Bad Day in Building A

Okey dokey! A real kick-ass episode with guns and hostages, comic relief, squabbling cops, a little girl, and a fairy story. First off, I just loved the byplay between Mac and Tessa about the parking tickets. Pretty funny and they sounded exactly like any couple when one is being holier-than-thou and the other is contrite, but not *too* contrite.

In the courtroom, when Richie and Tessa are taken hostage with the others, it was a pretty good setup for Mac to save the day. Mac plays the noble sacrifice with a nice flair for drama. The bad guys are amazingly desperate and the cops amazingly uncoordinated. Had to love it.The little girl, rescued from her hidey-hole closet by Duncan, is no stranger to getting her own way. Making Duncan tell her a story and specifying what kind of story it had to be. Good kid. Her father was righteously worried about her. Tessa was both fierce and tender as she played the grieving widow and angry object of the affections of the main bad guy.

Hey! Did anyone else think the blond bad guy with the semi-long hair looked like that fella who used to play James Hart on The Paper Chase?????

Anyhow, Duncan pretty much skewered all the bad guys, won the day, and escaped Randi's reportorial attentions ... and walked into the sunset.

Questions:

1. Just how stupid was that SWAT commander anyhow? Discuss. We will give points for admitting he was under stress and doing the best job he knew how to do.

2. Didn't Duncan look just as military and noble as all get-out when he marched out of the courtroom to get shot and everything? Didn't you love it when he said "nothing personal" after he stabbed the bad guy with the skewer? What was that thing anyhow?

3. Was Duncan's fairy story really long enough to satisfy a little girl demanding to be told a story? Not much of a plot and little characterization if you ask me. Not that anyone is asking me.

4. Did Tessa actually pay those parking tickets or do you suppose they gave her immunity because of her hostage-ship and all?

5. Do we give Richie smart-ass points for his cannibal imitation? (mmmmm-mmmm good)

6. Why did they call it Building A? It just looked like a courthouse to me.

7. Aren't you glad we still have weeks and weeks before we have to discuss The Zone?