Boy seriously you people are easy to please and that's ok. I for one found this episode very lacking in several ways. It wasn't a "bad" episode as say the first 9 or so but it wasn't as spectacular as people make it out to be either. It was another step down from the previous episode.
For one, this episode dragged on horribly. I mean with all the KITT action it had, when KITT was put into use it was almost always in some rediculous over the top manner as
an excuse to show off visual effects.
Case in point I get the whole "scanners" thing, yet I found it interesting that KITT's almighty technology could not scan up to a certain distance which forced Michael to have to get out on foot and scan the rest of the way. It just seemed to give KITT even more limitations than he really needs.
The Turbo Boost, come on are you serious? Yeah its cool and all if you thought the movie
Speed Racer was not only fun but realistic. I agree that this "jump" which is more of a "flip" defied all measures of logic but I have come to expect this from this show so like many of you, I just "roll with it". You look at Knight to Kings Pawn during the battle with KARRE and you see similair gravity defying logic.
The CO2 bit? Classic Knight Rider for sure but do we have to see special tubes coming out of the headlights and all that? Is it really necessary to say you know, shooting out the CO2 from under the car? This is yet another reason to show off visual effects that didn't need to be there. I wonder just how much that little bit costs to create.
How about KITT's gatling gun? Yet another reason to show off visual effects for the sake of eye candy. First and foremost I don't believe he fired off 4000 rounds or whatever and at what? Did it look like there was 4000 bullet holes in the bridge? Secondly the gun came out of the CENTER of the hood of KITT where as last week they came out of the side corners of the hood. What are there three guns under there then? Or is this another example of the mystical "nanotech" magically conjuring up more gear out of thin air? You notice that unlike last week's guns, this one also had an extending barrel? I bet you could have trimmed some money off the ol budget here with a more creative solution than whipping out the big CG gun to squeek through another scene.
Why didn't KITT race up to protect Mike without being "told" to do it? Classic KITT would race to Michael's aid the moment danger was detected -- yet this KITT despite the progress made last week is still being "told" what to do.
I understand cheesy but even in the original KR, the cheese factor was more with dialogue and character, not so much KITT's functions themselves although you could debate "microjam" at times.
I had trouble following the story at times. I understand the bit with the car thieves being a nod back to
Knight of the Phoenix but the problem here is they didn't go anywhere. At least in the pilot as other members pointed out, the thieves stole KITT and were taught a lesson. Here they're just horrendously incompetent comedy relief.
I guess you could debate well they were there to reveal the whole "methane" connection but I still don't understand how this even matters? Why didn't KITT detect this sooner? Isn't KITT consistantly scanning around to help out Mike?
It just seemed like another measure of a story that struggled to go anywhere and had to find some sort of conclusion before the hour ran out. We get another slapped together anti-climatic ending with yet another bar fight. I guess I could understand the roundabout nature of starting with a fight with the kid from
Home Improvement (Brad I believe - Zachery Ty Bryan) and ending with a fight with him.
So they show his father Mr. Bilson upset with him --- ok you get the whole red herring thing where you believe his dad is the crooked guy behind the fires and then you learn that it's the son. I can understand that but it doesn't really go anywhere after the dad is declared "dead". I guess its implied his son caused the heart attack? They never go anywhere with it and that feels like more a matter of convience than believability.
Since they proved that the kid cut the brake lines, that solidfies him being the villain and since daddy went in the bar and punished Jr. (and later dies) his father is free from any wrong doing and everyone is happy. Meanwhile the fact the bar sits on methane and is thus worth millions of dollars makes no difference to the bar owner because of sedimental value and promises to her father Sonny. That's all well and good and I can understand being stubborn but if your bar is sitting on highly flammable gases, all the nostalgia in the world isn't going to stop it from some day burning down in fireball of chaos that will no doubt kill everyone in said bar and result in said lawsuits that will close said bar if said bar isn't destroyed in the process --- yes real logic at work here folks.
I still didn't understand how the fires were started in the first place. Was it spontanous releases of methane that just randomly caught on fire or was it arson? If it was arson wouldn't the arsonists get burned alive from the ignition of the methane?
Then there's the "everyone from Mike's past comes to visit him" angle. Really? How long is this going to keep happening where you have to seperate "Mike Traceur" and his gang o' friends from "Michael Knight" the man who isn't supposed to exist? Yet it seems like every other episode or so there is someone (in the reboot now?) that asks for Mike's help or knows him in some way or another from his "early days".
