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Da Vinci's Inquest: Run by the Monkeys (2002)
Callback to Season 4, Brian case heats up
DA VINCI takes on City Hall for Red Light District (RLD)/Safe Injection Site (SIS) = ROSE WILLIAMS speaks to KURTZ, who is connected to City Councilman JACK PIERCE, she wants to stay on murder case but KURTZ denies though says wants to move ROSE up to Homicide. ROSE tells KURTZ she knows PIERCE & KURTZ are on a prostitution reform committee, and ROSE has heard from drug squad they are watching a house with lots of hookers & drugs, & thinks they recorded PIERCE visiting the house. KURTZ tells her to verify. ROSE goes to BRIAN CURTIS (of the vice squad) and tells him arrested woman for robbery who had PIERCE's watch, thought PIERCE may be "trading favors for some action." BRIAN identifies house, says 6-7 people live there with prostitutes, pimps, johns, and junkies going in and out to sell stolen goods as "a one-stop shop" for the neighborhood. CURTIS says has seen PIERCE there 7-8 times, he has a prostitute BRENDA EBERHART, and plans to drop info the next time PIERCE (who is pro-drug) says something CURTIS does not like. ROSE asks him to get video, so she might use it later. KURTZ asks DA VINCI about PIERCE, he says he is supportive of the Red Light district DA VINCI & KURTZ supporting and would lose the initiative if PIERCE removed, so KURTZ mentions PIERCE possibly involved with prostitute & brothel house. DA VINCI goes to PIERCE, says regarding the Red Light Committee KURTZ is on-board, but discloses PIERCE has been seen at a known brothel/drug house, PIERCE claims he acting on behalf of a constituent to rescue stripper/prostitute owing to PIERCE being a friend of the family. PIERCE denies there is anything untoward or illegal about relationship with her.
Corrupt Cop BRIAN CURTIS = SUKI's informant's boyfriend a dealer who goes to "foot of Main Street" with cocaine to speak with cop customer, cut dope with laxatives as figures going to be ripped off, winds up shot 10-11 times in limbs with small caliber (.22 perhaps) weapon and thrown into water, drowns. SUKI finds body under pier in Burrad Inlet. KOSMO takes homicide case, briefs KURTZ, who cautions running down the corrupt cop angle until can speak to SUKI's informant. SUKI (with BRIAN) says informant doesn't want to talk, BRIAN says talk to JOE TANG for leads, but KOSMO says bring the informant in or she'll be slapped with a material witness warrant. KOSMO goes to informant SUE LEWIS from missing prostitute case, confirms she saying CURTIS rips off dealers, and JOE's trick is to bust dealers and then weight of drugs confiscated is always less in court than what was removed (if carrying 5 grams, he takes 3 grams, and says perpetrator had 2 grams). SUE says has not heard or seen anything illegal about SUKI. ROSE tells KURTZ she knows PIERCE & KURTZ are on a prostitution reform committee, and ROSE has heard from drug squad they are watching a house with lots of hookers & drugs, & thinks they recorded PIERCE visiting the house. KURTZ tells her to verify. ROSE goes to BRIAN CURTIS (of the vice squad) and tells him arrested woman for robbery who had PIERCE's watch, thought PIERCE may be "trading favors for some action." BRIAN identifies house, says 6-7 people live there with prostitutes, pimps, johns, and junkies going in and out to sell stolen goods as "a one-stop shop" for the neighborhood. CURTIS says has seen PIERCE there 7-8 times, he has a prostitute BRENDA EBERHART, and plans to drop info the next time PIERCE (who is pro-drug) says something CURTIS does not like. ROSE asks him to get video, so she might use it later.
Constable JOSIE HUTCHENS = JOSIE's sister ANNIE has been calling MICK, he does not call back, so she tracks him down and demands to know if he was having an affair with her sister. MICK denies, but ANNIE says found JOSIE's diary with entries which indicates he did. MICK asks to talk another time.
Da Vinci's Inquest: A Big Enough Fan (2002)
A pause in the arcs
KURTZ's neighbor = SCHULTE brought in for questioning, finds questions about if he having affair offensive, goes for lawyer. That night, LAURA reports being attacked by unknown person in apartment building's garage, who shoved against car, put plastic bag over head, started to pull clothes off, but car spooked him.
Da Vinci's Inquest: Ass Covering Day (2002)
Two cases now
Corrupt Cop BRIAN CURTIS = SUE identifies CURTIS from back of KOSMO's car, says she sold him cocaine.
