Friday TV Flashback Review: Tru Calling, Episodes 14-15

Episode 14, “Daddy’s Girl”
Originally aired: March 25, 2004

An episode we have been waiting since the pilot to see, “Daddy’s Girl” delved into the mystery that kicked off the series: Tru’s mom’s murder. Not only did it provide answers to this mystery, but it also explored how the Davies family dynamic has been suffering ever since. “Daddy’s Girl” was a huge and worthwhile payoff for viewers since the beginning, but not so rooted in the series’ past that it would isolate a new viewer. It portrayed a serialized idea in a stand-alone way. Although it is far from perfect, this episode was one of the most enjoyable and rewarding episodes since the beginning.

It should be noted that enjoyable and rewarding are not necessarily the same thing as satisfying. It was satisfying that we found out who killed Tru’s mom and who hired him to do so, but there is still the lingering question of why, and that, I feel, is the most important aspect to this mystery. Because we know it was not random, it dangles another whole aspect of the series’ mythology in front of us with no indication as to when that will be explored. Another problem with the way in which this case was solved was that it felt disconnected from the scenes leading up to this episode. Nothing Tru discovered or recalled from her mother’s case file helped her to solve the case. There was no payoff to her digging through the file. While payoffs were absent, callbacks were nice. It was the voice of her mother’s killer from ten years ago that she recognized. The symmetry of Tru hiding in the closet and peeking through the panels both in the past and in the present was a cool concept. For the first time since she was a child, we got to see Tru frightened and emotional, which added another layer to her otherwise stable character qualities.

By introducing Richard Davies’ second wife, Jordan, they attempted to explain why his children were not so fond of him. The revelation that these two met while he was still married to their mom pulled the audience to the side of the Davies kids, but the revelation that their parents had already decided to get a divorce muddied the waters. Plus, the fact that Jordan was such a kind spirit and a likable character made the Davies kids look more unjustified (not the same as wrong) in their unwavering hatred. I applaud the writers for not taking the evil stepmother route, which would have been so easy to do in this situation. Once you get past the first few minutes of any given episode, it becomes clear who the murder victim will be even before the murder happens. Having to save Dad’s new wife while also dealing with his arrival in town was a concoction of drama too good to pass up.

What started off as a case of the week episode turned into a case of the past, and Jordan’s murder took a backseat to Tru unraveling the murder of her mom. Despite Tru chasing after and scaring off the murderer to save Jordan on the rewind day, there was no follow up to her having actually saved Jordan. No acknowledgement. No moment to see Jordan living her life after cheating death. It felt unresolved in this way.

In general, when your first wife is murdered and your second wife has an attempt on her life, it paints you as a bit of a shady character, which in this case was accurate. It came as less of a shock that someone was out to get Richard Davies by going after his women, but what came as the true shock was that he hired the assassin for his first wife’s murder. That was unexpected and well played. The flashes of the past with the shots of the present with Richard and Tru in the morgue were a beautifully heartbreaking comparison until the truth was revealed. Even so, the audience gained a bit of sympathy for Richard when the assassin turned against him. Although he’s not a sympathetic character by a long shot, in this one episode he was molded into a multi-dimensional man – something this series has struggled to do for certain characters who have appeared in many more episodes.

In a strange turn of events, Meredith was the Davies kid who was the most stable and reasonable this episode. She had the opportunity to be involved in a storyline completely drug free and was enjoyable to watch in this episode, which was unfortunately her last. A character who the writers did not really know what to do with since the beginning except harp on her drug problem became even less valuable to them once she got out of rehab.

With Meredith’s absence, there was space to bring in a new character for Tru to clash with. Jack Harper (thanks to Jason Priestly) still has a kind of charm even when he’s drinking Tru’s soda and sassing her. From the beginning, the character is not someone you like to like, but he is someone you cannot help but enjoy watching. What’s impressive about the introducing of Jack is that they managed to include a brief backstory without it feeling forced. A job application provided the perfect opportunity. Lastly, Jack’s not to subtle comments about disliking it when life is prolonged beyond its usefulness and his other thoughts about death set up an antagonistic relationship with Tru in such a simple and interesting way.

Additional Comments:

– Why did it take Jordan so long to ask for help? By breaking the formula of the series on a family-related case, it seemed like too convenient of a way to get more emotional mileage out of it.

– Carl Neesan was the series’ first truly scary antagonist.

– Being dead for three minutes and twenty-eight seconds is a long time to go without oxygen and not show any side effects.

– Here starts the beginning of the series’ inability to write characters out of the show in a satisfying way. Guardez is just gone without any explanation. And this was Meredith’s last episode with no explanation in the following one.

