Saturday, November 12, 2011

TV: Charlie's Angels (2011, ep. 7)

This week was the airing of the final episode of Charlie's Angels. And that's a shame because this one, "Royal Angels", was probably one of the more tightly written episodes of the bunch. It had a believable, relatable plot that was well executed. No over the top stuff, no hard-to-believe elements. Just a straight-forward investigative episode.

Bummer.

Let's break it down for one final time...

The episode opens at the MSU basketball courts. Everyone is there for a practice exhibition. Turns out Bosley is one of the coaches for the team. Mark is a student with a prominent future in the sport; he also happens to be the son of the king of Ukata, an African nation. The king is there to see the game. So is Kate's ex Ray, the cop who helped them out in an earlier episode. But someone is there to cause trouble - a sniper who shoots the king dead. Lots of story to set up in the first four minutes but it was done with great precision.

Cue the theme music.

Turns out Mark was a target of the assassin too since he is sole heir to the throne (his death would leave the country with no ruler and throw it into a civil war). The Angels go to talk to him at the consulate but he's flown the coop. Bos hacks into his Facebook page, finds he's hanging with a lifeguard at the beach and tracks her down. Mark's been hiding out with her. Abby and Kate analyze the surveillence video to learn the assassin was a woman, send a picture to Bos and Eve just as the woman comes walking down the beach. She's there to finish the job, but Eve takes her down.

Bos takes Mark and the lifeguard Dominique to a safe house. He and Mark have a good talk about life and choices - very well written and delivered. The Angels meanwhile track down the assassin's escape cycle, find her cell phone and cash. Turns out the phone identifies her as a former Army sniper who faked her own death and now works as an assassin for hire. Who hired her? And more interesting, why is the assassin paying out money to pay for someone's college education?

Kate trades info with Ray in exchange for five minutes with the killer. Kate threatens to bring the younger sister into the mix unless the assassin reveals who hired her. The killer drops the name Mason Winkler LLC which turns out to be a shell company for one Archer Langley. Archer made his money on diamonds, a key export from Ukata. Is is about taking over the gem industry? Nope. Turns out the mining uncovered a huge lithium deposit, key for making cell phone batteries. Archer must be diversifying.

Eve and Abby get into Archer's house, in a very cute and creative way - nice scene. They discover though that Archer knows Dominique. They call to warn Bosley. She pulls a gun on Bos and Mark, tells how Archer paid for her education so she owes him. Mark is furious that she tipped Archer off to his father being at the game, basically meaning she helped pull the trigger. Bos disarms her but is warned that armed men are descending upon the safe house. He gives Mark his gun and sends him and Dominique to the panic room. Bos then takes out the attackers one by one. But Mark has fled.

They all converge back at Archer's where Mark has him at gunpoint. Coach Bosley once again gives Mark a great speech and talks him out of doing something stupid. They'll let justice handle Archer.

In the end, Mark is ready to go home to be king. Kate goes to see Ray only to find he has moved on to someone else. The scene and the show end with Abby and Eve showing up with Cuban sandwiches and beer. Three friends walking off into the sunset.

Fade to black.

Again, I am sorry to see the show end. It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it wasn't horrible. As I have noted previously, a number of subplots were slowly being set up to build into something bigger later in the season. Looks like we'll never see where those were going unless some kind of TV miracle happens (a final TV movie, a return as a mid-season replacement next year, something, anything).

Ah well. I guess that frees up an hour a week for me.

No comments: