"Shadow Man" - Summary and Review

by Melissa Rivers
Written by: David Phillips
Directed by: Robert Klenner
Original Air Date: 27^th February, 2001

Later in the morning, Jack brings in a cuppa and a chocolate bar. Helen states that she is okay and thinks she should put a sign on the door to stop everyone asking her. Jack responds that he hasn't asked, but Helen sees through his ruse and asks him what he wants. He reassures Helen that he believes her statement and wants to convince a few other people. Helen is angered by the fact she was taken from a safe house and Julia's doubts about the credibility of her statement (see Plot 2). She explodes that Julia should take a look at the way she runs her operation before casting aspersions.

Helen watches the last interview on Luke, contrary to Jeff's advice because she just needed to hear his voice. She concedes to Jeff that it was a terrible mistake, but won't sit down and talk to him about how she is feeling.

A prank call has Donna sending the Nemesis off on a wild goose chase and it's only Helen's quick thinking that stops the waste of police time. Helen yells at Donna that she should have checked before heading back into the station. Jack asks her for some extra man power to do a door knock and Helen tells him she can't help him. He tells her that they are back to basics and need some team work. Helen explodes that she wished she'd see some teamwork coming her way, rather than her being left to juggle the books and deal with incompetence on her own and storms off up the stairs, leaving both Donna and Jack speechless. Jack takes Helen home and has to be reminded to lock the door. She explains that the she keeps seeing her attack over and over in her head - she thought if she saw the guy, she would be better but it's actually made it worse. Helen admits that the fact that she almost died yesterday is haunting her; it has brought to the fore the fact that she had no one to tell and if she had died there would be nothing to show she had ever existed. Jack sleeps over on Helen's couch to keep her company. Gavin arrives at Helen's flat and she tells him that she doesn't need a 'watchdog'; she is reserved with Gavin trying to ignore his presence and he is maladroit being in her home. Helen finally escapes the awkwardness by having a bath, leaving him to his own devices.

A woman knocks at the door, calling out for Helen and claiming to be a neighbour. Gavin opens the door and lets her in, after her description of a prowler matches the outfit the killer had been caught on film wearing that day. Gavin calls out for Helen to come out and the woman grabs a club and hits him in the forehead, knocking him out. His attacker loops a belt around his neck and hears Helen coming out of the bathroom, complaining Gavin had better not have called her out of the bath for nothing. The woman attacks Helen with the club as she rounds the corner. Helen dives across the couch to avoid her attack. The woman lands several blows on Helen before trying to strangle her. Gavin regains consciousness, removing the belt from his neck, he drags the attacker off Helen and has her subdued. Helen is infuriated by the attack and lands several kicks into the woman's back while Gavin yells out that he has got her. The woman is taken into custody and Helen points out to Julia that the killer didn't exactly fit her profile.

PLOT 2: THE LUCK OF THE DRAW
'Luke' continues to enjoy the attention he is getting with being interviewed. Julia questions him on the motivation behind the dots on the eyelids. Jack asks Luke about his partner in the killings. Luke denies any involvement with any killings and changes the subject to complain about the breakfast he was served.

At the completion of the interview, Julia complains to Jack that they agreed she would do the questioning. Jack tells her that he was playing with her and they don't have time to play around with him. Julia argues about the facts, stating that there has been no evidence of two people being involved in the killing and her profile does not suggest two people; Helen's recall of events has to be suspect and unreliable due to her attack - a statement which Helen overhears on entering the room Mick informs them that the van was hired under the name 'Trevor Lukas Whittaker" and Alex confirms his ID through the Perth Traffic Authority and he has found he has no juvenile record, which is unusual for a serial killer.

Jack questions the dots on the eyelids and Julia explains her theory that the killer uses dice - random choice because while he is a "control freak", his needs aren't being fulfilled. He wants an element of unpredictability in his crime. Jack wants to re-interview Luke.

Pulling him in for another round of questioning, Luke has changed his story, asserting that he found Helen bound, gagged and bruised near his van after it had been broken into at the reserve. Luke's attitude changes when Julia produces two die and offers a random sequence competition between him and them. He is unable to resist and plays. The roll of the die go against him and he releases the information on his address.

A thorough search of the room at the pub reveals nothing except that he was exceptionally neat and permanently packed, ready to leave at a moments notice. Mick and Alex question staff and adjoining tenants about Luke and they are unable to provide any information. Jack wonders why, if Luke has a partner, he would leave Luke's possessions behind and Julia asks if he is 'hedging his bets? ' He tells her that he would be happy if Luke is the only killer and he doesn't want to be the person to question her profile but he can't afford to be wrong. Julia realises the wardrobe has been moved and finds a collection of photographs showing Luke with the victims and it is obvious that someone else took the photographs, reaffirming Jack's theory of two killers.

