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Disclaimer & some personal notes:
Its TNT and/or NBC playground – I don’t really know which. They own the characters, dialogues, plots, quotes etc. These analysis are for pure entertainment only – mostly my own.
About the analysis:
Ok, this will NOT be an episode guide, though you will find plenty of spoilers! My analysis are purely subjective, my opinion, my take. Simply for the reason that I’m the one on the keyboard!
Disagree with me? Let it be heard! Give feedback and gimme hell if you want! Write a note or your own take!
Special Note:Don’t expect me to go into any length about the pretends, because I won’t. For me its only about the characters, their individual development in each episode and their interaction with each other. The central theme for me is the Centre-related story, and only when the pretends and the people Jarod meets along his travels, are important to his character development or the Centre-related-plot, I will pay attention. And more often than not you will wonder if the series’ main character might be Miss Parker and not Jarod. She of course is as important to the show as he is. Even when her scenes are only short in an ep., you might be surprised at the length I can go about it. It’s a personal thing. I was drawn into the series by her character, and I do regard her not only as very important but also as my favorite one. Go, and hate me for that. *grin*
Oh, and of course, obviously these have been written all AFTER I saw it all. So sometimes I can go ahead of the series – I will try to not do it too much though and try hard to not dwell on it a lot.
And take into account that these analysis are NOT betaed! My first language is German so please don’t mind the inevitable errors!
Review of ‘Assassin’
Season 3
Ep. 311
Assassin is through and through an enjoyable episode. The pretend itself is a good hour of television on its own. Jarod gets down on some bad fellows who blackmail a woman with quite a skeleton in her closet. She has a painful past and is haunted by it. They want her to kill a Senator, and unless she doesn’t, they wont return her two kids.
Rachel is a likeable woman. Hurt by her past, scared for her children and cursed with a special capability - she is a professional trained assassin. Its no surprise that Jarod feels immediately connected to her. But no worries for the shipper-brigade! For once we see not only a very attractive woman, who is actually NICE and maybe even worthy of our pretender, but for this once there is no romantic attraction, no fleeting looks, no touching, no nothing.
Can it be that Jarod is scared away by the fact that Rachel has kids and he wouldn’t want to take the responsibility? Nah, the reason for no flirting whatsoever is simply that in this episode all the flirting goes to our kick-ass-goddess with the presumable heart of stone!
Miss Parker meets a man and suddenly is reminded of how lonely she is and how empty her life really is without anyone out there to share it. Her father, the only one she is interested in sharing a part of her life, is actually announcing his wedding with Brigitte – and I do think that’s rather twisted!
She meets Thomas Gates at a Gas Station and repeatedly so. That she actually IS interested – her demeanor to the contrary – we know when she goes there to wait for him. But Brigitte shows up and reminds her of ‘who she is’ and ‘where she comes from’.
The scene in the Centre where the two women have yet again a little stand-off (this time without bruises) is great. After Brigitte warns her to not see Thomas without the ‘permission’ of the Centre, you can see it in Miss Parker’s eyes that this is not only a challenge to her but rather an open invitation. She pouts like a child in the end and we just know that she would purposely disregard the warning – if nothing else, just for the heck of it.
Miss Parker has Broots investigating on Thomas Gates’ past herself, but decides in the end to not look at it. It seems like a prudent thing for her to do, you never know who you are dealing with when working for the Centre. But on the other hand, this would rob her of the chance to get to know him like any normal person gets to know someone. The interesting beginning in any relationship, the first conversations, the exchanges that actually tell you what kind of person you’ve met. How much you have in common, the endless conversations at first, the curiosity about the other person. ‘What makes him tick? Do I genuinely like him? Will he call? Will he ask me out again?’
It’s the very foundation of every relationship in the world. And it would be a shame – if not outright wrong – to miss this.
In a phone-call in the end, Jarod reminds her to not miss out this chance at some happiness. And she follows his advice. MP throws away the background files on Gates without looking at it and chooses to rather ask him in person about his life.
The acting was top-notch, by all of them and especially by the two main guest appearances. But I have to admit that Jessica Steen as Rachel takes the lead here. She carried the whole pretend-plot in my opinion, and worked great alongside of Jarod. She was convincing from the very beginning as the haunted girl who would do anything to get her children back.