KURTZ's neighbor = KURTZ asks KOSMO to look into the overseas death of a professor JIM SCHULTE's wife who died hiking even though she had a fear of heights. KURTZ was asked to follow up about this her neighbor LAURA MAITLAND, who believes SCHULTE was having an affair with his students.
Da Vinci's Inquest: A Big Whiff of a Real Bad Smell (2002)
The Story Arcs Begin
Breakdown by case:
Corrupt Cop BRIAN CURTIS = Prostitute (& un-carded police informant for ANGELA KOSMO) SUE LEWIS was picked up by a john (customer) on a "date" who pulled a badge & said it was a freebie; but SUE stole the badge and ran. SUE wants $100 for the name & $500 for the badge, KOSMO says will think about it, but pays $100, and SUE reveals Vice cop BRIAN was the date, but his Narcotics cop friend JOE is worse, stealing drugs from dealers. KOSMO knows Det. BRIAN CURTIS, who is partnered with Vice Det. SUKI TAYLOR, and associated with Narcotics Det. JOE TANG. JOE & BRIAN attempting to convince SUKI to come up to lake cabin. KOSMO tells SUE to stay close to BRIAN & give his badge back.
Dagger Kiss (2016)
Good story, good acting, best production an Indie can provide
To start with, I don't think it's a spoiler since it isn't as clear in the beginning, there are two worlds in this series: a magical one with connections to the real one, and the characters can traverse between the two pretty easily. This isn't as clear in the first couple of episodes, so it can be jarring when you do not expect it.
The series is a story of love and loss, coupled with an exploitative villain, and shows someone finding love again while realizing their true power. It's a good story and the acting carries the shortages of special effects due to the Indie budget.
Tucky Williams is the lead and has a chance to show some range compared to her character in the groundbreaking Girl/Girl scene. Amanda Morales & Roni Jonah are other Girl/Girl scene alumni who get to expand on what you might have seen them perform before (more the former than latter). Otherwise, the rest of the cast (notably including Stoya) rounds out around them and Thomas Phillips as Zareth.
What hurts the movie is the lack of big-picture special effects; with some more cash for the glam CGI viewers have become used to, the transitions between the magical and real world would likely have carried over better. But it is an Indie production, made with the cast & crew's access to real locations, and still shine's despite the handicap due to the strength of story and acting abilities of the cast.
If you're looking for a tour-de-force in fantasy SFX, this is not the show for you. If you're used to creative Indie films which make the most of their scale budget, this is a good series to watch.
Girl/Girl Scene - The Movie (2019)
"Evan" & "Trista" are Back, But Only Them
As in the headline, the two from all three seasons (yes, there was a short season after Evan & Bender kissed at Season 2's conclusion which expanded the story; you can see it thru the website) return with a new beautiful cast.
The absence of the others is felt, as I feel the story would have worked better with more time knowing the characters which the first two seasons provided. L.E. Baron as "Dov" was the standout new actress, who (aside from the beginning) had good lines and gave a great performance. Amanda K. Morales as Bridgett managed to deliver some long lines quite well and in an engaging way.
The story has some elements which did not quite land or did not get explored as much as they could have been. Evan's work for her father's political campaign seems like it could have proven interesting, especially touching on polarized 2019 politics, but there was no office time. I was not quite sure where the Evan being part ethnically Arab was going, but love triangle between Dov-Evan-Bridgette carried through. Trista's storyline of divorce could have been explored some more.
Nonetheless, it was nice to see the kind of entertainment which the Girl/Girl scene web series provided in the past. To be honest, it was more a 6/10, but I rated it higher after seeing the other three reviews and their complaints, because it deserves to average higher than 3.
Murdoch Mysteries: The Knockdown (2008)
Murdoch and Boxing
This is a good episode about boxing, the science of blood-spatter, with a light touch on the racism of 1895. The episode opens with a boxing match between black and white pugilists. The black one, Amos Robinson, is found dead with his wife, Fannie, standing over the body with a pistol. Murdoch disputes the easy conclusion based on the way the blood is dispersed on her dress. As Murdoch digs deeper he discovers more about a corrupt boxing promoter, his bohemian wife, the questionable morals of the boxers manager, and the boxer Amos punched out when he was supposed to dive. While the episode features some light flirting between Dr. Ogden & Murdoch plus Constable Crabtree's lovable questioning/theorizing (and a blood seeking ferret) what's noticeable is talk of race. Inspector Brackenreid has to be cut off from speaking a racial slur, the boxing promoter seeks to hype a white local verse black out of towner, and Fannie thinking Murdoch has propositioned her. Race doesn't dominate the story though as Murdoch follows several twists and turns to discover the true killer and his motive.