Higher Court
Painkiller Jane Episode Review
In which what Connor doesn't know could fill a book.
What Happened
Maureen is out on a date with some loser named Tom, who is pissy because she won't tell him what she does for a living and because she doesn't know if she can get away for a long weekend. He takes her rejection pretty bad: walking right into a really awful bluescreen and jumping to his death. (They are fond of tossing people from great heights on this show.) McBride is a little skeptical that they are dealing with a Neuro, but when other people wind up dead in similarly strange fashion, he has to admit that the screenwriters are in charge here and if they feel like dragging him into his agents' love-lives, there's nothing he can do about it.
Each of the dead people turns out to be a criminal who turned state evidence and received a second chance in a witness protection program. Finding out that Tom was an abusive bastard, however, makes Maureen wonder if they shouldn't be giving their new Neuro a medal. Riley finds the next target, allowing the team to witness him wandering through what he thinks is a car auction but is really an abandoned building. The Neuro marks who is following behind, then continues guiding Mr. Hazen towards a painful death. It takes far longer than the others and seems needlessly complicated: he winds up locked in a gated area, about to be cut in half by a laser torch, all Goldfinger stlye.
While Connor runs off for no reason, McBride and Jane stand helplessly at the fence, yelling for Maureen to push the disarm button. (Rather than crossing about fifteen feet to push it themselves? Fine. Fine. Who am I to deny Maureen her crisis of faith in humanity.) Jane saves Hazen, however, making Maureen feel awful stupid when it turns out he was a defense attorney targeted by a mobster.
The history of case file access seems to point to a guy named Downing, so McBride sends Conner to check it out. What he finds is that Downing has gotten all his hands on the team's intel. Sounds of an attack over his com send Connor rushing back, where he finds everyone dead... or does he...?
To be fair, they don't try all that hard to convince us that it's real. Doesn't do the others much good to know that he's hallucinating that they are attacking ninjas (yes, ninjas), however, as Connor's still got far too many automatic weapons on him. Fortunately, Jane tackles the big oaf before he actually manages to shoot anyone. He's predictably chastened and pissed at being manipulated, so it's fortunate that Riley may have uncovered a more appropriate target for violence.
A guy named Hennessey was spotted in the area of Hazen's little near-death experience. His teenage daughter was killed by someone who was "relocated," so they're guessing he might want revenge. Not knowing how to deal with someone who can make them see anything, Jane suggests they mess with Hennessey's mind a little. Finding his lair, she pulls her resurrection trick in front of him, distracting him long enough so that Maureen can chip him.
Afterwards, McBride and Connor go to an army base where all the Neuros are being stashed in order to debrief Hennessey, only to be told that he's been transferred...
What We Learned
- Everyone has things they hide.
- Not that Jane would have any personal knowledge of buying more underwear rather than doing laundry.
- Maureen needs an ass to kick.
- Life is short.
- Clean is suspiciously messy.
- What Connor doesn't know could fill a book.
- Cravings can be a body's way of signalling a chemical process.
- Even the most open people can have something to hide.
What Did I Think?
Pretty good, all things considered. They needed to cut the bit with Hazen by about five minutes; while I could see what they were trying to do with it and Maureen, the whole lasar torch thing was ridiculous.