Jeraldo

Pretender Episode Review

In which strange things happen in TV.

What Happened

Jarod plays cameraman for a news anchor who is worried about his ratings. He suspects that Phil may know more than he's telling about what happened to his previous cameraman. Ken Watanabe was shot trying to get tape of a gang-land summit and lost the use of his arm.

Miss Parker and Sydney follow one of Jarod's clues to a run-down building, where they are promptly mugged. Sydney is shot, and they are locked in a cage in the basement. To make matters worse, the condemned building is wired with explosives. They decide they have nothing to do but sit around and talk about their past.

Jarod learns that the gang members involved in the shooting were all called by a man wanting to interview them about the turf war. Phil deliberately lured both sides to the location, knowing that there would be violence. Dragged to a warehouse by Jarod, Phil winds up menaced by the gang Jarod has befriended with pizza. They get in his face and he blubbers like a baby, finally confessing that he set up the whole thing. It's broadcast live to the entire city.

Broots, meanwhile, gets a call from Jarod, who tells him where Miss Parker and Sydney are, saving them from drama and flashback.

What We Learned

• He's very good at reducing tensions in the body.
• Miss Parker is very good at causing them.
• Only God rewrote history.
• God never won sweeps.
• Miss Parker will trade a dozen Ferragamos for one Jarod any day.
• Pulitzer's rolling over in his grave and Nielsen's packing down the dirt.
• If it bleeds, it leads.
• Phil worships Kronkite in secret midnight rituals.
• Strange things happen in TV.
• Miss Parker regrets not going to the prom.
• Broots does not think it would be more peaceful working for Raines.
• Rumor has it, the Centre helped design the Pope-mobile.

What Did I Think?

As usual, Miss Parker vs. Sydney was far more interesting than Jarod's latest trickery.