Point - 2x10/11 - "The House of Cards, pts. 1-2"

[indy42]

Point Season 2, Episode 9
"...Of it All"

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Starring
Michelle Rodriguez as Alex Weiss
Jeremy Davies as Derek Shan
Christoph Waltz as C.O.
Ken Leung as Wells
John Leguizamo as Scott Cereghino
Michelle Monaghan as Sophie
Adrian Lester as Harding
Thandie Newton as Tanner

[Dale]

2x10 – “House of Cards; Part 1”

The Season finale of Point; Season 2 kicks off with C.O, bruised and beaten from Scott Cereghino’s escape, preparing for the final stages of the plan he and his associates have been working on. Right off the bat I’d like to say that Point Season 2 has benefited from being more focused that Season 1. Sure, it’s had some hiccups along the way (Alex’s brother being killed) but for the most part the reasoning behind the bad guys actions has been laid out much planer and clearer than Season 1, we know the goal, we know why they’re doing what they’re doing and it makes everything work all the better.

I really like the procedural aspect the show took on with Scott and Alex tracking down leads. I felt Scott just happening to know a guy who had a connection with Fin Black was a little contrived and sloppy based on everything we’ve seen from this “secret organization” but I do like the idea of Fin Black going to the lengths he went to, just to destroy this run of the mill cops life. The explosion in the car raises some questions, but provided a really strong closing to the opening act. Harding has been a fairly strong character this Season (in comparison to some of the others at least) and his possible death before he redeems himself for his part in the bank heist is actually quite the sad moment.

Wells sneaking around the House of C was tense, I really enjoyed the line “To, hand me your gun.” And it was nice to see Wells actually take action. There was some good exposition dialogue between the two characters who eventually ended up dead which provided some answers. The ending of the scene with Wells slipping on one of the tuxedos promises for some good stuff later on which keeps things interesting.

The shoot out with Alex and Scott’s mystery assailants was a well written action scene. I’d like to mention though, the no name henchman deal really pisses me off. I don’t expect you to introduce him, give him a name and a full back-story when his only purpose is to get shot. It’s just a pet peeve of mine. I really liked his standoff with Alex, clearly you’re trying to develop something between Alex and Harding after the previous episode which I don’t have much of a problem with. I loved that Alex just shot the guy without hesitation, staying true to her character and the line with Scott to end the scene was just the icing on the cake.

C.O gathering Jay was interesting, the idea of leaving someone locked in a room with a gun and a single bullet is a pretty awesome test and the branding later in the House of C provided another cool, albeit slightly homoerotic (man tying another man to a wooden pommel horse and jabbing him with a hot poker – come on) moment. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this cult business originally but it’s starting to pique my interest.

It was nice to see Derek in a “Point” finale for a change, although I’m not entirely sure why Wells and Sophie feel the needs to go rushing to Derek. Derek may be the leader of the group but he’s injured and not exactly in a position to do much; he’s not Jack Bauer after all. Also, I’m starting to question why they haven’t tried to contact Alex and Harding yet.

The interaction with Harding and Alex was well written, writhe with subtext and silently type of flirting. It’d be far more affective had Alex not kissed him out of nowhere the previous day. Now it just seems a tad to forced and there’s nothing to really build to on a romantic level. But maybe that’s just my opinion. The revelation that Clay Higson is dead was a nice manoeuvre, the heroes running out of time and hitting nothing but brick walls makes for good drama and I like it.

I really liked the morgue scene; it’s a great way to up the mystery as Fin Black finds not Clay Higson’s body, but Jared Johnson’s. Johnson has been a colossal screw up throughout the history of the show so I’m actually glad he’s gone now. He’s been involved in some of the low points of the season so good riddance I say. Fin’s statement that it’s happened and that they’re all dead if they don’t get on “it” was interesting. C.O and company have been in control for the majority of the season (except for Scott and Tanner’s escapes – one of which they took care of eventually anyway) so Black losing it provided a good dramatic moment to close out the first part.