Jack and Eva question Luke about the photographs they found. Julia keeps calm through the interview, postulating the use of the dice and how they used them in their crimes. Luke becomes more agitated with the suggestions before finally exploding that 'Sonny's the dice'.

An alert had been issued for any vans either stolen or reported stolen in the past 48 hours comes up with a van that has been recently stolen. Julia instructs for the patrol car to follow it but not to pull it over. It is tracked to a car park in Reardon Street. Mick, Alex and another officer, Duncan, cover all exits and trace it to an upper level park. On closer inspection, the killer has already left even though they had the car park fully covered. Mick complains to Julia about losing the suspect, all because she "wanted to be in on the kill". A camera catches the suspect on film but because of the clothing and head cover, they are unable to identify him and Luke is of no assistance upon questioning.

Donna recognises the parka from an incident that afternoon where she was knocked by a pedestrian. The suspect is gone from the scene but Julia believes that the killer is targeting the whole police station because she has a symbiotic relationship with Luke and Sonny believes that they have broken the connection.

Mick and Alex are questioning the residents at the pub again and discover one of the tenants, Mr. Smith, strangled and hanging on the back of his door. Evidence suggests that Sonny has been in the room. Crime scene investigators take their time in arriving but once they do, the Detectives locate photographs of the police team with numbers on the back of them. Julia looks more closely around the room and finds two dice underneath a cup, showing a roll of seven. Helen's photograph has the number seven on the back.

PLOT 3: NEVER ENDING NIGHTMARE
Mick informs Gavin and Eva about the possible second suspect in the attacks, wanting them to move to a safe house. Eva refuses to leave the house since the last one proved useless. Gavin struggles to reassure Eva that she will be safe with him and that they will move away somewhere and start their lives again. Eva denies that there is any possibility of doing this because he will always be out there and she will always be scared. The sounds of a struggle are heard outside and the body of a young police constable conducting surveillance of the house is thrown through the living room window, his neck broken.

While the scene is being investigated, Alex questions his partner on their surveillance and he tells her that no one had been around, the street had been quiet. A door knock of neighbours reveals nothing further. Jack asks Julia why he didn't attack Eva. Julia explains that the killer enjoys having the power over the victims, terrifying them and letting the police know that he can get to Eva any time he wants to. Alex is unconvinced about her profiling and Julia tells her that she isn't God, that she can only analyze the behaviour and use the facts.

Gavin explodes at them, blaming Julia for this latest attack because she used Eva as bait. Jack takes him aside and convinces Gavin that this latest attack is a mistake on the killer's part, he is losing it and they will capture him.

Finding another headline in the newspaper relating to the killer's identity, Gavin goes to the station seeking his job back. Jeff tells him to wait until after this case has finished. He wants to do something to assist and Jack asks him if he would go and stay with Helen as she is on her own. (See Plot 1)

Gavin is returning to work and Eva is going to visit her parents in Darwin and Kim's parents to finish the nightmare. He is frightened that she won't return and Eva reassures him that she will, that she loves him.

PLOT 4: IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP OF THE LADDER
That evening, after solving the case, Jack and Julia share dinner and drinks over candle light. Jack tells her that they only give you points for solving the case, not for trying but he thinks they will confirm her rank now. Julia is reflective and advises him that she found out that afternoon that she didn't get it. He asks if she will be able to fit him into her very busy schedule and she responds that she applied for an attachment to the FBI and she has been offered the job. Julia leaves, but before she goes Jack questions her motives during the case and she tells him to believe what he wants to believe.

REVIEW: "Shadow Man"
The lead-in from last week's show seemed to run forever and gave a very concise breakdown of the essential events of last weeks episode - it may surprise you all that it went for just under a minute. I must commend whoever picked the clips and put it together, they did an excellent job.

In writing a summary/review, I have essentially seen the episode probably three times by the time I complete it and it is interesting what little things you miss the first time around. Some of these are good and others, bad. Last week, I commented on the characterisation of Julia and her dissertation to the staff. I held back writing the review because I had such a knee jerk reaction initially and wanted to give the writer the benefit of the doubt.

However, the writer, David Phillips, while putting together an overall well-scripted episode, lacked the completeness that existed in the initial two episodes of the series. Most notably, because he failed to create Julia into a three dimensional character. Once again, I think this same fault has pervaded this episode, although not to the extent of last week because he managed to allow Julia to have some credibility in producing a profile of sorts. Yet, for someone who has applied to be attached to the FBI - and manages to grab the honour - I was dubious about what, if any, profiling skills she possessed. At no stage does she hone in on one of the facts which stick out in my mind - the crimes were not sexually motivated. If my memory serves me correctly (I was going to research this and come up with some statistics but haven't had the time), I believe the majority of serial killers have sexual motivation behind their crimes. To me, this should have sent out warning signals about the motivation behind the crimes.