She comes down on Jarod repeatedly until she is able to trust him, and I liked it how she slammed down her gun on his head. Hell hath no fury against a woman who fights for her children.
Jason Brooks delivered nicely as well. I have never seen him in Baywatch, and I am glad I didn’t. Simply because I so dislike that series, that I might have never given him the chance at all!
But the way it is, he immediately struck me as a perfect match for her (at least as long as the writers decide, to keep her from Jarod lol) He is attractive as hell, likeable, has just the right amount of charm around him, and is simply that ‘regular guy’. He is not what one would think as the perfect match for her at first, but as they say: opposites attract.
His embarrassed smile after he invited her to join him that night in the woods was perfect. His ‘pick-up’ line is so hilarious, not only because its MP he asks, but also because it is just so…. ridiculous.
As she said, she is not really the ‘hanging out in the woods kinda gal’, but he has the guts to still ask her and with that, delivers the first of many ‘blows’, that scratch at her armor.
Broots and Syd have very little screen time, but I liked Broots’ little attempt at joking with the blonde secretary. He is a long way from a stand-up comedian, but keeps trying.
Lyle had a good scene with Brigitte and MP. I was almost tempted to feel some sympathy for him! When MP asks him how he could allow this (the wedding) to happen, I was surprised. She shows a lot of emotions towards her so hated twin, and for once he isn’t selling her for it. And with his advice to go out and have some fun, to enjoy life a bit, he almost seemed honest. Those are the moments when I tend to forget how evil Lyle is, and that’s what makes him such a great character.
As I said, I enjoyed the pretend, though at the end it was a bit rushed. That Renfro would take Jarod’s tape in exchange for the children was a tad too convenient. No professional would agree to this deal without a backup plan. But that’s a plot-flaw that unfortunately is not a rare occurrence with the Pretender as a series. They often seem to run out of time and wrap up the show a tad too quickly. We know that Jarod will win in the end, but sometimes it’s annoying.
All in all it’s a solid hour of entertainment. Its not an emotional hitter but entails just the right amount of moving moments that I enjoy so much. I give it 4 out of 5 points.
Its TNT and/or NBC playground – I don’t really know which. They own the characters, dialogues, plots, quotes etc. These analysis are for pure entertainment only – mostly my own.
About the analysis:
Ok, this will NOT be an episode guide, though you will find plenty of spoilers! My analysis are purely subjective, my opinion, my take. Simply for the reason that I’m the one on the keyboard!
Disagree with me? Let it be heard! Give feedback and gimme hell if you want! Write a note or your own take!
Special Note:Don’t expect me to go into any length about the pretends, because I won’t. For me its only about the characters, their individual development in each episode and their interaction with each other. The central theme for me is the Centre-related story, and only when the pretends and the people Jarod meets along his travels, are important to his character development or the Centre-related-plot, I will pay attention. And more often than not you will wonder if the series’ main character might be Miss Parker and not Jarod. She of course is as important to the show as he is. Even when her scenes are only short in an ep., you might be surprised at the length I can go about it. It’s a personal thing. I was drawn into the series by her character, and I do regard her not only as very important but also as my favorite one. Go, and hate me for that. *grin*
Oh, and of course, obviously these have been written all AFTER I saw it all. So sometimes I can go ahead of the series – I will try to not do it too much though and try hard to not dwell on it a lot.
And take into account that these analysis are NOT betaed! My first language is German so please don’t mind the inevitable errors!
Season 3
Ep. 311
Assassin is through and through an enjoyable episode. The pretend itself is a good hour of television on its own. Jarod gets down on some bad fellows who blackmail a woman with quite a skeleton in her closet. She has a painful past and is haunted by it. They want her to kill a Senator, and unless she doesn’t, they wont return her two kids.
Rachel is a likeable woman. Hurt by her past, scared for her children and cursed with a special capability - she is a professional trained assassin. Its no surprise that Jarod feels immediately connected to her. But no worries for the shipper-brigade! For once we see not only a very attractive woman, who is actually NICE and maybe even worthy of our pretender, but for this once there is no romantic attraction, no fleeting looks, no touching, no nothing.
