Melanie's Review
Laurie's Review
Melanie's Review:Hawk and a Handsaw offers a different twist on some familiar themes. Much to my surprise and delight, the mentally ill characters were handled with great sensitivity, while the usually-revered doctors and other health-care professionals are slammed. And how often do clinical drug trials make it into a cop show? The episode was written by David Shore and Paul Haggis, who work together on Family Law as well--a quality combination. (Come to think of it, Family Law had a very moving, multi-episode story about a mentally ill man.)
Exchanges like this one touch my heart, without slapping me with melodrama:
Fraser: Hi. How we doing today?I often comment on how well the A and B stories in an episode are balanced, and I give special praise when the two stories are fairly well integrated. Well on this standard, Hawk and a Handsaw excels--because the A and B stories are so tightly interwoven as to become a single tale. Walter's flashback about Ty's suicide was triggered by his fellow patient's visit to the "blue room"; Fraser's search for Ty led him back to the hospital, where he uncovered the reason for the suicide. It all circles back on itself!
Walter: Some days are better than others.
Fraser: Can I ask you a question? Do you know how long you've been in here?
Walter: I'm insane, not stupid.
Fraser: Sorry.
Walter: Yeah, today I know.
This is classic Due South. Fraser takes on an investigation that nobody else would bother with--in this case, the search for a crazy man's delusion--and stumbles across a much greater evil.
Ray got the short end of the stick, having little to do other than complain and provide laugh lines. At every stage of the investigation, he was wrong and Fraser was right. As far as I can tell, throughout the entire episode the only real contributions he made were to provide the information about the unknown drug in the dead body, and keep Dr Martin distracted for a moment or two on the ledge. Oh yes--and he was the fulcrum.
Meanwhile, the mentally ill patients are used for gentle, dignified whimsy rather than broad comedy.
One scene that doesn't seem to fit at all is the one in which Dief charms Esther Pearson into taking him home. I don't know why, it just doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything. It's the closest thing this episode has to a Dief moment, but it doesn't impress me enough to win the nod from me.
DuesiesFraser: Ray, these are professionals. Won't they know if you've rehearsed your answers?
Ray: Oh, they may suspect but they won't be able to prove it. Now I go in there unprepared and they say 'brother' and I say 'naked' I'm gonna be explaining myself away for the next two weeks.
Fraser: You'd say naked?
Ray: I'm talking hypothetically.
Fraser: I'm sorry, Ray, but it sounds like you're drawing from personal experience.
Ray: Well you know, me and my brother used to take baths together when we were younge What's wrong with that?
Fraser: Well nothing. It just seems like an odd response.
Ray: Ya see? Ya see? Even you're reading stuff into that. You say something innocent like that and the next thing you know they're trying to convince you that you have dreams of seeing your mother naked.
Fraser: You have dreams of your mother naked?
Ray: I said 'brother.'
Fraser: You said 'mother.'
Ray: I know what I said. I said 'brother.' It's my dream, I should know who's in it.
Fraser: Well how long you been having this dream?
Ray: There is no dream. I made it up!Fraser: Well since he asked the bus driver to take him to Mike's house, he must have had reason to think the bus driver knew where Mike's house was.
Ray: Fraser, there's a guy on my corner who asks me every morning if I've seen God. Do you think he really expects me to point him out?
Fraser: Well you know if you did Ray, perhaps he'd stop asking.Fraser: Do you know where Mike is?
Bus driver: I think he was killed in the fourteenth Century.
Ray: Oh great, at least now we got a murder investigation on our hands.Welsh: You know I was trying to figure out why I missed you so much yesterday afternoon--then I realized, you weren't there. Now perhaps you can explain, Detective, how an entire working day can go by without you doing any actual police work.
Ray: A missing person, sir.
Welsh: Who?
Ray: Ty.
Welsh: Ty.
Ray: Yes sir.
Welsh: Babalonia?
Ray: Uh, no sir.
Welsh: Ah, it's too bad. We don't see enough of her anymore.
Ray: Ah no we don't, sir.Patient 1: Don't worry about him. Doesn't know what he knows.
Patient 2: Yeah. You don't look like Winston.
Fraser: Well I'm not.
Patient 2: You're on his spot. That is Winston's spot.
Fraser: What happen to Winston?
Patient 2: He wouldn't tell them his name and they killed him.