I understand that profilers do make mistakes and that the writer wanted the Water Rats team to catch a killer, a killer who did not fit the profile provided by Julia. However, I would have been much happier if he would have had her operate more as a profiler and made the role credible.

Tucking that pet hate of mine aside (this is what happens when a viewer is an avid reader of crime novels) , I must say how I loved the writer's portrayal of Helen. The combination again of writing, directing and photography managed to capture how she was dealing with the post traumatic stress of her abduction and attack, leaving no doubt in our mind that she had been seriously affected emotionally, even if the physical signs of the attack were mild.

I have done quite a bit of research into PTSD for a fictional story I am writing and David Phillips hit the nail on the head with all her reactions; they were all well within the guidelines and Toni Scanlan did an excellent job of conveying the fear, anger, frustration and loneliness that Helen was suffering in the aftermath of the attack. (For more information on PTSD, see David Baldwin's Trauma Pages http://www.trauma-pages.com

I was interested to see how Helen pulled away fro m all the people she has truly trusted in the past. Not one of them had any inkling of what was going through her head. While it was probably due to the PTSD, I wonder if it is also subconsciously connected to the distrust that was evident in the first episode. With PTSD, it is always on the cards that the victim is going to avoid talking about the issue, however, adding in the element of distrust and it broadens the playing field, so to speak.

I liked how Helen's colleagues were concerned about her health and had obviously inquired so many times that she was frustrated, but it was Jack's that I enjoyed. These two have had a friendship that has given each the opportunity to support each other during times of trouble and I was glad that Helen chose to tell him what was troubling her.

Gabriel Andrews once again portrayed the character of Luke exceptionally well, continuing from where he left off last week. Luke was caught red-handed and from the evidence, there would appear to be very little chance that he would get away with the crime of Helen's abduction - but that was all they could link him with. They needed more and Luke knew it. He enjoyed having the attention of the police interviews, changing his story every time they re-interviewed him, until the introduction of the dice by Julia. The body language conveyed by Gabriel, the slight nuances of his head and the depth of hatred in those eyes were chillingly reminiscent of an angered killer who was controlling his rage.

I got an email from a fellow Rat fan after the show had aired. Normally, I avoid reading any comments about the show until I've finished a review to avoid using anybody else's comments. However, since this was a private email, I didn't realise what it contained and it was a point I was going to bring up anyway. Helen makes mention that she lives alone, Donna has just had a flat mate leave... what is the likelihood that the writers are setting the two up to move in together? IMO, I think it would be a mistake - Donna is much too naive and immature to share a flat with Helen. Look at how uncomfortable Gavin was in her presence. If anyone is going to share the flat, I would prefer it to be Alex, Mick or Jack.

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS:

• The answer to my question in last week's review. High Roller was the throw of the dice and Alex revealled the title for tonight's episode.

• It was nice to hear that Donna sent flowers to Helen, even if she wasn't going to get them.

• For a detective of Alex's standing, her standard of dress in tonight's episode was less than exemplary. It looked more like she was going out for a night at the pub with the boys than working.

LOTW1
Jack: "I didn't know that you were a high roller, Inspector."
Julia "Famous for it."

• Tit for tat - Julia got a bit of her own treatment overhearing Matt's opinion of her theories and lack of success. Sounded resoundingly familiar to what she had done earlier in the day to Helen.

• I was surprised by Jack's endorsement of Julia's actions in this investigation. I don't agree that he would endorse risking lives by making them bait for a killer.

• Nice touch using Donna to reveal how the case would be affecting the staff. How many of them would normally walk home alone, in the dark and not be worried? This case would be sending shivers up most people's spine.

• After Gavin's resignation from his job to be with Eva, I was glad that the writer hasn't broken up their relationship. It would have been disappointing to have the commitment all one way. At the end we have confirmation from both that they love each other.

• Kudos to my mother for guessing a woman was involved in the killing - she just had the wrong woman <g>

• Finally, while I was so happy for Jack to have a relationship with a woman over the past three episodes, I think it only serves to reiterate what he has always maintained, you can't mix personal with professional. Pity he doesn't take his own advice. Although, I'll give him the benefit of being unaware of their impending professional relationship when he entered into his personal one.

• We haven't seen much of Mick and Alex over the last few episodes, with the focus being on Jack and Julia.. From the shorts for next week's eppy, I have a sneaking suspicion that we will have a change come about.

LOTW2:
Helen: "Jack's got a nerve. I don't really want a watchdog."
Gavin: "I'm only doing what I'm told."
Helen: "Well, you don't need to take any orders anymore, Gavin."

LOTW3:
Jack: "That the last time I give you a nice, simple job."

LOTW4:
Helen: "Just tell me it's over, Jack."
Jack: "It's over... Jack."

Look of the Week: Helen overhearing Julia's comments about her competency.

Nb: I'll be in Sydney next week with no access to a computer, so the Summary/Review will be delayed in coming out until near on the next episode.

missy@lexicon.net