I dislike the continued introduction of slang that shouldn't be taught in a tv show geared towards "children" -- really do you need to teach your kids what "hoochies" means did you cover "douche" yet? how about "assclown"?
But ok so you're thinking -- Well VK thanks for raining on our parade again -- you never like anything.
So I'll tell you what I did like
I liked the fact that HERO KITT (not Attack KITT) actually showed some measure of invulnerbility by crashing through a flaming wooden fence and taking hits from the thieves' equipment. I like the fact that Mike like his father sought to help out the damsel in distress because it was the right thing to do -- not because he had to or was ordered to do it.
I like that KITT was at least somewhat more relatable and not such a robot this episode.
I like that Zoey isn't being geared as some sex-object as much and actually proved she has some level of intelligence more than spouting sexual references and explained to Billy why she "bosses him around" because she's his boss.
I also like how Billy pulls out his credentials and explains why he doesn't think that makes any sense. If Billy is the tech geek why is Zoey his boss? Because she speaks several languages? Well you know it might be cool to order a friggin Big Mac or a Pizza in several different languages but it does nothing for technology. I think when it comes to hacking and programming, Billy has Zoey beat. She had to cheat with equipment that is quite frankly technological BS to prove her point...however it goes to show that as a team, all three of them solved the case and really that's what the people BEHIND THE SCENES need to have...teamwork.
I liked the black guy (sorry I'm bad with names) but I didn't quite understand his point of setting the fire. I understand he wanted to be a hero and all but it didn't seem to fit with his profile of being a pacifiest "bouncer". Setting a fire, no matter the reason behind it is a destructive/violent act.
Regardless though, he was a interesting character added to the mix and in true Knight Rider fashion, Mike shows someone the error of their ways and brings about redemption.
I still don't get the Michael/Sarah relationship and I'm really sick of the on again off again drama of it. It's getting as bad as Clark and Lana on
Smallville. Since they didn't show Mike actually sleeping with the bar girl, its yet another ambigious form of closure that we'll never know for sure.
I also liked the "You Can't Go Home" references. As a lone crusader who has given up a former life you have to come to the conclusion to be the hero you need to be, you can't go back to the older life you used to live and I think Mike learned that things have changed for him, that he can't just settle down with his former love interests and go back to the way things used to be. I think that was powerful message and the idea that we romanticize memories of places and situations is a very realistic psycological thing we can all relate to. We remember things being happier and safer than they really were.
All in all this episode for me while it had more eye candy this time around lacked the
solid structure of last week's episode. This episode did not feel as much like the original KR to me than last weeks which was infinately more believable save for the over the top galting guns that KITT could somehow miraculous ensure would not hit the drug dealer, who miraculously chose not to move the fraction of an inch that would have turned him into swiss cheese.
But hey it's
Knight Rider right? You just roll with the rediculous moments, the unbelievable logic, the weakly constructed story points, you roll with all of it because apparently what Knight Rider is now today is nothing more than
mindless entertainment.
If you love the show because it entertains you week after week then NBC has earned their paychecks and I'm sure you'll get another slapped together eye candy filled season out of the deal. I'll admit the show is getting better than how it started out but time is going to tell if its too little too late or if Knight Rider has some NOS left in the old pipes to turbo boost its way into a second chance to prove itself.
Whether you like the new series or dislike the new series what matters most is that you keep watching it for better or worse because in the end what matters to them is
ratings.
Speaking of ratings...the lack of a next episode preview was very odd to me, in fact it's pretty grim. Look at shows like
Hells Kitchen and
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles --- when they go on hiatus for a week they usually say something like
"And in two weeks come back for etc. etc." but why didn't NBC do this with Knight Rider?
I've seen more than enough previews for
The Celebrity Apprentice coming back, I've seen stuff for
Chuck, and
Life, and yet it seems like Knight Rider keeps getting the shaft? Instead we get Jimmy NO TALENT Fallon? Really?
If GST talked to the right people about getting some more commercials on the air --- why did they skimp on promoting the last episode which is no doubt supposed to be impressive enough to have people want a second season? Why in the blue hell would you not promote it? It's like the kiss of death.
There's quicksand out there and I hope KITT can find a way out of it.
Till next time...
=VK=