Never put "great" in an episode title, unless the episode is really great. "The Great Montarro" isn't really that great. For one thing, even in the 80s, was stage magic really that renowned? Who the heck is putting up $100,000 for the first prize of being the greatest magician in the world? (Or least Canada, or Illinois, or wherever the heck they are.)
For another, where's the rest of the club membership? Heck, Jack even mentions he's going to see his old friends at the Temple of Magic. But all we ever see is Monte, who appears to be a MC rather than a magician. It doesn't help to establish the show's magic bona fides if there are no magicians besides the bunch of auditioning amateur-quality magicians we see.
And while Chris Wiggins gives it his best, Jack never displays any talents as a magician or as an escape artist. He performs a few lame magic tricks: I particularly like his linking rings, where he picks up two already-linked rings and then magically "links" them together. Or his Pendulum of Death, which doesn't involve a pendulum! And the obvious guy standing in him for him, who turns out to be... an obvious guy standing in for him.
The ending isn't bad, nor is the chemistry between Ryan, Micki, and Jack. Ryan dismissing the killer and then possibly Micki as psychos is a bit disturbing. Why does the killer have to be a schizo? And she doesn't really get an ending, she just breaks into hysterics and presumably gets hauled off to the funny farm. Granted, she works the maniacal laugh pretty well. Was she always an evil shrew, or did the antique make her into one?
She's also not very well motivated. Her father treats her like something to scrape off his shoe most of the time. And no matter how inadvertently, the killer (yes, it's the daughter Lyla: 20+ year later spoiler alert!) is promoting him. Since we don't buy their on-and-off relationship, it's hard to see Lyla going into hysterics after killing him. Yes, pulling the lever that kills your father would be traumatizing. But presumably having a complete mental breakdown just isn't gaslit enough to make it look believable.
The nature of the antique doesn't help. One reviewer earlier noted, how the heck did they get the Box into the vault? Not to mention, are both boxes required for the curse, or just one? The demon face on the Coffin box is featured a couple of times: is the sword box another antique, and it works in conjunction with the Houdin Box? The inability to explain the antique doesn't help. And you wonder how Lewis even sold the box(es)? Did he keep them in the store, selling them with the other cursed antiques?
And Jack procured the antiques for Lewis. Would he really have handed over a box(es) belonging to the renowned magician Houdin? Being a magician himself, you'd think he'd remember the Box but instead it is him remembering Fahteem's real name that jumpstarts the investigation.
The various plotholes, weak magic, Robey's endless screaming and sobbing when she's trapped in the Box, the many off-screen plot points (Mick and Lyla bond without us seeing it, and Micki mentions Miranda watching them like a hawk but we never see that) and padded storylines (did Robert add anything to the episode?) mean the episode is mediocre at best. It's not a bad first-half first-season episode. But it's not a good one, either.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
For another, where's the rest of the club membership? Heck, Jack even mentions he's going to see his old friends at the Temple of Magic. But all we ever see is Monte, who appears to be a MC rather than a magician. It doesn't help to establish the show's magic bona fides if there are no magicians besides the bunch of auditioning amateur-quality magicians we see.
And while Chris Wiggins gives it his best, Jack never displays any talents as a magician or as an escape artist. He performs a few lame magic tricks: I particularly like his linking rings, where he picks up two already-linked rings and then magically "links" them together. Or his Pendulum of Death, which doesn't involve a pendulum! And the obvious guy standing in him for him, who turns out to be... an obvious guy standing in for him.
The ending isn't bad, nor is the chemistry between Ryan, Micki, and Jack. Ryan dismissing the killer and then possibly Micki as psychos is a bit disturbing. Why does the killer have to be a schizo? And she doesn't really get an ending, she just breaks into hysterics and presumably gets hauled off to the funny farm. Granted, she works the maniacal laugh pretty well. Was she always an evil shrew, or did the antique make her into one?
She's also not very well motivated. Her father treats her like something to scrape off his shoe most of the time. And no matter how inadvertently, the killer (yes, it's the daughter Lyla: 20+ year later spoiler alert!) is promoting him. Since we don't buy their on-and-off relationship, it's hard to see Lyla going into hysterics after killing him. Yes, pulling the lever that kills your father would be traumatizing. But presumably having a complete mental breakdown just isn't gaslit enough to make it look believable.
The nature of the antique doesn't help. One reviewer earlier noted, how the heck did they get the Box into the vault? Not to mention, are both boxes required for the curse, or just one? The demon face on the Coffin box is featured a couple of times: is the sword box another antique, and it works in conjunction with the Houdin Box? The inability to explain the antique doesn't help. And you wonder how Lewis even sold the box(es)? Did he keep them in the store, selling them with the other cursed antiques?
And Jack procured the antiques for Lewis. Would he really have handed over a box(es) belonging to the renowned magician Houdin? Being a magician himself, you'd think he'd remember the Box but instead it is him remembering Fahteem's real name that jumpstarts the investigation.
The various plotholes, weak magic, Robey's endless screaming and sobbing when she's trapped in the Box, the many off-screen plot points (Mick and Lyla bond without us seeing it, and Micki mentions Miranda watching them like a hawk but we never see that) and padded storylines (did Robert add anything to the episode?) mean the episode is mediocre at best. It's not a bad first-half first-season episode. But it's not a good one, either.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?