Laurie's Review
Melanie's Review
Laurie's Review:This is a so-so episode. There's more to like than dislike but much of it is ho-hum for me. It's one of those eps that after the second or third viewing, I found myself fast forwarding through many scenes, mainly those which don't feature Fraser and/or Ray. The poker setting just doesn't capture my attention, though I enjoy the scene with everyone trying to teach Fraser how to play. Francesca shines in this scene, as well as her office encounter with Lt. Welsh when she tells him she's thinking about the Academy (if she can resolve the uniform issue, of course).
Huey and Fraser have come a long way in their acquaintanceship, for lack of a better word. They seem at ease in each other's company, and when Fraser is talking about the origins of poker, Huey is actually interested. I like the way he says "no kidding?" Not sarcastically or with derision, he truly sounds interested.
Fraser and Ray K have such different conversations than Fraser and Ray V. I think this is a good example, and I can't imagine a similar exchange between Fraser & Ray V:
Ray: Fraser, uh, you know what the hell you're doing?All this said so matter of factly, no embarrassment or nervousness.
Fraser: What is it you think I'm doing?
Ray: Uh, you tell me. You're the one who's got a shark swimming around in your underwear.
Fraser: It's purely a matter of practicality, Ray. Her clothes are not particularly conducive to sleeping.
Ray: Oh, so you just had to take 'em off.
Fraser: No, she managed that all by herself.I rather like Insp. Thatcher's small part. Totally unnecessary but fun, and I enjoy seeing her cut loose.
Ancient of the Old is another superb song and should have been included on the second Due South soundtrack, don't ya think?
Moments I like:Ray in a suit. He looks so good and he's comfortable wearing it. He keeps it on throughout the ep instead of changing into his grungy jeans and T-shirt.
Ray coming into the alley in slow motion and the supermanlike, cartoonish way Fraser pulls him up and out of the path of the car.
Agent Exley practicing flashing his badge.
Ray and Fraser talking across the top of the car, Ray telling Fraser not to fall for Denny and lowering his glasses so he can look Fraser in the eye.
The way Fraser and Ray look at one another after they tell Denny goodnight and she leaves with Dief and Ante.
Ray's bathroom pep talk/lecture.
Francesca holding Fraser's hat (that's a first) and asking him if the hat is really necessary and Fraser responding, "Absolutely essential." I also like the tidy way he places it on his head as he says this. For the first time with this viewing I noticed that when they start talking they're downstairs and a few moments later they're coming down the stairs they just passed. Quirky.
Ray asking Francesca what she and Fraser were talking about, his cute little jump over the janitor's broom, and the grin on his face a bit later when he encounters the broom again.
Fraser in a tux.
Fraser in the hallway on his way to the game, flanked by Welsh, Ray, Huey and Dewey, both before and after he's in the tux. It reminds of boxers (Rocky comes to mind) on their way to the ring.
Fraser in a tux.
Ray chuckling when Fraser says, "There is something compelling about having vast quantities of money coming in one's direction, isn't it?"
Fraser and Ray silently signaling each other prior to Ray coming through the skylight
Fraser in a tux.
Fraser and Ray playing cards for air, particularly the whooshing noises. The janitor is still there but Ray didn't have to dance with his mop this time.
Fraser in a tux. Oh, am I repeating myself?
Nitpicks:I've never been real clear as to why Denny stays at the consulate. Why not a safe house? She's not Canadian, there's no Canadian connection, Fraser isn't involved in an official capacity. After the Bounty Hunter fiasco and the dressing down Insp. Thatcher gave him for allowing Janet and her children to stay there, I'm especially surprised. I get the impression that Thatcher knows nothing about this. She has warned him in the past about his involvement in cases with no Canadian connection.
Denny is not wearing Fraser's longjohns. She should be swimming in them, instead they're rather form fitting.
The almost blind sketch artist. He doesn't add anything to the story, he's not even funny. Why is he there? To provide a distraction while Ray and Fraser discuss Denny? The man annoys me, therefore he's a nitpick.
Why does Ray knock on the Consulate door when there's a doorbell? A knock might not be heard at all depending on where in the building Fraser is. There are other times when someone waits to be let into the consulate but I don't recall if they knock or ring the bell.
Duesies:Fraser: Dief, she's out of your league. [I interpret this to mean that Denny is also out of Fraser's league and he knows it]
Dief barks.
Fraser: Well, she is.
Ray: What's with Dief?
Fraser: I'm not sure. Might be love, then, again, it might just be worms.
Ray: What's the diff?Agent White: Where is she?
Ray: No idea.
Agent Exley: Is that why you needed a sketch artist this evening?
Ray: Well, the thing of it is, I love art, paintings mostly. Sculpture does not turn my crank, uh, but I love oils and watercolors, and. . . .
