When Last We Saw Our Hero

Season 7 of Law & Order CI ended...a lifetime ago it seems...leaving me with more questions than answers, I fear. In fact, I've watched "Frame" several times over during the show's “extended” hiatus, and each time I watch it, I find myself enjoying it less and less.

Don't get me wrong, any episode that highlights Bobby the way this one did automatically gets a big ole “thumbs-up" from this girl. But it now appears to me that much of the episode was “contrived” so the writers who were leaving the show could “wrap-up” their storylines and the new ones could begin with a clean canvas.

I mean, just look at the “evidence.” Bobby's worthless ne’er-do-well brother is murdered; his arch nemesis, Nicole Wallace, likewise bites the dust; someone tries to “Frame” him for the murders, and he learns that his biological father is indeed the reviled serial killer Mark Ford Brady. Then, when all is revealed, it turns out that the person behind the murders and the frame-up is his longtime mentor and friend, Declan Gage. Whew, that’s a lot to process in 44…give or take…minutes.

Too much, in fact. There was enough material here (had it been handled properly) for two or three episodes…if not a feature film. Instead, the writers tried to take everything we’ve learned about Goren in the past seven years and tie it all together in a neat little package, so that Bobby is now “free.” Well, big whoop! Bobby’s free and I’m disappointed, frustrated, and completely dissatisfied.

Granted, as the following slideshow depicts, we did get to witness some lovely shots of Bobby as he experienced a true gamut of emotions throughout the eppy. We get to see sad, sorrowful Bobby; confused Bobby; angry, confrontational, and enraged Bobby. Then there is tearful, vulnerable Bobby, ending with the one that tugs at my heart strings the most…lost and forlorn Bobby.



Like I said, I loved the fact that the spotlight was on Bobby in this episode. For me...personally, though, the material was much too convoluted to be handled adequately, competently…satisfactorily… in a one hour format.

And now…at long, long last, we have arrived at the premier of Season 8. I’m not all that excited about it…thanks to USA giving it the network equivalent of the "bum’s rush" back in November. I mean, it’s just a TV show after all, and at this stage of my life, I try to keep things in perspective.

Having said that, make no mistake, come 9:00p.m. tomorrow evening, I’ll be in front of the TV…VHS and DVD queued to record “Playing Dead.” And later, I’ll download it from Amazon.com (for watching and capping on my computer) and iTunes (for my iPod). So, maybe, just maybe, I am a “little” excited to see what new trials and tribulations await my Bobby this season now that he’s…“free.”