Can it be that Jarod is scared away by the fact that Rachel has kids and he wouldn’t want to take the responsibility? Nah, the reason for no flirting whatsoever is simply that in this episode all the flirting goes to our kick-ass-goddess with the presumable heart of stone!
Miss Parker meets a man and suddenly is reminded of how lonely she is and how empty her life really is without anyone out there to share it. Her father, the only one she is interested in sharing a part of her life, is actually announcing his wedding with Brigitte – and I do think that’s rather twisted!
She meets Thomas Gates at a Gas Station and repeatedly so. That she actually IS interested – her demeanor to the contrary – we know when she goes there to wait for him. But Brigitte shows up and reminds her of ‘who she is’ and ‘where she comes from’.
The scene in the Centre where the two women have yet again a little stand-off (this time without bruises) is great. After Brigitte warns her to not see Thomas without the ‘permission’ of the Centre, you can see it in Miss Parker’s eyes that this is not only a challenge to her but rather an open invitation. She pouts like a child in the end and we just know that she would purposely disregard the warning – if nothing else, just for the heck of it.
Miss Parker has Broots investigating on Thomas Gates’ past herself, but decides in the end to not look at it. It seems like a prudent thing for her to do, you never know who you are dealing with when working for the Centre. But on the other hand, this would rob her of the chance to get to know him like any normal person gets to know someone. The interesting beginning in any relationship, the first conversations, the exchanges that actually tell you what kind of person you’ve met. How much you have in common, the endless conversations at first, the curiosity about the other person. ‘What makes him tick? Do I genuinely like him? Will he call? Will he ask me out again?’
It’s the very foundation of every relationship in the world. And it would be a shame – if not outright wrong – to miss this.
In a phone-call in the end, Jarod reminds her to not miss out this chance at some happiness. And she follows his advice. MP throws away the background files on Gates without looking at it and chooses to rather ask him in person about his life.
The acting was top-notch, by all of them and especially by the two main guest appearances. But I have to admit that Jessica Steen as Rachel takes the lead here. She carried the whole pretend-plot in my opinion, and worked great alongside of Jarod. She was convincing from the very beginning as the haunted girl who would do anything to get her children back.
She comes down on Jarod repeatedly until she is able to trust him, and I liked it how she slammed down her gun on his head. Hell hath no fury against a woman who fights for her children.
Jason Brooks delivered nicely as well. I have never seen him in Baywatch, and I am glad I didn’t. Simply because I so dislike that series, that I might have never given him the chance at all!
But the way it is, he immediately struck me as a perfect match for her (at least as long as the writers decide, to keep her from Jarod lol) He is attractive as hell, likeable, has just the right amount of charm around him, and is simply that ‘regular guy’. He is not what one would think as the perfect match for her at first, but as they say: opposites attract.
His embarrassed smile after he invited her to join him that night in the woods was perfect. His ‘pick-up’ line is so hilarious, not only because its MP he asks, but also because it is just so…. ridiculous.
As she said, she is not really the ‘hanging out in the woods kinda gal’, but he has the guts to still ask her and with that, delivers the first of many ‘blows’, that scratch at her armor.
Broots and Syd have very little screen time, but I liked Broots’ little attempt at joking with the blonde secretary. He is a long way from a stand-up comedian, but keeps trying.
Lyle had a good scene with Brigitte and MP. I was almost tempted to feel some sympathy for him! When MP asks him how he could allow this (the wedding) to happen, I was surprised. She shows a lot of emotions towards her so hated twin, and for once he isn’t selling her for it. And with his advice to go out and have some fun, to enjoy life a bit, he almost seemed honest. Those are the moments when I tend to forget how evil Lyle is, and that’s what makes him such a great character.
As I said, I enjoyed the pretend, though at the end it was a bit rushed. That Renfro would take Jarod’s tape in exchange for the children was a tad too convenient. No professional would agree to this deal without a backup plan. But that’s a plot-flaw that unfortunately is not a rare occurrence with the Pretender as a series. They often seem to run out of time and wrap up the show a tad too quickly. We know that Jarod will win in the end, but sometimes it’s annoying.
All in all it’s a solid hour of entertainment. Its not an emotional hitter but entails just the right amount of moving moments that I enjoy so much. I give it 4 out of 5 points.
