Overall: 8.3
Crumb! Yay!
Plot Synopsis:
With his retirement a mere three weeks away, Crumb is already planning his great escape to the Bahamas. He has one more drug bust on his agenda, however - a bust he and his partner Moreno have been planning for weeks. Only one thing - or one person, rather - could get in the way now -- and his name is Gary Hobson.
At the start of the episode, we find Moreno and Crumb waiting by a dock in the middle of the night with a suitcase full of money, prepared to pull off their sting. They spy their mark approaching the dock at a very high rate of speed, but before the boat makes it to shore, Gary appears nearby, waving a flare and shouting at Crumb's target to turn around before he crashes. The whole bust is a no-go, and as you might imagine, Crumb is rather annoyed. The following day, he pays Gary a visit at McGinty's and tells him in no uncertain terms to butt out.
Later, Crumb and Moreno attempt their bust again, but again, the paper forces Gary to interfere. Guided by a headline that reports that Crumb and Moreno will be shot, Gary shows up and warns a thoroughly ungrateful Crumb, who nonetheless is able to take advantage of Gary's "mystic tingle" and finally nab the bad guys. Crumb is lauded as a hero in all the local papers, but he refuses to be happy about the publicity and gives Gary another earful.
Back at the station, Crumb turns in the aforementioned suitcase of money and is stunned to learn that twenty-thousand dollars are missing. Crumb privately suspects that Moreno may be at fault - Moreno, you see, has a bit of a questionable past - but decides to give his partner another chance to do the honest thing. Crumb tells the guy in evidence to give him a day or two to find the missing money, then gives the suitcase back to Moreno, mentioning off-hand that the suitcase feels "a little light." Moreno seems to catch on to Crumb's subtle message, but he worries that he won't be able to pay for his son's college education and is thus reluctant to give back the money.
At this point, District Attorney Davison starts to make trouble in Crumb's life. Davison has his eyes on the mayoral seat, and to that end, he has launched a full-scale investigation of the police force. Unfortunately for his political career, Davison hasn't turned up much in the way of police corruption. Fearing that he will soon be shown a fool, Davison decides a little prosecutorial misconduct is in order. Crumb got on Davison's bad side a few years back when he refused to testify against a fellow cop; beyond that, Davison also believes that taking down a cop of Crumb's celebrated status will give his flagging witch hunt a big boost. Thus, taking note of Moreno's rap sheet, Davison decides to use Moreno to get to Crumb. With the help of a little blackmail, Davison convinces Moreno to testify against Crumb, then plants phony evidence in Crumb's car. Gary tries to head some of this off at the pass, but is unsuccessful.
Crumb, for his part, tells Gary yet again to leave him alone, then confronts Moreno about Moreno's betrayal, telling Moreno that the only thing Moreno's son needs is for his father to do the right thing. After this conversation, Moreno feels properly guilty and calls Davison to back out of the whole arrangement. Davison assures him that everything will be alright and promises to come get Moreno at six the next morning.
Morning arrives, and so does the paper -- a half-hour early. An annoyed Gary ignores Cat and goes back to sleep. Later, at the usual time, he stumbles to the door, picks up the paper, and learns, to his horror, that Crumb will soon shoot Moreno. He rushes over to Crumb's first, but upon finding that Crumb has already left, he heads over to the Lake Street Bridge, the reported location where Moreno's body will be found. There, he finds Moreno talking to Davison's goons and warns Moreno that Crumb is coming to kill him. Davison's men laugh and inform Gary that his story is wrong - that they are the ones who will shoot Moreno with Crumb's gun. Davison's men then prepare to shoot both Gary and Moreno, but fortunately, Crumb arrives with a sizable portion of the police force backing him up, and Davison's men are arrested.
Later, before the Chicago press corps, Moreno owns up to his past mistakes and tells the world that Davison tried to frame Crumb. Gary, meanwhile, invites Crumb to sign on at McGinty's as a bartender after his retirement, and Crumb seriously considers the idea. (Aww. See - Crumb loves Gary.)
(PS: Chuck sucks at mixing drinks. Hence the need for another bartender.)
The Skinny:
It's actually rather surprising that, though we're on episode 2:14, this is the first appearance of Detective Crumb this season; it's especially strange considering how well he fit into the Early Edition universe during the first season. But there you go - I suppose Ron Dean had other commitments. More power to him.
Generally speaking, Crumb-centered episodes are entertaining because of the interplay between Gary and Crumb, and this episode is certainly no exception. It's fun to watch Crumb complain about "Kreskin's" "mystic tingles"; it's fun to watch Crumb demand that Gary cut it out with the "mumbo jumbo crystal ball stuff." It's fun because, in reality, it's clear that Crumb has accepted Gary as is; he doesn't even have to know about the paper to acknowledge that Gary is trustworthy and has only the best of intentions. More than that, Crumb genuinely enjoys Gary. This will come out more in some of Crumb's later appearances this season (particularly in The Fourth Carpathian and The Quality of Mercy), but you even see it here in his willingness to take Gary's job offer. The reason for this is simple: I think Crumb relates to Gary on some level. Gary and Crumb both possess a fundamental decency and a desire to think the best of people (note that Crumb decides to give Moreno a chance and doesn't rat him out right away), and they both prefer to help others behind the scenes (note that Crumb goes ballistic when his name and picture are emblazoned on the front pages of all the newspapers). Crumb's gruffer, true, but age and thirty years dealing with the criminal element would do that to anyone; when he was a rookie, I imagine Crumb was full to bursting with Hobson-esque idealism. (Someone should write a fic.)
The other guest characters don't stand out quite as much next to Crumb, but they are decently written. I probably would not have felt sympathy for Moreno if he hadn't done the right thing in the end, but since this is Early Edition, his redemption was pretty much a forgone conclusion. And as for Davison? A while back, I might've criticized the characterization of Davison as over-the-top evil, but now I'm not so sure. After all, real-world prosecutorial publicity-seeking does exist. Look at Michael Nifong.
Writing: 8.5
This is a nice, solid vehicle for Crumb.
Acting: 8.5
The acting is par for this course. (Bear in mind that Early Edition's course is bendy with many sand and water traps. In other words, the acting is usually good. :))
Message: 8.0
There's a little message here about the importance of valuing character over means. Moreno wants to give his son the world, but what his son really needs is his father's example.
The Benevolent Hand:
Here, you see the Force behind the paper using Crumb to cover for Gary's human frailty. If Gary had not ignored the paper when it arrived before 6:30 AM, he might've caught up to Crumb in time. Fortunately, the Benevolent Hand worked through Crumb's vast life experience instead. Where we close a door, God opens a window.
Highlights:
None this week - and not because there aren't funny lines in this episode, but because I just don't have the time.
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