Overall, the first part of the “Point” Season 2 finale continued the rebound after the mid-season slump providing some great dramatic moments, some intense action and some rather good story telling. The structure of the episode was extremely solid here and helped keep the tension and even increase it, which “Power” failed to do completely and utterly. There are still some things that are being over looked that were presented as extremely important earlier in the Season and Alex seems to have rebounded pretty quickly from Tanner and her brother’s deaths but the stuff the show did deliver on was particularly strong here so it didn’t bother me as much as it has done in previous episodes.

Score: 9/10

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2x011 – “House of Cards; Part 2”

“House of Cards; Part 2” opening up with a very interesting scene between Jay, C.O and Jared Johnson. Last episode, we saw Johnson dead on a slab in a Morgue (a fact I wasn’t exactly torn up about) so it was rather jarring to see him here alive and well.

Alex and Scott investigating the Apartment of Higson is interesting, I can just imagine all the newspaper clippings on the wall of his bedroom, relating to the illegal things MCGFN have done. I can also imagine them paying off doctors to claim the Higson character has schizophrenia so nobody buys in to his claims that it’s a corrupt company and such. The hole in the wall was perhaps a tad too much but I like where this is going.

C.O taking Jay and Johnson to the Amphitheatre with sniper rifles seems a bit weak. C.O has had this master plan all Season, he’s been the man that’s tied up loose ends, that’s been everyone at once that has taken care of everything, and now his only option is to pull in a guy at the last minute and the guy that fails at everything he ever does in Johnson, to pick off Derek and company if they see them. The revelation that Clare is C.O’s mole is interesting. It doesn’t explain the scene in the opening episode of the Season where Sophie concealed a gun for her or why Clare saved Derek and Tanner’s lives. She could have easily let them die and simply claim that she got to them to late etc. and there was nothing she could do. It wouldn’t blow her cover and it’d pick of two pesky thorns in C.O’s sides. So it didn’t really work for me.

Alex and Scott’s rush hardly seemed necessary, mainly because C.O seemed to already have the information on the group. He had their pictures and was instructing his minions to shoot them on sight. Plus, Clare’s not exactly in the loop herself, so what can she tell them that they don’t already know? Alex has always been impulsive but she’s not stupid, she and Scott rushed to the Amphitheatre to stop Clare and C.O from killing Derek and the others. But then Alex goes and puts herself in jeopardy by walking into a room full of people and placing a gun to a guy’s head. Way to draw attention to one’s self. This didn’t really work for me either.

I’m glad that the Safety Deposit Box that Harding delivered earlier in the season was referenced, but Scott’s just presuming that that Safety Deposit Box is there. And really, we have no bloody idea where it is because I can’t even recall when it was last mention. Also, if they cripple the foundations, the building comes down, with them inside of it. I would have liked to have seen someone bring up that fact. I liked that Harding rushed to Alex’s rescue and Johnson trying to use Harding’s past association with him to his advantage is the first smart thing Johnson has done in the series history. Alex was a little too quick to buy it though even if there is a history between Harding and Johnson. Like I said, Alex isn’t stupid and wouldn’t take her gun off of Johnson, not even for a second (at least in my mind). And the second Alex moved her gun; Johnson should have shot her dead, never mind just threatening to. He really is an idiot; just saying.

Also, if Clare had the “C” brand on her hand, how come not one person noticed it? That’s kind of a hard pull to swallow. I can suspend disbelief so far but this kind of crossed the line. The fact it took Johnson that long to actually shoot Alex is beyond me, and Alex giving him the chance is even more disappointing. Johnson getting one between the eyes is fine by me, as you have probably guessed; I’m not a big fan of his.

The ending sequence with Scott accidentally detonating the Safety Deposit box in Tanner’s backpack raises some questions. First being, why would Sophie take the car with the backpack in it, if the Safety Deposit Box Bomb was part of their plan? It’s all kind of hazy and convoluted but Sophie was another character so I have no qualms with her getting blown up. The finale with C.O blowing up the amphitheatre was nice. C.O has been far and away the stand out character of Season 2 so it was actually quite cool to see the bad guys win one.

