[Apologies, this Flashback is coming on a Saturday this week!]
Episode 6, “Star-Crossed”
Originally aired: December 11, 2003
“Star-Crossed” was a solid episode that did not necessarily keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but it contained enough twists and turns to keep the story from remaining stagnant for too long. A fairly progressive episode, “Star-Crossed” took a different approach to the story of Romeo and Juliet and managed to work the theme into every romantic relationship this episode contained. Although that was obvious and a bit cliché at times, it at least gave the episode cohesion.
Given the way that the previous episode left off, one would have expected this one to begin with a “spill the beans” moment from Davis. They instead went for the vague approach with Davis trying to lead Tru to admit her abilities because he does not know as much as we assumed he did, which undermined Davis’ bold words that ended “Haunted.” While it is more interesting to watch Tru squirm and fess up, and this did propel their relationship much further forward, the scene itself was an underwhelming follow-up to the cliffhanger. Regardless, having Davis now in-the-know lightens the tension in the morgue and allows him to participate more in the story, which is a highly welcomed move.
The star-crossed lovers theme associated with Romeo & Juliet is perhaps the most common story trope utilized with on-screen romantic relationships, or second to the will-they-won’t-they. Either way, it is common because it is an effective way to set up an emotional and dramatic story. The case of the week focused on what initially looked like the tragic end of two teen runaways from different social classes, but turned out to be a mix of street racing and a secret affair still between young women of different social classes. The angst, the fast cars, the cliques, and the lies certainly did not show a unique aspect of teenage life, yet it was refreshing that Tru’s initial assumption of the situation, the simplest explanation, turned out to be incorrect.
If Tru can remember a license plate and other details about her short visit to the crime scene, her so easily overlooking the fact that the female victim was not wearing the necklace found on her when she died the day before is hard to believe. Planting evidence early on and then bringing it back into the investigation at the right time is often how procedurals create a smart shock. Having a main character who’s trained her memory to catch even the smallest details means that the writers have to be extra smart in how they lay out the evidence. That was not the case here. Maybe not every audience member caught on to this, but for those who did, the twist of Tru thinking she solved the case and then realizing she didn’t was lost.
As things tend to go in this series, Tru’s dates with Luc were nothing short of disastrous. Even though the date on the first day was ruined by forces outside of their control, the date on the rewound day ended on an irritating beat. If Tru can come up with half-baked, albeit somewhat effective, excuses to give the victims for why she’s asking them questions and hanging around, why can she not come up with a better excuse to tell Luc than “I have to go”?
This episode finally gave us a glimpse at Lindsay’s professional life, although the hope of it being solely about her professional life was shattered, and we still don’t even know what kind of company she works at. Baby steps, at least. Thankfully, the story with Lindsay’s sleazy boss was minimized in order to focus on her budding relationship with Harrison. That pairing was as much of a surprise to the audience as it was to Tru.
Additional Comments:
– This was not the first episode to contain them, but the solo shots of Tru staring out into the distance trying to convey an emotion keep coming off blank. Whether it’s because of the acting, the length, or the placement, they’re such a contrast to the shot at the end of the theme song that’s done so well.
– Since “Star-Crossed” followed last week’s episode about med students by focusing on high school students, I can’t help but wonder if Tru Calling would have performed better on a channel like the WB instead of Fox.
– “This is kind of cool. We’re kind of like a team … like the Wonder Twins, except we’re not twins, and well, I don’t have any superpowers.” – Davis
Episode 7, “Morning After”
Originally aired: December 18, 2003
“Morning After” was an enjoyable episode, making significant strides in working out some of the previous kinks in the series in a way that also amped up the stakes for the case and created an intriguing mystery. With the episode focused around the return of Tru’s professor ex-boyfriend, Mark, who’s also the murder victim, the case of the week allowed the story to contain itself to the characters and the locations that we’re familiar with. “Morning After” was focused, tense, and personal.
A major (and almost always unavoidable) problem that the series faces is the awkward and somewhat ludicrous way in which Tru has to invade the victim’s life in order to figure out the details of what happened and save them. This episode avoided that problem by having the victim be someone Tru already knew, which created another issue – how to fill that time. It’s no surprise they went the love story route with Tru and with Harrison, but it was a little surprising they sent Mark into creepy stalker mode given the way Tru completely humiliated him when she ended things. As odd and uncomfortable as his actions were, it did create more tension surrounding whether Tru killed him and whether she would choose to save him. In that aspect it created positives, but it also meant that Mark, who had a zero chance of getting back together with Tru, caused problems for Tru and Luc’s relationship, and that was an unwelcomed side effect.
From the end of the pilot up until this episode, Tru had remained a fairly stagnant character, not being characterized beyond her med school ambitions and her willingness to help people, whether it be a sibling, friend, or victim. “Morning After” gave the viewer more insight into her potential darkness within, a quality already seen with both Harrison’s and Meredith’s penchants. Having Davis, a moderately recent addition to Tru’s life and someone more impartial than a long-time friend or family member, be the one to assure Tru of her unwavering goodness made it a sweet moment in their relationship, but also one that the audience may or may not believe because of Davis’ limited knowledge about Tru. It was a beautiful character moment demonstrating Davis’ faith in her.
Still on the topic of Davis, his CSI-esque rendition of what potentially happened the night Mark was murdered was a cool addition to their investigation. The episode ran much smoother without Tru having to dodge him and with her having a sidekick. It gave Davis the opportunity to lighten the mood when need be and keep Tru on track. Although his request that Tru come into work for a few minutes to see if anyone asked for help was well-intentioned, it made him seem too enthusiastic about using a gift that wasn’t his. Additionally, his statement about having to re-create the circumstances exactly as they happened the day before made him sound like he had inside knowledge and knew all the rules about the gift, which was not the case the episode before. I can’t help but think that this was a statement from the writers directly to the audience instead of something that Davis would have organically said.
For this episode’s “clue that gave it all away,” one of Tru’s friends casually mentioned a professor being the one to cost him his future and a professor turned out to be the murder victim. Using Tru as a potential suspect was a nice mislead to give the audience enough time and an alternate theory to forget about the random friend. The setup and the payoff of this episode’s murderer were impressive, in addition to his unimposing appearance and his drunken mislead.
Additional Comments:
– Since when does Tru have this many friends? Anyway, good for her.
– Davis bought Tru hangers for her house warming party. Too perfect.
– The fact that they had to justify her housewarming party by saying she never got around to it when she first moved in is quite silly.
– The relationship between Harrison and Lindsay was practically over before it started – something we could have seen a mile away – but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t amusing while it lasted.
– If only Davis had been incorporated more in the earlier episodes.
Davis: So, if I’m to understand you correctly, you had a party and didn’t invite me. I thought we were friends.
Tru: We are friends.
Davis: Yeah, sure, when you wake up next to some dead guy.
