"A Cup of Time" isn't bad. It at least puts the teacup in a more three-dimensional light than most of the fearly irst-season antiques. But it's still basically a murder weapon that gives the user something in return for them killing people. And it seems awkward that the killer has to go to the park, and pour out a cup of tea, and serve it to her victim. It looks as awkward as the previous episode when the killer has to haul a statue of Cupid to bars to use it on women. But oh well: at least it makes a little more sense in context.
The episode still doesn't make a lot of sense, though. Birdie recognizes Die as Sarah, but if Sarah looked like the Sarah we see, all decrepit and on the brink of dying of old age, she must not have looked very human when she was just Sarah. I can buy that her failure to use the cup successfully is aging her more rapidly, but then how does Birdie recognize her if the teacup is changing Sarah.
The writers still don't seem to know how to end an episode. Die just... well, dies. Yes, Jack manages to steal the teacup from her, using a toupee that isn't necessary. It's not like Die saw him before, that he needs to disguise himself. Instead the episode ends with a lame one-liner from the young girl, Kirsten.
And writer Barbara Sachs seems to want to say something about ageism, but isn't sure what. Birdie is a sympathetic character who we never seen again, and at one point tries to "dress young". Jack isn't interested in her until she dresses her age. And the bit where Jack is making a protein drink (??), and the jokes about it being an aphrodisiac on rats, are anything but humorous and out of character: since when is Jack researcher? A pity about not seeing Birdie again: a romance between her and Jack would have been interesting. Then again, maybe she figured she deserved better. Judging from this episode, she's right.
We also get an introduction and apparent setup for a regular cop, Fishbein. But his presence doesn't do anything, so it's not hard to see why he got dropped. He arrests Micki and Ryan for apparently attacking Birdie, but a scene or two later they're out of jail. Yeah, we can figure that Birdie recovered and said that someone else attacked her. But then why did the writer have them arrested in the first place? Just to pad out the episode, I guess.
So overall, "Cup of Time" is okay. It ends rather abruptly and without the trio doing much, particularly Ryan and Micki. Jack gets a little more to do, but Sachs clearly didn't know what to do with him, with his aphrodisiac energy drink and Birdie throwing herself at him.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The episode still doesn't make a lot of sense, though. Birdie recognizes Die as Sarah, but if Sarah looked like the Sarah we see, all decrepit and on the brink of dying of old age, she must not have looked very human when she was just Sarah. I can buy that her failure to use the cup successfully is aging her more rapidly, but then how does Birdie recognize her if the teacup is changing Sarah.
The writers still don't seem to know how to end an episode. Die just... well, dies. Yes, Jack manages to steal the teacup from her, using a toupee that isn't necessary. It's not like Die saw him before, that he needs to disguise himself. Instead the episode ends with a lame one-liner from the young girl, Kirsten.
And writer Barbara Sachs seems to want to say something about ageism, but isn't sure what. Birdie is a sympathetic character who we never seen again, and at one point tries to "dress young". Jack isn't interested in her until she dresses her age. And the bit where Jack is making a protein drink (??), and the jokes about it being an aphrodisiac on rats, are anything but humorous and out of character: since when is Jack researcher? A pity about not seeing Birdie again: a romance between her and Jack would have been interesting. Then again, maybe she figured she deserved better. Judging from this episode, she's right.
We also get an introduction and apparent setup for a regular cop, Fishbein. But his presence doesn't do anything, so it's not hard to see why he got dropped. He arrests Micki and Ryan for apparently attacking Birdie, but a scene or two later they're out of jail. Yeah, we can figure that Birdie recovered and said that someone else attacked her. But then why did the writer have them arrested in the first place? Just to pad out the episode, I guess.
So overall, "Cup of Time" is okay. It ends rather abruptly and without the trio doing much, particularly Ryan and Micki. Jack gets a little more to do, but Sachs clearly didn't know what to do with him, with his aphrodisiac energy drink and Birdie throwing herself at him.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?