Patient 1: Took his feet off the ground. You standing on his spot.
Patient 2: They take you to the blue room.
Walter: There's no blue room. Don't listen to me--I don't know what I know.
Patient 2: Actually, I don't know what I don't know.
Patient 1: Shuffle!
Third Runner-Up Nitpick of the WeekWhy does the Chicago PD send its employees to the security wing of a mental hospital for a routine psych evaluation?
Second Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week
Fraser seems to have a lot of free time to work cases--but how did he convince Moffat to give him time off to be committed to a mental ward?
Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week
Fraser clearly let go of the Doctor's ankles as Ray crept across the ledge to help.
Nitpick of the Week
If Fraser remembers so much about the pressure and duration of the nurse's keystrokes, why doesn't he remember that the password was only 5 characters? The first password he tried was 7 characters long .
Runner up Moment of the WeekRay: ". . . ELLLLLLLLLLLP!"
Moment of the Week
Walter: Where you taking 'em?
Dr. Martins: Nowhere. Now just step aside.
Walter: No, you're taking them somewhere.
Dr. Martins: Look, nothing is happening here. Now you're getting better, John. Don't start imagining things again. Trust me.
Fraser: Trust what you see, Walter.
Dr. Martins: Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in here? All right people, back to your beds.
Guest star of the WeekMichael Riley as Walter "John Doe" Sparks. Delusional with dignity--very sensitively played!
Fraser Factoids of the WeekWalter: A Mountie? You don't look like a Mountie.
Fraser: Well you know, the red uniform it's really mostly for special occasions. Although they do seem to insist that I wear mine more often--
Walter: You always get your man.
Fraser: You know that's a popular misconception. It really isn't our motto. It was invented by the writer of an early black and white movie. Our actual motto? Maintain the right. Which admittedly may not be as--
Ray: Benny!
Fraser: Yes. Yes we do often get our man.
Super Mountie Power of the WeekRay: Ew! How long has that been in there?
Fraser: Two and a half hours.
Ray: Don't those things dissolve?
Fraser: The key is to control your saliva ducts.
The Explanation"Well, you see I used to live in the Yukon, but I uncovered a plot that involved drowning caribou and then some men who were dressed in white came after me with homicidal intentions. It's a rather long story, it takes exactly two hours to tell, but the upshot of it is I was sent here. I think I embarrassed some people in the government."
Snack to enjoy while watching Hawk & a HandsawOatmeal, with. . . sliced banana.
Grading:
Walter & Ty A+ The Drug & the Blue Room A Bob Fraser & Caroline's Death A+ Overall Grade A+
Laurie's Review:I'll begin by gushing: I LOVE THIS EP!
Hawk & a Handsaw gets better, if that's possible, each time I see it, and it's probably tied with The Deal as my most watched episode. Superb all around. We often talk about the balance of drama and humor in various eps. Well, the balance is again perfect. Except for the occasional slapstick, most of the drama and humor is so subtly blended that's it's sometimes difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins.
I think Hawk & a Handsaw is perhaps more cohesive than any other ep, including The Deal. It's also a very visual episode. It's not enough to hear or read the dialogue because too much is missed, especially at the hospital, where most of the patients move silently through the building. Their actions and activity create so much atmosphere.
The villains aren't typical villains such as mobsters, thieves, crooked politicians, etc. They're much more insidious, people who have been entrusted with the care of a vulnerable group unable to speak for themselves. This fact makes the story more thought provoking and realistic as crimes like this occur all too often and they frequently go undetected because of the white-collar nature. At least the head nurse is compassionate and hasn't lost her moral bearings.
The entire ep revolves around Ben's search for the truth and it began with his own lie. If he hadn't told Walter that he saw Ty inside the hospital, he wouldn't have felt honor bound to learn what happened to Ty. The lie also proves that under certain circumstances, Mounties do lie, contrary to what Ray is fond of saying. Would Ben have felt compelled to find Ty if he hadn't lied? Probably, but it wouldn't have been as personal. I love that he was able to get himself committed to the hospital without lying. The truth can certainly sound far-fetched.
Melanie commented in her review that "Ray got the short end of the stick, having little to do other than complain and provide laugh lines..." I don't think he got the short end of the stick. His contribution, a very important one, was to provide essential comic relief in what otherwise would have been a somber, depressing episode. Nobody does it better. "And the Emmy for Best Whiner and Complainer in a Starring Role, utilizing an occasional nasal quality, goes to David Marciano as Det. Ray Vecchio!" Ray and Ben complement each other beautifully.
