A serial killer is inadvertantly released from prison by Frank's backstep and proceeds to abduct several women who have a lifespan of seven days before he gets bored and kills them. Can Frank save them from The Collector?
A couple of minor details have been changed to protect the guilty of plagiarism, but this week's Seven Days uses the tried and trusted method of blatantly ripping off ideas from a film, this time Kiss the Girls. Even the title comes from Morgan Freeman's movie line 'this guy's a collector'. Killer Brux hides the women away underground (snap), keeps them in cages (snap) and has a black detective on his trail (snap). There are also switching scene 'flashes' similar to those used in Millennium. The only aspects that are different are the exact settings, the fact that Brux feeds his women gourmet meals before they die in a particularly stupid plot point and seems stupid enough to spend a lot of time in the open where Frank can track him.
One thing you can give this episode, it does the serial killer thing pretty well. Although Brux hardly ranks alongside the more memorable psychos, he is well-played by Brent Stait. Justina Vail, on the other hand, doesn't look particularly troubled as Olga by her ordeal during captivity, and after it just spends her time running. Is this a recognized form of therapy? Her capture is obvious from the very beginning, and it's just a shame that with at least two tailor-made opportunities, Brux takes her at the time when it is least likely he could have managed to do so.
There's also some curious police procedure going on. Not only are Frank, Ramsey and Donovan allowed to punch Brux in the face repeatedly while he is in custody, Donovan later dynamites the door to let Brux escape. Surely a search would be a better approach than releasing a homicidal killer into the world again, and did the FBI agent present approve Donovan's actions? Mind you, Brux is no better, heading right where they want him to go. It's all too clichéd and obvious and smacks of a lack of thought. A shame, as this could have been an atmospheric change of pace for the series.
**
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