The Player - The Big Blind - Review

We start another fun week in Las Vegas with a bang. This time the bomb was planted in a car to kill a specific person; one of Alex’s clients, Ray Capello. This client is, if I may use a little movie slang, a “made man”, that is, not a very nice guy. It’s quickly easy to see why someone would want him dead.

Ray is quite pleased with Alex’s previous security recommendations, especially considering they are the reason he’s still alive. Ray’s wife, Monica, is a close friend. She takes a moment, in the midst of this crisis, to give Alex her condolences on Ginny’s death.

Mr. Johnson seems to be taken aback by the information that is displayed on Ada’s screen.

It seems the gamblers have started a game themselves by placing bets on what is basically Alex’s private life. As Mr. Johnson says, “Interesting.”

Alex settles back into his day job. His FBI training appears again as he examines the crime scene. He razzes Cal a little about actually investigating the scene. Cal sees finding out who ordered the hit on Ray as a way to get the evidence needed to finally put the “Mafia Thug” behind bars.

Johnson informs Alex that his client’s case is now a game. Having the considerable resources of The House at his disposal stops Alex’s arguments. Immediately we find out that Cassandra has surpassed Alex’s deductions, and in less than 5 minutes they know who planted the bomb in Ray’s car.

It is NOT a good sign that the bomber’s front door is standing open when Alex goes in. The bomber is dead. But before he died he was tortured for information. Unusual.

Every cop and PI on TV needs a Cassandra. While Alex tries to understand the purpose of the torture Cassandra spots the killer and saves Alex’s life.

The game has changed.

Now Alex has to contend with four hitmen instead of just one. Alex figures his greatest odds for success lay in finding out who hired these guys instead of trying to take them out one at a time. Mr. Johnson proves he can be helpful instead of just needling Alex about odds. He takes Alex to prison to talk to Ray’s father-in-law, also in the mob. Monica’s father-in-law says he is the one who put out the hit on Ray and his traitorous daughter. Alex doesn’t believe this for a second, but it is enough for Alex to figure that the old man is protecting his daughter, Monica.

Alex confronts Monica. She admits that she put the hit out on Ray, because Ray was beating her. (Alex is a little upset to discover Ginny knew about all of this and never said anything to him.) Monica is pregnant for the second time. She lost their first child when Ray threw her down a flight of stairs. As she says, ‘some women decorate a nursery’; she decided to get rid of the threat to her baby’s life. It’s very difficult to hold it against her.

Cal shows up to haul Monica away. Monica has two choices. She can go with him as a suspect in the attempted murder of her husband or as a witness against her husband I court. Alex can’t talk him out of it, because he can’t give Cal any information about what’s going on.

We begin to see more evidence that Cal is angry that his best friend won’t trust him with the truth about what is going on in his life. Of course, because Cal doesn’t know what’s going on, he’s an easy target for of the hitmen. Alex saves their lives and takes off with Monica.

Cal doesn’t waste his energy being angry at Alex for disappearing with his potential witness. Instead, he drops in on Ray and uses Monica as bait. It’s a pretty sweet plan. He forces Ray to do something overt and driven by a passionate emotional response. There is little chance of calculated action when someone is in that state of mind. Works like a charm for Cal. For Alex, it’s a bit complicated. Ray tells the hitmen to band together and go after Alex in a coordinated attack.

At this point Alex turns into McGyver in “Die Hard.” He hands Monica his gun, tells her how many shots she has (something we don’t usually get to see!) and tells her to shoot anyone that comes through the door. “Don’t hesitate.” She did NOT hesitate. (I am loving these writers’ respect for the strength of women.)

As Alex moves through the building finding bits and bobs to use as weapons, Cassandra begins to freak out. This is the first time I think we’ve ever heard her sound panicked or stressed. Now we know…she does not like being blind and helpless.

The McGyver tally? Hitman #1 – camera flash, and painter’s plastic. Hitman #2 – paint thinner, lighter, blow torch and a 2x4. Hitman #3 – same blow torch and special forces training. Hitman #4 must have been wearing a vest, or Monica’s father never taught her how to aim, regardless she did NOT hesitate when that guy came through that door.

Shockingly, the final hitman (#4) and Alex shoot each other simultaneously, and Alex goes down. I thought we’d have at least 6 episodes before Alex was hurt. I was a little annoyed that we didn’t get to see who saved him. Alex hallucinates Ginny coming to his rescue. (or does he?) The answer to that question better be a doozy.

Cal’s plan worked perfectly. In his haste to find out what Monica told the cops, Ray talked to the hitmen on an insecure line. Cal has enough to arrest him. On top of that, Monica agrees to testify against him.

Monica fills Alex in on something she recognized in Ginny. Something was scaring her. It’s an odd piece of the puzzle. I wonder what, if anything, Alex will do with it. I keep thinking we’re being given hints that whoever was behind Ginny’s disappearance isn’t connected with The House. I would love to hear your theories on that.

Again we see Mr. Johnson balancing the scales. He manipulates some government red tape in order to get Ray into the same prison Monica’s father is in. I foresee that cocky grin wiped off Ray’s face fairly quickly and rather brutally. I’m good with this.

April? Hmm, April actually suits Cassandra better than Cassandra. Her spice cabinet contains salt. (It looks a LOT like my younger sister’s spice rack.) But I couldn’t help but wonder how long this relationship has been going on because Nick, the boyfriend we met briefly at the end of episode 2, hasn’t used this kitchen before. It popped for me because I’d interpreted them as being together for a solid piece of time. But…April? Interesting.

Of course, she gets called into work. It was obvious, the moment the couple began discussing their plans for the day, that she was going to have to cancel everything and he was going to leave town annoyed.

But the most interesting thing for Cassandra this week is the fact that she learned that not only does Alex believe Ginny is still alive, but Mr. Johnson has offered to help find her, which implies that Johnson believes she’s alive as well. Cassandra begins her investigation by studying the documentation. But all of her screens shut down. Who is behind this?

It’s nice to know that Alex hasn’t been forced to give up everything in his life. His business is still operating. A huge part of the fun for me is knowing that Alex will do whatever he has to in order to do the right thing. But, it is an easy choice to make when the right thing is saving a pregnant woman from the abusive husband who already caused one miscarriage. I eagerly await the episode when the game puts him in a situation where the “right thing” is difficult to spot.

I finished this episode with a number of questions. I am really curious to hear your theories. Do you think Ginny saved Alex’s life after he got shot? If not, who do you think did the doctoring on Alex? Who was Ginny afraid of? Do you think she’s really alive? Who cut the system out from under Cassandra?

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now.

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