White & Exley: We're filing charges.
Welsh: What charges?
Exley: Harboring a fugitive, for starters.
Welsh: Well, she's our fugitive. Maybe he was just holding her.
Exley: In the Canadian Consulate?
Welsh: A bit unorthodox.
White: I don't want to hear about it.
Exley: We're taking her right now.
Welsh: Or else what?
White: We'll take your boy here instead.
Ray: Boy?Ray: Okay, this is retarded. You cannot learn to play poker in one night and hope to beat a shark.
Fraser: Possibly. Although, you know, one time I did manage to learn almost all of Milton's "Paradise Lost" in a single evening. Of course, my chances for survival were very slim at the time. I had to keep my mind very focused. . . .
Ray: Up! Prove it.
Fraser: Prove what?
Ray: Do the, uh, Paradise Lost thing.
Fraser: Of man's first disobedience in the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into the world and all our woe. . . .
Ray: Okay, okay, okay. Maybe we got a shot.Fraser: Oh, ah, do I still have to bet?
Everyone: Yes.
Fraser: But I've already won, it would seem to be gloating. Well (throat clearing), it seems that I have blush, four low.
[I like the look on Huey's face]
Welsh: Constable, you have a flush and it takes high, and you can't do that. [Fraser leans in for a close-up look at his cards] You can't be bluffing when you're not bluffing.
Fraser: I wasn't bluffing, Sir. I was just telling the truth.
Ray: Poker isn't about the truth, Fraser.
Welsh: It's about deception, Constable.
Huey: You stink, Fraser.
Fraser: Of what?
Everyone: The truth.Fraser: Steel Eyes. That's an interesting moniker, Mr. Carson. Perhaps I should adopt a nickname.
Farah: We could call you Big Mouth.
Fraser: That would seem to be apt.Ray: So you were bluffing.
Fraser: Evading.
Ray: Bluffing.
Fraser: Delaying.
Ray: Bluffing:
Fraser: Equivocating.
Ray: Bluffing.
Fraser: Bluffing.
Ray: Thank you.
Grade: B-
Melanie's Review:I've been having a lot more trouble writing this review than I thought I would. The central issue of discussion on the list seemed to be the nature of Fraser's relationship (or lack thereof) with Denny Scarpa. Was he using her? Fighting off temptation? Reveling in his ability to resist temptation? Or just playing a role?
Although the plot of Odds is quite involved and clever, I found the romantic/sexual elements of the episode to be quite forced and out-of-place. The long, slow touches, the steamy glances, the kiss--all scored to a syrupy romantic score that strives to ram home the message: THEY'RE HOT FOR EACH OTHER!!!
I don't buy it. Fraser shouldn't suddenly turn into a smooth operator, no matter how important the case. Whenever he meets a beautiful woman in other episodes, he responds with either stiff formality or clumsy bashfulness. He hems and haws, he stumbles, he hesitates, he babbles. And yet here he is able to plan Denny like a violin.
More so than many previous episodes with federal agents, this one has a kind of internal logic to it. I'm not sure if White and Exley were originally supposed to be Ford and Deeter, but I'm almost gland they weren't--they were annoying and amusing in altogether new ways. I loved their synchronized cell phones, and Exley's adorable, fumble-fingered practice session in the hallway outside the ladies' room.
After 3 seasons of Due South, it was odd to see Fraser brought low by a dive out a window. Did he miscalculate, or was it just the end of a long streak of good luck? Yes, I know he has been injured before--but usually by someone else's actions. I can't remember any other incident of him being injured by his own action. (Except maybe Flashback, but that's debatable as the driver was trying to throw him from the back of the van.)
I had forgotten how much detail was shown during the explosion at the first game. Ray actually acquitted himself pretty well during this scene. I'm not sure what he was doing in that kind of operation, though. Vice isn't usually their kind of case, is it?
During her impromptu game of cards with the Duck Boys, Scarpa managed to draw the King of Spades and the Ace of Spades twice each. My money says she cheats.
They were remarkably consistent about Fraser's level of skill at playing poker, compared to the poker scene in YMRT. But if he can remember all of Paridise Lost (or at least the opening paragraph) why can't he remember terms like "Full House" and "Royal Flush"?
The climax of the episode didn't quite do it for me. It struck me as all style and little substance--Ray's crash through the skylight was the crucial event. and then it was all a matter of grabbing a bad guy. As for Denny's scene on the ledge, the outcome of that dance was obvious to see, and so hardly worth showing. It pales in comparison to the similar scenes in Hawk & a Handsaw (when Fraser had to lie to bring Walter in off the ledge) and in Bird in the Hand (when Bob tried to come to Gerrard's aid but could not help him).
Duesies:Fraser: We aren't really going to leave a note, are we?