This is only one of a handful of eps in which none of the action occurs at the Consulate or the 27th. Letting Go and North are the only others I can think of. Lt. Welsh's appearance at the river when the body is found is the only physical connection to the workplace.
There are two moments on the ledge that I like, when Ben and Walter mirror each other. First, Ben crosses his arms, leans against the side of the building and talks about the Mounties. Walter does the same. The second is when Walter leans over the edge with his hands resting on his knees. Ben copies his stance, but not without a slight look of nervousness.
Akua Tuta is a marvelous selection for the scene where Ben leads the patient parade through the hospital in search of the Blue Room. There are about half a dozen songs from the soundtracks that I listen to over and over again. This is one of them. It's exotic but in an entirely different way than From a Million Miles.
Check out the old lady in the activity room pulling her skirt above her knees when she sees Ben, and his reaction. Moments like that aren't in transcripts and they add nothing pertinent to the story but they're priceless.
I love the bus-related scenes: Ben and Ray standing at the bus stops while it's snowing, Ben asking the driver if he can take them to Mike's house, the Tai Babilonia comments. On one of the rides Ray asks, "Do you have any idea how many Mikes live on this bus route?" Ben gets a thoughtful look like he's about to answer but Ray keeps on talking, "No, and neither do I and neither does anybody."
The most touching and revealing scene: Ben telling Walter about his father and the aftermath of his mother's death.
Maybe we can look for tell-tale signs in eps that give them away as being Canadian. In Hawk & a Handsaw it's the "patients wash room" sign on the door. We don't have wash rooms in America.
Not only is Michael Riley the Guest Star of the Week, he's one of the best guest stars ever. He gives such an impressive performance.
I'm not going to nitpick anything, not even Ray walking through the patient wards on his way to his routine psych evaluation. We all know that's a necessary plot device to place them at the scene.
Well, I guess I do have a minor one after all. Ray refers to Dr. Pearson as the Ice Maiden. Insp. Thatcher was either the Dragon Lady or the Ice Queen. I have a problem with unflattering nicknames for strong women in positions of power.
I love the guys humming I've Been Working on the Railroad and Ben's comment, "Perhaps it was the refrain. It was 'Dinah blow your horn'." That's just silly.
Duesies:Ray: Why are you doing this to me, Fraser?
Ben: Well, I told him I'd help.
Ray: You tell that to everybody. So what are we going to do, sit on this bus until Ty gets on?
Ben: You know, I looked into that man's eyes when I was on that ledge, Ray, and I saw a man who was lost. You can lose your job, you can lose your home and it could be devastating, but if you lose yourself, you have nothing.Ray: Oh, all right, what's your theory? They guy jumped from the fifth floor of the hospital, caught a thermal updraft and flew the sixteen blocks to the river?
Ben: Well, that's just silly, Ray.
Ray: It's a joke.Ben: There's something going on inside that hospital, Ray.
Ray: You're crazy.
Ben: That's a good idea.Walter: You're not helping them, you know. People see things. Sometimes they do, but that doesn't mean that they're real. That doesn't mean that it happened.
Ben: Well, I'm not sure about that. Quite often I see things that nobody else seems to.
Walter: Well, that's why you're here.
Ben: Yes, I suppose so. It's a curious thing, reality, isn't it?Ray: I don't think they're really painting the visiting room, Fraser. Will you take a look at this room? It looks like something out of the Dark Ages. They'll probably give us shock treatment. I don't react well to shock treatment!
Ben: Well, if something got in with the door being locked, we should be able to get outside.
Ray: Oh, did something get in?
Ben: Yes. Air. In spite of being in a hermetically sealed room, we haven't suffocated.
Ray: You know, there's only one problem with that. We're a lot bigger than air.Ray: Why do I always have to be the fulcrum?
Ben: Stop moving, Ray. You're dispersing the energy.Fr. Behan: Vecchio, huh? You Catholic?
Keepership:The Stetson until Ben's admitted to the hospital. I had it in my possession, that's why he wasn't wearing it at the beginning. He always wears it when he's in civilian clothes, and it's always puzzled me somewhat that he's not wearing it in the early scenes.
Grade:An indisputable A+.
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