Melanie's Review
Laurie's Review
Melanie's Review:The central plot of Asylum strikes me as an excellent idea indeed. Put Ray in a tight frame-up, forcing Fraser to race against the clock to prove his friend's innocence. This is the kind of story that only Due South could do: the issue of Fraser's right to offer asylum and the short time-frame in which extradition would be ordered make it a natural story for this show.
However, the details of the crime itself were convoluted to the point of leaving me confused and frustrated. Three (count 'em, three!) competing mobsters from Due South's never ending supply of organized crime bosses, used by a crooked prosecutor in league with a bent Internal Affairs Officer (yet another perennial Due South villain-type) who uses a trigger-happy beat officer to ensure that Ray will flee in panic (!) rather than taking charge of the murder scene. It was intricate, it was logical, but to me it read like a Rube Goldberg contraption. I would have preferred a simpler, more elegant frame-up, more attention given to the asylum/extradition issues, and less attention paid to the mixed up motives of the numerous bad guys.
What bugged me was that the bad guys were fairly one dimensional and there were so many of them. We never learned (or much cared) why Cahill thought the best way to get elected was to commit murder and frame a cop. We never learned how he got involved with the corrupt IA officer. I don't rightly recall whether we ever learned whether one or the other of them had a particular grudge against Ray (or Ray), or whether they knew about the undercover situation (which would have been blown out of the water if Ray was actually arrested and arraigned), or whether Cahill had used similar methods in the past.
I believe it's fairly well-established that this was the first episode filmed for the third season. I've also heard, although never from an authoritative source, that the script was originally written for David Marciano as Ray Vecchio. I have absolutely no problem believing this, especially when the spooked detective runs for his life directly to the consulate, and bursts though the door yelling, "Fraser!" This fits Ray Kowalski as well, but it seems to me to be a scene that would have fit Ray Vecchio extremely well. However, there is one moment in the episode that is pure Kowalski:
Fraser: You didn't shoot that man.
Ray: How do you know? How do you know? How can you be so sure?
Fraser: Because I know you. You're my partner. And you're my friend.
Ray: Was that hard to say?
Fraser: Not in the least.
Ray: Are you going to call your dog off?This brief exchange simply screams about the awkward newness of the belationship between Fraser and Ray Kowalski. In fact, it leads me to suspect that this episode would have fit better between Strange Bedfellows and Seeing is Believing. If you think I'm nuts, take a look at Francesca: she's wearing her official uniform in this episode. Also, there's an awkward bit of expository business in Welsh's office, reminding the viewer of who Dewey is.
Duesies:Cahill: Harding! Hey, how's your belly where the pig bit you?
Dewey: The name's Dewey. Nice to meet you. You look bigger in your posters.
Cahill: It's not the size of the army, kid, it's the fury of its onslaught.Ray: Hey, you guys sort of like the British? I mean, what's up with the toilet? The reason I ask is once we had this guy over from Scotland Yard, and every day he would drive back to the hotel just to use the can.
Turnbull: I see nothing wrong with that, do you, sir?
Fraser: No.Fraser: Detectives Huey and Dewey are undoubtedly stationed outside waiting to arrest you the moment you step from this building. As long as you remain here, you are safe. . . Diefenbaker, let's go.
Turnbull: Tea, Mr. Vecchio?
Ray: Safe?
Fraser: Welcome to Canada, Ray.
Turnbull: Since you're a newcomer to our nation, I figured an orientation might be of some help as well as some good fun. Are you familiar with the sport known as curling?Frannie: You smell great.
Fraser: That would be the neat's-foot oil.
Frannie: You wear neat's-foot oil?
Fraser: On my Sam Browne. . . My belt.
Frannie: Oh.
Fraser: Ah. Sergeant Kilrae. Just the man I was looking for.
Kilrae: You're looking for me in the closet?
Fraser: Well, no, I'm in the closet for an altogether different reason.
Frannie: I wish.Ray: Anything that moves that slowly is not a sport.
Turnbull: Not a sport. . . ?
Ray: This is not a sport, it's housework.
Turnbull: It is a calling.
Ray: It may be a pastime, it may even be a hobby, but it is definitely not a sport.
Turnbull: Do you want to fight?
Ray: Over curling?
Turnbull: Yes. What if I made fun of baseball?
Ray: All right.
Fraser: Afternoon, gentlemen.
Ray: Hey, you're empty-handed.
Fraser: But I am not empty-trousered.
Ray: Yes! Yes!
Turnbull: Sir?. . . Sir!
Fraser and Turnbull: Sweeeeeep!
Turnbull: Oh, I love this game!Turnbull: Sir? Your presence.
Fraser: Ah.
Ray: Your presence? What are you, like a king or something?
Fraser: To Turnbull, yes.Cahill: Are you mocking me? Are you mocking this city, this administration?
