Flash x2

by Michael Seese

Buoyed by my win last week, I came up with two stories for this week's Flash! Friday.

This was the photo.

To help you understand the first story, the caption of the photo is "1943 crash landing on the USS Enterprise. " We had to include as a character a lawyer. So here is "The Red One Or The Blue One?"

William wiped mock sweat from his brow.

"Which one? Which do I cut? The red wire or the blue one?"

Gracie's expression did not change.

"Damn it, Jim! I’m an attorney. Not a munitions expert. Why don't you ask that cursed Vulcan which is the more logical choice?" William chuckled a little, remembering evenings spent on the couch, basking in the cathode glow. "Dr. McCoy always was your favorite character. Though I know you secretly had a crush on Kirk."

His wife of 47 years snorted slightly.

"It’s too bad Artie’s not here. He would know. Artie was good with electronics. Remember how he used to fix our TVs?" Regrettably, William’s only brother had passed ten years prior.

A tear surprised him, and hijacked his sense of humor. "I can’t wait any more, Gracie. They’ll be in soon to check on you."

William decided to err on the side of caution, and gave both wires a sharp tug. The staccato pulse that had haunted his days and nights for three months gave way to a shrill high-pitched squeal. Her sunken chest offered one final heave, then fell still.

He kissed her forehead.

"Good night, dear," William said before finishing her medicine, and joining her in sleep.

Then I wrote "Homecoming."

"Today's the day, kiddo. Daddy's coming home. Finally. It sure will be good to see him. To have dinner with him. To hold his hand again. It's been..."

In truth, Angie lost track of exactly when Tom had flown to Boston. She remembered she'd packed his summer suits. Now, the leaves on the stately maple had assumed a fiery fringe.

"… too long. That's how long it's been."

And it would be good to hear his voice. He'd call whenever he could. But the meetings often lasted well into the night, and then he'd be in the hotel reviewing papers, sifting through the corporate garbage. So most of his communication came via email, sometimes sent while sitting in the conference room he labeled the "Black Hole of Calcutta for lawyers."

But each one ended with "LuvU." That was all she needed.

"Well, even though his plane just took off, it's a long drive to the airport. We'd best get going, little one," she said, placing two loving hands on a belly that was not yet swollen, but soon would be. "I can't wait to tell him our news."

She turned off the television seconds before the headline, "Tragedy In NYC. Plane Hits WTC" could bring her world tumbling down.

Please comment on either. 

Castle: "Linchpin"

Since tonight's episode of "Castle" is a repeat, I thought I would get around to sharing my thoughts on "Linchpin," which was the second in a two-part series a few weeks ago. As we all know, "Castle" is my favorite show. So I hate to bash it, but...

As I touched upon in my review of "Pandora," I understand that the writers want to build tension. But unless they're planning to whack Castle (which would necessitate a name change..."Ghost Of Castle," perhaps??) or kill off Beckett (I suppose a possibility in the early seasons; but now, she and Castle have too much chemistry) then you know that they'll get out of the sunken car. And you know someone will stop Sophia before she kills either of them. 

A few other things which I thought stretched the bounds of credibility...

When they were in the underground bunker, and Danberg was identified as the mole, he grabbed a human shield, a young lady whose whose head came up to maybe his collarbone. You mean to tell me that not one of those trained CIA agents felt that he or she was a competent enough marksman to shoot him in the head? Or, as my wife said, "Please, any one of them could have put a bullet one centimeter above his left eyebrow." Or, if I may come out of the closet as a geek, those agents, like Spock, know "that the needs of the many are greater than the needs of the few. Or of the one."  So given a choice between perhaps wounding or killing an intern (she didn't seem to be armed) and allowing a guy who wants to start World War III to escape...sorry young lady.

Speaking of not pulling the trigger, I had to roll my eyes at the very end. The rogue CIA killer spots his prey, the 10-year-old girl, about 20 feet away. He coolly walks up several feet behind her, levels his weapon, aims, and...

... takes a step in pursuit of her...

... and another step ...

... and another...

... and another.

What could he be waiting for? Oh, I know. He's waiting for Danberg to tackle him and save the day. Please!

And it probably was a little heavy handed when Sophia said, to Castle but in front of Beckett, "You can't rewrite the ending like you did with us," and then when she later -- while alone with Beckett -- broke down how the tension was what kept them interested, and once the tension was gone, so was their relationship.

On the plus side, I will say they kept me guessing. Was Gage playing Castle and Beckett, or was he being set up? Was Danberg the mole, or was it someone else?

And of course no review would be complete without a comment on a "look." My favorite had to be Sophia's icy stare when she commanded Castle to "Get in the car," followed by his obedient countenance-drop which said (without words) "Yes, ma'am."

All in all, I give it a B.

So, check back in this space sometime after "A Dance With Death."

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