Monday, June 25, 2012

What I'm Watching: Common Law





Common Law: Season 1, Episode 6 “Performance Anxiety” (B+)

They may not get along well, but it’s hard to argue with 398 arrests. I enjoyed how performance anxiety popped up not only in therapy in relation to sex also with Travis and Wes in their efforts to pursue the 400th arrest to come close to records held by Captain Sutton. It was amusing to see both Travis and Wes go to the same side of the building with their teams in the middle of an operation, and to hear them awkwardly and sheepishly apologize for their errors later. Wes going on a date was a major step, though talking about hotels and his ex-wife the entire time definitely wasn’t smooth. If only she wasn’t engaged, he might have had something more tenable to share than just the fact that the door was opened to them having sex. The criminal couple was an intriguing centerpiece for the episode, with subtle entrances to big-time robberies with less than criminal motivations. Letting the wife go instead of charging her was an important communal decision for Wes and Travis, one of the few times that they’re actually able to make a reasonable decision rather than led their egos lead them. The disparity between $5 and $20 bets at the beginning of the episode was brought back in a hilarious way at the end when Wes said he could beat Travis without even taking a shot by psyching him out with the others watching. Seeing Wes win is fun, but not quite as much as Travis barely looking and still making the shot, leaving his partner speechless.

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