Fraser: Certainly not, sir. No. We greatly appreciate the generosity shown to us by the people of Chicago, and I assure you should you ever find yourself in Nunavut, you will not be wanting for a meal.
Cahill: Come here, come here. You know, this Marquis of Queensbury thing and your grammar and all, it's very quaint. But I just want to remind you that we took Grenada, we beat the snot out of Haiti, we knocked Panama on its ass, and if needs be, we can take this little piss pot too! Have a nice evening.Ray: Fillion. . . Herndorff. . . Cahill. . . Kilrea. . . Hey, got the makings of a bonspiel--
Fraser: What's wrong?
Ray: I just made a curling reference. . . I'm going to go lie down.Turnbull: . . . Ooh, sir. A two-tone Baretta, model 92, nine millimeter, 11 rounds in the magazine, sporting a muzzle velocity of 2,000 feet per second. Very nice.
Fraser: Very nice indeed.
Turnbull: Thank you. Enjoy the show.
Second Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week:Fraser: Oh. Is it the standard military modified field unit?
Turnbull: Correct. A 17-centimeter stem on a 9-liter displacement.
Fraser: A 17-centimeter stem on a 9-liter displacement. Not available locally.
Turnbull: We could have one flown in from Prince Rupert.This episode takes place in a matter of months, if not weeks, after the consulate moved into its new quarters. Since this building was not a Canadian consulate prior to that event, it would follows that the "standard military modified field unit" that has to be flown in from Prince Rupert was only very recently installed. Are Canadian military toilets so unreliable? Perhaps they should get a standard US residential unit at their local Home Depot.
Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week:
This comes from one of my old college textbooks: "The fiction that the diplomatic quarters are actually located in the territory of the sending state has been abandoned in modern legal theory." (Law Among Nations, p. 447) Not that Fraser wasn't within his rights to refuse admittance to local law enforcement (he was), not that he didn't have the right to offer asylum to Ray (although I'm not too clear as to whether he did) but all this "Welcome to Canada" stuff was just a big bluff.
Nitpick of the Week:
Fraser used the American Miranda warning. Given the vehemence with which he insisted that the consulate is a little piece of Canada, you think he would have used the Canadian form.
Fantasy Moment of the Week:Diefenbaker carefuly lip-reading Fraser's instructions in Inuktitut. If this had been part of canon since the beginning, or if it was used ever after, I could have bought it. (As much as I buy anything where Dief's involved.) But isolated here in this one episode, it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Guest star of the Week:Wayne Robson as Damon Cahill. His banty rooster strut ("It's not the size of the army, kid, it's the fury of its onslaught") was a hoot. I'm a bit partial to Robson, especially in his role as the lovable ex-convict Mike Hamar on The Red Green Show.
Snack to enjoy while watching Asylum:Pineapple pizza!
Grading:
Ray in Asylum A Cahill and the Frame B+ for lack of depth The Mobster Quadrille B Overall Grade A-
Laurie's Review:When Asylum aired I had not seen any Season 1/2 eps and only a handful from Season 3. I enjoyed it but something was lacking. Chemistry. Fraser and Ray were supposed to be friends but I didn't feel it, not in a convincing way. Their friendship seemed awkward. Now that I know this ep was written before DM had officially left the cast, it makes sense to me. I also know the correct sequence of eps now and can see that a friendship truly developed, not only between the characters but the actors who portrayed them. I suppose Callum had yet to find his groove.
This ep has a marvelous plot and is very well acted, by everyone. The comic bits are clever, often subtle, and as good as I've seen in any other story. BUT, Fraser and Ray don't work for me. Something's off kilter in their friendship. To be honest, it's hard for me to call it friendship since I don't see or feel it, and it often looks as though Fraser is acting at being Ray's friend. Their interactions don't seem natural.
A continuity problem with this ep being out of sequence: there's a fair amount of snow, but in the eps immediately preceding and following (Spy vs. Spy & Perfect Strangers), it's very mild.
I have to say something about the much discussed clothes issue, Ray wearing Fraser's things. We're not told exactly how much time elapses, but I think it's several days. Insp. Thatcher had two large suitcases, which would indicate she was going away for longer than a weekend, plus the Consulate is open for business, so maybe it's a full work week. Unless someone went to Ray's apartment for a change of clothes, he would need something else to wear. Fraser's clothes would be the logical choice; Ray is at the Consulate, Fraser's clothes are at the Consulate. Sending someone to Ray's apartment could pose a problem since he's a murder suspect.
I noticed for the first time while reviewing this ep that Turnbull is wearing his Stetson while he's at his desk in the opening scene. I can't think of any others where he does this, but, then, I don't pay too much attention to him. It's kind of funny that he's watching TV during working hours and in Thatcher's office.
This ep should get an A, and it would have if Ray and Fraser's friendship had been more developed or if DM had been in it, but I can only give it a C.
If you want to sound off, or if you'd like to add a review to the site, let me know!
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