As a father of a deaf daughter and a person who is reasonably fluent in sign language, I have a different perspective on this one from the average person. Here are a few things I noticed and loved about this one:
1. The deaf people in the show appear to actually be deaf people who sign! Believe it or not, many shows that purport to be about deaf folks feature gibberish instead of real sign language! Also KUDOS for actually hiring deaf actors, as too often disabled folks on TV and in movies AREN'T really disabled--thus depriving folks of work who could use the money AND could portray this sort of character best.
2. The issues in the episode are real ones for deaf folks. Cochlear implants ARE a divisive issue and deaf folks dating non- deaf folks can be as well.
3. I appreciated how the quality of the signing varied when it should have. Nick was supposed to be awful at signing...and he sure was. The hearing girlfriend, while decent for a hearing lady, clearly wasn't great and shouldn't have been based on her character.
4. Even if you aren't deaf or know a deaf person, this IS an interesting episode and the end will leave you wanting a box of Kleenex nearby--something very common for ANY "Cold Case" episode.
1. The deaf people in the show appear to actually be deaf people who sign! Believe it or not, many shows that purport to be about deaf folks feature gibberish instead of real sign language! Also KUDOS for actually hiring deaf actors, as too often disabled folks on TV and in movies AREN'T really disabled--thus depriving folks of work who could use the money AND could portray this sort of character best.
2. The issues in the episode are real ones for deaf folks. Cochlear implants ARE a divisive issue and deaf folks dating non- deaf folks can be as well.
3. I appreciated how the quality of the signing varied when it should have. Nick was supposed to be awful at signing...and he sure was. The hearing girlfriend, while decent for a hearing lady, clearly wasn't great and shouldn't have been based on her character.
4. Even if you aren't deaf or know a deaf person, this IS an interesting episode and the end will leave you wanting a box of Kleenex nearby--something very common for ANY "Cold Case" episode.