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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 23673" data-attributes="member: 23">THE RAPISTThis one had a hint of Season Two's Affirmative Action to it, with a keen-but-green younger woman getting involved in a case at the 14th. Once again, she quickly proves herself capable in many ways but raises concerns in others. Where Diane in the earlier episode fell down on her people skills, Sara Jones - Cagney's insistent new partner in this episode - proves highly effective there. She not only charms Coleman, Samuels and even Cagney herself, she also helps deal sensitively with the husband of a woman who has been raped. Then she goes on to work extra hours alone and comes up with a pattern to find a serial rapist. When Samuels can't authorise additional manpower to work on the case, Sara reacts strongly. This, along with Sara's growing obsession with the case is where Chris starts to get concerned. Sara is staking out a suspect's home in her own time and her questions of neighbours get the department threatened with action. I like that Mary Beth reminded Chris of her own obsession with Albert Grand. And I enjoyed how Chris still came to Mary Beth as part of her process. The contrast between the two was really highlighted, with Sara being crisp and professional while Mary Beth was seen in a variety of domestic settings. In one of their scenes, Chris was helping Mary Beth choose a dress to wear to give a speech on the topic of maternity at a police union, and I was surprised how uncensored their conversation was with people around. Mary Beth does eventually choose a dress - a bright fuchsia number. She's still uncertain by the time she shows it to Harv:HARVEY: "Oh - it's great."MARY BETH: "Too much?HARVEY: No, it's nice. It's bright."MARY BETH: "Is it too loud?!"HARVEY: "No! You want them to see you in the back row. Right?"MARY BETH: "It is. It's too much."HARVEY: "Oh, honey, I didn't say that. You look beautiful. Beautiful."MARY BETH: "Yeah? Christine didn't like it either."There's plenty of classic banter between the two leads in the run-up to Mary Beth's speech. Perhaps the funniest moment of the episode is where Mary Beth has a Braxton Hicks contraction as they're leaving the apartment. Chris goes into complete panic, but Harv realises what's going on and gives Christine the scientific explanation. He times it, then asks Mary Beth if she's feeling better. Mary Beth suddenly snaps up straight, says she's fine and walks on out, followed by Harvey. Chris is so overcome she has to pause and hold onto the wall. Tyne does awkward so well, and the speech itself is a great example of that. She's awkward. Then she gets confident and steps aside from the podium. Then she realises she doesn't know what to say next and starts flapping until she's got her cue sheet again. Meanwhile, Chris does some research on Sara and puts the pieces together to work out that Sara herself had been raped a year earlier, which is why she's so obsessed with this type of case. After talking it over with Samuels, he asks Chris to tell Sara to take some enforced leave. There's an interesting choice here - we see Chris telling Sara from the perspective of Samuels in his office. We don't hear what's said, and we don't need to because the emotion comes across just from their body language. I appreciated how Chris made a point of trying to protect Sara to both Samuels and Knelman. In Knelman's case, she even avoids saying the reasons for Sara being on leave so as not to jeopardise Sara's career. Sara herself isn't so bothered though and decides to do what she has to. Chris works out that Sara is setting herself up as bait, and a frantic investigation is underway. There's a powerful scene where Sara - wearing a wig - phones Chris and tells her that it was great working with her. Sara sits on a bed, and we can hear there is someone else in the bathroom. Next to Sarah, lying on the bed is what appears to be a gun. It's not clear, and leaves the viewer not 100% sure of what they've seen. As Chris drives round, trying to work out where Sarah is, she gets the radio call about a homicide in the area and follows it. The final few moments are very subjective. We follow Chris, and the music becomes driven, building and building, urging the action on, which really gives a sense of Chris's own sense of urgency. Then we join Chris as she arrives and pushes through bystanders and police officers as she enters the building and climbs the stairs. We see what Chris sees: a man's body on the floor. We hear what she hears: the interviewing officer asking questions:"Did you have any prior knowledge of or dealings with the deceased, William Brown? Is there any statement you wish to make for the record?"Then we pull back to see Sara sitting in the same position on the bed. And we get a long shot of Sara and Chris exchanging looks amid the chaos. Even though the ending was deliberately telegraphed, the way it was filmed made it such a powerful moment. Just like Chris, we were given enough information for the possibility to dawn on us. Then we arrived with an element of uncertainty and dread. By the time we saw the scene for ourselves, the enormity of what happened was beginning to dawn on us, but we still shared the feeling of unreality experienced by those on screen. A great episode. I'm looking forward to Part II next season.</blockquote>

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