Ray: No. We're gonna break in, look through her personal possessions and use her can without a warrant.Welsh: Do you think Fraser is up to this?
Ray: As long as he doesn't have to lie.
Welsh: Or bluff.
Ray: Or hold.
Welsh: I guess cheating is out of the question.
Ray: Imagine living like that.
Both: Fuhgeddaboudit!Fraser: Ah, Francesca, I wonder if you'd mind looking up some information for me?
Frannie: Sure Frase, but first, can I ask you a question about your work?
Fraser: Well of course I'll try to answer, but as a member of the RCMP I have taken an oath of secrecy as a consequence, there are certain matters that I am bound not to discuss.
Frannie: What do you mean? Like about the Queen and Inspector Thatcher?Dewey: He can't wear a tuxedo
Huey: Why not?
Dewey: Because he'll look like a waiter at Chico's
Welsh: Only if it's light blue.
Huey: It's not blue, it's black...and beautiful. Just like me.
Ray: He's gotta look expensive, like the boys in Vegas.
Welsh: Vegas? They wear track suits.
Ray: Yeah, but he's gotta look like he knows what he's doing. He's gotta look slick. He's gotta look. . . . Good! You look good. You look, uh. . . sharp.Dewey: You want another card and the dealer's smiling...don't take it.
Huey: And if the guy next to you smells like bacon bits, definitely see him and raise him.Fraser: You know, Steel-eyes, extremities are often insufficiently protected against the challenge of the Northern Winter. As a matter of fact I once knew a man who lost the crotch of his pants on a barbed-wired fence and later that night, a particularly harsh night, he almost lost his, uh... that's a...that's another story.
Ray: What do ya have?
Fraser: Once again, a crowded home.
Ray: House.
Fraser: Crowded House.
Ray: Full House.
Fraser: Full house, full house. I'll take that air now, Ray.
Ray: I'm tapped out.
Fraser: I'll accept an I.O.U.
Ray: An I.O.U. on air?
Fraser: I want you to honor your wager.
Moment of the Week:The long, circular shot of the poker table while the men of the 27th discuss the subtleties of the game.
Ray: Okay, okay, okay. Mabe we got a shot. Okay, lets get down to basics. Poker is a game of money and deception.
Welsh: Penalties go to the weak, rewards go to the strong.
Huey: In poker, you're on your own.
Dewey: The loser makes himself a loser.
Ray: And the winner makes himself a winner.
Fraser: I see, and where do the cards fit into this?
Ray: Uh...the cards are incidental. Think about it this way - Poker is sheer justice.
Cringeworthy Moment of the Week:Thatcher: Fraser! Fraser, Fraser, Fraser, Fraser, Fraser. Off duty and still working. You really gotta learn to relax. I mean, look at me. How do. . .how do I seem?
Fraser: How do you seem, sir?
Thatcher: Yeah. I mean, do I seem tense to you?
Fraser: Uh, no sir. You appear to be very loose-limbed.
Thatcher: That would be the Latin influence. That would be a Latin horn.
Fraser: A Latin horn.
Thatcher: I gotta pee. I was having tapas with the Spanish Ambassador. He's remarkably erudite, learned, well-read and really, really, really hot-blooded.
Nitpick of the Week:Okay, so Denny's plan has fallen to ruin and she's not going to get her revenge after all. When did she have enought time to check herself in to the "blue room" at the local psych hospital? Odd how that particular ledge seems to be the ideal place for people to go when they have an "I couldn't save my brother's life" crisis.
Seriously, though. That's a very distinctive building and I'm a little disappointed that they couldn't find a different location for that particular scene.
Keepership:Of course, I can't fail to include my own keepership in this review. At RCW '99, Ramona Milano told me that she loved this scene, and included it in her demo tape.
"Uh, sir?"
"You got a license for that?"
"What, for this? No! I'm just sort of. . . ."
"WhoaWhoaWhoa!"
"I'm just trying it out! You know, sort of as a (squirt, squirt) preamble to wearing heat. I'm taking self defense!"
"You're gonna defend yourself by drowning somebody with that?"
"Well, I thought it would be a little more humane than, you know, (squirt, squirt) blinding some guy, or kicking 'em in the, uh, you know, the nether regions."
"The nether regions?"
"Yeah. Well, um. . . ow. Actually, sir, I'm uh, I'm kinda wearing this for a different reason."
"Fashion."
"No. Uh. . . I've sorta been thinking about the, uh, the Academy."
"You wanna become a cop?"
"Become a cop. I don't know about that. I just um, I'm just, you know, really sort of basically uh, tossing it around in my mind, right now, until I can, um, resolve the uniform issue."
Snack to enjoy while watching Odds:I won a bag of candy.
Grading:
Denny & Fraser C The Case A- Cadet Frannie (I'm so biased) A+ White & Exley A Poker A- Overall Grade B+
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