Overall: 8.3
This is a pretty typical episode. Fortunately, "typical" for Early Edition means solid to good.
Plot Synopsis:
When Russian headlines start appearing in the paper one morning, Gary is understandably flummoxed -- and Chuck, despite his claims of Russian ancestry, is certainly no help. Fortunately, the paper also sends Gary out to prevent a cab driver from running over a pregnant woman, and the driver in question, Yuri, happens to be Russian. Gary asks Yuri to read the Russian story and learns that a fire will soon break out at the Russian consulate. When Yuri gets pissy and refuses to take Gary to the consulate in his cab, Gary jumps in the driver's seat and, over Yuri's objections, drives off. Yuri just barely has time to climb into the passenger seat.
At the consulate, Gary warns the assembled that there's going to be a fire, and at that moment, an incendiary device is activated and the curtains on the stage go up. The Russian ambassador flees to safety, but Paulina Rosanova, a concert violinist, will not leave the stage until she has rescued the violin her father gave her when she was a child. Gary pushes Paulina out of the way and grabs the violin, burning his hand in the process.
Paulina instantly takes a liking to Gary - and it appears that for Gary, the feeling is mutual. Paulina sends Gary roses in thanks and asks him out, and Gary accepts. Later that night, dressed in a suit and tie, Gary walks out of McGinty's on his way to dinner, but he is stopped by Yuri, who shows a very odd interest in Gary's involvement with Paulina. The reason for Yuri's fascination becomes clear when, after Gary and Paulina have a successful date, Gary catches a glimpse of a childhood photo of Paulina and recognizes Yuri in the picture.
After Paulina leaves, Gary decides to take a cab to the cab company's dispatch office. Once there, he asks for Yuri, stating that he has a ticket for the next day's concert at the consulate, but another Russian gentleman walks in and claims that Yuri has quit and left the city. We can see that Gary doesn't believe this for a minute, and his suspicions are confirmed for the viewer when, after Gary leaves, Yuri comes out of the back room looking mournful.
Yuri, desperate for the ticket in Gary's possession, then decides to break into Gary's loft -- but Gary is sitting up waiting for him. Gary firmly questions Yuri about his identity, and Yuri finally admits that he is Paulina Rosanova's father. Apparently, Yuri got involved with the Russian mafia in order to make the money needed to buy Paulina a violin, and when things went south, he was forced to fake his death and leave Russia. Gary urges Yuri to speak to his daughter, but Yuri is reluctant to do so. Gary gives him the ticket to Paulina's concert anyway.
At dawn, the paper arrives, and Gary finds another Russian headline inside. This time around, though, the words "Lincoln Park" are written in English in the story, so he grabs Chuck and heads over to Lincoln Park to look around. At the park, Paulina is enjoying a morning run when a truck carrying several kegs of beer starts heading in her direction. Before Gary has time to react, Yuri, who has been watching Paulina from the curb, intercepts the beer truck with his cab, thus saving his daughter's life. At this point, Gary and Yuri try to tell Paulina that her father is alive (and standing right there), but Paulina, angry, refuses to believe it. Yuri then chickens out, claims it was all a hoax, and drives away in his cab.
In his apartment, Yuri is drinking his sorrows away when the Russian mafioso we saw at the cab company shows up and convinces Yuri to give him the concert ticket. Meanwhile, Gary suddenly has a front page Russian headline to deal with. As Marrisa, Chuck, and Gary discuss what they're going to do, Yuri arrives and offers to help. Yuri states that the Russian mafia plans to kill the ambassador at the consulate that day and tells Gary and the others that he is through with running.
At the consulate, Chuck sneaks inside by posing as a member of the orchestra while Gary attempts to talk to Paulina. Paulina is none to pleased to see Gary again and doesn't want to hear it when Gary begs her to have mercy on her imperfect father. For his trouble, Gary is carted off by the guards. Fortunately, Chuck and Yuri have made it inside, so they are able to stop the mafioso from gunning down the Russian ambassador. Yuri reunites with his daughter, and Paulina ultimately finds it in her heart to forgive her father for leaving her.
Writing: 8.0
I have no idea whether the stuff involving the Russian mafia resembles reality in any way, but given that this show sometimes makes up whole countries for plot purposes - and given that this series is supposed to be more whimsical rather than strictly realistic - I'm not going to worry about it. To quote John Ringo, reality be utterly damned.
What matters more is this: do the characters in the story behave in ways that are recognizably human? Do you feel a connection to them? The answer to both of these questions is yes. I can believe that Yuri's devotion to his daughter and her remarkable talent was so great that he fell in with the Russian mafia just so he could help that talent to flourish. Real fathers make less dramatic versions of this sacrifice all the time. And I can also believe that Paulina would, after Yuri's apparent death, put her father on a pedestal of stratospheric height - and that she would be deeply reluctant to encounter the real man. If a child has a close and loving relationship with a parent, that parent's death may indeed lead to a sort of idolization.
