Fast-forwarded through torture/grimace scenes, but then went back and watched through, since so many other fans seemed to have survived it.
Firstly, I’m glad for Shemar, because I think he enjoys this type of entertainment. So I’m glad he got to star in it, and I’m glad for anyone else who found it enjoyable. If I were a diehard Shemar fan, I think I’d probably have been very happy.
But I’m more a fan of Morgan, the character, and never more so than when I’m reminded that he is the owner of a hefty brain in addition to his brawn. I would have much preferred to see him solve an intricate puzzle, to watching him sustain gratuitous torture and dissociation. The little homage to profiling at the beginning of his time with his father looked promising, but it went nowhere. He saved himself with improbable physical strength, not with his MIND.
I am a fan of TG’s style of directing (MGG’s too, but so very different). He allows a well-written story to tell itself, as in The Night Watch. But this was not one of those stories, and I felt like his talents as a director were stifled by the convoluted storyline. Nonetheless, there were some great transition and cut-away scenes.
There were highlights and lowlights throughout. Shemar did well with the scenes with his father, but nowhere near as well as he did in ‘Profiler, Profiled’. Others of the ‘dissociation’ scenes were not as successful. Danny Glover is always good, but I didn’t think he had quality material to work with.
Beyond that, I’m left to ponder:
Torture is used as an interrogation technique. Where were the questions? Even the guy who arrived at the end was prepared to kill Morgan without interrogating him.
Making me wonder. Is Morgan not the actual target, but rather a tool? Were they trying to get at someone else via the gratuitous torture of Morgan?
Where and how did Morgan learn to dissociate? And how did he remain in a dissociative state while he was moving around?
Why did that one guy spill his guts (verbally, before physically) to Morgan? Why tell him anything? It wasn’t exactly a deathbed confession, because he proceeded to swallow the SIM card to thwart Morgan’s attempt at escape.
Is Reid the new marksman on the team? He didn’t just happen to take the kill shot, he was the one Hotch sent through the door first.
Why didn’t the white phosphorous eviscerate Morgan?
Why did the paramedics zap him when he had (audibly) a perfectly good heart rate? For a second, I thought they might have been in on it, because they were the ones who made him flatline. I kind of hoped they were, because it would have made a great cliffhanger.
Overall, not a disaster, but not one I'll watch again, even if it is part of an arc. But, since Shemar obviously enjoyed it, I'm glad----he deserves a going away present. I'll miss Morgan.
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