– The music cues at the party were noticeably over done, especially the ones intending to heighten the danger and show Tru racing against the clock.

– Why would you stab a man in the foot with a massive knife and then leave the knife with him for him to use against you?!

– Could this get any more awkward?
Jack: Hey. Jack.
Tru (pointing to a can with her name on it): Hey. Tru.
Jack: You had to write it down?
Tru: Just so the functionally literate wouldn’t drink my soda.
Jack (taking a drink): Can’t be too careful, what, with the big soda shortage I’ve been reading so much about.
Tru: And here I was thinking you didn’t read.

Episode 15, “The Getaway”
Originally aired: April 1, 2004

Falling back into the swing of things, “The Getaway” put Tru once again in an unpleasant, not family-related, situation where she was forced to save someone who she was not particularly fond of. As expected, her honor outweighed her feelings toward the victim, and her gift continued to complicate her life in ways she wish it hadn’t. “The Getaway” was not as engaging as the previous episode, but on its own, it contained enough drama and obstacles in the main storyline to keep the viewer’s attention.

Having the victims rob an arcade, a clothing store, and a diner did not immediately establish them as master criminals or even that threatening of criminals. The twist concerning the hostage was solid, although it was pretty much one of the only twists that an episode built on this premise could utilize. On the one hand, these types of criminals made it more likely that Tru could stop them, but on the other hand, it meant that the stakes had to be raised in other ways.

What was unique about this episode was that it took the opposite approach to the relationship between Tru and the victim. Normally, Tru has to work her way into the victim’s life and gain their trust when they’d rather not have her around, but this time it was the victim who was infringing on Tru’s life when Tru wanted to push her away for her own safety. It was a well-done reversal that almost took away the need for Tru’s half-baked excuses and more noticeably made the victim’s chance of survival something that Tru had less control over. It raised the stakes, but it also created a problem with the case’s resolution. Most of the time with series of this nature, the main character is the one to save the day. Especially with Tru Calling, Tru is the one to swoop the victim out of harm’s way or talk the killer into not carrying out the plan. However, because of Tru’s interventions, it was the lead criminal who had to talk his accomplice down this week. So, in a roundabout way, Tru closed the case, but she was not the one to actively do so.

The return of the unwanted reporter was simply unwanted. Because we knew she had to come back to the series at some point and because we knew she was determined to get to the truth, her storyline in “The Getaway” was rather expected and predicable. What other option was there than to have her be the one to get killed and hear Tru’s secret from the source only to think she’s lying? In addition, her accusations and plans for reporting are so unfounded that she is hard to recognize as an actual threat. She claims she is going to print an article next week, but the likelihood of a publisher running a story of this sort without quotes is slim, and she has never even revealed what the point of her story is. A girl showing up to crime scenes and saving people does not constitute much of a story other than a personal interest piece, which does not fit with her investigative senses. To boil it down, her attitude is what is causing the most trouble with her storyline. She is so attack-oriented and accusatory that one would assume that Tru has done something wrong, which is the opposite of what’s true, and the reporter knows that. She has set out to uncover a dark secret, but she has zero reason to believe that the secret is dark. In this character’s case, it did not help to set her motivations up a few episodes prior because I still do not have anything invested in this story.

On a completely different note, Harrison’s relationship with Lindsay is a time bomb. Without Tru’s redo days, their relationship would not have lasted nearly as long as it has, which has become more and more obvious these past four episodes. Their chemistry is not vibrant on screen and their personalities are so polar opposite that the fact they have lasted this long is nothing short of a miracle. However, Harrison’s budding relationship with Jack was a great relationship to see play out. It is about time Harrison found a friend, even though Jack indulged his love of the ponies. The more we learn about Jack the more interesting he becomes, including another piece of his backstory – his sister died a few years ago, but he knows she went to a better place. At this point, he’s just asking for a face off with Tru.

Additional Comments:

– Friendship goals: Tru and Davis. The relationship between these two was adorable in this episode. The simple gesture of him giving her a St. Benedict medal for protection showed just how much he cared even before they had a heart-to-heart about how much he worries about her.

– Harrison trying to pass off a fish bone as a bone he found in his veal was quite amusing.

– The minor story with Luc’s art show and Tru not showing up was nothing new for us. Just as Luc knew, we could assume that Tru was not going to find the time in her busy schedule to make it. This concept has been hit so hard in the series lately that is has become annoying. It was a perfect and missed opportunity to delve a little more into Luc’s character.

– Davis giving Luc encouraging words about dating was the highlight of this episode.