On the whole, I like this script. I think it is a nice, uplifting story - and certainly well within the show's normal.
Acting: 9.0
I also believe that the guest stars were especially good this time around - particularly Mike Nussbaum. Again, I haven't a clue whether Nussbaum's affected Russian accent actually sounds real, but the emotion he pours into his portrayal of Yuri really stands out.
Message: 8.0
Like many episodes of Early Edition, this episode is shot through with the awareness that humanity is deeply flawed and yearning for love and forgiveness. Years ago, Yuri did the wrong thing - but like many people, he abetted evil for noble reasons. His daughter's visit to Chicago at last forces him to face his sin and, in a sense, atone for it. Meanwhile, Paulina must come to terms with her father's fallen nature and find it in herself to accept and love him for who he really is. The Christianity is in the background, as per usual, but it is undeniably there.
The Benevolent Hand:
Often, the Force behind the paper will do things that, as far as Gary is concerned, don't make a lick of sense - like, for example, printing Russian headlines. As we see here, however, there's always a reason for everything the Benevolent Hand does. In this case, the Russian headlines lead Gary to Yuri and facilitate the healing of a family.
Highlights:
PAULINA: How did you know?
GARY: About the fire?
PAULINA: It's... some kind of gift you have, isn't it?
GARY: Well, that's... that's, uh... (He laughs nervously.) ...that's kind of hard to explain, actually.
PAULINA: I understand.
GARY: You do?
PAULINA: Sometimes when I'm playing that violin - the one that my father gave me - the strangest thing happens. I can be on stage in front of thousands of people, and just for a moment, I am all alone, and he is standing right beside me. Not a ghost, but real - right near by. Can you explain that?
GARY: No. No.
PAULINA: You see? We are connected.
YURI: You never saw me. (He moves to leave Gary's apartment.)
GARY: Now, wait a second! Just hang on a second here, would ya? Now let me get this straight: you've got a daughter on the other side of city who thinks you've been dead for fifteen years, and you're not even gonna let her know you exist?
YURI: She wouldn't believe me if I did. (Again, Yuri tries to leave.)
GARY: Wait a minute, would ya? Just... just wait a minute now. (Gary pulls the ticket out of his pocket.) Yuri, take the ticket and go see your daughter play.
CHUCK: Ah, it's such a beautiful day. It's too bad we have to spend it rescuing people. (LOL!)
MARISSA: Something big is happening, isn't it?
GARY: Something big is - I got a front page headline in Russian!
MARISSA: Well, we know it has to do with one of two people.
GARY: Yeah, the question is, which one, and why?
CHUCK: All right, I'll tell you what: just this once, I'm gonna do this for you 'cause I think you're cute. (Chuck picks up the paper and starts trying to read it.)
GARY: Yeah, no, thanks a lot, but I don't need to know about pigs with melanoma or spam. I need to know what this headline says. (ROTFL!)
YURI: Maybe I can help you.
GARY: Yuri?
YURI: They're going to kill him.
MARISSA: Who?
YURI: The Russian ambassador, today, at the consulate.
CHUCK: (to Gary re: the paper) Does he get one of these too?
GARY: What are you talking about?
YURI: I need your help. I've done too much running away in my life. Too much being nobody to be somebody. Too busy thinking of how I failed instead of how I might succeed. Because of that, I lost my daughter. She is in danger. I could not bear to lose her again.
GUARD: Hold it! Who are you?
CHUCK: Uh, I'm with the band. Substitute.
GUARD: What kind of substitute?
CHUCK: The, uh, base guitar and the tenor sax.
GUARD: Where's your ticket?
CHUCK: Well, uh... (He looks behind him and then leans closer to the guard.) The reason I'm substituting is the guy who usually plays got very sick, and he puked all inside the case, and that's where the ticket is too. But if you want me to get it, I can--
GUARD: Ugh! Next! (He waves Chuck inside.)
CHUCK: Thank you. (sotto voce) No wonder the whole country collapsed. (LOL!)
PAULINA: Is it true? Tell me it was just a hoax.
GARY: Listen, what if I can't do that?
PAULINA: Then my life has been a lie.
GARY: What are you talking about? Look, you share a God-given talent. How can that be wrong?
PAULINA: Because I believed in him. And you say my father abandoned me? My father was not such a man.
GARY: You were ten years old! How do you know?
PAULINA: He was brave and noble!
GARY: And human! Brave and noble, they make mistakes. Maybe he was doing all he could.
No comments:
Post a Comment