Overall, this was kind of messy. “House of Cards; Part 1” was very well built up and thought out. However “Part 2” isn’t really either of those things. We’re re-introduced to a few things that have been out of sight and certainly out of mind for a while (Safety Deposit Box) and there are a lot of unanswered questions like how did Scott come to have the detonator, why was it in the car with Sophie etc. Also, the whole story from the first part, featuring C.O and Jay in the end seemed rather pointless as Jay’s role was several reduced for “Part 2”. The great ending scene of “Part 1” ended up being complete nonsense in the context of “Part 2” because Johnson was up and walking, Fin wasn’t featured at all and the whole Higson’s plot line lead to a hole in the wall. Some of the reveals, such as Clare being the insider in Derek’s team ended up being a bit of a bust, seeing as it went against something earlier in the Season (That still hasn’t been explained). Overall “Part 2” seemed less refined that “Part 1” and kind of left a sour taste in my mouth to be honest. It had its fair share of good stuff too, the standoff with Johnson, Harding, Clare and Alex was pretty intense however some of the stuff with C.O and Wells was all over the place. Why did C.O have to be in the Amphitheatre? He walked out at the end and blew it up, so why even go in the first place?

Score: 7/10

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Season Review

“Point” Season 2 is a big step up from Season 1. Season 1 started out extremely strongly and somewhere along the way lost focus, become a jumbled mess and never seemed to recover. Early parts of Season 2 were clearly more refined and thought put and worked so much better.

I had worried what would happen once the Bank Heist was over and my doubts were certainly relieved after the first three episodes. The show moved forward whilst remaining as connected to the Bank Heist as possible, interconnecting characters (both alive and deceased) with the organizations created here in Season 2.

Season 2 introduced several new characters, including C.O, Sophie, Clare and Wells. C.O was the standout amongst the new faces, playing an important role as the Season’s main villain. Jared Johnson had been a bit of a joke in Season 1, being foiled in the Bank Heist fairly easily in the end. C.O however proved to be a far more effective and charming villain and the show’s marked improvement has large deal to do with him.

The other new characters never really got the same time to shine, playing back ground roles to Derek, Alex and Tanner and ultimately I never found myself getting attached to them. Scott Cereghino; a character who appeared briefly at the end of Season 1 played a larger role this Season and proved to be a solid character in the end. You can attribute this, mainly to the episode “...Of it All” arguably the Season’s best episode.

The Season did however falter around episode five “The Reluctant Lamb” as the core group stage the rescue of Tanner. The use of flashbacks during the middle episodes, shining a spotlight on Derek, Tanner and Alex didn’t do much for me and I thought it detracted from the main plot. C.O and Johnson’s actions became quite puzzling around this time and a storyline involving Alex’s brother was arguably the most ill conceived plot point of the season. Also, elements such as the Safety Deposit Box Bomb, the Snitch Tanner had in Johnson’s organization are and even Harding’s co Bank Heist-er Li are presented in the early episodes as being important but are later are all but forgotten about.

Season 2 also witnessed the death of main character Tanner. Tanner had never really be as strong as character as Alex and both women were fairly similar to one another. So killing Tanner and letting Alex be the focus of the show is not something I’m entirely against. However, with Tanner’s death now, I fear we may never get to see her relationship with Alex pre Bank Heist which had been hinted at in Season 1.

In my Reviews I talked about Tanner’s inside man quite a bit. It was something I was extremely interesting in seeing as both C.O and Derek’s grip seemed to be attempting to find he/she. . I don’t know if I missed something because I read to quick or because I do most of my reviewing but for some reason, that particularly story seemed to just disappear and it was no longer important. In Tanner’s flashback episode, it shows Tanner coercing Robin to give her information on Johnson’s schedule, so I’m assuming Robin was the insider. And if I remember correctly, Robin also just disappeared from Season 1.

Overall, Season 2 rebounded strongly after the disastrous Season 1 finale. It introduced one hell of a good villain and the concept of secret organisations and cults. Alex also got to develop into an even deeper character and possibility of a romance with Harding (who himself became a fairly intriguing character) has me looking forward to Season 3. Character development, wasn’t exactly at its strongest with the secondary characters, with Sophie, Clare and Wells never really having much of a purpose. Some of the storytelling could be uneven at times and things important in one episode (Luke’s death, Tanner’s death etc. etc.) are all but forgotten about later on but “Point” Season 2 did manage to maintain a more consistent level of quality than the Season before it and I hope to see the show move into an even higher gear with Season 3.

Season Score: 7.5/10