could think of (much of which is true).
Julien gets his best storyline in over two seasons here, as the glory hole storyline introduced in 5x06 is actually paid off here in exquisite fashion. Julien's homosexuality is something that Billings speaks of (both in 4x11 A Thousand Deaths, and then, more impactfully to Tina in 5x06) and is brought back to the forefront here. Great character work and fabulous acting on Michael Jace's part. You cannot be completely sure, exactly, if Julien is projecting his own self-hatred onto the glory hole perpetrator or if he's wholly enraged by the man's obvious hypocrisy. Julien's always had something of a vicious streak, from the horrendous beating of the guy in 1x10 Dragonchasers to, seemingly, almost aiding Vic in killing that junkie killer in 3x06 Posse Up (though he couldn't pull the trigger in actuality). Here that's brought back in a considerable way.
Claudette's earlier rationale for not allowing Dutch to know about her lupus makes greater sense after one watches this episode, as she talks about his going behind her back to the ADA in Season 4. Dutch is completely stunned that Claudette could distrust him so much and it comes of little surprise that he requests for a transfer in 5x11 Postpartum. He realizes that their partnership has already hit several snags--the greatest of which came even before Claudette's illness began to affect her (concerning Claudette's crusade-like stand against the DA's office and each side's refusal to blink while Dutch tried to thaw their relationship from behind her back). When Dutch says, "...You don't trust me... You can't unring that bell," one can see that he's legitimately hurt by Claudette's accusations. (How delicious that just as she has made her grand stand against Roy Phillips and Billings and everybody else with regards to what's the real problem at the Barn while she's being--not entirely unjustifiably--told that her illness is a grave concern and should have been revealed to her superiors, she overdoes it in her righteous indignation towards Dutch.)
But the hardest-hitting stuff is reserved for the Lem storyline. Vic and Antwon's two meetings are full of some of the tersest lines I've ever heard. "If one of your boys even hard looks my guy, my reach will get you shivved." Antwon responds: "You got reach like that? Then why you sittin' here with me, gray boy, huh?" It's a beautifully ferocious exchange. Vic's possessed effort to save Lem's life comes to a crossroads and he comes up with a huge plan B, to have Lem run to Mexico before the authorities get him. The look of Shane's when the four guys are meeting towards the end of the episode, just as Vic says, "Lem, I promise you--I promise you man, we're gonna make this work!" is absolutely haunting now that we have the hindsight of Postpartum with us. Set to the Smashing Pumpkins' Disarm, the team disunites for the final time, as hugs are exchanged and Vic and Lem ride off. The scene has a kind of almost mystical quality to it, and represents the kind of sheer high drama that this series was always leading to, from its very first episode, and here it's finally exploding onscreen.
What an episode. Truly monumental. And, somehow, the writers were able to actually top it with their very next episode, the traumatic and surreal dreamlike Postpartum.