The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Reclassified" episode of the Fox series, "New Amsterdam."
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer's mother is not dead! She's just making guest appearances on Fox programs. (And no, that's not the same thing!)
For a show that supposedly prides itself on no-name stars, this week's episode sure had its share or recognizable guest stars.
Here's what took place this time: We meet Andy Gleason, John's first partner when he becomes a Homicide cop in New York. Turns out Andy, who transferred out of Homicide, was shot during an attempted arrest. Even worse, the bullet lodged near his heart and has apparently given him leukemia, which is killing him.
Andy approaches John, and makes a final request of him -- find Nasir, the punk he believes shot him.
The flashbacks this week only go back a couple of years, most notably dealing with Andy and John's meeting and getting to know each other.
Over time, Andy convinces John he needs a partner both at work and outside of the job. Andy invites him to dinner with his wife, DiDi, as well as taking John up on a ferris wheel ride to "get away from it all."
John struggles with his hot blonde boss because she doesn't feel this investigation should take place. But like all good TV bosses, she acquiesces so John can track down the punk.
Along the way, we meet another of Andy's partners, Joe. Joe's apparently done well since leaving the NYPD.
Another person we meet is Viktor Brodsky, leader of the local Russian mob, who doesn't take kindly to John's looking into his affairs.
When John takes Viktor's brother into headquarters for questioning, Viktor says he'll kill John.
We find out that Andy was trying to take money from criminals, so he attempted to stop a transfer of money and goods when he was shot. Andy needed the money to pay for expensive research and treatment for DiDi's cancer. That's why he went tried to interrupt a crime that had a big bag of loot around.
After looking into Nasir's alibi, John's current partner Eva discovers that this information is missing from the files, which leads John to figure out that Joe, Andy's partner, must have had the same idea, showed up and shot everyone, taking the bag of loot. No wonder he's doing so well financially!
Andy and John face down Joe, with John talking Andy out of killing Joe, who gets arrested by John.
John and Andy take a final trip on the ferris wheel, where John admits he's afraid of heights. Apparently this knowledge is too much for Andy, who kicks the bucket before landing back on terra firma.
Meanwhile, back on the romance front, John's knees are knocking on the walls again with Sara until John gets shot outside his place by Russian gangsters. Again, Sara sees John apparently die (this time, he's shot through the heart), but it makes her apparently get aroused next to John's hospital bed. (Not there, Sara!)
But facing death again makes John wonder, is this what happened the first time? Even though Sara gives great sex, is she really the one?
Maybe we'll find out in next week's season finale!
What Worked
Guest stars galore this week, and faces I can remember, too. Probably most recognizable was DiDi, played by Kristine Sutherland, late mom in "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer."
Next was Chris Bauer, who portrayed Andy. I remember him from the second season of HBO's "The Wire."
Fellow "Wire" cast-mate Isiah Whitlock, Jr., was Joe, the bad guy. (I kept expecting him to say, "Sheee-it.")
Less romance and more crime drama usually works for me, but the whole Andy storyline was really soapy to me. He always had enough strength to get up and propel the plot along until he ended up on the ferris wheel. When the camera turned away from Andy's face to John's during that sequence, I knew he was toast.
I've read some complaints about flashbacks that only went back a few years, but I liked the change of pace, personally. I do notice that whatever time period we go back to requires John to have a very different hairstyle. Guess that's necessary for time travel.
Oh, I did enjoy seeing John having to actually learn something, like being a team member. In past episodes, he seems to know everything about everything.
And for the first time since the show started, the bad guy was not an evil rich white person. He was an evil rich black man instead.
What Didn't Work
Besides the soapy Andy storyline, the romance thing this week was kind of lame. Sara looking lustily at the injured John was kind of creepy.
Omar has been reduced to the "cheer the hero on" role. I would like him to be involved in more significant things, perhaps even his own subplot!
And again the police got a little more to do (especially the gorgeous new chief), but they remain mostly stereotyped and inactive.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
"New Amsterdam" airs on Fox Mondays at 9 p.m. and stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Stephen Henderson and Alexie Gilmore. "Reclassfied" was written by Eric Overmeyer and was directed by Jean de Segonzac.
I still haven't watch this myself But Flush Hot Honey said; It's to die for!!! GTO
